Was Minnesota's deer herd thinned too much?

For the first time in 25 years, the half-dozen hunters at Wayne Enger's deer hunting camp near Perham, Minn., didn't shoot a single deer this fall.

"I would say the deer population was down significantly," Enger said.

Near Lake Vermilion, Denny McNamara's group of seven hunters bagged one spike buck. "We only saw four deer," he said.

And near Pine City, in an area supposedly thick with deer, Mark Johnson spotted only one during five days of hunting. "It's very definite the deer numbers aren't there compared to two years ago," he said.

In the wake of the 2011 whitetail season, some Minnesota hunters are wondering: Where are the deer?

Eight years after a record 290,000-deer harvest and a response by the Department of Natural Resources to lower deer densities, some hunters, conservation leaders and legislators are saying the DNR may have reduced the deer herd too much.

"I definitely think they took them down too far," said McNamara, a hunter and Republican legislator from Hastings. "In all corners of the state, we're not at levels that deer hunters are happy with."

Said Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association: "People aren't seeing deer, and they definitely want the population higher than it is now in most areas of the state. We're urging the DNR to manage for more deer."

The agency agrees it's time to reexamine deer density goals. But officials say they are walking a tightrope trying to appease not only hunters who want more deer, but farmers, livestock owners and even those in the forestry industry, many of whom want fewer deer.

"Some want high deer densities, some want low deer densities. We're trying to find that balance," said Ed Boggess, DNR fish and wildlife division director.

Meanwhile, deer harvest figures from 2011 tell only part of the story. Hunters killed about 192,000 deer, down 7 percent from 2010. But it also was the lowest harvest in 12 years and 45,000 deer (19 percent) below the average over the past 10 years. However, those 10 years included the highest-ever deer harvests. DNR officials say poor opening weekend weather likely contributed to the lower harvest.

Some wanted fewer deer

"The decision to go down [in deer densities] was based on public input," said Lou Cornicelli, DNR wildlife research manager.

Following the record deer harvest in 2003 and concerns that densities were too high in some areas, the DNR held public meetings from 2005 to 2007. It created 15 groups of 12 to 20 citizens, including hunters, landowners, farmers, environmentalists and timber industry representatives, and asked them about deer density goals in their areas.

"The vast majority of those people -- well over 90 percent -- hunted," Cornicelli said.

In many areas, including northeastern Minnesota -- from which hunters' complaints now echo -- the groups favored reducing deer densities. For example, groups at Floodwood, Chisholm and Two Harbors agreed to cut deer numbers from 10 to 25 percent.

"We were at historically high levels," said Tom Rusch, DNR area wildlife manager based in Tower. Harvest this year in his area was down 9 percent.

But some question the public input process that resulted in cuts to the deer population. Enger, the Perham hunter, attended one input meeting. He talked to about 100 fellow hunters and members of the Deer Hunters Association before attending.

"Everyone wanted the deer densities the same or increased," he said. And Enger voted that way, but his group recommended trimming the population by 25 percent.

"My vote counted very little," he said.

What now?

DNR officials are still compiling harvest data from 2011, but Boggess and Simon both say the agency is willing to review deer population goals in 2012, at least in parts of the state. It won't be a three-year process like the last one.

If the agency decides to try to boost deer densities in some areas, the harvest of antlerless deer would be cut back, likely reducing hunter success still further.

Not welcome news perhaps to hunters, but necessary to produce the long-term gains they seek.