Northeast Arrowhead region sees increase in harvest during 2024 deer season

The 2024 firearm deer season came to an end on Sunday, Nov. 24, in the northeast region of Minnesota. 

To the surprise of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials and hunters, preliminary harvest data shows an increase in harvests in deer permit areas in the northeast region this year compared to the 2023 season. 

The northeast area, known as the Superior Uplands-Arrowhead region, is divided into six deer permit areas (DPAs): 117, 118, 126, 130, 131, and 133. 

As a conservative management practice, given declining populations, the DNR designated DPAs 118, 130, 131, and 126 as bucks-only for the 2024 hunting season. DPA 117, which sits predominately inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and generally has low hunter participation, remained designated as a one deer limit: either six and DPA 133, closer to the Lake Superior shore, near Two Harbors, was designated as one deer limit with 25 antlerless lottery permits. 

2024 deer harvests as of Nov. 25 following the firearm season:

• DPA 126 = 86 deer harvested 
  • 38% increase from 2023
• DPA 130 = 119 deer harvested 
  • 12% increase from 2023
• DPA 131 = 45 deer harvested 
  • 136% increase from 2023
• DPA 117 = 7 deer harvested 
  • 12.5% decrease from 2023
• DPA 118 = 381 deer harvested
  • 4% increase from 2023
• DPA 133 = 356 deer harvested
  • 1.4% increase from 2023

Compared to the total 2023 deer harvest data:

• DPA 126 = 62 deer harvested
• DPA 130 = 106 deer harvested
• DPA 131 = 19 deer harvested
• DPA 117 = 8 deer harvested
• DPA 118 = 366 deer harvested
• DPA 133 = 351 deer harvested

Despite encountering vacant deer camps during the 2024 hunting season and fielding comments from deer hunters about the lack of deer, DNR Conservation Officer Hudson Ledeen, based in the Hovland area, said the northeast region may be beginning to see a trend of the mild 2023 winter for deer populations. 

”So we’re seeing healthy deer,” Ledeen said. “We’re seeing deer disperse across the landscape, and then the conditions are just setting up where that success rate is up.”

Ledeen said he attributes the increase in harvest data to a combination of things: the mild winter last year was beneficial for deer survivability, and the weather for the 2024 firearm deer season was quite favorable for hunters. “The weather has been extremely favorable for hunters, so they’re being able to sit and stand longer, get out longer, hunt more days.”

As the firearm season came to an end, other northeast region conservation officers reported a quiet end to the season. Conservation Officer Sean Williams based in Ely stated in his Nov. 25 conservation report, “by the end of the regular firearm deer season hunting activity had seemed to slow to a level much lower than previous years.”

A similar observation was encountered by Conservation Officer Thomas Wahlstrom based in Grand Marais. He wrote, “spent the week checking the few remaining deer hunters trying their luck. Success was low across Cook County which left hunters frustrated.”

Leading up to the firearm season, northeast archery hunters had minimal success. A total of 78 deer were harvested in the Superior Uplands-Arrowhead region before the Nov. 9 firearm opener. At the close of the firearm deer season on Nov. 24, a total of 994 deer have been harvested. 

Of the DPAs in the Superior Uplands-Arrowhead region that were designated as bucks-only, there were female adults or does harvested and registered. Ledeen said the data, while still preliminary, is most likely due to a hunter registration error related to a special state park hunt. 

In DPA 126, which encompasses primarily Cook County, hunters can apply for a special deer hunt in the Cascade State Park and Judge Magney State Park. Of the 86 deer harvested during the 2024 season, 5 were female adults. 

Cascade State Park allowed 45 permits for either sex during the firearm deer season. Rather than register the deer underneath DPA 126, the hunter should register the deer under the number 900. Judge Magney State Park allowed 25 permits for either sex during the firearm deer season, with a 911 registration number. 

“What we have seen in the past when we review that data is that these are typically a registration error when people are registering their deer from those special hunts,” Ledeen said. 

Ledeen said he and the other conservation officers will review all the registration data when it comes in and follow up with the necessary steps.

Looking at statewide harvest data, as of Nov. 25, there have been 152,430 deer harvested, according to Minnesota DNR. Each year, the DNR sets a statewide harvest target of 200,000 deer. With the archery and muzzleloader season continuing into December, the final harvest data will not be compiled until early January. 

Archery hunters are allowed to continue hunting using a vertical bow or crossbow throughout the remainder of the season, which ends on Dec. 31. 

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with DNR Conservation Officer Hudson Ledeen about the firearm deer season in the northeast region, snowmobile safety reminders, and more. The audio from the interview is below. 

Kalli Hawkins November 25, 2024