Buck harvest up sharply across the region

REGIONAL—A string of mild winters has apparently helped put the North Country’s deer herd on the road to recovery, at least based on the sizable jump in deer registrations in the area from the opening weekend of the firearms deer season.
Hunters registered a total of 2,378 deer across the eight permit areas that the Timberjay tracks each season, including permit areas 107, 109, 118, 119, 130, 176, 177, and 178. That’s a 32-percent increase over opening weekend registrations from last year and a 58-percent increase over the region’s most recent low ebb in 2022. That season followed back-to-back heavy snow winters, but three mild-to-moderate winters since then appear to have allowed for substantial recovery.
Adult bucks accounted for 2,043 of those registrations, with antlerless deer accounting for 335 registrations. Opening weekend buck registrations were the highest in the area since at least 2019 and were up 34 percent over last year. It was the fifth-straight year of improving buck harvests in the area and reflected the largest year-to-year increase in more than a decade. That’s a sign the region’s deer herd is recovering from back-to-back deep snow winters in 2021-22 and 2022-23, which prompted sizable declines in the deer harvest.
The gains over the past three years appear even more impressive. This year’s buck harvest is up 54 percent from 2023, when hunters in the local permit areas had registered just 1,326 bucks through the first weekend.
Some hunters were noticing the increased deer numbers and activity. Cook area DNR conservation officer Sean Cannon described deer movement as “heavy” and said hunters he spoke with reported see more deer than they had in several years. Other COs reported more grumbling from hunters, even as registrations climbed.
While every permit area in the region saw big jumps in registrations, some permit areas are showing a faster recovery than others. This year’s buck registrations in PA 176 were up 88 percent over three years ago, while registrations in PA 109, which covers much of northwestern St. Louis and eastern Koochiching counties, are up 80 percent during that same period. Registrations in PA 178 were up 74 percent over three years ago.
Other areas saw lesser gains. PA 118, where hunters registered 175 bucks during opening weekend this year, saw a less-spectacular 22 percent gain over three years earlier. Registrations in PA 177 were up 42 percent over 2023.