Governor's Pheasant Opener banquet set for Luverne, and you're invited

Gov. Mark Dayton made a plea Tuesday for Minnesotans to join him in the small southwestern town of Luverne for a community banquet Oct. 12 that will help kick off the state's pheasant hunting season.

Jane Lanphere, event manager and director of the Luverne Area Chamber of Commerce, said there's still room for 300 guests. With "wiggle room,'' she said, Luverne's Grand Prairie Events center could hold 600 people.

"I thank our hosts in the Luverne area for all of their hard work to make this a terrific event," Dayton said in a news release, "and invite everyone to join us for this special Minnesota fall tradition.''

Dayton launched the Governor's Pheasant Opener in 2011, holding it annually in a different community throughout the state's pheasant range. This year's banquet is on a Friday, the eve of the hunt. Tickets can be purchased for $40 through the Luverne chamber or by calling 507-283-4061.

With deer hunting already in progress or opening Saturday in Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota, conservation officers in Minnesota will be enforcing a 2016 law that prohibits big game hunters from bringing whole carcasses into the state.

Officers this year will be conducting surveillance and writing citations. The ban is a proactive measure to reduce the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) and to bring consistency to regulations. Minnesota is one of 12 states with this type of ban. In all, 40 states have some form of carcass movement restriction. Minnesota's ban applies to deer, elk, moose or caribou harvested outside of its borders.

Only the following cervid parts may be brought into Minnesota:

• Quarters or other portions of meat with no part of the spinal column or head.

• Boned-out meat that is cut and wrapped.

• Hides and teeth.

•Antlers or clean skull plates with antlers attached.

•Finished taxidermy mounts.

Nonresidents transporting whole or partial carcasses on a direct route through Minnesota are exempt from the restriction.