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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Final deer harvest up sharply despite late snowstorm

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 11/30/16

REGIONAL— High winds and a foot and a half of snow gave the deer the advantage on the final weekend of the regular firearms season in northeastern Minnesota, likely holding down the final harvest …

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Final deer harvest up sharply despite late snowstorm

Posted

REGIONAL— High winds and a foot and a half of snow gave the deer the advantage on the final weekend of the regular firearms season in northeastern Minnesota, likely holding down the final harvest figures this year. Even so, ideal conditions for the first two weeks, combined with higher deer numbers, helped hunters in northern St. Louis and Lake counties post a 44-percent increase in registrations this year, over 2015.

“We saw the same trend, but the numbers came down a little on the final weekend,” said Tom Rusch, Tower area wildlife manager for the Department of Natural Resources. “We lost three days due to the weather.”

A healthy crop of young bucks born in the spring of 2015, offered hunters plenty of targets, and they took full advantage. The buck harvest, which is the best indicator of deer population change, was up 21 percent this year, over 2015. Over the past two years, the buck harvest has jumped 40 percent in the Tower work area, a reflection of the ongoing recovery from tough winters in 2013 and 2014.

“The deer herd has again demonstrated its ability to rebound from severe winters, similar to the late 1990s,” said Rusch. “Given a conservative antlerless harvest, good habitat, and mild winters, deer can recover quickly,” said Rusch.

A limited number of antlerless permits also added to the higher harvest, but fully 81 percent of successful hunters harvested bucks. Hunters in permit areas 176, 177, 178, and 108, posted the biggest increases in registrations.