Minnesota’s 2024 deer hunt in pictures

Kael Fontaine, of East Grand Forks, with his son. He writes: "Opening morning couldn’t come fast enough for my 5 year old son Aksel. As soon as I woke him up Saturday morning his first words were 'finally! We had to sleep forever!' We got dressed and headed for the stand around 6 a.m. After we parked the truck and got settled quickly into our stand, the morning was rather uneventful as only one yearling made its appearance around daybreak. For the next hour or so it took some convincing for Aksel to remain patient until at about 7:45 a nice doe emerged from the woods about 150 yards west of the stand. We only had one day of hunting together this year as his mother and I left for vacation on Monday afternoon. That being said the initial plan was to take the doe in order to assure that we had some venison. As I opened the window of the stand, out stepped this beautiful 3.5 year bruiser. Immediately my focus shifted to him as I whispered to Aksel 'Buck, Buck, Buck' I tried my best to calm my breathing as I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. After taking the shot I knew it was a good one as the deer didn’t take another step. A perfect heart/lung placement. As I cycled the bolt just to be sure Aksel instantly exclaimed 'You got him! You got him!' As I looked out in the field at the downed deer I was overwhelmed with excitement and thankfulness to experience this moment with my favorite hunting partner. I thanked god, gave the deer a moment, and we made our way out to this beautiful whitetail. Aksel hastily made his way across the cut beans for the picture perfect moment as we both admired just how nice of a deer he was. It is a morning I will always cherish and never forget. (Provided by Kael Fontaine/Courtesy of Kael Fontaine)

Eden Prairie High School football coach Mike Grant shot this 9-point buck seven minutes into his opening morning hunt near his northern Minnesota cabin. His success so early in the hunt ran counter to family tradition. Mike's dad, Bud, the longtime Vikings coach who died in March last year at age 95, said he never shot a buck in the first hour of hunting in his 82 years of pursuing whitetails. (Courtesy of Mike Grant/Courtesy of Mike Grant)

Ryan Larson, of Detroit Lakes, got this buck Sunday Nov. 10 around 11:20 am in the Detroit Lakes area. He wrote: "this nice Buck came strutting into my stand. While trying to look him over as he had his head down coming thru thick brush he briefly turned sideways which presented a nice opportunity from me which I took." (Courtesy of Ryan Larson)

"Here is my only shot taken on Saturday morning, opening day of deer hunting" wrote George AP Johnson. The sun rose over the tree line just north of Pine City. (provided by George AP Johnson/Courtesy of George AP Johnson)

"View from my deer stand" in Manannah, Minn. (Courtesy of Dan Weiss/Courtesy of Dan Weiss)

Nichole Heinen, of Breezy Point, with an opening weekend buck from the Brainerd-Nisswa area. (Provided by Nichole Heinen/Courtesy of Nichole Heinen)

Jenny Bartella, of Breezy Point, was successful on her opening weekend deer stand hunting in the Brainerd-Nisswa area. (Provided by Jenny Bartella/Provided by Jenny Bartella)

Sam Koep, of Plymouth, with an opening weekend 8 pointer from the Brainerd-Nisswa area (provided/Courtesy of Sam Koep)

Theresa Doran, of the Twin Cities, and Wendy Doran, of Nisswa, with two opening weekend bucks taken in the Brainerd-Nisswa area. (provided/Courtesy of Theresa and Wendy Doran)

Emma Polzin, of Cambridge, hunted Sunday morning west of Cambridge on her uncle‘s property. Emma was hunting with her cousin. (Courtesy of Nancy L Giacchetti)

Mike Funk, of Minnetonka, hunted near Perham on private property and shot this 8 pt buck. "It was following a doe and luckily stopped in a narrow shooting lane," he wrote. (provided/Provided by Mike Funk)

On his first-ever deer hunt, Nate Chlebeck, 16, of Cottage Grove, shot this buck on Opening Day near Moose Lake (Provided/Courtesy of Kevin Chlebeck)

Drew Swartz, of the Twin Cities, shot this buck opening weekend on public land in southeast Minnesota. (provided/Courtesy of Drew Swartz)

Harrison Smith, of Willmar, shot this buck with his bow just before the rifle season opened in Minnesota. He felled the whitetail in the Minnesota River bottoms near Renville. It was his first archery killed buck. (Provided/Courtesy of Harrison Smith)

Allie Timmons of Hugo took a nine-point buck Sunday morning south of Glenwood, Minn. Below, her father, Dave Thelen of Avon, got an 11-pointer, too, Sunday in the same area. Both hunted from blinds from ground blinds on 3-foot platforms. (Provided/Courtesy of Allie Timmons)

(Provided/Courtesy of Allie Timmons)