NDG&F Press Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department tracked 28 outdoors-related bills during the 2017 legislative session, 11 of which were passed by both chambers and signed into law. The following bills take effect Aug. 1, unless the bill includes an emergency clause which indicates it is already in effect. HB 1017 – Appropriates…

NDG&F Dept. Press Release North Dakota’s moose and elk lottery results are available online at the state Game and Fish Department’s website.  Applicants can find individual results by clicking “my account” under the buy and apply link. Successful applicants will receive a letter the week of May 15, stating the license will be mailed after the successful…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. The rise and fall of acreage enrolled in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program is well documented. The CRP got its start in the mid-1980s as a program designed primarily to reduce nationwide crop production in an effort to turn around low commodity prices, and also to reduce…

By Nick Simonson Like colored currents of air through a wind tunnel in an aerodynamics lab, the gray smoke wound its way up and out of the bottom barrel of my over-under shotgun. I watched as the wafting darkness gave way to the shimmering green and yellow colors of the first dandelions of the season…

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s spring bighorn sheep survey revealed a minimum of 296 bighorn sheep in western North Dakota, up slightly from last year and 3 percent above the five-year average. Altogether, biologists counted 104 rams, 170 ewes and 22 lambs. Not included are approximately 20 bighorns in the North Unit of…

NDG&F Dept. Press Release A total of 44,140 North Dakota deer hunters took approximately 29,300 deer during the 2016 deer gun hunting season, according to a post-season survey conducted by the state Game and Fish Department. Game and Fish made available 49,000 deer gun licenses last year. Overall hunter success was 66 percent, with each…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. I don’t remember the year, but I do remember the scenario when I bought my first fishing license online. It was one of those spring days that wasn’t supposed to be spring. Early April and the sun was shining, the snow was all but gone and my buddy said the…

NDG&F Press Release The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is partnering with the U.S Department of Agriculture to provide landowners with options to enroll acreage into two new programs designed to develop wildlife habitat. A new Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, and State Acres For Wildlife Enhancement, are companion programs to the popular Conservation Reserve…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept.  After writing recently about the whooping crane, an endangered bird species that migrates through North Dakota in spring and fall, I got a text message from a friend who was reporting the spring sighting of dozens of bald eagles in one spot. While the area of interest was from northeastern…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. I grew up in an era in North Dakota when special seasons for young hunters did not yet exist. Looking back, I surely would have enjoyed the extra days afield the special youth deer, waterfowl and pheasant seasons now offer. But I was fortunate to have spent a lot of…

By Nick Simonson This year, my chapter of Pheasants Forever eclipsed the $7 Million mark in habitat acquisitions and restoration projects.  Through funds leveraged through a state grant program, partnerships with the state and national PF organizations along with the much-appreciated assistance of nearby PF chapters and local conservation clubs, our alliances have opened nearly…