Saturday marked the beginning of deer season for regular firearms across Minnesota and North Dakota, a popular event for North Dakota State students.

Student hunters will spend the weekend hunting with family and friends in hopes of killing a deer.

NDSU freshman and industrial engineering major Samantha Killmer plans to travel to the Detroit Lakes area in hopes of getting a buck.

Deer opener is an occasion she has participated in for years.

“I shot my first deer, a nice size doe, two years ago. I went out by myself at about 5:00 a.m. after sitting for 13 hours in negative 20 degree weather,” Killmer said.

David Arnold, a senior studying zoology, will be traveling to the Bagley, Minnesota, area to hunt with his family.

While he hopes to shoot a “good old buck,” Arnold said “hunting is more about being out in nature and spending time with my family.”

Deer hunting regulations vary between Minnesota and North Dakota.

In Minnesota, hunters must purchase a license for the statewide firearm season that began Saturday. Hunters are required to attach a tag to their deer and register the deer before processing. According the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website, there were around 159,343 total deer harvested during the 2015 season.

In North Dakota, gun season opened at noon on Friday and will remain open until Nov. 20.

Hunting hours in North Dakota are from 30 minutes prior to sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset.

According to the North Dakota Game and Fish website, deer gun licenses are issued by a weighted lottery drawing among eligible applicants.

Jeb R. Williams, chief of the wildlife division at the NDGF said that 49,000 licenses were available for the 2016 N.D. deer gun season.

Approximately 35,000 licenses were issued through the general lottery and 14,000 were issued for landowner gratis licenses.