The Minnesota deer hunting season is well underway. While the most popular rifle this season is over, muzzleloaders and archers are still on the hunt.

Some of my earliest memories are of sitting in the deer stand with my dad, playing Pokemon on my old Gameboy Color.  Then, whenever he would spot a deer he would nudge me and I’d take a break from my gaming to look at the deer.

Finally, at the age of 12, and after completing my firearms safety test, I got to bring my shiny new gun with me. I still remember exactly what happened on my first hunt. My dad saw it first and told me to get my gun up quick because a good sized buck was coming and I was going to shoot it.

A few seconds after getting my gun ready I saw him step out, a mass of brown fur and white antlers. Before I could even get nervous and have the gun shake as I tried to shoot, I pulled the trigger.

When I could see through my scope again the buck crumpled exactly where I shot it. My dad and I were ecstatic, both our hands were shaking thanks to adrenaline mixed with excitement. Deer hunting has just created memories for me that I will never forget.

”It made me feel accomplished. It gave me a huge adrenaline rush too. I just felt like I wanted my next hunting experience to come right away,” First-year Ben Docktor said.

Hunting doesn’t exist for the memories, however; it has a large impact on the state in various ways.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, last year 207,313 white tail deer were harvested. Forty-eight percent of the deer harvested were the coveted buck. While they may not all have been the thirty point buck of every hunter’s dream, harvesting one of the most elusive big game animals is a thrill for all hunters.

Minnesota is divided into zones, with St. Peter residing in zone 291. In zone 291 alone 690 white tails were harvested, which comes out to just over one deer per square mile.

Deer hunting also has a large economic impact on Minnesota. Last year over 800,000 licenses were sold and at an average price of 23 dollars that’s 18.4 million dollars our government pulls in every deer hunting season. State and local revenue bring that total for the state up to 33 million.

The overall economic impact is much larger, however. With all the retail sales and the wages of the workers added onto what the state makes the overall economic impact is in the region of 458 million. Hunting also seems to be immune to the slow economy as the number of licenses purchased has been rising since 2005.

Car accidents involving deer are common not only in Minnesota but throughout the nation.

They cause a considerable amount of damage, 1.5 billion dollars a year go towards repairing vehicles after collisions with deer.  Deer hunters help prevent these expensive and possibly fatal accidents by maintaining the population at a healthy level.

Not only does hunting keep Minnesota residents safer, but it helps maintain the health of our wildlife. If the deer population gets too large, diseases spread that could potentially cause human illness. Also, an overabundant population of deer would cause the forest to suffer.

Herds of deer would completely demolish any plants growing on the ground and come winter when food is scarce, would kill trees by eating their bark. This would create a large imbalance in the Minnesotan ecosystem that, with regulated hunting, we can avoid.

So if you’re one of those muzzleloaders or archers still on the hunt, I wish you good luck. If your season is over I wish you the best of luck next season.  And keep up the good work.