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Game and Fish allocates bighorn licenses

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department allocated five bighorn sheep licenses for the 2022 hunting season, the same as last year. One license was issued in unit B1, one in B3, one in B4 and one in B5. In addition, one license, as authorized under North Dakota Century Code, was auctioned in May by the Midwest Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation, from which all proceeds are used to enhance bighorn sheep management in North Dakota. A record 19,423 applicants applied for bighorn sheep. Successful applicants have been notified. Prospective hunters were required to apply for a ...

Hunters asked to submit wing envelopes

Hunters can help in the effort to manage upland game birds in North Dakota by collecting feathers from harvested birds and sending in wing envelopes. Birds included in the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s upland game wing survey, which has been in practice for decades, are ring-necked pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge, turkeys and ruffed grouse. Collecting enough pheasant samples is typically never a problem, but securing enough sharptail and partridge feathers can be. Game and Fish biologists will take as many sharptail and partridge feathers as they ...

Season starts for youth deer hunters

Friday, Sept. 16, at noon Central time signals the start of a nine-and-a-half-day deer hunting season for licensed youth hunters. Residents who are 11, 12 or 13 in 2022 can hunt statewide for antlerless white-tailed deer. Resident deer gun hunters who are 14 or 15 in 2022 can hunt statewide with a youth season license for any deer, except for antlered mule deer in units 3B1, 3B2, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F, where a special license is required. After opening day, hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. Orange clothing is required for youth ...

Youth, military waterfowl weekend Sept. 17-18

Introduce a youngster to duck hunting during North Dakota’s two-day youth waterfowl weekend Sept. 17-18. In addition, the special veteran and active military personnel waterfowl season is set for the same weekend. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has a Virtual Duck Hunting Mentor webpage with all the basics, including license requirements, regulations, gear recommendations and tips for finding a place to hunt. Legally licensed resident and nonresident youth waterfowl hunters 15 and younger, and veterans and members of the Armed Forces on active duty, including members of ...

Sandhill crane season opens Sept. 17

North Dakota’s sandhill crane season opens Sept. 17 and runs through Nov. 13. Limits are three daily and nine in possession in unit 1 (west of U.S. Highway 281), and two daily and six in possession in unit 2 (east of U.S. Highway 281). Shooting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to 2 p.m. each day. Hunters are urged to use caution and identify birds to prevent shooting at endangered whooping cranes as they begin their fall migration. In addition to other licenses required, resident hunters need a $10 crane permit, while nonresidents need a $30 permit. Hunters can buy a ...

Upland game brood survey results released

North Dakota’s roadside surveys conducted in late July and August indicate pheasant and gray partridge were up from last year, while sharp-tailed grouse numbers were down. State Game and Fish Department upland game supervisor Jesse Kolar said the annual upland late summer counts showed mixed results. “We observed an increase in pheasant and partridge densities and reproductive rates with average brood size and age ratios, while sharptails decreased in density but had improved reproductive rates from 2021,” Kolar said. Total pheasants observed (49 per 100 survey miles) are up 9% ...