Open to North Dakota residents only.

Season Dates:

• Firearms, archery:
  • Opens: September 3, 2010.
  • Closes: March 31, 2011.
• Pursue with hounds:
  • Opens: December 1, 2010.
  • Closes: March 31, 2011.

View most current regulations.

Mountain lion may only be hunted by North Dakota residents. The limit is one mountain lion per hunter per season. Kittens (mountain lions with visible spots), or females accompanied by kittens may not be harvested. Any mountain lion harvested must be reported to the Department within 12 hours and the entire intact animal must be submitted for analysis. Legally taken mountain lions will be returned to the hunter.

Zone 1 is bordered by Montana, South Dakota, and state and federal highways. The point where the boundary crosses Lake Sakakawea is a straight line from where ND Highway 1804 lies directly across from ND Highway 8. Zone 1 has a harvest quota of 10 mountain lions. Once a quota of 10 mountain lions is reached, the season will close immediately. The Department will inform the public of this closure through the media. The quota will not include mountain lions taken by USDA Wildlife Services, the Department, private landowners in defense of livestock, for human safety issues, road killed mountain lions, mountain lions incidentally killed in traps or cable devices, and those harvested on Indian lands.

Zone 2: The remainder of the state not described as Zone 1. No quota.

Residents must possess the following licenses:

• Fishing, Hunting, and Furbearer Certificate – $1
• Furbearer License – $7 (not required of residents under age 16), or a
• Combination License – $32 (includes Small Game, General Game and Habitat, Furbearer, and Fishing licenses).
• Military – Upon presentation of valid leave papers and a valid North Dakota operator’s license, a resident who is on leave and is an active duty as a member of the United States armed forces or the United States merchant marine may hunt small game, fish, or trap during the open season without a license.

North Dakota’s dove season opens statewide Sept. 1, and hunters need to register with the Harvest Information Program prior to hunting.

The daily limit is 15 and possession limit is 30. Shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset. The season is open through Oct. 30.

All dove hunters must possess a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate and a general game and habitat license, regardless of age. In addition, hunters ages 16 and older need a small game license.

Hunters who purchase a hunting license through the state Game and Fish Department’s electronic licensing system (gf.nd.gov) or instant licensing telephone number at (800) 406-6409 can easily get HIP certified.

Otherwise, hunters can access the department’s website, or call (888) 634-4798 and record the HIP number on their fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate.

Those who registered to hunt the spring light goose season in North Dakota do not have to register with HIP again, as it is required only once per year. However, hunters must HIP register in each state for which they are licensed before hunting migratory game birds.

Just because you don’t hear as much about bird flu as you did three or four years ago, doesn’t mean resources are not being targeted. The work continues.

Avian Influenza Surveillance Continues

State and federal wildlife agencies will continue to test wild birds for early detection of highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza.

A total of 200 samples from live birds will be taken through September in conjunction with duck banding efforts, and 400 samples from hunter-harvested ducks will be collected in September and October.

Hunters may be asked if their ducks can be sampled by an employee with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. Sampling only takes a few minutes and does not damage birds.

In addition, morbidity and mortality surveillance of any unusual bird die-offs or illnesses will continue through October.

Avian influenza testing efforts began nationwide in 2006, and all samples for the highly pathogenic H5N1 subtype have tested negative.

Landowners Seek Doe Hunters

North Dakota Game and Fish Department big game biologist Bill Jensen is currently working with 33 landowners in 20 hunting units across the state who would like to host antlerless deer hunters in 2010.

“The current list of landowners has more than 400 openings for doe hunters,” Jensen said. “We will continue to add landowners and doe hunters over the next several months, and by time the season is over with we could match more than 500 antlerless deer hunters with perhaps 40 landowners.”

Landowners currently participating in 2010 are located in hunting units 2C, 2D, 2G2, 2I, 2J2, 2K2, 3A2, 3A4, 3B3, 3D1, 3D2, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4A, 4B, 4D, 4E and 4F.

“The program is designed to direct antlerless hunters to specific areas to reduce deer depredation problems in the future,” Jensen said. “It is not intended for buck hunters.”

The Game and Fish Department first started working with landowners in developing a contact list in 2006, and the program has been very successful, Jensen said. “In fact, several landowners have now dropped out of the program because they have either gotten on top of their depredation problems and/or developed solid relationships with hunters over the past few years that they now welcome them back every year,” he added. “This is how we intended it to work.”

Interested hunters can get their name on a list of possible participants by accessing the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov. Hunters who do not have Internet access can call the department’s main office in Bismarck at (701) 328-6300.

