North Dakota Deer Population: An estimated 292,000 deer in 2023 with 276,000 whitetails and 16,000 mule deer in the Badlands. A harsh 2022-23 winter reduced the mule deer population from a state estimate of 23,300 in 2022. About 305,000 deer in 2022, down from 363,000 deer in 2021 and about 520,000 in 2010.
North Dakota Deer News
Detection of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions in Prairie Soils from Endemic Regions 2024 Environmental Science & Technology
... In the prairie area of South Saskatchewan where the CWD prevalence rate in male mule deer is greater than 70%, 75% of the soil samples tested were positive, while in the low-prevalence prairie region of North Dakota (11% prevalence in male mule deer), none of the soils contained prion seeding activity...
Mule deer mortality in the northern Great Plains in a landscape altered by oil and natural gas extraction June, 2024, The Journal of Wildlife Management
... We evaluated the potential effects of oil and natural gas development on mortality risk of mule deer in western North Dakota and eastern Montana, USA... During the study there was no effect of oil and natural gas development or roads on mule deer mortality, though <1% of all deer locations were within 500 m of active drilling rigs...
ND deer gun lottery application deadline approaching; fewer tags available May 18, 2024 North Dakota, Fargo KVLY-TV on MSN.com
... Deer gun hunters will have fewer opportunities to harvest a deer in 2024, and that’s because of extreme conditions during the winter of 2022-23, and little or no fawn production last spring... the population hasn’t bounced back after that bad winter...
Mule Deer Survey Completed May 13, 2024 North Dakota Game and Fish
... The overall mule deer density in the badlands was 7.1 deer per square mile... densities remained the same compared to 2023 following last year’s record low fawn production, reduced gun harvest and a mild winter in 2023-24... The 2024 spring survey results were largely influenced by the 2022-23 record-setting harsh winter, which resulted in mule deer does being in poor body condition last spring and record low fawn production in 2023 ...
New genus of tiny, hornless deer that lived 32 million years ago discovered at Badlands May 9, 2024 South Dakota, CBS News
... in an area around what is now southwestern South Dakota ... The study ... findings, suggested that all of these deer were hornless and roughly the size of a modern household cat... close relatives of mouse deer ... But certain features of this creature were unlike anything else ...
North Dakota Deer Season Set, Apply Online May 6, 2024 North Dakota Game and Fish
... with 50,100 licenses available to hunters, down 3,300 from last year. In addition, muzzleloader licenses decreased by 66 ... Casey Anderson, North Dakota Game and Fish Department wildlife division chief, said population, harvest and survey data indicate the state’s deer population is stable to decreasing in the southeastern part of the state ..,
Conservation groups praise BLM ruling; North Dakota lawmakers criticize April 27, 2024 Grand Forks Herald
... the Interior Department’s rule would overhaul the management of 245 million acres of land that falls under BLM management, putting less emphasis on resource extraction to the benefit of conservation, fish and wildlife habitat and recreation...
CWD cases in North Dakota in 2023 not in new areas; 2025 testing will give truer picture of disease's extent April 15, 2024 North Dakota, The Bismarck Tribune
... 11 documented cases in deer during the 2023 CWD surveillance season ... wildlife officials believe the disease continues to move both northward and southward in the western half -- where it has taken root in the last 15 years and where all of last year's cases were confirmed..,
APHIS supports projects to control and prevent chronic wasting disease April 11, 2024 North Dakato, KFGO
... USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service this week announced the availability of more than $12 million to control and prevent chronic wasting disease in wild and farmed deer and elk...
