Bowhunting for whitetail deer is a challenging prospect, but it's growing in popularity throughout Minnesota. The number of archers in our state continues to climb, and last year a record number of bowhunters -- just missing the 100,000 mark -- took to the woods for the opportunity to arrow a whitetail.

Hunter Gabe Adair shows off a first-quality Minnesota bow kill. Photo by Ron Hustvedt.

As far as hunting opportunities go in the state of Minnesota, there's no bigger bargain than an archery deer license. The season runs almost 16 weeks from mid-September to the end of December, and there is no other method of hunting with as many acres of huntable land.

"A bowhunter can hunt the edges of the suburbs and exurbs of the Twin Cities, the fields of western Minnesota, the bluffs of the southeast, all the way out to the most remote locations in the north," said Lou Cornicelli, Big Game Program coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

"Archers benefit from a very long season, and they aren't stuck as bad when there's goofy weather like what happens to firearms and muzzleloader hunters during their relatively short seasons," he added.

Because of discharge laws in many cities and small towns throughout the state, firearms hunters and muzzleloaders don't have as much hunting acreage available as do bowhunters. With the exception of the urban core, bowhunters have almost free rein to hunt every public acre of the state and any private land on which they have permission to hunt.

"It's an exciting prospect but also a daunting one," said Pete Alfano of Whitetail Trophy Properties. "Just because you can hunt a piece of land doesn't mean you should. Bow­hunters have more opportunities to hunt, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't carefully select their hunting location and do the scouting work it takes to create a successful hunt."

As the deer population continues to move closer to the MDNR's management goals, the number of deer-hunting opportunities remains strong despite potential declines in harvest limits. "There's been significant harvest issues in the southwest part of the state, and there might be bucks-only for hunters in some permit areas except for a few youth hunts," Cornicelli said. "Otherwise, things should look the same for bowhunters around the state."

When asked about what parts of the state receive more hunting pressure from archers than others, Cornicelli said there's not any solid data, but all indications are that the closer to the Twin Cities metro area you get, the higher the proportion of bowhunters.

"Permit areas like 601 and 236 are pretty much archery-only areas because there really aren't many firearms hunting locations," he said. "In those areas, archers take a higher percentage."

Minnesota's deer population appears to have fared well following a winter that was a bit more severe than the norm for the last decade, according to Mark Lenarz, MDNR wildlife biologist with the Forest Wildlife Populations and Research Group out of Grand Rapids. "In most places, this past winter was a moderate one, though we've seen a real severe winter in northeastern Minnesota in Cook, Lake and northern St. Louis counties," he said.