Minnesota hunters expected to see more deer, harvest less this year
Hunters in Minnesota are expected to see more deer than last year after the mild winter and early spring, but fewer hunters have antlerless deer tags this fall, the Duluth News Tribune reports. This is because the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is trying to conserve the number of does this year.
“We’re going to see more deer and kill less deer,” Mark Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association based in Grand Rapids, told the newspaper. Minnesota's deer season starts Saturday, Nov. 6 and runs through Nov. 18.
Meanwhile, the controversial wolf hunt in Minnesota will also take place during the firearms deer season. The DNR issued 3,600 wolf-hunting permits through a lottery this year, but officials believe hunters and trappers will fall short of the combined quota of 400 wolves. DNR wolf specialist Dan Stark of Grand Rapid told the Star Tribune, "My guess is that about 70 wolves will be taken during deer season."
Roughly 600 wolf licenses weren’t claimed by lottery winners in Minnesota, so they’ll available on a first-come, first-served basis starting Monday.
Last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected an effort by two wildlife groups to block the state’s first wolf hunting season in 40 year.