NDGF announces Mule Deer Survey; CWD Test Results March 25, 2024 North Dakota, KX News
... With the 2023 Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) surveillance season completed, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department reported 11 deer tested positive ... all these cases came from units where CWD has already been detected ..,
North Dakota 2023 Deer Season Summarized. March 21, 2024, North Dakota Game and Fish
... A total of 45,927 North Dakota deer hunters took approximately 25,146 deer during the 2023 deer gun hunting season, according to a post-season survey conducted by the state Game and Fish Department..,
North Dakota 2023 Bighorn Sheep, Moose and Elk Harvests March 6, 2024 NDGF News
... hunter success during the 2023 season for bighorn sheep was 100%, 89% for moose and 71% for elk... The department issued 253 moose licenses last year. Of that total, 246 hunters harvested 219 animals – 132 bulls and 87 cows/calves ... The department issued 649 elk licenses last year. Of that total, 589 hunters harvested 418 elk – 190 bulls and 228 cows/calves..,
Badlands deer hunting pressure takes center stage as outdoors issue December 15, 2023 North Dakota, Yahoo! Sports
... "Especially from archery hunters. The hunting pressure is taking away from the quality of the hunt. And then from the gun hunters — they're getting frustrated because it's more and more difficult to draw that coveted (mule deer) gun tag." [Bill Haase, assistant wildlife chief for Game and Fish] ..,
ND deer hunters report yet another down year December 5, 2023 North Dakota, KX News
... just over 50% of the surveyed individuals harvested a deer in November. This continues a downward trend from 2020 when North Dakota hunters had about a 67% success rate..,
Grizzlies Moving Eastward To North Dakota November 16, 2023 Cowboy State Daily
... “The last grizzly sighting in North Dakota was in the late 1800s,” Haase said. By the mid-1970s, there were only small pockets of grizzlies left in the Yellowstone National Park area of Wyoming and in Montana’s rugged Northern Continental Divide... In northcentral Montana, they’ve pushed eastward across the prairies ..,
Habitat is the key for a strong deer population November 14, 2023 North Dakota, Grand Forks Herald, Doug Leier
... department biologists conducted aerial surveys on all hunting units in the state during the winter of 2023. The Wing-Tuttle monitoring block (units 2J1 and 2J2) was flown in January and again in April, and deer numbers had declined by 53% during that time period – 53% in just a few months..,
A short history of deer in North Dakota November 11, 2023 Prairie Public Broadcasting
... In his 1926 A Biological Survey of North Dakota, Arthur Bailey noted that mule deer apparently occupied all of North Dakota prior to European settlement. But change was in the wind, and by 1890 deer were mostly extirpated from the state..,
Remembering North Dakota's Favorite Pet Deer Jonnie/Ruth November 10, 2023 US 103.3
... her name was Jonnie to some and Ruth to others. She was a fixture for numerous farms south of Sterling and over to Braddock for about 5 years... The Fallgatters raised Jonnie as a very young fawn as her mother and sibling were hit and killed by a car... Jonnie would raise a couple of young fawns of her own ...
A dwindling deer population means less deer crashes for North Dakotans November 9, 2023 North Dakota, Minot-Bsmrck-Dcknsn(Wlstn) KFYR-TV
... Bill Haase, NDGF assistant wildlife division chief... .The number of vehicular deer crashes has been trending down since 2020... [from 10 years ago] habitat started to diminish ... three years ago, we had EHD, which is a disease outbreak that kills whitetail deer. Then, we had that again two years ago. Then, the severe winter ... last winter, the storms alone cut the population down by about 50 percent...
North Dakota deer hunting season opens Friday November 9, 2023 The Bismarck Tribune
... deer licenses granted by Game and Fish fell 17% from 2022's total...A big reason for that decline is loss of habitat due to farming practice changes and energy development. Other factors ... are disease, predation, impacts of the previous winter on population and the previous year's harvest success rates... Whitetail populations are down in northeastern North Dakota ... harsh winters ..,
ND Game and Fish encourages hunters to submit deer heads to test for Chronic Wasting Disease November 3, 2023 North Dakota, WDAY Radio
... A full list of collection sites, how to safely place the heads at those locations, and self sampling kits can be found by clicking here. ...
North Dakota’s deer season opens at noon Nov. 10; here’s what’s in store October 28, 2023 Grand Forks Herald
... The North Dakota Game and Fish Department offered 53,400 deer gun licenses this year, down 10,800 tags from last year and the lowest since 2016... “The severity of winter conditions this year was record-setting, particularly in the eastern half of the state,” ..,
Compromise reached for deer hunting September 5, 2023 The Bismarck Tribune
... Game and Fish says it will allow deer baiting restrictions to be lifted in hunting units where CWD has been found if the number of adult deer equivalent to at least 10% of allocated gun licenses are tested for the disease within a year and all results are negative...
