REGIONAL— As summer winds down, many North Country residents are thinking ahead to the fall hunting season. With the archery deer season barely three weeks away, many deer hunters are already beginning to plan and scout for the upcoming season.

The Department of Natural Resources now has some online resources that can make that task a lot easier. If you haven’t been to the deer hunting section on the DNR’s website before, you’ll want to check it out. It’s got all the information you’d expect on season dates, license requirements, and other regulations. But it also has detailed information on each of the deer permit areas in the state, including maps, a description of the landscape and forest cover, data on past hunter success rates, and recent harvest numbers, winter severity index readings for the past several years, and the bag limit designation for the upcoming season.

“If you’re scouting a new unit, it’s a good tool to use,” said Tom Rusch, DNR Tower area wildlife manager.

To access the information from the deer hunting home page, just go to www.dnr.state.mn.us and search for “deer hunting.” The top result will take you to the deer hunting home page, where you’ll find a banner linking you to the permit area interactive map. That map allows you to select any deer permit area in the state and as you do, you’ll have the option of accessing more detailed maps as well as the detailed report about that area.

You might be surprised at all the information that is at your fingertips, so check it out.