Minnesota archery deer season opens Saturday after record harvest year

(KNSI) – Minnesota’s archery deer season opens Saturday and the Department of Natural Resources says hunters are heading into the woods on the heels of a record year.

Paul Burr of the DNR laid out the outlook for KNSI. “Well, for this year, I’m optimistic. You know, last year, we set an all-time record for archery harvests throughout the state of Minnesota. We harvested just over 30,000 deer.”

He attributed that to a mild winter and expects more of the same this year.

Bag limits are staying the same or increasing across most of the state. Burr says archery has picked up steadily over the past 10 to 15 years, with another bump after crossbows were folded into the season three years ago. The season runs close to three months.

Burr says when it comes to preventing injuries, the bow isn’t what the DNR worries about. “Safety with the tree stand is probably the biggest issue when it comes to hunters getting hurt, is those accidents involving them falling out of tree stands.”

The DNR wants harnesses worn while climbing as well as while sitting, with three points of contact going up and coming down. Hunters should check harnesses, haul lines, steps and ladders for wear before the opener. Anyone using a ground blind on public land needs blaze orange on the blind, either on top or on all four sides.

The state also moved to a new licensing system this year. Burr says sales have gone smoothly so far, with some kinks in the system as the DNR works through the switch. Hunters are being told to buy early so account problems don’t cut into hunting plans, and to check that their usual spot is still selling licenses.

Buying a license also means picking how you’ll validate a harvest. Hunters choose either the DNR mobile app or a paper tag they print and notch by hand. Either way, validation happens at the kill site, before the animal is moved.

Chronic wasting disease sampling is also changing, and central Minnesota is in the first round.

The DNR has divided the state into four blocks and will rotate mandatory testing through them over four years. This year’s block covers southwest and west-central Minnesota and reaches into Stearns County. The rotation moves to the northwest in 2027, the northeast in 2028 and the southeast in 2029.

Testing is mandatory only during firearms opening weekend, November 7th and 8th. Any deer one year or older taken in the block those two days has to be sampled, including deer taken by archery hunters still in the field that weekend. Staffed stations in the area include Avon, Cold Spring, Kimball, Sauk Centre and Spring Hill, with mail-in kits and participating taxidermists as other options. Sampling is voluntary everywhere else in the state.

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