Hunting and Fishing Expectations

When it comes to conversations about hunting and fishing, it’s pretty easy to understand when someone relates they caught a five-pound walleye or bagged a limit of mallards. For me, those references bring to mind a stream of different fish and fowl I’ve seen, caught or shot for a comparative point of reference. But when […]

Answers To Your Deer Hunting Questions

Even if hunters are enjoying the variety of fall hunting seasons – from ducks, geese, pheasants and grouse – November is deer season, and most of the questions coming in have to do with deer or deer hunting. Hunters with further questions are encouraged to call the Game and Fish Department at 701-328-6300, from 8 […]

North Dakota Deer Season Reminders

North Dakota’s deer season is no longer weeks away, and if you haven’t had time to work through the list of reminders, you are not alone. That’s why every year the North Dakota Game and Fish Department provides the answers to questions asked by deer hunters who want to clarify rules and regulations. Some common […]

What You Need To Know Before Bow Hunting Season Opens

Archery deer hunting has expanded in popularity in North Dakota over the years. Even as deer numbers have fallen from record highs a decade ago, bow license sales have increased. With North Dakota’s archery deer season opening Friday, Sept. 2 at 12 noon Central time, it’s a good time for a few reminders on some […]

Managing the Deer Population for 2016 and Beyond

As the sun sets on the 2015 deer gun season, the State Game and Fish Department is already well into the process of thinking about next year and beyond. Agency biologists and administrators are close to finalizing a new plan that will guide deer management for the next five years, with a goal of increasing […]

Diseases That Can Affect Deer Populations

With deer season in full swing, it’s a good time to take a look at a couple of diseases that can influence the state’s deer populations. As we all know, wildlife can get diseases, just like humans. In a recent North Dakota Game and Fish Department webcast, Dr. Dan Grove, the Department’s wildlife veterinarian, shared […]

Q and A on Deer Hunting Rules and Regulations

Every year the North Dakota Game and Fish Department receives questions from deer hunters who want to clarify rules and regulations. Some common questions are listed below. Q – What is the proper procedure for tagging a deer? A – The law says upon taking possession of your deer you need to immediately tag it. […]

Some Thoughts on the 2015 Deer Hunting Season

The late Dean Hildebrand, North Dakota Game and Fish Department director from 1996 through 2005, had a number of quotes that typically connected his small town North Dakota roots to the management of hunting, fishing and conservation in the state of North Dakota. One of those that is appropriate now, since details of the 2015 […]

Deer Hunting Numbers in North Dakota

by Doug Leier   One of the primary benchmarks that North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologists use to assess deer populations and hunter satisfaction is the success rate by gun hunters. Over time, a success rate of around 70 percent means hunters are generally satisfied with deer numbers and hunting opportunities. Last year, the […]

North Dakota Big Game Hunting

by Doug Leier   While it’s a long way from the nearest big game hunting season, the last month or so has had its fair share of North Dakota big game hunting news. Harvest statistics for moose, elk and bighorn sheep came out in February, followed by 2015 moose and elk season details in early […]

The Good News and the Not-So-Good News for Winter 2015

By Doug Leier Most years there’s no shortage of attention grabbers in late fall, with deer season coming and going and the wrap-up of fall sports and harvest and the early stages of the holidays. Such concentration of activity sometimes prevents us from keeping up with an array of hunting and fishing information, and the […]

FAQ About Proposed Changes To 2015 Deer License Regulations

By Doug Leier Every fall, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department advisory board meetings, which typically start the day after deer gun season ends, are a forum to talk deer hunting. This year, there’s a new proposal for distributing deer licenses on the table for 2015, which will no doubt add to the conversation. […]

Take Care of Your Kill, From Field to Fork

By Doug Leier Growing up in rural North Dakota, I don’t think my parents would argue that I likely ate as many grouse, duck, partridge and venison meals as pizza. In LaMoure, where at the time “fast food” was rabbit or pronghorn, a frozen pizza or rare evening at the Big Cone was a treat. […]

North Dakota Deer Hunting FAQ

Every year, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department receives questions from deer hunters who want to clarify rules and regulations. Some common questions are listed below. You must obtain an application for a duplicate license from the Game and Fish Department – by calling (701) 328-6300 or printing it off the website at gf.nd.gov […]

