Tag Archives: spring

Spring Light Goose Conservation Order

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North Dakota’s spring light goose conservation order opens Feb. 18 and continues through May 14.

Residents must have a 2022-23 (valid through March 31) or 2023-24 (required April 1) combination license; or a small game, and general game and habitat license. Resident youth under age 16 only need the general game and habitat license. The 2023-24 license is available for purchase beginning March 15.

Nonresidents need a 2023 spring light goose conservation order license. The cost is $50 and valid statewide. Nonresidents who hunt in spring remain eligible to buy a fall season license. The spring license does not count against the 14-day fall waterfowl hunting season regulation.

In addition, nonresident youth under 16 can purchase a license at the resident fee if their state has youth reciprocity licensing with North Dakota.

A federal duck stamp is not required for either residents or nonresidents.

Resident and nonresident licenses are available online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.

Hunters must register annually with the Harvest Information Program prior to hunting in each state. The HIP number obtained for North Dakota’s spring conservation order is also valid for North Dakota’s fall hunting season. The number can be obtained online on the Game and Fish website.

The spring conservation order is only open to light geese – snows, blues and Ross’s. Species identification is important because white-fronted and Canada geese travel with light geese. The conservation order is closed to whitefronts, Canada geese, swans and all other migratory birds.

For more information on regulations refer to the 2023 Spring Light Goose Hunting Regulations.

North Dakota Spring Turkey Season Set

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The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is offering 7,412 wild turkey licenses for the 2023 spring hunting season, 235 fewer than last year.

Two of the 22 hunting units have more spring licenses than last year, eight have fewer licenses and 11 remain the same. Unit 21 (Hettinger and Adams counties) is again closed due to lack of turkeys in the unit.

Spring turkey applicants can apply online at the Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. 

The deadline for applying is Feb. 15.

Applicants should note that a general game and habitat license is required when applying for a turkey license. The applicant has the option of having the general game and habitat license refunded if their turkey license is not drawn in the lottery.

In addition, hunters 16 and older must possess a small game license, or combination license.

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

The spring turkey season opens April 8 and continues through May 14. 

North Dakota 2022 Spring Grouse Counts Reported

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North Dakota Game and Fish Department upland game biologists summarized the spring survey results for sharp-tailed grouse, ruffed grouse and greater sage grouse.

Summaries from the spring sharp-tailed grouse census indicate a 13% decrease in the number of male grouse counted compared to last year.

Statewide, 2,639 sharptails were observed on spring dancing grounds this year compared to 3,281 in 2021. Male grouse recorded per square mile (4) was slightly above the 10-year average (3.8).

“These declines align with poor reproduction documented during the 2021 drought,” said Jesse Kolar, upland game management supervisor. “We observed low sharptail reproduction rates during late summer roadside counts and found a low juvenile-to-adult ratio from hunter-submitted wings.”

Survey results indicate a 52% increase in the number of ruffed grouse drums heard in the Turtle Mountains, but a 5% decrease in drums heard per stop in the Pembina Hills.

“When combined, survey results indicate a steady population of ruffed grouse drums heard in 2022 compared to 2021,” Kolar said.

A total of 14 male sage grouse were counted on one active lek this spring, down seven males from six leks. North Dakota does not offer a hunting season on sage grouse due to a low population.

The spring grouse census serves as relative indices of breeding populations and are largely representative of production and recruitment from the previous year. For sharptails, they can be used in combination with brood count data to predict fall populations. Game and Fish staff conduct late summer roadside counts from late-July through August to survey upland game broods and will release a summary in early September, Kolar said.

“Despite the decrease, the fall outlook will include the spring breeding adults plus successful broods,” he added. “This spring had poor residual grass following the 2021 drought. Early nesting was further disrupted by significant snowstorms in the second and third weeks of April. However, the result is a grassland landscape with abundant, tall nesting vegetation for mid- to late-season nesting attempts. We’ll see if that is enough to protect chicks from summer storms.”

From the ND Outdoors Vault

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Each week I revisit a column from the past which is relevant today

For more information on Frequently Asked Fishing Questions click here

Each week I close my column with my contact email information. Later, when the inbox dings to signal a new message has arrived, I’m never certain what the pretense for the email is, but I do enjoy the electronic communication.

Recently a reader took issue with an explanation I previously provided regarding harvest of big fish in the spring prior to the time that either walleyes or northern pike have spawned for the year.

