Anyone else missing a bow tag??

[Duckslayer100]

So I stumbled on something kind of interesting that I would never have known about had I not called the G&F.

I received my rifle tag in the mail earlier this week. It was at this time that something donned no me: I'd never gotten my archery tag. This was odd, as the start of the season obviously had come and gone (luckily I don't do much bow hunting until later in the fall). So I contacted G&F via email and said as much.

Their records showed the tag had been sent on 8/20/18, and the response was to send me an "Affidavit of Fact" that made me declare I had not received my bow tag, and if I did I would send back the extra one they were going to send me. To top it off I needed to get it signed and stamped by a Notary before sending in.

I was confused by this because in parentheses it says "Warden Signature and badge number," which made me think that it wasn't a public notary, but in fact a Game Warden.

So I called G&F. After about a 20-minute hold, a kind lady answered. She told me that I did not need to get a warden, a public notary was fine. But then she said, "well hold on one minute, what was your name?" She then looked up my account.

"Oh, I think I know what happened. This is part of that group we had to reprint."

Apparently, a wad of tags were messed up from the printer and they didn't catch it until right as they were about to send them out. G&F wound up tossing them and got new ones printed. These were mailed out yesterday, so I expect to see it in the mail sometime in the next day or so.

I'm going to hold off jumping through the whole notarized affidavit thing until at least Monday, but thought y'all might like to know just in case someone else is in a similar situation.

 

[Tikka280ai]

I also didn't receive my tag. Emailed game and fish on season opener and was told that my tag was mailed out on 8/17/18 and that they had received other messages from people with tags sent the same day. According to Game and Fish some tags got lost in the mail. I ended up getting ahold of the local warden and getting a replacement tag. I filled out the affidavit that the warden gave me when i got my replacement tag.

 

[CrankB8]

I called G&F 3 days before season opener to find out where my tag was. Apparently the not so friendly lady I talked to had been receiving multiple calls. After a few minutes of her reassuring me that my tag was mailed she finally told me I could get a duplicate in Bismarck on my way through as I was heading west to hunt (also informed me that I would need to pay for duplicate and need to sign affidavit). After I hung up with her I called my regional office and the gal there told me to head up and she'd issue me one free of charge. So did that and on Friday of opener sitting on top of a butte an hour before season opened got a call from Bismarck. Lady on the line was wondering if I received my bow tag yet. Nope, got my duplicate and will turn that back in when and if I get original sent if I haven't tagged out yet. Still haven't seen that tag in the mail and haven't filled the duplicate one either...

 

[Walleye_Chaser]

Yep same thing for me, never got the tag. I filled out the affidavit form, got it notarized at the bank and faxed it in. Got the replacement 2 days later. Pretty annoying but oh well shit happens I guess.

 

[measure-it]

Damn computers--what's with the "on-line" only BS. There's lots of room for error on-line, plus the delay in receiving the tag. What happens when you find out you've got some time off and can go enjoy the outdoors for a while. You better have plenty of time to wait for the mail (it's a scary thing to depend on both the USPS and ND G&F to be hasty). It was a nice thing to be able to just go to the local sptg goods store or county auditor to get it and go. I miss the old days--and yes, I hate change!

 

[Enslow]

Same thing happened to me and they wouldn’t issue me a duplicate tag. I had to call the deputy director to get a duplicate tag issued. What a mess dealing with the NDGF.

 

[CutEm]

Call me crazy, but maybe you shouldn't wait till the last minute to buy your tag. They were available for purchase all the way back in May. The errors always occur in the rush in the last weeks leading up to season.

 

[Duckslayer100]

Call me crazy, but maybe you shouldn't wait till the last minute to buy your tag. They were available for purchase all the way back in May. The errors always occur in the rush in the last weeks leading up to season.

You may be reading too far into things? I have no intention of bow hunting for at least another month, so not having a tag right now doesn't really matter as long as I have it before that point in time. I just realized I had not been sent the tag yet, even though I had paid for it a while ago. It occurred to me something may be amiss when I received my rifle tag before my bow tag.

