North Dakota’s two-day youth pheasant season is Sept. 29-30. Legally licensed residents and nonresidents ages 15 and younger may hunt roosters statewide.
Resident youth hunters, regardless of age, must possess a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate and general game and habitat license. Nonresident youth hunters from states that provide a reciprocal licensing agreement for North Dakota residents qualify for North Dakota resident licenses. Otherwise, nonresident youth hunters must purchase a nonresident small game license.
Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Youth ages 12 and older need to have passed a certified hunter education course. The daily bag limit and all other regulations for the regular pheasant season apply.
An adult at least 18 years of age must accompany the youth hunter in the field. The adult may not carry a firearm.
Waterfowl hunters are reminded to do their part in preventing the spread of aquatic nuisance species into or within North Dakota.
Waterfowl hunters must remove plants and plant fragments from decoys, strings and anchors; remove plants 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.
In addition, drain plugs on boats must remain pulled when a boat is in transit away from a water body.
More ANS information, including regulations, is available by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Missouri River Boating Rule Rescinded
Missouri River Boating Rule Rescinded
Contact: ND Game and Fish Enforcement Office, 701-328-6604
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has rescinded a special boating rule on the Missouri River in the Bismarck-Mandan area, effective immediately.
The Game and Fish Department implemented the rule in late June, requiring that boats on the river travel at idle-speed-only within 200 feet of a shoreline, because of abnormally high river levels.
The river area affected by the rule started at the point where the power lines cross the Missouri south of the Steckel boat ramp north of Bismarck, down to the McLean Bottoms boat ramp south of Bismarck. The stretch of the Heart River from its mouth upstream to the ND Highway 6 bridge was also included.
Hunting from Duck Boats Requires Safety
Waterfowlers hunting from boats are encouraged to wear properly-fitted life jackets while on the water.
Hunting jackets with life jackets already built in are light and comfortable to wear. In addition, wearing a life jacket will not only keep the overboard hunter afloat, but also slows the loss of critical body heat caused by exposure to cold water.
Capsizing and falling overboard from small boats are the most common types of fatal boating accidents for hunters.
Eight people have drowned in state waters since 1998 while hunting from a boat, and none were wearing life jackets.
Fall Turkey Lottery Held, Licenses Remain
The 2018 fall wild turkey lottery has been held and more than 900 licenses remain in seven units. Unsuccessful applicants who applied online will have a refund issued directly to their credit card.
Beginning at 8 a.m. Central Time on Sept. 26, 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 apply online beginning Sept. 26 at the Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
The fall turkey season runs from Oct. 13 - Jan. 6, 2019.
Licenses remain for the following units: Unit 13, Dunn County, 292 licenses; Unit 19, Grant County, Sioux County and portions of Morton County, 62; Unit 25, McHenry County and portions of Pierce and Ward counties, 277; Unit 30, a portion of Morton County, 133; Unit 31, Mountrail County, 40; Unit 45, Stark County, 69; and Unit 51, Burke County and portions of Renville, Bottineau and Ward counties, 101.
Governor Proclaims Sept. 22 Hunting and Fishing Day
Gov. Doug Burgum has signed a proclamation establishing Sept. 22 as Hunting and Fishing Day in North Dakota.
Gov. Burgum’s proclamation highlights the rich and storied tradition of hunting and angling in North Dakota, and that hunters and anglers, through their license fees, have helped fund state efforts to provide for healthy and sustainable natural resources.
The proclamation highlights a “user pays – public benefits” approach – widely recognized as the most successful model of fish and wildlife management in the world – which shows that last year North Dakota's 100,000 resident hunters and 150,000 resident anglers generated more than $30 million to support the conservation efforts of the Game and Fish Department.
"We do not get any general tax dollars from the state of North Dakota," said Scott Peterson, North Dakota Game and Fish Department deputy director, "all of our income that we use is self-generated."
North Dakota’s Hunting and Fishing Day coincides with National Hunting and Fishing Day, an event held for more than 40 years to highlight the role hunters and anglers play in supporting conservation and scientific wildlife management.
Sportsman Against Hunger Accepting Goose Meat
Waterfowl hunters are reminded that the North Dakota Community Action Sportsmen Against Hunger program is again accepting donations of goose meat taken through the regular waterfowl season. This includes Canada geese taken through the August Management Take/Early September Canada goose season, and Canada and light (snow, blue and Ross's) goose donations during the regular waterfowl season.
Similar to last year, hunters can bring in their goose meat to participating processors after removing the breast meat from the birds at home. Or, hunters may also deliver geese directly from the field to a processor, but identification such as the wing or head must remain attached to the bird until in possession of the processor.
For a list of participating processors in North Dakota, visit the North Dakota Community Action website at capnd.org.
Breast meat brought from home without a wing or head attached to the meat must be accompanied by written information that includes the hunter’s name, address, signature, hunting license number, date taken and species and number taken. Information forms are also available at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website.
Hunters will also fill out a brief form so that processors can keep a record on donated goose meat, the same as is required for processing any other type of wild game meat.
Since no goose carcasses or feathers are allowed inside processing facilities, hunters must be able to ensure proper disposal and clean-up of carcasses.
Game and Fish Allocates Three Bighorn Sheep Licenses
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is allocating three bighorn sheep licenses for the 2018 hunting season, two fewer than 2017.
