Photo by BillKinney.com

It's good to be a bowhunter in Minnesota. In fact, compared to hunters who use firearms and muzzleloaders, bowhunters have the longest season, the most liberal bag limits, the most flexibility in permits and locations, not to mention first crack at the woods from the season opener on Sept. 17 until the firearms opener on Nov. 5. And bowhunters also have the last crack at the woods because the season doesn't end until the last day of the year.

Ask most bowhunters throughout our state and they'll tell you they love having seven weeks of almost undisturbed hunting before the orange crew invades the woods. The season runs more than 90 days, and conditions vary from having to beat away the mosquitoes on opening weekend to needing more layers than can be counted on one hand by season's end. Put all those together and the bowhunting season is truly something to be experienced.

You won't get any argument from Roger Karn, president of Minnesota Bowhunters Incorporated (MBI). "There are more deer in Minnesota as well as more opportunities to bowhunt today, which is great," Karn said.

The MBI has been around since 1946, with the goal of promoting the sport of archery, working with the Legislature to enhance bowhunting opportunities and network with archery clubs around the state. MBI has been around nearly 60 years, and in that time bowhunting has gone from a fringe activity enjoyed by a few to a major hunt enjoyed by thousands.

"The equipment today is better, making bowhunters more proficient, and the quality of hunter is also better with more places to learn from and opportunities to hone your skills," Karn said.

What has stayed the same is the purist nature of many bowhunters. "A lot of bowhunters don't shoot most of the time and pass on the does and younger bucks we come across, which is less common with other types of hunting," Karn said.

The 2005 season is as good as any to head into the deer woods with a bow and arrow, said Lou Cornicelli, big-game program coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. "Minnesota has a high deer population and, in general, archers have benefited greatly from those numbers," Cornicelli said.

Each year approximately 70,000 bowhunters take to the woods and fields throughout our state for the chance at some venison. In 2004, there was a total of 20,755 deer taken by bowhunters. Break that down and it works out to 16,923 bucks (mature and fawn) and 3,832 does (mature and fawn). The overall harvest in 2004 was down from a record year in 2003 but Cornicelli said that was expected.

"We had 260,000 deer taken this last year, which was the second-highest ever after a record of 290,000 in 2003, which was really a year when the stars lined up for a good hunt," Cornicelli added.

Cornicelli said it would be hard to predict if Minnesota will ever see a deer harvest that exceeds 300,000. One reason why 2003 was so high was because there were so many permits available, the crops were still out and the weather cooperated for the most part. The 2005 season overall is predicted to be a good one thanks to a mild winter over most of the state. "We are sitting on a fair number of deer and it should be a good season for hunters in most parts of the state," Cornicelli said.

Temperatures were above normal in early April and the snow disappeared quickly, meaning the deer gained access to food sources untapped throughout much of the wintertime. This helped curb spring mortality rates and allowed does to have a better chance of a healthy set of fawns.