Whitetail deer. Credit: Minnesota DNR
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota's hunters have harvested fewer deer during the first nine days of the firearms deer season than last year, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
The DNR says hunters have taken more than 106,000 deer statewide since the firearms deer season began earlier this month. That's a 5% drop from last year. Northeastern Minnesota saw the sharpest decline, with nearly 17% fewer deer harvested compared to this time last year.
Meanwhile, the deer harvest in northwestern Minnesota is down 5.7% compared to last year.
Officials are attributing the drops to a few reasons, including a robust predator population in those areas, a late green up so there was a lack of nutrition, and fewer antlerless permits.
Here's a breakdown of the data, provided by the Minnesota DNR:
Statewide
- 106,538 deer harvested
- Down 5% compared to last year
- Down 16% compared to the 5-year mean
Northwest Minnesota
- 32,820 deer harvested
- Down 5.7% from last year
- Down 22.4% from the 5-year mean
Northeast Minnesota
- 18,510 deer harvested
- Down 16.9% from last year
- Down 35.3% from the 5-year mean
- Down 58% compared to 2017
Central/SE Minnesota
- 37,389 deer harvested
- Up 0.4% from last year
- Up 1.2% from the 5-year mean
Southwest Minnesota
- 17,819 deer harvested
- Down 1.4% from last year
- Down 3.6% from the 5-year mean