nd.gov - The Official Portal for North Dakota State Government
person My Account  |  logout Logout  |  shopping_cart Cart

News Releases

North Dakota Game and Fish Department

North Dakota Game and Fish Department

News Releases

Spring Turkey Drawing Held, Licenses Remain

The 2025 spring wild turkey lottery and more than 1,400 licenses remain in 10 units. Remaining licenses are issued on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Feb. 26 at 8 a.m. Central time. 

Hunters are allowed two licenses for the spring season.

Licenses remain in unit 06, Adams and Bowman counties; unit 13, Dunn County; unit 19, Grant and Sioux counties and portions of Morton County; unit 25, McHenry County and portions of Pierce and Ward counties; unit 30, portions of Morton County; unit 31, Mountrail County; unit 44, Hettinger and Slope counties; unit 45, Stark County; unit 51, Burke County and portions of Renville, Bottineau and Ward counties; and unit 53, Williams and Divide counties.

Applications must be submitted online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website. Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply.  

CWD Test Results

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department tested 1,456 animals for chronic wasting disease during the 2024 sampling season. Game and Fish confirmed 17 deer tested positive for CWD, 15 of which were taken by hunters and two were clinical deer confirmed through diagnostic examination.  

Positive cases came from units 3A1 (seven mule deer), 3E1 (one mule deer), 3E2 (one mule deer), 3F2 (four mule deer and two whitetails), 3B2 (one mule deer) and 3B3 (one whitetail). CWD was not previously detected in units 3B2 or 3B3.

Sampling efforts fell short of the 10% goal in units where CWD surveillance was concentrated.

Game and Fish will use its 2024 surveillance data to guide CWD management moving forward. Regulations related to CWD are set annually by proclamation.

CWD is a fatal disease of deer, moose and elk that remains on the landscape and can cause long-term population impacts as infection rates climb.

More information about CWD can be found by visiting the department’s website, gf.nd.gov/cwd.

Spring Light Goose Conservation Order

North Dakota’s spring light goose conservation order opens Feb. 15 and continues through May 11.

Residents must have a 2024-25 (valid through March 31) or 2025-26 (required April 1) combination license; or a small game, and general game and habitat license. Resident youth under age 16 only need the general game and habitat license. The 2025-26 license is available for purchase beginning March 15.

Nonresidents need a 2025 spring light goose conservation order license. The cost is $50 and valid statewide. Nonresidents who hunt in spring remain eligible to buy a fall season license. The spring license does not count against the 14-day fall waterfowl hunting season regulation.

In addition, nonresident youth under 16 can purchase a license at the resident fee.

A federal duck stamp is not required for either residents or nonresidents.

Resident and nonresident licenses are available online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.

Hunters must register annually with the Harvest Information Program prior to hunting in each state. The HIP number obtained for North Dakota’s spring conservation order is also valid for North Dakota’s fall hunting season. The number can be obtained online on the Game and Fish website.

The spring conservation order is only open to light geese – snows, blues and Ross’s. Species identification is important because white-fronted and Canada geese travel with light geese. The conservation order is closed to whitefronts, Canada geese, swans and all other migratory birds.

For more information on regulations refer to the 2025 Spring Light Goose Hunting Regulations.

 

Spring Turkey Apps Due

Spring turkey applicants should note the deadline to apply is Feb. 12.

Applicants can apply online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.

Spring turkey licenses are available only to North Dakota residents. 

 

Electronic Posting System for Private Land Available

Landowners interested in posting private land electronically for the 2025-26 hunting season can log into My Account on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.

Landowners who have a profile on the Game and Fish Department’s mobile application have an option this year to communicate with hunters using their cellphone app. A link will be available for hunters to send a request to the individual posting the land.

The deadline to digitally post land is July 1, which enables Game and Fish to produce print material and digital content prior to hunting seasons that begin in August.

Landowners who enrolled land electronically last year can renew, add or modify posting designations during the enrollment period. Others posting for the first time might need to create a profile. To post land, proceed to the “Land Parcels/Electronic Posting” section at the bottom of the page and click “Search/Renew Land parcels.” The electronic posting system is linked to land descriptions based on county tax parcel information.

The Game and Fish website has complete instructions for landowners, along with frequently asked questions for both landowners and hunters. 

 

Game and Fish Seeks Contractors for Work on Private Lands

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department encourages businesses to add their names to a list of available contractors to perform habitat work on Private Land Open To Sportsmen program lands across the state.

PLOTS is an agreement between the department and private landowners to open their lands to walk-in hunting. The department also encourages private landowners to establish or enhance habitat on PLOTS land with grass plantings, food plots, and so on. However, if a landowner does not have the necessary equipment for the work, a contractor is usually needed.  

There is a shortage of contractors, or equipment, to perform habitat work in some parts of the state. The bulk of the habitat work is planting native and introduced grasses, which requires a tractor, operator and a grass drill. Other work may include spraying, food plots, tree removal, prescribed burning, and construction of grazing infrastructure (fence/water).

Contractors or businesses interested in being added to the list can enter their information online or call 701-328-6265. This is not a guarantee for work, but as projects come about the department will refer landowners to the list of available contractors. 

Habitat and Hunting Access Summit Recording Available

Landowners, hunters, lawmakers, wildlife managers and others gathered in mid-December in Bismarck to discuss the importance of wildlife habitat on the landscape and providing access to hunters across the state.

Approximately 200 people attended the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Habitat and Hunting Access Summit where the evening opened with remarks from Gov. Kelly Armstrong on the importance of hunting to the state’s economy, workforce, but most importantly to North Dakota’s way of life.

“Every single time someone puts their gun away and says they’re done hunting because they can’t find anywhere to shoot a rooster, or just to have an opportunity to shoot a couple ducks, that means the likelihood of their kid hunting is almost zero,” Armstrong said. “And that’s really something that we should work on as landowners, as a government, as sportsmen … we should do everything we can to make sure that happens as few times as possible.”

And there are ways in which we can do this, Armstrong added, and there are ways in which we can have these conversations.

“But none of it’s going to happen overnight. But we have to remember that if we don’t pass this on to the next generation, it will die out,” he said. “It’s too big a part of the fabric of North Dakota to let that happen.” 

Department staff gave presentations on the status of habitat and wildlife populations in the state, followed by moderated panel discussions addressing questions that were submitted by attendees. 

The summit was hopefully only the beginning of what will be further conversations, initiatives and collaboration to address this very important topic to our state.

The summit was recorded.

 

Take Someone New Ice Fishing

To encourage greater participation in ice fishing, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is again running the Take Someone New Ice Fishing Challenge from Dec. 16 through Mar. 31, 2025.

Invite somebody new along who has never been ice fishing and log your story here for a chance to a win a fish house donated by Runnings. One random winner will be chosen. 

All other winter fishing regulations apply.