Minnesota deer harvest below last year's, as expected - Pioneer Press

Minnesota deer hunters are on track to shoot fewer deer than last year, which was a disappointing season to many.

But it was expected this year, and buck hunters are doing better.

As of Wednesday, Nov. 14, hunters killed 131,527 deer, 9 percent fewer than at the same time in the 2011 season. The biggest decrease was in the 100-series permit areas, which cover roughly the northeast quarter of the state. There, about 7,500 fewer deer were killed.

Lou Cornicelli, who oversees the state's deer hunt, had predicted a smaller harvest than last year and on Thursday said the numbers bore that out. "What we thought would happen is happening," Cornicelli said.

After disappointment by many hunters last year, the DNR lowered the bag limits in a number of deer hunting zones, protecting more female deer, which are the basis for a growing population.

The result was that deer hunters killed 6.5 percent more bucks statewide but 23.2 percent fewer antlerless deer.

3 hunters injured

Three hunters suffered injuries not believed to be life-threatening during Saturday's opening day for Wisconsin's nine-day firearms deer hunting season, officials said.

In Manitowoc County, one hunter was shot in the hand by a hunter from another party, DNR officials said in an afternoon briefing. The injury occurred when one hunter shot at a running deer during a deer drive, unaware that a hunter from another party was beyond his target. A third of deer hunting injuries in Wisconsin

occur during deer drives.

Also, in separate incidents, two hunters were injured after falls from tree stands, officials said.

New deer boss

After overseeing the deer hunt for a decade, Cornicelli is moving on at the DNR. The agency recently announced his replacement, Leslie McInenly, who will assume the title of big-game coordinator.

For some time, Cornicelli has been the DNR's wildlife research manager but continued his previous duties while a replacement was being sought.

McInenly, a Stillwater resident and native of the St. Croix Valley, has been on staff at the Minnesota Forest Resources Council for six years.

Deer license sales up

License sales for Minnesota's 2012 deer hunting seasons continue to outpace every year since at least 2000, the earliest year readily available from the DNR.

As of the Monday after the second weekend of the firearms season, more than 462,000 licenses had been sold. That's more than 10,000 more than any other year since 2000, according to DNR data.

Dave Orrick can be reached at 651-228-5512. Follow him at twitter.com/OutdoorsNow.

Source: http://www.twincities.com/outdoors/ci_22012551/minnesota-deer-harvest-below-last-years-expected?source=rss

katie couric barista university of kentucky ncaa oakland news alec baldwin alec baldwin