Changes ahead for deer management
By Joe Albert
Staff Writer
Breezy Point, Minn. — An early season for antlerless deer and alternative management methods in state parks are two ideas the DNR is considering as it evaluates the way it manages deer in the state.
Firearms hunters in northwest Minnesota could have an antlerless deer season in mid-October. Alternative methods, like antler-point restrictions or earn-a-buck, might be tried in as many as 11 state parks this fall, said Lou Cornicelli, DNR big game program coordinator.
The possible changes come as the DNR begins to refine deer population goals in Minnesota. Cornicelli laid out the agency’s plans at last weekend’s annual DNR roundtable meetings in Breezy Point. He presented one slide that, in part, read: “Population goal setting and alternative regulations that lower population must set the tone for future deer management.”
Minnesota’s deer herd was estimated at about 1.2 million animals before the 2004 hunting season. Parts of the state, like the northwest and central regions, have high deer populations. Other areas, like the southern farmland zone, don’t have such high densities.
The DNR’s deer management structure hasn’t changed much since the 1970s, despite a healthy herd.
“We don’t need to maintain tradition just for the sake of maintaining tradition,” Marrett Grund, DNR deer project leader in Madelia, said last week.
Today’s management structure generally allows for a liberal buck harvest with protection of female deer. That needs to and will change, Cornicelli said.
“We are trying to move people away from meat poles full of bucks,” Cornicelli said. “We are really moving away from traditional deer management.”
Last fall, 300 hunters who hunt or live in five northwest counties were contacted for a phone survey to gauge their opinions on issues like antler-point restrictions and party hunting. The possibility of an early antlerless season arose from those surveys, Grund said.
Grund is working to model the effects of various regulations in the northwest based on data from deer check stations. He and Cornicelli plan a series of meetings in Roseau, Thief River Falls and East Grand Forks later this month or in early February to discuss the results of the previous phone survey and Grund’s population models.
After those meetings, as many as 2,200 hunters statewide will be surveyed by mail about their feelings on a variety of management methods. That survey, which will be conducted by the University of Minnesota at the end of February or early in March, will include detailed questions. It might, for example, ask hunters to choose their preference of two management methods.
The survey will be statewide, but the largest sample will come from hunters in the northwest and southeast, Cornicelli said.
During the year, the DNR will host meetings in three areas of the state with stakeholders — from private businesses to hunters to insurance companies — to realign its deer goals.
“We’re trying to take a very comprehensive look at what it’s going to do biologically and socially before we jump in,” Grund said.
Grund and Cornicelli in December attended a workshop in Bemidji with groups like foresters, insurance companies, and government agencies. There, the groups discussed the various impacts deer have.
Given that a new management structure could last up to 30 years, Cornicelli said he wants a lot of input before making changes. He expects the meetings to generate a lot of discussion.
“When you start screwing with people’s deer seasons on a fairly dramatic level, people come out of the woodwork,” Cornicelli said.
General restrictions, like antler-point, are possible in the northwest this fall, though Cornicelli doesn’t expect them that soon. However, regulations in state parks and an early antlerless season are more likely, he said.
Cornicelli expects to decide in early February which parks will have regulations. He is tentatively planning on about 11 parks where the regulations can be tested for three to five years. At least a couple of the parks will be in the northwest.
Once some decisions are made about deer population goals, the information gained from the state park regulations could be applied to other areas of the state where similar conditions exist.