Hunters will provide their address, hunting unit(s) where they hold valid antlerless licenses, and if using rifle, muzzleloader or bow. From this list the department will select the number of hunters landowners have agreed to host. These hunters will be sent the landowner’s name, phone number and any information relating to the landowner’s specific situation.

Not everyone who signs up will end up with a new place to hunt, Jensen said, because not everyone’s schedule will match up with a landowner’s, and more people will likely put their name on the list than there are openings with landowners.

North Dakota’s 2010 regular deer gun season runs from Nov. 5-21. In addition, the archery season extends from Sept. 3 through Jan. 2, 2011; the youth season is from Sept. 17-26; and muzzleloader runs from Nov. 26 – Dec. 12.

North Dakota’s deer archery season opens Friday, Sept. 3 at noon, and bowhunters are reminded that additional concurrent season antlerless deer gun licenses can be used with a bow during the archery season in the designated hunting unit.

Bowhunters must follow all regulations of the managing agency when using tree stands on public hunting areas, including displaying the owner’s name, address and telephone number on tree stands left unattended on North Dakota Game and Fish Department wildlife management areas.

The Game and Fish Department annually receives inquiries from bowhunters regarding tree stands that are stolen, moved or tampered with. Tree stands are private property and theft constitutes a criminal violation that should be reported to the local sheriff’s department.

Bowhunters are also reminded that hunting big game over bait is prohibited on both public and private land in deer Unit 3F2, where a deer carrying chronic wasting disease was harvested last fall.

The archery season is open through Jan. 2, 2011. Hunters should refer to the 2010 deer hunting guide for season information and regulations.

Your 2010 North Dakota waterfowl regulations are set:

2010 Waterfowl Regulations Set

North Dakota’s 2010 waterfowl season has been set, with season details similar to last year. The only significant changes are an increase in the limit on pintails, and elimination of one waterfowl rest area.

Opening day for North Dakota residents is Sept. 25 for ducks, geese, coots and mergansers. Nonresidents may begin hunting waterfowl in North Dakota Oct. 2.

Hunters may take six ducks per day with the following restrictions: five mallards of which two may be hens, three wood ducks, two scaup, two redheads, two pintails (an increase of one from last year) and one canvasback. For ducks, the possession limit is twice the daily limit.

The daily limit of five mergansers may include no more than two hooded mergansers.

The waterfowl rest area five miles north and six miles west of McClusky in Sheridan County has been eliminated. In addition, the waterfowl rest area two miles north of Noonan in Divide County will be closed to all small game hunting. Last year it was closed only to waterfowl hunting.

The hunting season for Canada geese in the Missouri River zone will close Dec. 31, while the remainder of the state will close Dec. 23. 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 1 p.m. each day through Nov. 6. Beginning Nov. 7, shooting hours are extended until 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. 28, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays from Dec. 1 through the end of each season.

The daily bag limit for Canada geese during the regular season is three, with six in possession. The daily limit on whitefronts is two with four in possession, and light goose is 20 daily, with no possession limit.

The special youth waterfowl hunting season is Sept. 18-19. Legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 years of age or younger can hunt ducks, coots, mergansers and geese statewide. Youth hunters must have a general game and habitat license and a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate. A licensed adult at least 18 years of age must accompany the youth hunter into the field. The daily bag limit and species restrictions for the youth season are the same as for regular duck and goose seasons.

Nonresidents have the option of buying either a statewide waterfowl license or one with zone restrictions. Nonresidents who designate zones 1 or 2 may hunt that zone for only one seven-day period during the season. Nonresident hunters who chose to hunt in zone 1 or 2 and wish to use the full 14 consecutive days allowed, must use the other seven days in zone 3. Hunters in zone 3 can hunt that zone the entire 14 days.

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.

All migratory bird hunters, including waterfowl, must register with the Harvest Information Program prior to hunting. Hunters purchasing a license from the Game and Fish Department can easily get a HIP number. Otherwise, hunters must call (888) 634-4798, or log on to the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov, provide the registration information, and record the HIP number on their fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate. Those who HIP registered to hunt this spring’s light goose season do not have to register again, as it is required only once per year.

Hunters should refer to the 2010 North Dakota Waterfowl Hunting Guide, available in early September, for further details on the waterfowl season.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen Guide is available online at the Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov. In addition, PLOTS Guides will be available at most license vendors throughout the state in early September.

The guide will feature about 1 million PLOTS acres, a level reached in 2007 and maintained each year since.

