AN ACT to amend and reenact section 20.1-04-11 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the use of blinds, boats, and decoys in taking ducks and geese.
SB 2245 amends North Dakota law governing how ducks and geese may be taken. The bill restates and clarifies the conditions under which hunters may use stationary blinds, floating craft, and decoys, including when a boat must be beached, anchored under gubernatorial proclamation, propelled without a motor, or at rest with the motor turned off. It also continues to prohibit the use of live duck or goose decoys and confirms that boats may be used to retrieve dead or injured birds.
The measure is a targeted update to section 20.1-04-11 of the North Dakota Century Code and affects waterfowl hunting practices statewide. It does not create a new regulatory framework so much as refine existing rules on lawful hunting methods, especially the use of boats and concealment devices in duck and goose hunting. The bill was enacted and filed with the Secretary of State.
The available voting history shows strong bipartisan support, with only a small number of dissenting votes in both chambers. No committee transcripts were provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to indicate substantial opposition or controversy. The overall sentiment appears favorable and largely noncontroversial, consistent with a technical wildlife-law update.
Any contention likely centers on hunting regulation details rather than the bill’s overall purpose. The main policy choices involve whether and when hunters may use floating craft, motors, and decoys, and the continued ban on live decoys. Because the bill simply clarifies lawful methods for taking waterfowl, the likely stakeholders are hunters, wildlife regulators, and conservation interests rather than the general public.
SB 2245 amends section 20.1-04-11 of the North Dakota Century Code to clarify lawful methods for taking wild ducks and geese. It affects waterfowl hunting rules by specifying permissible use of blinds, boats, motors, anchoring, and artificial decoys, while maintaining the prohibition on live decoys and the restriction on shooting from motorized craft except as allowed by statute. The bill primarily impacts hunters, game wardens, and wildlife enforcement by refining the legal standards used to determine compliance with hunting regulations.
The bill appears to have been received positively and with little controversy. It passed both chambers by wide margins, with only a few no votes and no recorded committee debate in the provided materials. The voting pattern suggests broad agreement that the measure is a routine clarification of hunting law rather than a major policy change.
The main points of contention, to the extent any exist, would involve the specific hunting methods the bill regulates: use of floating craft, whether a boat may be anchored or must be beached, the role of motors, and the ban on live decoys. These issues would matter most to waterfowl hunters and enforcement officials. However, the available record does not show significant organized opposition or substantive debate.