111,000 deer taken during firearms season

Minnesota hunters registered 111,000 deer through Sunday, the final day of Minnesota’s 16-day firearms deer season. That total was down 31,000 from 2013, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
So far this year during special hunts and the archery, early antlerless and firearms seasons, hunters have taken 127,000 deer, down from the 2013 total of 144,000 by this date.
This year’s lower harvest is by design, DNR wildlife officials say, because regulations were implemented to place more deer off-limits to increase the state’s deer population.
More deer will be taken during the muzzleloader season, which begins Saturday and runs through Dec. 14. The archery season runs through Dec. 31.