More info: At the time of European settlement, In Minnesota, at the time of European settlement, white-tailed deer were present throughout the wooded river valleys and woodlands of central and southern Minnesota. In the north, where the forest habitat was much different than it is today, deer were absent or rare, with moose and woodland caribou being the most abundant members of the deer family.
With European settlement, forests were cleared for lumber and agriculture, which opened up the land and improved the habitat for deer. Later this habitat quality was reduced with increased agricultural land conversion and hunting and deer populations declined to the point that in the 1880s, deer were rare in many parts of Minnesota.
Today, natural resource management, regulated hunting and the white-tailed deer's ability to adapt have enabled the population to grow well beyond its pre-settlement range and numbers.