The Big Game Season Setting Process

Every two years, all big game seasons are set and approved by the Board of Wildlife Commissioners through input by NDOW and County Advisory Board to Manage Wildlife (CABMW).

The 2005 and 2006 seasons will be set in February 2005. NDOW is seeking to develop big game seasons that work well for sportsmen, and allow NDOW to complete their various field surveys and capture/transplants with minimal impact to sportsmen in the field.

Each CABMW will meet in early December before the next Wildlife Commission meeting to discuss big game seasons. Sportsmen are to attend their respective County meeting and provide their comments and suggestions. CABMW discusses these suggestions in an open forum and makes recommendations to pass on to the Board of Wildlife Commissioners.

Please take the time to review the support material on big game seasons and attend your county’s next Wildlife Advisory Board meeting.

NDOW will receive the countys' feedback on the suggested big game seasons and together will discuss alternative ideas at the December Wildlife Commission meeting. From the discussions at both the CABMW and Commission meetings, NDOW will develop a final set of season recommendations in early January. They will be distributed in the February Commission support material for review and the Commission will adopt the final big game seasons at their February 5, 2005 meeting.

NDOW Big Game Season Recommendations
Specific Season Recommendations for 2005 and 2006 Big Game Seasons PDF   Specific Season Recommendations for 2005 and 2006 Mountain Lion Seasons PDF	Big game biologists have identified changes to specific hunts for the next two years. For example we may need to add cow elk hunts to control an elk herd or change the unit grouping for a pronghorn hunt due to changes in animal distribution.
Visual Timeline: 2005 Big Game Season Recommendations for Most Seasons
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open .pdf files. Download the Acrobat by clicking on the logo.