The podcasts listed here are derived primarily from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department weekly webcasts which feature Department news, people and projects, hunting and fishing previews and more.
It is the time of year again when salmon in Lake Sakakawea are trying to spawn, but the area does not have naturally flowing streams suitable for spawning. So, how is this popular fishery in Lake Sakakawea maintained? Find out in this week’s webcast.
Chronic wasting disease affects deer, moose and elk. It is 100 percent fatal and has no treatment or vaccine. This disease spreads when sick animals shed prions through urine, feces, and saliva. These prions stay on the landscape and are infectious indefinitely. CWD in known to exist in hunting unit 3F2, and last year, an animal in Canada near the northwest North Dakota border tested positive for CWD. Learn what is being done to help control the spread of CWD in the state and what you can do to help these efforts in this week’s webcast.
Many of North Dakota's fall hunting seasons are in full-swing. In this week's webcast, Chief Game Warden Bob Timian talks about some of the more common hunting violations wardens encounter in the field.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department's fisheries management section leader Scott Gangl talks about this year's fall fish reproduction surveys.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department offers many different online services for hunters and anglers including maps, mobile apps, news and alert subscriptions, and more. Learn more in this week's webcast.
Bighorn sheep were extirpated from North Dakota by 1905 then reintroduced in 1956. Populations were doing well when, in 2014, a pneumonia causing pathogen got into the population. It has since spread to every herd in the state. Find out how this disease continues to impact bighorn in North Dakota, and what the Department is doing to manage the population in this week’s webcast.
After last year's drought and this year's more moderate conditions, how are pheasant populations in the state doing? Find out in this week's webcast.
Find out how this year's waterfowl seasons are shaping up in this week's webcast.
North Dakota’s popular hunting seasons for grouse and partridge will open Saturday, Sept. 8. Last year’s drought is still having an impact on bird numbers. Find out what hunters can expect this fall in this week’s webcast.
Chronic wasting disease is a prion disease affecting cervids (ex. deer, elk, moose) that is shed through saliva and urine. It is always fatal, and once present in the environment it is there to stay. In North Dakota CWD is present in our 3F2 deer rifle unit (south central ND). Watch this week's webcast to find out more about CWD and what we are doing to try and limit the spread of this disease.
The PLOTS (Private Lands Open to Sportsmen) program has been around for over 20 years. Private lands enrolled in PLOTS are open for public walk-in hunting access. There will be approximately 762,000 PLOTS acres available for hunting this fall.
The annual PLOTS guide locates lands open to hunting through the PLOTS program, as well as public lands such as wildlife management and waterfowl production areas. The 2018 guide is available online at https://gf.nd.gov/plots/guide. Printed guides will be available at vendors late August/early September.
With fall right around the corner it is time to start thinking about the furbearer hunting and trapping seasons. Listen to this week’s webcast for a preview of the coming seasons.
North Dakota’s early Canada goose dates are set with opening day Aug. 15. Bag limits and licensing requirements are the same as last year, however Canada goose hunting zones have been restructured with the intent of increasing harvest pressure in the eastern half of the state where the state’s worst Canada goose-landowner conflicts occur. Learn more on this week’s webcast.
The pronghorn season is set, with 1,075 licenses available in 10 open units. The bow-only season is from Aug 30 (noon) – Sep 23. The firearms/archery season is from Oct. 5 (noon) – Oct. 21. Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply for a 2018 pronghorn license. Learn more in this week’s webcast.
Deep-water salmon fishing in Lake Sakakawea, where downriggers are generally used to allow anglers to fish down 50 to 100+ feet, picks up in late July then runs through August into September. Find out how the 2018 season is shaping up in this week’s webcast at https://gf.nd.gov/ndo-webcast.
Twenty-five years ago, 5 years of drought were broken by the wettest July in recent history. In this week's webcast Director Terry Steinwand takes a look back at those years and the impacts of the drought and the rains on North Dakota's fish and wildlife.
