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Changes for deer hunters to be aware of locally
An early-antlerless season in deer permit areas 213, 214 and 215 from Oct. 15-18 and voluntary CWD sampling in areas 213 and 273 are part of some new opportunities for hunters in the local area this season. (Courtesy photo / Minnesota Department of Natural Resources)
Early anterless season, CWD surveillance part of new-look 2020 season
Eric Morken
emorken@echopress.com Anyone following along throughout the past year to what was going on in the whitetail world in this area of west-central Minnesota knew the 2020 hunting season might look a little different.
Some sort of surveillance was bound to take place in the area as it relates to Chronic Wasting Disease after a captive deer on a farm in Douglas County tested positive for the disease in late 2019. Local deer permit areas were also part of a deer population goal-setting process over the winter, where the Department of Natural Resources determined through public meetings, surveys and feedback from area managers that deer numbers were con sidered too high in many zones around the Alexandria area.
With the 2020 regulations now set, hunters know exactly what this upcoming deer season will look like, and it includes plenty of opportunity to shoot does and voluntary sampling for CWD.
EARLY-ANTLERLESS SEASON
Mark Nohre, regional director for the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, goes to almost every public meeting on deer in the area.
He heard from a vocal group this past winter that wanted to see deer numbers drop, in some cases by a lot, so Nohre knew a new management plan to do that to some extent was likely coming. He just didn’t know how extreme it would be.
“I was surprised at the number (of deer hunters are allowed to take),” Nohre said. “I thought it would be more leaning toward three, four at the max.”
Deer-permit areas 213, 214 and 215 were added to the list of zones where hunters can take part in an early-antlerless season this year. It coincides with the statewide youth season that is set for Oct. 15-18. During that four-day season, hunters can shoot up to five antlerless deer, which is in addition to the statewide bag limit of three deer allowed to be taken in 213, 214 and 215. So hunters in those areas can legally shoot up to eight deer total this season.
“People will see that and there will be many who say, ‘That’s going to wreck the deer herd,’” Glenwood DNR wildlife manager Kevin Kotts said during an interview in July. “The reality is very few people even shoot two deer, let alone three even when they could. There will be a handful of people who take advantage of all those numbers. It will result in some more antlerless deer killed, but I don’t see one year of early antlerless decimating the deer herd.”
Nohre agrees that most hunters won’t shoot near that eight-deer limit, but he was still surprised to see that high of a number being allowed.
“I think it’s a little excessive at this time,” Nohre said. “I would have liked to see two or three, not eight. I think out of 100 people who might hunt that season, maybe one will shoot eight deer. I think the rest will be two or three, but I think it will thin out some of the deer.”
Hunters shot 2,312 adult does in permit area 213 last year. That’s up from 1,514 in 2018 and 1,392 in 2017. DNR staff will evaluate the data after this year to see how the new early antlerless season affects those overall numbers.
“Then we’ll see if we think the deer herd is starting to drop,” Kotts said.
HUNTERS NEEDED FOR
CWD SURVEILLANCE
Local deer-permit areas 213 and 273 are a part of the new west-central CWD surveillance area this year, meaning CWD has been found in a captive deer but not in the wild deer herd.
The DNR announced on Dec. 10, 2019 that CWD was found in an 8-year-old doe from a small, 2-deer captive facility in Douglas County. The doe was at the farm for less than a year, and the site of the farm is in an area of Douglas
