Deer harvest numbers available online

Deer harvest from the start of archery season to early this week is behind last year at this time by 7%, and 9% behind the 5-year average and 2% behind the 10-year average.

Overall statewide harvest for the 9-day firearms A season (100 series DPAs have 16-day season) was 5% below last year’s 9-day harvest and 16% below the 5-year average. As expected, in those areas most severely hit by winter in northern Minnesota the last few years, harvest is down considerably. License sales have ticked up a bit and are 3% below last year as of the Monday after the second weekend of firearms season.

Hunters, media and anyone interested in statewide deer harvest data can find current deer harvest figures and harvest reports for past years on the Minnesota DNR deer reports and statistics page. The page also features an interactive map and graphs that visualize the data including numbers on how many deer have been harvested by muzzleloaders, vertical bows, crossbows and firearms.

Archers do well at Camp Ripley hunt

Archery hunters who participated in the Camp Ripley Hunt near Little Falls had good success during the 3-day hunt that occurred from Oct. 27 through Oct. 29.

This year, 1,846 participating hunters harvested 202 deer across the 3-day hunt, including two bucks that tipped the scales at or above 240 pounds. Last year, 1,953 hunters harvested 221 deer during the hunt.

The archery hunt at Camp Ripley is an annual event. The DNR coordinates the hunts in collaboration with Central Lakes College Natural Resources Program, and the Department of Military Affairs, which manages the 53,000-acre military reservation.

DNR working to make deer hunting more accessible

At the DNR, we are dedicated to making outdoor experiences more accessible for all Minnesotans. We’ve long worked with Capable Partners Inc., which recently hosted an accessible deer hunt at Becklin Homestead Wildlife Management Area near Cambridge. Becklin Homestead is one of the larger sites where we have created adaptive and accessible hunting opportunities for hunting and veterans groups. Check out this Fox 9 feature showing the recent hunt.

Share your venison recipes

Calling all deer hunters! Do you have a favorite venison recipe? Share it with the Minnesota DNR by Thursday, Nov. 30, for a chance to be featured on our website, social media and other publications.

Recipes can carry special meaning. They’re passed down generations and are central to cultural traditions. And some are special because they just taste darn good. Wild game meals give hunters a chance to fully appreciate their harvest, share with friends and family, and connect with nature on a deeper level.

It’s easy to share your venison recipe. Visit the DNR website to submit your recipe online. Remember to submit it by Nov. 30 for your chance to be featured.

You can donate your deer

The Minnesota DNR, in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, has a program that allows Minnesota deer hunters to donate deer carcasses to food shelves and feeding programs. This program provides an excellent source of protein to people in need while helping reduce local deer populations. To participate, hunters must have their deer processed at a Minnesota Department of Agriculture-registered meat processing plant that has agreed to participate in the program. Find the details about this program on the DNR website. 

Aging white-tailed deer 

Determining the age of living white-tailed deer can be difficult and is often quite subjective. Looking at the size and shape of the deer’s neck, chest and stomach can give clues to the animals age, but even experts don’t always agree.

There are more precise ways of aging a deer. One way involves looking at the teeth of their lower jaw. The number and shape of a deer’s premolars and molars can accurately determine if the deer is a fawn (6 months), yearling (1 1/2 years), or adult (2 1/2 years or older). Looking at the wear pattern of the molars can help age the deer past the classification of adult, but this is also very subjective and can vary greatly depending on individual deer and variability of the deer’s diet and region.

One of the most accurate ways of aging a deer is using the cementum annuli process. Cementum is a tissue that is deposited on the roots of a mammal’s teeth annually. During the winter months the cementum layer is darker which produces a ring, called annuli. The process of cementum annuli aging involves taking one of the deer’s lower front teeth, called an incisor, and sending it to a laboratory for processing. After the tooth is clean, it is sliced very thinly and mounted on a slide and stained. Specialists can then count the annuli rings to accurately determine the deer’s age, just like aging a tree!  

Photo: The third premolar seen in the foreground is tricuspid (three distinct points) and is a deer’s baby tooth. Deer with these distinctive teeth are either fawns or yearlings, whereas adults will have a larger, bicuspid (two points) tooth in its place. 

Q&A: Deer hunting A-season license dates

Now that this year’s firearms deer season is over for much of the state (200 series deer permit areas), a lot of hunters have been calling wanting to know if they can use their firearms A license during the B season. They can, but only in DPAs 701, 605, 643, 644, 645, 646, 647, 648, 649 and 655. Hunters need to follow the season dates for the DPA they are in. Details are available on the Minnesota DNR deer hunting page.

For hunters with an A license, the season in 100 series DPAs is open through Sunday, Nov. 19. Meanwhile, those with a B license for 300 series DPAs have a season that runs Saturday, Nov. 18, through Sunday, Nov. 26. Muzzleloader season is Saturday, Nov. 25, through, Sunday, Dec. 10.