Minnesota hunters shot 158,678 deer during the 2023 hunting season, a lower total harvest than in recent years, the Department of Natural Resources reported this week. The harvest was down 8% from the 2022 season and 14% lower than the five-year average.

The greatest decreases were in the northern part of the state, where deer harvest compared with 2022 was 21% lower in the northeast region and 8% lower in the northwest region. Other regions saw smaller decreases in harvest, with 3% lower in central and southeast Minnesota, and 4% lower in southern Minnesota.

“In recent years, deer populations have been lower in northern Minnesota, particularly following the severe winters of 2021-2022 and 2022-2023,” Todd Froberg, big game program coordinator with the Minnesota DNR, said in a statement Monday. “Several factors can drive these declines, resulting in fewer deer on the landscape during subsequent hunting seasons.”

Deer numbers can suffer during prolonged severe winters, especially in areas with deep snow or insufficient winter habitat. In these conditions, deer must expend more energy to acquire food, making them more vulnerable to predators.

Wolves play a large role as a predator of deer, especially in winter, but there is little evidence to suggest that northern Minnesota’s low deer numbers are directly due to wolf predation, the DNR said. The influence that wolves play in influencing deer populations likely changes over time and can be exacerbated by other conditions such as poor quality wintering habitat.

Northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, also hit hard by severe winter, saw similar declines in deer harvests in 2023.

“This year’s extremely mild conditions do bode well for deer in northern Minnesota, but deer populations in the far north will need several mild winters to start to recover,” Froberg said.

Crossbows were allowed for all deer hunters for the first time in 2023. Archery hunters killed 24,088 deer which was a similar total compared to 2022. In 2023, crossbows accounted for 43% of the total archery harvest.

“During this first year of crossbows being legal for all hunters, we sold 6% more archery licenses, and youth licenses made up most of that increase,” Froberg said. “Lots of kids who weren’t archery hunting in the past were able to use crossbows and go hunting during the archery season.”

Analysis of the 2023 deer harvest is available in a final deer harvest report. This report and past season harvest reports are available on the Minnesota DNR website at mndnr.gov/mammals/deer/management/statistics.html.

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