North Dakota Chronicles

JONOV

Twelve Pointer
Well, it was a beautiful week on the prairies. Everything that could happen, did. We had dog bites, dog fights, a skunk incident, a lot of boot leather up and down the hills looking for Grouse, and in between managed to kill some ducks and drink martinis.

I flew in Wednesday before duck opener and hunted two days for Grouse. I had hoped to hunt the Little Missouri National Grasslands but was advised to skip it due to the drought, so I hunted Agricultural land north of Bismarck. Day one saw Gus run 19.6 miles according to the tracking collar. He had a quick point on a Grouse that I managed to hit. I was excited!

Day two was cut short when I saw Gus running towards me, eyes streaming and mouth foaming. I put him in a headlock, and shoved my hand down his throat thinking he had eaten something that irritated his sinuses. The thing about skunks is, the fresh emission bears only a passing resemblance to the smell one notices driving past a roadkilled specimen. It is immediately more acrid and putrid but slightly less pervasive, and to a novice, different enough to cause you to google what else could spray a dog and cause it to foam at the mouth. This changes quickly. I cut the hunt short and high tailed it with windows and sunroof open to Bismarck. $27 later at the King Koin laundromat, self serve car wash, and dog wash, (which does have a deskunking option listed in between oatmeal and tear-free on its shampoo menu,) I emerged with a dog that was not so fragrant as to be banned from the camp, but fragrant enough that he was exiled to sleep outside (actually in a crate under a capper in a truck bed.) The next day a bath of peroxide, baking soda and Dawn dish soap, helped, and the day after that a repeat eliminated enough odor that he was granted couch privileges again. Also, swamp water seemed to help mask the smell, allowing him to stink in what has been determined a socially acceptable manner, or like one member of the camp said, "stinks like the rest of the dogs." The wet-dog picture is Gus post skunk bath. Looks like the skunk got a few shots before spraying him.

Gus did good work finding lost ducks in the weeds and tall grass. He had some nice retrieves in cold water. I was especially happy with his manners in the blind. Quiet, and did a great job sitting still and staying down for a 16 month old dog.

The hunting was good, not great but we had a few good mornings, and when we split up other groups of our party did extremely well...we were hunting the same lakes and field sections, so it depended on how they flew and how the wind blew.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0529.jpg
    IMG_0529.jpg
    102.8 KB · Views: 218
  • IMG_0567.jpg
    IMG_0567.jpg
    129.7 KB · Views: 216
  • IMG_0572.jpg
    IMG_0572.jpg
    191.5 KB · Views: 219
  • IMG_0560.jpg
    IMG_0560.jpg
    292 KB · Views: 220

Wildlifer

Old Mossy Horns
Loved the report! Perfect timing too. Our group couldn't do NoDak this year so i was just reminiscing on last year.
 
Top