Missouri to Alaska Bird roadtrip

[rward3310]

I'm moving Alaska the 1st week of October. I'm driving from mid Missouri to Fairbanks Alaska, and I have a whole month to do it (weather permitting). Due to the time of year, I'm planning on making some stops to hunt. Itll be just me and my pudelpointer. I think I'll be going through SD too early for ducks and pheasant, but I'll be in ND for ducks. My biggest question is how and where to hunt upland and ducks in Saskatchewan. Any Canadian's or DiY-ers that have done Saskatchewan? Any advice for my trip at all?

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[Blockcaver]

hunt prairie grouse in NE or SD with your timing. They are a super fun hunt. MT opens early too, check dates

 

[rward3310]

hunt prairie grouse in NE or SD with your timing. They are a super fun hunt. MT opens early too, check dates

Awesome, thanks for the tip. Google maps doesnt take me through MT on a direct route, but it wont be hard for me to go west. OnX will be my friend until I get to Canada.

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[Dexter Grayson]

Hunted waterfowl in Alberta the first week of October last year. Was north of Grand Prairie. Should be plenty of waterfowl in Saskatchewan in October as well.

 

[rward3310]

Hunted waterfowl in Alberta the first week of October last year. Was north of Grand Prairie. Should be plenty of waterfowl in Saskatchewan in October as well.

Sounds good to me, I'm driving through Alberta as well, I just want to do public, but I cant find much on hunting public in Canada.

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[Dexter Grayson]

Not sure about public land. Just knock on doors, farmers up there are super nice and most will let you hunt their ground.

 

[TSAMP]

I dont have any info to help but you should post your adventure on here. Id be up for the read!

 

[huntineveryday]

As stated above, grouse season starts Sept 1 in Nebraska. Lots of public ground fairly close to highway 83 between North Platte and Valentine. You could find sharptails or greater prairie chickens there. Dove season opens Sep 1 as well, and we have an early teal season that usually opens the first weekend in September. The rainwater basin can be pretty busy during teal season, but there or the sandhills would both give you an option for teal as you come through.

 

[rward3310]

Thanks for the tips. I've already started planning my route through NE, SD, ND west to MT, then up into Sask and Alb. Im not sure I'll be able to hunt much through BC and the Yukon due to snow. You dont have to sell me hard on chasing birds though. If you wanna throw me a pin or two via OnX I hunted merriams in the chadron area last spring, so I'll probably make my way through there again this go around.

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[huntineveryday]

Nebraska National Forest is right by the highway 2 and 83 intersection. Samuel R McKelvie National Forest is further north of there, west of highway 83 by Merrit Reservoir. There is some National refuge land close to highway 83 close to McKelvie as well. Those spots are all pretty known for public land grouse in Nebraska and would have chickens and grouse, depending on where you hunt. Those refuges have lakes that can hold early season ducks, so a teal hunt would be a possibility in that area depending on your timing. I'll probably be taking a trip up to that area for grouse in late September myself!

I haven't read as much about grouse hunting there, but it might be worth looking into the Oglala National Grasslands for grouse, that'd be just northwest of Chadron.

 

[wannabemountainman]

Can’t speak for much other than about Saskatchewan. Like others have said, the farmers up there are usually willing to let you waterfowl hunt if you’re respectful. With Sharp tail and Hungarian Partridge, they’re a little more reluctant to let folks hunt. I guess they value them more as they’re not super plentiful. Good luck, I’m looking forward to reading about your experience!

 

[rward3310]

I appreciate all the tips and advice. I've got alot of the trip planned. May spend more days in places than others, may go places I didnt originally intend. Ive got a good dog, a good gun, a good tent and a good sleeping bag. Pictures and videos will be taken, I'll post a day by day when I get there. Still over 6 months out, and right now me and the dog are still shooting preserve birds until it gets too hot. We've got a navhda UTP test in April.

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[Salmonchaser]

Well I’ve eaten all manner of game birds you’ll find on your route. No body has mentioned ptarmigan. They can be cyclical but you should be able to find plenty as you approach Fairbanks. They will have been on the berries at that time of year. In my mind there is no finer eating.
Enjoy your trip, the ALCAN is a great adventure.

 

[Dos Perros]

In Sask you don't have to ask permission if it's not posted, and the ground meets some other conditions (like not cultivated, no occupied dwellings within a certain distance, stuff like that). I would Google Earth/OnX scout for pieces of ground that have old farmsteads or junk piles on them. The huns will be close to those.

Also once you're up there you should hit local diners and cafes and chat people up. You'll get pointed to places to hunt then.