Get Your ND Deer Hunting License Before June 4th Deadline

by Doug Leier Yes, I know it’s late May and for most people it’s the season for fishing, camping, boating and just soaking in the sights, sounds and warmth of spring. But for North Dakotans, it’s also the last week or so leading up to the 2014 deer license application deadline on June 4. So, while […]

Recapping the Deer Management Meetings

by Doug Leier   Most of us would already assume that April is a busy month for fisheries biologists, as ice-out brings pike spawning, then walleye spawning and initiation of all the other management work that corresponds to open water. Perhaps not so well known is that April is also a busy month for big […]

Deer Management Meetings in North Dakota

by Doug Leier   For the last decade or so, North Dakota has had around 100,000 active deer hunters, plus or minus a few thousand in any given year. All of us should be interested in the upcoming series of deer management meetings the North Dakota Game and Fish Department has scheduled around the state […]

Hunter Education and Certification in North Dakota

by Doug Leier Since pheasant, grouse and archery deer seasons just ended a couple of weeks ago, don’t blame hunters if they aren’t already planning for next fall. But if you have a child, friend or relative who will need a hunter education certificate in order to purchase a hunting license in 2014, now is […]

Safety First this Deer Hunting Season

by Doug Leier   It’s a safe assumption that few hunters ever leave home thinking, “I just might end up in a hunting accident today.” That’s no different than a farmer doing field work or a family just going for a Sunday drive. We seldom assume the worst, but we also buckle up our seat […]

Deer Hunting Q&A – Rules and Regulations

by Doug Leier Every year the North Dakota Game and Fish Department receives questions from deer hunters who want to clarify rules and regulations. Some common questions are listed below. I can’t find my deer license. What should I do? You must obtain an application for a duplicate license from the Game and Fish Department […]

License Reminder before Deer Gun Season Opens

by Doug Leier Seasonal periodic reminders urging thousands of deer hunters to take a few minutes to locate their 2013 deer license are being made by the State Game and Fish Department. The primary reason for the reminders is that it’s not uncommon for hunters to misplace or accidentally toss a license between the time […]

Big Game Transport Regulations to Prevent Spread of Chronic Wasting Disease

by Doug Leier With all the archery deer hunting activity and the coming spike with deer gun season, it’s a good time to remind hunters of specific regulations on transporting deer and other big game. Keep in mind, these are specific to North Dakota and with the mobility of hunters taking the fields in other states, […]

Deer Success

no such thing as “just like last year,” even if you’ve pretty much always opened the season with the same crew at the same time and place

Get to the (Antler) Point

There are a number of options out there to improve the quality of our deer hunting.

Wildlife Winter Survival

By Doug Leier Many animals have adaptations that help them get through winter, but in some years even those natural defenses are not a sure hedge against death. Some have thick winter coats, and their metabolism slows down. Bears hibernate. Sharp-tailed grouse have feathers out to their toes and other feathers that protect their nostrils from […]

Deer Hunting Licenses – Reduced

by Doug Leier North Dakota’s lower deer and pheasant populations in recent years have generated many discussions. In terms of recent history the numbers are smaller, but compare the deer license allocation from the 1970s, or pheasant harvest numbers from the early 1980s, and hunters have a little more to consider. Wildlife populations will always […]

Deer Hunting – North Dakota Winter Gathering

by Doug Leier As a biologist I deal with aspects of fish and wildlife behavior on a routine basis. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t get at least one phone call or email from someone who witnessed an odd, strange, or erratic animal behavior, or saw something in an unusual location. Especially when […]

Outdoor Activities Sharing Memories

by Doug Leier Over the holidays I bumped into an old high school friend, and true to form for a couple of guys who love the outdoors and also have young families, we began sharing memories of outdoor activities. Living in Montana, Jon has had the opportunity to hunt elk in the same manner we […]

Fall Turkey Hunting – Small Game – Deer Questionnaires

by Doug Leier After a couple of cups of coffee and the usual bantering about weather at my favorite corner convenience store, a recent discussion turned to Game and Fish Department surveys. Not the kind for which biologists annually count deer or ducks, but the kind that just about every hunter or angler receives from […]

