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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

DNR: Bucks-only again in the northeast

Wildlife officials say the focus will remain on rebuilding the population, for now

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 7/30/15

REGIONAL— For the vast majority of deer hunters in northeastern Minnesota, it will be bucks-only again when the regular firearms deer season opens on Nov. 7. Despite a relatively mild winter last …

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DNR: Bucks-only again in the northeast

Wildlife officials say the focus will remain on rebuilding the population, for now

Posted

REGIONAL— For the vast majority of deer hunters in northeastern Minnesota, it will be bucks-only again when the regular firearms deer season opens on Nov. 7. Despite a relatively mild winter last year, wildlife officials with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said this week that it’s too early to loosen the harvest restrictions put in place last year after back-to-back severe winters.

“The main message is that we’re continuing to rebuild deer numbers,” said Leslie McInenly, DNR Big Game Program Leader. “The 2015 deer hunting regulations will be quite similar to last year, with one-deer limits in most of the state,” she said. DNR officials say they’ve heard from the public in meetings around the state that most Minnesotans favor rebuilding the deer population, which was whittled down by severe winters as well as more generous bag limits in prior years.

The good news, say officials, is that last year’s conservative harvest and a milder winter have the deer population headed in the right direction.

“We anticipate that hunters will be seeing more deer when afield, and we are already hearing from people that they are seeing more deer this summer,” McInenly said. “We are continuing a conservative harvest approach in order to raise deer numbers consistent with our recent goal-setting process.”

In northern St. Louis County, as well as northern Lake and all of Koochiching counties, hunters in all of the permit areas, including PAs 108, 119, 118, 117, 177, and 176 will be limited to a single buck. Only 14 of the 128 deer permit areas across the state are limited to bucks only. Most other areas are offering some antlerless tags through the lottery or are classified as hunter’s choice, which means a regular license holder can take one deer of either sex.

DNR wildlife officials note that deer populations have the ability to bounce back quickly, as happened after two severe winters in the mid-1990s. “In the 1990s, it only took a few years to get back to what people thought was a more normal deer population,” said McInenly. “We don’t think this strategy is set in stone in the longer term,” said McInenly.

Indeed, McInenly said the DNR is hearing more favorable reports from around the state about deer numbers and fawn production following last winter’s limited snow.

McInenly said she expects this year’s statewide harvest will increase slightly from the 139,000 deer harvested last year. “We’re looking at a projected harvest of 140,000 to 155,000,” she said.