Minnesota Highway 72, a 75-mile stretch of blacktop that links Blackduck and Baudette, is the unofficial dividing line between the northeastern and northwestern corners of the state. And when the 2024 firearms deer season opens, 30 minutes before sunrise on Saturday, Nov. 9, hunters on either side of that line may have notably different experiences, according to a forecast released by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

While 2023-24 was a mild winter statewide, the deer population in the Arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota has been slower to recover from back-to-back harsh winters in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and hunters may see fewer animals from their deer stands next month.

“Despite a mild 2023-24 winter, deer populations in the northeast region of Minnesota are still low and will take multiple years to recover from several severe winters in prior years,” the report read, predicting the best hunting in Northeastern Minnesota may be found in the southern reaches of the region.

Things look better, per the DNR, north and west of Leech Lake and toward the Red River Valley, where the mild weather last winter boosted the deer population in areas with more fields and fewer forests.

“Reports abound of does giving birth to twins and even triplets in many parts of the region this spring and early summer. This level of reproduction will help local herds recover from mortality events experienced during harsher winters,” the report read, adding that some deciduous trees and croplands produced plenty of natural deer food in 2024.

“The acorn crop this year was spotty, especially from bur and white oaks. Red oak acorns, on the other hand, were locally abundant. Grass and forbs, various food plot crops, and hay fields have remained green throughout much of fall, which helps deer enter winter in good shape,” said the report.

Also contained in the information provided by the DNR are updates on sampling areas for chronic wasting disease, which has affected deer herds in areas of Minnesota and has seen a gradual spread to more counties statewide.

The DNR expects upward of 400,000 hunters to participate in the 2024 season, which started as early as Thursday, Oct. 17, with a youth hunt and an early antlerless-only deer season in some parts of the state.

More information and the full report are available at dnr.state.mn.us/news/2024/10/14/field-reports-what-minnesota-deer-hunters-can-expect-season.

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