Duck Seasons & Regulations

Season Dates

	Season	Hunting Units	Opens	Closes	Season Dates Status
Ducks and Coots	Veteran/Active Military Personnel Waterfowl Season	Statewide	09/14/2024		Tentative
Ducks and Coots	Bonus Blue-winged Teal	All Units	09/21/2024		Tentative
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Resident	Low Plains Unit	09/21/2024		Tentative
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Resident	High Plains Unit	09/21/2024		Tentative
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Nonresident	High Plains Unit	09/28/2024		Tentative
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Nonresident	Low Plains Unit	09/28/2024		Tentative
Ducks and Coots	Regular - Resident/Nonresident	High Plains Unit	12/07/2024		Tentative
Ducks (Youth Waterfowl Season)	Youth Waterfowl	Statewide	09/14/2024		Tentative

The dates listed are tentative until the season's proclamation is signed.

License Requirements

Residents must possess the following licenses:

• Harvest Information Program registration
• Fishing, Hunting, and Furbearer Certificate
• Small Game License (Not required of residents under age 16) and General Game and Habitat License
  or
  Combination License (includes Small Game, General Game and Habitat, Furbearer, and Fishing licenses)
• Federal migratory bird stamp (duck stamp) - required of all hunters 16 years of age and older.

Nonresidents must possess the following licenses:

• Harvest Information Program registration
• Nonresident Fishing, Hunting, Furbearer Certificate
• General Game and Habitat License
• Federal migratory bird stamp (duck stamp) - required of all hunters 16 years of age and older.
• Nonresident waterfowl license - two types are available:
  • A statewide license, good for two 7-day periods or one 14-day period, or
  • A zone-restricted license that requires the nonresident to select hunting zones (see **Nonresident Waterfowl Hunting Zones (pdf) below) according to the following restrictions:
    1. A nonresident must select Zone 1 or Zone 2 for one seven-day period and Zone 3 for the other seven-day period, or
    2. Zone 3 for the full 14 days or two seven-day periods, or
    3. Zones 1 and 3 concurrently for the same 7-day period or zones 2 and 3 concurrently for the same 7-day period. This option effectively reduces the license to seven days only, as the two 7-day periods are run at the same time.
• Nonresident Youth Hunting Licenses - A nonresident under age 16 need only purchase a North Dakota resident fishing, hunting and furbearer certificate and a North Dakota resident general game and habitat license to hunt small game and waterfowl, except swans and wild turkeys; provided that the nonresident's state of residence, or province or territory of Canada, provides a reciprocal licensing agreement for North Dakota residents who are also under age 16. (Currently states of AL, AR, CO, CT, ID, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, NE, NJ, NY, OH, SC, TN, TX, WA and WI qualify.) To be eligible, a nonresident youth must not turn 16 before September 1 of the year for which the license is issued, and must possess a certificate of completion for a certified hunter education course. The nonresident youth may only hunt under the supervision of an adult family member or legal guardian who is licensed to hunt small game or waterfowl in this state and is subject to the same regulations as that youth's adult family member or legal guardian. Youth from states that do not qualify for reciprocity must obtain required adult nonresident licenses.

Regulations

Limit Type	Amount
Daily Limit	6 (see Ducks and Mergansers restrictions below)
Possession Limit	Three times the daily limit
Shooting Hours	30 minutes before sunrise to sunset.

DUCKS AND MERGANSERS: SPECIES/SEX RESTRICTIONS

The daily bag limit on ducks (including mergansers) is 6 with species and sex restrictions as follows: 5 mallards of which only 2 may be hens, 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 canvasbacks, 1 scaup, 1 pintail. Note: An additional 2 blue-winged teal may be taken September 23 through October 8 only. The possession limit on these restricted ducks is three times the daily limit.