MN 2014 Deer Harvest Zone Information

Looks like harvest quotas are way down this year.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/deer/index.html

Details as follows:
– In 95 percent of the state, only one deer can be harvested so check closely to determine if you need to submit a lottery application.
– Deadline for lottery applications is Thursday, Sept. 4.
– In 69 of Minnesota’s 128 deer permit areas, hunters must be chosen in a lottery to shoot an antlerless deer. Only bucks can be hunted in 14 areas. In 38 areas, hunters have the choice of shooting a doe or a buck.
– Bonus permits allowing hunters to shoot more than one deer may only be used in seven permit areas and for some special hunts.

Thanks for posting Will. I hope pulling the numbers back a bit helps the herd here.

My other zone 222, went from 5 deer to choice of 1, in 1 year ???

Are you guys in area 155 Will?

Mike W wrote:

Are you guys in area 155 Will?

Yep, we’re in 155 Mike. I also have property that I hunt in 157 frequently because in years past it has been a managed area and I was helping to keep the population down on a neighbors farm, but this year that area went to 1 only as well.

Might have to look at hunting on the croix again this year where there is still a pretty decent deer herd. Fun to dump the jon boat in and hunt the back water areas. Even that area went from bonus tags the last few year to one deer limit this year.

I’m glad they took a more conservative approach. I know the winters have a lot to do with low deer populations but I would love to see a strong deer herd as it was in years past. If it means I don’t get to shoot 5 deer or even just 1 doe this year, it’s fine by me. I’m looking towards future years.

Totally agree, I’m very glad to see the harvest target scaled back and some of the pressure taken off the doe/antlerless population by going back to antlerless permits in many areas.

Obviously, that means more pressure on the bucks in many areas, but unfortunately with the combination of high harvests, harsh winters, and wolves, many of us are now in a situation where the deer numbers have fallen dramatically. We need to have the deer in the first place, then I can worry about the bucks. Right now, in 159, the numbers of deer that we see is down dramatically over 3 years ago.

Grouse

Never in my lifetime did i expect my area to go from 5 to 1!! It’s going to be an interesting fall

I think we can all draw our own conclusions to answer the question of did the DNR wait too long to react to the declining deer populations in many sections of the state. I’ve never believed that the peak population years should be held up to be normal or the target that we should be looking to sustain, but when the deer populations are declining by 10% per year or more and still the DNR is not reacting by throttling back on the intensive harvest…

It’ll be a very interesting season on a number of fronts.

Grouse