REGIONAL—More than 400,000 deer hunters are preparing for the firearms deer season, which opens Saturday, Nov. 8. The season offers opportunities to spend time outdoors with friends and family, find adventure, and put venison in the freezer.
Deer hunting is the primary tool Minnesota Department of Natural Resources uses to manage deer populations, and hunters help keep deer numbers in line with population goals across the state. Managing deer populations contributes to the overall health of Minnesota’s landscapes, natural systems, and economy.
DNR wildlife staff report that there should be good opportunities to harvest deer in most areas, although hunters are likely to find the most challenging conditions in northeastern Minnesota, where deer herds are still recovering from back-to-back severe winters in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Deer populations in most of the northeast region of Minnesota remain low. The best deer harvest opportunities in the northeast part of the state will be in the southern portion of this region, where deer numbers are higher.
In addition, the highest deer numbers are expected in areas of mixed habitat of open fields and forest. Scouting for local pockets of deer will improve hunter success. Hunters in far northern areas will again have fewer opportunities to harvest antlerless deer, and in some areas, hunters will only be allowed to harvest bucks. This will give local deer populations in these northern areas a chance to grow where their numbers are below goals established through the public deer population goal setting process.
Hunters should also know that CWD sampling will be mandatory during the opening weekend of the regular firearms deer hunting season in two CWD management zones, including PA 679, which encompasses much of the southwestern end of the Iron Range. Hunters here will be required to have any deer one year or older sampled for CWD from Nov. 8-9, and during late CWD hunts set for Dec. 19-Dec. 21. Carcass movement restrictions also apply in this permit area.
Hunters should know the deer permit area number where they plan to hunt prior to buying a license and ensure they understand chronic wasting disease regulations and sampling requirements and options for that area. Hunters can find these details using the DPA lookup tool (mndnr.gov/deerhunt).