Bemidji, Minn. Responding to concern about a high white-tailed deer population in and around Bemidji State Game Refuge, the Minnesota DNR has decided to open the entire refuge this November to firearms deer hunting.
A six-square-mile portion of the refuge was open to firearms hunting during the 2003 firearms season. One citizen recommendation was to make the refuge archery-only, but the DNR’s Steve Caron said that harvest wouldn’t effectively address the overpopulation problem. Jim Breyen, the DNR’s Northwest Region Wildlife supervisor, said hunters who choose to hunt the refuge …