By Nick Simonson

North Dakota’s deer herds are in a rebuilding phase as they come off two easy winters in 2023 and 2024 which have worked to their benefit.  Habitat however remains the larger concern on the landscape of the Peace Garden State and will likely drive how rapidly that population recovery happens following a temperate spring and summer. Going around the state, the past spring and summer have helped set the stage for the 2025 firearms season as it opens this weekend, according to Levi Jacobson, Assistant Chief of the Wildlife Division with the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F). 

“We had such a mild winter and then we had the precipitation we needed this year too so we’ve got lots of cover out there and lots of food for deer, so they did pretty well this spring and summer,” Jacobson details.

In the western half of the state, the populations of whitetail deer have weathered a minor outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD) in the far southwestern corner, and mule deer herds likely remain unaffected by the midge-borne virus which causes internal bleeding and other impacts to the organs of big game of all species, but particularly whitetails. The outbreak was localized, but out of caution, NDG&F offered refunds and restoration of preference points to hunters who drew tags in units 3E1, 3F1, 3F2, 4E and 4F this year.

In the northwestern corner of the state, agency biologists and wardens are observing good populations of mule deer outside of the normal range, and the whitetail herd is in decent shape as well. Where habitat is present, the latter deer are regaining a foothold, according to Jacobson.

“The EHD didn’t hit us as hard as it did last year and even previous years. We did see some loss in the whitetails, but our mule deer, they’re a little bit below average but we’ve still got pretty good numbers out there,” Jacobson explains of the southwestern North Dakota deer herds, adding, “in the northwest, the mule deer are doing well up there. Whitetails are doing pretty good up there too, there’s a fair amount of habitat and we had a couple mild winters. We’re staying kind of conservative there too on the tags, just to get the herd to rebound as much as we can.”

It has been a slow uphill climb since the winter of 2022-23 for whitetail deer in the eastern half of North Dakota, where that season brought more than 100 inches of snow in some parts of the region.  Those challenges, coupled with disappearing marginal habitat such as conservation reserve program grasses, has limited whitetails’ recovery over the past two years.  What biologists are seeing on the ground, however, is that where good habitat and cover remain, hunters are likely to find better populations of deer especially around riparian areas and in those large expanses of sloughs and contiguous grassy spaces around the thermal cover.

“In the southeast part of the state, our densities are still pretty low. We’ve been staying conservative with our tags, trying to get that herd to rebound.  In pockets where there’s good habitat, the deer numbers are alright,” Jacobson explains of the southeastern region’s whitetails, adding that the northeastern portion of North Dakota is experiencing similar statistics for deer related to limited habitat.

The North Dakota firearms deer hunting season begins Fri. Nov. 7 at noon and continues until Sun. Nov. 23.  Hours are from one half hour before sunrise until one half hour after sunset. The number of firearms tags issued for the 2025 season was 42,300, the lowest in the state in over 40 years.  Following the award of gratis tags to landowners and allocation of non-resident firearms tags, 27,823 licenses were awarded in the first round of the general lottery to resident hunters this season.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors

Featured Photo: Paying Attention.  As hunters take to the field for the North Dakota firearms deer opener this weekend, licenses for the 16.5-day season are at a 40-year low and habitat concerns hamper a rapid rebound following a tough winter in 2022-23. Simonson Photo.