The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is taking orders for its North Dakota OUTDOORS calendar, the source for all hunting season and application dates for 2026. Along with color photographs of North Dakota’s wildlife and outstanding scenery, it also includes sunrise-sunset times and moon phases.
The calendar is the North Dakota OUTDOORS magazine’s December issue, so current subscribers will automatically receive it in the mail.
Fall Mule Deer Survey Begins
The state Game and Fish Department’s annual fall aerial mule deer survey is set to begin Oct. 13 in western North Dakota. Weather permitting, the survey takes about two weeks to complete.
During the survey period, people could notice low-flying small airplanes over some parts of the badlands.
Game and Fish biologists have completed aerial surveys of the same 24 badlands study areas since the 1950s. The survey is used to collect mule deer population data for monitoring demographic trends, such as buck-to-doe and fawn-to-doe ratios.
Zebra Mussels Discovered in Smishek Lake
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has confirmed the presence of invasive zebra mussels in Smishek Lake, Burke County, after detecting zebra mussel veligers in routine plankton tow net samples.
Ben Holen, Department aquatic nuisance species coordinator, said subsequent follow-up sampling found additional adult mussels in the lake.
The 195-acre lake is a popular recreation destination located 4.8 miles north of Powers Lake.
Smishek Lake is now considered a Class I ANS infested water. Emergency rules will go into effect immediately to prohibit the movement of water away from the lake, including water for transferring bait. Notices will be posted at lake access sites. With input from partners, the Game and Fish Department is currently evaluating containment and treatment options on Smishek Lake to minimize the spread of zebra mussels in the region.
Zebra mussels are just one of the nonnative aquatic species that threaten our waters and native wildlife. After using any body of water, people must remember to follow North Dakota regulations:
Remove aquatic vegetation before leaving the water access and do not import into North Dakota.
Drain all water before leaving the water access.
Remove drain plugs and devices that hold back water and leave open and out during transport.
Do not import aquatic bait into the state. For Class I ANS infested waters, aquatic bait cannot be transported away from the water. In all other areas, bait must be transported in a container that holds 5 gallons or less. Remember that it is illegal to dump unused bait on shore or into the lake.
All docks, lifts and related equipment must be dried and left out of water for at least 21 days before being placed in another water.
In addition to North Dakota regulations, Game and Fish strongly recommends:
Avoid mooring your watercraft in zebra mussels infested waters.
Clean – remove plants, animals and excessive mud prior to leaving a water access.
Drain – drain all water prior to leaving a water access.
Dry – allow equipment to dry completely before using again or disinfect.
North Dakota’s two-day youth pheasant season Oct. 4-5 is a great opportunity to introduce a new hunter to the outdoors with limited competition.
That’s when legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 and younger can hunt rooster pheasants statewide. An adult at least 18 years of age must accompany the youth hunter in the field. The adult may not carry a firearm.
Hunters 12 and older need to have passed a certified hunter education course or obtain an apprentice hunter validation, which allows an individual to hunt small game for one license year without completing hunter education.
The daily bag limit and all other regulations for the regular pheasant season apply to the youth season. See the small game hunting regulations for additional information.
Hunt for Tomorrow
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department encourages hunters to embrace Hunt for Tomorrow.
Hunt for Tomorrow promotes building relationships with landowners, respecting the land, and doing your part to ensure the future of hunting.
Motorists should watch for deer along roadways this time of year as juvenile animals disperse from their home ranges.
October through early December is the peak period for deer-vehicle accidents. Motorists are advised to slow down and exercise caution after dark to reduce the likelihood of encounters with deer. Most deer-vehicle accidents occur primarily at dawn and dusk when deer are most often moving around.
When you see one deer cross the road, look for a second or third deer to follow. Also, pay attention on roadways posted with Deer Crossing Area caution signs.
Deer-vehicle accidents are at times unavoidable. If an accident does happen, law enforcement authorities do not have to be notified if only the vehicle is damaged. However, if the accident involves personal injury or other property damage, then it must be reported.
In addition, a permit is required before taking possession of a roadkill deer. Permits are free and available from game wardens and local law enforcement.
A few precautions can minimize chances of injury or property damage in a deer-vehicle crash.
Always wear your seat belt.
Don’t swerve or take the ditch to avoid hitting a deer. Try to brake as much as possible and stay on the roadway. Don’t lose control of your vehicle or slam into something else to miss the deer. You risk less injury by hitting the deer.
If you spot deer ahead, slow down immediately and honk.
2025 Waterfowl Season
North Dakota’s waterfowl season opens for residents Sept. 27, while nonresidents may begin hunting waterfowl Oct. 4.
The season for swans opens Oct. 4 for both residents and nonresidents who have purchased a swan license.
