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Minnesota鈥檚 firearms deer harvest after the first nine days of the season continued to be up from the same time in 2023, statistics from the Department of Natural Resources show.

Hunters through Sunday, Nov. 17, had registered 111,791 deer statewide, up 5% from the first nine days of the 2023 season, DNR statistics show. Despite the uptick, the harvest was down 5% from the five-year mean, or average, after the first nine days.

Minnesota鈥檚 firearms deer season opened Saturday, Nov. 9.

The nine-day harvest by region was as follows:

• Northwest: Hunters registered 34,919 deer, up 5% from 2023, but down 7% from the five-year average.
• Northeast: 20,353, up 10% from 2023, but down 11% from the five-year average.
• Central: 38,684, up 5% from 2023 and statistically unchanged from the five-year average.
• Southwest: 17,835, up 2% from 2023, but down 2% when compared with the five-year average.

According to Todd Froberg, Big Game Program coordinator for the DNR at Whitewater Wildlife Management Area in Altura, Minnesota, the cumulative harvest to date, which includes the firearm season, along with archery, youth and various special seasons, was 143,176 deer statewide as of Tuesday, Nov. 19. That鈥檚 up 7% from 2023, down 3% from the five-year mean and down 5% from the 10-year mean, Froberg said.

Minnesota hunters registered 126,531 deer during the 2023 firearms deer season for a success rate of 28.5%, according to the The highest success rate since 2012 occurred during the 2017 firearms deer season, when Minnesota hunters registered 167,500 deer for a success rate of 33.7%.

The highest cumulative harvest since 2012, a number that includes regular firearms, archery, special hunts, youth hunts and muzzleloader, also occurred in 2017, when hunters registered 197,768 deer. Hunters in 2023 registered a cumulative 158,678 deer, DNR statistics show.

Minnesota鈥檚 Firearm Season A closed Sunday, Nov. 17, in 200- and 300-series deer permit areas and continues through Nov. 24 in 100-series permit areas. Firearm Season B opens Saturday, Nov. 23, in 300-series deer permit areas and continues through Dec. 1. Muzzleloader season opens Saturday, Nov. 30, statewide and continues through Sunday, Dec. 15. Archery season, which opened Sept. 14, continues through Dec. 31.

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North Dakota offered 50,100 licenses for the 2024 deer gun season 鈥� down 3,300 from 2023 鈥� but for the hunters lucky enough to draw tags, anecdotal reports suggest they鈥檙e having decent success.

North Dakota's deer gun season opened Nov. 8.

Contributed / North Dakota Game and Fish Department

鈥淚 would just say that it鈥檚 going pretty good,鈥� said Jim Job, the Grand Forks area鈥檚 outreach biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. 鈥淚 think people who are putting in their time are definitely finding deer.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e not seeing an overabundance of deer, but they are having success.鈥�

Unlike neighboring Minnesota, which requires hunters to register their deer within 48 hours, North Dakota doesn鈥檛 have a registration requirement but instead estimates harvest with a postcard survey it sends to a random sample of hunters after hunting season. In 2023, 45,927 hunters shot an estimated 25,146 deer during the deer gun season, the Game and Fish Department reported last March; the hunter success rate was 55%.

With snowfall hitting many parts of North Dakota on Tuesday and Wednesday, Job says he expects hunter success to rise as the gun season winds down. Sunday, Nov. 24, is the last day of North Dakota鈥檚 2024 deer gun season.

鈥淚 think people that still have tags left are going to see a lot more deer movement this last week and (final) weekend,鈥� he said.

Game and Fish is focusing this year鈥檚 hunter-harvested surveillance program for chronic wasting disease on northeast North Dakota deer hunting units, along with Unit 3B2 bordering the southern shore of Lake Sakakawea.

Contributed / North Dakota Game and Fish Department

Hunters are encouraged to drop deer heads at collection sites set up throughout the hunting units targeted for surveillance, Job said. In Grand Forks, drop bins are available at Tractor Supply, 4460 32nd Ave. S., and the Grand Forks County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, 5205 Gateway Drive. A is available on the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/surveillance/collection-sites.

If the number of trophy deer heads coming into Sportsman鈥檚 Taxidermy Studio in East Grand Forks is any indication, it鈥檚 been a good season for hunters in northwest Minnesota and across the river in northeast North Dakota.

鈥淏etween Hides for Habitat and what I鈥檓 seeing in my shop, it鈥檚 better than I thought it would be,鈥� said Jim Benson, owner of Sportsman鈥檚 Taxidermy Studio. 鈥淎nd a lot of nice bucks. Even the small ones have big antlers. It鈥檚 a pretty good year.鈥�

Sportsman鈥檚 Taxidermy, 1028 15th Ave. NE, is one of four drop sites in East Grand Forks for the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association鈥檚 popular Hides for Habitat program. Other East Grand Forks drop sites are located at Cabela鈥檚, 210 Demers Ave.; Cenex, 504 Rhinehart Drive SE; and Valley Trucking and Parts, 1717 Central Ave. NW.

MDHA chapters around the state collect and prep the hides for sale to fur buyers. Proceeds are then used to fund habitat projects across the state. The Thief River Falls MDHA chapter regularly leads the state in Hides for Habitat collections and coordinates hide pickup at drop sites across northwest Minnesota.

As of Tuesday, Nov. 19, Benson said the shop had gotten 43 deer heads in for mounting, compared with 55 during the whole season last year.

鈥淲e鈥檒l be all of that this year, plus the quality is bigger,鈥� he said. It鈥檚 been a 鈥減retty even split鈥� between deer heads from North Dakota and deer heads from Minnesota.

The mild winter of 2023-24, which was conducive to deer survival, likely played a role in the quality of the bucks he鈥檚 seen come in for mounting, Benson said.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a pretty direct correlation there because a lot of the deer aren鈥檛 that old,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e 2陆 (or) 3陆 years old, and they鈥檝e got some pretty nice antlers. Overall, the average size of the antlers is much better than the previous two years.鈥�

ST. PAUL 鈥� Hunters in Minnesota can check the 鈥� 鈥� for chronic wasting disease test results on the deer they鈥檝e harvested. The site also shows statewide CWD test results, summary statistics and mapped locations of deer that tested positive. Any additional deer harvested during Minnesota deer seasons that test positive for CWD will be reported on the CWD results page. The Minnesota DNR also will directly notify any hunter who harvests a deer that tests positive. The DNR relies on hunters鈥� participation in providing samples to help with disease surveillance and appreciates all those who submitted samples.

鈥� Minnesota DNR