Habitat Remains Concern for Deer Rebound August 31, 2023 News Dakota
... With an accommodating late spring and summer under their feet the herds are poised for a comeback, recovering from the stresses of the cold weather season. That comeback, however, may be limited in both speed and scope by the amount of habitat ... . Even just in the last 10 years the decline in habitat has become noticeable and has greatly limited the numbers of deer and other wildlife on the landscape..,
North Dakota 2023 Hunting Season Outlook August 30, 2023 North Dakota Outdoors Magazine
... [Whitetail Deer]: The Game and Fish Department made available 53,400 licenses for the 2023 deer gun hunting season, a decrease of 10,800 following a brutal winter that arrived in November and hung around until April. [Mule Deer]: Mule deer declined across the western edge of the state following extreme winter conditions that started in November and lasted into April. The 2023 spring index for mule deer in the badlands was 29% lower than the 2022 index ...
Roadmap for lifting deer baiting restrictions outlined in North Dakota CWD plan August 21, 2023 North Dakota, Grand Forks Herald
... will allow deer baiting restrictions to be lifted in hunting units where chronic wasting disease has been found, if the number of adult deer equivalent to at least 10% of allocated gun licenses are tested for CWD within a year and all results are negative..,
Wildlife Crossings May 12, 2023 North Dakota Outdoors
... on U.S. Highway 85 south of the Long X Bridge ... This crossing experienced 386 and 989 mule deer approaching the crossing in 2021 and 2022 with a successful crossing rate of 91% and 93% ... “Our current elk monitoring program with the GPS collars is indicating that elk want to cross just south of the badlands area on Highway 85,” ...
2023 ND deer season set with about 10,000 fewer licenses May 6, 2023 North Dakota, KFYR
... Whitetail deer populations were slowly heading in the right direction after the winters of 2009, ‘10, ‘11, but the combination of a major EHD Outbreak in 2021 in central North Dakota and this year’s extreme winter conditions impacted their populations..,
Game and Fish announces drastic cut in deer licenses May 5, 2023 North Dakota, Grand Forks Herald
... The state's deer population is decreasing, especially in eastern hunting units...“The severity of winter conditions this year was record setting, particularly in the eastern half of the state,” .., see the state press release
Mule Deer Survey Completed May 1, 2023 North Dakota Game and Fish
... The North Dakota Game and Fish Department completed its annual mule deer survey, and results indicate western North Dakota’s mule deer population is 29% lower than last year and 5% below the long-term average..,
Habitat a focus of Game and Fish Department presentation on deer numbers April 29, 2023 North Dakota, YAHOO!News
...White-tailed deer numbers declined in nearly every part of the state. In the Red River Valley ... whitetail counts in Unit 2C north of Grand Forks were down 29.3% from 2022 ...Numbers in Unit 2B, an area extending roughly from Grand Forks to Fargo, were down 47.5%. Whitetail numbers in Unit 2A in the far southeast corner of the state declined 26.5%..,
New Dakota Deer News and Information Archive by Topic: Population and Management, Deer in the News, Disease, Suburban, Transportation
Data and Analysis for Chart Above: The population estimates are based on hunting data, adjusted for number of licenses and hunter success, and compatible with a 2010 published estimate of 500,00 whitetails.
Column Contents
North Dakota Deer Population
The state reduced hunting licenses by about 6.6% in 2024 to support a stable to declining population. The 2023-24 winter was mild supporting some increase in the states estimate for the Badlands mule deer population. from 16,000 in 2023 to 16,700 in 2024. The herd is slow to recover from the hard winter of 2022-23 which reduced deer populations in April by up to 84% in some regions based on aerial surveys and as much of 50 percent of the total population. The spring, 2024, mule deer survey in the badlands was about the same as in 2023
As reported in the 2023 season outlook, North Dakota Game and Fish reduced hunting licenses after a "brutal winter.' Spring and summer weather of 2023 supported deer, but limited habitat is a constraint to a rebound. In their report to the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife (WAFWA) the state noted that " badlands mule deer population has declined due to extreme winter weather conditions during 2022/2023. Winter severity index was second highest on record." The mule deer population in the badlands fell from 23,300 to 16,000 a 31.3 percent decline.
