Minnesota deer harvest expected to be lowest in many years

[h2ofwlr]

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.

[greatwhitehunter3!]

Imagine the whining this year after the low year we had last year and everyone complaining.

[h2ofwlr]

The bottom line though is that if hunters want to see more deer in the future, austerity measures of protecting the does and fawns must be done this year and next year. It's no different that back in the late 90s after the severe winter of 96/97.

[Swartzy]

I don't expect much change in the area I hunt. We have been in a lottery zone for years. The doe permit numbers barely changed from last year. My Dad, Brother and I each got a permit.


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[greatwhitehunter3!]

More does need to be taken out in my zone.

[Nershi]

Funny how the MN and WI DNR never mention the wolves. A few of my deer hunting buddies have seen more wolves in the last two years than deer. You can't find deer shit in a lot of areas but there is plenty of wolf shit, most of which has deer hair in it. I have a feeling a lot of wolves are going to get gut shot this deer season.

[Bustin Lips]

Hunters have been stacking up too many deer for 10 years now. There are several factors as to why the deer count is so low but heaven forbid the DNR admit a mistake. I have heard more people all over the state saying its the wolves. Others claim it's the bad winter we just had. The DNR should have done away with the intensive harvest tags a few years ago before a bad winter hit. What do you think is going to happen when you hand out 3-5 bonus tags per hunter for 10 or so years?

[hobbydog]

Hunters have been stacking up too many deer for 10 years now. There are several factors as to why the deer count is so low but heaven forbid the DNR admit a mistake. I have heard more people all over the state saying its the wolves. Others claim it's the bad winter we just had. The DNR should have done away with the intensive harvest tags a few years ago before a bad winter hit. What do you think is going to happen when you hand out 3-5 bonus tags per hunter for 10 or so years?

The DNR was just bowing to a very vocal minority....the QDM crowd. They were very strong in NW and SE MN and had political allies. The reality was that when they went to 5 deer the locals drove and shot the hell out of the public land and then went back to their private land deer stand to hunt the big buck. Add an increasing wolf pack and what deer are left are hard to hunt as the deer are very skittish and behave much different than those in non wolf pressured areas.

Having said that, I am happy to see it go down. The 5 deer limit with lots of public land brought in lots of new hunters. Hopefully some of them will look elsewhere.