DICKINSON (AP) - The opening day of deer season means no classes in some schools across North Dakota.

Hettinger Public School principal Brian Christopherson said it's a case of "just realizing that kids are going to be gone already and staff members who want to go hunting."

North Dakota's deer hunting season opens at noon Friday.

Randy Kreil, the state Game and Fish Department's wildlife division chief, said missing school for the deer opener is a long tradition in North Dakota.

"Ever since I was in high school in Devils Lake, there was all kinds of young people who missed school for the opening day of deer season. It was almost expected," Kreil said.

Each individual school board approves its own calendar, including holidays or days for compensatory time off, the North Dakota School Boards Association said. The schools must meet the state standard of 173 days of instruction, the association said.

Dickinson Trinity High School will be closed today.

"We had a group who got together, and some of our conversation was that with the number of students that would be gone, let's just 'comp' that day out on Friday and go that direction," Principal Kelly Koppinger said.

Christopherson said closing schools on during the deer opener is a good thing.

"Nowadays, you don't see as much time with parents and their children, and this is a great opportunity, I think," Christopherson said. "I think that's important in the process of education and keeping family close and talk about what's going on in their life."

Kreil said giving up one day of class time can give young people a lifetime of classes and learning experiences in the outdoors.

"I think what it does is it just re-emphasizes just how important of a tradition deer hunting is in this state," Kreil said.

A record 149,400 deer licenses were made available in North Dakota this year. The Game and Fish Department has been working in recent years to reduce deer numbers in the state, after a series of mild winters that boosted the population. This year's gun season runs through Nov. 23.