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News Releases

North Dakota Game and Fish Department

North Dakota Game and Fish Department


News Releases


Fall Turkey Season Set



The fall turkey season is set with 4,435 licenses available to hunters, 460 more than last year.

Applicants can apply online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline is Sept. 6.

Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply. Nonresidents can apply for remaining fall turkey licenses following the first lottery.

The fall wild turkey season runs from Oct. 14 through Jan. 7, 2024.

Youth Outdoor Festival in Minot



The North Dakota Game and Fish Department, local wildlife clubs and other sponsors will usher youngsters into fall during the annual Youth Outdoor Festival in Minot.

The event is Aug. 31 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Game and Fish Conservation and Outdoors Skills Park on the grounds of the North Dakota State Fair.

Young outdoor enthusiasts will experience outdoor activities that relate to archery, fishing, waterfowl and upland game. Prizes will be awarded.

For more information, contact Game and Fish outreach biologist Greg Gullickson at 701-720-1640.

Chronic Wasting Disease Proclamation



Big game hunters should note the 2023 chronic wasting disease proclamation for baiting and transportation requirements for deer, elk and moose as a precaution against the spread of chronic wasting disease.

Noteworthy items include:

  • Whole carcasses of animals harvested in North Dakota can remain in the deer unit, or may now be transported anywhere in the state. However, carcass waste must be disposed of via landfill or waste management provider. This does not apply to heads dropped at CWD collection sites or lymph nodes submitted for CWD surveillance. Taxidermists and game processors can also accept intact carcasses of animals harvested within North Dakota but assume responsibility for disposal.
  • A new management strategy that allows baiting restrictions to be removed in a unit if the number of adult deer equivalent to at least 10% of the gun licenses allocated in the unit are tested for CWD within a year, and all the results are negative. If the sampling goal is not met or CWD is confirmed in the unit, the baiting restriction will remain.
  • No new units have been added to the baiting restriction list for 2023-24. Due to the timing of finalizing the proclamation, a one-year pause was placed on adding new units. Units 2K1 and 3B2 are scheduled to be added to the restriction list in 2024 due to a positive CWD detection during the 2022 hunting season within 25 miles in an adjacent unit. They will not be added if the 10% goal is reached this year and all CWD test results are negative.
  • Hunters are prohibited from transporting into North Dakota the whole carcass or parts, except the lower-risk portions, of deer, elk, moose or other members of the cervid family harvested outside of North Dakota.

State Game and Fish Department officials will conduct surveillance of the state by region on a four-year rotation. This year, the CWD surveillance effort will consist of deer gun units in southeastern North Dakota. Outside of this area, hunters can still have their animal tested by taking it to a Game and Fish district office, any deer head collection site (primarily located in the surveillance area) or using a mail-in self-sampling kit. A unit outside the annual surveillance zone is still eligible to have a baiting restriction removed if the sampling goal is met, or can be added as a restricted unit if a positive is found.

Listen to the NDO podcast with wildlife veterinarian Dr. Charlie Bahnson.

Swan Lottery Held



The swan lottery has been held and all 2,200 licenses were issued.

A total of 2,920 applications were received. Unsuccessful applicants will receive a refund to their credit card.

Individual results are available online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov.

Swan Application Deadline



The deadline to submit a swan application is Aug. 16.

Applicants must submit an online application through the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov.

North Dakota residents and nonresidents are eligible to apply. The resident swan license is $10, while the nonresident fee is $30.

Equipment Registration Number



Hunters, trappers and anglers are reminded that an equipment registration number, or the individual’s name, address and telephone number, must be displayed on all equipment requiring identification.

In addition, written permission is required from the owner of the property, or an individual authorized by the owner, for an individual to install camera/video equipment on private property, and the equipment must be identified.

While on state wildlife management areas, identification is required on items such as ground blinds, tree stands, cameras and traps.

Identification must be attached to cable devices set on either private or public land, and on fish houses left unattended on the ice.

Owners can generate an equipment registration number by visiting Buy and Apply at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. One registration number will be issued for equipment requiring identification.

The equipment registration number does not expire.

