The Good Old Days

[Bear55]

I'm starting to see a lot of people talking about the deer numbers being down and complaining about wolves and everything else under the sun. I think we all need to remember how good we have it now, it wasn't long ago that we had some hard winters and the entire state was a lotto area.

So lets hear some of those stories of hard hunting from back in the day.

I don't recall the exact years but after those back to back bad winters in the 90's our group of 10 got skunked for the first time ever in the 50 year history of our camp. The next season we managed one buck but had 14 hunters with us. One of those seasons we saw more wolves then deer. I recall taking a nice hike to see if I could find any tracks, 3 miles later and not a single fresh track found in the snow. Back then you felt lucky to see a deer, it was hard hunting.

[Wanderer]

Amen!

I grew up hunting in a party of 5 near Pine River. We always took the entire Zone 2 season off and hit the woods every day.

Our best year was 3 for 5 and we coveted doe permits like we did just hit the lottery. Typically we might have one permit for the group.

For myself, I usually got to see one deer clearly per season and fortunately for me it was always a legal target. One deer for nine days! And I was out for as much of the day as I could be.

I've hunted all over the state since then and from my perspective we do have lower deer numbers than recently but still better than before.

In fact I spend two weekends of the rifle season in Emily now - not too far from Pine River. It's the least populated area I hunt over the season but I still find more deer in 4 days than I did 25 years ago hunting twice as many.

Granted I have learned alot more about the deer and my self (such as stealth and scent control) since then but I still sense more opportunity than I did back then.

[Musky Buck]

How about the blizzard of 1986 I think ? I had the 2 day rifle season 4A and I never got out, 2nd weekend 4B was perfect conditions and all I could do was help drag for the guys. Now, with a 9 day season I can avoid that scenario. In my area in those late 70's early 80's days there was a better age structure of deer around, way better chance at a legit trophy buck. Those same areas today are dominated by young deer.

[96trigger]

I remember being 11 and 12 and having to apply for a doe tag. We lived across the street from my uncle and one year after he got his, he snuck over and took ours from the mailbox. He let us go a whole week thinking that between my dad, my brother, and I, we didn't get one doe permit.

We used to do big deer drives and had most of the area to ourselves. If we were lucky, we'd get 4 or 5 deer a year for about 12 of us. We would then put up a portable heater at my parents and butcher the deer on a Sunday night. It was quite an event.

As a young kid, I hunted for about 4 seasons before I finally got my first deer. The only reason I got that was because a good friend let it go by him so it ran into me. I will never forget it though. Just think, I hunted 4 seasons from the age of 12 to 16, no deer, and I couldn't shoot whatever I wanted or hunt both the 3A and 3B season, its amazing I even still hunt today. You know what, not hunting has never crossed my mind, probably because my family made such a big deal out of being tradition and it was just plain fun getting together with all the guys. It wasn't just about pulling the trigger or antler size.

[Bear55]

As a young kid, I hunted for about 4 seasons before I finally got my first deer. The only reason I got that was because a good friend let it go by him so it ran into me. I will never forget it though. Just think, I hunted 4 seasons from the age of 12 to 16, no deer, and I couldn't shoot whatever I wanted or hunt both the 3A and 3B season, its amazing I even still hunt today. You know what, not hunting has never crossed my mind, probably because my family made such a big deal out of being tradition and it was just plain fun getting together with all the guys. It wasn't just about pulling the trigger or antler size.

Same here 96 - 3 seasons without a deer. I had to pass does when I was 12 years old, never even saw a buck the first 3 years. Like others have said, doe permits were a big deal back then, it was like hitting the lotto. The group we use to hunt with use to have a rule, you got 2 days to fill your own doe tag, then it was open season for everyone in the party. Kind of sad looking back at it, you had fathers and uncles filling tags for young kids, but everyone wanted meat bad so that was the way it was.

[Muskie456]

Grew up hunting near Hackensack MN. I remember if you even thought you heard a deer it was a good morning. We struggled for a lot of years to put one or two up on the meat pole. I tell you what it sure made us better whitetail hunters because of it. We have had it great for the past 10 years with deer numbers being so high. I hope the DNR can find a balance between taking five deer to taking one deer. How about two does a year and be able to hold onto your buck tag in case a good one walks out. I am a little disapointed that the areas that I hunt have gone to management or lottery areas. I really do prefer venison to cow meat. I am not complaining I think we are all very fortunate to be able to hunt. Good luck and shoot straight

[Big Buck Buster]

Wow, two days? Our group wouldn't give it that long. First to see the doe, shoot. That way we had some liver/tenderloins for the evening meal. We had a smaller group(at most 5)and were happy no matter who got the doe. That made me a better hunter, hunting in those conditions the first few years of the experience. Now I bow hunt, but still hunt the same days as the rest of the group rifle hunting.