Because North Dakota has a year-round fishing season for game fish, this is not an uncommon question. Some anglers wonder whether we should have a closed season, or alternately, whether we should have some type of fish length restriction that would reduce harvest of larger fish.

Rather than me trying to reinvent the wheel in addressing these concerns, North Dakota Game and Fish Director Terry Steinwand provided some excellent insight in his column in the March/April issue of North Dakota Outdoors, the state Game and Fish Department’s magazine. Following is a summary of that column.

In 1993 Game and Fish made the decision to have a year-round fishing season statewide. At the time, the Missouri River System was already open to walleye and pike harvest year-round, but the “game fish” season was closed in the rest of the state from mid-March to early May, a regulation that dated back at least into the 1930s.

Before implementing a year-round season, biologists evaluated the pros and cons. At the time the concern wasn’t so much whether anglers would over-harvest prespawn fish, but whether eliminating a traditional fishing opener would dampen fishing enthusiasm.

In nearly two decades since then, the year-round season has been mostly well received. Anglers like the extra opportunity, and biologically, any additional harvest of prespawn fish has not shown to be a detriment to any of our fishing waters.

However, every spring, and maybe this spring more than most because we have open water statewide so early, we hear concerns from anglers who witness or see pictures of people keeping some big, heavy, egg-bearing female pike or walleye caught from lakeshores or below dams, or in constricted rivers or channels.

While these fish are potential producers, we all know that there are more out there that are not being caught; and each having tens of thousands of eggs. It’s basically a numbers game for fish.

For the most part, a stringer full of big walleyes or pike taken before the spawning run may make the anglers look like game hogs in the eyes of some, but it doesn’t hurt the fishery any more than catching and keeping those same fish over Memorial Day weekend. Most anglers release those big fish without a regulation that makes it a requirement.

That said, experimental or restrictive regulations are always an option if it appears there is a need and the regulation can be fairly evaluated in a manner that produces reliable results, so we know it was the right thing to do for the fishery in the long term.

Fisheries biologists annually assess adult fish populations and reproduction on major waters, and Game and Fish monitors fishing success through creel surveys as well. These findings are essential in determining if and when regulation changes are needed. 

It’s a good thing to have concerned anglers and hunters who ask the Game and Fish Department, through electronic communications or otherwise, for more restrictions when they feel our resources may be threatened.

Whether you choose to keep big fish or release them, it’s going to be a great year for fishing in North Dakota.

Spring Mule Deer Survey Complete

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The North Dakota Game and Fish Department completed its annual spring mule deer survey in April, and results indicate western North Dakota’s mule deer population is similar to last year and 21% above the long-term average.

Biologists counted 2,671 mule deer in 306.3 square miles during this year’s survey. Overall mule deer density in the badlands was 8.7 deer per square mile.

Big game management supervisor Bruce Stillings said he is encouraged with current mule deer densities across the badlands.

“But we are concerned that mule deer are beginning the summer with poor rangeland conditions due to the extreme drought across the western part of the state, which could negatively affect fawn survival,” Stillings said. 

The spring mule deer survey is used to assess mule deer abundance in the badlands. It is conducted after the snow has melted and before the trees begin to leaf out, providing the best conditions for aerial observation of deer. Biologists have completed aerial surveys of the same 24 study areas since the 1950s.

Spring Light Goose Conservation Order

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North Dakota’s spring light goose conservation order opens Feb. 20 and continues through May 9.

Residents must have a valid current season 2020-21 (valid through March 31) or 2021-22 (required April 1) combination license; or a small game, and general game and habitat license. Resident youth under age 16 only need the general game and habitat license. The 2021-22 license is available for purchase beginning March 15.

Nonresidents need a 2021 spring light goose conservation order license. The cost is $50 and is valid statewide. Nonresidents who hunt in spring remain eligible to buy a fall season license. The spring license does not count against the 14-day fall waterfowl hunting season regulation.

In addition, nonresident youth under age 16 can purchase a license at the resident fee if their state has youth reciprocity licensing with North Dakota.

A federal duck stamp is not required for either residents or nonresidents.

Resident and nonresident licenses are available online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov, or by calling 800-406-6409.

Hunters must register annually with the Harvest Information Program prior to hunting in each state. The HIP number can be obtained online, or by calling 888-634-4798. The HIP number obtained for North Dakota’s spring conservation order is also valid for North Dakota’s fall hunting season.

