Pick One.  Party Hunting has been illegal in North Dakota for generations, with the state requiring each hunter to shoot and place his or her own tag on a deer.  Changing this would likely increase applications by non-hunting party members, and decrease the odds of hunters getting drawn for firearms tags each season. DEO Photo by NDWF

By Taleigh Adrian

Party hunting, or helping to fill someone else’s deer tag, is currently not allowed in North Dakota. Hunters are allowed to only fill their own tag and they are not allowed to use the license or permit of another person as their own. However, a bill before the state’s House of Representatives aims to change that. House Bill 1377 would allow members of a party of ten or fewer individuals to take or kill the number of deer equal to the number of deer licenses held in the party. There are several reasons why currently, party hunting is not allowed in the state.  

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDG&F) issues a certain number of deer licenses each year. This amount is determined in part by the deer population and the unit that an individual wants to hunt in. 

Allowing party hunting could reduce an individual’s chances of getting a license in two major ways. First, the proposed scenario would lead to more individuals filing tags, and not just their own. As successful hunters harvest their deer, they would then be able to fill their friend’s or a family member’s tag. If more people fill their tags every season, this would likely lead to increased overall success, and thus the number of licenses could be decreased. After all, the NDG&F needs to maintain the herd, and if more deer are suddenly being harvested, the number of licenses will need to be cut back.

The second way that party hunting could reduce an individual’s chance of getting a license each November would be through increased demand for licenses that could be passed on to party members. People who previously had no desire to hunt (think: grandma or your vegetarian uncle) might apply for a license so that someone who wants to go hunting a little bit longer can fill their tag. This would take licenses away from hunters who want them, and increase the applicant pool, making already hard to get tags even more difficult to draw.

Proponents of party hunting mention that HB 1377 would allow more hunters to participate in hunting

one animal and allow the tradition of hunting to be kept alive in youth by allowing them to have a better

chance to shoot a deer. However, neither of these arguments stand up. Multiple hunters can already participate in the hunt as scouting, tracking, and field dressing a deer can all be done with help from multiple people. The only thing that multiple people can’t participate in and help with is the act of shooting the deer. Allowing party hunting won’t change that – no matter how you frame it, only one person is ever going to pull the trigger.

Developing youth hunting in North Dakota would also not be helped by party hunting, in fact it would likely be hurt by that process. 

Imagine a young hunter in the field and someone else shoots his or her deer. Having to put your tag on a deer you didn’t shoot would be demoralizing, especially at a young age.  Additionally, North Dakota already provides ample youth deer hunting opportunities. Youth tags from ages 11-13 for antlerless white-tailed deer and youth tags for those aged 14 or 15 for any deer, except antlered mule deer in specific units, are not assigned with a lottery. The four years from age 11 to 15 is plenty of time for young people to decide that they like hunting and want to stick with it, even if they aren’t guaranteed a tag when they have to enter the lottery at age 16. 

House Bill 1377, which seeks to legalize party hunting in North Dakota is a bad idea. It would lead to

decreases in deer license numbers and is not in the best interest of North Dakota’s hunters, nor in continuing the process of recruiting new hunters. 

Taleigh Adrian is the Legislative Assistant for the North Dakota Wildlife Federation and a Dakota Edge Outdoors contributing writer.