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MARSHALL -- The firearms deer hunting season opens in Minnesota this weekend. However, this year there will be some important changes for the deer opener, including sampling for chronic wasting disease (CWD) in southwest Minnesota and the end of shotgun-only hunting in many Minnesota counties.
More than 400,000 hunters are anticipated to participate in the 2026 deer opener on Saturday, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said. In southern Minnesota, deer populations are stable or increasing, largely due to a series of mild winters that have helped more deer survive, the DNR said.
According to the DNR's hunting outlook, there are some other positive signs for deer populations in southern Minnesota. Trees that produce nuts, seeds and berries, especially bur oak trees, have had a good production year. This fall's rains could also be good for plants producing late-season deer food.
This fall the DNR is reminding hunters to be aware of some important changes for the start of deer season. One change is the start of a new surveillance plan for CWD. Under the plan, deer sampling will rotate through different regions of the state.
"The rotational sampling will give us a more complete picture of where CWD exists in Minnesota," DNR wildlife disease response coordinator Patrick Hagen said in an October news release. "Recent detections of disease in areas of the state outside of current CWD management zones has prompted the need for a broader approach to sampling."
The four-year surveillance cycle starts in southwest Minnesota, with sampling required for deer harvested Nov. 7-8. All deer harvested that are one year old or older must be sampled for CWD, the DNR announced earlier this fall.
The DNR said hunters in southwest Minnesota will have multiple ways to test deer on opening weekend, including visiting a staffed or self-service sampling station, obtaining a free mail-in sampling kit before opening weekend, or visiting a taxidermist or deer processor who is participating in the CWD Partner Sampling Program. More information about CWD sampling is available on the DNR's website, at https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/cwd/index.html.
The other big change for deer hunters in southern Minnesota is that the state no longer has a shotgun-only deer hunting zone. However, individual counties in the former shotgun zone have the option to adopt county-level restrictions. The DNR is encouraging hunters to check county ordinances in the area where they intend to hunt.
According to the DNR's website, the list of counties that have shotgun-only ordinances currently includes some area counties like Brown, Cottonwood, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Nobles, Rock and Watonwan Counties.