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Deer kill ranks 2nd in history Area numbers show population declines From Staff and AP Reports
Minnesota hunters killed nearly 270,000 deer in 2006, the second-highest harvest in the state.
Firearms hunters accounted for most of those: about 229,000, the DNR announced. Archers killed about 25,000 deer and muzzleloader hunters 13,500.
It was the fourth straight year the total harvest exceeded a quarter-million deer. The DNR attributed the escalating harvests to the granting of an all-season license that allows people to hunt during the archery, firearm and muzzleloader seasons and removes limits on their range.
It was the fourth straight year the total harvest exceeded a quarter-million deer. The DNR attributed the escalating harvests to a new all-season license that combines archery, firearm and muzzleloader licenses and allows firearms hunters to hunt statewide.
Locally, hunters took 16,074 deer in lower Cass and Crow Wing counties, making the 2006 harvest the third highest in history. Hunters shot 20,307 deer in 2003 and 17,381 in 2004. The 2005 harvest was 15,436.
"Our antlerless harvest was up but the buck harvest was down," said Gary Drotts, DNR area wildlife manager in Brainerd. "What that tells us is that our local deer population is going down."
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