Key safety tips ahead of Minnesota deer hunting opener

The Minnesota firearms deer hunting season opens on Saturday. While excitement is in the air, it’s always important to keep safety on the brain when discharging a weapon.

"Always know what you’re shooting at and what’s behind it, most importantly what’s behind it," Brad Trevena cautioned, a former Minnesota Deer Hunters Association board member. "Bullets do have a tendency to go right through what you’re shooting at, and no deer’s life is worth possibly killing someone that’s hunting behind it."

For first time hunters Trevena recommends finding a good mentor in order to learn safe ways to hunt and how to take care of a deer if you’re lucky enough to bag one. Finally he recommends always wearing a harness while in a deer stand.

"If you’re in a deer stand, wear a harness, always wear a harness for safety. That’s one of the biggest injuries to hunters every year is people falling out of trees who aren’t tied in," Trevena added.

For more information on the 2021 Minnesota firearms deer season, head to the Department of Natural Resources website.