Also... why this state should be on your radar
For the past few years, we have gotten an overwhelmingly strong request from Insiders to see seasons and data for the Dakotas added to Insider. The time has finally come and North Dakota is now live! This project has been a lot of work from analyzing the state and gathering data to processing and confirming draw odds and we are very excited to release this to the public!
Nonresidents have opportunities to get licenses for deer, and Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, while residents can draw licenses deer, elk, antelope, bighorn sheep, and moose.
If you're an Insider, you automatically have access to all research data for North Dakota. If not, you can learn more about Insider below:
While North Dakota does not offer a lot of variety to the nonresident, it does offer a lot of opportunity when it comes to deer tags. Whitetail can be hunted on an over-the-counter archery tag but nonresidents wanting to hunt mule deer, or rifle hunt either species will need to draw tags in the lottery. North Dakota offers new options for those living in the west but also opens up some potentially closer hunting options for hunters living in midwestern and eastern states.
North Dakota offers hunting opportunities for several big game species, including deer, elk, antelope, bighorn sheep, and moose.
Both whitetail and mule deer can be hunted in North Dakota and hunters will find many tag options, including antlerless. Over-the-counter archery licenses are available. With these, residents can hunt either species, while nonresidents can only hunt whitetail. Any species archery draw licenses are available for nonresidents. Muzzleloader and rifle hunting licenses are issued only through the drawing.
The deer draw utilizes a weighted bonus point system where your odds increase with the more points you have, but the chance of drawing is never guaranteed.
Elk hunting is an opportunity that is only available to residents and hopeful applicants will have both bull or antlerless licenses to apply for. All elk licenses are rifle tags but tag holders can also archery hunt in most units.
The elk draw is completely random, with all applicants being on the same level playing field.
Antelope licenses are resident only and are valid for either any antelope for doe/fawn only. All antelope licenses are rifle tags, but tag holders can also archery hunt in most units.
The antelope draw utilizes a weighted bonus point system where your odds increase with the more points you have, but the chance of drawing is never guaranteed.
Very limited opportunities are offered for bighorn sheep, and generally, only five tags are allocated per year. Nonresidents may draw up to 1 bighorn sheep license, but this tag is not guaranteed, and it has been a very long time since a nonresident has drawn a tag. The state does not set final seasons or license quotas until after the drawing. Once set, successful applicants will be contacted and then placed into their hunt.
The bighorn sheep draw is completely random.
Moose hunting is an opportunity that is only available to residents, and hopeful applicants will have both bull or antlerless licenses to apply for. All moose licenses are rifle tags, but tag holders can also archery hunt in most units.
The moose draw is completely random, with all applicants being on the same level playing field.
With the launch of North Dakota, Insiders will have access to all of the typical great Insider research information.
Like our other states, you’ll have Filtering to decide where to apply and hunt with filters for trophy potential, draw odds, harvest success, weapon type, season dates, and much, much more.
Once you've gotten that portion of your research nailed down, you will be prepared to jump into our standalone Draw Odds page for even more detailed draw odds data.
For even more information, you can also jump into detailed unit profiles, state, or species profiles to learn even more!
We will also be releasing supplement articles n the near future detailing more of the specifics of hunting opportunities throughout the state.
As always, our data science team was hard at work making sure that our North Dakota draw odds meet the same rigorous standards as all of our other states.
If you just want to view draw odds, you can quickly navigate to our standalone Draw Odds Page and select North Dakota to see detailed draw odds for each unit. Note: Draw odds are also available on Filtering 2.0 and on each Unit Profile.
Naturally, with the inclusion of North Dakota, we will also have South Dakota coming to the Insider platform soon! Look for this to be coming within the next few weeks. We also have some new and exciting application strategies coming out in the coming months for eastern elk opportunities!
Insider makes it easy to find tag opportunities by state, species, probability of draw odds success, and much more! Whether you have 0 points, max points, or any number of points for certain states, Insider gives you the information you need to plan a successful hunt. In addition to our research tools, all Insiders have access to GOHUNT Maps on the web and mobile app. It's the only complete and full package set of tools to help you find the hunt you want this year or to help you plan for hunts in the future.
If you're unfamiliar with Insider, you can learn more below.
