North Dakota is home to a smaller population of elk and all hunting opportunities are distributed through a random lottery drawing. Elk tags are only available to residents of North Dakota. Elk are found in the Little Missouri National Grasslands, the area around Killdeer Mountain, and in Cavalier County in the northeastern corner of the state. Some nice bulls are killed in the state every year but trophy potential is generally not what is found in other western states.
Licenses are available for any elk(bull or antlerless) and antlerless-only as well. All licenses are valid for the available rifle seasons but license holders can also archery hunt in many areas.
License Costs
Resident elk license |
$30 |
Resident Youth elk license |
$10 |
Resident elk license | $30 |
Resident Youth elk license | $10 |
New, notes, and alerts
The archery season includes the peak of the rut in September
All tags are distributed through a random lottery
Elk hunts are resident only
No group applications for elk
Highlights
Elk are found in the Little Missouri National Grasslands, the area around Killdeer Mountain, and in Cavalier County in the northeastern corner of the state
All licenses are valid for the rifle hunts but tag holders can also hunt any available archery seasons for their license
Boone and Crockett entries: Typical
Units listed below may not have a current hunt for this species. Units in this table are included if any part of the unit is found within the county.
County |
Entries |
Units within county |
Billings |
7 |
E3, E4 |
Golden Valley |
2 |
E3, E4 |
Mckenzie |
1 |
E2 |
County | Entries | Units within county |
Billings | 7 | E3, E4 |
Golden Valley | 2 | E3, E4 |
Mckenzie | 1 | E2 |
Boone and Crockett entries: Nontypical
Units listed below may not have a current hunt for this species. Units in this table are included if any part of the unit is found within the county.
County |
Entries |
Units within county |
Cavalier |
1 |
E1E, E1W |
Billings |
1 |
E3, E4 |
Golden Valley |
1 |
E3, E4 |
Mckenzie |
1 |
E2 |
County | Entries | Units within county |
Cavalier | 1 | E1E, E1W |
Billings | 1 | E3, E4 |
Golden Valley | 1 | E3, E4 |
Mckenzie | 1 | E2 |
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