Join us for fishing, archery, educational booths and more at the Conservation and Outdoor Skills Park during the North Dakota State Fair. The park is located near the north central edge of the fairgrounds and will be open every day from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. during the State Fair. All activities are free. Learn more in this week's webcast.
The State Fair runs July 20 through July 28.
In this weeks's webcast Fisheries Division Chief Greg Power gives a midsummer fishing update for the state. Watch it now! https://gf.nd.gov/ndo-webcast
lcohol use is the leading contributing factor in recreational boater deaths. Operation Dry Water is a national campaign that seeks to heighten awareness of the dangers of boating while drinking. This year it will run from June 29 through July 1. Learn more in this week's webcast.
This year’s breeding duck surveys have been completed. 2018 is the second year in a row breeding duck counts have been below 3 million since the early 1990s. Learn more in this week’s webcast.
There are over 220 wildlife management areas in North Dakota. WMAs are used for many recreational activities including fishing, hunting, trapping, wildlife watching and more, however their primary purpose is to support wildlife. Spring is a busy time for Department employees on the WMAs. Staff plant food plots, grass, trees and shrubs, start grazing rotations, spray noxious weeds and much more. Learn more in this week's webcast.
Boating season is in full swing. Watch this week's webcast for information on staying safe on the water this summer.
Lowhead dams, some from the late 1800s, can be found across North Dakota. These simple concrete or rock masonry dams were built for various reasons including town water supplies, irrigation, livestock use and recreation. The problem with these dams is that the water flowing over them can cause strong recirculating currents on the downstream side which can trap and drown people. Learn more about these dams and what can be done to mitigate their danger in this week’s webcast.
Applications for the 2018 deer gun season are now available. Apply online at https://gf.nd.gov/buy-apply. The application deadline is June 6. Learn more in this week's webcast.
A number of walleye and northern pike fisheries across the state lack the ability to sustain themselves through natural reproduction. They either lack suitable spawning habitat or have salinity levels that are too high for eggs to successfully hatch. To maintain populations in these important fisheries eggs are collected each spring to be raised in the Garrison Dam and Valley City National Fish Hatcheries then used to restock walleye and northern pike fisheries.
Each spring Department fisheries biologists sit down with our webcast host Mike Anderson to discuss the coming open-water fishing season. Today biologists from the Northwest and Southeast Fisheries Districts tell us how the fishing prospects in their areas are shaping up. Next week we’ll hear from biologists in the Northeast Fisheries District and the Red River.
Each spring Department fisheries biologists sit down with our webcast host Mike Anderson to discuss the coming open-water fishing season. Today biologists from the North Central and Southwest Fisheries Districts tell us how the fishing prospects in their areas are shaping up. Next week we’ll hear from biologists in the Northwest and Southeast Fisheries Districts.
Each spring Department fisheries biologists sit down with our webcast host Mike Anderson to discuss the coming open-water fishing season. Today biologists from the South Central Fisheries District and Lake Sakakawea tell us how the fishing prospects in their areas are shaping up. Next week we’ll hear from biologists in the North Central and Southwest Fisheries Districts.
As spring begins to take hold and ice melts our fisheries development staff will start delivering and installing the courtesy docks and fishing piers they've been building over the winter. This year they are planning on also creating 3-4 new boat ramps and on upgrading some of the fish cleaning stations found across the state. Find out more in this week's webcast with fisheries development supervisor Bob Frohlich.
The 2018-2020 fishing regulations take effect April 1. In this week’s webcast fisheries division chief Greg Power talks about some of the noteworthy regulation changes.
Believe it or not, it is time to apply for the 2018 moose, elk and bighorn sheep lotteries! Find out more in this week's webcast.
