REGIONAL— Minnesota’s record mild winter last year undoubtedly improved deer survival here in the North Country, but it appears to have made an even bigger difference than wildlife managers were expecting.
Through the first ten days of the season, the buck harvest across the nine permit areas tracked by the Timberjay appears to be up noticeably, accelerating a trend first seen through the first three days of the 16-day regular firearms season. If current trends continue, the region’s buck harvest could be the highest since 2021, the year before two back-to-back tough winters sent deer numbers in the Arrowhead plunging.
Across the northeast region, hunters had registered 20,353 deer as of Monday, Nov. 18. That’s up ten percent over last year, although it’s still about 11-percent below the five-year average for the region.
The biggest gains are being seen in areas just south of the Mesabi Iron Range and in the border country near International Falls. In PA 178, hunters had already registered 974 bucks, or more than the 949 registered in the entire season last year. In PAs 107 and 109, located around and south of International Falls, hunters had registered a combined 746 bucks through the first ten days of the season this year, or about 90 percent of the 833 bucks registered for the entire season last year. While hunters typically register a sizable majority of their deer in the first ten days of the season, the buck harvest in those two permit areas is almost certain to exceed last year’s numbers.
To the east, in PA 119, buck registrations were also running ahead of last year’s total harvest, with 249 bucks registered through Monday compared to 228 for the entire season in 2023.
In PA 176, hunters had registered 410 bucks through this past Monday and should easily surpass last year’s total buck harvest of 459.
At the current pace, most other permit areas in the region should match or exceed last year’s buck registrations.
The number of antlerless deer registered by hunters in local permit areas appeared down slightly over last year, but that’s primarily a reflection of the lower number of antlerless permits issued by the Department of Natural Resources. Hunters in the area had registered 417 antlerless deer as of Monday.
Wildlife managers typically look at buck registrations as the best way to gauge changes in the deer population and the latest numbers are encouraging. With an exceptionally mild fall season to date, deer should go into winter in better shape than usual. The area typically has snow cover by the first half of November, but the region has seen virtually none of the white stuff to date. While temperatures were forecasted to finally cool closer to seasonal norms, extended forecasts continue to show no major cold outbreaks or snowstorms that could present a challenge to deer.
The forecast for the final weekend of the regular firearms deer season calls for cloudy conditions, with a chance of snow Sunday and a high both days around freezing.