Concurrent Season Deer Licenses



Hunters can purchase additional, concurrent season deer licenses Aug. 16 at 8 a.m. Central time on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov. There is no limit on the number of concurrent season licenses a hunter can purchase.

Concurrent season licenses can be used during the archery season with a bow; deer gun season with a bow, rifle or muzzleloader; or during the muzzleloader season with a muzzleloader. However, youth under 14 (at the end of the calendar year) will be issued a concurrent season license for archery only.

Hunters with concurrent season licenses are restricted to the type of antlerless deer printed on the license and must hunt in the unit in which the license is assigned.

PLOTS Guide Online



The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen Guide for 2023 is now available online at the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. In addition, the free printed PLOTS guides will be available in late August at most license vendors and other locations throughout the state.

The guide will feature about 800,000 PLOTS acres. Because the guide is printed in mid-August, some PLOTS tracts highlighted in the guide may have been removed from the program since the time of printing. There will also be some PLOTS tracts where the habitat and condition of the tract will have changed significantly. Conversely, Game and Fish may have added new tracts to the program after the guide went to press.

To minimize possible confusion, Game and Fish will update PLOTS map sheets weekly on its website.

The PLOTS guide features maps highlighting these walk-in areas, identified in the field by inverted triangular yellow signs, as well as other public lands.

The guides are not available by mail, so hunters will have to pick one up at a local vendor or Game and Fish offices, or print individual maps from the website.

RAP Auction Slated



Confiscated hunting, fishing and trapping equipment will be sold Aug. 19 at the North Dakota Wildlife Federation’s Report All Poachers auction in Bismarck. The auction is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Schaumberg Arena.

Doors open at 10 a.m. Items include more than 60 firearms, fishing equipment, bows, spotlights and tree stands.

More information, including a comprehensive list of items for auction, is available by visiting the wildlife federation’s website at northdakotawildlife.org.

Proceeds from the auction fund the RAP program. The RAP line, 701-328-9921, offers monetary rewards for information that leads to conviction of fish and wildlife law violators. The RAP line is available 24 hours a day, and callers can remain anonymous.

Pronghorn Lottery Held



North Dakota’s pronghorn lottery has been held and all 415 licenses were issued.

In total, 12,722 applications were received, including 278 gratis applications.

Individual results are available online at North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov.

Construction Project Will Limit Traffic at Agency



A construction project involving the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and city of Bismarck will limit public access to the department’s main office in Bismarck from Aug. 9 until October.

Hunters and anglers are encouraged to conduct business online to alleviate any inconvenience of navigating around construction and heavy equipment. The pond and nature walk on the outdoor wildlife learning site adjacent to the main office will be closed to fishing and other activities.

Hunting and fishing licenses, watercraft registrations and lottery applications are available by visiting the Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov.

For other inquires, outdoor enthusiasts can call 701-328-6300 or email ndgf@nd.gov.

Early Canada Goose Dates Announced



North Dakota’s early Canada goose season dates are set, with bag limits and licensing requirements the same as last year.

Opening day is Aug. 15 in all three zones. Closing dates are Sept. 7 in the Missouri River zone; Sept. 15 in the western zone; and Sept. 22 in the eastern zone.

Early Canada goose limits are 15 daily and 45 in possession.

Limits and shooting hours are different from the regular season, while the zone boundaries remain the same. Shooting hours for early Canada goose are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.

Residents need a $5 early Canada goose license and a general game and habitat license. Also, residents 16 and older need a small game license. Nonresidents need only a $50 early Canada goose license, and the license is valid statewide without counting against the 14-day regular season license. Licenses can be purchased online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.

Harvest Information Program certification is required and beginning Sept. 1 a federal duck stamp for hunters 16 and older is needed. Those who HIP registered to hunt the spring light goose conservation order in North Dakota do not have to register with HIP again, as it is required in each state only once per year.

Waterfowl rest areas, closed to hunting during the regular season, are open during the early season. Most land in these rest areas is private, so hunters may need permission to access them.

Hunting of Canada geese in August and early September is intended to reduce local Canada goose numbers, which remain high. Game and Fish is attempting to provide additional hunting opportunities to increase pressure on locally breeding Canada geese.