He urges fellow deer hunters in the southwest to remove lymph nodes from their deer to be tested for CWD. "I haven't spoken to anyone who's saying our (deer) population is down,'' Quarberg said. The zone has a one-deer bag limit, but the DNR this year increased the number of bonus tags available by lottery from 400 to 450. When time starts running out, they'll shoot a doe, he said. The area's deer population is at goal, and Quarberg said hunters are seeing enough deer afield that many of them sit on their only tag, hoping to connect with a mature buck. According to the DNR, it produced 532 deer last year for a hunter success rate of 32%. Quarberg's local deer permit area stretches south from Windom to the Iowa border. He said whitetails in southwestern Minnesota are benefitting from evolving farming practices, such as the increased planting of cover crops that keep more food on the ground. "If you have a good opening weekend for deer, it really sets up a strong season,'' Trauba said.ĭennis Quarberg is an avid bow hunter, president of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and a resident of Windom in Cottonwood County. In general, large blocks of grass with embedded wetlands are prime deer habitat in the southern region. Access to those plots will be easier than usual because of drought conditions, he said. Without the crop cover, Trauba said, a lot of deer will be staged in cattail sloughs. Fall winds can be gusty in the southwest and detrimental to the hunt, but forecasters were predicting manageable breezes of 10 mph before winds pick up Sunday.Īnother plus for southwest deer hunters this year is a near-complete harvest of corn fields. Keller said the relaxation of constraints occurs this season in 12 of the southwest region's 34 deer permit areas.Īs of Thursday, conditions looked favorable for opening day with a 30% chance of snow in Redwood Falls before 8 a.m., then sunny with a high near 48. The animals are doing so well that the DNR this year liberalized bag limits and increased the availability of bonus tags (by lottery). In the southwest, Keller said, deer populations are stable to growing. The central region's share last year was 36% the northwest region's harvest was 30% of the total and 20% came from the northeast. Keep in mind that last year's harvest of 26,832 deer in the southwest was only 15% of the statewide kill - the smallest piece of the pie in comparison with the three other sectors. The other three regions posted declines, including a 10% slide in the central region. That exceeded the growth rate in the central region by 9 percentage points and bested the northeast by 30 percentage points.Ĭomparing last year's statewide harvest of 184,382 whitetails to the overall deer kill in 2020, the southwest region was alone in exceeding its 2020 harvest (by 3%), Keller said. DNR Big Game Program Supervisor Barbara Keller said this year's early deer harvest in the farm belt was 35% above the five-year mean. Total deer production across the southwest region is dwarfed by total harvest in the central region by a ratio of more than 2 to 1, but no region in the state can match the southwest in certain growth categories. "We have a healthy, growing deer population.'' "We're ag dominated so you have to go where there's habitat, but we've got great deer hunting here,'' said Dave Trauba, DNR regional wildlife manager in New Ulm. Of the four geographic wildlife sectors mapped by the Department of Natural Resources, it's the farm belt stretching diagonally from Ortonville in Big Stone County to Austin in Mower County that has seen steady growth in whitetail harvest over the past five years. Bring all the ammo you can get your hands on, because open season just arrived - big time! Deer Drive is an arcade-style 3D deer hunting game.A Minnesota wildlife region closely associated with pheasants and waterfowl has become a bright spot in state deer hunting reports at a time when stories abound elsewhere about chronic wasting disease (CWD), deer declines in the North Woods, wolves and harsh winters. Do you go for the Prize Whitetail Buck, or play it safe and take out the marauding grizzly before he takes you out? Deer Drive features three major trophy species including two dangerous species, three superbly balanced weapons, beautiful natural environments, and most importantly - the most addictive shooting gameplay of any hunting game ever created! New - Party Mode for even more fun with your friends!Īrcade-style 3D deer hunting game. Take aim from your cover, and pick off the best trophies as they run headlong past you. Bring all the ammo you can get your hands on, because open season just arrived - big time! How fast is your aim? It's just pure shooting action, as herds of deer are driven into your sights! Deer Drive is an arcade-style 3D deer hunting game.
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