Fall in North Dakota

With scenes right out of a Terry Redlin painting, there is something magical about north central North Dakota in the fall. There are no significant parks, monuments or rock formations, no scenic overlooks…….just the raw beauty of the land, the never ending farm fields, abandoned homesteads scattered across the prairie and skies and potholes filled with waterfowl. 

We arrived at the Finken/Sobieck farm on September 30^th anxious to catch up with old friends and hit the fields for some waterfowl hunting and field work. Bob and Deanna Finken and Chris and Holly Sobieck own and operate 4,000+ acres outside of Douglas North Dakota. We have known Chris since he was born some 28 years ago and met Bob and Deanna when he married Holly a few years ago. It has been a full year since we have seen them and time to catch up.

Our home for the next few weeks

See our rig way in the back along the grain bins?

We love visiting them this time of year and there is no shortage of waterfowl or work and we got plenty of both! We duck hunted the first 4 days with Chris’ brother-in-lay Dylan, his dad Bob and his good friend Brian. We ended up getting quite a variety of ducks; mallards, widgeon, pintail, teal, red heads, scaup, and gadwall. We also put up some trail cameras and set some stands for bow hunting….they have some monster bucks in the area!



Sunrise in a ND wheat field





Looks like we are having duck for dinner!



This deer wanted to take a selfie!



I would love to see this one in person

While the boys were in the fields, Deanna invited Barb to the local theatre in Garrison to see the band
"GreenMan" out of Minot, ND.  Their music is in the traditional Celtic music of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany.  That was something that she had never been to before!

We also took an hour drive over towards Kief, ND to visit our friends Dan and Jeanie Sobieck (Chris' uncle). They own and operate Prairie Smoke Ranch, an upland bird and waterfowl hunting operation. We last saw them when we visited them last February in Dunnellon Florida where they have a great winter home. With waterfowl season in full swing they had a full camp with 9 dogs and hunters from across the country. Although the visit was way too short, it was great to see them.

When the fun is done, there is work to do…. The great part about this work is that it is fun as well! There is plenty of field work to do. They raise of variety of crops on the farm; wheat, canola, pea, flax and barley to name a few. They had harvested pretty much everything before we arrived but there is still plenty of work to do in the fields. Barb and I spent hours in the tractor working the fields getting them ready for next year. I absolutely love being in the tractor! You see a variety of wildlife while in the field; deer, coyotes, fox, partridge, pheasants, grouse as well as hawks which see the tractors and an opportunity for an easy meal. The hawks have learned to hover right behind the tractor waiting for mice that are exposed after the field is worked over. They dive down and grab the live ones as they scatter or feast on the ones that were not quick enough to get out of the way of the equipment. It is amazing how they learned that the tractor is an opportunity for an easy meal.



Looking forward..........



.....and back



Tractor Selfie!

Not everyone appreciates the beauty of this landscape, some people just see fields and abandoned houses but there is  beauty and wonder everywhere. You cannot help but look at the abandoned homesteads and wonder about the early settlers, what life must have been like and what it must have been like to live in such a raw environment.

 

We are looking forward to our time here, spending time in the tractor, in the duck and deer blinds and visiting with our North Dakota friends........more to come!