OutdoorMN News - DNR seeking public input on deer population goals (published January 18, 2022)

[Rick]

Portions of southeast, Arrowhead and north central areas to be evaluated.

Discuss below - to view set the hook here.

[monstermoose78]

I will try to take part as the deer population where I hunt has gone down to almost nonexistent 

[leech~~]

34 minutes ago, monstermoose78 said:

I will try to take part as the deer population where I hunt has gone down to almost nonexistent 

5 guys last 3 seasons up in 172 not one Deer take or seen.  Something needs to change big time. Well other then we're done hunting there altogether!  

Edited January 20, 2022 by leech~~

[Wanderer]

2 hours ago, leech~~ said:

5 guys last 3 seasons up in 172 not one Deer take or seen.  Something needs to change big time. Well other then we're done hunting there altogether!  

It can be grim up there in the big tracts.  It’s nice to have all that room but it’s hungry country for deer and heavily pressured. I know I advised you to look elsewhere but I’m actually hoping to be able to buy some land in 172 should the current owner have to sell.

 

2 - 8 pointers were taken off of it before I took my doe off it the last day of season.  I was back up there around Christmas and saw tracks all over that parcel.  Then we drove further into the tax forfeit abyss and the sign dropped off dramatically.  

You should do some scouting now.  I checked spots around home and have one spot in particular dialed in tight.  I just found it during ML season this year.

 

Annnnd it looks like 172 isn’t included in the survey.

Edited January 20, 2022 by Wanderer

[leech~~]

We bow hunted the same area for like 20 years. It was very rare that we didn't see 5-6 deer each hunt. Then the Wolves moved in about 5 years ago and the area has become worthless. Yep, we have a few other spots picked out next fall about 60 miles away from this dead zone!

[gimruis]

I hunt in 172 also for the first 2.5 days of firearms season.  My crew has been going up there for 75 years.  Me, personally, it has been 27 years now.  I have moved my stand from one area to another every so often.  The current spot I am in, I have been there since 2011.  Some years are good, some are awful.  In 2012 I took a massive 8 pointer that is on my wall and its my personal best buck.  There are some hunters in my crew that constantly complain about the lack of deer and/or quality bucks.  Coincidentally, they are also the same hunters that rarely sit in their stands for more than a few hours at a time.

 

This past season I saw some deer.  The weather over the last few years has not been ideal by any means.  Its simply been very warm and heat is not good for daytime deer movement.

 

The key up there seems to be this: get off the beaten path.  The further you are away from other hunters, roads, and ATV trails, the better.  A lot of hunters are lazy.  They want to get into their stand easily.

 

I also hunt zone 225 near Milaca for about 5 days during the firearms season on private land.  I see quite a bit more deer there, but the habitat can also support a lot more.  Winters aren't as severe, there aren't any wolves, and there's a lot more food.  Plus the landscape is a lot more open broken country rather than just heavy timber in 172.  So the expectation is very much different.

 

As far as the wolves, I think they belong as a part of the natural ecosystem that can support them.  However, they need to be managed by the state, just like anything else.  A limited, lottery based system for hunting/trapping tags that has a quota is perfectly fine.  I should mention that no hunter in the history of our crew over the course of almost 75 years has ever actually seen a wolf up there.  We have seen tracks and heard howling.

Edited January 20, 2022 by gimruis

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

I hunt in 172 also for the first 2.5 days of firearms season.  My crew has been going up there for 75 years.  Me, personally, it has been 27 years now.  I have moved my stand from one area to another every so often.  The current spot I am in, I have been there since 2011.  Some years are good, some are awful.  In 2012 I took a massive 8 pointer that is on my wall and its my personal best buck.  There are some hunters in my crew that constantly complain about the lack of deer and/or quality bucks.  Coincidentally, they are also the same hunters that rarely sit in their stands for more than a few hours at a time.

 

This past season I saw some deer.  The weather over the last few years has not been ideal by any means.  Its simply been very warm and heat is not good for daytime deer movement.

 

The key up there seems to be this: get off the beaten path.  The further you are away from other hunters, roads, and ATV trails, the better.  A lot of hunters are lazy.  They want to get into their stand easily.

 

I also hunt zone 225 near Milaca for about 5 days during the firearms season on private land.  I see quite a bit more deer there, but the habitat can also support a lot more.  Winters aren't as severe, there aren't any wolves, and there's a lot more food.  Plus the landscape is a lot more open broken country rather than just heavy timber in 172.  So the expectation is very much different.

 

As far as the wolves, I think they belong as a part of the natural ecosystem that can support them.  However, they need to be managed by the state, just like anything else.  A limited, lottery based system for hunting/trapping tags that has a quota is perfectly fine.  I should mention that no hunter in the history of our crew over the course of almost 75 years has ever actually seen a wolf up there.  We have seen tracks and heard howling.

