Submitted photo Jeff Kral of New Ulm holds an eight-point buck he shot with a gorup of a dozen hunters in the Minnesota River Valley Saturday.

NEW ULM — A dozen local deer hunters limited out before sunset Saturday in the Minnesota River Valley on firearms deer hunting opening day.

“There were plenty of deer. We saw about 40 while hunting. We only took good shots. It worked out well for us. The deer looked healthy with a layer of fat on them,” said family farm owner Tim Guldan.

Deer hunting is becoming a habit for Guldan’s group of a dozen friends and family.

Guldan said his goal is deer population control to limit damage they do to this crops grown between New Ulm and Courtland.

“Deer can do plenty of damage to me. I’m a vegetable farmer. They eat their share. Every year is different. In the past, they’ve eaten zucchini and cucumbers. This year, they ate 400 celery plants one night and that was the end of that. I learned my lesson. Next year, I’ll fence that off too,” Guldan said.

“This was the best deer hunting I’ve seen over the past few years. I’ve been hunting out here pretty much all my life. Other people were hunting here before that,” he said.

Courtland farmer Tim Waibel, who has hunted with a large group in the bottom of the Minnesota River Valley since the early 1970s, said the deer opener was enjoyable.

“It went well, We saw a lot of deer, but we’ve seen a lot of deer all year long. We saw a lot of big bucks this year. Up to 11 of us hunt together. We’ve got six deer so far,” said Waibel.

“It’s fun to see the guys. Now they’ve got grand kids in the (deer) stands. People that don’t deer hunt may not understand the camaraderie and sharing stories with hunters,” he said.

Justin Remus who farms near Essig said there are plenty of deer out.

“I’m seeing deer moving around 3:30 to 4 p.m. now. There’s a need for farmers to manage deer. Some deer favor high-sugar corn hybrids,” he said.

Remus said he believes in getting youth outside to experience hunting for their own health and development.

Sleepy Eye farmer Dave Berle said his son Darren took his daughter out hunting and she shot her first deer, a nine-point buck near Sleepy Eye.

“I’ve seen a lot of deer this year. Lots of young fawns and twins. They all look healthy,” said Dave Berle.

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Assistant Regional Wildlife Manager Jo Stangel of New Ulm said the cumulative opening weekend deer harvest for Minnesota was 83,426 deer, about 6% greater than last year’s opening weekend.

“We’re a little behind the 5 and 10-year means, but deer hunting is at least as good as last year if not a bit better. Area 290 north and west of New Ulm has a lot of deer in it with a lot of excellent habitat and hardly any crop in the field now,” Stangel said.

He said the area 290 harvest is up 14% with 477 deer taken opening weekend.

Stangel said the harvest is up 17% from last year in permit area 284 north of Winthrop with 242 deer taken.

He urged hunters to contact the DNR if they find any fresh deer carcasses that appear to be caused by EHD (Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease), a naturally-occurring viral disease that primarily affects white-tailed deer. EHD is not a threat to humans, but people should not consume deer that appear to be sick or in poor health.

For more information, visit https://www.dnr.state.mn.us. Call the DNR info line at 1-888-646-6367 or info.dnr.@state.mn.us.