Monthly Archives: March 2021

Report Bald Eagle Nest Sightings

Leave a reply

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is asking for help locating active bald eagle nests.

Conservation biologist Sandra Johnson said the department is looking for locations of nests with eagles present, not individual eagle sightings.

Eagles lay eggs in early to mid-March, which hatch about a month later. Johnson said it’s easy to distinguish an eagle nest because of its enormous size.

Nearly 300 active bald eagle nests can be found in more than three-quarters of the counties in the state. Historically, Johnson said nests were found along river corridors, but that’s not the case today.

“Bald eagles have proven to be quite adaptable and will nest in trees out in the middle of pastures, fields or anywhere they’ve got a food source nearby,” she said.

Nest observations should be reported online at the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. Observers are asked not to disturb the nest, and to stay a safe distance away. Johnson said foot traffic may disturb the bird, likely causing the eagle to leave her eggs or young unattended.

2021-22 Licenses Needed April 1

Leave a reply

North Dakota anglers, trappers and hunters are reminded that new licenses for the 2020-21 season are required starting April 1.

Licenses can be purchased online by visiting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. Once the license is processed, hunters and anglers will have the option to print a hard copy and/or download the license to a smart phone or mobile device, which is helpful when asked to show proof of license while hunting or fishing in rural areas that lack cellular service.

Licenses can also be purchased at more than 140 vendor locations throughout the state, or by calling 800-406-6409. The 2021-22 small game, fishing and furbearer licenses are effective April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

Whooping Crane Migration

Leave a reply

Whooping cranes are in the midst of their spring migration and sightings will increase as they make their way through North Dakota over the next several weeks. Anyone seeing these endangered birds as they move through the state is asked to report sightings so the birds can be tracked.

The whooping cranes that do travel through North Dakota in spring are part of a population of about 500 birds on their way from wintering grounds at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas to nesting grounds at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, a distance of about 2,500 miles.

Whoopers stand about 5 feet tall and have a wingspan of about 7 feet from tip to tip. They are bright white with black wing tips, which are visible only when the wings are outspread. In flight, they extend their long necks forward, while their long, slender legs extend out behind the tail. Whooping cranes typically migrate singly, or in groups of 2-3 birds, and may be associated with sandhill cranes.

Other white birds such as snow geese, swans and egrets are often mistaken for whooping cranes. The most common misidentification is pelicans, because their wingspan is similar and they tuck their pouch in flight, leaving a silhouette similar to a crane when viewed from below.

Anyone sighting whoopers should not disturb them, but record the date, time, location and the birds’ activity. Observers should also look closely for and report colored bands, which may occur on one or both legs. Whooping cranes have been marked with colored leg bands to help determine their identity.

Whooping crane sightings should be reported to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices at Lostwood, 701-848-2466; Audubon, 701-442-5474; the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, 701-328-6300; or to local game wardens across the state. Reports help biologists locate important whooping crane habitat areas, monitor marked birds, determine survival and population numbers, and identify times and migration routes.

Nonresident any-deer bow licenses online apps today

Leave a reply

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will have 780 any-deer bow licenses available to nonresidents in 2021.

Applicants can apply online beginning March 15 on the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline for applying is April 15.

Up to five hunters can apply together as a party. A lottery will be held if more applications are received than licenses available. A total of 1,486 people applied in 2020.

The number of nonresident any-deer bow licenses available is 15% of the previous year’s mule deer gun license allocation.

Game and Fish Offers Wildlife Food Plot Seed

Leave a reply

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is offering free seed for the 2021 growing season to landowners interested in planting wildlife food plots for pheasants.

Rather than traditional corn or sunflower food plots, Game and Fish is offering a diverse species, multi-season seed mix that will attract insects, the major diet component of pheasant chicks. Additionally, the mix will provide needed cover during spring and summer, as well as a winter food source.

Private lands biologist Ryan Huber, Riverdale, said the Game and Fish Department is offering the seed as an outreach to landowners to help with habitat, as well as provide food for pheasants, deer, turkeys and a variety of other animals.

“Landowners have been very receptive,” Huber said. “We had several landowners contacting us throughout the summer wanting to show us. They are so proud of it.”

