Individuals interested in attending an upcoming wild game processing workshop or spring turkey camp sponsored by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department should sign up quickly as classes are limited.Participants can register by contacting education coordinator Brian Schaffer at 701-328-6312, or email bschaffer@nd.gov.

Wild Game Processing Workshop

 Audience: Anyone 15 years of age and older

Date: Saturday, March 11

 Location: Game and Fish District Shop – 3001 E. Main, Bismarck

 Time: 1 – 5 p.m.

 Cost of Workshop: $25

 Learn how to take harvested game from the field to the table. Participants will take home several packages of fresh sausage.

 Spring Turkey Camp

 Audience: Female hunter education graduates ages 12-15 who have never had a turkey license

 Co-sponsor: National Wild Turkey Federation Central Dakota Strutters and Badlands Toms chapters

 Date: Saturday/Sunday, May 6-7, must have parent/guardian present

 Location: Washburn

 Participants and guardians will spend time afield with an experienced turkey hunter. Each participant must apply for a guaranteed youth license in Unit 98 during the spring turkey lottery. The deadline to apply in the lottery is Feb. 8.

 In addition to the mentored turkey hunt, participants will experience breakout sessions on wild turkey biology, turkey hunting safety and hunting techniques, firearm handling/shooting instruction, and how to build a turkey call.

This weeks North Dakota Outdoors Webcast is available and online right here. It’s a look at 2016 game and fish violation statistics.

Find out how things went in this week’s webcast with chief game warden Bob Timian. Check out the Game and Fish YouTube channel right here or here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ndgnf

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is offering 5,685 wild turkey licenses for the spring hunting season, 130 fewer than last year.

One of the 22 hunting units has slightly more spring licenses than in 2016, five have fewer and 15 remain the same. Unit 21 (Hettinger and Adams counties) is again closed in 2017 due to lack of turkeys in the unit.

Successful spring turkey applicants must purchase a 2017-18 hunting license, as last year’s 2016-17 licenses expire March 31. In addition to the spring turkey license, hunters must have a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate, and a general game and habitat license. Also, hunters ages 16 and older must possess a small game license, or combination license.

First-time spring turkey hunters ages 15 or younger are eligible to receive one spring license valid for the regular hunting season in a specific unit. To be eligible, the youth hunter must be 15 or younger on opening day of spring turkey season, and have never received a spring turkey license in North Dakota.

Spring turkey applicants can apply online at the Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. Applications can also be submitted by calling 800-406-6409.

Application forms will also be available by Feb. 1 at vendors and Game and Fish offices. The deadline for applying is Feb. 8. Online or phone applications must be logged before midnight that day.

Spring turkey licenses are available only to North Dakota residents. The spring turkey season opens April 8 and continues through May 14.

The North Dakota National Archery in the Schools Program state tournament will be held March 17-18 at the State Fair Center in Minot.

The tournament will feature team and individual categories in elementary, middle school and high school, including awards and prizes, and up to $20,000 in college scholarships available to the top 10 boys and girls in each grade division.

Additionally, the top 10 boys and girls qualify for NASP nationals in Louisville, Kentucky.

The state tournament and all other local and regional NASP tournaments are open to any student in grades 4-12 who attend a school that offers NASP lessons during the school day. If a school has an afterschool club, third-graders are also welcome, with permission from the coach and principal.

For a complete listing of tournaments in North Dakota, go to the Official NASP Tournament website at http://www.nasptournaments.org/. A certified NASP archery instructor must register your child for all NASP tournaments.

For more information, or to find out if your child’s school participates in NASP, contact Jeff Long, North Dakota state coordinator, at jrlong@nd.gov or call 701-328-6322.

A mule deer doe and a mule deer buck taken during the 2016 deer gun season from unit 3F2 in southwestern North Dakota have tested positive for chronic wasting disease, according to Dr. Dan Grove, wildlife veterinarian for the State Game and Fish Department.

Since 2009, the total now stands at nine deer to test positive for CWD and all were from within unit 3F2.

In addition to the 350 samples tested for CWD from unit 3F2, another 1,050 were tested from deer harvested last fall by hunters in the eastern third of the state, and from any moose or elk taken during the hunting season. In all, more than 1,400 samples were tested.

Since the Game and Fish Department’s sampling efforts began in 2002, more than 30,000 deer, elk and moose have tested negative for CWD.

The hunter-harvested surveillance program annually collects samples taken from hunter-harvested deer in specific regions of the state. In 2017, deer will be tested from the central portion of the state.

The Game and Fish Department also has a targeted surveillance program that is an ongoing, year-round effort to test animals found dead or sick.

CWD affects the nervous system of members of the deer family and is always fatal. Scientists have found no evidence that CWD can be transmitted naturally to humans or livestock.

Winterkill

This weeks North Dakota Game and Fish Department weekly webcast is now available online right here and here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/ndgnf

The 2017 January issue of North Dakota Outdoors magazine is available FREE online right now here.

The 2016 year in review is featured, written by Deputy Director Scott Peterson, “I often wonder what our predecessors would think about some of the issues that seem to consume so much of our time today.

There’s no doubt they were plenty busy dealing with important issues, but it seems unlikely they spent any appreciable amount of time addressing the Endangered Species Act, zebra mussels or chronic wasting disease.

Conversely, I do suspect that increasing wildlife habitat, the equitable allocation of lottery licenses and gauging public sentiment are timeless issues that were likely at the forefront from the beginning of modern fisheries and wildlife management.”

The full story is here: “2016 Year in Review”.

You’ll also want to be sure to check out a feature by Greg Power on the Trout Fishing in North Dakota Then and Now  “The reflexive mental image for some people when they hear the words ‘trout fishing’ is of an angler in chest-waders casting a fly-rod in the shadow of some rugged mountains.

In reality, trout fishing in North Dakota doesn’t always include a fly-rod, waders and certainly not mountains. Yet, for years trout have had a place at the table in terms of fishing opportunities for North Dakota anglers.”

North Dakota citizens with an interest in supporting wildlife conservation programs are reminded to look for the Watchable Wildlife checkoff on the state tax form.

The state income tax form gives wildlife enthusiasts an opportunity to support nongame wildlife like songbirds and birds of prey, while at the same time contributing to programs that help everyone enjoy all wildlife.

The checkoff – whether you are receiving a refund or having to pay in – is an easy way to voluntarily contribute to sustain this long‑standing program. In addition, direct donations to the program are accepted any time of year.

To learn more about Watchable Wildlife program activities, visit the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov.

Individuals interested in taking a hunter education class in 2017 are reminded to register early as most classes are held the first few months of the calendar year.

To register for a hunter education course, students need to sign up online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov. Many classes will be added over the next several weeks, and the rest will be added throughout the year as they are finalized.

After accessing the Buy and Apply link, click on the hunter ed enrollment link and “list of hunter education courses.” Classes are listed by city, and can also be sorted by start date. To register for a class, click on “enroll” next to the specific class, and follow the simple instructions. Personal information is required.

Individuals interested in receiving a notice by email when each hunter education class is added can click on the “subscribe to news and alerts” link found below the news section on the Game and Fish home page. Check the box labeled “hunter education” under the education program updates.

In addition, SMS text notifications of new classes can be sent directly to a cell phone. Simply text “NDGF HunterClass” to 468311 to subscribe to this feature.

State law requires anyone born after December 31, 1961 to pass a certified hunter education course to hunt in the state. Hunter education is mandatory for youth who are turning 12 years old, and children can take the class at age 11.