Whitetail Statewide Tag

[luvcatchingbass]

I don't think a tag for a public resource that has become so hard to draw for the average resident of this state should be given to any non-profit organization. They can auction a million other things to raise money. Just my opinion....

YEAH. Like a crappy gun or a bunch of crappy guns that anyone can buy off the shelf or nobody wants.
Our SCI Chapter is trying an online only Auction of various trips and it has been running for 3 weeks nation wide and I can tell you right now unless people get to bidding in the next 2 days we aren't making very much after we pay the auction company and pay the outfitters because guess what NOT EVERYTHING is 100% donations. SCI is not able to get the ND tags because we are 501 c (4), basically meaning SCI does political advocacy and lobbying. That sure would suck if an organization in the state of ND got a donation from the state to raise money then turn around and use that money to try to advocate for what the people that utilize the states resources for hunting and fishing.

https://www.onlinehuntingauctions.com/SCI-Red-River-Valley-Chapter-2026-Online-Auction_as117150

I got probably 40hrs or more of my spare time putting this together this 1 auction of 25 (this spring I had 2 days of banquet auctions and about 45 items each night) then not sure how many hours contacting winners and outfitters to make sure everyone is on the same page and getting outfitters paid.
Like @Petras said there is a lot of work that goes into these things and some places don't have the man power, I will not vote for our chapter to run a raffle because I know that it CANNOT be ran correctly and I don not have the time to devote on top of what I already do. I wish I had competent help on our SCI Banquet Auction but every time I give someone a task they let me down and I do it myself. TRUST me there are lots of things I would rather do than volunteer all the time I do to our SCI Chapter but I truly believe that IF we can grow we stand to make some meaningful impacts in conservation areas in the future, currently we have been focusing on youth, disabled and veteran hunting education and opportunities with some general humanitarian involved

 

[wslayer]

Why the need to run around and sell tickets ? When you look online to see if you were successful or unsuccessful, have a spot in the same place whether you would like to purchase " Statewide raffle" ticket. I would bet they would get more than the Auction brings.
Anyone ever play the Lottery, not much different . . .

 

[Obi-Wan]

Raffles are an ass ache to run. Its no different than here people bitching about the bighorn raffle but with out it there would be no big horn sheep to even have a chance at.

Are you talking ND or SD ? I don't recall ND ever having a raffle for a Big Horn Sheep tag but I do know they auction one off to the guy with the deepest pockets each year .

The purpose of these special allotments isn't to even the playing field for everyone.... It's to generate as much revenue as possible for the NP organization... As much as it sucks for those who can't afford to try to buy one of these tags (this includes me), the true intent and purpose of the tag is being fulfilled...

You mention running a raffle again... I'll say it again, it takes a lot of people to run a good successful raffle... 2500 tickets is 250 books of 10 tickets... figure an average volunteer MIGHT be able to sell 2-3 books of tickets each... you are looking at 80 volunteers just to sell tickets.... yes I know that there are some people who are more active and better at peddling tickets but interacting with people and trying to get them to buy something isn't something that many people like to do....

I have personally looked into running a gun/item raffle to help out a NP group that I volunteer with. It's kind of a daunting task just to get it set up... then you have to track every single thing about the whole process. It's not an easy chore and requires a lot of people...

Lets look at this from another angle... Asking a NP group to do things the same way as the game and fish isn't really fair... The resources available to the 2 groups are VASTLY different...

There are multiple online sites that run raffles for free. Post the raffle for guns or big game on multiple hunting/fishing sites and the tickets will sell themselves.

 

[Kurtr]

Are you talking ND or SD ? I don't recall ND ever having a raffle for a Big Horn Sheep tag but I do know they auction one off to the guy with the deepest pockets each year .

There are multiple online sites that run raffles for free. Post the raffle for guns or big game on multiple hunting/fishing sites and the tickets will sell themselves.

Sd they have both the auction raises way more money and with out it there would be no big horns

 

[Icepirate]

correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there some sort of restrictions for online raffles in ND? At least as far as payment method? I bought an elk raffle ticket from pheasants forever this year and cash or check was the only acceptable payment method due to some ND law.....

 

[Petras]

Better make damned sure you are on the up and up with those online Raffle sites if you want to maintain you NP status...

Doesn't seem to be so cut and dry easy to do it online.... lots of stuff to consider.... probably enough to warrant needing to get legal advice on... which costs money..

 

[Traxion]

I’m sure it’s a coveted opportunity for the NP that gets it. As others have said, fundraisers are tons of work. And the market is saturated, everyone is trying to raise money for something. From kids sports to community clubs to sportsmen’s groups, they all have good causes. Too much junk out there, I just donate money anymore.