Shooting hours for all geese are one-half hour before sunrise to 2 p.m. each day.
Extended shooting hours for all geese are permitted from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset on Saturdays and Wednesdays through the end of each season. Starting Nov. 28, all day hunting is also allowed on Fridays and Sundays through the end of each season.
A waterfowl habitat restoration stamp is required for all waterfowl hunters, regardless of age, and a federal duck stamp is required for hunters 16 and older. 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.
Hunters wanting to support conservation by purchasing extra duck stamps should visit the Amplex website.
Hunters who do not HIP certify when they buy a North Dakota license can add it through the Game and Fish website. Those who registered to hunt North Dakota’s spring light goose season or August Management Take/Early September Canada goose season do not have to register with HIP again, as it is required in each state only once per year.
Waterfowl hunters should do their part in preventing the spread of aquatic nuisance species into or within North Dakota.
Hunters must remove aquatic plants and plant fragments from decoys, strings and anchors; remove aquatic plant seeds and plant fragments from waders and other equipment before leaving hunting areas; remove all water from decoys, boats, motors, trailers and other watercraft; and remove all aquatic plants from boats and trailers before leaving a marsh or lake. In addition, hunters are encouraged to brush their hunting dogs free of mud and seeds.
Cattails and bulrushes may be transported as camouflage on boats. All other aquatic vegetation must be cleaned from boats prior to transportation into or within North Dakota.
Drain plugs on boats must remain pulled when a boat is in transit away from a water body.
In addition, hunters are reminded of a state law that requires motorized watercraft, including motorized duck boats, operated on state waters and not licensed in North Dakota, to display an ANS sticker, including an ANS fee to be paid each calendar year.
North Dakota’s sandhill crane season opens Sept. 20 and runs through Nov. 16.
Limits are three daily and nine in possession in unit 1 (west of U.S. Highway 281), and two daily and six in possession in unit 2 (east of U.S. Highway 281). Shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to 2 p.m. each day, with extended shooting hours to sunset on Saturdays and Wednesdays beginning Sept. 27 through the end of the season.
Hunters are urged to use caution and identify birds to prevent shooting at endangered whooping cranes as they begin their fall migration.
In addition to other licenses required, resident hunters need a $10 crane permit, while nonresidents need a $30 permit. Hunters can buy a license online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Harvest Information Program certification is required. To get HIP certified, access the Game and Fish website.
Youth, Military Waterfowl Weekend
Introduce a youngster to duck hunting during North Dakota’s two-day youth waterfowl season Sept. 20-21. In addition, the special veteran and active military personnel waterfowl season is set for the same weekend.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has a Virtual Duck Hunting Mentor webpage with all the basics, including license requirements, regulations, gear recommendations and tips for finding a place to hunt.
Legally licensed resident and nonresident youth waterfowl hunters 15 and younger, and veterans and members of the Armed Forces on active duty, including members of the National Guard and Reserves on active duty (other than for training), may hunt ducks, geese, coots and mergansers statewide.
All waterfowl hunters must possess a waterfowl habitat restoration electronic stamp.
Resident and qualifying nonresident youth waterfowl hunters must possess a general game and habitat license.
Veterans and members of the Armed Forces must possess a resident hunting license, which includes a general game and habitat license and a small game license.
Hunters 16 and older must also possess a federal waterfowl stamp, and youth 12 and older need to have passed a certified hunter education course.
In addition, all hunters must be Harvest Information Program certified. Hunters who do not HIP certify when they buy a North Dakota license can add it by visiting the state Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov.
Youth Deer Season
Sept. 19 at noon Central time signals the start of a nine-and-a-half-day deer hunting season for licensed youth hunters.
The youth license is valid during the youth deer season that closes Sept. 28, and the regular deer gun season running from Nov. 7-23.
After opening day, hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. Orange clothing is required for youth hunters and mentors.
Each young deer hunter must be under direct supervision of an adult. The adult is prohibited from carrying a firearm or bow while accompanying the youth hunter in the field during the youth season.
Submit Wing Envelopes
Hunters can help in the effort to manage upland game birds in North Dakota by collecting feathers from harvested birds and sending in wing envelopes.
Birds included in the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s upland game wing survey, which has been in practice for decades, are ring-necked pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge, turkeys and ruffed grouse.
Collecting enough pheasant samples is typically never a problem, but securing enough sharptail and partridge feathers can be.
Game and Fish biologists will take as many sharptail and partridge feathers as they can get because the more collected, the better the data. Biologists can determine if birds are male or female, age ratios, survival, nesting success, hatch dates and overall production.
What biologists learn from samples is vital to helping manage North Dakota’s upland game birds.
Instructions for submitting wing data are printed on the envelope.
Hunters interested in receiving wing envelopes should visit the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department