The 7 Items Needed At Every North Dakota Deer Camp!

The North Dakota deer season begins Friday, November 7th at 12 noon.

This could be another challenging deer season in North Dakota. According to hunter observations, deer populations are reportedly down across the state.]

According to the North Dakota Game & Fish Department, deer populations are stable to decreasing with populations below objectives in most units. Chronic Wasting Disease and EHD continue to be a concern in the state.

The mild winter of 2023 and 2024 certainly helped the deer population across the state, with very little snow and a good carryover of healthy animals in 2025 with increased fawn production.

Despite that, the North Dakota Game & Fish Department did issue 7,800 fewer licenses in 2025.

A total of 42,300 licenses were issued for the 2025 deer gun season, and that means less competition in the field.  The success rate in 2024 was 55% that which was exactly the same percentage as in 2023, and still below the North Dakota Game & Fish goal of a 70% harvest rate per hunter.

EHD reared its ugly head in the North Dakota deer population again this past summer, with reports of the disease in western North Dakota. 

Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease mainly affects Whitetail deer and has been especially bad around Bismarck, Mandan, a few years back. I witnessed that firsthand south of Bismarck myself while pheasant hunting that year.  You can read about that here. 

Still, much like the beginning of every Minnesota Vikings season, there's cause for optimism.

You can expect a sea of orange over the North Dakota countryside this weekend.  I sat down with our very own Steve Bakken, who will be hunting for a Whitetail or Muley buck in southwest North Dakota this weekend.  Together, we compiled "The 7 Essentials at a North Dakota Deer Camp."

Good luck, everybody, have a safe and happy hunt.