First attempt at posting pics

[DaveT]

Just a few reasons I'm looking forward to heading to Iowa and Kansas this fall.

(img)http://media1.pikeo.com/images/server37/upload/M637UGZYNETTUGH40BIGCAO43WGDZOGX.jpg(/img)

(img)http://media1.pikeo.com/images/server52/upload/15JY4LMZGVKTH4J2WH5VLSKIGNBB8ZPU.jpg(/img)

http://media1.pikeo.com/images/server38/upload/O7551HLY1SKZ5A22PVYJI1276BWMS71Y.jpg

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[Code-Man]

nice deer pics

[mrklean]

very good looking deer, what are of kansas?

[HNTNBUX]

I don't get it. There are bucks like that behind every tree in MN if you look hard enough, just ask half the people on this site.

Nice looking deer and good luck this year.

[BuckKiller]

I don't get it. There are bucks like that behind every tree in MN if you look hard enough, just ask half the people on this site.

Nice looking deer and good luck this year.

I wouldn't say every tree but there are plenty of them out there.

Nice pics. Only 65 more days til MN bow season... Can't wait :-)

[DaveT]

How do you get the pic to show in the post instead of a link?

We are in the NE part of Kansas, mainly to shorten the drive, the whole state is good, though. Those bucks are from MO, IA, and KS. There are big bucks in MN, but far fewer than elsewhere.

[HNTNBUX]

I agree with you Dave my sarcasm must not have been evident. I hunt pretty hard in MN and have about six bucks that are mature since 1993, all after 2000. Since I started hunting out of state I shoot at least one, but more likely 2-3 per year since 2000. It is funny how two weeks of hunting out of state yields more mature bucks than hunting four monthes in MN.

[harvey lee]

Looks to me like you are hunting in maybe the 3 best whitetail states in the Upper Midwest or maybe the nation at this time.

In regards to posting your photo's, you need to copy and paste the correct link in whatever hosting site you are using to upload your photo's.

[Bear55]

Great photos Dave T, I can only hope the rest of Minnesota starts to realize the potential this state has, maybe down the road we might see some deer like you see in other states.

[paceman]

Awesome pictures....Dang now I have big bucks on the brain....

[DTro]

How do you get the pic to show in the post instead of a link?

you can edit your main post and "sandwich" the links you provided with the code

I did the first one for you

[vister]

i kinda feel sorry for those out there who have to head out of state to shoot a nice buck. i guess since we have been practicing QDM the past 6 or 7 years, the buck quality has greatly increased. in a few weeks, i'll post pics off of my trail cams, but let me just say that on two of the cameras i have got 4 solid shooters on film. we're talking 9 inch plus brow tines, split g2's, 18 inch plus inside spreads, and a little bit of palmated antlers. guess we'll see if they are palmated or kickers in a few weeks. maybe thats what some of you guys drive across the country to shoot, but i can hunt them 2 miles from home. must be attributed to QDM, plots, and year round mineral sites!

[HNTNBUX]

I will agree that QDM, food plots, minerals and trail camera scouting goes a long ways to help harvest a buck in MN. However the first part in the equation is land access. I have always been a firm believer that location location location is the primary factor in determining if you stand a chance to shoot a big buck.

There are good bucks where I hunt, however I share 80 acres of land access with at least five other people in one spot and have hunted a ten acre spot by myself, at least until Thursday when the new owner moves in. I can hunt the ten acre spot all year and not educate the deer to bad, but it only takes a week on the 80 before they get nocturnal. Access to land to enable you to implement those other options is the key to success. I am not complaining about what you have, it is my own fault for not going out and buying my own land or knocking on more doors to get access. I am simply saying it has been easier for me to go out of state to get permission and have a reasonable chance at locating a mature buck than trying to do it here in MN. I will still hunt in MN I just realize that I will hunt Sept until the end of December three to five times a week to see the same or fewer deer than I will in a week out of state.

Good luck Vister I look forward to seeing your pictures. Mine are usually at night so I know they are there and they keep me coming back for more.

[mknolls]

Vister, do you hunt quality state land, manage your own or get permission to hunt privet land? Witch now days if you don't know some one or if your from the cities, that's just about impossible? Most of us that want to shoot bigger deer don't have as many options to manage there land. And are lucky to even have a place that is half way descent. For the time I put in all the scouting asking for permission and trying to figure out what part of a state land I can hunt with out stepping on another hunter who has staked out a peace of state land before me. Doing the ethical thing and give them there space. All that time adds up. When for about the same price we can travel a little see the sites and hunt a 140 class deer for the same amount of money. All that said, I still do my best to find an area in MN that I may harvest a nice buck. Most of the time it becomes a disappointment, for one reason or another. I love being in the woods. To me there is no place better then in the outdoors. I hope that all other hunters that have a good place to hunt will take care of the land they have and have, good luck this season.

MK

[harvey lee]

Vister, do you hunt quality state land, manage your own or get permission to hunt privet land? Witch now days if you don't know some one or if your from the cities, that's just about impossible? Most of us that want to shoot bigger deer don't have as many options to manage there land. And are lucky to even have a place that is half way descent. For the time I put in all the scouting asking for permission and trying to figure out what part of a state land I can hunt with out stepping on another hunter who has staked out a peace of state land before me. Doing the ethical thing and give them there space. All that time adds up. When for about the same price we can travel a little see the sites and hunt a 140 class deer for the same amount of money. All that said, I still do my best to find an area in MN that I may harvest a nice buck. Most of the time it becomes a disappointment, for one reason or another. I love being in the woods. To me there is no place better then in the outdoors. I hope that all other hunters that have a good place to hunt will take care of the land they have and have, good luck this season.

