Update on hunting seasons and related from DNR

[h2ofwlr]

Hunting dates to remember

March 1-April 30: Spring light goose conservation action

March 1-31: Crow hunting (second season)

April 12-18: Spring turkey A season

April 19-25: Spring turkey B season

April 26-May 2: Spring turkey C season

May 3-9: Spring turkey D season

May 5: Bear hunt lottery deadline

May 10-16: Spring turkey E season

May 17-31: Spring turkey F season


Through Sunday: Give input for deer management plan

There is still time to contribute ideas and feedback about possible topics that will shape Minnesota’s first-ever deer management plan.

You can let us know what you think about specific topics found on the deer plan page and submit comments online or email comments through Sunday, March 5.

This is an opportunity to contribute to our shared vision for the future of deer management. We’d really appreciate you taking the time to help us shape this vision by getting involved and working with us to accomplish it going forward.


Surplus A and B turkey licenses on sale next week

Did you apply for a spring turkey lottery permit? Results are available online.

Not a winner? You’re not entirely out of luck. Surplus licenses for lottery hunt periods A and B will be available starting at noon on Monday, March 6.

At noon on Wednesday, March 8, any remaining surplus licenses and the C-F unlimited permits will go on sale for anyone who does not already have a license, even if they did not apply for the 2017 spring turkey lottery. Purchase surplus licenses on a first-come, first-served basis at any in-person license agent or online. Surplus licenses cannot be purchased by phone.

More information about turkey hunting is available on the DNR turkey hunting page.

Your license dollars support DNR’s work

You may have heard that the DNR is seeking a hunting and fishing license fee increase in the 2017 legislative session.

The proposed increase will not add staff or build general wildlife programs. Rather, it will continue to help sustain existing programs and area office operations, many of which already are reduced.

With a license fee increase, you will see expanded wildlife research and management. We will continue to maintain habitat quality on 1.3 million acres of Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) scattered in 1,500 locations across Minnesota. The funding also will provide effective protection of wildlife and habitat statewide, and leverage funding for special projects that use Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment habitat funding.

Without an increase, we will have reduced ability to manage wildlife and habitat. The quality of WMAs will gradually decline. Maintenance will be eliminated on thousands of miles of hunter walking trails. Wildlife and hunting-related information and customer service will suffer, as will our ability to leverage dollars for habitat improvement projects.

More information is available on the DNR website about how we put your license dollars to work. If you believe Minnesota offers recreation worth paying for, it is important that you speak up.

Did you know? Abscission layer goes bye-bye

Ever wonder why deer shed their antlers each year?

Annual cycles in deer antlers are related to the changing seasons. Deer have adapted their physiology and behavior to respond to seasonal changes, including antler growth and shedding. The environmental cue that regulates antler growth is the amount of day length; the physiological cue is the hormone testosterone.

Simply put, the changing day lengths are sensed by the eyes, which send this message through the optic nerve to the pineal gland located at the base of the brain. The declining day length in late fall and early winter causes a decrease in testosterone, which results in antler shedding.

The actual process of antler shedding involves a thin layer of tissue destruction that forms between the antler and the pedicle, called the abscission layer. The degeneration of the bone-to-bone bond between the antler and the pedicle is considered to be the fastest deterioration of living tissue known in the animal kingdom.

[maplelakeduckslayer]

I've wondered why this wouldn't work. Statewide 1 deer of either sex. In areas where pops are high additional antlerless. In areas with low deer populations people don't see deer anyway so what does it matter if they can shoot either or? Sure would simplify things

[Mallard_maniac]

I've wondered why this wouldn't work. Statewide 1 deer of either sex. In areas where pops are high additional antlerless. In areas with low deer populations people don't see deer anyway so what does it matter if they can shoot either or? Sure would simplify things

In theory it probably would work but you have to think like a typical, uneducated mn deer hunter. Buck to doe ratios aren't even on our whitetail managers radar. The "bucks-only" hunting pacifies alot of people's anxiety about population control. The argument is if you shoot a buck, another will come along and breed the doe in November that the deceased buck would have been with. If you shoot that same doe however, you're killing her and generations to come....

The southeast trophy hunters are pushing to eliminate their 3A season out of this process and have only the 3B which would move their overall gun season back. This would be the overall best thing to do statewide but there's 1/2 million orange pumpkins in this state that pick up a rifle/slug gun 2 weekends out of the year that unfortunately have a loud voice. MDHA is the MWA of the whitetail world.

I've actually come to terms with the fact that our state is going to continue to mismanage our whitetails. I don't blame the DNR, I blame the citizens... the answers to the test are already there.... Other states are light years ahead of us. To grow a bigger healthier deer herd with better age class we need to take the pressure off them when they are the most vulnerable (i.e. gun season during the rut). We (the people) simply say no to that and instead complain when we hunt for the entire gun season and only see 3 doe's in a bucks only zone.

I would like to see landowners with crop depredation complaints allow mandatory antlerless hunting on their property to qualify for financial reimbursement but I doubt that will slide either... It wouldn't even have to be unregulated. They could get put on a list and "must obtain permission" much like Montana does with their block mgmt program.