Because the guide is printed in August and distributed in early September, some PLOTS tracts highlighted in the guide may have been removed from the program since the time of printing. There will also be some PLOTS tracts that will remain in the program, but the habitat and condition of the tracts will have changed significantly. Conversely, Game and Fish may have added new tracts to the program after the guide went to press.

To minimize possible confusion, Game and Fish will update PLOTS map sheets weekly on its website at gf.nd.gov.

Hunters can also view the guide, and find a list of vendors where guides are available, on the website.

The PLOTS Guide features maps highlighting these walk-in areas, identified in the field by inverted triangular yellow signs, as well as other public lands.

The guides are free, and available at county auditor offices and license vendors in the state; by walk-in at the Game and Fish Department’s Bismarck office; and at district offices in Riverdale, Harvey (Lonetree), Williston, Dickinson, Jamestown and Devils Lake.

The guides are not available to mail, so hunters will have to pick one up at a local vendor, or print individual maps from the website.

Proclamation Includes Hunting over Bait, Transportation Restrictions in Unit 3F2

North Dakotans hunting big game in other states and provinces are familiar with chronic wasting disease and the proclamation established for transporting deer, elk and moose carcasses and carcass parts into the state. However, this year’s proclamation has additional safety measures for hunters within the state, specifically the area in southwestern North Dakota known as deer hunting unit 3F2.

Greg Link, assistant wildlife chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said because a mule deer taken last fall in unit 3F2 tested positive for CWD, guidelines were established to prohibit hunting big game over bait in unit 3F2. Also included in the proclamation is carcasstransportation guidelines for animals harvested within the unit.

“Unfortunately, a hunter-harvested deer tested positive for CWD in 2009, and this required the state to implement prevention measures within North Dakota as well,” Link said. “These measures are intended to reduce the likelihood of spreading CWD within North Dakota.”

This means hunters harvesting a big game animal in deer unit 3F2 cannot transport a carcass containing the head and spinal column outside of the unit unless it’s taken directly to a state-inspected meat processor. The head can be removed from the carcass and transported outside of the unit if it is to be submitted to a CWD surveillance drop-off location or a licensed taxidermist. Upon arrival at a drop-off location, paperwork will be available for transporting the meat to its final place of storage.

“A letter will be mailed to all hunters with a 3F2 deer gun license with additional details and instructions,” Link said. “Bowhunters hunting in unit 3F2 should contact the Game and Fish Department with any inquiries, including where to submit heads for CWD testing purposes. Drop-off locations for CWD testing during the deer gun season will be announced in late October.”

The second provision within North Dakota, consistent with South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks and Standing Rock Game and Fish Department regulations, prohibits hunting big game over bait in deer unit 3F2. Bait, in this case, includes grain, seed, mineral, salt, fruit, vegetable nut, hay or any other natural or manufactured food placed by an individual. Bait does not include agricultural practices, gardens, wildlife food plots, agricultural crops, livestock feeds, fruit or vegetables in their natural location such as apples on or under an apple tree, or unharvested food or vegetables in a garden.

As in the past, the proclamation still prohibits hunters from transporting into North Dakota the whole carcass, or certain carcass parts, of deer, elk, moose or other members of the cervid family from areas within states and provinces with documented occurrences of CWD in wild populations, or from farmed cervid operations within states and provinces that have had farmed cervids diagnosed with CWD. Only the following portions of the carcass can be transported:

• Meat that is cut and wrapped either commercially or privately.
• Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached.
• Meat that has been boned out.
• Hides with no heads attached.
• Clean (no meat or tissue attached) skull plates with antlers attached.
• Antlers with no meat or tissue attached.
• Upper canine teeth, also known as buglers, whistlers or ivories.
• Finished taxidermy heads.

The following game management units, equivalent wildlife management units, or counties have had free-ranging deer, moose or elk diagnosed with CWD, and importation of harvested elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose or other cervids from these areas are restricted.

• North Dakota – Deer unit 3F2. Gutted/eviscerated carcasses being taken to a North Dakota state-inspected meat processor are exempt, as are heads removed from the carcass and taken to a licensed taxidermist or provided to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department for submission for CWD surveillance purposes.

• Alberta – Wildlife management units 150, 151, 163, 234, 236, 256, 728.
• Colorado – All game management units.

