Elk, moose and bighorn sheep hunting applications are now available in North Dakota.
The state Game and Fish Department is making 833 elk licenses available for the fall hunt, an increase of 230 from last year. Licenses in Units E1E, E1W and E3 are up due to a stable-to-increasing elk population, officials said. Licenses in Units E2, E4 and E6 remain the same as in 2023.
A total of 242 moose licenses are available, a decrease of 15 from last year. Licenses in Units M5, M6, M8 and M10 remain the same. Licenses in M9 and M11 are reduced slightly to align with the observed moose population in those units, the department said. Units M4 and M1C will remain closed due to a low number of animals.
A bighorn sheep hunting season is tentatively scheduled for the fall, depending on the sheep population. The status of the season will be determined Sept. 1, after summer population surveys are completed.
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Bighorn sheep applicants must apply for a license at the same time as moose and elk, but not for a specific unit. Once total licenses are determined for each unit in late summer, the bighorn lottery will be held and successful applicants contacted to select a hunting unit. If a bighorn season is not held, under state law applicants would not receive a refund.
Elk, moose and bighorn sheep lottery licenses are issued as once-in-a-lifetime licenses in North Dakota. Hunters who have received a license through the lottery in the past are not eligible to apply for that species again.
Applications are available online at the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov. The deadline to apply is Wednesday.