With the first few days of the firearms deer hunting season in the books, this year so far has received mixed reviews. While some hunters had great luck hunting their prize buck, others did not. But this week’s wintery weather may make conditions ideal for hunting.

The weather can play a key role in a successful opening weekend. Early numbers are still expected to be up over last year, but it’s too soon to tell.

While it’s still early to get official numbers on just how successful the deer hunting opener was from the Minnesota DNR, one indicator is to visit your local butcher shop and just see how busy they really are.

At Stittswoth Meats, hunters have been bringing in their deer since opening morning, and already over the past couple of days have seen an increase over last deer season’s record year.

So far, over 200 deer have been brought into Stittworth Meats to have their deer processed, but with ideal hunting conditions to come later this week, they are prepared to take in more deer this year then ever.

Mychal Stittsworth, owner of Stittsworth Meats, says that every deer brought in will be made to order and returned back to its original owner. He also added that with a dramatic increase over last year, this year could be one of the best for hunters.

By — Nathan Green