Northwoods Experience: Minnesota Stays Busy During Deer Hunting Season

Minnesota’s firearm deer hunting opening weekend recently wrapped up, and the state saw some major numbers.

“That’s 380,000 deer hunters in the field on opening weekend,” stated Minnesota DNR Big Game Program Coordinator Todd Froberg. “Deer license sales really drive a large portion of the Game and Fish Fund for the Department of Natural Resources. So all those license dollars help put habitat back on the landscape. So it’s extremely important for habitat and wildlife in general.”

Lots of licenses going out means lots of deer coming in. The first two days of the season brought in 83,436 deer registered to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The DNR has had a busy few days, but so have other businesses such as meat processing facilities.

“We’re close to 100 in so far, through the first three days,” said Myke Stittsworth, President of Stittsworth Meats in Bemidji. “Our average is probably around 250 to 300 and you’re usually heavy on the first weekend, so it’s probably right in line with how it’s going to go.”

But to Minnesotans, there is so much more to hunting season than just harvesting deer.

“They describe it like Christmas with guns,” said Froberg. “So it’s just like an extra Christmas. It’s a holiday for people.”

“It’s probably easier for me to find people that want to work on Christmas than hunting season,” Stittsworth admitted. “I think it’s probably one of the biggest family gathering events in the year. People look forward to getting together, cooking, hanging out. You get disconnected from media – no offense – but you just get out in the woods and kind of unwind and get around your family. And I think that’s basically what’s the most valuable part about hunting season. It’s not the deer, the deer excuse to be around your family.”

The Minnesota DNR wants to remind hunters to properly tag and register their deer. There are sites around the state, including on at the Beltrami County Fairgrounds, that tests deer for chronic wasting disease. They ask that you test your deer and also use safe hunting practices.

Deer hunting season lasts for varying amounts of time, depending on where you’re located. For schedules and a full list of regulations, you can visit the DNR website.