North Dakota Game and Fish Department
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The deadline to apply for the 2023 pronghorn hunting season is Aug. 9.
Applicants can apply online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply.
Migratory bird hunters of all ages need to register with the Harvest Information Program prior to hunting ducks, geese, swans, mergansers, coots, cranes, snipe, doves and woodcock. Hunters must register in each state they are licensed to hunt.
Hunters can HIP certify when purchasing a license by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Those who registered to hunt during the spring light goose conservation order in North Dakota do not have to register with HIP again, as it is required only once per year.
HIP registration is a cooperative program designed to determine a sample of hunters to measure harvest of migratory birds for management purposes.
North Dakota’s 2023 small game, waterfowl and furbearer regulations are set, and most season structures are similar to last year.
Noteworthy items include:
Hunters and trappers can find the North Dakota 2023-24 Hunting and Trapping Guide, which includes upland game, migratory game bird and furbearer/trapping regulations and other information, on the Game and Fish website. Printed guides will be available at vendor locations in mid-August.
For a complete listing of opening and closing dates, and daily and possession limits, refer to the table on pages 4-5 of the guide.
