More than 400,000 deer hunters are preparing for the firearms deer season that opens Saturday, Nov. 9. 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 used 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.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ wildlife staff report that there should be good opportunities to harvest deer in most areas.
Hunters should know the deer permit area number for where they plan to hunt prior to buying a license and ensure they understand chronic wasting disease regulations and sampling options for that area. Hunters can find these details using the DPA lookup tool.
Deer hunters are required to have deer 1 year or older sampled for CWD in all CWD management and surveillance zones during the opening weekend of the firearms A season Saturday, Nov. 9, through Sunday, Nov. 10, and during late CWD hunts Friday, Dec. 20, through Sunday, Dec. 22. Additional information about CWD requirements and sampling options can be found at the Minnesota DNR’s CWD webpage.
Southern deer report
Deer populations continue to increase in southern Minnesota, and deer fared well over last year’s mild winter. Prolonged June flooding during the fawning and fawn rearing season likely had a negligible effect on the population.
River floodplains offer some of the best deer habitat and deer hunting in southern areas of the state. Prior to flooding this year, there were several years without a major flood, and vegetation in these floodplains has grown to the point of offering excellent cover for deer, which bodes well for deer hunters. Bluff lands that overlook floodplains offer oak and other sources of nuts and seeds that saw a moderate to excellent crop in 2024. Large areas of grass with embedded wetlands are also prime deer habitat. If water levels continue to lower, hunters will have easier access to this type of habitat.
Central deer report
Deer populations remain robust and highly productive in central Minnesota, and deer also fared well over the winter.
Hunters can harvest as many as three deer in many DPAs in central Minnesota, and as many as five deer in CWD management zones and the Twin Cities metro zone. To help manage deer populations, wildlife managers encourage hunters to take advantage of opportunities to harvest antlerless deer.
Hunters also should be aware that DPA 342 was redesignated as DPA 642 after CWD was detected last year near Wabasha. DPA 642 will now have some of the same CWD management zone regulations as other deer permit areas in the southeast CWD management zone, including carcass movement restrictions and disease management permits available for antlerless deer harvest. It is important to note that there is a three-buck limit (one permissible by each license type of archery, muzzleloader and firearm) in place for the southeast CWD management zone DPAs 643, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649 and 655. This three-buck limit does not apply to other CWD management DPAs in the state, including southeast DPAs 642 and 644, or to the south metro CWD management zone (DPA 605). Hunters can find these regulations on the DPA lookup tool.
Northeast deer report
Despite a mild 2023-24 winter, deer populations in the northeast region of Minnesota are still low and will take multiple years to recover from several severe winters in prior years.
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.
DPAs 604 and 679 are CWD management zones where hunters must follow mandatory CWD testing requirements the opening weekend of firearms A season Nov. 9-10, and carcass movement restrictions during the entire season. The city of Grand Rapids hunts also have mandatory sampling of all deer one year of age or older taken in any season.
To help inform consideration of a proposed elk restoration project, new mandatory CWD surveillance sampling will be implemented on opening weekend of firearms A season in DPAs 156, 173, 181 and 199 as a precautionary measure within the potential elk restoration area.
Northwest deer report
Last winter was one of the mildest winters on record and was exactly what the deer herd needed following the moderate to severe winters of 2021-22 and 2022-23. As a result, the deer population fared well throughout the northwest part of the state.
Reports abound of does giving birth to twins and even triplets in many parts of the region this spring and early summer. This level of reproduction will help local herds recover from mortality events experienced during harsher winters. The acorn crop this year was spotty, especially from bur and white oaks. Red oak acorns, on the other hand, were locally abundant. Grass and forbs, various food plot crops, and hay fields have remained green throughout much of fall, which helps deer enter winter in good shape.
Many DPAs in northwest Minnesota have two- or three-deer harvest limits, whereas hunters in DPAs 111 and 203 are limited to bucks-only. Some DPAs continue to have lower harvest limits because of concerns about the previously mentioned severe winters’ effect on local deer herds and reaching established population goals.
Hunters should also know that CWD sampling will be mandatory during the opening weekend of the regular firearms deer hunting season in parts of two areas of the region, including the East Grand Forks-Crookston-Climax area in DPA 661, as well as the Bemidji area in DPA 684.
Deer hunting information is available on the Minnesota DNR’s deer hunting webpage.