Deer lottery application deadline is Sept. 7
News | Published on September 12, 2023 at 4:04pm EDT | Author: frazeevergas
0The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reminds firearm and muzzleloader hunters who want to harvest antlerless deer in a deer permit area designated as antlerless permit lottery this hunting season to purchase their license by Thursday, Sept. 7. Hunters who purchase their license on or before this date are automatically entered into the lottery for the deer permit area or special hunt area they declare.
Successful applicants will receive a postcard in the mail authorizing them to take an antlerless deer using their regular license in that antlerless permit lottery area. No application is needed to take antlerless deer in permit areas with either sex, two-deer limit, three-deer limit or five-deer limit designations.
Hunters who want to participate in special firearm or muzzleloader deer hunts also need to apply for permits that are issued through a lottery. That application deadline is also Sept. 7.
More information about designations and regulations for deer permit areas, as well as details about special hunt opportunities, are available on the Minnesota DNR website (mndnr.gov/hunting/deer) and in the 2023 Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations Handbook, which is available online and in print by late August wherever DNR licenses are sold.
Walk-In Access lands open Sept. 1
Beginning Friday, Sept. 1, hunters can access 29,000 acres of private land across 41 counties in western and south-central Minnesota through the Walk-In Access program, which pays landowners to allow public hunting on their property.
Hunters with a $3 Walk-In Access validation can access these lands from a half-hour before sunrise until a half-hour after sunset during open hunting seasons between Sept. 1 and May 31. No additional landowner contact is necessary. All Walk-In Access sites are shown in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Recreation Compass (mndnr.gov/maps/compass). Digital maps for individual Walk-In Access sites, along with more information for hunters, can be found on the Minnesota DNR website (mndnr.gov/walkin).
The Walk-In Access program began in 2011 and funding sources include a grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a surcharge on nonresident hunting licenses and donations from hunters.