OFFICIAL 2026 Deer Gun Lottery

[8andcounting]

Not sure they will do the same this year but last year they still issued doe depredation tags for S of Bismarck in the Briardale area. The deer population in that area is probably 10% of what is was 5 yrs and idiots are still shooting does in that area.

Yup there’s people that would shoot the last doe if was a tag

 

[Tymurrey]

Interesting idea. Is Mule deer habitat really that great east of the Missouri River? I thought traditionally they were always found more readily west of the Mighty Mo. I know the eastern fringe of the coteau area seems Mule-y, but the RRV would be tough country for them.

It seems like what we hunted them in for habitat wise in Montana would cover about 3/4 of North Dakota. In Montana it was just normal pasture and cropland with some crp mixed in but nothing real rugged. The mule deer would be bedded in the cropland or pasture and didn’t seem like they need

 

[Jiffy]

If it weren’t for the river systems in the red river valley, there wouldn’t be any deer anymore.

I’d like to see a mule deer hide behind a telephone pole.

 

[8andcounting]

If it weren’t for the river systems in the red river valley, there wouldn’t be any deer anymore.

I’d like to see a mule deer hide behind a telephone pole.

Lots of pot hole slough areas in central and northern nd that are great deer habitat . Stop killing them and there’ll be more

 

[Jiffy]

Have you guys ever thought the game and fish dept doesn’t WANT more deer?

In fact, it’s the only logical conclusion other than the obvious money grab. Why else have a season? Why are they so scared to shut it down? Think about it.

 

[NDSportsman]

It seems like what we hunted them in for habitat wise in Montana would cover about 3/4 of North Dakota. In Montana it was just normal pasture and cropland with some crp mixed in but nothing real rugged. The mule deer would be bedded in the cropland or pasture and didn’t seem like they need

Winter in Montana isn't the same as winter in eastern ND. Hell it isn't the same from one side of the Missouri to the other. Southwestern ND is a banana belt compared to central ND!

 

[Tymurrey]

Winter in Montana isn't the same as winter in eastern ND. Hell it isn't the same from one side of the Missouri to the other. Southwestern ND is a banana belt compared to central ND!

I get that, our worst winters around Bismarck that decimated whitetails, the mule deer survived. All things considered I feel that mule deer survive better off less habitat, handle winters better, and most of the disease we’ve seen better. Hunting pressure they don’t survive well as they don’t hide in the same cover and a lot of them are not as weary as whitetails. Whitetails thrive when conditions are perfect and one hard winter or ehd and they are decimated.

 

[Davy Crockett]

Another thing is the advance in farming equipment and techniques . These new practices don't leave much of anything behind for winter carrying capacity. Not so many years ago grain was swathed and picked back up again, some shelled and a lot more out the back of the combines. Saw more deer out pawing in the stubble in the winter .

 

[Tymurrey]

The rrv and certain areas will always be better for whitetails, same with river bottoms. The same areas where whitetails recover faster after losses. Whitetails tend to push mule deer out which is why after ehd the mule deer are now in areas I haven’t seen them in 30 years and are thriving in our area. People are so hung up on whitetails because that’s all they’ve ever known. Whitetails are like pheasants both are pansies with winter and habitat but spread and population grows great when conditions match.

 

[Traxion]

In N central SD there used to be many more mulies than whitetail. Now there are few mulies. Over hunting was part of that, along with the winter of 96. The whitetail bounced back much quicker. Now you only find them in pockets of any density. You see mulies all over W SD but there are lots of areas where they’re rare. I don’t see mulies expanding much across ND. Too many differences in habitat and climate compared to SW ND or eastern MT.

Sucks so few will have opportunities. Recruitment impacts will be felt forever.

 

[Kurtr]

In N central SD there used to be many more mulies than whitetail. Now there are few mulies. Over hunting was part of that, along with the winter of 96. The whitetail bounced back much quicker. Now you only find them in pockets of any density. You see mulies all over W SD but there are lots of areas where they’re rare. I don’t see mulies expanding much across ND. Too many differences in habitat and climate compared to SW ND or eastern MT.

Sucks so few will have opportunities. Recruitment impacts will be felt forever.

I see more mule deer up here than whitetails now and have for the last 4 years sinch ehd killed the whitetails.

The results are out for SD and the whining has started on facebook

 

[Traxion]

I see more mule deer up here than whitetails now and have for the last 4 years sinch ehd killed the whitetails.

The results are out for SD and the whining has started on facebook

I see 1/8 of the mulies that there was 30 years ago. There are more now than any time since 96. But still nothing like there was. We never had whitetail but in pockets. Now it’s flipped. We hunt some great mule deer country with little pressure too.

