The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and Ducks Unlimited co-sponsor a trailer full of waterfowl hunting gear for families with young hunters.
Purchased by the Game and Fish Department’s Encouraging Tomorrow’s Hunters grant program, the trailer is designed for families who don’t have the appropriate gear for their young hunters to hunt waterfowl. The equipment is donated by Avery Outdoors.
Use of the trailer is free and is equipped with goose and duck decoys for field hunting, and two bags of floating duck decoys and marsh seats for hunting a wetland.
For more information, or to reserve equipment, contact the Ducks Unlimited office in Bismarck at 701-355-3500.
Assistance Available for Ranchers
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department wants ranchers to be aware of practices to protect hay and other feed supplies from deer and other big game animals this winter. Drought conditions across the state have resulted in hay shortages, and if combined with severe winter conditions, can result in depredation to hay and other feed supplies.
The Game and Fish Department can discuss which practices ranchers can use and programs available to protect hay from wildlife. Ranchers are encouraged to store hay in a manner and location that reduces damage by wildlife, such as stacking bales where they can be accessed easily if winter conditions deteriorate.
Through the department’s Private Land Initiative, temporary plastic fence and permanent fencing or panels may be available for ranchers experiencing chronic depredation problems. A limited supply of materials for permanent fencing is available for 2021, however, ranchers can still contact Game and Fish to get on a list for permanent fencing materials for 2022.
Ensuring adequate deer harvest in an area can also help reduce depredation. Landowners can visit with Game and Fish about ways to increase deer harvest through walk-in hunting access programs, “Ask Before You Enter” hunting signs, or a landowner-contact program that provides hunter contact information to landowners wanting to trim doe numbers on their property.
For help or more information on how to protect hay supplies, available fencing supplies or increasing deer harvest in your area, visit the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov, or call the main office in Bismarck at 701-328-6300, or a local district office.
Hunting from Duck Boats Requires Safety
Waterfowlers hunting from boats are encouraged to wear properly fitted life jackets while on the water.
Hunting coats with life jackets already built in are light and comfortable to wear. In addition, wearing a life jacket will not only keep the overboard hunter afloat, but also slow the loss of critical body heat caused by exposure to cold water.
Capsizing and falling overboard from small boats are the most common types of fatal boating accidents for hunters.
Waterfowl Hunters Reminded of ANS Regulations
Waterfowl hunters are reminded to do their part in preventing the spread of aquatic nuisance species into or within North Dakota.
Waterfowl hunters must remove aquatic plants and plant fragments from decoys, strings and anchors; remove aquatic plant seeds and plant fragments from waders and other equipment before leaving hunting areas; remove all water from decoys, boats, motors, trailers and other watercraft; and remove all aquatic plants from boats and trailers before leaving a marsh or lake. In addition, hunters are encouraged to brush their hunting dogs free of mud and seeds.
Cattails and bulrushes may be transported as camouflage on boats. All other aquatic vegetation must be cleaned from boats prior to transportation into or within North Dakota.
Drain plugs on boats must remain pulled when a boat is in transit away from a water body.
In addition, hunters are reminded of a state law that requires motorized watercraft, including motorized duck boats, operated on state waters and not licensed in North Dakota, to display an ANS sticker, including an ANS fee of $15 to be paid each calendar year.
The deadline for submitting entries in the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual Watchable Wildlife Photo Contest is Oct. 1.
The contest has categories for nongame and game species, as well as plants/insects. An overall winning photograph will be chosen, with the number of place winners in each category determined by the number of qualified entries.
Photographers should go to the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov/photo-contest. Then it is a matter of providing some pertinent information about the photo and uploading it. Doing so helps both with ease of submitting photos for the photographer and managing those images for department staff.
Contestants are limited to no more than five entries. Photos must have been taken in North Dakota.
By submitting an entry, photographers grant permission to Game and Fish to publish winning photographs in North Dakota OUTDOORS and on the department’s website.
2021 Waterfowl Season
North Dakota’s waterfowl season opens for residents Sept. 25, while nonresidents may begin hunting waterfowl Oct. 2.