MK

Agreed, thats why I started hunting in North Dakota years ago. I can shoot a quality plus buck almost every season and I have no others hunters around the area.

I would love to stay home and hunt but in my area, if its brown it down and when the sun comes up, you can see all the orange around you. A forky stands no chnce to grow.

[vister]

i guess i am fortunate to hunt strictly private land. all land that my dad owns. the biggest obstacle to managing deer i believe is the mentallity of a lot of don't give a rip hunters. yes, the purpose of hunting is meat for the freezer. but there isn't better meat than a doe or yearling. for instance, some of our neighbors, stack up the deer like firewood. last year they bagged 20 does and fawns among the five of them. we are in an intensive area. them idiots practice if its brown its down. those are the people that ruin all of our practices and the herd. do they actually eat all of that? i'll bet it all goes to the food shelf.

the first year we were in intensive harvest, our hunting party took 17 deer. about double our normal harvest. we had venison coming out of our ears! but we managed to eat it all. amongst our party of 9 guys.

[Bear55]

vister I'd say you have a hunting situation that most of us can only dream about. If you don't mind me asking how much land are you able to hunt and do you have any neighbors that also practice QDM? Also has the hunting alwasy been great or have you seen a dramatic increase in mature bucks since you started practicing QDM?

With cooperation and good QDM plan I believe many of use who hunt state land can have similar success. However the cooperation part is the big issue. I agree this state need a mentality change before we can have any kind of change.

[vister]

my dad farms 900 acres of tillable land. about half of it is rented. so we have rights to about 150 acres of wooded hunting ground from the rental property. between what my dad owns and my grandpa owns, which grandpas land borders my dads, we have around 600 plus acres of strictly wooded, brushy meadow, and very dense riverbottom. many of the neighbors practice qdm, but its those two sets of neighbors that make it alot more difficult to make it completely effective.

yes, i am blessed to have the setup we have for hunting, and only through letting smaller bucks walk has it become effective. my dad is a crop farmer, and every acre is either soybeans or corn, and they are rotated yearly.

looking at the aerial footage of the farm, there are vast tracts of very heavy riverbottom. most of which has no roads or housing in it. about in the middle of it, where there is tillable acreage, my dad owns a bunch of it and crop farms it, kinda drawing deer in. however, once them crops are mature, they are harvested, and the deer trickle back into the riverbottom. many neighbors are also successful at taking beautiful bucks.

almost any buck can become a dandy, they just need the time to grow. many of my buddies poke fun at me for the fact that i plant and raise about 6 acres of food plots, when my dad farms 900 acres of crops. well, them crops come out of the fields at maturity, the deer typically leave also. so the food plots kinda keep them around a few extra weeks. they are especially effective as serving as a staging area while bowhunting. deer mill around in them for a bit before heading to the fields.

the past 4 years have resulted in neighbors, and my family, taking teriffic bucks. a few 12's, a 14, 2 16's from the neighbors, my brothers 165" 13 pointer, my 182" 16 pointer last bow season, and many other dandy 8's and 10's round out our last few years.

let em go and they'll grow. effective words of wisdom

[propster]

Dave, now you're just showin' off. What are you doin letting your brother shoot all the big ones?

[vister]

i just did look at all of the pics from the original post. nice lookin deer! but in all actuallity, like i mentioned earlier, i've been blessed to hunt the land i hunt. i can honestly say our wall has a better lookin average of antler size. but i understand why people go out of state to deer hunt. states to the south don't necessarily have bigger bucks than the great state of minnesota, but their mature buck to deer total ratios are much higher.

around here, a 4 1/2 year old buck is an old deer. they aren't even in their prime for growing antlers yet!

[slopmaster]

if its brown it down and when the sun comes up, you can see all the orange around you. A forky stands no chnce to grow.

[mknolls]

Vista, I'm glad to see that your family has a chance to take and shoot big deer. The opportunity for the other 70% of us hunter's to manage our property is well, minimal at best. Between the state land and 40 acre's I have permission to hunt witch I can't manage to change the owner perception of adding a few small plots. ( My Dad.) Is just what the other have to say on here. To try an take a mature buck or even a mature doe in the bow or rifle season is just about impossible in the area witch I hunt. It is still nice to be out in the woods scene the rifle season is more for me about family. It has come that way for two reason. First off because of the lack of deer in our area. Second, lack of food. The main reason there are few deer. Over the years of hunting there we have only taken one decent 8 pt that was 12 years ago. And so it has become a family event and gathering more then anything. For most of my bow hunting I keep plugging away at what ever comes along for state land. And yes if the timing is right and I have the money to drive all over the country side scouting for a good area, some day I may find a good buck in MN. For me to take a mature deer I believe will be in another state. Like I said before, to get permission to hunt in a high production area is just about impossible unless you have money or know someone who knows the right person. Good luck to all hunter this season bow and rifle. It would be nice if you would post some of your deer. It would be great to see them. Sixs weeks plus and counting to Bear opener.

MK