Youth, Military Waterfowl Weekend
Introduce a youngster to duck hunting during North Dakota’s two-day youth waterfowl weekend Sept. 17-18. In addition, the special veteran and active military personnel waterfowl season is set for the same weekend.
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has a Virtual Duck Hunting Mentor webpage with all the basics, including license requirements, regulations, gear recommendations and tips for finding a place to hunt. Legally licensed resident and nonresident youth waterfowl hunters 15 and younger, and veterans and members of the Armed Forces on active duty, including members of the National Guard and Reserves on active duty (other than for training), may hunt ducks, geese, coots and mergansers statewide.
The daily bag limit and species restrictions are the same as for regular duck and goose seasons. However, the additional two blue-winged teal allowed during the first 16 days of the regular season are not allowed during this weekend.
Resident and qualifying nonresident youth waterfowl hunters must possess a general game and habitat license. Nonresidents from states that do not provide a reciprocal licensing agreement for North Dakota residents must purchase the entire nonresident waterfowl license package. Veterans and members of the Armed Forces must possess a resident hunting license, which includes a general game and habitat license and a small game license. Hunters 16 and older must also possess a federal waterfowl stamp, and youth 12 and older need to have passed a certified hunter education course.
In addition, all hunters must be Harvest Information Program certified. Hunters who do not HIP certify when they buy a North Dakota license can add it by visiting the state Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov.
Hunters Asked to Submit Wing Envelopes
Hunters can help in the effort to manage upland game birds in North Dakota by collecting feathers from harvested birds and sending in wing envelopes.
Birds included in the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s upland game wing survey, which has been in practice for decades, are ring-necked pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge, turkeys and ruffed grouse. Collecting enough pheasant samples is typically never a problem but securing enough sharptail and partridge feathers can be. Game and Fish biologists will take as many sharptail and partridge feathers as they can get because the more collected, the better the data.
Biologists can determine if the birds are male or female, age ratios, survival, nesting success, hatch dates and overall production. What biologists learn from samples is vital to helping manage North Dakota’s upland game birds. Instructions for submitting wing data are printed on the envelope. Hunters interested in receiving wing envelopes should visit the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov.
Season for Youth Deer Hunters
Friday, Sept. 16 at noon Central time signals the start of a nine-and-a-half-day deer hunting season for licensed youth hunters. Residents who are 11, 12 or 13 in 2022 can hunt statewide for antlerless white-tailed deer. Resident deer gun hunters who are 14 or 15 in 2022 can hunt statewide with a youth season license for any deer, except for antlered mule deer in units 3B1, 3B2, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F where a special license is required.
After opening day, hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to a half-hour after sunset. Orange clothing is required for youth hunters and mentors. Each young deer hunter must be under direct supervision of an adult. The adult is prohibited from carrying a firearm or bow while accompanying the youth hunter in the field during the youth season. The youth deer season closes Sept. 25.
Sandhill Crane Season
North Dakota’s sandhill crane season opens Sept. 17 and runs through Nov. 13. Limits are three daily and nine in possession in unit 1 (west of U.S. Highway 281), and two daily and six in possession in unit 2 (east of U.S. Highway 281). Shooting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to 2 p.m. each day.
Hunters are urged to use caution and identify birds to prevent shooting at endangered whooping cranes as they begin their fall migration.In addition to other licenses required, resident hunters need a $10 crane permit, while nonresidents need a $30 permit. Hunters can buy a license online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Harvest Information Program certification is required. To get HIP certified, access the Game and Fish website.
