![MN Hunters Bag Nearly 69,000 Deer on Opening Weekend](http://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2012/09/deer.jpg?w=300&h=200&zc=1&s=0&a=t&q=89&w=980&q=75)
MN Hunters Bag Nearly 69,000 Deer on Opening Weekend
ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnesota hunters registered nearly 69,000 deer on the first weekend of the state's firearms deer season.
The Department of Natural Resources said Thursday the preliminary numbers were down 3% from opening weekend last year. While the total firearms harvest was up 16% in northeastern Minnesota, it was down 28% in southeastern Minnesota and down 7% in the rest of the state.
DNR big game program leader Adam Murkowski says it's too soon to say if the unusually warm temperatures last weekend were a factor in the lower harvest outside the northeast. As conditions change and hunting continues, he expects to get a better sense of how the season is progressing.
The DNR projects the total harvest at 165,000-185,000 deer, up from just over 159,000 last year.
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