North Dakota Game and Fish Department
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will lift the Tuesday-Wednesday camping restriction on state wildlife management areas for the Labor Day holiday week.
The removal of the restriction will allow overnight camping Sept. 2-3 on those WMAs that otherwise have the two-day restriction in place.
A complete list, including other WMA regulations, is available on the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov.
A new North Dakota law requires all waterfowl hunters, regardless of age, to have a state-issued waterfowl habitat restoration stamp in possession while afield this fall. Waterfowl include ducks, geese, swans, mergansers and coots.
Senate bill 2216 requires every resident and nonresident waterfowl hunter to purchase an electronic waterfowl habitat restoration stamp for $5. Money generated from e-stamp sales is earmarked for the Waterfowl Habitat Improvement Fund, which is aimed at improving and restoring waterfowl habitat and supporting youth hunting programs.
In addition, a federal duck stamp is required for waterfowl hunters 16 and older beginning Sept. 1. The federal electronic duck stamp is valid for the entire waterfowl hunting season. A physical stamp will be mailed in March 2026 to individuals who purchased the e-stamp.
Those interested in buying physical federal duck stamps can purchase them at many U.S. Postal Service offices or the Amplex website, and Amplex should be used for hunters wanting to support conservation by purchasing extra duck stamps.
The federal duck stamp costs $25. An additional $4 processing fee is added.
This year’s stamps are available for electronic purchase through the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov, or license vendors registered with the department’s licensing system.
The fall turkey season is set with 4,310 licenses available to hunters, 235 less than last year.
One of the 21 hunting units has more licenses than last year, eight have fewer licenses and 12 units remain the same.
Unit 21 (Hettinger and Adams counties), which has been closed for several years due to a low turkey population because of a lack of quality habitat, has been extended into units 44 and 06 to allow for more opportunities.
Applicants can apply online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline is Sept. 3.
Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply in the first lottery.
The fall wild turkey season runs from Oct. 11 through Jan. 4, 2026.
North Dakota’s deer bow season opens Aug. 29 at noon and continues through Jan. 4, 2026.
Bowhunters can buy a license online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov, or at vendors linked to the department’s online licensing system.
Hunters should plan accordingly and allow for time to receive their tag in the mail, as the tag will arrive by postal mail and not over the counter while the customer waits. This applies while purchasing a bow license at a license vendor, or at the Game and Fish Department. The bow tag will be mailed the next business day after the license is purchased.
All archery hunters must have a bow tag in possession before hunting.
Hunters can find season information and regulations on the Game and Fish website.
Hunters can purchase additional, concurrent season deer licenses Aug. 20 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, local wildlife clubs and other sponsors will usher youngsters into fall during the annual Youth Outdoor Festival in Minot.
The event is Aug. 28 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 and a free barbeque will be provided.
For more information, contact Game and Fish outreach biologist Greg Gullickson at 701-720-1640.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen Guide for 2025 is available online at the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov.
The guide will feature about 880,000 PLOTS acres. Because PLOTS tracts can be added or removed from the program throughout the year, hunters are encouraged to use the Game and Fish mobile app or other mapping and browser-based applications to locate and identify these tracts. Map sheets are updated weekly on the department’s website.
The PLOTS guide features maps highlighting walk-in areas, identified in the field by inverted triangular yellow signs, as well as other public lands.
To maximize the use of hunter dollars, fewer signs will be placed on PLOTS tracts in the future. The cost savings will be directed to the addition of more habitat and access.
The free printed PLOTS guides will be available in late August at most license vendors and other locations throughout the state.
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.
North Dakota’s pronghorn lottery has been held and all 1,305 licenses were issued.
In total, 16,488 applications were received, including 837 gratis applications.
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 $10 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. In addition, all early Canada goose hunters need a waterfowl habitat restoration stamp. 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.
Early Canada goose regulations can be found in the small game, waterfowl and furbearer proclamation and hunting regulations on the Game and Fish website. Printed guides will be at vendors by late August.
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.
Hunters applying for a 2025 swan license can 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 $50. The application deadline is Aug. 20.
The statewide tundra swan hunting season opens Oct. 4. A total of 2,200 licenses are available. Successful applicants will receive a tag to take one swan during the season. Since swans are classified as waterfowl, nonresidents may hunt them only during the period their nonresident waterfowl licenses are valid.
All swan hunters, regardless of age, are required to have a general game and habitat license, and a waterfowl habitat restoration stamp. In addition, nonresidents must have a waterfowl license, and residents 16 and older need a small game or combination license.
The deadline to apply for the 2025 pronghorn hunting season is Aug. 6.
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.
North Dakota’s 2025 small game, waterfowl and furbearer regulations are set, with some noteworthy changes from last year.
These changes include:
In addition to these changes for 2025, in 2026 the resident-only waterfowl dates will increase from the first seven days to the first nine days.
Hunters and trappers can find upland game, migratory game bird and furbearer/trapping regulations, on the Game and Fish website. Printed guides will be available at vendor locations in mid-August.