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.
Waterfowl and ANS
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 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.
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.
Sandhill Crane Season
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.
Upland Game Brood Survey
North Dakota’s roadside surveys conducted in late July and August indicate pheasant numbers are relatively the same as last year, while gray partridge and sharp-tailed grouse numbers were down.
Total pheasants observed (91.6 per 100 miles) are down 3% from last year and broods (11.4) per 100 miles are down 1%. The average brood size (5.1) is down 6%. The statewide number of pheasants observed per 100 miles is 48% above the 10-year average. The final summary is based on 285 survey runs made along 100 brood routes across North Dakota.
Observers in the northwest counted 14.7 broods and 115 pheasants per 100 miles, down from 20.8 broods and 164 pheasants in 2024. Average brood size was 4.3 chicks.
Results from the southeast showed 9.6 broods and 73 pheasants per 100 miles, up from 7.9 broods and 57 pheasants in 2024. Average brood size was 4.7 chicks.
Statistics from southwestern North Dakota indicated 14.8 broods and 125 pheasants per 100 miles, up from 13.8 broods and 119 pheasants in 2024. Average brood size was 5.8 chicks.
The northeast district, generally containing secondary pheasant habitat with lower pheasant numbers compared to the rest of the state, showed 4.9 broods and 37 pheasants per 100 miles, compared to 4.3 broods and 37 pheasants last year. Average brood size was 4.4 chicks.
Sharptails were down 38% statewide (12 sharptails per 100 miles), and 30% below the 10-year average. Brood survey results showed 2.1 broods per 100 miles and an average brood size of 4.4.
Partridge observed per 100 miles were down 26% (16 partridge per 100 miles). Observers recorded 1.8 broods per 100 miles, and 8.1 chicks per brood.
The grouse and partridge seasons open Sept. 13 and continue through Jan. 4, 2026.
The pheasant season opens Oct. 11 and continues through Jan. 4, 2026. The two-day youth pheasant hunting weekend, when legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 and younger can hunt statewide, is set for Oct. 4-5.
Remaining Fall Turkey Licenses Available Sept. 17
The fall wild turkey lottery has been held and more than 1,200 licenses remain in 10 units.
Beginning Sept. 17 at 8 a.m. Central time, all remaining licenses will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Hunters are allowed a maximum of five licenses for the fall season.
The fall turkey season runs Oct. 11 – Jan. 4, 2026.
Licenses remain for the following units: Unit 04, portions of Billings and Golden Valley counties, (39); Unit 13, Dunn County, (619); Unit 19, Grant and Sioux counties and portions of Morton County, (12); Unit 25, McHenry County and portions of Pierce and Ward counties, (290); Unit 30, Morton County, (83); Unit 31, Mountrail County, (11); Unit 44, Hettinger County and Slope County, (25); Unit 45, Stark County, (51); Unit 47, Eddy, Foster, Kidder, Sheridan, Stutsman and Wells counties, (11); and Unit 51, Burke County, Renville County and a portion of Ward County, (89).
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.
Eight Bighorn Sheep Licenses
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department allocated eight bighorn sheep licenses for the 2025 hunting season, one more than last year.
One license was issued in unit B1, one in B2, one in B3, three in B4 and one in B5. In addition, one license, as authorized under North Dakota Century Code, was auctioned in March by the Midwest Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation, from which all proceeds are used to enhance bighorn sheep management in North Dakota.
In total, 21,221 applicants applied for bighorn sheep. Successful applicants have been notified.
Prospective hunters were required to apply for a bighorn license earlier this year on the bighorn sheep, moose and elk application.
Overnight Camping Restriction Lifted for Holiday
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.
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.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department