Opening weekend deer harvest down 19%

by Brad Dokken

Duluth News-Tribune

Minnesota’s opening weekend firearms deer harvest is down 13% statewide from 2022, based on statistics from the DNR.

Minnesota’s firearms deer season opened Saturday, Nov. 4.

According to the DNR, Minnesota hunters registered 47,138 deer during the first two days of the season, compared with 49,274 after the opening weekend in 2022. The opening weekend tally also is down 28% from the five-year mean, DNR statistics show.

In the Northeast Region: 9,299, down 19% from last year and 40% below the five-year mean.

“We anticipated lower numbers for northern Minnesota coming off another tough winter,” Barb Keller, Big Game Program leader for the DNR in St. Paul, said in an email.

The firearms deer season continues through Nov. 19 in the 100-series deer permit areas that include all of northeastern Minnesota.

Minnesota hunters registered 137,034 deer during the 2022 firearms deer season, a success rate of 29.7 percent, DNR statistics show. Combined with archery and muzzleloader seasons, Minnesota hunters registered 172,265 deer in 2022.