Minnesotans have five more counties to check before they put out feed, minerals, scents, or attractants. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources added Becker, Clearwater, Grant, McLeod, and Meeker counties to its deer feeding and attractant ban. The agency said it made the change after chronic wasting disease showed up in wild deer in new areas of the state last year.
The ban now covers 37 Minnesota counties. Wildlife officials use the rule to limit artificial deer concentrations in areas at higher risk of disease spread.
“Where people place food or attractants out for deer, higher numbers of deer tend to congregate in one place,” Paul Burr, acting big game program leader, said in the DNR announcement. “The feeding and attractant ban is one tool to reduce the unnatural congregating of deer and lower the risk of CWD spread.”
What the Ban Covers
The full ban now applies in Aitkin, Anoka, Becker, Beltrami, Carver, Cass, Clay, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Dakota, Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Grant, Hennepin, Houston, Hubbard, Itasca, Le Sueur, McLeod, Meeker, Mower, Norman, Olmsted, Polk, Ramsey, Rice, Scott, Sherburne, Sibley, Steele, Traverse, Wabasha, Washington, Wilkin, Winona, and Wright counties.
This goes beyond a backyard corn pile. In affected counties, hunters and landowners need to avoid mineral blocks, scented products, and any feed that deer can reach.
Bird feeders and small mammal feed are still allowed, but people must place them where deer can’t access them. The DNR says food should sit at least 6 feet above the ground. Food placed through normal agricultural practices is generally exempt.
Don’t Confuse This With Baiting
Minnesota already bans deer baiting statewide. Hunters can’t take or try to take deer with the aid or use of bait anywhere in the state.
Baiting is tied to hunting. If someone dumps corn, apples, pumpkins, hay, or other food near a stand and hunts deer over it, that’s baiting. Minnesota also considers an area baited for 10 days after someone removes the bait.
The deer feeding and attractant ban is broader, and it isn’t limited to hunting season. In the 37 affected counties, people can’t place food or attractants that draw deer, even if no one plans to hunt over them. That includes feed piles, mineral blocks, salt, food scents, and products that contain or claim to contain cervid urine, blood, gland oil, feces, or other bodily fluid.
For example:
- A hunter sitting over a pile of corn anywhere in Minnesota is dealing with the statewide baiting law.
- A landowner putting out a mineral block for deer in Becker County in July is dealing with the feeding and attractant ban.
- A person feeding birds in McLeod County can still do that, but the food needs to sit at least 6 feet above the ground so deer can’t reach it.
A standing cornfield, food plot, orchard, or crop residue left through normal farming or land management is not the same as dumping feed in a pile. But the DNR says agricultural crops can become bait if someone reintroduces or concentrates them where a person is hunting.
Why the DNR Cares
CWD spreads more easily when deer have close contact. Feed piles and attractants can pull more deer into the same place, increasing contact among animals and raising the risk of disease transmission.
The DNR said it uses feeding and attractant bans where they provide the greatest benefit to Minnesota’s white-tailed deer. The agency also discourages people from feeding deer outside the banned counties.
For people who want to help deer, the DNR recommends improving habitat instead. Better habitat gives deer long-term food and cover without concentrating them around an artificial food source.
