DNR: 'Conservative' deer hunt planned for 2015

Updated 4:39 p.m. | Posted 10:33 a.m.

For the second straight year, it's going to be tough for hunters to kill a deer this fall in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources warned hunters Tuesday to expect another conservative season as the agency works to rebuild the size of the state's whitetail herd.

While Minnesota's deer numbers are recovering, officials say one-deer limits will apply again for most hunters this fall.

The DNR put similar restrictions in place last year that made it Minnesota's most conservative hunting season in more than 20 years.

That included a one deer per hunter limit in about 95 percent of the state, a major change from past years when in many areas hunters could harvest up to five.

For many deer hunters across Minnesota, Craig Engwall's experience hunting last fall about 50 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, Minn., was typical. He said he hunted "about five days pretty solid" without seeing a deer.

While hunters are upset with how the agency is setting deer population goals, Engwall, who directs the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, says his group supports the DNR's hunting plan this year.

"We're taking a long term look at things," he said. "We would much rather have a little more difficulty getting a deer this year, and instead build a stable herd for the future."

Last year, hunters killed about 139,000 deer, the lowest harvest in more than 20 years. By comparison, between 2003 and 2007, hunters every year killed more than 250,000 deer.

DNR big game program leader Leslie McInenly expects the deer kill this year to between 140,000 and 155,000.

She noted that deer numbers are improving thanks to last year's conservative harvest, combined with some milder winters.

That's also good news for the Fond du Lac Ojibwe in northeast Minnesota.

Wildlife biologist Mike Schrage says the band hasn't set hunting regulations yet for this fall, but he says last year they also cut their harvest on the reservation to fewer than 200 deer, which he called the band's "bread and butter subsistence animal."

The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association wants to reach an annual harvest of around 225,000 animals. The DNR says it will consider that goal, but only after an audit of its deer management program is completed early next year.

Here's a summary of the rules for the 2015 season posted this morning on the DNR's website:

• Northern Minnesota hunters will again have a bucks-only season but specific permit areas have changed. In bucks-only areas, no antlerless deer may be harvested by any hunter, including those with archery or youth licenses.

• No antlerless deer may be harvested by any adult hunters in youth-only antlerless areas. However, as a result of 2015 legislation, new this year is an exception allowing either-sex harvest by any hunter age 84 and up or by hunters who are residents of veterans' homes.

• Another change this year is the return of youth-only antlerless harvest for a few areas in southwestern Minnesota. The measure is designed to increase populations into goal range in areas where antlerless harvest under the lottery system hasn't been restrictive enough to increase deer numbers.

Similar to the bucks-only designation, no antlerless deer may be harvested by any adult hunters in youth-only antlerless areas.

DNR officials posted a video describing this season's regulations: