Southwest N.D. pheasant hunters might find available rooms scarce

DICKINSON, N.D.

Hunters coming to the Dickinson area should be reserving their rooms now if they want a warm bed to sleep in for the pheasant opener.

Many hotels are already booked for the season that gets underway Saturday, Oct. 9.

AmercInn Motel and Suites is already sold out from Oct. 8-11.

Manager Maryann Sadowsky said it's a pretty much normal occurrence.

"It won't slow down until after pheasant season slows down," she said.

Selling out every room isn't anything new to the area. The oil boom has made rooms scarce, with room rates going up as well.

Even with that, the pheasant season opener seems to help sell out almost every room in the region.

Two hotels, Best Western and Quality Inn and Suites, still have rooms available.

Available rooms won't last for long, said managers for both hotels.

Best Western manager Cathy Leiss said her hotel usually fills up last.

"We don't allow pets and don't allow smoking," said Leiss of the reasoning behind that.

She's sure, though, that rooms will be booked within the next two weeks.

Quality Inn and Suites manager Kamal Patel said she expects her hotel to be fully booked.

"We'll fill up," she said.

She said the hotel has been full for the past eight years for the pheasant opener.

Those looking to find a room elsewhere in southwestern North Dakota could be out of luck.

Bowman Budget Host Inn manager Mary Fuchs said her hotel is full.

She said the first weekend of pheasant, deer and antelope seasons keep her hotel full.

"It starts on pheasant weekend and pretty much keeps on rolling until mid November," Fuchs said.

Hunters will generally come up until cold weather sets in across the region, she said.

Up north in Killdeer, Mountain View Motel manager Denise Cliffton said she hasn't had many rooms available at all since the motel opened a year and a half ago.

"I don't have much year round," she said. "We've been pretty much booked solid."

A list of current hotel vacancies in the area is available at the Dickinson Convention and Visitors Bureau website at www.visitdickinson.com .

The Dickinson Press and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.