Our group packs lunches and stays in the woods from sun up until sun down, with still hunting around the area during the day. So we put our time in the woods and after 20 years know the area like the back of our hands. No deer sign and only wolve tracks is a pretty good indicator of what's out in the woods. We have had  Wolves walk right through our stands and have them on trail cams. We have also had Bear and Bobcat walking through. I've seen more Wovles in the woods then Coyotes, but that makes sense since they try to stay away from each other. We use to see lots of Turkeys feeding on acorns and tons of squirrels. Now it's like a wasteland with more predators then anything. So we're moving on, where is that hot spot in 172 you hunt again? We need a new spot!

If they do ever open a Wolve season we got the spot picked out!

Edited January 20, 2022 by leech~~

[gimruis]

24 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

So we're moving on, where is that hot spot in 172 you hunt again? We need a new spot!

If they do ever open a Wolve season we got the spot picked out!

I can completely understand that.  If I didn't see any deer for a few seasons, I'd move too.

 

Lately, I have seen more wild turkeys in that area too which is something I never used to see that far north.

 

I saw a bobcat 6 seasons ago and its the only one I have ever seen in the wild.  It got pretty close and never made a sound.  It stopped about 20 feet from the base of the tree I was in and looked directly up at me, 25 feet up.  Two years ago when it was so warm, I saw 2 black bears out in a meadow the day before the season from the forest road.  That is the first time I've ever seen a bear in the wild too.  Maybe a wolf is up next.  I'd love to see one sometime even though I'm sure the deer activity would suffer for a while.

Edited January 20, 2022 by gimruis

[Wanderer]

I don’t wait seasons to make changes, I wait a couple days at most.  But I also hunt solo a lot or with other people that are willing to move based on conditions.  
 

Many times I’ve changed my hunt location on the way to my planned location.  Drives my wife nuts how often I change the plan but I don’t have the patience to stick it out anywhere I don’t have confidence in.

 

Just different styles of hunting - and fishing come to think of it.  We just had that conversation too.  Why do I leave fish to find fish?  Cuz I’m looking for better fish.

[smurfy]

25 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

I don’t wait seasons to make changes, I wait a couple days at most.  But I also hunt solo a lot or with other people that are willing to move based on conditions.  
 

Many times I’ve changed my hunt location on the way to my planned location.  Drives my wife nuts how often I change the plan but I don’t have the patience to stick it out anywhere I don’t have confidence in.

 

Just different styles of hunting - and fishing come to think of it.  We just had that conversation too.  Why do I leave fish to find fish?  Cuz I’m looking for better fish.

and sometimes you change you mind and leave so fast you leave things like furniture at the landing!!!!!!! 

 

sorry, that Mike guy dared me!!!!!!

[gimruis]

1 hour ago, Wanderer said:

Why do I leave fish to find fish?  Cuz I’m looking for better fish.

I move a lot when I'm fishing in my boat too.  Almost non-stop actually.  I'm definitely more of a "cover water" kinda guy when I fish.

 

Makes a guy wonder why someone would park a fish house in one spot for weeks on end.  You wouldn't sit over dead water in a boat for more than 10 minutes so why would you do it in a fish house for days or weeks?  Never made much sense to me.

 

As for constantly moving in and out of a deer stand or blind...I have seen a lot of deer because someone else left their stand and sent them my way.  I can recall multiple times when hunters were walking through the woods in the distance and I could see deer freeze in the woods as they walked past.  The hunters were completely oblivious to the presence of the deer but I knew they were there because I stayed put.

Edited January 21, 2022 by gimruis

[Wanderer]

26 minutes ago, gimruis said:

As for constantly moving in and out of a deer stand or blind...I have seen a lot of deer because someone else left their stand and sent them my way.  I can recall multiple times when hunters were walking through the woods in the distance and I could see deer freeze in the woods as they walked past.  The hunters were completely oblivious to the presence of the deer but I knew they were there because I stayed put.

100% when you’re in an area you have confidence in.  I’ve strategized hunters movements as well.  It works great in farm country when people don’t go out to their stands until legal shooting light and then have to go back in for morning coffee.  It’s just a big deer drive then. 

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, Wanderer said:

I don’t wait seasons to make changes, I wait a couple days at most.  

To tell you the truth I don't either and hated going back to the same dead woods. But the last few years we have hunted with friends and family and my buddy has a cabin on a near by lake so we kept going back. He got a new cabin now up by Long Ville and I made my little hunting trailer so next year will be back to scouting and hunting again. I also picked up a new crossbow so can't wait to get out, find some new woods and try something new!

[Wanderer]

Dude, scout now.  Seriously.

 

They might not be using the exact same spots during gun deer opener as they are now but you’ll have a great idea of density and general movement.  

Edited January 21, 2022 by Wanderer

[leech~~]

27 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

Dude, scout now.  Seriously.

 

They might not be using the exact same spots during gun deer opener as they are now but you’ll have a great idea of density and general movement.  

Why do you think I have a snowmobile? Best way to get back in the woods in the winter and marks spots on gps!