Dakota Digest
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Dakota Digest
ND Pronghorn 2024
The 2024 North Dakota pronghorn hunting season was set in late July with 1,265 licenses available and all units open .
North Dakota Game and Fish Department big game management supervisor Bruce Stillings said license numbers are up significantly from last year , when the department allocated 420 licenses in only eight units .
“ Last winter was mild , resulting in higher adult survival and fawn recruitment from 2023 ,” Stillings said .
Bernard Anderson , Devils Lake , ND , took this distant photo of a cormorant swallowing a perch near Graham ' s Island on Devils Lake . “ This is a good example of what a predator they are ,” he said .
The July aerial survey indicated the overall pronghorn population is up 31 percent from last year . The fawn-to-doe ratio of 50 fawns per 100 does was higher than last year , and the buck-to-doe ratio of 31 bucks per 100 does remains stable and at the population objective .
Each unit will once again have a season split into an early bow-only portion , and a later gun / bow season . The bow-only portion of the season is Aug . 30 ( noon ) – Sept . 22 . Anyone who draws a license can hunt pronghorn with a bow in the unit printed on the license . From Oct . 4 ( noon ) – Oct . 20 , hunters who still have a valid license can use legal firearms or archery equipment , but must stay in the assigned unit .
Only North Dakota residents were eligible to apply for a pronghorn license which had a deadline of Aug . 7 .
Spring Turkey Season
Hunter success during the spring turkey hunting season in North Dakota was 49 percent , according to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department .
The department issued 8,137 licenses for the 2024 spring season , and a record 6,847 hunters took 3,336 birds , the highest spring harvest on record . RJ Gross , upland game management biologist , said spring turkey hunting success in North Dakota is usually driven by weather .
“ Last spring the weather was very mild with no snow on the ground , and that lead to more hunters on the landscape ,” he said . “ Turkeys had above-average production last year , according to our late summer roadside counts and hunter observations of large groups of jakes last spring . Along with high overwinter survival , this led to an abundant population of turkeys .”
Page 32 , Dakota Country , September 2024
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