Minnesota's deer firearms season opens Saturday, marking the start of one of the state's most anticipated hunting traditions.

And the successful start of the archery and youth seasons, which opened earlier, augurs well for this weekend’s opener.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports the early deer hunt seasons saw a 30 percent increase in harvest numbers compared to last year.

“I expect that trend to continue into this weekend for the firearms opener, as people get in the field and get in their stands to go deer hunting,” said Paul Burr, deer coordinator for the DNR's big game program.

Overall, Burr said most hunters across the state should have ample opportunities to fill their tags.

“We've had three consecutive very, very mild or non-existent winters, and that really benefits the deer population,” he said. “Their survival increases, reproduction increases, so their populations tend to increase, and we see that reflected in harvest numbers.”

However, Burr added, hunters in the northeast could still be in for a challenge.

“Just because deer densities are still struggling a little bit. We're not getting that rebound as quickly as we would like,” he said. “That's why we're a little bit more conservative, too, with big big limits up there. So hunters might have a little harder time in that far-north forested area."

According to Burr, license sales for the firearms season are also up 9 percent from this time last year, but he said that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s been an increase in hunters.

“Maybe hunters are buying their licenses earlier. We have been recommending that a lot because of our new electronic licensing system,” Burr said. “So I'm happy to see an increase in those license sales for firearms hunters.”

This season, the DNR is changing the way it tracks chronic wasting disease infections in the state’s wild deer populations. CWD is always fatal and is spread to healthy deer through the bodily fluids of a sick deer.

"Essentially, we've cut Minnesota into four quarters, and every year for the next four years, we're going to go to each one of those quarters and do a pretty intensive sampling,” Burr said. “This will just give us a good overall statewide picture of what CWD looks like, where it's at and how much of it is throughout the entire state."

Burr said the DNR is focusing on the southwest region first, and hunters should check online to see if their deer permit area falls in one of the mandatory CWD testing areas.

“There’s nothing more Minnesotan than spending time with family and friends in the woods, breathing in the crisp autumn air and enjoying the outdoors together,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a release marking the governor’s opener in Grand Rapids on Thursday. “Good luck this weekend, and have a safe hunt.”

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.