North Dakota Slashes Deer Tags Amid Ongoing Population Struggles

On Wednesday, May 7, North Dakota finalized its 2025 season dates and license quotas. The North Dakota Game and Fish (NDGF) agency notably cut licenses down to 42,300. This is 7,800 tags or 16% fewer than 2024.

The tag reductions apply to most of the state’s deer tags, including both either-species tags and specifically designated whitetail tags. Muzzleloader-only licenses were also slashed. The only tag quotas that weren’t significantly impacted were for the state’s Type C mule deer buck licenses and youth antlered mule deer licenses.

NDGF officials say the license reductions are necessary to help the state’s embattled deer populations bounce back from a series of unfortunate events.

“The state’s deer population continues to recover from the 2021 EHD outbreak and the severe winter of 2022-23, which limited population growth despite reduced gun licenses during 2023 and 2024 hunting seasons,” said NDGF wildlife division chief Casey Andersonin a press release. “Modest license allocations are intended to maintain hunting opportunities while encouraging population growth in the state.”

The 2022-23 winter was particularly hard on ungulates in North Dakota. In some units, mule deer populationsdeclined by as much as 84%, while whitetails declined by as much as 51%.

This year’s tag allocation is the lowest it’s been in North Dakota in a decade. Wildlife managers say that conditions for recovering the state’s herds can be potentially impacted by declining habitat availability. If CRP contracts continue to terminate without being renewed, the state could lose 85% of the 3.4 million acres it had enrolled in the conservation program in 2007 by 2026.

North Dakota is not alone in attempting to address embattled deer populations. Nearby states such as Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho arecontending with declining deer populations, particularly in mule deer, following the 2022-23 winter and compounded by other issues, from drought to wolves.

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