Minnesota Wildlife

Winter wildlife watching

Let it snow! Winter can be a fantastic time to watch wildlife and see tracks in the snow.

We have a recorded webinar all about learning to read animal tracks: Stories in the snow. The webinar is part of the Minnesota Outdoor Skills and Stewardship Series. Registration for upcoming webinars and the archive of recorded webinars are available on the Minnesota DNR website. If you want to be notified directly by email about upcoming webinars, make sure to join the email list.

“Grouse eating” photo courtesy of Alyssa Sheffield

CWD late-season hunt takes place in select DPAs Dec. 20-22

Deer hunters can participate in a late-season CWD management hunt Friday, Dec. 20, through Sunday, Dec. 22. Deer permit areas open to this CWD management hunt are 605, 642, 643, 645, 646, 647, 648 and 649.

The Minnesota DNR establishes CWD management hunts to assess disease prevalence and to help mitigate the risk of CWD transmission by reducing the number of deer. To encourage participation in the management hunt, there is flexibility in the licenses and permits that are valid and there are no restrictions on the number of deer that a hunter may take.

Although the bag limit for this hunt is unlimited, 98% of successful hunters during the late-season CWD hunt in 2023 took only one or two deer. Details about licenses and permits, mandatory CWD sampling, and other important information for hunters, is available on the DNR website.

“Nicole’s first deer” photo courtesy of John Bullert from a 2018 hunt 

CWD confirmed in a wild deer near Wheaton in western Minnesota

A deer harvested near Wheaton in western Minnesota during the opening weekend of firearms season has tested positive for chronic wasting disease.

The adult male deer was harvested within deer permit area 271 along the Minnesota-South Dakota border. To date, no wild deer with CWD had been previously detected in DPA 271, nearby DPAs or near the Minnesota border in eastern South Dakota.

Harvesting antlerless deer in December 

Late season is a great time to harvest does and put venison in the freezer. While there are certain areas of the state where we want to conserve does like northern Minnesota, other areas have higher bag limits, and in these areas, the DNR encourages hunters to harvest does. Here’s some more to consider from the National Deer Association. 

“Second one that day” photo courtesy of Dean Storgaard from a 2023 hunt

Sharing stories from new hunters

We’re sharing stories from hunters who’ve taken someone new hunting and participated in the Hunter Mentor Pledge. Here’s one from James Rupe of Rochester, who shared this story from October 2023:

Took my 12-year-old daughter deer hunting for her first time this year. She has been practicing with my muzzleloader for the last few months and is now a good shot with it. We spent three days in the blind during the youth season. She had a blast. The first time we cooked our MREs for lunch as she had never done that before. Unfortunately, we did not see any deer, however there were a lot of pheasants in the field we were in. We are planning on going back to that field in the next week with our dogs.

The Hunter Mentor Pledge from the Minnesota DNR and Pheasants Forever encourages hunters to take someone hunting who has never hunted or hasn’t hunted for a few years. The program is open to all types of hunting in Minnesota that are legal and in-season. Participation is simple and you can find all the details on the Minnesota DNR take a friend hunting webpage.

Photo courtesy of James Rupe

Wildlife highlight: river otters

Did you know one of the best times to see river otters is winter?

As ice covers lakes and rivers, otters need to find holes in the ice to surface and breathe. This naturally crowds otters together — making them much easier for wildlife watchers to find. Otters are very active around dawn and dusk. If you’re out on a walk near water, keep an eye on holes in the ice!

Learn more about river otters in Minnesota on the DNR website. 

cebye, iNaturalist