[Musky Buck]

In my area as well once the dairy farms were subdivided and bought by hunters etc. the amount of sanctuary areas where a buck could get old in really diminished and I think that is why there were so many big boys around, heck there were many farms etc./land that were never hunted and we had fewer days to do it, some groups had 2 days and done, no extended bow or muzzy season, so that land became a sanc. after they were done hunting it. These sanc. areas today are full of deer stands that weren't there 25 years ago, even 15 years ago, but now......... and everyone has a chance to put in 9 days if they can and 16 more with a muzzy. My area has not changed a bit since 1983 as far as deer numbers go, just the age structure has changed as people take down the "bigger" deer with more permits available. In 1983, my first year, apply for doe permit, about half received one, we had those metal deer tags, in 1984 the metal tag with like a ball on the end of it, then the paper tags began. Got a deer and you were done unless you helped make drives, now, you likely aren't done after your first deer and many can sit and fill tags as many as tags allow. A doe permit was a major thing, 1st question used to be who all got 1. Anyway, good luck hunting!

[bogwalker]

I started deer hunting northern Minnesota in the mid 1960s. I don't want to see the "hard hunting days" again. Hope we are not heading in that direction again. One year they closed deer firearms season altogether, I think that was around 1970?

[delta dude]

I think early 70's were the worst. A closed deer hunt followed by many years of buck only. I can remember having to pick a block of three to five days out of the deer hunt offered in zone 1. Back then a hunter felt lucky to see a deer. We just had a tough winter and we still see lots of deer in the fields. Believe me it could be a lot worse. Ask any hunter over 50.

[Double D]

I started in 1991. We used to hunt the north end of Beltrami Forest south of Warroad.

Never saw a deer the first 2 years. Our group of 6 was lucky to have 1 antlerless permit between us back in those days. The last year we hunted there was 1997, right after the 2 hard winters. No one in the group saw a deer that last year.

Now we hunt by Pine River, and last year I saw 9 deer by noon the first day, including the buck I nailed at 7:10 in the morning.

Times change, but I have always said we are 1 good hard winter away from less deer. Mother Nature rules all deer hunting.

DD

[CrowRiverRat83]

Great thread! Im pretty young (26) and just started bowhunting 6 years ago. My dad tells me that infact the deer season was closed at a point in the 70's. I consider myself and others lucky for the amount of deer today. I agree, some people really need to take a good hard look at where the deer herd has come.

[bogwalker]

Great thread! Im pretty young (26) and just started bowhunting 6 years ago. My dad tells me that infact the deer season was closed at a point in the 70's. I consider myself and others lucky for the amount of deer today. I agree, some people really need to take a good hard look at where the deer herd has come.

It looks to some of us that our decreasing herd may continue to decrease at it's present rate to where it was in the lean days of the 70's. There are factors we cannot control like weather and factors we can control like predators, bonus tags etc.

[alwaysonthemove]

I'm starting to see a lot of people talking about the deer numbers being down and complaining about wolves and everything else under the sun. I think we all need to remember how good we have it now, it wasn't long ago that we had some hard winters and the entire state was a lotto area.

I am not sure but I do not think we will ever see the deer numbers down again. There is WAY to much money to be made out there by deer hunting. Now adays we have controlled logging, landowners managing deer on there own land, food plots, etc.

Yeah we might see up and down years. But really we just came from an incredible high number of deer the last 5 seasons. That is just my thought.

[Boar]

I aint ofver fifty but I remember what the deer tasted like when dad got one, not very good, tough an crudy. Not like the corn fed an bean fed deer these days. First time I ever went along with dad to just go I was 8 an he made me walk throuhg Aggazis WMA, hated it. No wonder the deer he brought home tasted like cr ap, old swamp deer. Boar

[huntnfish]

The first year I hunted was 1992. We hunted rifle around Fosston until 1997 and had to apply for doe tags every year and when you got one it was like gold. That last year up there was very lean. We saw one dear all season and that was a fawn in the headlights before heading out to the stand on the last morning. We saw decent amounts of deer every year but that last one. Its funny how things change over time. When I was first starting we would sit in the stand all but about a half hour everyday. Some of those days got pretty long without deer sightings. Now I mainly bowhunt and if I don't see a couple deer each sit, its a slow day. I don't want to see the lean deer times again, but I know I'll be out there loving every second of it either way.

