From ducks to deer, the 2007 fall seasons should put a smile on the faces of hunters young and old.

Across the board, healthy wild game populations are the byproduct of good habitat combined with a series of mild winters. Here's some comments by North Dakota Game and Fish biologists as they look at for yet another fall to remember.

Sharp-tailed grouse
Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor

Things are looking good for another exciting sharp-tailed grouse season. The spring
breeding population showed another slight increase in all districts, and nesting and brood rearing habitat was plentiful.

Preliminary results from July and August roadside brood counts indicate improved numbers in birds and broods per mile, higher average brood size, and an increase in the number of young birds seen on routes compared to adult birds.

If you have an interest in sharptail hunting, don’t procrastinate. Now is the time to get out while good hunting opportunities exist.

Hungarian partridge
Stan Kohn

Though Hungarian partridge seem to be making a small comeback, don’t expect to see an abundance of birds this fall. The partridge population has been down for more than a decade, and many of today’s hunters probably don’t remember the good partridge years prior to 1993. Partridge numbers since 1994 have actually been relatively stable, just at a low level. But if you have located one of those few areas of the state where the partridge population is improving, it should be as good or better
than last year.

White-tailed deer
Bill Jensen, big game biologist

Following yet another mild winter, the fall hunting season is shaping up as another good one for white-tailed deer hunters. Winter aerial surveys, hunter observations and deer-vehicle collisions continue to suggest stable to increasing deer numbers along a band running diagonally from southwestern North Dakota to the northeastern corner of the state.


For the past several years the Department has been setting aggressive harvest rates for antlerless deer. The result has been reduced deer numbers in the northwestern and southeastern corners.

In response to remaining high deer numbers in selected units, particularly the northeastern portion of the state, Game and Fish made 148,550 deer gun licenses available this fall. This is an increase from 143,500 in 2006, and exceeds the previous all-time high of 145,600 licenses in 2005.

At this writing many units still have antlerless deer licenses available. Hunters can also quickly and easily purchase additional licenses at the Game and Fish Department’s website at www.gf.nd.gov. Hunters with second and third (or more) doe licenses can use these licenses during archery and muzzleloader seasons with the appropriate firearm or bow in the designated hunting unit.

Ducks and geese
Mike Johnson, game management section leader

North Dakota’s 2007 fall duck flight is expected to be down about 50 percent from last year, but still well above average. However, improved duck breeding conditions in Canada could mean more ducks migrating through the state later in the season. Resident giant Canada goose numbers continue to increase. The population objective is 80,000 birds, but the 2007 Game and Fish Department estimate is nearly 260,000 geese, up 26 percent from 2006.

The snow goose population remains high, but hunters can expect fewer juvenile birds this fall because of poor conditions on many arctic nesting grounds this spring.

Pheasants
Stan Kohn

A string of mild winters has helped ring-necked pheasants. Add in the Conservation Reserve Program, which has put about 3.3 million acres of nesting habitat on the state’s
landscape, and you have the ingredients necessary to increase not only pheasant numbers, but also their range.

Early signs point to a somewhat lower fall pheasant population than last year. This spring’s crowing count showed a small decrease in breeding birds throughout most of the traditional pheasant range. Rain and cooler temperatures during the peak pheasant hatching period made for less than ideal conditions, prompting concern about hatch success and chick survival in some areas.

Still, with even a slightly reduced pheasant population, North Dakota will still have a good to excellent pheasant season.

Put it all together and the only thing missing is you. So get out and enjoy the fall hunts of 2007. 

Doug Leier is a biologist. He can be reached by email: dleier@nd.gov