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

News Releases

North Dakota Game and Fish Department

North Dakota Game and Fish Department

News Releases

Youth, Military Waterfowl Weekend

Introduce a youngster to duck hunting during North Dakota’s two-day youth waterfowl weekend Sept. 16-17. 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.

Veterans and members of the Armed Forces on active duty who possess a resident hunting license, including National Guard and Reserves on active duty (other than for training), and resident and nonresident youth waterfowl hunters 15 and younger, may hunt ducks, geese, coots and mergansers statewide.

The daily bag limit and species restrictions are the same as for regular duck and goose seasons. However, the additional two blue-winged teal allowed during the first 16 days of the regular season are not allowed during this weekend.

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.

Six Bighorn Sheep Licenses

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department allocated six bighorn sheep licenses for the 2023 hunting season, one more than last year.

One license was issued in unit B1, one in B3, two in B4 and one in B5. In addition, one license, as authorized under North Dakota Century Code, was auctioned in May by the Midwest Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation, from which all proceeds are used to enhance bighorn sheep management in North Dakota.

A record 20,290 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.

Remaining Fall Turkey Licenses Available Sept. 20

The fall wild turkey lottery has been held and more than 1,400 licenses remain in 13 units. Unsuccessful applicants will have a refund issued to their credit card.

Beginning at 8 a.m. Central time on Sept. 20, 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. 

Resident and nonresident hunters must purchase a license online at the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. 

The fall turkey season runs Oct. 14 – Jan. 7, 2024. 

Licenses remain for the following units: Unit 03, Benson and Ramsey counties and a portion of Pierce County, (20); Unit 04, portions of Billings and Golden Valley counties, (82); Unit 13, Dunn County, (604); Unit 19, Grant and Sioux counties and portions of Morton County, (53); Unit 25, McHenry County and portions of Pierce and Ward counties, (304); Unit 27, McKenzie County, (24); Unit 30, portions of Morton County, (132); Unit 31, Mountrail County, (28); Unit 40, Rolette County and portions of Bottineau, Renville and Pierce counties, (15); Unit 44, Slope County, (34); Unit 45, Stark County, (37); Unit 47, Eddy, Foster, Kidder, Sheridan, Stutsman and Wells counties, (35); and Unit 51, Burke County, Renville County and a portion of Ward County, (81).

Game Wardens Association Offers Scholarships

The North Dakota Game Wardens Association is sponsoring scholarships for enrolled higher education students interested in majoring in wildlife law enforcement or a related field.

Applications are available by contacting the North Dakota Game Warden’s Association, ndgamewardens@gmail.com, and must be received no later than Oct. 15.

Hunters Be Mindful of Farmers, Ranchers

Hunters should be respectful and cautious as farmers and ranchers are busy with field work this time of year.

North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials said hunters should pull to the side of the road or find an approach when meeting combines, grain trucks or tractors pulling equipment.

In addition, hunters should avoid parking along roadways or field approaches where vehicles could block travel by farm machinery, leave gates as you found them, collect trash and empty shells, and not clean game in the road ditch or approach.

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.

Fall Turkey Deadline

North Dakota’s fall turkey application deadline is Sept. 6.

Fall turkey hunters, including gratis applicants, can submit an online application through the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov.

Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply. Nonresidents can apply for remaining fall turkey licenses following the first lottery.

New Upland Bird Hunting Course Available

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department was recently a partner on a Multistate Conservation Grant project to create a comprehensive online course on how to hunt upland birds.

In this free course, five stories of different upland hunters and landscapes are featured, including North Dakota. It also covers the basics of equipment, technique, safety and more with companion video modules.

The course is available on the Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever website.

CWD Testing During Deer Bow, Elk, Moose Seasons

With the deer bow, elk, and moose seasons opening soon, North Dakota Game and Fish Department officials remind hunters of the options for getting animals tested for chronic wasting disease.

Hunters can drop off heads at any of the following locations:

View interactive map

  • Bismarck – North Dakota Game and Fish Department wildlife health lab, 3001 East Main Ave.
  • Devils Lake – North Dakota Game and Fish Department district office, 7928 45th St NE.
  • Dickinson – North Dakota Game and Fish Department district office, 225 30th Ave SW.
  • Fargo – North Dakota Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, 4035 19th Ave N.
  • Grand Forks – Grand Forks County Sheriff, 5205 Gateway Dr.
  • Jamestown – North Dakota Game and Fish Department district office, 3320 E Lakeside Road.
  • Kenmare – Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge, 42000 520th St NW.
  • Lonetree – North Dakota Game and Fish Department district office, 1851 23rd Ave NE (Available only during office hours, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday-Friday).
  • Lamoure – Community Volunteer EMS of Lamoure, 300 4th St SE.
  • Minot – State Fairgrounds, 2005 E Burdick Expy (map).
  • Napoleon – Transportation Department, 59 Broadway St.
  • Riverdale – North Dakota Game and Fish Department district office, 406 Dakota Ave.
  • Wahpeton – Transportation Department, 7930 180th Ave SE.
  • Williston – North Dakota Game and Fish Department district office, 5303 Front St W.

Self-sampling kits are also available to hunters who wish to have their animal tested but are unable to drop the head off at a collection site. The kits allow hunters to remove the lymph nodes and ship them to the Department's wildlife health lab for testing. A sampling kit request form can be found on the Department’s website, gf.nd.gov.

Also note, whole carcasses of animals harvested in North Dakota must remain in the deer unit or may be transported anywhere in the state, but carcass waste must be disposed of via landfill or waste management provider. This does not apply to heads dropped at CWD collection sites or lymph nodes submitted for CWD surveillance. Taxidermists and game processors can also accept intact carcasses of animals harvested within North Dakota but assume responsibility for disposal.

Upland, Youth Pheasant Seasons on the Horizon

With September in our sights, hunting seasons for upland game in North Dakota open soon.

The season opens for sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge and ruffed grouse on Sept. 9. Following that, the two-day youth pheasant season for legally licensed residents and nonresidents ages 15 and younger opens Sept. 30.

Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Sharptails, ruffed grouse and partridge each have a daily limit of three and a possession limit of 12. The daily limit for the youth pheasant season is also three birds, but the possession limit is six.

All hunters, regardless of age, must have a general game and habitat license. In addition, hunters 16 and older need a small game license.

Grouse and partridge hunters should refer to North Dakota OUTDOORS August-September issue for an outlook on the fall hunting season, available online by the season opener on the state Game and Fish Department’s website gf.nd.gov.

Hunters are urged to keep up with the daily rural fire danger index, issued by the National Weather Service, to alert the public to conditions that may be conducive to accidental starting or spread of fires. County governments also have the authority to adopt penalties for violations of county restrictions related to burning bans. These restrictions apply regardless of the daily fire danger index and remain in place until each county’s commission rescinds the ban. Information on current fire danger indexes is available through ndresponse.gov.

For other season information and regulations, hunters should consult the North Dakota 2023-24 Hunting and Trapping Guide. 

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. 5-6 on those WMAs that otherwise have the two-day restriction in place.

A complete list, including other WMA regulations, is available on the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov.

Deer Archery Season

North Dakota’s deer bow season opens Sept. 1 at noon and continues through Jan. 7, 2024.

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’s main office in Bismarck. 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.

Hunters should refer to the 2023 deer hunting guide for season information and regulations.