North Dakota
The Duck Factory. Billions of ducks in the Prairie Pothole region, Badlands mule deer, and open access PLOTS lands.
Big Game Hunting in North Dakota
Official Regulatory Body
North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDGF)
White-tailed Deer
North Dakota's vast prairie expanse, shelterbelts, and timbered river valleys (Missouri, Red, Sheyenne) produce heavy-antlered, thick-bodied whitetails.
North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDGF) distributes deer firearm licenses via an annual spring lottery, while nonresidents can obtain archery tags over-the-counter. Glassing shelterbelt edges and sitting over agricultural funnels in late autumn provides high-action prairie hunting.
Mule Deer
The deeply eroded, colorful badlands of western North Dakota—centered around the Little Missouri River and Theodore Roosevelt National Park—host trophy mule deer.
NDGF allocates mule deer buck tags strictly through a resident lottery, with archery licenses available to nonresidents. Spot-and-stalk hunting across rugged clay buttes and juniper coulees requires patient glassing and silent foot stalks.
Pronghorn Antelope
The shortgrass prairie and sage flats of southwestern North Dakota provide fast-paced pronghorn hunting.
NDGF offers limited draw firearm licenses and open archery seasons. Bowhunters utilize ground blinds on watering dams in August, while rifle hunters navigate prairie depressions to stalk vigilant bucks.
Rocky Mountain Elk
North Dakota offers once-in-a-lifetime elk draw hunts in the rugged Killdeer Mountains/Badlands (Units E1 and E2) and the northeastern Pembina Hills (Units E3 and E4).
Bulls grow massive antler frames feeding on rich prairie crops and native grasses, providing thrilling autumn hunting through rugged oak coulees.