Guide to Hunting Lotteries

Hunter Education Requirements

If you were born after 1961, to hunt in North Dakota you must have a:

• hunter education certificate or
• apprentice hunting license.

(Exceptions)

Residency Requirements

Moose, elk, pronghorn, spring turkey, and the first fall turkey lottery are all open only to North Dakota residents.

Residency rules can be found here.

Unit Selection

1) Review the appropriate license availability page for the number of licenses available in each unit.

2) Review last year’s lottery success statistics to assess the difficulty of getting your first choice in a particular unit.

Bonus Points

First lotteries for deer gun, muzzleloader deer, pronghorn, swan, and wild turkey are “weighted” lotteries. You accrue bonus points each time you apply are not drawn for your first choice. These points give you a better chance of getting drawn the next year.

More information on bonus points can be found here.

When to Apply: Approximate dates for lotteries can be found here.

How to Apply: You can apply for lotteries online. For help using the online licensing and lottery system please see our TUTORIALS here.

Application Fees and License Prices: North Dakota Resident | Nonresident

Deadlines: Applications must be in by midnight on the day of the deadline. Deadlines can be found on the species hunting pages.

Lotteries are run and results available anywhere from about 2 weeks to a month after the application deadline depending on the lottery.

After a lottery has been run, applicants will be notified that results are available. This will be done via:

• Email (if the applicant provided an email when applying)
• GovDelivery – text and/or email service that you can sign up for here
• Facebook
• Department website

Where to Hunt

The Department has several resources for finding a place to hunt:

• Where to Hunt webpage
• Map Index
• ArcGIS Explorer Mobile App (works with your smartphone's GPS)
• Geospatial PDF Viewer Avenza Mobile App (for areas with spotty or no cellular coverage)

Tagging: You must tag a harvested animal immediately. Tag it BEFORE you take photos with it. Instructions for properly affixing tags are printed on the back of each tag. (How to Tag a Deer - video)

Regulations: can be found here.