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Resident urges Isanti County to adopt state law allowing all legal firearms for deer hunting, recommends limiting ground blinds
Summary
Don Spears, a county landowner and former teacher and firearms instructor, urged the Isanti County Board to adopt a new Minnesota law that permits all legal firearms for deer hunting and proposed restricting ground blinds to archery season and centerfire rifles to elevated stands to reduce horizontal trajectories.
Don Spears, who identified himself as a 57‑year hunter, army veteran and retired teacher, addressed the Isanti County Board during public comment to urge the county to adopt a recent state law allowing all legal firearms for deer hunting.
“My name is Don Spears, and I live in the middle of Section 11,” he said as he introduced his remarks. Spears said he has hunted with rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders, pistols and bows and described almost six decades of experience in varied terrain. He cited Minnesota Department of Natural Resources figures showing 405,700 deer‑hunting licenses sold in 2024 and said hunting incidents that year were rare relative to participation: “In that season, 2 hunters were shot, 1 fatally and 1 wounded,” he noted when summarizing state data reported to him.
Spears asked the board to adopt the new state statute and offered safety suggestions if the county implements the change: limit centerfire rifle use to elevated deer stands so rounds travel downward rather than horizontally and restrict ground‑blind hunting to archery season. He described a recent near‑miss in which a shotgun slug passed through a ground blind despite blaze orange panels, and said some hunters and landowners he spoke with oppose the change because they have encountered unsafe hunters on public lands, while many hunters support the law.
The board took no formal action during public comment; a commissioner later asked that the topic be placed on a CAL meeting agenda for further discussion.
Why this matters: The county’s decision whether to adopt or opt out of the state law will shape what firearms are permitted for local deer hunting seasons and may prompt follow‑up conversations about safety measures and signage in populated or mixed‑use areas.
