As most bowhunters know by now, the flexibility bowhunters enjoy expanded in 2003 when new regulations were adopted. Lou Cornicelli was a major mover and shaker of those adjustments, and is pleased with the praise given by most people. DNR conservation officers have said the new system is much easier from an enforcement standpoint, and hunters -- who have no qualms with calling the DNR and complaining -- seem to like the adjustments. "I really like the new system, but I'm subjective because I have a ton of ownership in the whole thing," Cornicelli said.

Those new regulations are still confusing to many hunters, however, so here is a brief recap to bring them up to speed. Minnesota now has only three designations for its permit areas: lottery, managed and intensive harvest.

A lottery permit area has a limited number of antlerless permits available to firearms hunters, meaning they must go through a lottery to receive an antlerless tag. Bowhunters in these areas saw no change in regulations and still only needed an archery license to take a deer of either sex. If they planned on firearms hunting in the area without a doe tag, they could only harvest a buck, assuming they hadn't already done so with their archery license.

A managed permit area means a hunter, archery or firearms, can take a deer of either sex and then purchase a bonus permit to take another deer, so long as it is antlerless. An intensive harvest permit area means a hunter -- archery or firearms -- can kill a deer of either sex and then purchase up to four bonus permits for additional antlerless deer.

Bowhunters who also like to go firearms hunting used to be required to make a choice between using their archery tag or their firearms tag. The all-season license helped change that by allowing bowhunters to take two deer each season, one buck and one antlerless. The license works around the entire state except for the Zone 3B hunt, and only bowhunters who happen to go firearms hunting in a lottery-designated permit area had to apply for a firearms antlerless permit.

As of press time the Minnesota DNR was considering a proposal to allow hunters to use both their archery and firearms license tags. Instead of hunters having to choose to fill only one of their licenses, they could tag a deer on both their regular archery and regular firearms license but only one buck would still be allowed. Check the new regulations before heading out.

If none of that made sense, here's something that will. The new system means Minnesota bowhunters can put a lot of venison in the freezer if they really want to without having to do much more than study a map and purchase the proper tags. Cornicelli said bowhunters shouldn't find many changes in the permit area designations from last year to this year but encouraged them to carefully check the 2005 hunting regulations and the deer permit map before heading into the woods, especially with an all-season license.

SPECIAL HUNTS
Bowhunters are perhaps the state's most flexible management tool and they are often called upon to help manage the herd in the state's urban areas. The DNR administers several hunts around the Twin Cities, including hunts at regional parks like Crow-Hassan, Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve and Cleary Lake Regional Park. The application deadline for these hunts is in early September, so check the hunting regulations as soon as possible to find out details. These hunts are open to either-sex archery hunting, with the opportunity for up to four bonus permits.

The cities of New Ulm, Red Wing, Sandstone, Mankato and Granite Falls offer similar hunts most every year. Complete information on the dates, licensing requirements and application deadlines of these hunts -- and a listing of other special hunts -- can be found in the regulations booklet or by visiting the DNR's Web site at www.dnr.state.mn.us.