This year's change in deer hunting regulations

by Heidi Holtan

This morning I talked with Perry Loeggering on The Morning Show. He's an Area Wildlife Manager for the DNR.

Perry talked about the significant changes in deer regulations this year and the new boundaries for permit areas.

Perry had this to say,

"Some years we can't have as liberal of a season as we'd like. There's a change in boundaries to better match the land use. It's also that some of these areas - especially in the forested areas - we're reaching our goal of deer numbers and so we're ramping down the harvest level. We're going from a situation where anyone can buy a license and hunt either sex to having to apply for a lottery to get an antlerless permit (for over 18 year old firearm and muzzleloader hunters).

A lot of these areas - like up in Marcell - have been open to either sex deer hunting for about 7 or 8 years - and now we've got a lottery. Hunters need to take a look at regulations to see where they hunt to see if they are in a managed area. If you buy just a standard firearms license you can hunt across these lines and you can always hunt for a buck deer anywhere in the state."

You can pick up a regulation guide when you buy a license or see the regulations here.

Bloom & Doom: A Flurry of Phenology

The Phenology Show w John Latimer is almost 26 years old, covering the nature of our area. Or, as John says, "the rhythmic biological nature of events as they relate to climate." Phenology is a great example of the high quality, local program produced at KAXE.

This week on Phenology Plus we heard about the crashing Moose population in north-western MN with an unbelievable population decline: 20 years ago there were over 4000 Moose, today the number is estimated to be 84! Very sad news about such a majestic creature. Wildlife biologists aren't sure why this is happening and the research is ongoing; you can help by reporting any Moose sightings to the DNR by clicking here. Mark Johnson is a the Executive Director of the Minnesota Deer Hunter's Association and he talked with us about what he learned, click here to listen to that conversation.

A related issue is diseases that are carried by a rising Deer population that are deadly for Moose. The increased Deer population also has an effect on White Pine stands. Click here to listen to our converstaion with retired Forester Keith Matson; we asked if you can have Deer and White Pine too?

You can also use the following links to listen to John Latimer's Phenology Report & Phenology Talkbacks, and John and Harry Hutchins talking about the wild life they've observed during this late summer/early fall during A Talk on the Wild Side.

You can listen to previous episodes, get real time Phenology updates from John Latimer, check out nature videos and pictures and more at The Phenology Page at www.KAXE.org.