Metro Harvests Continue to Climb

[Ben Sobieck]

According to preliminary figures from the Arrowhead Bowhunters Alliance, Duluth bowhunters took a record 578 deer in this past fall's hunt.

That's up from last year's harvest of 533. Previous harvests were 567 in 2007, 564 in 2006 and 331 in 2005.

The hunt ran from Sept. 19 to Dec. 31. A total of 315 hunters were registered to take part, up from 289 last year.

Of this year's total, 486 (84 percent) were antlerless deer, and 92 (16 percent) were adult bucks. Those proportions are very similar to past years' hunts.

Hunt organizers were pleased with the totals, especially considering the harvest across Northeastern Minnesota was down about 20 percent.

"It's a testament to the commitment of our hunters and the number of deer in our city," said Phillip Lockett, president of ABA.

About 44 percent of the harvest came from private land within the city, said Brian Borkholder, who keeps hunt statistics for the ABA.

"Without the support and cooperation of landowners, our harvest would not be nearly what it is," Borkholder said.

The private-land harvest was about the same last year, he said.

[bowman12]

That's awesome! They could be trying to feed them contraceptives, as I've heard some other cities have tried, so I'm glad it's going so well! Hopefully we can spread the news.

[MRJ8321]

Wow! I live in Dakota county, southern suburb of Minnesota, any idea if/when they will have a metro bow hunt?