Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Freeborn County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to exempt Freeborn County from a bill that would eliminate the state’s shotgun zone for deer hunting. 

After more than 80 years with the current law in place that restricts the kind of firearms deer hunters can use, the bill would allow people to hunt in any part of the state with any legal firearm, including rifles. 

Currently hunters are limited to using only shotguns with slugs, muzzleloaders and legal handguns in southern Minnesota, while rifles are commonly used by hunters in northern Minnesota and most other states, according to an article through Report for Minnesota last month. 

The article stated the shotgun-only zone was created in 1942 to protect what was then a small deer population because shotguns cannot shoot as far as rifles, according to the DNR. 

Dodge and Olmsted counties have previously opted out of the bill.

Board Chairman Brad Edwin said he was contacted by District 23 Sen. Gene Dornink about input on the bill, and Edwin said he reached out to some people who hunt, as well as property owners, to get feedback. 

Of the hunters he talked to, 85% said they did not support the bill, while the other 15% said they would adapt if needed. He said he didn’t find anyone who said they supported the bill outright. Edwin said landowners were split. 

Second District Commissioner Dawn Kaasa said she also reached out to the townships, small towns and some hunters in her district. She had a few hunters that were OK with it. 

Freeborn County Sheriff Ryan Shea said he did not have an opinion either way on the issue. He noted there presently is some rifle hunting in the county, though not for deer. 

“This is simply a deer hunting issue, not a gun issue,” he said. 

He noted he actually chooses not to be in the woods during hunting season because he has been shot at before. 

He said rifles could make a more accurate shot and could result in less deer being wounded. 

Fifth District Commissioner Nicole Eckstrom said she has had a number of people in her district call her about the issue. She said of the people in her district she has talked to, almost all were against expanding deer hunting to rifles, including many farmers.

She said the county is not like further north in the state where there are dense woods and large rock structures. Deer hunting season is also during harvest season, meaning more farmers and their help are out in the fields. 

“Nobody in Freeborn County is clamoring for it,” she said, noting she is frustrated by the senator who is pushing this bill. 

Fourth District Commissioner Chris Shoff motioned to exempt Freeborn County from the bill, and Eckstrom seconded it. The action unanimously passed 5-0.