The firearms deer hunting season opens across Minnesota Saturday, Nov. 4, and expectations are for much higher harvest totals in 2017.
Hunters will also have more opportunities to harvest deer this season, as a result of the deer population rebounding over most of the state.
While Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials say all signs point toward a successful hunt, it is always overly dependent on hunters’ success during the first two days of the gun-deer season. And one thing officials can’t control, the weather conditions, can play a role in how well opening weekend goes.
The National Weather Service forecast for opening weekend in the Annandale area calls for a 40-percent chance of rain or snow Saturday with a high of 42 degrees, and rain likely Sunday with a high near 50.
Aside from that, everything lines up for the deer kill to rise in 2017, due to the increased number of deer and additional permits.
Many deer permit areas in the DNR’s central region have met or are above population goals, says Jami Markle, an assistant wildlife manager for the region. That means most permit areas in the central region are designated as "managed," with hunters being allowed to bag two deer through a regular license and a bonus antlerless permit.
Units 218 and 229 are examples of managed units.
However, other deer management units around Annandale are considered hunter choice, with a one-deer limit of either a buck or a doe. They include 219, 223 and 277.
Then there is unit 215, which extends north and west from St. Cloud. That is one of five permit areas in the central region that is designated as "intensive," where hunters can harvest three deer using extra bonus permits.
"We had a pretty wet October that pushed back the harvest, so we’re a little behind, and hunters can expect to see standing crops in some areas the first and second weekend," Markle said.
Those crops can provide cover for deer, and might keep deer in fields rather than in the woods, he said. An abundant acorn crop might keep deer feeding and browsing for natural foods in the oak woods, he said.
The extra precipitation the area received this fall could also mean hunters have to traverse more wetlands than usual.
Markle said that three years of relatively conservative harvest regulations, paired with three milder-than-average winters, paid off. They are seeing a lot of does with twin fawns or even triplets, an indication of a mild winter and plentiful food.
Last year the DNR debuted an interactive deer permit area map for hunters, where they can view a detailed report for each area in the state. Markle said it includes information on last year’s harvest, land cover, land ownership, harvest success rate, and a wildlife manager’s report for each deer permit area.
"It’s a handy thing, and it also shows all the regulations," he said.
The interactive map can be found at www.dnr. state.mn.us/hunting/deer/map.
For much of Minnesota, the deer-gun season runs for nine days, from Nov. 4-12. For many areas of northeastern Minnesota it runs through Nov. 19.
When all of the deer seasons, including archery and muzzleloader, are completed at the end of the year, the DNR anticipates the total harvest to be close to 200,000. In 2016, 173,213 deer were killed in Minnesota.
The state record of 290,525 was set in 2003. Prior to 2000, however, there were only four years when the deer kill exceeded 200,000, according to the DNR.
CWD testing
Hunters who harvest a deer during the opening weekend in areas of central, north-central and southeastern Minnesota will be required to submit the deer for chronic wasting disease testing.
The mandatory CWD testing is for all of Wright County. Central-Minnesota deer permit areas affected are 218, 219, 229, 277, 283 and 285. North-central deer permit areas with mandatory testing are 155, 171, 172, 242, 246, 247, 248 and 249.
CWD was discovered in captive deer on farms near Litchfield in Meeker County and in Crow Wing County, causing the DNR to require CWD testing during the first two days of the gun-deer season.
The move is precautionary, to help determine whether the disease has spread from captive deer to wild deer. The DNR says it needs to collect 1,800 samples in the central area for sampling to accurately detect whether CWD exists in wild deer.
All hunters in affected deer permit areas are required have their deer tested at a sampling station from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, or Sunday, Nov. 5.
CWD sampling stations in the Annandale area are: Wright County Public Works, 3500 Braddock Ave. NE, Buffalo; and Willow Creek Park, 210 Main St., Kimball. There are many more, which can be found through an interactive map on the DNR website.
A video explanation is available on the DNR’s website at mndnr.gov/cwd, as are detailed instructions of the process.
"Getting a deer tested for CWD only takes a few minutes and the video takes hunters through steps that make the process go smoothly, such as positioning their deer so the head is easily accessed in the vehicle," said Lou Cornicelli, a DNR wildlife research manager.