It’s nearly here.

My favorite time of year and probably yours too if you’re reading this - The 2012 Minnesota Firearms Deer season opens at one half-hour before sunrise on Nov. 3 and runs through one half-hour after sunset on Sunday Nov. 18.

(Note: Sunrise on Nov. 3 is 7:54 a.m. but it will be at 6:55 a.m. on the second day of the season, Sunday, Nov. 4, because of daylight savings time).

So what kind of season will 2012 and be? Record setting? Slow as can be?

How about something in between - that’s what officials from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in northern Minnesota are predicting.

Statewide, DNR wildlife managers are looking for an improvement on 2011, when firearms hunters harvested just over 192,000 deer over all three of the state’s seasons - archery, firearms and muzzleloader.

They say a combination of a mild winter, excellent fawn production and some “leftover deer,” as a result of a poor opening weekend harvest in November 2011, has produced a growing deer herd after aggressive antlerless harvests and tougher winters trimmed the population below management goals set several years ago.

Now, most permit areas are at, or just below, population goals.

Which brings us to northern Minnesota.

Tom Rusch, DNR Wildlife Manager in Tower, Minnesota, is forecasting a deer population “at or slightly below management goal in nine our of nine permit areas” in northern St. Louis and northern Lake counties.

Rusch’s forecast includes the following:

  • The 16-day season in Northeastern Minnesota will start before the peak of the annual whitetail breeding period.  Deer will likely be less active early in the 16-day season. Peak rutting activity may not occur until mid-season as the annual rutting season ramps up. 
  • Fawn production was excellent following the extremely mild winter of 2011-2012.  This is one of the largest fawn crops since 1998, the extremely mild winter that produced a bumper fawn crop that allowed the population to rebound from the severe winters of 1995-96 and 1996-97.
  • Hunters will find field conditions (as of mid October) very dry.  Fire danger is high.  Forest access is excellent but water access (lakes, rivers and streams) are extremely low.  Many smaller streams are not navigable.
  • Winters, wolves and antlerless deer harvest are the most important factors affecting deer populations in our area.  Three out of the past five winters have been tough on local deer herds and fawn production.
  • Deer populations are now trending upward after the extremely mild winter of 2011-12 and long, warm growing season. But, the population recovery depends on the permit area you hunt.
  • Permit areas 176, 177, and 178 are the most productive areas in the Tower area. Hunters will likely see and harvest more deer in these areas in 2012. Fawn production was excellent. Twins are the norm.  Younger deer will be very abundant and highly visible.
  • Permit areas 108, 119, 118, 117, 122 and 127 are less productive.  Hunters will harvest more bucks than in 2011, but fewer antlerless deer.  Fawn production was good, but generally singles with scattered twins observed.  As a result, population recovery takes longer in these units.
  • Hunters will again be able to register deer by phone, computer or at traditional registration stations. Check your deer license for the phone number or internet address.  Know your permit area before you register.  There will be less traditional registration stations due to these changes.  Lower volume stations are being closed.
  • There are no new deer permit area changes in 2012.
See you in the woods!