Hunting in North Dakota: 7 Animals to Hunt in the Fall

Although hunting opportunities abound year-round in North Dakota, big-game season occurs in the fall.

Bighorn sheep season generally lasts from late October into early November, but pneumonia thinned the herd and the state cancelled the 2015 season.

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Here are other animals on which to set your sights during the fall:

1. White-tailed Deer and Mule Deer
Bowhunting season white-tailed deer and mile deer begins in early September. Special season for young hunters lasts for about a week in late September. Statewide gun-hunting season lasts for most of November and the muzzleloading gun season starts in late November and ends in mid-December.

2. Pronghorn
Gun season for the state Game and Fish Department's pronghorn hunting grounds in the southwest corner of the state generally begins in early October.

3. Moose
Bow season for moose in specified areas lasts for most of September. Regular season in certain areas lasts for most of October. Two other areas in the northeast and north-central part of the state will have a later moose season.

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4. Elk
Bow season for elk in northeast and west-central North Dakota lasts for most of September. Regular season in the northeast, west-central, and southwest lasts from early October through the end of the year. There is a regular elk season through the rest of the state from early September through the end of the year.

5. Waterfowl
Generally, hunting season for mergansers, light geese, white-fronted geese, coots, and ducks begins in late September for state residents and early October for nonresidents. There is an early season for Canada geese in mid-August. A special case is the tundra swan, which can be hunted beginning in early October, but licenses are granted by lottery. Deadline to apply is usually in mid-August.

6. Other Migratory Game Birds
Hunting seasons for doves, woodcocks, snipes, and sandhill cranes begin at various times in mid- to late September. A fall season for crows begins in mid-August.

7. Furbearers
Although furbearing animals are generally sought by trappers, there are gun and bow hunting seasons for many of them. The state Game and Fish Department lists the following: Badgers (firearm hunting at night), late November; beavers, year round; bobcats (North Dakota residents only), early November; coyotes; year-round (including nights in November and the state Game and Fish Department provides links to landowners who seek to control coyotes on their lands); foxes, year-round (guns and bows); minks, late November; mountain lions, early September; muskrats, early November (guns and bows); raccoons, year-round; and weasels, late November (guns and bows).

This article is for information only. Please check current regulations before hunting.

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