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Youth Pheasant Weekend

North Dakota’s two-day youth pheasant season Oct. 2-3 is a great opportunity to introduce a new hunter to the outdoors with limited competition and hopefully milder weather.

That’s when legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 and younger can hunt rooster pheasants statewide. An adult at least 18 must accompany the youth hunter in the field. The adult may not carry a firearm.

Resident youth hunters 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.

Hunters 12 and older need to have passed a certified hunter education course or obtain an apprentice hunter validation, which allows an individual to hunt small game for one license year without completing hunter education.

Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. The daily bag limit and all other regulations for the regular pheasant season apply. See the North Dakota 2021-22 Hunting and Trapping Guide for additional information.

And if you’re successful, visit the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Wild Game and Fish Recipes webpage at gf.nd.gov/recipes for ideas on taking your bounty from field to fork.