As expected, more nonresidents hunted this past fall in North Dakota, Game and Fish Department statistics show.
According to Game and Fish director Terry Steinwand, the department sold nearly 40,000 nonresident general game and habitat licenses in 2020, an increase of about 12% from 2019. About 108,500 resident hunters bought general game and habitat licenses, an increase of about 10% from 2019, when 98,000 resident hunters bought the licenses.
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The general game and habitat license is required for all hunting licenses except furbearer, nongame, spring light goose and early Canada goose.
Nonresident waterfowl hunters also were up. Game and Fish sold 24,063 nonresident waterfowl licenses in 2020, up from 20,733 in 2019, department statistics show. The increase “is really not surprising, considering the Canadian border closure,” Steinwand said. “We actually anticipated a little bit more.”
The five-year average for resident waterfowl hunters is 20,612.
In terms of fishing, the department in 2020 saw an encouraging trend with 19- to 29-year-old anglers, Steinwand said, a demographic that had been declining in recent years.
“That increased this year and particularly among females,” Steinwand said. “They just needed to get outside, they needed to do something. And it wasn’t, ‘Hey, let’s go party on the sandbars by the river.’ They actually went out and did some fishing. We’ve seen that on a lot of area lakes.”
– Brad Dokken
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is asking anglers to use extreme caution when venturing onto the ice because of poor ice conditions in some parts of the state.
Ice conditions are some of the worst she has seen for this time of the year, Jackie Lundstrom, operations supervisor for the enforcement division, said in a news release.
“Especially thickness varying over a short distance,” she said. “Ice thickness is never consistent and can vary significantly on the same body of water.”
With the recent snowfall, Lundstrom said it can be difficult to find cracks and weak ice.
“Snow insulates ice, which inhibits solid ice formation,” she said. “With warmer temperatures in the forecast, a layer of crust could build, which wouldn’t allow the snow to blow clear.”
Game and Fish offered these reminders:
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Edges firm up faster than farther out from shore.
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Avoid cracks, pressure ridges, slushy or darker areas that signal thinner ice. The same goes for ice that forms around partially submerged trees, brush, embankments or other structures.
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Ice thickness is not consistent and can vary significantly even in a small area. Ice shouldn’t be judged by appearance alone. Anglers should drill test holes as they make their way out on the lake, and an ice chisel should be used to check ice thickness while moving around.
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Daily temperature changes cause ice to expand and contract, affecting its strength.
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The following minimums are recommended for travel on clear-blue lake ice formed under ideal conditions: 4 inches for a group walking single file, 6 inches for a snowmobile or ATV, 8 to 12 inches for an automobile and 12 to 15 inches for a pickup.
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Wear a personal flotation device and carry a cell phone.
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Carry ice picks or a set of screwdrivers to pull yourself back on the ice if you fall through.
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If someone breaks through the ice, call 911 immediately. Rescue attempts should employ a long pole, board, rope, blanket or snowmobile suit. If that’s not possible, throw the victim a life jacket, empty water jug or other buoyant object. Go to the victim as a last resort, but do this by forming a human chain where rescuers lie on the ice with each person holding the feet of the person in front.
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To treat hypothermia, replace wet clothing with dry clothing and immediately take the victim to a hospital.
– Herald staff report
With some help from the public, a strong crop of black spruce cones could help the DNR alleviate a shortage resulting from poor supplies in recent years. Seeds from the cones are extracted to reforest about 6,000 acres of black spruce annually in Minnesota. (Photo/ Minnesota DNR)
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is asking for help in collecting black spruce cones to alleviate a shortage in the supply needed to meet state and county spruce seed orders for 2021 reforestation efforts.
Each year, the DNR buys tree seeds and cones from people who collect them on their property or on state forest land. DNR staff extract seeds from the cones at the State Forest Nursery to reforest about 6,000 acres of black spruce in Minnesota each year.
The DNR needs hundreds of bushels of black spruce cones within the next few weeks and continuing through February. The price this year is $85 per bushel.
“A low supply of black spruce cones in previous years has left our seed ‘cupboard’ bare,” said Mike Reinikainen, DNR forestry silviculture program coordinator. “We are hearing that there’s a good black spruce cone crop this year – it’s critical we take advantage of this to store up seed for this season and for seasons to come.”
The DNR will direct people to where they can find black spruce cones and will purchase what people collect. Before collecting cones, people should contact one of the DNR seed buying stations for more information and instructions for collecting, handling and labeling the cones. The stations are located in Warroad, Baudette, Orr, Littlefork, Tower, Two Harbors, Hibbing, Cloquet, the Minnesota State Forest Nursery (south of Akeley), Bemidji, Deer River and Northome.
To be eligible for purchase, cones must be high quality, ripe, and free of stems and debris.
Addresses, phone numbers for the stations and additional info are available on the DNR’s Seed Drop off Locations webpage.
– Herald staff report
DNR conservation officer Scott Staples and Schody, a member of the DNR's K9 Unit who retired Thursday, Dec. 31, after a 10-year enforcement career. (Photo/ Minnesota DNR)
K9 Schody, a German shepherd who worked diligently in the DNR’s K9 Unit for the past decade, retired Thursday, Dec. 31.
Schody came to the rescue of people who were lost in the woods, helped the DNR’s public safety partners locate critical evidence, and was the constant companion of conservation officer Scott Staples, who is stationed in Carlton, Minn., in the central part of the state.
“Schody is very fortunate to go to 10 years – he really is – but he’s starting to suffer from a disease right now and it’s time for him to retire and just be a house dog, although he hates it probably just as much as I do,” Staples said. “I spend more time with that dog than I do with my own family. He comes to work with me every day – my family doesn’t – and when I’m at home with my family, he’s at home with us as well. When you do that for the whole life of the dog, the bond is pretty strong.”
Staples and Schody are one of the DNR’s six K9 teams in the state. Like all but one of the K9 Unit’s other dogs, Schody came from eastern Europe, which has a strong reputation for breeding working dogs. All of the DNR dogs and their handlers receive extensive, ongoing training. The dogs can track people, sniff out fish and game and locate firearms or spent ammunition. Three of the dogs also are trained to smell zebra mussels.
The Safari Club International has been a key supporter of the K9 Unit over the years, helping to cover some of the upfront costs of onboarding and training.
Schody will continue living with Staples and his family. Instead of hopping into Staples’ truck every day, though, he’ll have to get used to watching Staples and his new partner – a German shepherd named Fennec – head off to work. The new arrangement won’t be easy for Schody or Staples.
“It’s going to be sad,” Staples said. “For the last 10 years, he’s gotten into that pickup truck with me. He’s going to hate to stay at home. So I think I’m probably going to have to wean him off of that a little bit – take him with to work every once in awhile just to keep him thinking he’s still the big dog around the house.”
– Herald staff report
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Outdoors Notebook: North Dakota sees increase in nonresident hunters, Game and Fish urges caution on ice, etc. - Grand Forks Herald
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