Despite some moonlit nights and warm weather, deer hunting has been excellent across most of Northeastern Minnesota. The state's firearms deer season opened Nov. 4 and continues through Nov. 19.
Hunters have taken some nice bucks, including a large 14-pointer by Don Neubarth of Hutchinson, Minn. Preliminary scoring put the rack at 186 6/8 when scored as a nontypical deer on the Boone and Crockett scoring system. It scored 163 6/8 as a typical. Neither measurement is final. The rack must dry for 60 days before being scored officially.
Neubarth shot the buck last Sunday morning near Taft, north of Duluth.
Three 250-pound bucks (field-dressed weight) have been registered. One was an eight-pointer taken by Steve Ankarlo of Saginaw and registered at Fisherman's Corner at Pike Lake. Delon Knill of Annandale, Minn., and Charlie Blackwell of Grand Portage both registered 250-pound bucks at Buck's Hardware Hank in Grand Marais.
Hunters may be on their way to a record deer harvest in Northeastern Minnesota. Registration figures compiled by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources show the harvest is up 14 percent over last year through the first three days of the season in Region II, which covers all of Northeastern Minnesota. Some areas -- Cloquet, Grand Rapids, Two Harbors and Tower -- are up significantly.
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"From what I can tell, we should be on track for a record season, barring some disaster with the weather," said Jeff Lightfoot, the DNR's regional wildlife supervisor in Grand Rapids. "The nice, warm weekends keep hunters in the woods longer. It's not a surprise that the numbers are up."
The record harvest in Region II came in 2003, when hunters took 87,319 deer. After the first three days of this year's 16-day season, hunters had taken 29,236 deer with most registration stations reporting, said Dave Dickey, DNR area wildlife manager at Aitkin. Last year's harvest after the first three days of the season was 25,545, Dickey said.
The buck harvest through the first three days of the season was down a bit from last year. Last year, after the first three days, the buck harvest in Region II was 53 percent of the total harvest. This year, it's 46 percent.
In overall harvest after the first three days of the season, the Tower area was up 27 percent, to 3,476 from 2,732. The Cloquet area was up 22 percent, to 9,348 from 7,650. The Grand Rapids area was up 19 percent, to 4,727 from 3,966.
Chalstrom's Bait and Tackle in Duluth had checked in more than 1,100 deer, including bow-killed deer. That's well ahead of last fall, Sue Chalstrom said.
Here's a listing of leaders in big-buck contests in the region:
Buck's Hardware Hank, Grand Marais
Bucks by weight
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1. 250 pounds, Delon Knill, Annandale, Minn.
2. 223, Ralph Milanowski, Custer, Wis.
3. 221, Bill Shinn, Idlewild, Mich.
Bucks by antler spread
1. 22¼ inches, Delon Knill, Annandale, Minn.
2. (tie) 20, Adam Deroke, Grand Marais, and Jerry Waha, Grand Portage
3. (tie) 19¾, Alan Schroeder, Schroeder, and Patrick Everson, Proctor
Fisherman's Corner,
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Pike Lake
1. 241 pounds, Vince Brandt, no town listed
2. 239, Scott Waters, Duluth
3. (tie), 230, Albert Moline Jr. and Lonny L. Bostrom, no towns listed
Lawrence Lake Legion, Bovey
1. 237 (10-point), Jeff Eichorn, Bovey
2. 221½ (10-point), Aaron Aimonetti, Iron
3. (tie) 215 (eight-point), Janet Delich, Bovey, and (11-point), Gary Lind, Bovey
