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News Releases

North Dakota Game and Fish Department

North Dakota Game and Fish Department

News Releases

Hunters Encouraged to Have Deer Tested for CWD

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will continue its hunter-harvested surveillance program during the 2026 hunting season by sampling deer for chronic wasting disease from select units in the southwestern portion of the state. 

CWD is a slow-moving brain disease of deer, moose and elk that can cause population-level impacts under high infection rates.

Samples will be tested from deer taken from units 2J1, 3B3, 3C, 3D1, 3D2, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4D, 4E and 4F. Outside of this area, hunters can still have their animal tested by taking it to a Game and Fish district office, deer head collection site or by using a self-sampling kit.

Hunters are encouraged to drop off harvested deer heads at collection locations listed on the department’s website at gf.nd.gov. Fawns and head-shot deer cannot be tested. Hunters wishing to keep the heads can bring them to a Game and Fish district office during business hours to have them sampled.

Self-sampling kits, can be requested on the department’s website or at district offices for hunters who wish to have their deer tested but are unable to drop the head at a collection site. The do-it-yourself kit allows hunters to remove the lymph nodes and ship them to the department’s wildlife health lab for testing.

Results can be expected within four weeks and will be sent to your Game and Fish My Account inbox.

Hunters are also reminded that carcass disposal requirements apply statewide. The entire carcass can be transported outside of the gun unit where it was harvested, but the carcass waste (material left after processing) must be disposed of via landfill or waste management provider. This requirement does not apply to heads dropped at CWD collection sites, or lymph nodes submitted for CWD surveillance. 

More information on CWD is available at the Game and Fish website.

Submit Lower Deer Jaws

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is asking deer hunters to help in collecting lower jaws from their harvested deer this season.  

Biologists can examine tooth replacement and wear to determine the deer’s age. 

This information helps determine the age structure of deer populations in each hunting unit and guides future management.

Hunters interested in having their deer aged can request an envelope with instructions on the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov.

Game and Fish Declares Deer Season Changes due to EHD Outbreak

 State officials announce several conservative strategies in southwestern and south-central North Dakota in response to a recent epizootic hemorrhagic disease outbreak in white-tailed deer to safeguard an already slow-to-rebound population.

“We know how important deer hunting season is to North Dakotans, and we're doing everything we can to make these changes as targeted as possible while protecting the long-term health of our deer herds,” Gov. Armstrong said. “Our deer population is still recovering from the devastating losses in 2021, and this latest outbreak of EHD is another serious setback. Every doe that survives this season gives us a better chance to rebuild the herd. These are difficult decisions, but taking action now is the right thing to do for the long-term future of deer hunting in North Dakota.”

Effective immediately, North Dakota Game and Fish Department announces the following deer season updates:

  • The harvest of antlerless white-tailed deer in deer gun units 3C, 3E1, 3E2 and 3F2 shall be prohibited. This restriction includes all license types (youth, muzzleloader, deer gun, deer bow and gratis). Antlerless white-tailed deer gun licenses for those units are no longer valid and hunters who hold those licenses will automatically be refunded. 
  • Hunters with whitetail licenses (any antlered, any antlerless, antlered whitetail and antlerless whitetail) in units 2H, 2I, 3B3, 3C, 3D1, 3D2, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4D, 4E and 4F or hunters with a muzzleloader license, have the option of turning those licenses in for a refund and restored bonus points or donating the license fee and earning a bonus point, if applicable. Hunters who opt to turn in a license need to do so prior to the deer gun season and indicate which option.  

  The announcement follows reports of an ongoing EHD outbreak in several hunting units. Since early August, Game and Fish staff fielded nearly 160 reports from landowners, hunters and others that tallied nearly 350 mortalities of dead ungulate species, mostly white-tailed deer.

  Hunters are encouraged to view the EHD mortality map on the Game and Fish website before deciding whether or not to turn in a license. Additional units beyond where EHD has been detected so far are eligible for returns to account for any reports that come in between now and the deer gun season. EHD can be inconsistent within a deer gun unit, therefore it may be best to check with local landowners or contacts.

