North Dakota Deer
Deer Tag Numbers Decline
With the lowest number of tags available this fall in nearly 50 years, habitat loss continues to be the major link
Dakota Country Staff Report
DDeer numbers in North Dakota continue to slide, and as a result, so do available tags.
For this fall, the
North Dakota Game and Fish Department had 42,300 licenses available for the season, down 16 percent from last year. In fact, it’ s the lowest numbers of licenses available in almost 50 years.
There were a few years just after the turn of the century when a record number of permits were available. In fact, the number of available tags issued reached the 100,000 mark for the first time in 2001, when some 104,402 tags were available. It was a good time in the state’ s environment. Deer and other wildlife made a come- back after the destructive winter of 1996-97, along with benefits of CRP habitat and a period without major disease problems. Hunters enjoyed 11 years of available permits over the 100,000 mark. In fact, the highest tally occurred in 2008, with 149,181 licenses issued.
At the height of CRP acreage in both Dakotas, there were well over 3 million acres of the prime habitat. Today, that’ s been reduced by nearly 70 percent, the decline continuing. CRP acreage could drop to a half million acres in North Dakota alone within a year, according to some experts. Since 2011, available tag numbers have diminished each year, influenced by periodic harsh winters, disease and ongoing habitat loss.
Aside from harsh elements, the epizootic hemmorhagic disease( EHD) outbreak of 2021 in central and western North Dakota was intense. There were some 1,200 reports of dead deer at the time and recovery of the population has been sluggish. That was one of the largest outbreaks in state history, and EHD is always an issue that deer and people must content with.
Of late, chronic wasting disease has surfaced and is being closely monitored by officials in North Dakota and elsewhere. In spite of that, it appears CWD is slowly spreading across the Midwest.
Management of CWD was taken away from Game and Fish biologists last winter when the legislature passed and Gov. Kelly
Page 74, Dakota Country, September 2025 www. dakotacountrymagazine. com