North Dakota Deer Hunting Season

North Dakota has long been known as a great place to go deer hunting. The 2012 season is no different; however, there is one major change: there will be 44,650 fewer licenses issues this year. So, if you want to make this your place to travel this season, and you want to be one of the lucky 65,300 people to get a license, you need to get ready by getting your license.

The reason for the reduction in the number of licenses to be issued is because of the decline in the deer population. This is because of the large number of adult mortality leading to a reduction in the fawn production following the winters of 2008-10 which were severe. The reduction of licenses in 2012 is mandatory in hopes of allowing the deer population to grow.

This year there will be a lottery for licenses. If you are a hunter you can get one license for the deer gun season. You can get another license for the muzzleloader season as well as purchase a license for archery. No hunter will be able to obtain more than one license during the deer gun season. The North Dakota deer hunting season opens on November 9 at noon. It will close on November 25. Online applications are presently available through the Game and Fish Department’s website. The deadline for paper applications has ended.

The North Dakota deer hunting season is known for the trophies available to take home. There are more than 10,000 acres of private land. These areas have been managed in order to produce trophy deer. If you plan to visit North Dakota, during the 2012 season, you will discover that most hunting will be from ground blinds as well as spot and stalk methods.

There are some interesting pieces of information all hunters should be aware of before heading for North Dakota. For example, the camouflage blaze orange outfit is not acceptable. Hunters must wear a hat and an outer garment above the waistline. This material must total at least 400 square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange. Another thing is that if the land is posted on both sides you cannot hunt there. The section line is closed to hunting and is only open for travel. If you are one of the lucky hunters who lands a deer and you decide to take the head to a taxidermist and the meat to a butcher shop you will want to know where to place the tags. The tag should always remain with the head while the carcass tag should always remain with the meat.

If you find a wounded deer, a deer you shot that is rotten, or you have other issues during the North Dakota deer hunting season, it is imperative that you contact a game warden to answer any of your questions.