Clearly, they had a misshap as the gal on the phone said, causing a bunch of tags to not get mailed, even though several others here have stated they were told that "the tags were mailed but must have been lost."

They were not mailed. They were thrown in the trash, reprinted, and mailed yesterday. That's my only point. To draw attention to the situation in case others experienced the same thing. As you can see from reading, many did, and they already went through the hoops to get another tag mailed.

I'm going to wait and see if mine comes today or tomorrow as they said it should. NO skin off my nose.

 

[Enslow]

Plus they told me I could have bought my license over the counter. I had no idea you could do that. Then I asked if I could just buy another tag from over the counter since mine didn’t come in the mail. They said no that also. Then I was told there was a policy change regarding duplicate tags and that I would not be issued one. I was confused and made a bunch of calls . Finally got a hold of the deputy director. He quizzed me thoroughly and called me back following day with more questions. Finally he had a warden issue me duplicate. I bet I had to make a dozen calls and spend over 3 hours talking to various NDGF employees who were unbelievably unhelpful. This process took over a week too....

 

[CutEm]

You may be reading too far into things? I have no intention of bow hunting for at least another month, so not having a tag right now doesn't really matter as long as I have it before that point in time. I just realized I had not been sent the tag yet, even though I had paid for it a while ago. It occurred to me something may be amiss when I received my rifle tag before my bow tag.

Clearly, they had a misshap as the gal on the phone said, causing a bunch of tags to not get mailed, even though several others here have stated they were told that "the tags were mailed but must have been lost."

They were not mailed. They were thrown in the trash, reprinted, and mailed yesterday. That's my only point. To draw attention to the situation in case others experienced the same thing. As you can see from reading, many did, and they already went through the hoops to get another tag mailed.

I'm going to wait and see if mine comes today or tomorrow as they said it should. NO skin off my nose.

My reply carried more assholeness than intended. It was more intended as a take care of things early so that if something does happen you have time to take care of it as you did. It seems everyone is so quick to blame the game and fish, and for some reason I get defensive of them time to time. The online sales is a fantastic thing, but with anything there can be errors. As to the exreme vetting some people have seen, I know several people in the department and they have told me about guys claiming to have lost their tag and trying to get a duplicate tag. In essence they just think they are beating the system and will have two tags in their pocket. For every honest sportsman there is a dickhead it seems. So it may be annoying and a large inconvenience but I understand.

 

[Enslow]

Once a duplicate tag is issued the previous tag is null and there is a record of that for the warden. so that story doesn’t really make sense.

 

[CutEm]

Once a duplicate tag is issued the previous tag is null and there is a record of that for the warden. so that story doesn’t really make sense.

Oh yea I forgot. People Trying to pull this shit really care about the laws. Have you ever been checked by a warden and they ran the tag number? It happens but most of the time if you even get checked with a dead animal they just make sure its affixed and the dates are cut out. Pull your head outta the sand man.

 

[Enslow]

I just spoke to the warden and was issued a duplicate tag. The warden explained that the old tag was null and that it couldn’t be used again. He said the handwritten duplicate will be the only valid bowtag for deer this season. So if you get checked you get busted if you try to pull filling two tags.

 

[troutslayer]

Thankful for this thread. Thought I would look mine up also as I don't remember seeing my bow tag. Turns out I hadn't purchased it yet!

 

[CutEm]

I just spoke to the warden and was issued a duplicate tag. The warden explained that the old tag was null and that it couldn’t be used again. He said the handwritten duplicate will be the only valid bowtag for deer this season. So if you get checked you get busted if you try to pull filling two tags.

I am aware that it is illegal to use the old tag. My point being the wardens rarley run tag numbers so if you have something to show your likely not gonna get caught. You would have what appears as a valid tag for transport.

 

[bowhunter88]

i'd be curious to see how many duplicate tags are requested right before/after rifle season....

 

[Lungdeflator]

I bought mine at scheels, handed it right over. No problems.