The season for swans opens Oct. 2 for both residents and nonresidents who have purchased a swan license.
Hunters may take six ducks per day with the following restrictions: five mallards of which two may be hens, three wood ducks, two redheads, two canvasbacks, one scaup and one pintail. Hunters can take two additional blue-winged teal from Sept. 25 through Oct. 10. The daily limit of five mergansers may include no more than two hooded mergansers. For ducks and mergansers, the possession limit is three times the daily limit.
The hunting season for Canada geese will close Dec. 18 in the eastern zone, Dec. 23 in the western zone and Dec. 31 in the Missouri River zone. The season for whitefronts closes Dec. 5, while the season on light geese is open through Dec. 31.
Shooting hours for all geese are one-half hour before sunrise to 2 p.m. each day.
Extended shooting hours for all geese are permitted from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset on Saturdays and Wednesdays through Nov. 27, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays from Nov. 28 through the end of each season.
The bag limit for Canada geese during the regular season is eight daily and 24 in possession, except in the Missouri River zone where the limit is five daily and 15 in possession.
The daily limit on whitefronts is three with nine in possession, and light geese has a daily limit of 50 with no possession limit.
In accordance with state law, nonresidents are not allowed to hunt on North Dakota Game and Fish Department wildlife management areas or conservation PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen) areas from Oct. 9-15, with the exception of nonresidents hunting on PLOTS land they own.
Hunters who do not HIP certify when they buy a North Dakota license can add it through the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov, or by calling 888-634-4798 and recording the HIP number on their printed license. Those who registered to hunt North Dakota’s spring light goose season or August Management Take/Early September Canada goose season do not have to register with HIP again, as it is required in each state only once per year.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is asking water recreationists and property owners to check for zebra mussels and other aquatic nuisance species when removing boat lifts, docks and other equipment from state waters.
ANS coordinator Ben Holen said water recreationists and property owners play a vital role in ANS prevention, noting that a local cabin owner recently found zebra mussels attached to a boat lift in Lake Elsie, Richland County.
“Zebra mussels attach to hard surfaces that are left in the water for long periods of time, first settling in tight spaces and areas that are protected from sunlight,” Holen said. “Equipment such as boat lifts and docks are high risk vectors for spreading ANS, especially zebra mussels.
“It makes it easier to do a thorough search when equipment is taken out of the water in fall,” he continued. “Pay special attention to wheel wells, right angles on frames, and areas otherwise protected from sunlight. Feel for attached organisms that have small hair-like structures holding them in place. Small mussels can feel like rough sandpaper and adults can be as large as 2 inches long.”
Holen said if you think you’ve found a zebra mussel, take pictures, write down any relevant information, such as how many were found and where, and report it online at the Game and Fish website gf.nd.gov/ans, or email Holen at bholen@nd.gov.
North Dakota’s roadside surveys conducted in late July and August indicate pheasants were down from last year, while sharp-tailed grouse and gray partridge numbers were about the same.
State Game and Fish Department upland game supervisor Jesse Kolar said results of the annual upland late summer counts were expected. “Recent weather patterns have shifted toward a drier period, particularly this year with a warm, open winter and exceptional drought across much of the state,” Kolar said. “Hunters should expect to find similar numbers to 2020, with the exception that there will be fewer acres of typical grassland cover to walk.”
Total pheasants (45) observed per 100 miles are down 23% from last year and broods (5) per 100 miles are down 30%. The average brood size (six) remained unchanged. The final summary is based on 266 survey runs made along 102 brood routes across North Dakota.
Observers in the northwest counted eight broods and 68 pheasants per 100 miles, down from 10 broods and 80 pheasants in 2020. Average brood size was six.
Results from the southeast showed three broods and 24 pheasants per 100 miles, down from five broods and 42 pheasants in 2020. Average brood size was four.
Statistics from southwestern North Dakota indicated six broods and 59 pheasants per 100 miles, down from seven broods and 65 pheasants in 2020. Average brood size was seven chicks.
