DNR Announces First Plan to Manage Minnesota Deer Population

The Plan Seeks a Harvest of 200,000 Whitetails

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has outlined the state’s first deer management plan.

The plan announced Tuesday seeks a target harvest of 200,000 whitetails.

The plan is the result of a two-year effort that included meetings around Minnesota and input from a 19-member citizen advisory committee.

DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr says the agency has listened, “and the plan reflects that.”

The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association had advocated for a yearly target harvest of 225,000 deer. The Star Tribune reports the plan calls for an annual harvest of 200,000 deer, after DNR deer biologists pushed for a target of 190,000 deer.

The plan also calls for annual “deer management discussions” around Minnesota.

The DNR says responding to chronic wasting disease in Minnesota’s wild deer herd will be a top priority.