NDGF white tail deer
A total of 36,353 North Dakota deer hunters took approximately 20,877 deer during the 2025 deer gun hunting season, according to a post-season survey conducted by the state Game and Fish Department.
Game and Fish made available 42,300 deer gun licenses last year. Overall hunter success was 57%, with each hunter spending an average of 4.9 days in the field.
Hunter success for white-tailed deer was 53% for antlered and 45% for antlerless whitetails.
Mule deer license holder success was 82% for antlered and 82% for antlerless mule deer.
Hunters with any antlered or any antlerless licenses generally harvest white-tailed deer, as these licenses are predominantly in units with mostly whitetails. Though, mule deer made up a greater proportion of the harvest in the Slope and Missouri River hunting units. Any antlered hunters had a success rate of 65%, while any antlerless hunters had a success rate of 56%.
Game and Fish issued 11,598 gratis licenses in 2025, and 9,453 hunters harvested 4,452 deer for a success rate of 47%.
A total of 797 muzzleloader licenses were issued, and 665 hunters harvested 215 white-tailed deer (102 antlered, 113 antlerless). Hunter success was 32%.
A total of 27,341 archery licenses (24,553 resident, 2,494 nonresident white-tailed deer, 294 nonresident any deer) were issued in 2025. In total, 22,944 bowhunters harvested 6,610 deer (5,590 whitetails, 1,020 mule deer) for a success rate of 29%.
The department is in the process of determining recommendations for licenses in 2026. In addition to harvest rates and winter aerial surveys, Game and Fish staff monitor other population indices to determine license numbers, including depredation reports, hunter observations, input at advisory board meetings, and comments from the public, landowners and department field staff.
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