In 2004, there were eight state parks opened up to muzzleloaders, and in each case there were more applications than permits available. Most of these special muzzleloader hunts featured harvest rates similar to the rest of the state, though a few were extremely high. At Lake Louise State Park in Mower County near the Iowa border, 25 hunters managed to kill 31 antlerless deer thanks in part to bonus permits. The 15 muzzleloaders who hunted in Rice Lake State Park in Steele County near Owatonna smoked 15 antlerless deer.

By the time the calendar flips to December, bowhunters have had almost 11 weeks of hunting time, though some of it was shared with firearms hunters.

Lou Cornicelli is the big-game specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the one in charge of keeping track of Minnesota's deer hunting numbers. He checked some data from the Electronic Licensing System and said Minnesota's late-season archery harvest is very low.

"The harvest rates by bowhunters really fall off the table after the firearms season," he said.

Cornicelli highlighted the 2004 data from Permit Area 236, a favorite of archers located just northeast of the Twin Cities, roughly from Stillwater to Taylors Falls.

"In this permit area, only 15 percent of the total harvest came in December, and that's one of the highest rates in the state," he said.

To prove that point, Cornicelli checked the combined data for permit areas 248 and 414 in Todd and Morrison counties. These two permit areas have high concentrations of whitetails and high numbers of hunters, but the December archery harvest rate was less than 5 percent. Cornicelli said these permit areas are more reflective of the rest of the state.

One of the primary reasons for this is the fact that the weather in late November and all of December is generally cold and not as conducive to bowhunting. Another reason is that the population of the deer herd is significantly less due to the large kill by firearms hunters.

"By that time, most bowhunters already have a deer or two, and it's pretty darn cold, and most bowhunters aren't equipped to bowhunt in minus-20 degree weather," Cornicelli said.

Cornicelli said there has not been any demand for an extended archery season past Dec. 31 in Minnesota. There is a season extending into January in Wisconsin, but the harvest numbers are very low, Cornicelli said.

Some bowhunters still like to hunt in these cold conditions and take advantage of the unique opportunities that exist during the deep winter. Others have turned in their bow for a chance to use their muzzleloader. There are no solid numbers showing how many hunters use all three methods available to them, but the popularity of the All-Season License -- and anecdotal evidence -- shows that a lot of hunters like starting with archery gear, transitioning to firearms hunting, and ending with muzzleloaders.

LOCATIONAL PATTERNS
Cook has hunted the late season throughout our state, from the Whitewater Wildlife Management Area in Minnesota's southeast corner to the area around Hallock in the northwest, and everything between.

"I'm fortunate that I have a lot of good spots to hunt around the state, about half private and half public," Cook said.

Finding a good area, Cook said, is the same no matter where you are in the state. Find the food and you'll find the deer. In December and the rest of the winter, deer are more food-based than any other time of the year. Because food sources are often covered by snow or simply don't grow during the cold weather, deer will go to wherever they have a consistent food supply.

"Anything they can paw at, they'll go after, whether it's wheat, clover, acorns or whatever is still green," he said.

Finding standing crops can be a great way to begin your search for an area, said Luttrell. A lot of our WMAs have stands of corn and other food sources that are left in the field throughout the winter. Deer will relate to these areas, and hunters would be wise to locate some of these locations. Deer tend to congregate in larger groups during the wintertime, but they don't herd up into really big groups unless it gets downright brutal.