One license is available in Unit B3 and one in B4. Also, one license, as authorized under North Dakota Century Code, was auctioned in spring by the Midwest Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation, from which all proceeds are used to enhance bighorn sheep management in North Dakota.
Similar to last year, Game and Fish announced in February that the status of the bighorn sheep hunting season would be determined after completion of the summer population survey. Now that the survey is complete, the bighorn lottery was held and successful applicants were notified.
Prospective hunters were required to apply for a bighorn license earlier this year on the bighorn sheep, moose and elk application.
The number of once-in-a-lifetime licenses allotted to hunters is based on data collected from the Department’s recently completed summer population survey. Results of the survey showed a total of 77 rams, 12 fewer than 2017 and 27 fewer than 2016.
Brett Wiedmann, Game and Fish big game management biologist in Dickinson, said the 13 percent decline in ram numbers is likely the result of an ongoing bacterial pneumonia outbreak that was first detected in 2014.
“In addition, 2017 had the second lowest lamb recruitment on record so only four yearling rams were observed,” Wiedmann said. “Encouragingly, no adult animals within the herds that were exposed to disease in 2014 showed clinical signs of pneumonia, and the summer lamb count in those herds improved.”
Youth Waterfowl Hunting Trailer Available
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and Ducks Unlimited co-sponsor a trailer full of waterfowl hunting gear that is available to families with young hunters.
Purchased by the Game and Fish Department’s Encouraging Tomorrow’s Hunters grant program, the trailer is designed for families who don’t have the appropriate gear for their young hunters to hunt waterfowl. The equipment is donated by Avery Outdoors.
Use of the trailer is free, and it is equipped with goose and duck decoys for field hunting, and two bags of floating duck decoys and marsh seats for hunting a wetland.
For more information, or to reserve equipment, contact the Ducks Unlimited office in Bismarck at 701-355-3500.
Sandhill Crane Season Opens Sept. 15
North Dakota’s sandhill crane season opens Sept. 15 and runs through Nov. 11.
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 one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m. each day through Nov. 3. Beginning Nov. 4, shooting hours are extended until 2 p.m. each day.
Hunters are urged to use caution and identify birds to prevent shooting at 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 Department’s website, or call 888-634-4798.
Whooping Crane Migration
Whooping cranes are in the midst of their fall migration and sightings will increase as they make their way into and through North Dakota over the next several weeks. Anyone seeing these endangered birds as they move through the state is asked to report sightings so the birds can be tracked.
The whooping cranes that do make their way through North Dakota each fall are part of a population of about 500 birds that are on their way from nesting grounds at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada to wintering grounds at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas, a distance of about 2,500 miles.
Whoopers stand about five feet tall and have a wingspan of about seven feet from tip to tip. They are bright white with black wing tips, which are visible only when the wings are outspread. In flight they extend their long necks straight forward, while their long, slender legs extend out behind the tail. Whooping cranes typically migrate singly, or in groups of 2-3 birds, and may be associated with sandhill cranes.
Other white birds such as snow geese, swans and egrets are often mistaken for whooping cranes. The most common misidentification is pelicans, because their wingspan is similar and they tuck their pouch in flight, leaving a silhouette similar to a crane when viewed from below.
Anyone sighting whoopers should not disturb them, but record the date, time, location, and the birds' activity. Observers should also look closely for and report colored bands which may occur on one or both legs. Whooping cranes have been marked with colored leg bands to help determine their identity.
Whooping crane sightings should be reported to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices at Lostwood, 701-848-2466, or Long Lake, 701-387-4397, national wildlife refuges; the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, 701-328-6300, or to local game wardens across the state. Reports help biologists locate important whooping crane habitat areas, monitor marked birds, determine survival and population numbers, and identify times and migration routes.
2018 Waterfowl Season Set
North Dakota’s 2018 waterfowl season opens for North Dakota residents Sept. 22, while nonresidents may begin hunting waterfowl Sept. 29.
The season for swans opens Sept. 29 for both residents and nonresidents who have purchased a swan license.
Hunters may take six ducks per day with the following restrictions: five mallards of which two may be hens, three wood ducks, three scaup, two redheads, two canvasbacks and two pintails. Hunters can take an additional two blue-winged teal from Sept. 22 through Oct. 7. The daily limit of five mergansers may include no more than two hooded mergansers. For ducks and mergansers, the possession limit is three times the daily limit.
The hunting season for Canada geese will close Dec. 16 in the eastern zone, Dec. 21 in the western zone and Dec. 28 in the Missouri River zone. The season for whitefronts closes Dec. 2, while the season on light geese is open through Dec. 30.
Shooting hours for all geese are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m. each day through Nov. 3. Beginning Nov. 4, shooting hours are extended until 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 Nov. 21, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays from Nov. 22 through the end of each season.
The bag limit for Canada geese during the regular season is eight daily and 24 in possession, except in the Missouri River zone where the limit is five daily and 15 in possession.
The daily limit on whitefronts is three with nine in possession, and light goose is 50 daily, with no possession limit.
In accordance with state law, nonresidents are not allowed to hunt on North Dakota Game and Fish Department wildlife management areas or conservation PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen) areas from Oct. 6-12.
Hunters who do not HIP certify when they buy a North Dakota license, can add it through the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov, or by calling 888-634-4798 and recording the HIP number on their printed license. 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.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department