In the past, deer hunters have had a variety of local options to register the deer they have harvested. There were six big game registration stations in Cook County. There are now only four, because a few opted not to install the electronic licensing station (ELS) required. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife specialist Dave Ingebrigtsen expressed appreciation to the businesses that served as registration for many years—and he reassured hunters that registering deer could still be easily done. New this year is the option to register deer by telephone or Internet.
Ingebrigtsen said deer could still be registered in person at Buck’s Hardware in Grand Marais, Mike’s Holiday in Tofte, and Gunflint Pines on the Gunflint Trail. A new big game registration station this year is Clearview General Store in Lutsen. All of these locations also sell hunting licenses. Only Buck’s Hardware has a scale to weigh harvested deer.
In the past, hunters could also register deer at Lockport General Store in Lutsen, Windigo Lodge on the Gunflint Trail and the Hovland post office. Ingebrigtsen expressed appreciation to those businesses for assisting the DNR for many years. “We really need this registration information and we enjoyed working with these folks over the years,” he said.
Ingebrigtsen said he hoped that hunters would be as cooperative with the new telephone and Internet registration options, something Lou Cornicelli, DNR’s Big Game Program coordinator is excited about. “Driving into town and taking your harvested deer to a big game registration no longer is necessary,” said Cornicelli. “Our new telephone and Internet options make registration much more convenient.”
Hunters can register their deer by calling toll-free 888-706-6367 or visiting mndnr.gov/gameregistration on the Internet and providing the nine-digit harvest registration number printed on a hunter’s license. The hunter will be prompted for the information needed to complete registration.
People who use electronic registration need to have a pen and paper to write down the confirmation number generated by the registration system. This number must be written on a hunter’s license in the appropriate area once electronic registration is complete. Full instructions for all registration methods are available online at mndnr.gov/gameregistrationhelp.
In situations where phone or Internet registration is not possible or available, hunters must still take their deer to one of the local big game registration stations. The process, which remains unchanged from previous years, requires the person whose name appears on the license to personally present their deer. Once registration is complete, they will receive a big game possession tag that must be attached to the hind leg, ear or antler where the site tag was attached.
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