Late-Season Hunting: An Underrated Opportunity When most hunters think about prime time for pheasants, grouse or whitetails in North Dakota, early November usually comes to mind. Those crisp mornings, full stands of cover, and fields humming with activity. But there’s a quiet[...]
For many North Dakota hunters, the work doesn’t end when the pheasant hits the ground—it continues with proper handling, identification, and care once the bird is in hand. A new instructional segment from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department walks hunters[...]
Coyote numbers are climbing on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, and tribal wildlife officials say the impact on young deer and upland birds is becoming hard to ignore. Now the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians is turning to a month-long incentive hunt,[...]
As hunting season fills western North Dakota’s fields, game wardens like Zach Shukart are logging long days alongside the growing number of hunters heading outdoors. Most are following the rules, he says, but a few familiar violations still show up each year—from[...]
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No deer is worth risking your life or someone else’s. Each year, firearm incidents can be prevented by following a few essential safety rules. First and foremost, always treat every firearm as if it’s loaded. Never point a gun at anything you[...]
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North Dakota’s first 2025 deer season opened on Aug. 29 at noon and runs through Jan. 4, 2026. For many hunters, the “real deer season” is the gun/rifle season, which runs from Nov. 7 to Nov. 23. This year, 42,300 licenses were[...]
The Good Old Hunting Season a Few years Ago -- and Now. -- November 4, 1926 | The Ward County Independent Why We Chose It These patterns persist. And it's more important then ever to take the field with caution and care;[...]
If you're anything like me, you've probably found yourself standing over a tailgate in November with cold fingers, a pocketknife that could use sharpening, and a few regrets. Whether it’s a whitetail buck from the Sheyenne River breaks, a Badlands muley, or[...]
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Deer season returns to North Dakota Friday, November 7th, carrying with it equal parts anticipation and adjustment. The Game and Fish Department is taking a cautious approach this year, issuing fewer licenses as deer herds continue to recover from harsh winters, habitat[...]
Across North Dakota and elsewhere, there are kids fishing, Take a Kid Hunting, and volunteer organizations to help keep the spirit of hunting and fishing alive. From 2011–16, we lost 2.2 million hunters nationwide amidst population increases. But don’t put on blinders[...]
Duck hunting in North Dakota has always been more than sport — it’s a reflection of who’s doing the hunting, and why. When writer Tom Isern arrived in 1992, he found the local style puzzling: no decoys, no blinds, just patient pass-shooters[...]
Even if you’ve never been a hunter, you’re likely familiar with the term poaching. Poaching is theft, plain and simple. It’s the illegal taking or killing of fish and wildlife. It’s stealing from legal hunters and trampling on the public trust. It[...]
Alvin and Gus Skurdal told authorities they saw only a small speck in the haystack, and believing they had come on a prairie chicken fired at it. Discovering they had shot the youth, the two boys immediately brot him to a hospital[...]
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The man who has never developed a taste for hunting ducks and grouse is missing one of the favorite sports offered in North Dakota. Many a North Dakota woman is able to go and get her limit of birds, too. There’s no[...]