Fewer deer licenses in northern Minnesota

After a tough winter, deer hunters in northern Minnesota might see fewer deer, a Department of Natural Resources news release said this week.

“The lower bag limits in northeast and north-central Minnesota aim to allow deer populations to recover after back-to-back severe winters,” said Barb Keller, big game program leader. “Deer are resilient and we are hopeful deer populations there will gradually recover along with lower harvests, especially if we get some mild winters.”

Deer hunting licenses could be purchased starting Aug. 1.

New this year, crossbows are allowed for all deer hunters with an archery license, synthetic ground blinds on public lands are required to have blaze orange covering, some chronic wasting disease zones have changed, non-toxic ammunition will be required for special hunts in state parks or in scientific and natural areas where hunting is allowed, and some harvest limits are reduced in northeast and north-central Minnesota while most areas have similar bag limits as last year.

Zones in Carlton County will be restricted to a one-deer limit, bucks only in some cases, antlerless lottery or either sex in other cases, depending on the zone.

Deer hunting specifics can be found at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/deer/index.html. Electronic copies of all 2023 Minnesota hunting regulations are available now online here: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/regulations/hunting/index.html.