MANKATO — The special archery deer hunt permitted each fall and early winter in Mankato appears to have hit a plateau.
“Between 20 hunters there were a total of 31 deer harvested in this year’s hunt, which is right in line with our average numbers from the past five years,” said Justin Lundborg, natural resources specialist for the city of Mankato who administers the program.
The hunt began on Sept. 16 and when it came to a close on New Year’s Eve, the tally was virtually identical to 2022 (29 deer harvested), 2021 (30 deer), 2020 (32) and 2019 (34).
Motivated by the number of deer-vehicle collisions in Mankato and widespread complaints of deer gorging on residential landscaping, particularly in west Mankato and nearby neighborhoods, the city obtained permission from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to conduct the hunt starting in 2003. In the initial years, it was held within Rasmussen Woods Nature Area but has since expanded to a few ravines and outlying residential areas.
After averaging about 20 deer a year for the first decade of the hunt, the tally has been consistently between 28 and 37 since then — the one exception being the record-setting year of 2018 when 44 were taken.
Lundborg figures the warm weather and utter lack of snow during the hunt provided advantages both to the hunters and the hunted.
“Mild weather late this fall could have several different impacts on harvest numbers,” he said. “On one hand, hunters likely spent more time afield due to the comfortable temperatures while on the other hand deer were likely more active during overnight hours due to the unseasonably warm temperatures.”
The DNR allows archery hunts in roughly 20 Minnesota cities each year, and Mankato’s is one of the more active ones. The agency hasn’t released city-by-city totals for 2023, but in 2022 Mankato’s 29 harvested deer trailed only Duluth’s 158 and New Ulm’s 58. (Bemidji technically has two hunts — one in the city (21 deer taken) and one at the regional airport (15 deer).
Mankato is authorized for 40 permits, compared to 400 in Duluth, 56 in New Ulm, 50 in Austin, 44 in Bemidji (plus 20 more at the airport). Most of the 19 cities that had hunts in 2022 were allowed between 10 and 20 permits.
In Mankato’s case, there are typically many more applications from hunters looking to partake in the program than available spots, even though archers must demonstrate their proficiency with a bow (and pay a $15 fee for the archery test) in order to be granted a permit.
They must have written permission from landowners if they’re looking to hunt on private land. They’re required to check in and check out with the city each time they hunt. And as an accountability measure, they are assigned an individual ID number that must be put on each of their arrows in indelible ink.
The city often receives up to 50 applications for the right to hunt in the city, but the number of allowed hunting locations is substantially lower than the 40 permits allowed by the DNR. That’s because Mankato has precise limitations on how close the archers can be to developed areas. As more homes are built and other development occurs each year, the number of potential hunting spots declines.
Hunting stands can be no closer than 125 feet from a road, trail or occupied building. And they must be at least 75 feet from any private property unless the owner has provided written permission for them to be closer.
The number of deer harvested across Minnesota by all types of hunters was down substantially in 2023. A preliminary tally by the DNR puts the number at 156,981 — down from 172,265 harvested in 2022, nearly 185,000 in 2021 and more than 197,000 in 2020. In the past 25 years, only 2014 had fewer deer taken — 139,442.
The state topped 200,000 deer harvested for nine straight years at the beginning of this century, including a record 290,525 in 2003.