The spring conservation order is only open to light geese – snows, blues, and Ross’s. Species identification is important because white-fronted and Canada geese travel with light geese. The conservation order is closed to whitefronts, Canada geese, swans and all other migratory birds.

For more information on regulations refer to the 2021 Spring Light Goose Hunting Regulations and the North Dakota 2020-21 Hunting and Trapping Guide.

North Dakota pheasant numbers up from last year

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By Doug Leier 

 While my college transcript might indicate otherwise, I’ve always enjoyed statistics. That’s about the most positive spin I can put on my appreciation for numbers while giving credit to the confusion some figures can portray. 

 Case in point: If you took the 2019 pheasant hunting statistics at face value, you might think 

the pheasant numbers were down. Our post season survey showed about 50,000 pheasant 

hunters harvested 256,800 roosters (down 25%) in 2019, compared to 59,400 hunters and 

342,600 roosters in 2018. 

 Jesse Kolar, North Dakota Game and Fish Department upland game management supervisor, said the overall harvest was down despite slight increases in most population survey estimates. 

 “This was likely due to continued declines in hunter numbers and hunter days afield following 

lower population trends,” he said. “We also still have lower densities of upland game birds 

in areas that traditionally had much of the harvest – pheasant numbers were still low in the 

southwest and sharptail numbers remained low in the badlands.” 

 But numbers are just numbers, especially when you consider that some hunters only hunt the opening weekend of pheasant season and a number of those folks didn’t venture afield during last fall’s opener because of nasty weather. So, you need to factor that in. 

 On top of that, North Dakota experienced an extremely wet fall in 2019 and you could argue that pheasant numbers were maybe much better than actual hunter harvest would indicate. 

 It’s a long bridge I’m crossing to relate that this spring’s pheasant index is a snapshot of roosters that came through winter. Fact is, North Dakota’s spring pheasant population index is up 15% from the same time last year. 

 R.J. Gross, Department upland game management biologist, said the number of roosters heard 

crowing this spring was up statewide, with increases ranging from 1% to 18% in the primary 

regions holding pheasants. 

 Pheasant crowing counts are conducted each spring throughout North Dakota. Observers drive 

specified 20-mile routes, stop at predetermined intervals, and count the number of pheasant 

roosters heard crowing over a 2-minute period during the stop. The number of pheasant crows heard is compared to the previous year’s data, providing a trend summary. 

 “We entered spring with a larger breeding population compared to last year,” he said. “Hens 

should be in good physical shape for nesting season and cover should be plentiful from the 

residual moisture left from last fall.” 

 However, Gross had concern with drought conditions in the western part of the state, and 

insect availability to chicks during brood rearing. 

 While the spring number is an indicator, Gross said it does not predict what the fall population 

will look like. Brood surveys, which begin in late July and are completed by September, provide 

a much better estimate of summer pheasant production and what hunters might expect for a fall 

pheasant population. 

Spring Mule Deer Survey Complete

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department completed its annual spring mule deer survey in April, and results indicate western North Dakota’s mule deer population is up 7% from last year and 22% above the long-term average.

Biologists counted 2,364 mule deer in 267.3 square miles during this year’s survey. Overall mule deer density in the badlands was 8.8 deer per square mile.

Big game management supervisor Bruce Stillings said the population is above objective and remains at a level able to support more hunting opportunities in the northern badlands.

“Mule deer have recovered nicely across the badlands following the winters of a decade ago,” Stillings said. “But long-term challenges remain for further population growth, including predators and weather patterns, and changes in habitat.” 

The spring mule deer survey is used to assess mule deer abundance in the badlands. It is conducted after the snow has melted and before the trees begin to leaf out, providing the best conditions for aerial observation of deer. Biologists have completed aerial surveys of the same 24 study areas since the 1950s.

Spring Mule Deer Survey Begins April 1

The state Game and Fish Department’s annual spring aerial mule deer survey is set to begin April 1 in western North Dakota. Weather permitting, the survey takes about two weeks to complete.

During the survey period, people could notice low-flying small airplanes over some parts of the badlands.

Game and Fish biologists have completed aerial surveys of the same 24 badlands study areas since the 1950s. The purpose of the survey is to determine a population index to assess mule deer abundance in the badlands.