Latest NDGF News Release

Sandhill Crane Season Opens Sept. 20
North Dakota’s sandhill crane season opens Sept. 20. Hunters are urged to use caution and identify birds to prevent shooting at whooping cranes as they begin their fall migration.

The sandhill crane season is open through Nov. 16 in unit 1 (west of U.S. Highway 281), and through Oct. 26 in unit 2 (east of U.S. Highway 281). Limits are three daily and six in possession in unit 1, and two daily and four in possession in unit 2. Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m. each day through Nov. 1. Beginning Nov. 2, shooting hours are extended until 2 p.m. each day.

As in past years, prospective hunters need a $5 crane permit. Hunters can apply online, or print out a resident or nonresident application for mailing, at the Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. Harvest Information Program certification is required. To get HIP certified, access the department’s website, or call 888-634-4798.

Hunters can also send the permit fee, along with personal information, including height, weight, sex, social security number, date of birth, color of hair and eyes, and hunter education number and state issued, to Crane Permit, NDGF, 100 N. Bismarck Expressway, Bismarck, ND 58501.

Youth Waterfowl is Sept. 20-21
North Dakota’s two-day youth waterfowl season is Sept. 20-21. Legally licensed resident and nonresident youth waterfowl hunters age 15 and younger may hunt ducks, geese, coots and mergansers statewide.

The daily bag limit and species restrictions for the youth season are the same as for regular duck and goose seasons.

Resident and qualifying nonresident youth waterfowl hunters must possess a general game and habitat license and a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate. (Nonresidents from states that do not provide a reciprocal licensing agreement for North Dakota residents must purchase the nonresident waterfowl license package.) In addition, all youth hunters must be Harvest Information Program certified, and youth ages 12 and older need to have passed a certified hunter education course. Hunters age 15 and younger do not need a federal duck stamp.

Hunters who purchase a license through the North Dakota Game and Fish Department can easily get HIP certified. Otherwise, hunters must call 888-634-4798, or log on to the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov, and record the HIP number on their fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate.

Hunters are reminded to HIP register in each state for which they are licensed before hunting migratory game birds.

Shooting hours for the youth waterfowl season are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. An adult at least 18 years of age must accompany the resident youth hunter into the field, and a licensed adult is required to accompany a nonresident youth hunter. The two-day weekend hunt does not count against a nonresident adult hunter’s 14-day regular season waterfowl dates.

Watch for Winter Wheat
North Dakota hunters are reminded that regulations prohibit hunting in unharvested crops without a landowner’s permission. Unharvested crops include sprouted winter wheat.

Winter wheat is typically planted in September as a no-till crop. A sign of a seeded winter wheat field is rows of green-colored sprouting wheat, or rows of tilled ground 6-12 inches apart indicating planting has taken place. Stubble from the previous crop will still be in the field.

Early in fall, hunters should distinguish winter wheat fields by evenly cultivated strips of ground in stubble, as recently planted winter wheat plants will not be very tall.

The number of winter wheat fields in North Dakota has increased in recent years. Greg Link, assistant chief of wildlife for the state Game and Fish Department, said winter wheat fields can be useful habitat for wildlife. “Winter wheat provides undisturbed habitat for nesting birds in spring,” he said. “Ducks, pheasants and any ground-nesting bird will benefit from the cover provided on these nesting and feeding grounds.”

Besides winter wheat, other unharvested crops hunters will need landowner permission to access include alfalfa, clover and other grasses grown for seed, in addition to more recognizable standing crops like corn and soybeans.

Fur Harvester Class in Dickinson
The North Dakota Cooperative Fur Harvester Education program is sponsoring a fur harvester education class for anyone interested in trapping or hunting furbearers. The free 16-hour course is scheduled Sept. 20 and 27 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. each day at the Game and Fish Department district office in Dickinson.

On Sept. 20, students will learn about traps, trapping and snaring techniques, furbearer biology and fur care. Sept. 27 is an eight hour field day during which students will make a variety of land, water and snare sets.

Upon completion, graduates are issued a certification card that is recognized by any state requiring trapper education prior to purchasing a license.

For more information, and to enroll, contact instructor Frank O’dell at (701) 575-8114.