Deer Season Opens Saturday

Here we go, it's the opening of the Minnesota firearms deer season a half hour before on sunrise on Saturday, November 4.

It's a big thing in Minnesota at least as far as money goes. The Minnesota DNR reports deer as the number-one hunted species in Minnesota with hunters contributing more than $1.3 billion each year to the economy. When you break it down we find that hunters spend around $400 million on equipment. Food, lodging and transportation totals around $235 million. Sales of other items like licenses, permits, magazines etc bring in around another $90 million.

As to the deer, the biggest white-tailed deer recorded in Minnesota was a 500 pound buck. The average female white-tail weights 145 lbs. and the males check in on average 170 lbs.

There are just under a half million firearms deer hunters in Minnesota. Last year 32% of the hunters reported success in bringing home a deer.

Start early, as 70% of the Minnesota firearms deer harvest occurs during the first three or four days of the season.

Good luck. And oh yes, don't forget to set your block back one hour on Saturday night. You get an extra hours sleep before the second day of hunting.