TrailBlazing

Their blaze-orange vests were visible a mile away. Well, at least from a hundred yards. That was about the distance from the entrance at Crow Wing State Park to the walking trails just inside the park.

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The hikers stood out, and not just because of their blaze-orange attire. They had the park to themselves - along with their dogs - on this last day of October. In anything but camo, they would have been visible through Crow Wing's lifeless, leafless trees.

All of Crow Wing State Park will be open to deer hunters Dec. 4-6 during a special permit muzzleloader hunt. Brainerd Dispatch/Brian S. Peterson » Purchase reprints of this photo.

But come December at Crow Wing - and starting opening weekend of the state deer hunting season at a number of other state parks - blaze orange will be popular dress. Starting with the Minnesota firearms deer hunting opener, 35 Minnesota state parks will be open for special-permit deer hunts as the DNR, partially through a research project in its fifth year, continues to aggressively manage deer populations in the parks with these special hunts.

"The nice thing for hunters is that it (a state park) is a controlled area where you're bringing in only so many permits. It provides a quality experience," said Ed Quinn, coordinator of the DNR Division of Parks and Trails' resource management program. "The overall success rate is somewhere around 70 percent. That's a pretty good incentive (to participate in the hunts)."

Crow Wing is the only Brainerd lakes area park involved in the special-permit hunts; fringe-area parks Itasca and Jay Cooke also are open to deer hunters. Crow Wing and Itasca will be open to the public during the hunts and parts of Itasca popular with park-goers will be closed to hunters. Jay Cooke is a limited-access hunt (Dec. 5-9), meaning the park will be partially closed to non-hunting visitors.

Itasca State Park is one of many Minnesota state parks open for special permit deer hunts that started Saturday. It's the only state park that's also an open hunting zone, although Itasca will be open to park-goers throughout the hunt and hunting is prohibited along the bike trail and in other parts of Itasca that are popular with park-goers. Brainerd Dispatch/Brian S. Peterson » Purchase reprints of this photo.

The Itasca hunt opened Saturday and continues through this Saturday. It's unique in that it's the only state park that's also an open hunting zone, according to Jody Popesh, public service supervisor at Itasca - Permit Area 287 encompasses the park. Itasca is the second-largest Minnesota state park, but it's small in regard to hunting zones. Still, as is the case with many state parks involved in the DNR's project, Itasca holds a lot of deer and hunter success is typically high at the park. And as it's an open hunting zone, deer hunting is a tradition at Itasca.

"There were a couple years they didn't have the hunt, but it's been going on for a long time. It's a huge tradition," Popesh said. "A lot of folks say they've been coming for 30 years. It's an open zone and we get hundreds of vehicles. And I think it will be busier this year."

According to Popesh, areas closed to hunting at the park include the areas around the Mississippi Headwaters, camping areas, visitor center and Douglas Lodge. Blaze-orange no-hunting signs are posted in these areas and along stretches typically popular with park-goers. But for the most part, the land in and around the park is open game for hunters.

"It's starting to slow down," Popesh said of park activities at Itasca. "There's not as much camping. But (park-goers) should wear blaze orange all the time. I'd have a hard time walking my dog without some type of orange on."

The Itasca hunt is one of several state parks hunts with antler-point restrictions - a buck must have a minimum of three points on one side to be taken. Other parks feature the earn-a-buck option, in which hunters get to take a buck once they've harvested an antlerless deer. The antlerless deer and the buck must be harvested in the same park. Crow Wing participated in the program last year.

"Not many take two (deer in the Crow Wing hunt)," said Paul Roth, park manager at Crow Wing.

But according to Roth, the success rate is quite high at Crow Wing, which will host its annual muzzeloader hunt Dec. 4-6. Roth said the park has allowed either rifle or muzzleloader hunts for the last 10 to 15 years.

"Traditionally, 180 apply for the 45 permits we allow, and we typically get 20 deer harvested by 45 hunters," he said. "One year it was up to 40-something. It's been down to 13. It's very weather dependent."

While Crow Wing is open to the public during the hunt, non-hunting park-goers are urged to plan around it.

"And we're not allowing any camping in the park during that time of year," Roth said. "But it's generally one of the slowest times of the year. Normally there's not a lot of snow and not a lot of skiers and snowmobilers in the park. It's a good time (for the hunt). If you really want to come out you need to be wearing blaze orange. But we rather discourage people from using the park during those three days for their safety and to give people trying to hunt deer a good hunt. It's always been a safe hunt. There have been no complaints over the years. But it's better if people don't come out to the park (during the hunt)."

Said Quinn: "Some of the parks will essentially close to the public during the hunt period. ... We try to stagger hunts so they can go to other parks within a close proximity so that there are some alternatives for people."

For a schedule of special-permit hunts at Minnesota state parks, go to www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/ and click on "Programs & special events."

BRIAN S. PETERSON may be reached at brian.peterson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5864.