By Nick Simonson

While near-record snowfall across the southeastern portion of North Dakota hampered survival of the state’s white-tailed deer population over the winter of 2022-23, those animals that made it through the challenging season have had conditions helpful to their recovery since spring.  Temperate conditions and ample rainfall have helped those does able to fawn carry their young through the summer and into autumn, and the habitat remaining on the ground is in good shape thanks to timely rains, according to North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) Big Game Biologist Jason Smith.

“The deer that were fortunate enough to make it through the historic winter that we had last year, for the most part, seem to be doing pretty well.  There’s obviously, based on my travels out and about, a lot less deer on the landscape, but the ones I’ve been seeing lately look to be in good shape and I’ve even been seeing a few fawns with does, so that’s encouraging, for sure,” Smith details.

North Dakota’s deer archery season begins at noon on Fri. Sept. 1, and will likely be a draw for hunters who saw firearms season tags reduced statewide and in the southeastern quarter.  In total, 64,700 tags were offered to hunters in the fall of 2022 for the firearms season, compared to 53,400 which were issued for this fall’s hunt, or a drop of 11,300 or roughly 15 percent across the board.  Notable drops in the southeast included firearms unit 2F2 (1,600 total gun tags in 2022 to 1,400 in 2023), 2G (900 to 600), 2J2 (1,900 to 1,500) and 2B (2,300 to 1,800).  In years where firearms season tags have been reduced, it is often expected that more sportsmen will pursue deer with the bow, and if they’ve been paying attention to the remaining populations, hunters should be in for some good opportunities.

“I would say what’s out there and what is still on the landscape for habitat looks really good.  We came in with obviously good moisture and have had timely rains.  Everything out there is pretty green and lush and so that’s been very beneficial.  I would guess guys that are going out to take advantage of that opener for archery season are going to see the same wherever they have access and probably have already been scouting with their cameras. Wherever there are deer, they should have some pretty good success,” Smith predicts.

Currently, crops across the region are progressing toward harvest, and conditions suggest a timeline that is slightly ahead of last autumn and slightly behind the overall average.  Corn conditions surveyed by the USDA in North Dakota showed samples rating 29 percent fair, 52 percent good, and 8 percent excellent as of last week. Dented corn was currently at 9 percent, compared to 5 percent last year and 12 percent on the average for this time of year.  Typically, corn harvest begins in earnest in the first week of October and is mostly complete by the first week in November.  The popular row crop and its gradual removal from the landscape typically spurs deer to denser cover and provides more open visuals of the terrain and animal movement for archery hunters around their stands.

Archery tags can be purchased online at gf.nd.gov, but require some time for mailing, so hunters are advised to get their orders in no later than Aug. 28, to ensure timely delivery to their mailbox for the season’s start at the end of the week.  The cost of a resident deer archery license is $30 and purchases can be made under the “Buy and Apply” tab on the department’s website.

“You have to purchase those online, so you want to make sure you are pre-planning in that regard,” Smith cautions, “you have to make those arrangements and make sure you purchase those in advance, so you have them in hand before you go out,” he concludes.

More information on the upcoming archery season for deer can be found at https://gf.nd.gov/hunting/deer.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: A Hopeful Pair.  Those bucks that made it through the challenging winter have done well this summer with good conditions in southeastern North Dakota, and a number of fawns have also been sighted, spurring hopes of a recovery for the animals in the region. Simonson Photo.