The 2022 season outlook reported that the population is "stable to decreasing and below management goals, primarily in eastern hunting units." In 2022 the herd was rebounding from the previous EHD outbreak. The mule deer population was higher in the mid-2022 survey after a mild 2021-22 winter, but the whitetail population was stable to decreasing prior to the 2022 hunt. A population decline in 2022 and fewer hunting licenses allocated. “Epizootic hemorrhagic disease dramatically reduced white-tailed deer numbers along the Missouri River and parts of some western hunting units.”
The state estimates population levels only for mule deer in the Badlands, their primary range, but not for whitetail deer, the large majority of deer. The population estimate of 305.000 total deer in 2022 is a rough estimate relying on hunting data: the deer kill adjusted for the number of licenses sold and assuming the percent of the deer population taken by hunters is about the same as in South Dakota in recent years. This approach gives an estimate compatible with the one research report found for North Dakota estimating about 500,000 whitetails around 2010 with about 20,000 mule deer and generally fits the narrative related to deer populations below. North Dakota manages deer tags to maintain a good hunter success percentage. The state estimated 21,000 mule deer in the badlands in 2021 and 23,300 in 2022.
The 2021, 2020, and 2019 outlook reports a "stable to increasing population." For 2019 and 2020 other sources report the population is trending up, particularly in the western part of the state. About the same to slowly increasing in 2021 with mild winters improving deer conditions, but drought in much of the state reduced fawn survival in 2021. An EHD outbreak killed a large number of deer in 2020 and drought in 2021. In 2020, 81,000 applied for 69,050 deer gun lottery licenses. Guns licenses increased to 72,200 in 2021.
The state estimated the mule deer population in the badlands, their primary habitat, each year from 2015 for the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Estimates for prior years are based on the state's spring population indexes. The data.
In 2018 through 2020, a stable to increasing white-tailed deer population and recovering mule deer. A mild 2019-20 winter. In 2019 mule deer numbers in western North Dakota are down from 2018, but 14 percent above the long term average. A slow state-wide recovery of deer from severe winters in 2009 through 2011 and a downward population trend from 2010 to 2015. The deer population peaked in the mid-2000s.
In 2016 whitetail numbers were good south and west of the Missouri River, but lower in the east. Into 2017 the population was increasing in the western two-thirds of the state, down to stable in the eastern third. In 2018 a stable to increasing white-tailed deer population and recovering mule deer. For 2018 there were 55,150 gun licenses issued, more than 113,000 applied. Season outlooks for 2018, 2017 abd 2016.
Deer survived the harsh 2016-17 winter better than expected because of an early spring. Drought conditions into the fall 2017 also had limited impact on deer survival. The mild winter of 2017-18 improved deer survival but did not allow for enough water to replenish some streams that dried up during the drought.
Habitat has been destroyed for cropland, reducing deer populations. In 2016 "Jeb Williams, wildlife chief for the State Game and Fish Department, said population and harvest data indicate the state’s deer population is stable to increasing, primarily due to seven years of reduced gun licenses combined with mild winters." In 2016 102,000 applied for a deer tag, only 49,000 were issued, down from more than 100,000 from 2001 to 2011. Mule deer populations continued to recover from the harsh winters of 2008-10.
About 340,000 deer in 2015. A 2015 spring survey of western North Dakota showed a 24 percent increase in the mule deer population of the Badlands after a few mild winters bringing the count to 2376, or 7.8 per square mile of the 306.3 square miles in the Badlands where the survey was conducted. Mule deer anterless tags were restricted in an effort to increase the population.
Hard winters from 2010 to 2015. In 2015 about 36,407 deer were taken by 64,382 hunters. Hunter success rate of 68 percent in 2015, 60 percent in 2014, 55 percent in 2013. The number of deer tags were reduced to 48,000 in 2014, also a 30 year low, and 59,500 in 2013, a 40 percent reduction in 2012 to help the herd rebound.
Deer herds in the northeast suffered through a rough 2013 winter complicated by a decline in habitat. A doe carrying the first quadruplet fawns documented in the state died in 2012. In 2011 the department management goal was to have a deer population that could support 125,000 licensees, but only 110,000 were issued.
