ND 2023 Mule deer rifle tag cuts

[brocksw]

2022 doe tags
3B1 Antlerless Mule Deer 500
3B2 Antlerless Mule Deer 400
4A Antlerless Mule Deer 250
4B Antlerless Mule Deer 400
4C Antlerless Mule Deer 250
4D Antlerless Mule Deer 350
4E Antlerless Mule Deer 250
4F Antlerless Mule Deer 300

Total = 2,700

2023 doe tags




2022 buck tags
3B1 Antlered Mule Deer 600
3B2 Antlered Mule Deer 300
4A Antlered Mule Deer 300
4B Antlered Mule Deer 550
4C Antlered Mule Deer 400
4D Antlered Mule Deer 400
4E Antlered Mule Deer 300
4F Antlered Mule Deer 200

Total = 3,050

2023 buck tags

Deer Lottery Stats | North Dakota Game and Fish

Resident Stats Archive (2023 - 2017) Nonresident Stats

gf.nd.gov

Deer License Availability | North Dakota Game and Fish

Available Licenses Please check back in early May for 2025 numbers.

gf.nd.gov

 

[coleslaw]

ND seems to be very proactive when it comes to managing their deer herd- especially compared to some neighboring states. Glad to see they are not afraid to cut tag numbers when it's needed. Hopefully the deer will bounce back in a few years.

 

[brockel]

Nice to see some management

 

[brocksw]

Nice to see some management

It certainly seems different from MT. I know the graphic below doesn't encapsulate all the nuance of habitat and other factors. But it still leaves me scratching my head on how the deer on the MT side can sustain significantly more pressure over a similar surface area. Not to mention this is only for doe tags and does not include the resident or NR general either sex tags in MT. Presumably, a significant addition to the MT tag numbers shown below.


Edit: I was corrected in the MT thread. That 3,500 is for all of region 7. Here is that comparison. 3x as much surface area but 5x as many doe tags.

 

[scrotcaster]

in addition, ND tag allocation doesnt include those taken with archery equipment,. not sure about MT ?

 

[8andcounting]

in addition, ND tag allocation doesnt include those taken with archery equipment,. not sure about MT ?

Archery needs to go to a draw for MD too . It’s coming

 

[brocksw]

Archery needs to go to a draw for MD too . It’s coming

Our next badlands license work group meeting is coming up in June.

 

[brocksw]

in addition, ND tag allocation doesnt include those taken with archery equipment,. not sure about MT ?

MT doesn't have an "archery mule deer tag", at least not for the general units that I'm aware of. 2021 numbers below (2022 stats aren't complete yet) from FWP's website.

That's 22,881 deer hunters (R & NR) in region 7 during the 2021 MT season. It appears a very small percentage of those hunters are killing Mule deer with a bow (169).

By comparison, ND allocated 5,400 Mule deer rifle tags (buck and doe) that same year for the units shown in the maps above. Harvest success was 72% for MD Buck and 80% for MD Doe. None of those numbers include archery hunters, who ended up taking around 1,100 mule deer off the landscape in 2021. We are unsure of total archery hunters hunting mule deer in the Badlands, and therefore the success rate for archery mule deer. This is something we're trying to get to the bottom of for the Badlands License Work group.

It is interesting to note that for 2022, ND archers took 1,289 mule deer off the landscape (presumably 99% bucks), to my knowledge that is the highest harvest ever recorded for archery mule deer in ND. If rifle success drops again this year with 50% less tags, and archery success increases again, 2023 may end being the first year on record where archery hunters took more mule deer off the landscape than rifle hunters. For reference, rifle hunters took 1,568 mule deer bucks off the landscape for the 2022 rifle season.

 

[Nameless Range]

It certainly seems different from MT. I know the graphic below doesn't encapsulate all the nuance of habitat and other factors. But it still leaves me scratching my head on how the deer on the MT side can sustain significantly more pressure over a similar surface area. Not to mention this is only for doe tags and does not include the resident or NR general either sex tags in MT. Presumably, a significant addition to the MT tag numbers shown below.
View attachment 276354

Edit: I was corrected in the MT thread. That 3,500 is for all of region 7. Here is that comparison. 3x as much surface area but 5x as many doe tags.
View attachment 276371

That's a cool visual to juxtapose the two regions.

I'm not familiar with ND's season structure, but it would probably be mind numbing to look at this through the lens of hunter days on the landscape.

 

[brocksw]

That's a cool visual to juxtapose the two regions.

I'm not familiar with ND's season structure, but it would probably be mind numbing to look at this through the lens of hunter days on the landscape.

Rifle deer season is a 16.5 day season in November.

Archery deer is basically the first weekend in Sept to the first weekend in Jan.

 

[DFS]

Montana has broke the bank with opportunity at all cost management, fwp just doesn’t realize it yet. Pretty interesting to see the actual numbers. No wonder I have seen a steady decline in mule deer my whole life.

 

[Labman]

Let’s be honest with each other here. In general, ND mule deer hunting is about a 2.5-3 on a scale of 1-10. Eastern MT is by no stretch of the imagination much worse (or better) of a place to pursue that above average 135” 3yr old deer, but they both suck. There are always a few slobs in both states that manage to stay nocturnal and/or on private/park service until maturity, but neither are, or will likely ever be, a top tier mule deer destination. They could be, but the average citizen apparently prefers 2-3yr old deer and “opportunity” over what it could be.

 

[8andcounting]

Let’s be honest with each other here. In general, ND mule deer hunting is about a 2.5-3 on a scale of 1-10. Eastern MT is by no stretch of the imagination much worse (or better) of a place to pursue that above average 135” 3yr old deer, but they both suck. There are always a few slobs in both states that manage to stay nocturnal and/or on private/park service until maturity, but neither are, or will likely ever be, a top tier mule deer destination. They could be, but the average citizen apparently prefers 2-3yr old deer and “opportunity” over what it could be.

I guess I gotta disagree with this . In ND I think a good hunter that works hard and spends the time , atleast has a reasonable chance at a good , 160”+ deer . In eastern Montana I’d say the chances for the same hunter , is much less than that . Just my opinion . It might be wrong but it’s mine lol