Article by: DENNIS ANDERSON , Star Tribune
Updated: October 21, 2014 - 9:11 PM
Minnesota deer harvest this fall might be the lowest since 1982, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
About 120,000 deer are forecast to be killed, said Leslie McInenly, DNR big game program leader, well below the 170,000 animals felled in 2013.
“By design, this year’s deer harvest will be one of the lowest we’ve seen in decades,” McInenly said.
The past two severe winters adversely affected the state’s whitetail herd, particularly in the north, at a time when DNR harvest restrictions remained fairly liberal. The result was larger than expected herd population declines.
In response, and amid a chorus of complaints by hunters that the state’s herd has fallen too far, the DNR this fall significantly restricted the number of antlerless permits it issued, while limiting hunting to bucks only in some parts of the state.
The last time Minnesota deer hunters’ kill was below 150,000 was 1997, when hunters bagged 143,000. The state’s record deer kill was 290,000 in 2003.
Firearms hunting begins Nov. 8. Archery season for deer began Sept. 13. More at www.mndnr.gov/hunting/deer.