North Dakota Hunting Seasons

(Season dates, upcoming events, etc.)

Season Dates

Tentative 2025-26 Season Start Dates

The following is a listing of North Dakota Hunting Seasons (alphabetical by species). Note: Species that have youth seasons or split spring/fall seasons will be listed multiple times in the species selection box.

Note: Dates listed as TENTATIVE are subject to change until their proclamation has been signed.

Note on Selecting Date Ranges

Be sure to select the correct date range as many seasons cross the calendar year.

For example:

The 2023-2024 pheasant season dates were 10/07/2023-01/07/2024.

Season Date

Game Species

Species Badger
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Badger	Regular - Day hunting, traps	Statewide	Yes	Wed, 04/01/2020	Wed, 03/31/2021	Finalized
Badger	Regular - Cable Devices	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized

Species Beaver
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status
Beaver	Regular - Firearms, traps, underwater cable devices, archery equipment	Statewide	Yes	Wed, 04/01/2020	Wed, 03/31/2021	Finalized
Beaver	Regular - Cable devices on land	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized
Beaver	Regular - Cable devices on land within 50 feet of water	Statewide	No	Tue, 03/16/2021	Mon, 05/10/2021	Finalized

Species Bighorn Sheep
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Bighorn Sheep	Regular	UNITS B1, B3, B4	No	Fri, 10/30/2020	Thu, 12/31/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized

Species Bobcat
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Bobcat	Regular - Firearms, Traps, Archery Equipment	Open area only	No	Sat, 11/07/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized
Bobcat	Regular - Cable Devices, Pursue with Dogs	Open area only	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized

Species Canada Geese
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status
Canada Geese	Regular - Resident	Missouri River Zone	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Fri, 01/01/2021	Finalized
Canada Geese	Regular - Resident	Western Zone	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Thu, 12/24/2020	Finalized
Canada Geese	Regular - Resident	Eastern Zone	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Sat, 12/19/2020	Finalized
Canada Geese	Regular - Nonresident	Eastern Zone	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Sat, 12/19/2020	Finalized
Canada Geese	Regular - Nonresident	Missouri River Zone	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Fri, 01/01/2021	Finalized
Canada Geese	Regular - Nonresident	Western Zone	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Thu, 12/24/2020	Finalized

Species Coyote
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status
Coyote	Regular - Day hunting, traps	Statewide	Yes	Wed, 04/01/2020	Wed, 03/31/2021	Finalized
Coyote	Regular - Night hunting	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized
Coyote	Regular - Cable devices	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized

Species Crow
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Crow	Spring - Regular	Statewide	No	Sat, 03/14/2020	Sun, 04/26/2020	Finalized
Crow	Fall - Regular	Statewide	No	Sat, 08/22/2020	Mon, 11/09/2020	Finalized

Species Doves
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Doves	Regular	Statewide	No	Tue, 09/01/2020	Sun, 11/29/2020	Finalized

Species Ducks and Coots
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status
Ducks and Coots	Veteran/Active Military Personnel Waterfowl Season	Statewide	No	Sat, 09/19/2020	Sun, 09/20/2020	Finalized
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Resident	Low Plains Unit	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Resident	High Plains Unit (1)	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Nonresident	High Plains Unit (1)	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Nonresident	Low Plains Unit	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Resident/Nonresident	High Plains Unit (2)	No	Sat, 12/12/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized

Species Elk
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Elk	Regular	UNIT E5	No	Fri, 09/04/2020	Thu, 12/31/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized
Elk	Bow	UNITS E1E, E1W, E2, E6	No	Fri, 09/04/2020	Sun, 09/27/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized
Elk	Regular	UNITS E3, E4	No	Fri, 09/04/2020	Thu, 12/31/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized
Elk	Regular	UNIT E6	No	Fri, 10/02/2020	Thu, 11/05/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized
Elk	Regular	UNITS E1E, E2	No	Fri, 10/02/2020	Thu, 12/31/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized
Elk	Regular	UNIT E1W	No	Fri, 10/02/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized
Elk	Regular	UNIT E6	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Thu, 12/31/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized

Species Fisher
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Fisher	Regular - Traps, cable devices	Open Area Only	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Sun, 11/29/2020	Finalized

