This guide is provided for informational purposes and is not intended as a complete listing of regulations. For more specific information on regulations and laws, visit the Game and Fish Department website (for season proclamations) or for North Dakota state laws go to www.legis.nd.gov/cencode/T20-1.html.
Refer to the 2012-13 North Dakota Small Game Hunting Guide for additional information.
Get Waterfowl Identification brochures from USGS
2012 Early Canada Goose Season (Regulations)
2012 Small Game - Furbearer Proclamation
2012 Small Game Hunting Guide
2012 Regulations Table of Contents
Season Dates, Times, Open Areas | General Requirements | Licenses | Nontoxic Shot Regulations | Harvest Information Program
Wanton Waste of Waterfowl, Migratory Game Birds and Upland Game | Sunrise and Sunset Times
Season Dates, Times, Open Areas
Open Area: Statewide
Opens: August 15
Closes: September 15 (Except in Missouri River Zone)
Daily Limit: 15
Possession Limit: 30
Shooting Hours: 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset.
Missouri River Canada Goose Zone Open Area: See map below
Opens: August 15
Closes: September 7
Daily Limit: 15
Possession Limit: 30
Shooting Hours: 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset.
**Hunters may not combine daily or possession limits from the two zones. Nonresidents who hunt during this season in Richland, Sargent, Benson, Ramsey and Towner counties may do so without counting against their 14-day regular license restrictions. Otherwise, nonresidents may hunt only during the period that their nonresident waterfowl license is valid and must stay within selected zones (exception – statewide license does not restrict to zones).
The Missouri River Canada Goose Zone is bordered by state, federal and county highways, and the South Dakota state line. The northwest boundary is the section line between section 8 and 9 of T146N R87 W (off of Mercer County 21), and the southern shoreline of Lake Sakakawea (including Mallard Island) to U.S. Highway 83.
General Requirements
Hunter Education Requirement - Hunters born after December 31, 1961 must have passed a certified state or provincial hunter education course in order to purchase North Dakota hunting license. Exceptions: Persons who hunt only on land they own or operate, and youth under age 12 may hunt if they have appropriate licenses. In addition, the 2009 state legislature passed a law allowing individuals who are 16 years of age and older who have not taken the hunter education course to be issued an apprentice hunter validation that enables them to hunt small game includes waterfowl and deer for one license year. Contact the Game and Fish Department for details.
Minimum Age - There is no minimum age for hunting small game, but anyone under age 15 afield with firearms must be licensed and under direct supervision of a parent, guardian, or adult authorized by their parent or guardian.
Licenses
Hunting licenses in the form of stamps must be affixed to the back of a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate. Stamps and licenses must be signed in ink.
Hunters and trappers are required to purchase licenses, except any resident, or member of his or her family permanently residing with him or her, may hunt small game, trap or use cable devices during the open season without a license upon land owned or leased by him or her, but otherwise is governed by seasons, limits and all other regulations.
Pheasant, partridge, grouse, duck, goose, swan, merganser, sandhill crane, coot, crow, snipe, dove, woodcock and squirrel hunters must possess a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate and a general game and habitat license, regardless of age. In addition, hunters ages 16 and older need a small game license. Resident youth and qualifying nonresident youth hunters under age 16, and nonresidents hunting only waterfowl, do not need a small game license; nonresident crane hunters need either a small game license or a waterfowl license; all crane, swan and pinnated grouse hunters must possess special permits; and all nonresident duck, goose, swan, merganser and coot hunters must possess nonresident waterfowl licenses. All migratory game bird hunters must be certified annually through the Harvest Information Program for each state in which they are licensed.
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp - No one age 16 or older, including landowners hunting on their own land, shall hunt, kill, or take ducks, geese, swans or mergansers without having in his or her possession a federal migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp (duck stamp) for the season and validated by his or her signature written across the face of it in ink.
License Fees:
- Resident Fishing, Hunting and Furbearer Certificate $1
- Nonresident Fishing, Hunting and Furbearer Certificate $2
- General Game and Habitat License (resident and nonresident) $13
- Resident Small Game License (for age 16 and over) $6
- Resident Combination License (Fishing, Small Game, General Game and Habitat, and Furbearer) $32
Nonresident Small Game License (may purchase more than one per year) $85 - Nonresident Small Game License, General Game and Habitat License, and Certificate $100
- Nonresident Waterfowl License (zones) $85
- Nonresident Waterfowl License (zones), General Game and Habitat License, and Certificate $100
- Nonresident Waterfowl License (statewide) $125
- Nonresident Waterfowl License (statewide), General Game and Habitat License, and Certificate $140
Nonresident Youth Hunting Licenses - A nonresident under age 16 need only purchase a North Dakota resident fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate and a North Dakota resident general game and habitat license to hunt small game and waterfowl, except swans and wild turkeys; provided that the nonresident's state of residence, or province or territory of Canada, provides a reciprocal licensing agreement for North Dakota residents who are also under age 16. (Currently states of CO, CT, ID, KY, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, NJ, NY, OH, SC, TN, TX and WI qualify.) To be eligible, a nonresident youth must not turn 16 before September 1 of the year for which the license is issued, and must possess a certificate of completion for a certified hunter education course. The nonresident youth may only hunt under the supervision of an adult family member or legal guardian who is licensed to hunt small game or waterfowl in this state and is subject to the same regulations as that youth's adult family member or legal guardian.
Nonresident full-time students living in North Dakota, who are attending a North Dakota state or tribal college, or a private institution of higher education, may qualify for purchasing resident (nonlottery) licenses. Contact the Department for details.
Nontoxic Shot Regulations
The possession or use of shot other than federally approved nontoxic shot is prohibited while hunting ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, tundra swans, snipe, mergansers and coot statewide. Nontoxic shot is required for all hunting on all U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, including federal refuges and waterfowl production areas. This regulation applies to all hunters using shotguns, except while hunting turkeys and big game. These shot requirements are in addition to current statewide nontoxic shot requirements for migratory birds as listed above.
For additional information on nontoxic shot, contact the Department’s Bismarck office.
Harvest Information Program
All migratory game bird hunters must register annually with the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP) before hunting ducks, geese, swans, mergansers, coots, cranes, snipe, doves and woodcock. Before your license to hunt is legal you must register by calling toll free (888) 634-4798. After answering a brief survey you will receive a HIP registration number which must be recorded on your fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate. NOTE: If you purchase your hunting license at the Department’s Bismarck office, through the Department’s website, or over the phone with the toll-free number you can easily get HIP registered. If you participated in the spring snow goose conservation hunt in North Dakota in 2011, you should already be HIP registered. HIP is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program designed to measure the harvest of migratory birds for management purposes. HIP certification is required in each state in which you hunt migratory birds.
Wanton Waste
No person shall kill, cripple, waste, destroy, spoil or abandon the edible flesh of any migratory game bird or upland game without making a reasonable effort to retrieve the bird/animal, and retain it in his/her actual custody, at the place where taken and between that place and either (a) his or her personal permanent residence; (b) taxidermist; or (c) a common carrier. Edible flesh means the breast meat of any game bird or the hind legs and lower back of a squirrel.