MN gun season, I'm a bit jealous

[Cooter]

I realize lots of little guys with ragin hormones get weeded out but gun hunting during the rut would be cool, good luck to all and be safe.

[GoggleEye]

I can't even imagine the horned up 1.5 year olds that get slaughtered the first weekend! I have never hunted the Minnesota gun season because I have been a Wisconsinite deer hunter all my life too, but I would love to go out with my gun during early November for a few days. I have hunted the CWD areas in late october for the early gun hunt and it is nonstop action. So many bucks still alive and rutting like crazy! I would actually vote for an even later gun season just to give the deer more of a chance to breed before the guns start banging.

GoggleEye

[SFBOY]

I am jealous of the Wisconsin bowhunters that get to hunt the rut. I grew up in Door County and have lived in loserville, (home of the Vikings, Wolves, and Gophers), for quite awhile now. It is advantageous to hunt with a rifle during the rut, but its alot more fun to be out hunting the rut when it is quiet and the deer dont get disturbed. I think they would end up shooting alot more really big deer in the long run here if they pushed the season back two weeks like Wisconsin's. I think alot fewer 8's and small 10's would get shot on a yearly basis and they would carry over to the next season. I have argued this point with my buddy for awhile. He complains about not as many big bucks here as in Wisconsin. I told him that the timing of the gun season here is just too good and the little guys just take a beating. Of course, over there, the little guys get punished when they visit the bait pile during shooting hours.

[Meaney]

AMEN TO THAT! Lets hurry up and get to nov 17

[bottomdweller]

I love hunting the rut without the presence of guns blaring. Hope it always stays that way. I grew up in minnesota and have not made it back for hunting since I moved.

[harvey lee]

If one wants to see bigger bucks, it like fishing to some degree, let the smaller dudes run. So many hunters blow away anything with horns that they never have the chance to get to the needed age to be a real trophy.

I know that it is almost impossible to do this when you are hunting on public land as so many just want to shoot a deer. Nothing wrong with that as the horns just dont mean that much to many hunters.

[Shoot2Kill]

Thank god someone else thinks like this. I don't even really want to get this topic started again, but it's that time of year again and it just fires me up. The gun season during the entire rut is rediculous and anyone that argues otherwise has never hunted a rut without the guns then...it's amazing, but unless people here travel out of state they'll never witness a true rut.

Your points of how many dink bucks get shot during the gun season because it is the rut is the EXACT point of why the gun season should be moved back at least 2 weeks. They don't stand a chance.

[GoggleEye]

Being a bowhunter in Wisconsin who hunts the bluffs and islands of the St. Croix, I have to say I welcome you guys having your gun season during the rut as this weekend I was set up close to the river and watched dozens of deer flee over to the wisconsin side as the rapid gun fire had them swimming to the safe side to complete their rutting! There was a huge abundance of deer this weekend in my area and I would imagine they will stay until Nov. 17th when our guns start banging. Then they will swim back across the river and become nocturnal for all the Minnesota late season bowhunters! I know what you guys mean though, I hope Wisconsin leaves the gun season as is or even bumps it into December, like Iowa does. Give the deer a chance to breed! The rut during bowhunting is a truly special experience for sure.

[smnduck]

I agree that a lot of smaller bucks get shot. If you ban the guns during the rut then all types of harvesting should also be closed. Yes that means bowhunters too. If you ban one form then it should be for the heard and not a group of hunters to have for themselves. I also do bowhunt besides gun hunt. If you are going to "talk QDM" then you have to "walk QDM" wich means no hunting of all bucks until the rut is over. Not alot of support from bowhunters on that one but think about the fairness.

[DeanoB]

what are you guys even talking about? MN is the 4th or 5th record producing state in the nation What I am saying is only 3 or 4 states have put more bucks in the record book than MN. Google it if you want. Hunting during the rut provides us all a chance to get the buck of a lifetime. If you don't like you don't have to hunt here...or don't hunt than you don't have to worry about it, some people just want meat, some have to hunt public land and shoot first deer seen. I am proud of what we have here in MN, how about a little honor for our great state? Furthermore, small bucks shot means gene pool of the big ones is still out there. Lets use a little common sense before we go spouting off at the mouth for things you shouldn't have said. PS there is a gun season in 2 weeks as well, hunt that if you want. I would rather have the trigger happy guys cleaning out the dinks than harvesting trophies any way. Just my opinion and 2 cent.

[sticknstring]

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Furthermore, small bucks shot means gene pool of the big ones is still out there. Lets use a little common sense

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That spike or forkhorn could have the genetics to become a booner given the chance... common sense would be good.

And it's not coincidence that Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, and WI put out more big bucks than MN due to a later gun season.

[archerystud]

I'd love to see the gun season moved back. I wouldn't mind giving the deer a week off from bowhunting during the rut as well.

Even the guide I hunted with down in Missouri told me that MN has more potential for bigger deer. They just don't manage the herd for that.

I passed on 5 bucks this weekend, I know one of them got shot already. On a good note my dad and I passed on at least 3 maybe 4 bucks last night in zone 4. Hopefully they make it to NEXT year.

[Steve Foss]

I've had a lot of fun visiting the rellies in LaCrosse a couple times in the last several years over Thanksgiving. You get to combine deer camp, Thanksgiving dinner and watching the Lions lose on TV, and then it's back to deer camp. And just in time. Seems like there was always some obnixious relative at dinner that we were happy to leave behind when we went back to camp.

