PLOTS provides more opportunities for North Dakota hunters

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – The Private Land Open To Sportsmen (PLOTS) program is an agreement between the North Dakota Game and Fish (NDGF) Department and private landowners to allow walk-in access to hunters.

And this year, there will be more hunting opportunities.

“We’ve got about a 36,000-acre increase this year. So, we had a nice uptick in acres. So, we’ll be coming into this fall with about 836,000 acres,” said Kevin Kading, NDGF private lands coordinator.

On some PLOTS agreements, there’s a habitat component.

“Such as new grass plantings, food plots, things like that. Other PLOTS tracts are simply just access where there’s no habitat development component to them. We’re just acquiring that access with that written agreement with the landowner. And we do have about 2,800 agreements with landowners right now,” said Kading.

PLOTS is a statewide program that features diverse landscapes and habitats.

“It could be a PLOTS tract that you could find a lot of different species on or it might be one that’s a little bit more specific, like for example, waterfowl hunting,” said Kading.

There will be some changes to how the new PLOTS acres are signed in the future.

“For many years we’ve signed those very heavily to make sure that we’re identifying those boundaries. But again, now with these apps that people have on their phone right in their pocket, they can see exactly where they are. So, one thing that’ll be changing this year is for new PLOTS tracts that were signed up this year, we’ll just be placing fewer signs on the property,” said Kading.

Hunters also need to remember these are private lands, so make sure to respect these acres.

“Treat it well. Know that these lands could come out of the program at some point, and we don’t want any type of behavior out there that could influence the landowner maybe not wanting to be in the program, that type of thing. But, yeah, pick up your empty shells, pick up your trash when you’re out there, pick up other trash if you see it out there. Keep the gates the way they are when you get there,” said Kading.

To find this year’s PLOTS acres visit the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov. There are also a variety of mobile apps hunters can download to view these acres, or pick up a new PLOTS Guide at a local license vendor or any of the Game and Fish district offices.

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