A total of 960 elk licenses are available to hunters this fall, an increase of 127 from last year.
Unit E7 was created after discussions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, landowners and hunters to manage a growing elk herd in and surrounding the J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge. Nontoxic ammunition is required while hunting on the refuge. General lottery license holders from E7 will be able to hunt in unit E1W beginning Nov. 24.
Licenses in units E2 and E3 increased due to a stable to increasing elk population. Licenses in elk units E1W, E4 and E6 remain the same. Licenses in unit E1E will have the same number of any licenses but fewer antlerless licenses than 2024.
A total of 296 moose licenses are available, an increase of 54 from last year.
Licenses in units M10 and M11 increased slightly to align with the observed population in these units. Licenses in units M6, M8 and M9 remain the same as the moose population appears to be stable with good hunter success in these units. Licenses in M5 were reduced slightly. Moose units M4 and M1C will remain closed due to a low moose population in these units.
A bighorn sheep hunting season is tentatively scheduled for 2025, depending on the sheep population. The status of the bighorn sheep season will be determined Sept. 1, after summer population surveys.
Unit B2 was created, adjusting the boundaries of units B3, B4 and B5. This was done to encourage the harvest of select sheep populations.
Bighorn sheep applicants must apply for a license at the same time as moose and elk, but not for a specific unit. Once total licenses are determined for each unit in late summer, the bighorn lottery will be held and successful applicants will be contacted to select a hunting unit.
Because the bighorn sheep application fee is not refundable as per state law, if a bighorn season is not held, applicants would not receive a refund.
Elk, moose and bighorn sheep lottery licenses are issued as once-in-a-lifetime licenses in North Dakota. Hunters who have received a license through the lottery are not eligible to apply for that species again.
