A bow fisherman from Bismarck has set a new bow/spear state record. Mitch Estabrook arrowed a 60-pound, 8-ounce buffalo from Heart Butte Reservoir on May 16. It broke the previous record by 3 pounds, taken at Heart Butte Reservoir in 2017 by Derek Larson of Mandan.
Buffalo are a native fish sometimes confused with nonnative and invasive common carp. North Dakota Game and Fish Department records indicate that Estabrook’s fish is the largest weighed in the state that was not a paddlefish or pallid sturgeon.
The deadline for landowners interested in posting private land electronically for the 2022-23 hunting season is July 1.
Landowners can log into My Account on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. The July 1 deadline is necessary to produce print material and digital content prior to hunting seasons that begin in August.
The 2021 state legislature passed a bill to allow electronic posting of private land, giving landowners another option for posting private property. Landowners who enrolled land electronically last year can renew, add or modify posting designations during the enrollment period. Others posting for the first time might need to create a profile. To post land, proceed to the “Land Parcels/Electronic Posting” section at the bottom of the page and click “Search/Renew Land parcels.” The electronic posting system is linked to land descriptions based on county tax parcel information.
The Game and Fish website has complete instructions for landowners, along with frequently asked questions for both landowners and hunters. Anglers May Not Bring Live Aquatic Bait into North DakotaAnglers are reminded that it is illegal to import minnows and other forms of live aquatic bait, such as leeches and frogs, into North Dakota. When purchasing live aquatic bait, anglers must buy from a licensed North Dakota retail bait vendor. Bait vendors can properly identify species and ensure all bait is clean of any aquatic nuisance species.
For more information, refer to the 2022-24 North Dakota Fishing Guide, available at license vendors or online at the state Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
The state Game and Fish Department reminds anglers that live white suckers are not legal baitfish anywhere in North Dakota, except in the Bois de Sioux and Red rivers.
Anglers can use live white suckers on the Bois de Sioux and Red rivers, and tributaries up to the first vehicular bridge; however, they are illegal elsewhere. Fathead minnows, sticklebacks and creek chubs are the only legal live baitfish outside of the Bois de Sioux and Red rivers.
The transportation of live white suckers, other than in Richland, Cass, Traill, Grand Forks, Walsh and Pembina counties, is illegal.
For more information, refer to the 2022-24 North Dakota Fishing Guide, available at license vendors or online at the state Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
North Dakota state law requires youth ages 12-15 who want to operate a boat or personal watercraft by themselves with at least a 10-horsepower motor must pass the state’s boating basics course.
The course is available for home-study by contacting the North Dakota Game and Fish Department at 701-328-6300, or ndgf@nd.gov. Two commercial providers also offer the course online, and links to those sites are found on the boat and water safety education page on the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov.
While the home-study course is free, students are charged a fee to take it online. The online provider charges for the course, not the Game and Fish Department. The fee remains with the online provider.
The course covers legal requirements, navigation rules, getting underway, accidents and special topics such as weather, rules of the road, laws, lifesaving and first aid.
