Doug Leier: A closer look at the North Dakota deer lottery and how it works

WEST FARGO – There’s something to be said for consistency. Not just because I’m an old man and don’t like change, either.

Changing fishing regulations year to year and lake to lake can maximize management at the expense of confusion, leading to angler frustration. Same with hunting.

Case in point: In my years with Game and Fish, I’ve seen deer license allocation range from a high of nearly 150,000 in 2008 to a low of 43,275 in 2015. The lottery system used to distribute the tags for the hunters is basically the same.

While some tweaks and adjustments have been made, the foundation of the bonus point lottery system remains. I’d argue the system is fair and equitable while balancing opportunity.

The reason I bring this up is by understanding the upcoming deer lottery and differences in units, a hunter can make an informed decision as to where to apply for the best odds to draw a deer license.

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There are always questions concerning the Game and Fish Department’s lottery. Using deer as the example, though turkey works the same way, this is how it works.

If you fail to draw your first license choice in any given year, you receive a bonus point. You do not have to apply in the same unit, or for the same deer type each year, to qualify. You get an additional bonus point each year you apply and do not receive your first license choice.

You receive additional chances in the drawing for each bonus point accumulated. For points one through three, you are entered in the drawing two times the number of points you have. So, if you have two points, you would get four additional chances to be drawn, compared to a person who got his or her first choice the previous year. If you’re both competing for the same license, you have five chances; he or she has one.

When you accumulate four or more points, the number of additional chances is determined by cubing your bonus points. So, when you have four points, you will be in the drawing 64 additional times, 125 times if you have five points and so on. Bonus points are accumulated if you do not draw your first license choice. You do not receive bonus points in years you do not apply.

Each drawing is still random, but the more bonus points you have, the better your odds. When you receive your first license choice, you lose your bonus points and start over. Bonus points can only be earned, or used, in the first drawing for each species in each year.

The license lottery consists of four separate drawings, one for each choice on the application. First, we hold a drawing for the first unit/first deer choice. When those are issued, we draw for the first unit/second deer choice, then the second unit/first deer choice, and finally the second unit/second deer choice.

While nearly 11,000 fewer licenses were made available for the deer gun season in 2023 following a long and difficult winter that was especially tough on deer, the process remained the same to draw a license.

The format used to present the results of the deer drawing – plus drawings for pronghorn and spring and fall turkey – is consistent with the last four years.

Using deer hunting unit 2J1 for any antlered deer as an example, the numbers read like this: 798 hunters with zero bonus points applied for an any antlered deer license and 188 were successful in drawing a license (188/798); 426 hunters with one bonus point applied and 235 were successful (235/426); 134 hunters with two bonus points applied and 100 were successful (100/134); and on it goes.

It’s important to note that the deer lottery results do not include the 1% of licenses state law requires the Game and Fish Department to make available for nonresident applicants every year.

Those nonresidents who do apply for a deer gun license in North Dakota compete only against other nonresident hunters for that 1%.

Also of note, the results in the 2023 deer gun lottery show only those hunters who were in the drawing, not those hunters who bought bonus points and had no intention of hunting deer last fall.

Drawing a buck license in 2023 was, again, not easy. Randy Meissner, Game and Fish Department licensing manager, said after 11,810 resident gratis licenses and 534 nonresident licenses were subtracted from the overall license allocation, just 21,460 buck licenses were available for the 61,914 hunters who applied for them as their first choice in the lottery.

• 75,117: Number of people – not including 12,085 gratis applicants – who applied for deer gun lottery licenses, down from 76,783 in 2022.
• 42.65: Percent of successful applicants, excluding gratis and nonresidents, for deer gun and muzzleloader licenses.
• 20: Maximum number of bonus points for any applicant (nonresident mule deer buck applicants).
• 12,520: Applicants with four or more bonus points.
• 13.74: Percent of applicants with four or more bonus points.
• 53.35: Percent of applicants with four or more bonus points who applied for a muzzleloader buck license.