Farmers Asked To Wear Hunting Gear For Deer Opener

North Dakota's Opener is on Friday and Minnesota's is on Saturday

NORTH DAKOTA & MINNESOTA — Because of challenges with flooding and snow, farmers are being forced to work late into the season to harvest their crops.

That leaves them directly in the firing zone as hunters sprawl across the fields of North Dakota and Minnesota for the deer hunting opener.

“Understanding that those farmers are out there in their combine and the deer hunters need to be aware that there may be deer out there but there may also be a farmer,”Biologist of North Dakota Game And Fish Doug Leier.

Farmers are being asked to throw on protective hunting gear when they go out to harvest so they are able to easily be identified by hunters.

“You as a farmer might want to be wearing a blaze orange cap or a blaze orange vest so that your visible if your tractor gets stuck and your walking back to get your pickup truck, you might want to have on a blaze hat to make yourself visible,” Leier said.

Businesses like Scheels are making sure they are well stocked to keep everyone safe.

“So blaze orange is a crucial piece to have with any of your hunting season for deer by any means in North Dakota and Minnesota both are mandated there you also want to make sure that you are staying safe out there and clearly see where you are and find you if need be,” Scheels Nick Larsen.

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is asking for hunters in the Red River Valley to bring in their deer heads to test for Chronic Wasting Disease which has been sprouting up across the western part of the state.

“So we have had the positive tests in the western part of the state but we continue to test in the rest of the state just to be proactive,” Leier said.

The department hopes these tests will stop the spread of the disease.

That will lead to having healthy deer and good hunting seasons like this year where North Dakota gave out 10 thousand more tags than last year.

“We got about 40 thousand deer hunters that didn’t draw a tag and wish they could have drawn a tag. If you drew a tag consider yourself very fortunate,” Leier said.