Firearms Deer Hunting Season Off to Slow Start

By Mark Askelson markkrjb@loretel.net (11/20/20)

Detroit Lakes, MN — A slow to start to the hunting season for much of Minnesota. Opening weekend harvest was 21% lower across the state from last year Total harvest on the weekend was 59,711. The 200 permit series was down 22% percent from 2019 and down 17% compared to the five year average.

Minnesota DNR Detroit Lakes Wildlife Supervisor Rob Baden notes that the opening weekend harvest typically makes up almost half of the harvest for the entire year, so it’s unlikely we’ll be able to catch up to the average. He also notes that hunting license sales are right around average. 

The cumulative deer harvest for entire year, which includes bow hunting and the youth mentored hunt, was at 94,396 after opening weekend of the firearms season. That’s 11% behind last year at the same time. Baden anticipates the final cumulative harvest will likely be shy of 200,000, which he adds is disappointing given some of the goals across the state. Warm and windy weather this past weekend was likely to blame for the slow opening weekend. The hunting outlook is likely to improve as the cold weather sits in.