REGIONAL— The buck harvest across northeastern Minnesota finished the regular firearms season up overall, by about 12 percent. That’s compared to final numbers from all hunts last year, including the muzzleloader season so the final results for 2024 should end up closer to 15 percent above last year’s totals.
This year’s muzzleloader season began Nov. 30 and runs through Dec. 15.
Hunters in permit areas 119, 126, 131, and 178 saw the biggest increase in hunter success on percentage basis, while 178 saw the biggest increase in the total number of bucks registered, with 1,174 compared to 949 last year.
Permit area 177 was the only local permit area that experienced an appreciable decline in the buck harvest, with 377 bucks registered this year compared to 423 last year.
Statewide, it appears likely that buck registrations will finish up slightly above last year’s totals. As of Tuesday of this week, hunters had registered a total of 156,509 deer, just slightly below last year’s final tally of 158,678, with 11 days of the muzzleloader season yet to go.
Last winter’s record mild conditions almost certainly boosted survival for white-tailed deer in the region as well as improved reproductive potential this year.