SD has nothing to complain about lol.

 

[NDSportsman]

I get that, our worst winters around Bismarck that decimated whitetails, the mule deer survived. All things considered I feel that mule deer survive better off less habitat, handle winters better, and most of the disease we’ve seen better. Hunting pressure they don’t survive well as they don’t hide in the same cover and a lot of them are not as weary as whitetails. Whitetails thrive when conditions are perfect and one hard winter or ehd and they are decimated.

I agree if we are simply talking about western ND, that's traditional mule deer country. You were talking like trying to get more mule deer in the rest of the state. What are the mule deer supposed to survive on in central and eastern ND during the winter? There isn't the browse like out west. It's 2 completely different landscapes. They will never spread eastward in great numbers. It's all about the habitat and there simply isn't enough.

 

[Rowdie]

So if I drew a buck tag in 3F2, can I apply for one of the 400+ leftover mule doe tags?

 

[NDSportsman]

So if I drew a buck tag in 3F2, can I apply for one of the 400+ leftover mule doe tags?

Usually not until they run a second lottery for peeps who didn't draw during the first.

 

[Kurtr]

I see 1/8 of the mulies that there was 30 years ago. There are more now than any time since 96. But still nothing like there was. We never had whitetail but in pockets. Now it’s flipped. We hunt some great mule deer country with little pressure too.

SD has nothing to complain about lol.

05-10 i drew any deer triple tags for either perkins or dewey county. The one year i got the triple and then left over double doe tags. Herds of 150 -200 mule deer were pretty normal then 2010 hit and then corn went sky high and its been down hill.

Between that and disease the gfp waited to long to cut tags. Have not shot a deer in 5 years not shooting a doe and havnt seen a buck that even gets me a little excited.

 

[labhunter66]

This is still an asinine argument. There is habitat out there for a hell of a lot more whitetail deer than we are seeing on the landscape. I agree that if we want to see deer tag numbers back in the 100,000 range from the early 2000s, we need more habitat. However, EHD has wiped out the population, and a fair amount of the state's whitetail habitat is an absolute ghost town for deer because there are no deer available to repopulate these areas. Then we are mowing down the few does that are actually in those areas. Are you telling me that there isn't habitat up and down the Missouri River from the Garrison Dam to the South Dakota border? There is a hell of a lot of habitat, and there are very few whitetails in those areas because EHD wiped them out a few years back... but they keep issuing doe tags there too. If they had immediately eliminated doe tags the year or two following the major die-off, those numbers would be completely rebounded.

The NDGF argues that they can't not issue doe tags because some areas have an abundance of deer. Then get creative and break up the units into smaller units and stop offering doe tags in areas that are void of deer. A few things have to be done to rebound the deer population...
#1 Allow more does to live through deer season in areas that are void of deer, so they can produce more fawns and rebound the population.
#2 Create more habitat, so the deer holding capacity can increase across the state.

Rant over...

Not an asinine argument. His initial post was, "I don’t think there should be a doe shot in ND for many many years". There are many places in North Dakota where does can be shot without problem. There are areas where does, especially whitetails, can be left alone because there is habitat that would support more deer and allowing the herd to build would be good practice. But, there are areas many areas in North Dakota where not shooting does would have no impact, or maybe even a detrimental impact, because the habitat is not there to support any more deer and a year or two of deer number exceeding carrying capacity would do much more harm than good. You can't just make a blanket statement covering the entire state.

 

[Jiffy]

Then THEY (Game and Fish) need to adapt the units to meet their apparent conservation needs!

I’m still in the “they don’t want more deer” camp. Seriously

 

[zoops]

I think gnf wants there to be hunting opportunities. If you don’t give doe tags (let’s say 10,000) out for a few years, you might end up with more deer after those few years, but if there is a bad winter or an ehd outbreak it might do next to no good and all cutting those tags did was limit hunting opportunity. It’s a tough spot for gnf. Habitat is key, obviously. Same reason there aren’t nearly the pheasants in many areas of the SE since crp is gone.

 

[Tymurrey]

I agree if we are simply talking about western ND, that's traditional mule deer country. You were talking like trying to get more mule deer in the rest of the state. What are the mule deer supposed to survive on in central and eastern ND during the winter? There isn't the browse like out west. It's 2 completely different landscapes. They will never spread eastward in great numbers. It's all about the habitat and there simply isn't

I would say central North Dakota isn’t much different then where I hunted in eastern and north eastern Montana. Mule deer survive on lots of browse that isn’t just in western North Dakota. I’ve never hunted Canada but they shoot some big mule deer up there and the hunting videos I’ve seen is mostly cropland or prairie.