A press release from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Hunters will have more opportunities to harvest deer this season concludes with these reminders:
There are significant changes to the regulations related to chronic wasting disease, as the DNR continues its aggressive management of CWD and also ensuring hunter and staff safety by implementing sampling changes that allow for social distancing and community mitigation measures.
The DNR has created additional CWD testing areas due to the detection of CWD in both wild and captive deer in new areas last year. While sampling is voluntary this season, a move the DNR made to mitigate the risk of spreading coronavirus during the COVID-19 pandemic, the DNR highly encourages hunters in these sampling areas to participate in testing their harvested wild deer. The DNR remains confident that hunter cooperation will allow the agency to detect the disease.
Since fall 2017, the DNR has required hunters to have their deer tested for CWD in certain areas of the state to monitor the disease and discover new areas where it may have spread. Rather than having staffed sampling stations as in the past, the DNR will set up a network of self-service stations where hunters can drop off samples. Full details will be available on the CWD webpage closer to the start of the season.
On July 1, deer feeding and attractant bans were expanded to include the metro area. In addition, due to the spread of CWD, the antler point restrictions in southeastern Minnesota have been temporarily lifted and cross-tagging, also known as party hunting, will be allowed in southeastern Minnesota for antlered bucks.
As in previous years, the DNR is enforcing carcass movement restrictions in disease management and control zones to limit the spread of disease.
Additional regulation changes are detailed on the DNR’s deer hunting webpage at mndnr.gov/hunting/deer.
Photo: A white-tailed buck.
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