 The last severe EHD outbreak in North Dakota was 2021 and was said to be on par with the worst that wildlife biologists had experienced in terms of EHD attributed mortality. 

“While the number of reports received and mortality observed this year are considerably less than in 2021, it’s concerning, especially given how few deer were on the landscape to start this year compared to then,” said Jeb Williams, Game and Fish director. 

  EHD is a naturally occurring virus spread by biting midges that is often fatal to whitetails, and less commonly to mule deer, pronghorn and elk. EHD is no newcomer to the landscape as Game and Fish officials reported the state’s first documented outbreak in 1962.

For more information on EHD, including a map of these changes, visit the department’s website at gf.nd.gov.

Fall Mule Deer Survey Begins

The state Game and Fish Department’s annual fall aerial mule deer survey is set to begin Oct. 19 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.

Advisory Board Meetings Announced

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department advisory board will host public meetings this fall at eight locations across the state.

These public meetings provide citizens with an opportunity to discuss fish and wildlife issues and ask questions of their district advisors and agency personnel.

Additional details for districts 4 and 6 will be added on the department’s website, gf.nd.gov, as they become available.

View Meeting Schedule 

Order 2027 OUTDOORS Calendars

The 2027 North Dakota OUTDOORS calendar is available for pre-order on the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov.

The calendar features exceptional photography of North Dakota’s wildlife, landscapes and outdoor recreation. It also includes 2027 hunting seasons, lottery application dates, 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 but they also make great holiday or thank-you gifts. 

Youth Pheasant Weekend

North Dakota’s two-day youth pheasant season is Oct. 3-4. 

Legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 and younger can hunt rooster pheasants statewide. An adult of at least 18 years of age must accompany the youth hunter in the field. The adult may not carry a firearm.

The weekend offers a great learning environment for youngsters to hunt pheasants before the masses hit the field the following weekend.

A general game and habitat license is required, and 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. See the North Dakota 2026-27 Hunting and Trapping Guide for additional information.

The Duck Factory

As waterfowl season approaches, the perfect read for the duck hunter in your life is North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s “The Duck Factory.”

“The Duck Factory” tells the fascinating story of encounters between ducks and people in the heart of the Prairie Pothole Region. The book describes the colorful and contentious history of waterfowl and waterfowl management in North Dakota, complete with stories of the people who hunt them, protect them, study them, enjoy them and work to guarantee their continued importance in North Dakota.

The book can be purchased online at gf.nd.gov/shop for $24.99.

2026 Waterfowl Season

North Dakota’s waterfowl season opens for residents Sept. 26, while nonresidents may begin hunting waterfowl Oct. 5.

The season for swans opens Oct. 3 for residents and Oct. 5 for nonresidents who have a swan license.

Shooting hours for all geese are a half hour before sunrise to 2 p.m. each day.

Starting Sept. 26 through Nov. 28 shooting hours for sandhill crane and geese will be a half hour before sunrise to sunset on Saturdays and Wednesdays. Beginning Nov. 29, all day goose hunting is also allowed 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. 

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 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.

Hunters should refer to the North Dakota 2026-27 hunting regulations for more details on the waterfowl season.

Watch the waterfowl season webcast with Game and Fish migratory game bird supervisor John Palarski.

Waterfowl Hunters Reminded to Clean, Drain, Dry

The risk of aquatic nuisance species doesn’t end with summer. Waterfowl hunters should do their part this season in preventing the spread of ANS into or within North Dakota waters.

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.

Hunters are also 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.

For more ANS information, including regulations, or to purchase the ANS sticker, visit the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.

Youth, Military Waterfowl Weekend

North Dakota’s two-day youth waterfowl season is Sept. 19-20. In addition, the special veteran and active military personnel waterfowl season is set for the same weekend.

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. 18 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. 27, and the regular deer gun season running from Nov. 6-22.

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.