dleier's blog
Fisheries crews have completed their annual salmon spawning operation on Lake Sakakawea after collecting 1.5 million eggs, easily surpassing their goal of 900,000.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is reminding deer hunters to keep in mind the Sportsmen Against Hunger program this fall.
While this year’s deer proclamation allows only one deer gun license per hunter, families with more than one license might want to consider donating a deer to this worthy cause. In addition, hunters with an archery and muzzleloader license can help as well.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department urges deer hunters to find their license and check it for accuracy.
Every year the Game and Fish Department’s licensing section receives last-minute inquiries from hunters who can’t find their license. When that happens, it’s difficult to try to get a replacement license in time for the season opener.
Another reason to check the license now is to make sure the unit and species is what was intended.
North Dakota’s roadside pheasant survey conducted in late July and August suggests much improved production this spring, meaning more young birds added to the population and a better fall population in all areas of the state.
Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said the survey shows total pheasants statewide are up 59 percent from last year. In addition, brood observations were up 65 percent, and the average brood size was up 16 percent. The final summary is the result of 255 runs made along 106 brood routes across North Dakota.
North Dakota’s two-day youth pheasant season is Oct. 6-7. Legally licensed residents and nonresidents ages 15 and younger may hunt roosters statewide.
Resident youth hunters, regardless of age, must possess a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate and general game and habitat license. Nonresident youth hunters from states that provide a reciprocal licensing agreement for North Dakota residents qualify for North Dakota resident licenses. Otherwise, nonresident youth hunters must purchase a nonresident small game license.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual fall wetland survey indicates fair wetland conditions statewide for duck hunting. However, hunters will need to plan ahead because most areas of the state are substantially drier than last year.
Rost, Hecker Named to Game and Fish Advisory Board
Governor Jack Dalrymple has appointed Tom Rost of Devils Lake and Dwight Hecker of Fairfield to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s advisory board.
The governor appoints eight Game and Fish Department advisors, each representing a multi-county section of the state, to serve as a liaison between the department and public.
Rost, an avid hunter and angler, replaces Tracy Gardner, Devils Lake, in District 3. Hecker, a farmer-rancher, replaces Wayne Gerbig of Amidon in District 8. Gerbig and Gardner’s terms expired on June 30.
Friday, Sept. 14 at noon signals the start of a nine-and-a-half day deer hunting season for youth ages 12-15.
Licensed youth ages 12 and 13 are allowed to hunt statewide, but only for antlerless white-tailed deer. Deer hunters age 14 or 15 with a “youth season” license can hunt statewide for any deer, except antlerless mule deer in units 3B1, 3B2, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F. In addition, a special license is required to hunt antlered mule deer in those same units.
More than 2,000 licenses for antlerless deer are still available after the North Dakota Game and Fish Department recently completed its second lottery drawing.
These remaining licenses will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Sept. 19. These licenses are only available to individuals who have not already received a lottery or landowner license, and are valid only during the regular deer gun season, Nov. 9-25.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is reminding bowhunters that hunting deer over bait is now prohibited in deer units 3C, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1 and 3F2.
Expansion of the area in which hunting over bait is no longer allowed is in response to recent discoveries of chronic wasting disease in deer in part of southwestern North Dakota. In 2011 only unit 3F2, where the first two CWD positive deer were taken, was closed to hunting over bait.
