Hunting seasons open soon

With September in our sights, hunting seasons for upland game in North Dakota open soon.

The season opens for sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge and ruffed grouse on Sept. 9. Following that, the two-day youth pheasant season for legally licensed residents and nonresidents ages 15 and younger opens Sept. 30.

Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. Sharptails, ruffed grouse and partridge each have a daily limit of three and a possession limit of 12. The daily limit for the youth pheasant season is also three birds, but the possession limit is six.

All hunters, regardless of age, must have a general game and habitat license. In addition, hunters 16 and older need a small game license.

Grouse and partridge hunters should refer to North Dakota OUTDOORS August-September issue for an outlook on the fall hunting season, available online by the season opener on the state Game and Fish Department’s website gf.nd.gov.

Hunters are urged to keep up with the daily rural fire danger index, issued by the National Weather Service, to alert the public to conditions that may be conducive to accidental starting or spread of fires. County governments also have the authority to adopt penalties for violations of county restrictions related to burning bans. Information on current fire danger indexes is available through ndresponse.gov.