Species Fox (Red and Gray)
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status
Fox (Red and Gray)	Regular - Day hunting, traps	Statewide	Yes	Wed, 04/01/2020	Wed, 03/31/2021	Finalized
Fox (Red and Gray)	Regular - Night hunting	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized
Fox (Red and Gray)	Regular - Cable devices	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized

Species Hungarian Partridge
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Hungarian Partridge	Regular	Statewide	No	Sat, 09/12/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized

Species Light Geese
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Light Geese	Regular - Resident	Statewide	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Fri, 01/01/2021	Finalized
Light Geese	Regular - Nonresident	Statewide	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Fri, 01/01/2021	Finalized

Species Mergansers
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status
Mergansers	Regular - Resident	Low Plains Unit	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
Mergansers	Regular - Resident	High Plains Unit (1)	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
Mergansers	Regular - Nonresident	High Plains Unit (1)	No	Mon, 09/28/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
Mergansers	Regular - Nonresident	Low Plains Unit	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
Mergansers	Regular - Resident/Nonresident	High Plains Unit (2)	No	Sat, 12/12/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized

Species Mink
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Mink	Regular - Traps	Statewide	No	Sat, 10/24/2020	Mon, 05/10/2021	Finalized
Mink	Cable Devices, Firearms, Archery Equipment	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 05/10/2021	Finalized

Species Moose
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Moose	Bow	UNITS M5, M6, M8, M9, M10, M11	No	Fri, 09/04/2020	Sun, 09/27/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized
Moose	Regular	UNITS M5, M6, M8, M9, M10, M11	No	Fri, 10/09/2020	Sun, 11/01/2020	Finalized	Wed, 03/25/2020	Finalized

Species Mountain Lion
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status
Mountain Lion	Regular Season	Zone 2	No	Fri, 09/04/2020	Wed, 03/31/2021	Finalized
Mountain Lion	Early season	Zone 1	No	Fri, 09/04/2020	Sun, 11/22/2020	Finalized
Mountain Lion	Late Season	Zone 1	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 01/18/2021	Finalized
Mountain Lion	Conditional Season	Zone 1	No	Sun, 01/24/2021	Wed, 03/31/2021	Finalized

Species Deer, Mule and White-tailed
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Deer, Mule and White-tailed	Bow	Statewide	No	Fri, 09/04/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized
Deer, Mule and White-tailed	Regular	All Units	No	Fri, 11/06/2020	Sun, 11/22/2020	Finalized	Wed, 06/03/2020	Finalized
Deer, Mule and White-tailed	Muzzleloader	Statewide	No	Fri, 11/27/2020	Sun, 12/13/2020	Finalized	Wed, 06/03/2020	Finalized

Species Muskrat
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Muskrat	Regular - Traps	Statewide	No	Sat, 10/24/2020	Mon, 05/10/2021	Finalized
Muskrat	Regular - Cable Devices, Firearms, Archery Equipment	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 05/10/2021	Finalized

Species Pronghorn
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Pronghorn	Bow only	Units 1-A, 1-D, 2-A, 2-B, 3-A, 3-B, 4-A, 4-C, 5-A, 6-A, 7-A, 8-A, 10-A, 11-A, 13-A	No	Fri, 09/04/2020	Sun, 09/27/2020	Finalized
Pronghorn	Gun or Bow	Units 1-A, 1-D, 2-A, 2-B, 3-A, 3-B, 4-A, 4-C, 5-A, 6-A, 7-A, 8-A, 10-A, 11-A, 13-A	No	Fri, 10/02/2020	Sun, 10/18/2020	Finalized	Wed, 08/05/2020	Finalized

Species Raccoon
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Raccoon	Regular - Firearms, traps, underwater cable devices, archery equipment, pursue with dogs	Statewide	Yes	Wed, 04/01/2020	Wed, 03/31/2021	Finalized
Raccoon	Regular - Cable devices on land	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized

Species Ring-necked Pheasants
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Ring-necked Pheasants	Regular (Male Pheasants Only)	Statewide	No	Sat, 10/10/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized

Species Ruffed Grouse
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Ruffed Grouse	Regular	Restricted	No	Sat, 09/12/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized

Species Sandhill Crane
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Sandhill Crane	Regular	Unit 1	No	Sat, 09/19/2020	Sun, 11/15/2020	Finalized
Sandhill Crane	Regular	Unit 2	No	Sat, 09/19/2020	Sun, 11/15/2020	Finalized

Species Sharp-tailed Grouse
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Sharp-tailed Grouse	Regular	Statewide (see exception)	No	Sat, 09/12/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized

