Waterfowl Season Set

North Dakota’s 2020 waterfowl season opens for residents Sept. 26, while nonresidents may begin hunting waterfowl Oct. 3.

The season for swans opens Oct. 3 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, two redheads, two canvasbacks, one scaup and one pintail. Hunters can take two additional blue-winged teal from Sept. 26 through Oct. 11. 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. 19 in the eastern zone, Dec. 24 in the western zone and Jan. 1 in the Missouri River zone. The season for whitefronts closes Dec. 6, while the season on light geese is open through Jan. 1.

Shooting hours for all geese are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m. each day through Oct. 31. Beginning Nov. 1, 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. 28, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays from Nov. 29 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 geese has a daily limit of 50 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. 10-16.

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.

Hunters should refer to the North Dakota 2020-21 Hunting and Trapping Guide for further details on the waterfowl season.