Mark Lenarz is a biologist with the DNR's Forest Research Group in Grand Rapids and said last winter was a little rougher than average for deer north of a line from Duluth up to Warroad. "Everything south and west of that line came through just fine, and in terms of winter severity, it still was a pretty mild winter," he said.

The story north and east of that line, however, indicates another story. Lenarz said the state's Arrowhead Region experienced deep snow in areas such as Finland, with depths as high as 50 inches in early February. Even when the rest of the state was snow-free, that area still had 2 feet on the ground. Lenarz predicts a higher mortality rate for The Arrowhead than has been seen in the last five to 10 years. "I think it was a much tougher winter on the deer up there and throughout much of that country," he said.

TOP DEER REGIONS
Minnesota is broken up into four different deer hunting zones based on its four major ecological regions, otherwise known as biomes. The Prairie Parkland Zone is what makes up most of Zone 4. The Laurentian Mixed Forest Zone is what makes up most of Zone 1, and the Eastern Broadleaf Forest is Zone 2 north of the Twin Cities and Zone 3 south of the Twin Cities.

White-tailed deer thrive very well in all four zones, but their traditional range is in the Eastern Broadleaf Forest and the Prairie Parkland zones. Not surprisingly, those areas combine for around 85 percent of the harvest by bowhunters, with the Eastern Broadleaf Forest holding all of the top 10 permit areas.

Tim Bremicker is a regional wildlife manager who monitors the seven-county area around the Twin Cities as well as an extensive area north and northwest of the metro, including Wright, Sherburne, Todd, Morrison, Stearns, Benton, Chisago, Mille Lacs, Isanti and Kanabec counties. Portions of all four zones are found in his area, as are six of the top 10 permit areas by harvest.

Three of those permit areas are in within the seven-county Twin Cities metro, including Permit Area 236, our state's highest for bowhunters. Bremicker said one reason why so many deer are taken by bowhunters in his area is because a large portion is so urbanized. Firearms ordinances in many suburbs and metro-area cities -- along with private land access issues -- make bowhunting the only way to harvest deer.

"In the metro areas, there are pockets of high density but the harvest rate is not so much an issue of density as it is an issue of access," Bremicker said. Interestingly enough, most of the top 10 permit areas for bowhunters were not among the top in deer densities, according to a count done in spring 2004.

A lot of the land in the metro is privately owned or owned by city and regional units of government. All these factors put together make for a deer herd that is well protected from population control by hunters. Bremicker said the use of special hunts is a major management tool but that bowhunters gaining permission to hunt on private land probably do more to control the population. "There are a few hunters who do extremely well in the metro area, especially those who have access to good areas, most of which are privately owned," Bremicker said.

The southeast corner of Minnesota continues to be strong for bowhunters, and two of the top 10 permit areas are in that region of the state. Healthy deer population densities and access to public land help make this area so productive.

EXPANDED OPPORTUNITIES
One of the best things about being a bowhunter in Minnesota is the flexibility you have to hunt the entire state for a buck or a doe from early September until the end of the year.