Despite hunters’ mixed success, northeast deer harvest edges upward amid long-term population decline

Last weekend, during the firearm deer season opener, northern Minnesota deer hunters entered the woods wearing a few extra layers as the region experienced temperatures in the teens and a fresh layer of frost.

This weekend, however, will be a much different story for deer hunters sitting in their stand or ground blind. Temperatures on Saturday, Nov. 15, one week after the opener, are expected to reach 47 degrees near Grand Marais.  

The start of the firearm deer season in the northeastern region has been met with mixed success for many hunters so far. Some hunters successfully harvested a buck on opening weekend or shortly thereafter, while others, who WTIP spoke with, have seen more does than bucks or very few deer at all.

“The few deer hunters that made a go at trying to bag a buck expressed their frustrations with the lack of deer,” wrote Hudson Ledeen, a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer, in a Nov. 10 report. “One hunter that was checked was excited to report he saw a young fork-horn and passed on shooting him in hopes that the deer population has a chance to rebound.”

The northeast area, referred to as the Superior Uplands-Arrowhead region, comprises six deer permit areas (DPAs): 117, 118, 126, 130, 131, and 133. Cook County primarily encompasses DPA 126 and a portion of 117.

Superior Uplands-Arrowhead Region Deer Permit Areas Graphic

The 2025 deer hunting season for the vast majority of the DPAs is bucks-only, meaning hunters are not allowed to harvest a doe or adult female. There are exceptions for specific DPAS that allow limited antlerless lottery permits and special state park area hunts. In Cook County, hunters could apply to hunt and harvest a limited number of does in Cascade State Park and Judge Magney State Park.  

In recent years, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has reduced the number of antlerless lottery permits and designated most of the northeast DPAs as bucks-only, given continued declining deer populations.

“Across the region, deer densities are still low, but hunters are finding success,” said Lindsey Shartell, the DNR northeast regional wildlife manager.

Despite deer populations remaining low throughout the northeast, particularly the tip of the Arrowhead region, hunters in Cook County’s DPA 126 have harvested 75 deer as of Nov. 14, according to the DNR harvest data.

Farther inland in DPA 117, which encompasses part of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, hunters have harvested seven bucks so far.

The following is the 2025 harvest data for the Superior Uplands-Arrowhead region as of Nov. 14 :

• DPA 126: 68 adult males and 7 adult females
• DPA 117: 7 adult males
• DPA 131: 31 adult males and 2 adult females
• DPA 118: 234 adult males and 2 adult females
• DPA 130: 74 adult males
• DPA 133: 258 adult males, 38 adult females, 3 female juveniles, and 8 male juveniles

As of Nov. 14, the total harvest is 732 deer.

In 2024, hunters in the six DPAs within the Superior Uplands-Arrowhead region harvested a total of 618 deer throughout the entire season, excluding special hunts, according to DNR harvest data. Last year, in Cook County’s DPA 126, hunters harvested a total of 85 deer.

“Harvest in the Arrowhead region is similar or slightly up compared to last year,” Shartell said.

Shartell said hunters throughout Superior Uplands and the broader northeast region, which includes areas such as Chisholm, Northome, and Deer River, harvested 13,222 deer over the first two days of opening weekend, “which is up 17% from last year, and up 8% compared to the 5-year average.”

“The two mild winters we had seem to have helped deer numbers. However, it’s going to take some time before we see a substantial increase in the herd, especially with densities starting low,” Shartell said.

Severe winters, predation by wolves and bears, among other factors, have contributed to declining deer populations across the northeast region, particularly in Cook County. 

While 2025 harvest data shows a slight increase in the broader northeast region from last year, the long-term trend of declining deer populations is evident in the past two decades of DNR harvest data, particularly in DPA 126. 

Five years ago, in 2020, deer hunters in Cook County’s DPA 126 harvested 253 deer.

Ten years ago, in 2015, deer hunters harvested a total of 370 deer.

Going back twenty years to 2005, records show that hunters in DPA 126 harvested 901 deer.

Harvest data throughout the past two decades for neighboring DPAs in the Superior Uplands-Arrowhead Region also indicate a steady decline.

With deer populations higher in the early 2000s across the northeast region, the DNR implemented less conservative management regulations, allowing hunters to obtain a buck tag and, in certain years, multiple doe tags. The DNR has changed regulations throughout the years to adapt to changes in deer populations throughout the region.

While long-term deer harvest data shows a steady downward trend, the same isn’t necessarily true for license sales. Statewide, firearm license sales in 2015 were 478,511. Five years later, in 2020, the number of firearm licenses sold statewide increased to 594,014.

Last year’s data shows the firearm license sales in 2024 decreased slightly, with statewide sales at 558,386. The DNR will release the 2025 license sales in early 2026 following the end of this year’s deer season.

There are nine days remaining for hunters to harvest a deer during the regular firearm season, which ends on Nov. 23. The muzzleloader season runs Nov. 29 through Dec. 14, and the archery season remains open until Dec. 31.

Kalli Hawkins November 14, 2025