Where do I buy a North Dakota hunting license?

North Dakota hunting licenses and tags are sold by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department through its official licensing site. Buy direct from the agency rather than a reseller, and complete hunter education first if your birth year requires it.

When is North Dakota hunting season?

Seasons differ by species, weapon and zone, and the North Dakota season dates change every year. Our North Dakota deer guide summarizes the 2025-26 deer season structure; for every other species, check the current North Dakota Game and Fish Department regulations before you plan a hunt.

What can you hunt in North Dakota?

Besides white-tailed deer, mule deer, our species guides single out North Dakota for ring-necked pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, mallard, canada goose. Each species guide explains tags, seasons and tactics.

Where is public hunting land in North Dakota?

Good starting points include Little Missouri National Grassland, PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen), Sheyenne National Grassland. Confirm access rules, closures and special regulations with the managing agency before you go.

Hunting · State by State

North Dakota Hunting Guide

What to hunt in North Dakota, what it costs, the laws that matter and where the public land is — with the official North Dakota Game and Fish Department links.

Badlands mule deer, river-bottom whitetails, and a million-plus acres of PLOTS walk-in land make North Dakota a lottery-tag sleeper for trophy deer.

The landscape splits east-west: the Badlands and Missouri Plateau in the west hold classic mule deer terrain of buttes, draws, and sagebrush breaks alongside whitetails in the river bottoms, while the Drift Prairie and Red River Valley in the east are farmland and shelterbelt country dominated by whitetails.

Agency: North Dakota Game and Fish Department
Region: Great Plains
Deer rank: #20 of 50
Species guides: 5

North Dakota hunting license and tag costs

Deer license and tag prices as last reviewed. Other species' permits are listed in the agency fee schedule.

License / tag	Price
Resident deer gun license	approx. $30–$40
Resident deer bow license	approx. $30
Nonresident deer gun license	approx. $220–$275, where available
Nonresident deer bow license	approx. $220, where available
Application/lottery fee	approx. $5 per application

North Dakota hunting laws to know

Rules that catch hunters out most often. Not a substitute for the regulations book.

Topic	Rule
Blaze orange	Hunters must wear a blaze orange cap and vest, coat, or sweatshirt (outer garment) visible from all sides during any gun deer season.
Baiting/feeding	Baiting deer is illegal statewide in North Dakota, and supplemental feeding restrictions apply in CWD-affected units.
Crossbow legality	Crossbows are legal for any hunter during archery deer season with no special permit required.
Sunday hunting	Sunday deer hunting is allowed in North Dakota.
Legal firearms	Centerfire rifles, shotguns with slugs, and muzzleloaders are legal during the appropriate season; handguns of adequate caliber are also permitted for gun season.
Tagging/harvest reporting	Harvested deer must be tagged immediately with the license tag, and hunters are required to report their harvest (or lack of harvest) through the Game and Fish reporting system.
CWD carcass transport	Special carcass import/movement restrictions apply for deer taken in or brought into designated CWD zones; check current-year zone maps before transporting a carcass.
Hunter education	Anyone born after Dec. 31, 1961 must complete hunter education to obtain a North Dakota hunting license.

North Dakota deer season structure (2025-26)

All North Dakota deer seasons and unit boundaries are set annually and licenses are lottery-only — check the current Game and Fish deer hunting guide and unit maps before applying.

Season	Weapon	Typical window
Archery (resident youth)	Bow / crossbow	Early Sept. – early Jan.
Archery (general)	Bow / crossbow	Early Sept. – early Jan.
Gun (regular firearms)	Rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader-legal centerfire	Early-to-mid Nov. – late Nov.
Muzzleloader	Muzzleloader	Late Nov. – early Dec.
Youth gun season	Rifle	Weekend before the general gun opener

What you can hunt in North Dakota

Deer — White-tailed deer, Mule deer
Very good · ranked #20 of 50 for deer.
Ring-Necked Pheasant
PLOTS program opens huge acreage of private land to public hunting
Access: Over-the-counter; PLOTS guide published each fall
Sharp-Tailed Grouse
Excellent PLOTS public access through native prairie and CRP
Access: Over-the-counter license, PLOTS guide published each fall
Mallard
Prairie pothole breeding and staging habitat with excellent early-season hunting
Access: Over-the-counter nonresident waterfowl license plus duck stamp
Canada Goose
Excellent early-season resident goose hunting and fall migration
Access: Over-the-counter license plus duck stamp

Public hunting land in North Dakota

Public land is limited in North Dakota compared to mountain states, but the PLOTS walk-in program on enrolled private land is the backbone of accessible hunting, supplemented by national grassland and Corps of Engineers land.

Little Missouri National Grassland
National grassland · Western North Dakota (Badlands)
Over a million acres of rugged Badlands terrain — the state's premier public-land destination for mule deer and Badlands whitetails.
Official page
PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen)
Walk-in access · Statewide, concentrated in farmland and Badlands-adjacent regions
Hundreds of thousands of acres of enrolled private land opened for walk-in public hunting, marked with yellow PLOTS signs; no landowner permission required.
Official page
Sheyenne National Grassland
National grassland · Southeastern North Dakota
Mixed prairie and woodland tract offering public whitetail hunting in the Red River Valley region.
Official page
Lake Sakakawea Corps of Engineers land
Federal land · West-central North Dakota
Public land along the reservoir shoreline mixing river-bottom cover with prairie, holding both whitetails and mule deer.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park (viewing only, no hunting)
National park · Western North Dakota
Not huntable itself, but surrounding Little Missouri National Grassland units offer similar Badlands terrain and deer densities.
State Wildlife Management Areas (statewide)
WMA · Statewide
Numerous smaller state-managed tracts open to public hunting, often bordering PLOTS land for larger connected hunting blocks.

Official North Dakota links

Last reviewed 2026-02.

Nearby state hunting guides

Questions

Frequently asked

Where do I buy a North Dakota hunting license?: North Dakota hunting licenses and tags are sold by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department through its official licensing site. Buy direct from the agency rather than a reseller, and complete hunter education first if your birth year requires it.
When is North Dakota hunting season?: Seasons differ by species, weapon and zone, and the North Dakota season dates change every year. Our North Dakota deer guide summarizes the 2025-26 deer season structure; for every other species, check the current North Dakota Game and Fish Department regulations before you plan a hunt.
What can you hunt in North Dakota?: Besides white-tailed deer, mule deer, our species guides single out North Dakota for ring-necked pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, mallard, canada goose. Each species guide explains tags, seasons and tactics.
Where is public hunting land in North Dakota?: Good starting points include Little Missouri National Grassland, PLOTS (Private Land Open To Sportsmen), Sheyenne National Grassland. Confirm access rules, closures and special regulations with the managing agency before you go.