Did you know that about 85% of all flowering plants rely on insect or mammal pollinators to reproduce? But pollinators across the country are struggling. About 30 percent of bee colonies have been lost in the United States every year since 2006. Monarch numbers are also in severe decline. About 80 or 90 percent of the monarch population has been lost within the past two decades. There are simple steps that all of us can take to help. Learn more in this week’s webcast.
Wildlife research techniques have come a long way over the years, and technology has made gathering data about wild animals more exact and much easier. Everything from airplanes down to tiny transmitters like this one on a grasshopper sparrow allow us to track animal movements, mortality and other information that once was almost impossible to collect. Learn more about some of the technology used in wildlife research in this week's webcast with wildlife division chief Casey Anderson.
With winter winding down, host Mike Anderson took some time to talk to fisheries division chief Greg Power about how this year’s ice fishing season is progressing.
Snow geese populations grew exponentially from the mid-90s up to the early 2000s creating problems for the habitat where these colony nesting birds breed. In an attempt to control populations a conservation order was put into place allowing hunting outside of the normal migratory game bird treaty days. The spring conservation order in North Dakota begins Feb. 17 and runs through May 13.
Game and fish violations in 2017 were up slightly over 2016. Learn about the common violations seen every year and those of increasing concern, like aquatic nuisance species, in this week's webcast with chief game warden Bob Timian.
The spring turkey season will be April 14 - May 20. There are 5,655 licenses for bearded turkeys available. The application deadline is Feb. 14. Find out more in this week’s webcast.
The National Archery in Schools Program has been going strong in North Dakota since 2003. Currently there are 175 schools in the state that participate in the program with more being added each year. Kids from many of these schools will be competing in the 2018 state tournament in Minot (March 23, 24) where prizes include college scholarship money. Learn more in this week’s webcast.
In addition to ice fishing and trapping, North Dakota offers a variety of different outdoor winter opportunities like cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and wildlife watching, and North Dakota’s state parks are perfect places to pursue these activities. Learn more about what the parks have to offer in this week’s webcast with the northeast regional manager for the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department, Justin Robinson.
In this week's webcast, Director Terry Steinwand gives a short recap of 2017's challenges and highlights then looks ahead to 2018.
This is the second webcast in our two part ice fishing preview. Find out how the ice fishing season is looking in the eastern half of North Dakota.
Eventually winter will settle over North Dakota and the ice fishing season will begin in earnest. Find out how the season is looking in this two part webcast series. Today’s webcast covers conditions in the western half of the state. Next week’s webcast will cover conditions in the eastern half.
About 25% of fishing in North Dakota is ice fishing, and with ice starting to form on lakes now is a good time to buy your fishing license and review the regulations. In this week’s webcast fisheries division chief Greg Power talks about some of the winter fishing rules and regulations.
In a typical year over 5,000 students will take a hunter education class in North Dakota. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department relies heavily on volunteers to teach these required hunter education classes as well as other classes like trapper education and Hooked on Fishing. Learn more about the Department’s volunteer program in this week’s webcast.
While ice fishing can be a rewarding way to spend your free time during a long North Dakota winter, it can also be a risky activity. Watch this week’s webcast for tips on staying safe on the ice.
The 2017 darkhouse spearfishing season opens December 1. Darkhouse spearfishing for northern pike is allowed on most lakes in the state from December 1 – March 15 each year. A fishing license and darkhouse spearfishing registration are required prior to fishing. Learn more in this week’s webcast.
Mark your calendar – The 2017 fall advisory board meetings have been scheduled for the last week in November and the first week in December. These public meetings, held each spring and fall, provide citizens with an opportunity to discuss fish and wildlife issues and ask questions of their district advisors and agency personnel. Learn more in this week’s webcast, and find the meeting nearest you.
The 2017 deer gun season starts noon November 10. In this week’s webcast, chief game warden Bob Timian answers some of the common deer season questions hunters have.
There were 54,500 deer tags available this year (10% more than last year). So how is this season looking for those lucky enough to draw a tag? Find out in this week’s webcast with wildlife division chief Jeb Williams.