2011 North Dakota Waterfowl Regulations Set
OutdoorHub 08.31.11
North Dakota’s 2011 waterfowl season has been set, with season details similar to last year. The only significant change is the elimination of two waterfowl rest area.
Opening day for North Dakota residents is Sept. 24 for ducks, geese, coots and mergansers. Nonresidents may begin hunting waterfowl in North Dakota Oct. 1.
Hunters may take six ducks per day with the following restrictions: five mallards of which two may be hens, three wood ducks, two scaup, two redheads, two pintails and one canvasback. For ducks, the possession limit is twice the daily limit.
The daily limit of five mergansers may include no more than two hooded mergansers.
The waterfowl rest area 11 miles north and three miles west of Steele in Kidder County, and four miles south and three miles east of Petersburg in Nelson County have been eliminated.
The hunting season for Canada geese in the Missouri River zone will close Dec. 30, while the remainder of the state will close Dec. 22. The season for whitefronts closes Dec. 4, while the season on light geese is open through Dec. 30. Shooting hours for all geese are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m. each day through Nov. 5. Beginning Nov. 6, shooting hours are extended until 2 p.m. each day.
Extended shooting hours for all geese are permitted from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset on Saturdays and Wednesdays through Nov. 30, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays from Dec. 1 through the end of each season.
The daily bag limit for Canada geese during the regular season is three, with six in possession. The daily limit on whitefronts is two with four in possession, and light goose is 20 daily, with no possession limit.
The special youth waterfowl hunting season is Sept. 17-18. Legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 years of age or younger can hunt ducks, coots, mergansers and geese statewide. Youth hunters must have a general game and habitat license and a fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate. A licensed adult at least 18 years of age must accompany the youth hunter into the field. The daily bag limit and species restrictions for the youth season are the same as for regular duck and goose seasons.
Nonresidents have the option of buying either a statewide waterfowl license or one with zone restrictions. Nonresidents who designate zones 1 or 2 may hunt that zone for only one seven-day period during the season. Nonresident hunters who chose to hunt in zone 1 or 2 and wish to use the full 14 consecutive days allowed, must use the other seven days in zone 3. Hunters in zone 3 can hunt that zone the entire 14 days.
In accordance with state law, nonresidents are not allowed to hunt on North Dakota Game and Fish Department wildlife management areas or conservation PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen) areas from Oct. 8-14.
All migratory bird hunters, including waterfowl, must register with the Harvest Information Program prior to hunting. Hunters purchasing a license from the Game and Fish Department can easily get a HIP number. Otherwise, hunters must call (888) 634-4798, or log on to the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov, provide the registration information, and record the HIP number on their fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate. Those who HIP registered to hunt this spring’s light goose season do not have to register again, as it is required only once per year.
Hunters should refer to the 2011 North Dakota Waterfowl Hunting Guide, available in early September, for further details on the waterfowl season.
Proclamation Signed as a Precaution against Spread of CWD
The 2011 proclamation establishing guidelines for transporting deer, elk and moose carcasses and carcass parts into and within North Dakota is now in effect as a precaution against the possible spread of chronic wasting disease.
Hunters harvesting a big game animal in North Dakota deer unit 3F2 cannot transport a carcass containing the head and spinal column outside of the unit unless it’s taken directly to a meat processor. The head can be removed from the carcass and transported outside of the unit if it is to be submitted to a CWD surveillance drop-off location or a licensed taxidermist.
In addition, hunting big game over bait is prohibited in deer unit 3F2. Bait, in this case, includes grain, seed, mineral, salt, fruit, vegetable nut, hay or any other natural or manufactured food placed by an individual. Bait does not include agricultural practices, gardens, wildlife food plots, agricultural crops, livestock feeds, fruit or vegetables in their natural location such as apples on or under an apple tree, or unharvested food or vegetables in a garden.
Hunters are prohibited from transporting into North Dakota the whole carcass, or certain carcass parts, of deer, elk, moose or other members of the cervid family from areas within states and provinces with documented occurrences of CWD in wild populations, or from farmed cervid operations within states and provinces that have had farmed cervids diagnosed with CWD. Only the following portions of the carcass can be transported:
- Meat that is cut and wrapped either commercially or privately.
- Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head attached.
- Meat that has been boned out.
- Hides with no heads attached.
- Clean (no meat or tissue attached) skull plates with antlers attached.
- Antlers with no meat or tissue attached.
- Upper canine teeth, also known as buglers, whistlers or ivories.
- Finished taxidermy heads.
The following game management units, equivalent wildlife management units, or counties have had free-ranging deer, moose or elk diagnosed with CWD, and importation of harvested elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose or other cervids from these areas are restricted.
North Dakota – Deer unit 3F2. Gutted/eviscerated carcasses being taken to a North Dakota meat processor are exempt, as are heads removed from the carcass and taken to a licensed taxidermist or provided to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department for submission for CWD surveillance purposes.
- Alberta – Wildlife management units 150, 151, 163, 234, 236, 256, 728.
- Colorado – All game management units.
- Illinois – Counties of Winnebago, Boone, McHenry, DeKalb, Ogle, LaSalle, Stephenson.
- Kansas – Counties of Cheyenne, Decatur, Rawlins, Sheridan.
- Minnesota – DPA 602.
- Nebraska – Upper Platte, Platte, Plains, Sandhills, Frenchman, Buffalo and Pine Ridge units, which include the counties of Cheyenne, Kimball, Sioux, Scotts Bluff, Morrill, Sheridan, Box Butte, Dawes, Banner, Cherry, Hall, Garden, Keith, Red Willow, Deuel, Grant, Arthur.
- New Mexico – White Sands Missile Base (GMU 19), GMU 28, GMU 34.
- New York – Any deer taken within the CWD containment areas of Oneida and Madison counties.
- Saskatchewan – All wildlife management units.
- South Dakota – Prairie units WRD-21A, WRD-27A, WRD-27B; Black Hills units BHD-BH1, BHD-BD3, BHD-BD4.
- Utah – 16A, 16B, 16C, 13A, 13B, 8A, 8B, 8C, 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D.
- Virginia – Frederick County.
- West Virginia – Hampshire County.
- Wisconsin – Any deer registered with a Wisconsin DNR Red Registration Tag from the area designated as the Disease Eradication Zone or Herd Reduction Zone including deer management zones 54B-CWD, 70-CWD, 70A-CWD, 70B-CWD, 70C-CWD, 70D-CWD, 70E-CWD, 70F-CWD, 70G-CWD, 71-CWD, 73B-CWD, 73E-CWD, 75A-CWD, 75B-CWD, 75C-CWD, 75D-CWD, 76-CWD, 76A-CWD, 76M-CWD, 77A-CWD, 77B-CWD, 77C-CWD.
- Wyoming – All deer and elk units.
In addition, the following states and provinces have had farmed deer, elk, moose or other cervids diagnosed with CWD, and importation of farmed deer, elk, moose and other cervid carcasses or their parts are restricted: Alberta, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Additional areas will be added as necessary and listed on the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov.
Because each state and province has its own set of rules and regulations, hunters should contact the state or province in which they will hunt to obtain more information.
Hunters with questions can contact the North Dakota Game and Fish Department at (701) 328-6300, or email ndgf@nd.gov.