Awaiting a new Deer Hunting Season in ND

by Doug Leier For a lot of North Dakotans, the end of 2011 can’t come fast enough. While none of us can predict exactly how the coming year will unfold, for the state as a whole, and most wildlife in particular, 2012 just has to bring improvement, doesn’t it? As a biologist, I’m always interested […]

Deer Hunting – CWD Q & A

by Doug Leier Chronic Wasting Disease Questions and Answers In the last two years, two North Dakota deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease. These are the first two positive cases discovered in the state among thousands of deer tested over the last decade or so. Here’s a closer look at CWD with some […]

Deer Hunting in Windy Conditions

By Nick Simonson Rarely does a strong wind factor into a good day outdoors.  Sure, there are those times where the right wind whips across a reef or a point, roiling the waters and bringing schools of walleyes in to feed on discombobulated baitfish.  And maybe a breeze catches  a rooster’s scent and wafts it […]

Deer Hunting Tips – Meat Preparation

by Doug Leier Each year it seems I somehow wind up as part of a large number of hunters who receive a recycled email joke about making beef taste like venison. Most who read it find themselves nodding their head and chuckling, as the masses who’ve hunted deer can relate to the uneasy truthfulness of […]

Free Buck Knives Up For Grabs

“LIKE” BUCK KNIVES ON FACEBOOK FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE BUCK141 PAKLITE FIELDMASTER! Pack Light, Cut Easy Three Knives for the Weight of One! Developed by hunters to provide hunters with the essential field dressing tools they need, the PakLite FieldMaster kit is the newest, lightweight addition to the Buck Knives broad line […]

Feeding Wildlife in the Winter

By Doug Leier I haven’t checked my archives, but even if I wrote last year about the human desire to feed wildlife during a difficult winter, it’s a topic that bears another look. Years ago in specific scenarios, feeding of wildlife didn’t send up red flags to biologists. Nowadays, however, the best information available tells […]

Snowmobiles Deer Hunting

By Doug Leier Every about this time, at least in those years when North Dakota’s landscape is covered with snow, the State Game and Fish Department and other agencies work to remind outdoor recreationists to keep an eye out for wildlife. We could almost get by without even mentioning it. Most people who cross-country ski […]

Crossbow Hunting

Doug Leier For most of us, crossbows are not a real common topic in hunting discussions. You’ve probably seen them on an outdoors television program or maybe in person at a trade show or other event, but overall use of a crossbow is not that common around the country, most likely because they are not […]

Protecting Your Garden from Deer

By Doug Leier I’ll never be mistaken for a master gardener, and it really doesn’t bother me. Beyond borrowing the neighbor’s tiller and breaking up the ground each spring, I lose interest in the garden even before the first spuds are planted. So it comes as no surprise that when a stray rabbit is clipping […]

Deer Management

My guess is that most deer hunters don’t tire of the “Turdy Point Buck” tune on the radio until the backside of deer season. For a change, though, I’d sure enjoy listening to a refrain about hunting doe in North Dakota. Then again, doe hunting doesn’t quite get the credit it deserves. In fact, when […]

Sportsmen Against Hunger

By Doug Leier Good news for North Dakota deer hunters this year is that the Sportsmen Against Hunger venison donation program is back in full operation Last year, the program only accepted deer donated by bowhunters, because of concerns over the possibility of lead particles from bullets remaining in processed venison. In North Dakota, the […]

Deer Baiting – The Never Ending Saga

By Chris Hustad   One of the most controversial topics to ever come up in the Nodak Outdoors forums is whether or not deer baiting is ethical. Keep in mind, anytime you want to argue ethics you’re arguing a very large gray area. Who decides what is ethical? That is in the eye of the […]

Deer Behavior and Auto Accidents

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson While driving back from a trip back home this week, I encountered a situation that many outdoorsmen run into when heading out to or coming back from the lake, the deer blind or any other activity which requires an early start or a late return. Despite seeing the mature doe some […]

Concerns Over Big Game Hunting with Bait

By Doug Leier Over the course of the past year we’ve heard a lot about hunting big game over bait in North Dakota. Some hunters engage in this practice, some have never tried it but support it, and still others would like to see the practice prohibited statewide. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department, […]

Concerns for Big Game Disease

By Doug Leier A few weeks ago, top officials from North Dakota’s game and fish and agriculture departments attended a public meeting in Grygla, Minn., to get an up-close look at the fall-out from the increasing presence of bovine tuberculosis only 50 miles from North Dakota’s border. Area meetings took place because bovine TB has […]

