Photo: KBJR-TV

By Molly Wasche of KBJR-TV - July 27, 2021

As Minnesota deer hunters begin to gear up for the 2021 season, they might want to refresh on the new changes.

One change this year is a shift to a five-deer bag limit in areas that were previously under an unlimited antlerless bag limit.

“For the 2021 season, hunters may harvest more than one deer in almost half of the permit areas,” said Barbara Keller, DNR big game program leader. “Overall, bag-limit designations for this year are similar to last year, with a few changes in certain areas to move populations toward goal.”

Also this year, the DNR is changing the names of bag-limit designations to make the bag limits more clear.

The one-deer limit categories are “bucks only,” “antlerless permit lottery” (formerly “lottery”) and “either-sex” (formerly “hunter choice”). “Managed” is now “two-deer limit,” and “intensive” is now “three-deer limit.” The bag-limit descriptions remain unchanged, except for the “unlimited antlerless” designation, which has been replaced with a “five-deer limit” designation.

Several deer permit area boundaries in southwest and northeast Minnesota have changed based on input from the public, tribal communities, and DNR staff.

Early antlerless deer season has been expanded to Oct. 21-24 for hunters in areas where deer populations are above population goals or where there is an increased risk of CWD spreading.

Antlerless permits can be applied for starting Sunday, Aug. 1, through Thursday, Sept. 9.

The Camp Ripley archery hunt will be a single, three-day hunt (Oct. 29-31), instead of two, two-day hunts. The Camp Ripley lottery deadline is Aug. 20.

Hunting licenses go on sale Sunday, Aug. 1.

Archery deer season opens Saturday, Sept. 18, and firearms deer season opens Saturday, Nov. 6.

More deer hunting season information can be found here.

To see the original report and read related story, follow this link to the KBJR-TV website.  https://kbjr6.com/2021/07/27/what-to-know-for-minnesotas-2021-deer-hunting-season/