Trending
19th Annual Youth Outdoor Festival set
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department, local wildlife clubs and other sponsors will be hosting the 19th Annual Youth Outdoor Festival in Minot.
It will take place Sept. 3 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Game and Fish Conservation and Outdoors Skills Park at the state fairgrounds.
For more information, contact Game and Fish outreach biologist Greg Gullickson at 720-1640.
Deer archery season opens Sept. 4
Sept 4 marks the beginning of deer bow season which will end Jan 3, 2027.
Nonresident hunters are only to hunt on private land besides private land open to sportsmen during the first nine and a half days of the season. On Sept 14, public lands will be opened.
Licenses can be bought at the North Dakota Game and Fish department website or at linked vendors.
Tags will arrive through postal mail rather than over the counter, so bowhunters should prepare for extra time between buying and receiving the license. Bow tags will be mailed the business day after the tag is purchased.
Season information and regulations can be found on the ND Game and Fish website.
Fall turkey season begins
This year’s fall turkey hunting season will have 3,700 licenses available, 610 fewer than the previous year. Out of 21 hunting units, 13 are to have reduced license numbers this fall.
Jan 3, 2027, is when the special flock reduction bow season will close. Applicants can apply online by using the North Dakota Game and Fish website.
Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply to the first lottery. The deadline is Sept 2.
Pronghorn lottery held
North Dakota's pronghorn lottery has been held and all 1,310 licenses were issued.
In total, 17,640 applications were received, including 814 gratis applications.
Early Canada goose hunting dates announced
North Dakota's early Canada goose season dates are set, with bag limits and licensing requirements the same as last year.
Opening day was Aug. 15 in all three zones. Closing dates are Sept. 7 in the Missouri River zone; Sept. 15 in the western zone; and Sept. 22 in the eastern zone.
Early Canada goose limits are 15 daily and 45 in possession.
Limits and shooting hours are different from the regular season, while the zone boundaries remain the same. Shooting hours for early Canada goose are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.
Residents need a $10 early Canada goose license and a general game and habitat license. Also, residents 16 and older need a small game license. Nonresidents need only a $50 early Canada goose license. In addition, all early Canada goose hunters need a waterfowl habitat restoration stamp. Licenses can be purchased online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website.
Harvest Information Program certification is required and beginning Sept. 1 a federal duck stamp for hunters 16 and older is needed. Those who HIP registered to hunt the spring light goose conservation order in North Dakota do not have to register with HIP again, as it is required in each state only once per year.
Waterfowl rest areas, closed to hunting during the regular season, are open during the early season. Most land in these rest areas is private, so hunters may need permission to access them.
Early Canada goose regulations can be found in the small game, waterfowl and furbearer proclamation and hunting regulations on the Game and Fish website. Printed guides will be at vendors by late August.
Hunting of Canada geese in August and early September is intended to reduce local Canada goose numbers. Game and Fish is attempting to provide additional hunting opportunities to increase pressure on locally breeding Canada geese.
Late summer fishing reminder
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department reminds anglers to review state regulations and safety guidelines to protect fish populations during the late-summer fishing season. Anglers intending to release a fish after catching must do so immediately after unhooking the fish. The only exception to this rule is the minimal time required to measure and/or photograph the fish, after which it must be returned to the water without delay.
The department strongly urges anglers to keep any fish caught from depths greater than 25 feet rather than practicing catch-and-release. Fish reeled up from these depths suffer from barotrauma, a rapid change in pressure that expands the swim bladder and destroys the fish’s ability to balance itself. Many deep-water hooked fish also experience severe internal injuries, including ruptured blood vessels and organ damage, meaning many will die if released. To prevent this unnecessary mortality, anglers should either avoid fishing in waters deeper than 25 feet or commit to keeping all fish caught at those depths.
Game and Fish reminds the public that it is illegal to return any fish to the water after it has been held in a livewell, stringer, or any other holding structure. Once a fish is kept, it counts toward the angler’s daily creel limit and cannot be released later to be replaced by a different fish.