But seriously, deer season, like spring fishing opener, is so much about social traditions that it would raise a huge hue and cry if the season were moved later, regardless of which is better for growing trophy deer. I'd bet the majority of Minnesota deer hunters would be very conservative about that change.

Wouldn't bother me one bit. After spending years and years just hunting for the pot and not caring if the deer had horns or not, I'm starting to want to seek out those wary careful old boys more and more. The longer I hunt, the more the routine is routine and the more I want to challenge myself.

[tjhunter]

Hey GoggleEye...shoot me an email - [email protected]. I have some questions for you about the islands on the St. Croix. I hunted one for the first time this weekend.

Terry

[tjhunter]

Hey SFBOY, it didn't turn into loserville until you showed up - lol...It's funny how all these cheesetirds blast MN, but yet they live here and hunt here - oh and shoot the first fork that walks by their bait pile. It's only an extra 20 minutes to the border, so tell me why you insist on living and hunting in our state.

huntertj

[WollMan]

i would love it if mn gun season was later. I have not hunted in snow for a couple of years now and a week or two later would help those chances out alot. I did shoot a big bodied spike and my dad got a 6 this past weekend. we know that there are much larger deer where we are hunting but do not have the time, 3 hour drive for me and 6 hour drive for the old man to put in more time. hunting later would help us because if there was snow we would be able to pattern and see where the deer were moving. although it might seem like a great idea, traditions are hard to change and so are laws. it would be nice but i dont see it happening

[Bogsucker]

I think alot of people forget that not all that long ago IF you got to shoot any deer in MN you were considered lucky. In 1971 there were so few deer that there was no deer season. In the 70's success rate was 19%, less than one of five hunters shot a deer. Now it's more than doubled. Thanks to the MN DNR and their consideration of the future we now have a very huntable population of deer and way more big bucks than when I started hunting in the 70's. These are the good old days. Sure I'd like to shoot a big buck some day but I'd like to earn it, not expect it. Here's a link to an interesting article written 10 years ago. Mn DNR

[bigbucks]

Very good article, a lot of guys either forget this or never knew it.

[GoggleEye]

Tjhunter, there really isn't a need to blast anybody on here no matter where they are from, we are all hunters and need to stick together for our sport and the resource. I am a "cheeseturd" as you called us and I do live in St. Paul now due to wanting to live closer to the woman I love. I however do still hunt in Wisconsin and spend the extra money on gas to do so. I have never hunted in your state and probably never will, not because I think it doesn't have as many big bucks, only because I have found very good public land over in Wisconsin's Polk county and I never see another hunter there. It costs more to get there, but to me it is worth it to have the solitude. I also would not be one of those cheeseturds that blasts the first fork to come to my bait pile either. I have passed up over 15 bucks this year, some of which many hunters would consider a trophy, but I like to let everything walk that is not at least 3.5 years old and wider than the ears or sporting 8+ inch tines. It just depends on what's important to you and everyone has the right to harvest any legal deer they would like. So I think I answered your two questions of why I live here and (don't) hunt in your state. Don't worry, I will be relocating to Southern Wisconsin soon, so you won't have to be exposed to my "cheeseturd" ways much longer.

p.s.- I know SFBoy came on a little strong by calling Minnesota "Loserville", but if it means anything, I don't think Minnesota is Loserville. I have had some great times here fishing on a lot of the lakes and camping up north in the Ely area. I think Minnesota is great, just like I feel about Wisconsin. I have met a lot of really nice minnesota outdoorsmen too on here, many of which I have fished with. Good luck to you in your deer season!

GoggleEye

[CrappieAttitude]

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Furthermore, small bucks shot means gene pool of the big ones is still out there. Lets use a little common sense

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That spike or forkhorn could have the genetics to become a booner given the chance...

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I am for letting little bucks walk, however I am also for weeding out the bad gene pool bucks. Heres my explaination... This year we have 5 deer hung. Two of the bucks were in the same 1 1/2 year age class. One of them was a small seven pointer, and the other was a pencil lengthed spike.

Genetically, the spike would be less likely to be producing booners. Therefore shooting him may have eliminated poor genetic traits down the road, not to mention it will put a few backstraps on the grill as well.

CA

[sticknstring]

I won't debate tenderloins on the grill or the genetics of a spike for that matter... but food for thought.

That spike could have a been a late-born fawn last spring with exceptional genes and potentially a larger-racked specimen than the 7 pt given time. And then again he may actually have been an inferior deer. I think you'll get a much more accurate reading by judging a 2 1/2 year old.

In one area I hunt forkhorns are a rarity. Nearly every 1 1/2 year old sports a pair of spikes... many of which are under 3". It's big woods with no ag land around. Years of a lack of age structure and an abundance of does is most likely the culprit but am I going to start shooting these deer because of the "inferior genes" mentality? No. Given a few years they'll be decent bucks for the area. And I'll be the first to say that all areas are not created equal!

I hunt another woodlot further south where it USED to be rarity to see a spike. Nearly all the 1 1/2 year olds sported forks or a small six however over the past 10 years that's changed dramatically to being almost all spikes and forkhorns. I think this is a pretty common trend being observed by many across the entire state... Even with the expolosion of food plots.