What to look out for this year as deer season to begins this weekend in ND & MN

NORTH DAKOTA & MINNESOTA (KVRR) — Early November brings a special tradition for thousands of North Dakotans and Minnesotans.

Deer hunting season begins Friday in North Dakota and Saturday in Minnesota.

“You may not be a deer hunter, but you probably work with somebody, live near somebody, or know somebody that is a deer hunter,” North Dakota Game and Fish Outreach Biologist Doug Leier said.

More than 70,000 North Dakotans and 400,000 Minnesotans are getting ready for the deer hunting season.

Accessing land will look different in North Dakota this year as the state now allows digital postings of prohibited or private property. It’s the first state in the nation to allow electronic postings.

“You may have some place that you’ve hunted the last five years or your family’s hunted the last 50 years and now this year, you don’t see a sign, but electronically, it may be asking for permission before you access that land for hunting,” Leier explained.

The penalty for hunting on posted land, including electronically, is a Class B misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of 30 days in prison, a $1,500 fine or both for the first offense.

It’s a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum prison sentence of one year, a fine of $3,000 fine or both for more offenses in a two-year period.

“Communication is really key,” Leier said. “So, if you do shoot a deer that does go onto land that isn’t posted, you do need to go through the proper channels and make sure that you have permission to access that land.”

Click here to view North Dakota’s electronic posting FAQ page.

In Minnesota, the biggest change is mandatory testing for chronic wasting disease.

“It’s mandatory that hunters go to DNR check stations that are all set up there. There’s 21 of them total; 13 will be in person and 8 will be self-service,” Minnesota DNR Asst. Northwest Regional Wildlife Manager Blane Klemek added.

The Minnesota DNR conducts testing in areas where chronic wasting disease, or CWD, has been discovered in wild or captive white-tailed deer.

Depending on its proximity to known cases of CWD and whether CWD has been found in wild deer, a DPA can be designated a management, control or surveillance zone.

During opening weekends of the A and B deer seasons, any deer 1 year or older that is harvested from a DPA designated as a CWD zone must be submitted for testing. The only exceptions are DPAs 213 and 273, where DNR is in the second year of evaluating a risk-based surveillance strategy and testing is voluntary. In DPAs 213 and 273, the DNR is collecting samples at self-service stations throughout all deer seasons.

For more information on CWD zones, click here.

Klemek says the epizootic hemorrhagic disease outbreak is no longer a big concern. “Just recently here in the Northland, it’s froze and when that happens, the midges, the insect that will cause EHD, they die,” Klemek explained.

Both experts urge hunters to remember their blaze orange and to take precautions before squeezing the trigger.

Blaze pink is also acceptable while hunting in Minnesota.