The deer population rose to a recent record level around 2007. In the mid-2000s the state had unusually mild winters and good habitat conditions, but severe winters for 2008-09 to 2010-11. A population estimate for whitetails at 500,000 reported in 2010, but another estimate at only 90,000 for 2015. The state issued 150,000 deer tags in 2007 to reduce the population. More than 140,000 deer licenses were issued in 2009. Habitat loss has further reduced the deer herd, particularly in the northern Red River Valley.
Two million acres of land had been lost from the Conservation Reserve Program, the oil boom has disrupted habitat. Western mule deer populations rebounded in 2013, but declined in the east.
The continuing loss of habitat will put downward pressure on deer populations into the future. Grasslands are needed for nesting. Mild winters have supported deer populations in the southwest, but epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) reduced white-tail populations in the Bowman to Bismark area.. Mule deer doe tags have been restricted in an effort to boost the population. Deer populations are below target in most of the state. The state issued 43,275 deer licenses in 2014, the fewest since 1978. About 90,000 deer hunters in the state.
The number of licenses issued is typically targeted to provide a 70 percent hunter success rate. Deer gun hunter success was 60 percent in 2014, was 55 percent in 2013 and archery success was 33 percent. The new five year plan calls for increasing license sales to provide 124,800 deer gun licenses, about 25 percent over the 2005 goal.
White-tail deer in North Dakota migrate an average of 3.8 miles from winter to summer habitat. Some migrate very little. Mule deer density in the badlands was 6.3 per square mile in 2014, 5.3 in 2013, up from 4.6 in 2012, but below the long-term average of 6.8. The buck-to-doe ratio of 0.46 in 2013, 0.37 in 2012, and the long-term average is 0.43 -- a higher ratio and more robust herd than in some states to the west such as California. Deer populations had been rising in the early to mid 2000's.
History Mule deer apparently occupied all of North Dakota prior to European settlement, but by1890 deer were mostly extirpated from the state, due primarily to over hunting. The state suspended deer hunting to preserve the herd until 1931 when about 2,000 licenses were sold. During seven years of the next 20, seasons were closed. An estimated deer population of 7,000 to 8,000 in 1941. About 10,000 in 1945. The state issued 41,000 licences in 1952 then closed the season again in 1953. The Conservation Reserve Program helped the herd grow. The population was relatively stable in the 1960s and 70s.
In their 2021 report to the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife agencies the state wrote "North Dakota’s badlands mule deer population showed an increasing trend with high fawn production from 1990-2007. Mule deer fawn production was typically greater than 90 fawns:100 does during these years. Winter weather conditions were mild during this time period except in 1996. Mule deer numbers peaked in 2005-2007. Following this population peak, North Dakota experienced three of the most severe winters on record from 2008-2010. Consequently, mule deer abundance in the badlands decreased by 50% and reached a population low in 2012."
During the early 2000's the state issued 140,000 licenses.
Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)
Identified in a few deer in western Grant County since 2009, two in 2013. A total of nine through early 2017. Eleven into early 2018. A total of 14 into early 2019. The first deer to die of chronic wasting disease and reported to have symptons was found near Williston in late February of 2019. During the 2020 hunting season, 18 positives, bringing the total to 44 positives. In the 2021 season, 26 positives with CWD on a family farm. By August, 2022, 70 positives in total. In the 2022-23 season, 24 positives. In 2023, 11 positives all from area where CWD was already detected.
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (EHD)
An outbreak in 2021. Significant outbreaks of EHD in 2020 and 2011.
Elk
Hunted to extinction in the early part of the 1900's, reintroduced from other states in 1942.
Moose
Rare in the early 1900's as a result of overhunting. Recently brain worm has contributed to the decline of the population in the eastern part of the state.
Pronghorn
An estimated 5,500 pronghorn in 2015; 5,700 in 2014, hunting had been closed since 2009 due to the small population but reopened in some areas in 2014. About 2,800 in 2012. Once abundant, only about 200 pronghorns in the 1920's.
Mountain Lions
Uncommon across early North Dakota. There is a population in the badlands. The population size has not been estimated, but in 2016 lion hunting quotas were lowered for the first time.
Bears. The last grizzlie sighting was in the late 1800s.