09-25-2004, 02:25 AM
North Dakota' sandhill crane season opens Sept. 18, and most season details are similar to previous years.
The season is open through Nov. 14 in zone 1 (west of U.S. Highway 281), and through Oct. 24 in zone 2 (east of U.S. Highway 281). Limits are three daily and six in possession in zone 1, and two daily and four in possession in zone 2. Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m. each day through Oct. 30. Beginning Oct. 31, shooting hours are extended until 2 p.m. each day.
As in past years, prospective hunters need a special crane permit. The permit costs $5 and is available through the State Game and Fish Department' Bismarck office and Web site Hunters can send the permit fee, along with personal information, including height, weight, sex, social security number, date of birth, color of hair and eyes, and hunter education number and state issued, to Crane Permit, NDGF, 100 N. Bismarck Expressway, Bismarck, ND 58501. Hunters can also purchase crane permits online, or print out a resident or nonresident application for mailing, from the department Web site at discovernd.com/gnf.
The game and fish department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are seeking cooperating hunters to bring their cranes to game and fish district offices in Jamestown or Devils Lake, or fish and wildlife service offices at Crosby, Devils Lake, and Arrowwood, J. Clark Salyer, Long Lake and Lostwood national wildlife refuges during normal business hours. Personnel at these offices will weigh and measure cranes for research purposes, and also clean the cranes for hunters.
Game and fish district offices are open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On weekends, biologists and game wardens will be checking hunters and cranes in the field.
Hunters are asked to not clean the birds before measurement to ensure accurate weight and sex. This information will help game and fish monitor harvest of sandhill crane subspecies.
Subspecies determination can only be made with the bird in hand using internal and external measurements. Several subspecies of cranes migrate through North Dakota each year. Numbers are closely monitored each spring through aerial surveys in Nebraska.
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The season is open through Nov. 14 in zone 1 (west of U.S. Highway 281), and through Oct. 24 in zone 2 (east of U.S. Highway 281). Limits are three daily and six in possession in zone 1, and two daily and four in possession in zone 2. Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m. each day through Oct. 30. Beginning Oct. 31, shooting hours are extended until 2 p.m. each day.
As in past years, prospective hunters need a special crane permit. The permit costs $5 and is available through the State Game and Fish Department' Bismarck office and Web site Hunters can send the permit fee, along with personal information, including height, weight, sex, social security number, date of birth, color of hair and eyes, and hunter education number and state issued, to Crane Permit, NDGF, 100 N. Bismarck Expressway, Bismarck, ND 58501. Hunters can also purchase crane permits online, or print out a resident or nonresident application for mailing, from the department Web site at discovernd.com/gnf.
The game and fish department and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are seeking cooperating hunters to bring their cranes to game and fish district offices in Jamestown or Devils Lake, or fish and wildlife service offices at Crosby, Devils Lake, and Arrowwood, J. Clark Salyer, Long Lake and Lostwood national wildlife refuges during normal business hours. Personnel at these offices will weigh and measure cranes for research purposes, and also clean the cranes for hunters.
Game and fish district offices are open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On weekends, biologists and game wardens will be checking hunters and cranes in the field.
Hunters are asked to not clean the birds before measurement to ensure accurate weight and sex. This information will help game and fish monitor harvest of sandhill crane subspecies.
Subspecies determination can only be made with the bird in hand using internal and external measurements. Several subspecies of cranes migrate through North Dakota each year. Numbers are closely monitored each spring through aerial surveys in Nebraska.
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