The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is prohibiting open burning this spring on public property it manages south of Bismarck and Mandan, as a means to reduce the potential for wildfires in a heavily wooded recreation area along the Missouri River.
All open burning, including campfires, is banned until further notice on the Oahe Wildlife Management Area along both sides of the…
Animal health officials with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department and North Dakota Department of Agriculture are monitoring a national outbreak of a foreign strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza detected in a number of central and eastern states since December.
The virus can cause high levels of sickness and death in domestic poultry but has also been attributed to a number…
Elk, moose and bighorn sheep applications must be submitted online before midnight, March 23.
Applicants can apply by visiting My Account at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov.
Elk, moose and bighorn sheep lottery licenses are issued as once-in-a-lifetime licenses in North Dakota. Hunters who have received a license through the lottery in the past…
North Dakota’s paddlefish snagging season opens Sunday, May 1, and one noteworthy regulation change involves the sale and distribution of paddlefish tags.
Paddlefish tags are only available for purchase online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov, and during normal business hours at Game and Fish Department offices in Bismarck, Dickinson and Williston.…
North Dakota’s 2022-24 fishing proclamation is set, with regulations effective April 1, 2022, through March 31, 2024. New fishing licenses are required April 1.
Anglers can find the 2022-24 North Dakota Fishing Guide online at the state Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov, or at Game and Fish Department offices and license vendors throughout the state.
Noteworthy…
Whooping cranes are in the midst of their spring migration and sightings will increase as they make their way through North Dakota over the next several weeks. Anyone seeing these endangered birds as they move through the state should report sightings so the birds can be tracked.
The whooping cranes that do travel through North Dakota are part of a population of about 500 birds on…
North Dakota anglers, trappers and hunters are reminded that new licenses are required beginning April 1.
Licenses can be purchased online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. Once the license is processed, hunters and anglers will have the option to print a hard copy and/or download the license to a smart phone or mobile device, which is helpful…
Wildlife, shooting, fraternal and nonprofit civic organizations can submit an application for the Encouraging Tomorrow’s Hunters program, a North Dakota Game and Fish Department grant program developed to assist in the recruitment, retention and reactivation of hunters. The program supports projects and events that provide a positive environment to develop the skills and confidence needed to…
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is offering free seed for the 2022 growing season to landowners interested in planting wildlife food plots for pheasants.
Department private land section leader Kevin Kading said 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…
Local clubs or communities interested in receiving a grant to support a high school trap shooting team must have the application in before April 1. Existing teams that have received a grant in the past are not eligible.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department offers a grant of up to $1,000, with funds designed to purchase gear such as eye and hearing protection, vests, shell bags and…
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will have 810 any-deer bow licenses available to nonresidents in 2022.
Applicants can apply online beginning March 15 on the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline for applying is April 15.
Up to five hunters can apply together as a party. A lottery will be held if more applications are received than licenses available. A total…
Based on all the necessary ingredients needed to provide essential water levels for lakes Sakakawea and Oahe in 2022, the forecast to do just that doesn’t look promising at this time.
“Given current water levels and projected runoff based on mountain snowpack, its likely both lakes Sakakawea and Oahe will be 5-10 feet lower than the lake elevations experienced in 2021,” said Greg Power…
Elk, moose and bighorn sheep applications are available online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline for applying is March 23.
A total of 563 elk licenses are available to hunters this fall, an increase of 40 from last year.
A total of 404 moose licenses are available, a decrease of 70 from last year. Moose units M4 and M1C will remain…
Mountain lion hunting during the late season in Zone 1 is closed immediately. The zone’s late-season harvest limit of either seven total cats or three females was reached after the third female was taken.
A conditional season in Zone 1 will open March 6 for hunters to pursue the additional seven mountain lions that were not taken during the early season. The Zone 1 early season harvest…
The deadline to submit entries for North Dakota’s Earth Day Patch contest is March 15.
The Earth Day Patch Contest is step one in bringing awareness and develop consciousness about the environmental conditions of our planet and North Dakota. Students who participate will develop a patch design using five colors to incorporate some aspect of Earth Day including environmental awareness,…
Anglers are reminded unoccupied fish houses must be removed from all waters beginning March 15 until ice-out.
Fish houses may be used after March 15 if they are removed daily.
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
Harvest statistics released by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department show overall hunter success during the 2021 season for bighorn sheep was 80 percent, 90 percent for moose and 65 percent for elk.
The department issued four bighorn sheep licenses and auctioned one. Four of the five hunters harvested a bighorn ram.
The department issued 470 moose licenses last year. Of…
With most chronic wasting disease testing completed, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department reports 26 deer tested positive during the 2021 hunting season.
Fourteen were from hunting unit 3F2, eight from unit 3A1, and one was found in unit 3B1. Single positive deer were also found in three units (3C, 3D1 and 3E2) where the disease had not been previously detected.
CWD is a…
The 2022 spring wild turkey lottery has been held and 642 licenses remain in seven units. Remaining licenses are issued on a first-come, first-served basis beginning 8 a.m. Central Time on March 16.
Hunters are allowed two licenses for the spring season.
Licenses remain in unit 06, Bowman County; unit 13, Dunn County; unit 19, Grant and Sioux counties and portions of Morton…
Spring turkey applicants are reminded the deadline to submit applications is Feb. 16.
Applicants can apply online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
A total of 7,647 wild turkey licenses are available, 635 more than last year. Unit 21 (Hettinger and Adams counties) remains closed due to lack of turkeys in the unit.
First-time spring turkey…
