If you drew a
spring turkey license and haven’t received the tag in the mail yet, it could be
because you haven’t purchased a new general game and habitat license or
combination license for the 2019-20 hunting seasons.
The general game
and habitat license is required for pretty much all hunting of game species in
North Dakota. This requirement became law in the 1960s, but the transition to
electronic licensing and all-electronic applications now allows the North
Dakota Game and Fish Department to verify that a lottery license holder also
has the required general game license before sending the turkey, moose, elk,
bighorn sheep, deer, pronghorn or swan tag.
For spring turkey
hunters preparing for the upcoming April 13, there is a bit of a sense of
urgency for securing the proper licenses in time for Game and Fish to get the
tag out before the season opens.
For everyone
else, right now is also a good time for all hunters and anglers to purchase
their 2019-2020 licenses, as new licenses were required starting April 1.
Licenses
can be purchased online
at the Game and Fish
Department website, gf.nd.gov. Once the license is processed, users will have
the option to print a hard copy and/or download the license to a smart phone or
mobile device, which is helpful when asked to show proof of license while
hunting or fishing in rural areas that lack cellular service.
Licenses can also
be purchased at more than 140 vendor locations throughout the state, or by
calling 800-406-6409. The Game and Fish website also has a listing of the
retail vendor locations in the state.
The 2019-20 small
game, fishing and furbearer licenses are effective April 1, 2019 to March 31,
2020.
In other news, the Game and Fish Department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service have put out their annual call for people to report their sightings of
whooping cranes. These endangered birds will migrate through North Dakota over
the next few weeks
Whooping
cranes are bright white with black wing tips, which are visible only when the
wings are outspread. In flight they extend their long necks straight forward,
while their long, slender legs extend out behind the tail.
Other
white birds such as pelicans, snow geese, swans and egrets are often mistaken
for whooping cranes.
Anyone
sighting whoopers should not disturb them, but record the date, time, location,
and the birds’ activity. Observers should also look closely for and report
colored bands which may occur on one or both legs. Whooping cranes have been
marked with colored leg bands to help determine their identity.
Whooping
crane sightings should be reported to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offices at
Lostwood, 701-848-2466, or Long Lake, 701-387-4397, national wildlife refuges;
the state Game and Fish Department in Bismarck, 701-328-6300, or to local game
wardens across the state.
Reports help biologists locate important
whooping crane habitat areas, monitor marked birds, determine survival and
population numbers, and identify times and migration routes.
