Minnesota environment committees tackle crossbow use during archery season, ‘tab’ park proposals

St. Paul — At its Feb. 26 meeting, Minnesota’s House Environment and Natural Resources Committee heard testimony on the effect crossbows have had on state deer and turkey populations. Members also heard new details on how a proposed Outdoor Recreation Endorsement (ORE) may influence future of funding for conservation and outdoor recreation.

The ORE is a new component of the DNR’s “4 The Outdoors” funding initiative that has been in the works for about five years. Per legislative directive, the agency published its “Outdoor Recreation Endorsement” report on Jan. 15.

DNR Northwest Regional Manager Ben Bergey explained to the committee that the endorsement offers Minnesotans a way to access state parks and recreation areas while also increasing DNR funding. Citizens could purchase the permits when buying or renewing vehicle registration tabs. The system has worked well in other states, Bergey said.

“This model puts that opportunity to purchase in front of all 5.4 million registrations or renewals. The model has worked in finding a low price point attractive to folks that either have visited one of our outdoor spaces or maybe have interest but have never taken that opportunity,” Bergey said. “It’s putting it in front each time a vehicle is registered to make that decision. Participation is as simple as checking a box.”

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Currently a state park permits costs $35, and the new system could save people about half that by buying at renewal rather than buying a pass outright. Other states, Michigan and Colorado, have found that lower pricing encourages more participation in the state’s recreation and outdoor resources.

The pricing structure would be built out five years in advance, with price increases every two years. In the first year, Bergey said, Minnesotans can expect to pay $15 with a $2 increase every two years until year five. On-site ORE would cost $27 with the same increases over five years.

The priorities from the revenue earned will be to replace and augment existing permit revenue to the state parks system. It will also invest in outdoor recreation system including maintenance, visitor services, conservation work, and enforcement.

Stickers were a topic of discussion when legislators asked how park staff would identify vehicles that registered during their renewal. Bergey said it would be system similar to Michigan, with a “P” on their license plate.

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-So. St. Paul, noted that right now, Minnesotans can buy a state parks license plate that allows access to the state’s parks. That’s been in place since 2016.

Bergey said that the DNR has been working with other states that have something similar in place for over a year. Implementation of Minnesota’s ORE could happen by January 28, 2027, pending legislative approval.

Crossbows discussion

The next report for the House committee focused on the use of crossbows and the effect on Minnesota’s deer and turkey populations. Testimony specifically tackled the DNR’s “Analysis of Expanded Crossbow Use on Deer and Turkey Populations During Archery Seasons” report that came out on Oct. 1, 2025.

That report looked at the first two years of crossbow hunting in the state since the legislature implemented it in 2023. DNR Big Game Program Leader and temporary legislative coordinator Barb Keller presented the findings to the committee.

Keller said the agency did not find evidence that the change has affected deer or turkey populations. Rather, the study showed positives, like crossbows motivating certain demographics to try hunting.

“We did find that this change may have positive benefits to recruitment and retention efforts, particularly among youth, older-aged hunters, and female hunters,” Keller said.

Keller said total archery licenses sales increased by 6.5% through 2024 since the legislature legalized crossbows. In license sales, increases of 5.3% in 2023 and 6.7% in 2024 showed an increase of adults participating in archery.

The biggest jump was in youth license sales which saw an 8.5% increase in 2023, and a 13.3% increase the following year. The increase in license sales also saw an increase in deer being harvested.

Deer taken by archery increased 2% in 2023 and 32% in 2024, marking the second highest archery harvest to date. Because of the expansion, 11% of crossbow users began archery because of the expansion.

Keller said the DNR is monitoring antlerless lottery permit areas where firearms hunters would need to apply via lottery to get an antlerless tag for the season. In those areas, archery hunters can take an either-sex deer.

“We didn’t see an increase in antlerless take in lottery deer permit areas that we could attribute to the crossbow expansion,” Keller said. “Certainly, this is going to be something we want to continue to watch, as we could expect more hunters to partake in archery deer season.”

For turkey hunting, the DNR didn’t see a significant increase in hunters taking turkeys via crossbow. The numbers also reflected similarly to the deer harvests with more participation coming from youth and older generations. Twenty-six percent of crossbow users reported that the availability of using a crossbow was their reason for hunting turkeys.

During the House committee hearing, Darrin Lee on behalf of the Minnesota Deer Hunter’s Association, testified in favor of the expansion.

“Crossbows allow more Minnesotans to participate in archery hunting, including older hunters, those with physical limitations, and new hunters entering our tradition,” Lee said. “They are asking for the opportunity to remain engaged.”

Though the data show some benefits in getting people out hunting, Nick Amunrud, president of Minnesota Bowhunters, testified to the House and in the Senate Environment Committee in opposition to the inclusion of crossbows during the entire archery deer hunting season.

“We do strongly oppose full crossbow inclusion,” Amunrud said.

“Kids and a lot of those women that we see the biggest increases in, they are already hunting during the firearm or muzzleloader seasons. They are now just also hunting during the archery season. Is that a net gain?”

During this short legislative session, which runs for about 13 weeks, co-chairs of the House environment committee, Reps. Peter Fischer, DFL-Maplewood and Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa will alternate running each House environment meeting.

Reach staff writer Justin Runberg at: jrunberg@outdornews.com