Outdoors Weekly News Archive

North Dakota Game and Fish Department fisheries personnel are in the process of stocking roughly 59,000 rainbow trout in more than 55 waters statewide.

Jerry Weigel, fisheries production and development supervisor, said stocking efforts of the 10-14 inch trout will be completed by May 21. Included are 3,900 1-to-3 pound rainbows from state hatcheries in Wyoming.

In addition to the Turtle and Missouri rivers, counties with fishing waters receiving trout are:

To find out more about North Dakota trout lakes, contact your local Game and Fish Department office, or visit the fishing link at the department’s website, gf.nd.gov.

Western North Dakota’s mule deer population has decreased slightly for the second consecutive year, based on observations during the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual spring mule deer survey in April.

Biologists counted 2,272 mule deer in 291 square miles, compared to 2,483 in 2009. Mule deer density per square mile was 7.8, a slight decrease from 8.5 in 2009.

Bruce Stillings, big game biologist, Dickinson, said the badlands mule deer population index still remains higher than the long-term average.

Biologists have completed aerial surveys of the same 24 study areas since the 1950s. The survey assists the department in obtaining solid mule deer population data for the badlands, such as demographic trends and production ratios (buck-to-doe and fawn-to-doe).

North Dakota’s 2010 deer season has been set with 116,775 licenses available to hunters this fall, a decrease of 27,625 from last year and the fewest since 2001.

Randy Kreil, wildlife chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said a significant reduction in deer numbers was evident statewide this past year with statewide hunter success rates dropping to 59 percent, down considerably from 70-75 percent success rates North Dakota deer hunters typically experience.

“The reduced deer numbers are a result of significant mortality from the past two difficult winters and subsequent low reproductive success,” Kreil said, “and nearly a decade of aggressive deer management by having a large number of antlerless licenses available in many units because the population was well above management goals.”

As a result, 35 of the 38 hunting units will have fewer deer licenses. The only exceptions are three units in the southwest where deer populations remain above management objectives and winter mortality was least evident.

“The mule deer population in the badlands was also hurt by the winter of 2008-09, and probably by this past winter as well, and as a result there are fewer mule deer licenses available this fall,” Kreil said.

Another noteworthy change from last year’s deer season is the use of lighted nocks on arrows is now allowed for big game archery seasons. Kreil said this is the only exception to the regulation that prohibits the use of electronic devices attached to the bow or the arrow.

The number of licenses available for 2010 includes 7,275 for mule deer, a decrease of 1,425 from last year; 2,190 for muzzleloader, down 524 from last year; and 320 restricted youth antlered mule deer, a decrease of 25 from 2009.

North Dakota’s 2010 deer gun season opens Nov. 5 at noon and continues through Nov. 21. The dates for the youth deer season are noon Sept. 17 through Sept. 26. No special herd reduction deer gun seasons are included in the 2010 proclamation.

Online applications for the regular deer gun, youth, muzzleloader, and resident gratis and nonresident landowner seasons will be available by May 5 by accessing the Game and Fish Department’s Internet website at gf.nd.gov. Also, paper applications will be at vendors throughout the state by mid May. The deadline for applying is June 2.

Alex Mergen can now stake claim to having caught the largest fish in North Dakota.

The 16-year-old angler from Rapid City, S.D., snagged a 130-pound paddlefish May 2 about 20 miles southwest of Williston near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers. The 74-inch fish took 10 minutes to land.

The previous record of 120 pounds was held since 1993.

North Dakota’s paddlefish snagging season opened May 1 and is scheduled to continue through the end of the month. However, depending on the overall harvest, an early in-season closure may occur with a 36-hour notice issued by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

More information on North Dakota’s paddlefish snagging season can be found on the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov, and in the 2010-12 North Dakota Fishing Guide.