Many North Dakota hunters will see drastically different conditions from a year ago when they take to the fields for the deer gun opener this weekend.

The season gets under way at noon Friday and runs through Nov. 22.

Last year during the opening weekend, a winter storm dumped between 10 and 15 inches of snow in a line from Mott to Velva.

Highways were blocked in much of the central part of the state until the afternoon of the opening day.

This year, 144,440 deer gun licenses were available across the state, about 3 percent, or 5,000, fewer than the previous season.

Even with the adverse conditions last year, North Dakota deer hunters harvested more than 91,000 in 2008, a 7 percent decline, or about 7,000 fewer than the year before.

Hunter success was 79 percent for white-tailed does and 77 percent for white-tailed bucks.

Mule deer success was 72 percent for bucks, 83 percent for mulie does, 68 percent for any antlered and 70 percent for any antlerless deer.

With the challenges hunters experienced a season ago - blocked roads and trails and deep snow - this year's deer gun season will present a new set of challenges for hunters.

Bill Jensen, big game biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said coming off a very wet and cold October, there are still a lot of crops standing in the fields that will present a problem for hunters.

"If past years are any measure, a lot of that corn won't get off until December," Jensen said. "It's just not drying down."

The weather forecast for the opening weekend looks to be a big change from last year. Friday's high temperature could hit the 60s in some parts of the state, while Saturday and Sunday, it's lower to mid-50s.

Hunters will see fewer deer in some areas than in past years, but Jensen said last winter's harsh conditions may not be the reason entirely.

Some areas, he said, have had higher populations than management goals and the strategy has been to reduce numbers in those units.

Jensen said there are fewer mule deer in the the southwest portion of the state while the mulie numbers in the northern Badlands seem to be stable.

He said it would be speculation to say last winter's conditions were to blame for the decline in the southwest part of the state.

But aerial surveys last winter did show fewer deer in blocks of the state: near Anamoose and around Wing and Tuttle.

Jensen said the Anamoose block showed about 10 percent fewer deer and the Wing-Tuttle block 28 percent fewer deer.

"We flew about everything we could," he said.

The Anamoose and Wing-Tuttle blocks were surveyed from the air twice and while a 10 percent drop is not a number that concerns the department, 28 percent was.

"It's a number that gets our attention," he said.

The first aerial survey was done in January with the second coming in March, before the southern portions of the state were hit with two blizzards.

In particular, Jensen said the weather patterns last winter following the opening weekend seemed to make an "X," crossing in the Wing and Tuttle area, dumping heavy snow there throughout the winter.

The lay of the land in that part of the state is flat and wide open prairie and cropland, giving deer few options for cover.

But the snow and cold were only contributing factors, Jensen said.

He said the department examined a lot of deer that didn't survive the winter and many had underlying issues like age or injury.

All about tradition

As much as anything, deer season - especially the opening day - is about tradition.

Vacation days are planned well ahead of time for adults as well as those still in high school.

In North Dakota, it's left up to the school districts whether or not to schedule a day off for the opener. The season coincides with parent-teacher conferences for many districts and the Friday of the deer gun season is penciled in as a comp day for many teachers.

In all, 34 of the state's 183 school districts do not have school Friday, according to the Department of Public Instruction.

That's the case with Mandan Public Schools. Superintendent Wilfred Volesky said Friday is a scheduled day off to make up for a couple of long days teachers have had to put in after school for parent-teacher conferences.

Volesky said if school were in session, he expects there would be a good deal of absences, both students and staff.

"It works out this way," Volesky said. "This way we don't have to deal with it.

At Bismarck Public Schools, it will be business as usual Friday.

Superintendent Paul Johnson said he's sure there will be a few absentees Friday, but nothing out of the ordinary.

He said when it comes to scheduling, the biggest concerns most district patrons have is not starting the school year too early or going too late in the spring.

(Reach reporter Brian Gehring 250-8254 or brian.gehring@bismarcktribune.com.)