Buck’s Big Buck Contest leaders

Bear Atkinson posed in this tree with the big buck his father Niel shot last Saturday near Cascade River. The 8-point deer was about 190 pounds, said Niel. The two were on a father-son weekend that involved grouse hunting and fishing.

Although local hunters have experienced unseasonably warm temperatures in the early firearm deer hunting season (70 degrees), that hasn’t stopped them from harvesting some big bucks from the forest.

Half way through the two-week Minnesota firearm deer hunting season, Hovland hunter Deb Vannet of Hovland has the top entry in “Buck’s Big Buck Contest.”

Vannet registered a 240-pound beauty early in the first week. Her deer eclipsed the 221-pound buck entered by Bryce Urbaniak. Dan Deschampe, Grand Portage, is currently in third place with a 220-pound deer.

Deschampe’s buck, however, leads in the “antler spread” category with a spread of 21 inches.

The winner of the heaviest (largest dressed weight) buck will receive a new rifle. Half of the entry money will go to the hunter who brought in the deer with the biggest antler spread, and the other half of the money will go to the winner of the drawing, which is pulled from the pool of applicants who paid $10 each to enter.

Deb Vannet of Hovland is the current leader in Buck’s Big Buck Contest with her 240-pound buck.

With only eight entries on the board through Tuesday, November 8, it is expected that more of the 388 hunters competing will bring in their entries to be weighed and measured. Last year 405 hunters joined, so hunter numbers are down a bit, said Jon at Buck’s Hardware Hank.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said Minnesota firearm hunters registered 68,401 deer during the first three days of the firearm season, which is up 6.3 percent over the same period last year.

Buck harvesting was up 8.5 percent over last year during the first three days.

Thanks to two straight mild winters and harvests that were kept down to increase the herd, the DNR projects a total harvest of 165,000 to 185,000 deer, up from the 159,000 taken last year.