Land Mangement for Hunting

Jeremy Elbert While the recent weather has not given any indication of spring actually becoming a reality, we all know it’s just around the corner. As snow gives way to wonderful green growth and spring gives way to summer, it’s time to start thinking about how to improve our hunting properties. If your list is […]

Managing Food Plots

Our Outdoors Nick Simonson I  can tell you the exact moment I became addicted to fishing; it happened while standing on the rocks my dad on the shore of the Sheyenne River just below the Baldhill Dam as we landed white bass hand over fist on a warm June Saturday nearly 10 years ago. Clearly, […]

Common Questions on Deer Hunting Regulations

By Doug Leier Forget the remaining ducks and geese, step aside roosters and turkeys. It’s deer season. Officially the regular gun season runs Nov. 9 through Nov. 25, but make no mistake, deer season takes center stage until the tags are filled and garages are transformed into makeshift processing plants. Between the hash marks of the […]

The Big Game Tradition

By Doug Leier I  beg any reader to honestly say they don’t know a deer hunter in North Dakota. While not every adult North Dakota citizen will hunt deer, it has more participants than any other form of hunting. Not a sports rivalry in our state claims nearly a hundred thousand participants. In fact, to […]

FIVE STEP PROGRAM FOR QUALITY WHITETAILS

By Curt Wells Nothing strikes fear in the heart of a bowhunter like the sound of hoof steps behind him. It can paralyze you with terror – unless you’re ready for it. I heard that petrifying sound one November morning in North Dakota, just as the day filtered into the trees. It stunned me because […]

Bucks of the Vortex

By Curt Wells If you’ve scouted and hunted whitetails long enough you’ve heard the sirens. They’re loud, but you’re the only one who can hear them. They go off just as you look around and find yourself standing in a place that has your hunting instincts in full alarm. This place you’ve discovered, either by […]

Deer Disease

By Doug Leier In northwestern Minnesota near the town of Skime, sharpshooters recently completed a culling effort to reduce white-tailed deer numbers. Nearly 500 deer were killed over a two-month period. The campaign was a response to concerns over the potential spread of bovine tuberculosis, a chronic bacterial disease that primarily infects cattle, but an […]

Small-Bore Centerfire Performance on Big Game

By Burl Johnson I am, and have been for a very long time, an avid reader of hunting books and magazines. You know those things you wish you had the money from? Mine is to have invested that magazine money in energy stocks in the last three years. But many of the sporting magazines offer truly […]

A View From Above

By PJ Maguire The Old Man would say that I have never deer hunted, simply because I have never harvested a deer. It didn’t matter how many hours I had walked slowly through the woods, or sat in a tree above the forest. Which to this point in of time in my life hasn’t been […]

Questions on Deer Hunting Regulations

By Doug Leier When the 2006 deer gun season opens at noon Nov. 10, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department will have issued a near-record number of licenses. That means a lot of hunters in the field, and many questions from people who want to clarify rules prior to or during hunting season. Some […]

The Value of a Safe Hunt

By Doug Leier Pheasants are plentiful this fall across the prairie. Deer numbers, too, provide plenty of incentive to get out and enjoy what we may someday refer to as “the good old days.” I’m not going to apologize for appreciating the hunting opportunities that should be available this fall of 2006. While game populations […]

Managing Deer Through Archery Hunting

By Doug Leier About 20 years ago the city of Bismarck, working with the State Game and Fish Department, developed an urban archery hunt to help control a growing deer population within the city limits. Two decades later, the deer population is much lower, reports of human-deer conflicts are reduced, and very few problems have […]

Venison Recipes Come in All Forms

By Doug Leier When it comes to fish and wild game cooking, Uncle Lynn is the beginning and the end, though you may have to take this with a grain … err, dash of salt and pinch of pepper. His wild game cooking philosophy permeates from the mantra of “don’t hide the flavor, work with […]

Why Party Hunting is Illegal for Deer Hunting

By Doug Leier Party hunting is not legal in North Dakota. And I’m glad. Legally, each individual hunter must take only his or her own daily limit, or fill his or her own deer tag. The same concept also applies to fishing. There is no legal distinction between shooting someone else’s deer, and catching an […]