• Illinois – Counties of Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, DeKalb, Ogle, LaSalle, Stephenson.
• Kansas – Counties of Cheyenne, Decatur, Rawlins, Sheridan.
• Nebraska – Upper Platte, Platte, Plains, Sandhills, Frenchman, Buffalo and Pine Ridge units, which include the counties of Cheyenne, Kimball, Sioux, Scotts Bluff, Morrill, Sheridan, Box Butte, Dawes, Banner, Cherry, Hall, Garden, Keith, Red Willow, Deuel, Grant, Arthur.
• New Mexico – White Sands Missile Base (GMU 19), GMU 28, GMU 34.
• New York – Any deer taken within the CWD containment areas of Oneida and Madison counties.
• Saskatchewan – Wildlife management zones 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 24, 25, 29, 43, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 68 South and Fort a la Corne Wildlife Management Unit.
• South Dakota – Prairie units WRD-21A, WRD-27A, WRD-27B; Black Hills units BHD-BH1, BHD-BD3, BHD-BD4.
• Utah – 16A, 16B, 16C, 13A, 13B, 8A, 8B, 8C, 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D.
• Virginia – Frederick County.
• West Virginia – Hampshire County.
• Wisconsin – Any deer registered with a Wisconsin DNR Red Registration Tag from the area designated as the Disease Eradication Zone or Herd Reduction Zone including deer management zones 54B-CWD, 70-CWD, 70A-CWD, 70B-CWD, 70C-CWD, 70D-CWD, 70E-CWD, 70F-CWD, 70G-CWD, 71-CWD, 73B-CWD, 73E-CWD, 75A-CWD, 75B-CWD, 75C-CWD, 75D-CWD, 76-CWD, 76A-CWD, 76M-CWD, 77A-CWD, 77B-CWD, 77C-CWD.
• Wyoming – All deer and elk units.

In addition, the following states and provinces have had farmed deer, elk, moose or other cervids diagnosed with CWD, and importation of farmed deer, elk, moose and other cervid carcasses or their parts are restricted: Alberta, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Additional areas will be added as necessary and listed on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.

Because each state and province has its own set of rules and regulations, hunters should contact the state or province in which they will hunt to obtain more information.

Hunters with questions can contact the North Dakota Game and Fish Department at (701) 328-6300, or e-mail ndgf@nd.gov.

Fur Harvester Classes Scheduled in Minot, Watford City

The North Dakota Cooperative Fur Harvester Education program is sponsoring fur harvester education classes in Minot and Watford City for anyone interested in learning about trapping or furbearer hunting.

The free 16-hour course is set for Minot Aug. 19, 26 and 28 at the Minot Rifle and Pistol Club (Trestle Valley). The class in Watford City will be held Sept. 25 and Oct. 2 at the Civic Center.

Students will learn about trapping and fur hunting, furbearer biology, tracking, fur handling, regulations, responsible and ethical behavior, land and water sets, predator calling, hound hunting and wildlife management.

Upon completion, graduates are issued a certification card that is recognized by any state requiring trapper education prior to purchasing a license.

Anyone interested in signing up for the class should access the Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov, click on the online services link, and “online course enrollment” under the hunter education heading.

We trap rabbits in the backyard. My son, daughter and I. Essentially it’s learning about the habits, food, shelter and patterns of rabbits. The food the like—broccoli—we use for bait. I was fortunate to grow up with a Dad who trapped…fox, coyote, racoon, mink…you name it. Back when the prices paid for the gas and thensome, but those day’s are gone and the future of furtaking is not as bright as it was in 1983. But..there is hope:
Fur Harvester Classes Scheduled in Minot, Watford CityThe North Dakota Cooperative Fur Harvester Education program is sponsoring fur harvester education classes in Minot and Watford City for anyone interested in learning about trapping or furbearer hunting.The free 16-hour course is set for Minot Aug. 19, 26 and 28 at the Minot Rifle and Pistol Club (Trestle Valley). The class in Watford City will be held Sept. 25 and Oct. 2 at the Civic Center.Students will learn about trapping and fur hunting, furbearer biology, tracking, fur handling, regulations, responsible and ethical behavior, land and water sets, predator calling, hound hunting and wildlife management.Upon completion, graduates are issued a certification card that is recognized by any state requiring trapper education prior to purchasing a license.Anyone interested in signing up for the class should access the Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov, click on the online services link, and “online course enrollment” under the hunter education heading.

Good morning,

The remaining deer lotteries have now been held. Results may be viewed by going to our online services page at;

https://secure.apps.state.nd.us/gnf/onlineservices/lic/public/online/main.htm and clicking “Find Lottery Results/Preference Points.”

First come, first served applications are also available online and may be purchased by going to the link above and clicking “Deer.” Units and number of tags available may be viewed by clicking “Check Units/Licenses Available.”