The opening weekend deer harvest trend in northeastern Minnesota continued into the second week of the season, as total registrations continue to lag over last year’s numbers.

But the buck harvest remains quite strong— in fact, registrations of bucks are slightly ahead of last year in the DNR’s Tower work area, which stretches across a large portion of central and northern St. Louis County and northern Lake County.

As of the second week report, a total of 3,861 bucks were registered at the 26 stations in the Tower area. That’s up about five percent over the 3,713 bucks registered during the same period last year.

“The increase in the buck harvest is not surprising,” said DNR Tower Area Wildlife Manager Tom Rusch. “With fewer antlerless tags, hunters are having to work harder for bucks, and a lot of hunters are still out there, giving it the old college try. That’s good to see, it kind of goes back to the way it used to be.”

Despite the increase in buck numbers, overall deer registrations are down 24 percent in the Tower area, reflecting the sharp drop in antlerless tags made available to hunters in much of the area. That’s cut anterless registrations in half compared to last year, with 1,819 registrations so far this season compared to 3,601 in 2008.

The International Falls area, which includes Orr, has seen the biggest decline in the overall harvest, with total registrations off 38 percent over last year, a reflection of the large reduction in doe permits in that area.

“I think the fact that so many people didn’t have doe permits, means we have to expect a lower harvest overall,” said Dave Sorenson, who operates Vermilion Fuel and Food in Tower. “But as far as registrations go, we’re not that far behind considering everyone lost their doe tags.” Buck registrations at Fuel and Food have actually been on pace with last year, while antlerless registrations are down from 136 at this point last year to just 57 so far this season.

Hunters have had a bit tougher time in the Ely area, where buck registrations are down about 20 percent over last year. At the same time, the antlerless harvest is way down, with just 62 recorded at the Lucky Seven, Ely’s only registration station. That compares to 184 at the same point last year.

The drop in antlerless registrations is down even more dramatically in the Cook area, where hunters have recorded a total of 110 does and fawns at the Country Store. Last year, 404 antlerless deer had been registered at the same point in the season. The drop isn’t surprising, say DNR officials, since parts of northwestern St. Louis County, particularly Area 115, saw some of the biggest reductions in antlerless permits this year.

While some areas have seen major declines, southern portions of the area, where deer numbers remain stronger, and where more anterless permits were issued, have recorded harvest levels comparable to last year. A few stations are even reporting higher totals than in 2008.