MARSHALL — Deer numbers in Minnesota were looking good for last week’s firearm hunting opener. Paul Burr, acting big game program coordinator with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said so far, the deer harvest this year was about 7% above last year’s harvest.

“We’ve had two very mild winters in a row which bodes well for the deer population. In general, mild winters mean increased survival, better body condition, and more fawns being recruited into the population,” Burr said. “We also had a wet growing season meaning more and better food.”

The DNR’s preliminary deer harvest data said so far there have been a total of 114,524 deer harvested statewide in 2025. A little more than 60% of the deer taken were adult males.

Harvest numbers are generated from the DNR’s electronic licensing and registration system. The data was last updated Thursday, according to the DNR’s website.

In deer permit area 288, which includes Marshall, a total of 421 deer have been harvested so far, DNR data said. In 2024, the same permit area had a total harvest of 634 deer for the year.

Harvests for 2025 were higher in areas along the Minnesota River valley. Permit area 281, which covers parts of the Granite Falls and Redwood Falls areas, has had a harvest of 741 deer so far. Further east, permit areas 290 and 291 near New Ulm have had harvests of 718 deer and 1,125 deer, respectively.

Burr said southeast and central Minnesota tend to have higher densities of deer, as they have a mix of forest and agricultural land to provide habitat and food. In the southwest part of the state, there’s more agricultural land and less habitat, which means fewer total deer. In the forested land in northeast Minnesota, the deer herd is more sensitive to weather and habitat changes like timber harvest, he said.

“These factors directly relate to the bag limits we place, as areas with fewer deer have more restrictive bag limits and areas of higher deer densities have much more liberal limits,” Burr said.

Besides deer populations, factors like weather and the number of hunters all affect Minnesota’s deer harvest, Burr said.

“Long term we are losing hunters for a variety of reasons, but in the last year or two hunter numbers have been somewhat steady,” Burr said. “This year the license sales are the same as last year’s. More hunters and more deer generally mean greater harvest.”

Good weather also helps draw out more hunters. “About 35% of all deer harvested per year are taken during opening firearms weekend. If the weather is bad during that weekend, we see fewer hunters out and reduced harvest overall,” he said. “Thankfully this year’s weather was great on Saturday and okay on Sunday, although it was colder and windier.”

Forecasts for this weekend are mostly sunny in the Marshall area, with daytime temperatures reaching a high of 53 degrees on Saturday and 48 degrees on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls. Winds on Saturday could gust as high as 25 miles per hour, the NWS said.

Having crops on the landscape is another factor that can also make it harder for hunters to get deer, Burr said. However, this year many farmers have been able to harvest their crops in time for the deer opener.