The northeast district, generally containing secondary pheasant habitat with lower pheasant numbers compared to the rest of the state, showed three broods and 24 pheasants per 100 miles, compared to three broods and 22 pheasants last year. Average brood size was five.
Kolar said sharptail hunters should expect to find mainly adult grouse this fall. He said numbers along the Missouri River are still high compared to long-term averages, so hunters who can find cover should have average to good hunting. The eastern part of the state has fewer sharp-tailed grouse, with isolated hot spots.
“Many rangelands that hold grouse on an average year will be too open to hunt this fall, and most grouse will likely be found in shrubland and woodland draws and/or near riparian areas,” he added.
Sharptails observed per 100 miles are up 2% statewide. Brood survey results show observers recorded two sharptail broods and 19 sharptails per 100 miles. Average brood size was six.
Although partridge numbers have shown a slight increase, Kolar said most of the partridge harvest is incidental while hunters pursue grouse or pheasants. Partridge densities in general, he said, are too low to target.
Partridge observed per 100 miles are up 9%. Observers recorded one partridge brood and 10 partridge per 100 miles. Average brood size was 10.
The grouse and partridge seasons open Sept. 11 and continues through Jan. 2, 2022.
The pheasant season opens Oct. 9 and continues through Jan. 2, 2022. The two-day youth pheasant hunting weekend, when legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 and younger can hunt statewide, is set for Oct. 2-3.
Deer Season for Young Hunters Opens Sept. 17
Friday, Sept. 17 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 2021 can hunt statewide for antlerless white-tailed deer.
Resident deer gun hunters who are 14 or 15 in 2021 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 hunters and mentors.
Each young deer hunter must be under direct supervision of an adult. The adult is prohibited from carrying a firearm or bow while accompanying the youth hunter in the field during the youth season.
The youth deer season closes Sunday, Sept. 26.
Remaining Fall Turkey Licenses Available Sept. 15
The fall wild turkey lottery has been held and more than 500 licenses remain in five units. Unsuccessful applicants will have a refund issued directly to their credit card.
Beginning at 8 a.m. Central Time on Sept. 15, all remaining licenses will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Hunters are allowed a maximum of five licenses for the fall season.
The fall turkey season runs Oct. 9 – Jan. 2, 2022.
Licenses remain for the following units: Unit 13, Dunn County, (320); Unit 19, Grant and Sioux counties and portions of Morton County, (15); Unit 25, McHenry County and portions of Pierce and Ward counties, (120); Unit 31, Mountrail County, (23); and Unit 45, Stark County, (48).
Sandhill Crane Season Opens Sept. 18
North Dakota’s sandhill crane season opens Sept. 18 and runs through Nov. 14.
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 license online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Harvest Information Program certification is required. To get HIP certified, access the Game and Fish website, or call 888-634-4798.
Game and Fish Allocates Five Bighorn Sheep Licenses
The Game and Fish Department allocated five bighorn sheep licenses for the 2021 hunting season, one fewer than last year.
One license was issued in unit B1, one in B3 and two in B4. 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.
The number of once-in-a-lifetime licenses allotted to hunters is based on data collected from the Game and Fish Department's summer population survey. Brett Wiedmann, big game management biologist in Dickinson, said results showed a similar count of adult rams to 2020.
"Our objective this hunting season is to maximize hunter opportunity in the northern badlands where ram numbers are strong while continuing to reduce the number of rams in the southern badlands, to lessen the risk of transmitting disease to the northern population," Wiedmann said, while mentioning the concern is the ongoing effects of the bacterial pneumonia outbreak that was first detected in 2014 that resulted in a loss of 15-20% of the adult population.
Wiedmann noted there are more than 300 bighorn sheep north of Interstate 94, but fewer than 20 south of the interstate.
Game and Fish announced in February the status of the bighorn sheep hunting season would be determined after completion of the summer population survey. Prospective hunters were required to apply for a bighorn license earlier this year on the bighorn sheep, moose and elk application. A record 19,126 applicants applied for bighorn sheep. Successful applicants have been notified.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department