I’m not sure I loc the idea of bidding but I guess the dollars add up regardless. The optics of it are poor at best with and all time low number of tags and lots of pissed hunters. The true trophy tags like sheep should maybe get the same judgement when it comes to auctions but I think most feel like those tags are out of reach due to odds anyway. Deer tags should be accessible in most minds so that is why it sits so poorly with so many.

 

[8andcounting]

One tag for auction and you guys lose it . One word about hundreds of doe’s getting shot by 11-13 yr olds when the state has no deer and you guys lose it That doesn’t hurt a thing but one auction tag wrecks everything

 

[dsharp83]

One tag for auction and you guys lose it . One word about hundreds of doe’s getting shot by 11-13 yr olds when the state has no deer and you guys lose it That doesn’t hurt a thing but one auction tag wrecks everything

there a plenty of other threads about people voicing there disgust about the deer tag system
they are not losing it over 1 auction tag, the point is the system is already broken and the auction tags dosent help how the tag system looks and help change peoples views, at a time when the numbers are low and it is hard to get a tag,
the youth seasons are a great part of growing up in nd, and help get them into the sport and learn to deer hunt and continue family tradition of hunting, even though after they get older they wont be able to get a tag.... sadly.
but hey.. if they have enough money to buy 1 on an auction, then they could i guess,,,
or buy a bunch of land and get a gratis every year ... right ???

 

[bowhunter12]

When are ND residents going to figure it out and start somewhere we can all agree on instead of complaining about all the different options for resident tags....a lottery system for non resident archery hunters with unit, species, and sex specifications!! There should be an allotment of tags per unit based on the amount of resident rifle antlered tags issued in that unit, lets say a good number would be 5% of issued resident rifle antlered tags for that unit can be the allotment of non resident archery tags. This is state wide system including western units, species specific. Nice and easy system. Archery hunting this day and age has a high success rate, this would definitely help take some of the pressure off in the right direction. I don't want to hear about the tourism people complaining about loss of revenue, most of the out of state guys camp(campers and tents) or just go back home(especially when hunting in border state units). They probably spend money on gas once in a while and that's it. They certainly kill lots of deer! Currently there is no limit to the amount of state wide whitetail archery tags available to non residents, if I am wrong about this please correct me. Technically they could sell 50,000 tags, that doesn't happen but there is nothing stopping it from happening. I am by no means against out of state hunters, but when the resource has continued to decrease over the years, then so should the tags available. If the numbers go up and rifle tags go up, so do the non resident tags. Most other states have restrictions set in place for non residents, why not us? Contact your legislators to make this happen!!!

PS - I have no desire to change the resident archery system, if you want a state wide any deer archery tag, then move here and become a tax paying resident. I would say the vast majority of residents hunt within a hour or 2 of their home spreading out the in state hunters evenly, there are exceptions.

 

[Walleye_Chaser]

The archery deer hunting success rate in North Dakota was 29% during the 2025 season, according to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. During that season, 22,944 active bowhunters harvested 6,610 deer out of 27,341 total archery licenses issued. [1]

 

[Kurtr]

Sounds like its time to pick one weapon and one tag per year up there

 

[luvcatchingbass]

The archery deer hunting success rate in North Dakota was 29% during the 2025 season, according to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. During that season, 22,944 active bowhunters harvested 6,610 deer out of 27,341 total archery licenses issued. [1]

I'm trying to remember the last time I killed or even shot at a deer with my bow, 2015-2016 maybe (I got the rack in the basement with the tag)?
I've been basically watching deer and donating. Last 6yrs trying to hunt mule deer, trust me when I say that me with a tag in my pocket is the least of the deer's worries.

 

[Duckslayer100]

I'm trying to remember the last time I killed or even shot at a deer with my bow, 2015-2016 maybe (I got the rack in the basement with the tag)?
I've been basically watching deer and donating. Last 6yrs trying to hunt mule deer, trust me when I say that me with a tag in my pocket is the least of the deer's worries.

I've killed a deer with my bow nearly every year since they started constricting rifle tags. I may not be a good example of the average bow hunter, though, as a I am NOT picky with what I shoot.

 

[dblkluk]

What are the laws on who can get an auction tag to sell? What if the local knitting club wants one, along with the hockey club and 4h shooting sports all want an auction tag? You end up with a bunch of extra tags given out to the highest bidder while diluting the value if the are not limited to certain groups. Just curious?

Just have to be a 501(3)c and agree to donate 20% of the proceeds back to an approved conservation project and you can apply for one.