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By Mathew Holding Eagle III, Minnesota Public Radio News

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources projects a good outlook overall for this year’s firearm deer hunting season which opens Saturday. A warm winter last year and an abundance of precipitation during the growing season should have a positive effect on deer populations throughout the state.

“We’re slightly optimistic about our harvest this year,” said DNR Big Game Program Leader Barb Keller. “We think we’ll be pretty similar or slightly above where we were last year.”

However, she said success will vary depending on where hunters are out in the state.

“In northern Minnesota, deer populations are still recovering from several severe winters, so they will likely need several more mild winters in order to really turn the dial on deer populations in that part of the state,” Keller said. “But we are seeing, so far, that harvest is up in northeastern Minnesota.”

She said harvest numbers have increased for the youth and antlerless hunts as well. Like those hunts, registrations are also slightly up from this time last year for firearm season. As of Wednesday there were 230,946 licenses sold.

Keller urges hunters to get a booklet of the most recent trapping and hunting regulations — especially if they’re going to use a synthetic ground blind on public land.

“You do need to have a blaze orange covering on that blind,” she said. “So, make sure you’re aware of those regulations if you’re a public land hunter, as well as just refreshing yourself on all of our deer hunting regulations.”

Keller said chronic wasting disease sampling is required in some areas for the opening weekend. It applies for deer harvested in any of the CWD surveillance or management zones which can be found online.