2009 Early Canada Goose Hunting Guide

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.

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.

The possession or use of shot other than federally approved nontoxic shot is prohibited while hunting ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, tundra swans, mergansers, snipe and coot statewide.

Nontoxic shot is required for all hunting on all 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 non-toxic shot requirements for migratory birds as listed above.

The possession or use of shot other than nontoxic shot in a restricted area or while hunting those species listed above is a noncriminal violation carrying a $100 penalty. For additional information on nontoxic shot, contact the Department's Bismarck office.

All migratory game bird hunters must register annually with the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program in each state you hunt 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 you should have already been HIP registered.) HIP is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service program designed to measure the harvest of migratory birds for management purposes.