North Dakota Game and Fish Department
The fall turkey season is set with 4,545 licenses available to hunters, 110 more than last year.
Applicants can apply online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline is Sept. 4.
Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply in the first lottery.
The fall wild turkey season runs from Oct. 12 through Jan. 5, 2025.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen Guide for 2024 is now available online at the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov.
The guide will feature about 836,000 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 these 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 1,265 licenses were issued.
In total, 16,572 applications were received, including 813 gratis applications.
A federal duck stamp is required for waterfowl hunters 16 and older beginning Sept. 1. Waterfowl includes ducks, geese, swans, mergansers and coots.
This year’s 2024-25 federal duck stamp is 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.
As a result of the Duck Stamp Modernization Act, the electronic stamp is now valid for the entire waterfowl hunting season. A physical stamp will be mailed in March 2025 to individuals who purchased the e-stamp.
Those interested in buying physical stamps can be purchased 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.
Hunters can purchase additional, concurrent season deer licenses Aug. 14 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.
Migratory bird hunters of all ages need to register with the Harvest Information Program prior to hunting ducks, geese, swans, mergansers, coots, cranes, snipe, doves and woodcock. Hunters must register in each state they are licensed to hunt.
Hunters can HIP certify when purchasing a license by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Those who registered to hunt during the spring light goose conservation order in North Dakota do not have to register with HIP again, as it is required only once per year.
HIP registration is a cooperative program designed to determine a sample of hunters to measure harvest of migratory birds for management purposes.
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. 20 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 $5 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, and the license is valid statewide without counting against the 14-day regular season license. Licenses can be purchased online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Harvest Information Program certification is required. 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.
Beginning Sept. 1 a federal duck stamp for hunters 16 and older is needed. The federal e-stamp is valid through the entire waterfowl hunting season.
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 North Dakota 2024-25 Hunting and Trapping Guide 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.
North Dakota’s 2024 small game, waterfowl and furbearer regulations are set, and most season structures are similar to last year.
Noteworthy items include:
Hunters and trappers can find the North Dakota 2024-25 Hunting and Trapping Guide, which includes upland game, migratory game bird and furbearer/trapping regulations, on the Game and Fish website. Printed guides will be available at vendor locations by late August.
For a complete listing of opening and closing dates, and daily and possession limits, refer to the table on pages 4-5 of the guide.
The deadline to apply for the 2024 pronghorn hunting season is Aug. 7.
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.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing additional elk hunting opportunities on public lands in North Dakota at four national wildlife refuges.
The proposal includes an additional 100,000-plus acres at J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge (58,939 acres), Upper Souris NWR (32,026 acres), Lostwood NWR (27,331 acres) and Des Lacs NWR (14,145 acres).
If the proposal is approved after a 30-day public comment period ending Sept. 3, hunters pursuing elk on these lands must use non-lead ammunition. The USFWS intends to finalize the proposed changes in time for the upcoming 2024-25 hunting season.
The 2024 pronghorn hunting season is set with 1,265 licenses available and all units open.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department big game management supervisor Bruce Stillings said license numbers are up significantly from last year, when the department allocated 420 licenses in eight units.
“Last winter was mild, resulting in higher adult survival and fawn recruitment from 2023,” Stillings said.
The July aerial survey indicated the overall pronghorn population is up 31% from last year. The fawn-to-doe ratio of 50 fawns per 100 does was higher than last year, and the buck-to-doe ratio of 31 bucks per 100 does remains stable and at the population objective.
Each unit will once again have a season that is split into an early bow-only portion, and a later gun/bow season.
The bow-only portion of the season is Aug. 30 (noon) – Sept. 22. Anyone who draws a license can hunt pronghorn with a bow in the unit printed on the license.
From Oct. 4 (noon) – Oct. 20, hunters who still have a valid license can use legal firearms or archery equipment, but must stay in the assigned unit.
Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply for a pronghorn license. Hunters who have accumulated bonus points and choose not to apply this year will not lose their points, but will not earn a point for next year. However, hunters who do not want a license in 2024 have the option to purchase a bonus point on the application.
Applicants can apply online at the Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
The pronghorn license fee is $30 for ages 16 and older, and $10 for those under age 16. Applicants for a pronghorn lottery license must be at least 12 on or before Dec. 31. The application deadline is Aug. 7.
Hunters applying for a 2024 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 $30. The application deadline is Aug. 21.
The statewide tundra swan hunting season opens Sept. 28. 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 license is valid.
All swan hunters, regardless of age, are required to have a general game and habitat license when applying. In addition, nonresidents must have a waterfowl license, and residents 16 and older need a small game or combination license.