Species Tree Squirrel
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Tree Squirrel	Regular	Statewide	No	Sat, 09/12/2020	Sun, 02/28/2021	Finalized

Species Tundra Swan
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Tundra Swan	Regular	Statewide	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Fri, 01/01/2021	Finalized	Wed, 08/12/2020	Finalized

Species Turkey
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Turkey	Fall - Regular	All Open Units	No	Sat, 10/10/2020	Sun, 01/03/2021	Finalized	Wed, 09/02/2020	Finalized

Species Weasel
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Weasel	Regular - Traps	Statewide	No	Sat, 10/24/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized
Weasel	Firearms, Cable Devices, Archery Equipment	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized

Species White-fronted Geese
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
White-fronted Geese	Regular - Resident	Statewide	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized
White-fronted Geese	Regular - Nonresident	Statewide	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized

Species Wilson's Snipe
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Wilson's Snipe	Regular	Statewide	No	Sat, 09/12/2020	Sun, 12/06/2020	Finalized

Species Woodcock
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Woodcock	Regular	Statewide	No	Sat, 09/26/2020	Mon, 11/09/2020	Finalized

Species Ring-necked Pheasants (Youth Season)
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Ring-necked Pheasants (Youth Season)	Youth	Statewide	No	Sat, 10/03/2020	Sun, 10/04/2020	Finalized

Species Deer, Mule and White-tailed (Youth Season)
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Deer, Mule and White-tailed (Youth Season)	Youth Season	Statewide	No	Fri, 09/18/2020	Sun, 09/27/2020	Finalized	Wed, 06/03/2020	Finalized

Species Turkey (Youth Spring Season)
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Turkey (Youth Spring Season)	Spring - Youth	All open units	No	Sat, 04/11/2020	Sun, 05/17/2020	Finalized

Species Ducks (Youth Waterfowl Season)
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Ducks (Youth Waterfowl Season)	Youth Waterfowl	Statewide	No	Sat, 09/19/2020	Sun, 09/20/2020	Finalized

Species Light Geese (Spring Conservation Order)
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Light Geese (Spring Conservation Order)	Spring Conservation Order	Statewide	No	Sat, 02/22/2020	Sun, 05/10/2020	Finalized

Species Turkey (Spring Season)
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
Turkey (Spring Season)	Spring Regular	All open units	No	Sat, 04/11/2020	Sun, 05/17/2020	Finalized

Species Canada Geese (Early Season)
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status
Canada Geese (Early Season)	August Management Take/Early September Season	Western Zone	No	Sat, 08/15/2020	Tue, 09/15/2020	Finalized
Canada Geese (Early Season)	August Management Take/Early September Season	Eastern Zone	No	Sat, 08/15/2020	Tue, 09/22/2020	Finalized
Canada Geese (Early Season)	August Management Take/Early September Season	Missouri River Zone	No	Sat, 08/15/2020	Mon, 09/07/2020	Finalized

Species River Otter
Species	Season/Harvest Method	Unit or Area	Open Year-round?	Start Date	End Date	Season Date Status	Lottery App. Deadline	Deadline Status
River Otter	Regular - Traps, cable devices	Statewide	No	Mon, 11/23/2020	Mon, 03/15/2021	Finalized

Badger
Beaver
Bighorn Sheep
Bobcat
Canada Geese
Canada Geese (Early Season)
Coyote
Crow
Deer, Mule and White-tailed
Deer, Mule and White-tailed (Youth Season)
Deer, White-tailed only
Doves
Ducks (Youth Waterfowl Season)
Ducks and Coots
Elk
Fisher
Fishing
Fox (Red and Gray)
Greater Prairie Chicken
Ground Squirrel
Hungarian Partridge
Light Geese
Light Geese (Spring Conservation Order)
Mergansers
Mink
Moose
Mountain Lion
Muskrat
Porcupine
Prairie Dog
Pronghorn
Rabbit
Raccoon
Ring-necked Pheasants
Ring-necked Pheasants (Youth Season)
River Otter
Ruffed Grouse
Sage Grouse
Sandhill Crane
Sharp-tailed Grouse
Skunk
Tree Squirrel
Tundra Swan
Turkey
Turkey (Spring Season)
Turkey (Youth Spring Season)
Weasel
White-fronted Geese
White-fronted Geese - Cloned
Wilson's Snipe
Woodcock