Pronghorn Antelope Migrations

By Doug Leier When the topic is migration, most of us think about birds. Seldom do we associate migration with big game animals, such as moose or elk. In western North Dakota, however, an ongoing study is shedding some interesting light on a big game species that does migrate. Pronghorns, also commonly called antelope, even […]

Still Hunting Strategies

By Andrew Gegelman  The most successful hunters have learned to still hunt when stand hunting is not producing, or when the weather makes sneaking through the woods the best strategy to bag a deer. The best days for still hunting are rainy and windy days; both types of weather are normally below average for game […]

Pre-Rut Calling Strategies

By Andrew Gegelman Finally…the air gets cooler, the leaves change colors, and that wonderful smell of fall is in the air. You watch as geese effortlessly soar through the air on their yearly trip southward. It is an awesome time of year to be in the outdoors. It also means that “prime time” is approaching. […]

Bow Tuning 101

By Andrew Gegelman For most bow hunters, tuning their bow means being able to hit what they are aiming at. And for others they just hope their bow will become tuned by itself. But they are wrong. Tuning your bow now might mean the difference between trophy and tragedy. First things first, you should not […]

Venison Sausage Recipe

By Ken Weinzierl Venison makes great sausage. Many kinds can be made. The obvious question is “What do you need to get started.” First of all, no one can take care of your venison better than you can. When you get your deer home, skin it immediately. This will cool off the carcass. I usually […]

Love & Hate Relationships with the Whitetail Deer

By Doug Leier “I don’t mind a couple deer hanging around the farmstead, but when you get a whole herd, that’s just too much.” Stop by any local coffee shop or gas station and when the topic turns to deer in the winter, it can be as contentious as rolling dice to see who pays […]

Reevaluating Your Season

By Andrew Gegelman With hunting season now over, I like to look back on the previous season and remember my achievements, and failures. It seems like an eternity until next fall when we can get back into the woods in search of our personal trophies. Everyone likes to take up different activities to get us […]

Preparing the North Dakota Deer Hunting Season

By Doug Leier It’s April and I’m thinking about deer. It’s not that I’m ready to bypass spring and summer and shoot right to autumn, but in the realm of wildlife management, fall is not the only time we think about deer. Even now, many conversations at work and play revolve around white-tailed deer. Deer […]

Fletching Arrows

By Andrew Gegelman It might be spring, even though it does not feel like it. I mean come on, snow in the middle of May? Not a lot of hunting to do right now, but soon we will be back in the field in search of what ever game we choose. While there might not […]

It’s Venison Time!

By Doug Leier As a hunter and angler, as well as a friend of many hunters and anglers, I’ve dined on an array of wild game preparations, from delicacies like lemon-pepper broiled walleye, to more obscure offerings such as sandhill crane stir-fry, pickled beaver tail, and deep fried bullhead caviar. Okay, I admit, I haven’t […]

What’s New in December

By Doug Leier It’s late December. Hunters are cleaning guns and anglers have turned their attention from open water to ice fishing. For many, the holiday season signals a slow down in outdoor activities. I think it’s natural. Doesn’t everything move a little slower when the mercury falls? While this may be the case for […]

Gardening Tips – Keep Deer Off Your Buffet

By Doug Leier With the warmer spring sun greening the earth, that little bit of farmer residing in almost all of us starts to come out. The real farmers are already preparing fields or putting seeds in the ground. Those of us who delight in budding cherry tomatoes at summer’s end are planning arrangements for […]

North Dakota Deer Populations

Ask a hunter about the deer population in southeastern North Dakota and he might tell you his group never worked so hard to find a whitetail doe as last fall. A body shop owner in the central part of the state might relate that the number of vehicles brought in for fixing following a collision […]

Mountain Lions in North Dakota

By Doug Leier I can honestly say, with a straight face a decade ago I’d have never guessed mountain lions would generate as much interest and discussion in North Dakota as they currently generate. And most would agree. Which proves the foundation of science is pretty accurate in the generalization we’re always learning. We’ve never […]

RAP Hotline – Report All Poachers

By Doug Leier As a young deer hunter on opener morning one year in the late 1980s, I was out scouting the landscape as day broke in south central North Dakota. It wasn’t so much to watch for deer moving around as it was to just scan the field and let my imagination paint scenarios […]