[UdeLakeTom]

I went back to hunting in '94 after 18 years of not hunting.

Those were tough years that followed. We had a couple of PIA winters. There were lots of arguments of why nobody was feeding the starving deer. Our herds have come back since then. For a couple of years in our area, there were even bonus tags given out.

Last year, not enough does were taken, mostly due to the winds on opening day. This year we still have a lottery zone.

It's just my opinion, and I am nowheres near an expert, but the herd levels in our area are doing ok. Our problem is not the amount of deer, but the inability to hunt them correctly.

We should do a lot better then we do.

Usually we hear a lot more shooting opening morning then we did last year, but I again blame it on the wind. The trail, scrapes, rubs, tracks..etc were all there.

[Bowfin]

I started hunting in the northern part of the Chippewa National Forest Itasca Co in 1984. Hunting all week in the 80's I saw probably 2-5 deer. The population exploded in the early 90's then came the 2 back to back tough winters in the mid 90's where we were skunked in 1996 and shot one buck in 1997. By the end of the 90's life was good again with a rebounded deer herd. Over this last decade the deer numbers have seemed to drop - not because of the weather or the healthy wolf population but IMO the decreased logging on our public lands on the Chip. The habitat isn't as good for deer with decreased timber management and older forests.

North of Duluth we have many wolves and many more deer and quite a bit of forest management through logging - maintaining great habitat for deer.

Just my observations.

[InTheSchool]

I started deer hunting in 1970. My dad took me out near Welch village. Heard some shooting but never saw a deer. In 1971 the entire state was closed to deer hunting. It wasn't bucks only until about the mid 70's. I had a couple opportunities, but never tagged a deer until 1982, the year I got married. Since then it has been preety automatic. I believe with luck I will kill deer number 50 this fall. There were a couple of dry years in the 90's due to terrible winters. I don't see how the DNR could manage it much closer other than section by section and enforcement would be impossible.

[Bear55]

I got a good story from my dad last night. He started hunting in the late 60's and early 70's and he didn't see a deer for 7 years. The 8th year he saw a flash of a tail. This might explain why he seems to have unlimited patience and will sit from dark to dark for days on end.

[candiru]

I think I started in 77. I did not shooot a deer till 87. I did miss a few years when I was in the service. Since 87 there was only one year I have not killed a deer. I did pass up a chance. I have learned a lot since the beginning. It was a big deal in those days to see a "flag" in those days and doe permits were very much coveted. I do vaguely remember the talk of the closed season in 71.

[fishermn]

Yep, THESE are the good ole days...

Same story for me. Started in 77 and didnt tag a deer until 1985.

Its been good since then though.

[Musky Buck]

The biggest difference for me is land/room to hunt, had many miles of terrain in those days now we are all confined to an 80 or something. In 1983, it was 3 days bucks only the first weekend or you could apply for a doe permit the 2nd weekend and had 2 days to hunt and you weren't guaranteed a doe permit, remember some filled them out incorrectly and were tossed out, you had to fill it out correctly to have a chance. This was zone 4. So it was a buck only 3 day first weekend or a 2 day hunt the 2nd weekend with or without a doe permit. In 1984 it went to 2 days first weekend or 4 days second weekend and you could apply for a doe tag for which weekend you chose. Now many of us are like fishhouses on a lake, your stand is your fishhouse with not much room to roam.

[paceman]

I think my first year was 85. I didn't get one for the first 3 years but have been pretty succesful ever since. What I remember most from back then was how cold it always was and that the snow was always deep. I remeber one dude even put a wood stove in a van so we could warm up during the day.

[LoonASea]

I started hunting in 1975 up in the Remer area ,,,Bucks only back then and you usualy only saw them in the headlights on the way up there ...I still remember the cold quiet mornings with maybe 1 or 2 shots heard the whole weekend and walking on 6 inches of ice along shore of sand lake ,,,back then blaze orange wasnt a requirement ,,,lots of guys in deer camp wore the plaid red wool coats ,,,boy the outdoor clothing industry has sure changed a lot since I started hunting

At this point in my life I have taken more deer with my bow then with a firearm ,,,I dont bow hunt any more so I get out and enjoy the gun season with friends and it doesnt matter if I shoot at deer or even see one ,,,I go to be at deer camp

LAS