REGIONAL—A rebounding deer population and record warm temperatures proved a winning combination for hunters during the opening weekend of Minnesota’s regular firearms deer season. Hunters had registered 30 percent more deer than last year through Tuesday of this week, thanks to a big jump in the number of two-year old bucks and the first appreciable antlerless harvest in three years.

“Hunters reported seeing a lot of young deer as the population rebounds from the extreme winters of 2013 and 2014,” said Tower area wildlife manager Tom Rusch.

The weather also helped a lot, according to Rusch. Record high temperatures in the 60s and even low 70s in parts of the area increased hunter effort and success.

The warm weather also prompted hunters to quickly register their deer, since many were eager to get their venison processed to avoid possible spoilage.

As expected, the strongest registration numbers were found on the southwestern end of the Tower work area, in permit areas 176 and 178, where hundreds registered a combined total of 1,557 deer, including 1,323 bucks. Permit area 177, which extends from the eastern tip of Lake Vermilion to the farm fields west of Cook, also saw a significant jump, with 429 deer registered as of Tuesday. Hunters in permit area 108, in far northwestern St. Louis County, registered 553 deer.

Across the state, hunters registered a total of 66,130 deer for the first four days of the hunt. Of those, 44,131 or 67 percent, were adult bucks.

Weather conditions are expected to continue to favor hunters at least through the second weekend. Unseasonably mild conditions continued through much of the first week and the forecast for the second weekend of the season includes more sunshine and temperatures in the mid-50s, or about 20 degrees above normal. The average high in the area for the second weekend of the deer season is 36 degrees and the average low is 14 degrees.