Deer Harvest
Minnesota hunters have had relatively comfortable weather conditions to hunt in this fall, and that included some temperatures in the 40s and 50s last week while the statewide archery and youth seasons, as well as the early-antlerless season in select deer permit areas, were all taking place. Total harvest through the end of the youth and early antlerless period is up about 19% from last year. (Photo by Eric Morken)
A big archery jump
Archers have set the tone for higher harvest with the kill up 53% from the same time last year. That includes the fact that hunters had nearly a week more of hunting to this point in 2025.
Hunters during the archery season have killed 10,825 total deer compared to 7,066 at this time last year. Fifty-three percent of this year’s archery kills have come via vertical bows and 47% have been with crossbows.
Overall, comfortable temperatures have made getting into the woods more appealing for archers this year, compared to last year when hot conditions plagued parts of the early season.
“Usually in September and early October you can be sitting in the stand in 80-degree weather and we see that in the harvest numbers,” Burr said. “They tend to drop. Weather has been good on the hunter’s side for sure.”
Early antlerless and youth seasons tally
The four-day early antlerless firearms season is open in deer permit areas that are over the deer population goal.
This year, DPA 685 was added to this hunt. A total of 26 DPAs were included in the early-antlerless season, compared to 25 last year.
Harvest from this season is up about 42% from 2025 after hunters shot 4,793 antlerless deer this year compared to 3,384 last year. This year’s total may increase a bit as deer shot later in the weekend get registered.
“I’m very happy with the number,” Burr said. “There’s kind of a worry where you introduce a new season like early antlerless and hunters get excited. It’s something new, you get out early, and then we worry the novelty wears off and you’ll see a decrease over time. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. It kind of follows the deer herd like other harvest does, so seeing that continue to be popular and show increases over the last few years is very promising.”
Totals from the youth season are up 19% as the state’s younger hunters shot 8,289 deer over the four-day gun season, compared to 6,968 in 2025.
“Looking at youth season, 48% of harvest were bucks and 52% were antlerless,” Burr said. “Last year it was about 50/50, so we saw an uptick in antlerless harvest as well for youth. Any time that we can see more antlerless harvest, especially in certain DPAs, the better for sure.”
A sign of things to come?
Burr credited weather as a driving factor in increased harvest so far for a couple of reasons.
In general, it’s been an inviting fall for hunters to get into the woods. Recent mild winters have also led to what wildlife managers say is a growing deer herd in much of the state.
Bowhunters have had a lot of days in the 60s to hunt so far, with some hotter and cooler days mixed in. Gun hunters during the youth and early antlerless season had temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s the first two days before more mild temps moved in for the weekend.
“September, October have been fairly nice. It hasn’t been too hot so that’s why we’re seeing an increase, especially in archery season,” Burr said. “And we’ve touted this a lot, but we’ve basically had three consecutive really mild winters. Some of those winters basically nonexistent, with the exception of the far northeast. That transfers to benefits for deer – higher reproduction, better survival and that holds true throughout time. You have mild winters, and we tend to see jumps in harvest.”
As long as weather does not affect hunter participation during the upcoming firearms season, Burr expects the increase in total harvest from 2025 to continue the rest of the year.
“Since 2023 we’ve slowly been bumping up and I would expect to see another bump,” he said. “Starting out really strong and having a good early antlerless and youth season speaks to that. Hopefully this trend will continue and we’ll have a good harvest this year.”