PENCIL IT IN.  As we work through August there are a number of important dates building up on the calendar.  We’ve got a few timing issues for you to take care of before your big game, waterfowl or morning dove hunt, along with an upcoming event to help conservation in today’s calendar-based Outdoors Roundup.  …

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Outreach Biologist I’ve fished a lot of rivers, lakes and reservoirs across North Dakota. From Lake Sakakawea, the Missouri River and Oahe to the smaller local ponds and sloughs.   It’s been a bad summer for a couple of my favorites. I’ve never kept a fishing diary, but I can say…

CHILLING OUT.  The back half of the week will take on a cooler feel for those looking for a break from the summer heat.  Things will still be nice with moderate winds and only slight chances for rain.  We cover all the bases in today’s Outdoors Roundup, including the temperature shift, more pre-season prep and…

SOUND THE HORN.  Don’t forget the deadline for Pronghorn season is fast approaching! We cover that topic and go national with some great conservation news and international with some seriously ugly fish in our Outdoors Roundup.   Featured Photo:  Staredown.  A pronghorn pauses along a field edge, just outside of Underwood, ND.   WEATHER (Bismarck…

NDG&F Press Release More than 3,000 antlerless deer gun licenses are still available in 12 units after the North Dakota Game and Fish Department recently completed its second lottery drawing. Antlerless licenses will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 8 a.m. Central Time on Aug. 8. Residents and nonresidents who have not…

HOP TO IT.  Another great day is on tap to enjoy.  Fill your cup up and get to it!  In our Outdoors Roundup, we cover leg-related topics from kickin’ hoppers to field pants to lower-body exercises to get you ready for any portion of the field you plan to hit this fall. Featured Photo:  Jumpy. …

SHIFTY. A shot of rain enters the forecast this afternoon and evening before things stabilize for Monday and Tuesday.  We look ahead to next week and what’s happening in our Outdoors Roundup. Featured Photo:  Get Bent.  A pair of rods in a downrigger await final tightening as salmon season gets underway.  Simonson Photo.   WEATHER…

By Nick Simonson   Summer’s dense weedlines provide a veritable smorgasbord for crappies preying on minnows and other baitfish species.  Best of all, as these green walls become denser and denser while the dog days settle in, they become a barrier against which slabs can pin their prey and carry out a feeding frenzy in…

RRREV IT UP!  This weekend is going to be great!  With warm temperatures, light winds, and mostly dry conditions until tomorrow night, it’ll be one of those stretches you want to bottle up and save for January.  We go around the horn (and talk about horns) in today’s R-themed Outdoors Roundup. Featured Photo:  Run, little…

By Nick Simonson Flowing waters provide some of the best opportunities to find fish, whether it’s small creeks and streams or larger rivers, and oftentimes they do not require a boat to get on the best spots.  However, knowing where to look on a river for those classic areas that provide holding spots for hungry…

HUNGRY?  Eat your greens!  While you’re probably thinking barbecue for this awesome summer weekend setting up, we’ve got the inside scoop on all of the good stuff that comes from cattails, if you’re fond of foraging.  We take a look at an awesome weather weekend and the upcoming fall pronghorn season in our Outdoors Roundup…

HOT TOPICS.  The weather will be warm with the start of August as a stretch of 80 degree days settle in. We’ve got hot topics on tap with the warmth, including the sharp new ND hunting guide, what you can do to help with monarch knowledge and how exactly one finds his or her true…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. A common question I get is “what does it take to get a job with the Game and Fish Department?”   If we’re talking about just the wildlife or fisheries biologist side, the answer involves at minimum a four-year degree in some type of biology or wildlife management curriculum.  En route to…

NDG&F Dept. Press Release   North Dakota’s early Canada goose season dates are set, with bag limits and licensing requirements the same as last year.   Opening day for early Canada goose is Aug. 15 in all three zones. Closing dates are Sept. 7 in the Missouri River zone, Sept. 15 in the western zone…

WARM IT UP.  Temperatures take us back into summer territory, with highs in the mid 80s for the final day of July.  Relatively calm winds will facilitate a great two-day stretch on the water before a chance for rain moves in on Friday. In the meantime, we’ve got news and stories from state and regional…

NDG&F Press Release     North Dakota’s 2019 pronghorn hunting season is set, with 1,330 licenses available in 12 open units.   Bruce Stillings, big game management supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said license numbers and open units are up from last year, when the department allocated 1,075 licenses and had…

TUESDAY TRACKER.  Wind and warm will be the name of the game today as we start thinking about the upcoming upland season.  So far, things are looking good weather-wise throughout the nesting and brooding timeframe. We cover that and more in today’s Outdoors Roundup. Featured Photo:  Summer Sprint. A hen pheasant and her chicks make…

MILD MONDAY.  Things cool off a tad after a strong line of storms pushed through the eastern half of the state yesterday, dropping hail and bringing heavy rain and strong winds. With a cool down, we refresh the plan to fight ANS, look ahead to an NDWF fundraiser and migratory bird money in our Outdoors…

SHAKE IT OFF.  As we enter the dog days of summer, don’t forget to keep your four-legged friend cool.  Practice retrieves by stick, dummy or bumper, and get them some fitness time on the trail as well. If worse comes to worse, just take them fishing.  On the latter we’ve got sources for salmon and…

By Nick Simonson In our summer fun tying series, we’ve addressed beetles and ants and whipped up a spider, but by far the finest floating fly to flip for fish in any flow is the late summer classic – the foam hopper.  In yellows, greens and beiges these foam flies can be tied to match…

KID CATCHES.  Today’s a great day to get out with a young angler – it’s warm, sunny, and calm – the kind of day that lingers in memory for a lifetime, so go out and make it happen. This stretch of late summer provides good opportunities for kids to get on fast biting fish.  In…

NDG&F Press Release Pronghorn and swan applications are now available online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. Only North Dakota residents are eligible to apply for a pronghorn license. The pronghorn license fee is $30 for ages 16 and older, and $10 for under age 16. Applicants for a pronghorn lottery license…

By Nick Simonson   The principles of catch-and-release angling and selective harvest have been part of the public fishing consciousness for several decades, with the idea that through proper landing, handling and treatment of caught fish, productive fisheries can be sustained and maintained through the actions of anglers.  While a noble pursuit and one practiced…

HOT STUFF.  A warm weekend is on tap, with a solid stretch of weather to help close out your July.  We look back at a hot June, how to build a boat launch, and a blue-green algae alert in today’s Outdoors Roundup. Featured Photo:   The Fish Creek valley winds down to the recreation area near…

THIRSTY?  Drink it in! There’s lots to discover in area waters and sampling all fishing that’s available has always been a hallmark of Dakota Edge Outdoors.  In our Outdoors Roundup, the NDG&F encourages taking advantage of the state’s great smallmouth fisheries, we look at how other agencies are trying to control nuisance fish and what’s…

By Doug Leier, NDG&F Dept. It’s the middle of summer and hunting seasons are still weeks away.   In the meantime, North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologists are busy with their summer upland game and waterfowl brood surveys that will provide some perspective on hunting prospects for when the seasons do open.   The…