Wildlife food plot seed cooperator DJ Randolph from Velva is one such landowner. “I think it’s a great program,” Randolph said. “I like a variety of seed in a food plot blend. One, you’re providing different food at different stages of the year for a variety of wildlife. So whether it’s too hot, wet, dry, something in that food plot blend is going to come up and grow and provide what your wildlife need.”

Most Game and Fish food plots are part of the department’s Private Land Open To Sportsmen program, but this food plot campaign does not require a PLOTS contract.

Game and Fish does ask participating landowners to allow reasonable public access, such as opening land to youth hunters. Another option simply could be putting up Ask Before You Enter signs. Landowners participating in the promotion cannot charge a fee for hunting.

Randolph provided youth hunters access to his food plots. “Youth hunters were able to harvest both deer and turkey last fall,” he said. 

The Game and Fish Department will provide enough seed to cover up to a maximum 5-acre planting at no cost to the landowner. 

“Any time you can get something that’s going to benefit wildlife at no charge to you, why wouldn’t you try to put that in?” Randolph said. “You can go on the website and sign up for it, contact the Game and Fish and they’ll arrange a distribution point for you to pick up the seed.”

Landowners who are interested in receiving the food plot seed must sign up online by March 31. Seed will be available in April at Game and Fish offices in Bismarck, Jamestown, Devils Lake, Harvey, Dickinson, Williston and Riverdale.

Game and Fish private land biologists can provide technical assistance on food plot location and site preparation. 

Landowners interested in additional financial incentives may be considered for the PLOTS program as well. More information is available by contacting a private land biologist at any Game and Fish office in the state, or email ndgf@nd.gov.

Nonresident Any-Deer Bow Licenses

Leave a reply

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will have 780 any-deer bow licenses available to nonresidents in 2021.

Applicants can apply online beginning March 15 on the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline for applying is April 15. 

Up to five hunters can apply together as a party. A lottery will be held if more applications are received than licenses available. A total of 1,486 people applied in 2020. 

The number of nonresident any-deer bow licenses available is 15% of the previous year’s mule deer gun license allocation.

Zebra Mussels Found in Moss Balls at Pet Stores

Leave a reply

Zebra mussels were recently found in moss balls at some pet stores in North Dakota and several other states. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is urging customers who recently purchased moss balls to properly dispose of them by placing in a bag, freezing solid and discarding into the trash. It’s important to not put moss balls down the toilet or drain.

North Dakota pet stores that received the contaminated shipment have been notified and have removed the moss balls from shelves.

For additional aquarium decontamination instructions, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website at https://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ANS/zebra-mussel-disposal.html.

Deadline to Remove Fish Houses

Leave a reply

Anglers are reminded unoccupied fish houses must be removed from all waters beginning March 15 until ice-out.

Fish houses may be used after March 15 if they are removed daily.

Anglers are advised to use caution while accessing area lakes because mild weather conditions can quickly result in unstable ice conditions that can make removing a fish house with a vehicle difficult or dangerous. Ice conditions can vary from region to region, between lakes in the same region, and even on the same lake.

Elk, Moose, Bighorn Sheep Applications Online

Leave a reply

Elk, moose and bighorn sheep applications are available online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline for applying is March 24.

A total of 523 elk and 474 moose licenses are available to hunters this fall, the same as last year.

Moose units M4 and M1C will remain closed due to a continued downward population trend in the northeastern part of the state. 

As stated in the chronic wasting disease proclamation, hunters harvesting an elk in unit E2, or a moose in units M10 and M11, cannot transport the whole carcass, including the head and spinal column, outside of the unit. More information on CWD is available by visiting the Game and Fish website.

A bighorn sheep hunting season is tentatively scheduled for 2021, depending on the sheep population. The status of the bighorn sheep season will be determined Sept. 1, after summer population surveys are completed. The season was closed in 2015 due to a bacterial pneumonia outbreak. 

Bighorn sheep applicants must apply for a license at the same time as moose and elk, but not for a specific unit. Once total licenses are determined for each unit in late summer, the bighorn lottery will be held and successful applicants contacted to select a hunting unit.

Because the bighorn sheep application fee is not refundable as per state law, if a bighorn season is not held, applicants would not receive a refund.

Elk, moose and bighorn sheep lottery licenses are issued as once-in-a-lifetime licenses in North Dakota. Hunters who have received a license through the lottery in the past are not eligible to apply for that species again.