The bear and dove hunting seasons have been underway since September 1. Glen Schmitt from Outdoor News joined me on WJON. He says no harvest numbers for bear hunting are available in the state yet but based on reports he’s heard, the bear hunting season is off to a good start. Schmitt says the expectation this year was that the bear hunt wouldn’t be as good this season due to a large amount of available forest food. He says cooler weather has increased bear movement. Schmitt received word that a bear processing plant saw 7 bears come in on opening day, which is more than last season.
Challenge with Wolves
Schmitt indicates one challenge bear hunters are seeing in northern Minnesota is when bear are shot the wolves are getting to them prior to the hunter. He says hunters in northern Minnesota believe wolves are conditioned to know when they hear a shot an animal could be down and they move to the area.
photo courtesy of Andrew Schmitt for TSM
photo courtesy of Andrew Schmitt for TSMTeal and Goose Hunting
The early teal and goose seasons start Saturday. Schmitt says the teal season is just 5 days while the goose season lasts through September 21. He indicates the spring teal counts are down 60% compared to last year. Schmitt believes the teal are spread out a bit more this year because there is more water on temporary wetlands. He believes goose numbers are strong right now and if hunters find a field geese are using, you should have some success.
Small Game Survey
Every year the DNR sends out a questionnaire to small game hunters. Information they are looking to obtain includes how many licenses are sold, how many days people are hunting, and the number of species harvested. Last year 220,661 small game licenses were sold in Minnesota. Schmitt says that is below the 10 year average and below the 2023 numbers. 121,000 small game were estimated to have been shot last year according to Schmitt.
If you’d like to listen to my conversation with Glen Schmitt, click below.
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