North Dakota Game and Fish Department
Unoccupied fish houses must be removed from all waters beginning March 15.
Fish houses may be used after March 15 if they are removed daily.
In addition, anglers are encouraged to look around and clean up the site if any trash is found left behind.
Anglers are advised to use caution while accessing area lakes. Ice conditions can vary from region to region, between lakes in the same region, and even on the same lake.
The North Dakota Game Wardens Association is sponsoring scholarships for the fall semester for higher education students interested in majoring in wildlife law enforcement or a related field.
Applications must be submitted by email to ndgamewardens@gmail.com no later than May 1.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is once again offering free seed for the 2025 growing season to landowners interested in planting wildlife food plots for pheasants.
Rather than a traditional corn or sunflower food plot, Game and Fish is offering a seed mix that provides increased plant diversity, including flowering plants from spring through fall, which will attract insects, the major diet component of pheasant chicks. Additionally, the mix will provide needed cover during spring and summer, as well as a winter food source. Other wildlife species will also benefit from this mix.
Most Game and Fish food plots are part of the department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen program, but this food plot campaign does not require a PLOTS contract. Participating landowners are encouraged to allow reasonable public access, which could mean simply providing permission to hunters from time to time, putting up “Ask Before You Enter” signs around the area, or not posting the surrounding land. Additionally, participating landowners cannot charge a fee for hunting.
The department will provide enough seed to cover up to a maximum 5-acre planting at no cost to the landowner.
Landowners interested in receiving the seed must sign up online by April 4. Seed will be available in May at Game and Fish offices in Bismarck, Jamestown, Devils Lake, Harvey, Dickinson, Williston and Riverdale.
Game and Fish private land biologists can provide technical assistance on food plot location and site preparation.
Landowners interested in additional financial incentives may be considered for the PLOTS program as well. More information is available by contacting a private land biologist at any Game and Fish office, or email ndgf@nd.gov.
Harvest statistics released by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department show overall hunter success during the 2024 season was 100% for bighorn sheep, 92% for moose and 64% for elk.
The department issued six bighorn sheep licenses and auctioned one. All seven hunters harvested a bighorn ram.
The department issued 238 moose licenses last year. Of that total, 229 hunters harvested 210 animals – 125 bulls and 85 cows/calves. Harvest for each unit follows:
The department issued 905 elk licenses last year. Of that total, 817 hunters harvested 526 elk – 220 bulls and 306 cows/calves. Harvest for each unit follows:
| Unit | Hunters | Bulls | Cow/Calf | Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M5 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 63 |
| M6 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 100 |
| M8 | 15 | 13 | 1 | 93 |
| M9 | 76 | 33 | 36 | 91 |
| M10 | 78 | 43 | 31 | 95 |
| M11 | 42 | 22 | 16 | 91 |
| Unit | Hunters | Bulls | Cow/Calf | Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1E | 147 | 38 | 36 | 50 |
| E1W | 198 | 42 | 91 | 67 |
| E2 | 149 | 37 | 60 | 65 |
| E3 | 285 | 80 | 114 | 68 |
| E4 | 24 | 19 | 1 | 83 |
| E6 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 57 |
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
The next guide and outfitter written examination is April 5 at 1 p.m. at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department office in Bismarck. Preregistration is required no later than March 28 by calling the Department’s enforcement office at 701-328-6604.
In addition to passing a written exam, qualifications for becoming a guide include a background check for criminal and game and fish violations, certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and standard first aid, and employment by or contract with a licensed hunting outfitter.
Hunting outfitter eligibility requirements include the guide qualifications, and an individual must have held a hunting guide license for two years and must have proof of liability insurance.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is monitoring a mortality event involving Canada geese along the Missouri River and Nelson Lake in Oliver County. Testing of carcasses has indicated that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is the likely cause. Carcasses have been reported where large congregations of geese occur near open water.
The virus can cause high levels of sickness and death in free ranging waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors. Cases of HPAI are commonly detected in North Dakota as waterfowl migrate through, and winter in the state.
The Game and Fish Department asks the public to help in monitoring the outbreak in wild birds by reporting any sick or dead birds through the online form gf.nd.gov/mortality-report.
The risk to humans and pets is considered low. However, direct contact with sick or dead birds should be limited. Carcasses that must be moved can be placed in a garbage bag and disposed via a waste management provider. Wear disposable gloves and wash hands, clothes and equipment afterward.
HPAI can affect domestic birds. Recommendations for poultry owners include biosecurity measures such as: keeping visitors to a minimum, washing hands before and after contact with live poultry, changing clothes before and after exiting their property, and looking for signs of illness. Report sick or dead domestic poultry to the state veterinarian’s office at 701-328-2655.
More information about HPAI can be found at www.fws.gov/avian-influenza.
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 click here 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.
