Liberal limits Itasca State Park what a joke!

[germanshorthairs]

I have been Rifle hunting Itasca for some time now and would like to know who sets the limits in the park. Is it the DNR or the Itasca Park manager. Itasca is Intensive while everything around it is lottery. Just makes no sense to me-I have hunted it and there are no deer left.(figure of speech) What wildlife manager or biologist has the facts that itasca can continue to allow very liberal bag limits and still have enough deer for next year. I would say that it cannot-I have hunted it and it is getting very poor. Now this year you are going to be able to muzzleload it?? Do they want all the deer gone? I personally love to hunt for deer and I understand you are going to have some good years and some mediocre years but not year after year of poor years and yet the limit is still five. I think it is time for whoever sets the limit at Itasca to get a clue with what the deer density really is at in Itasca. I heard reports from opening weekend of guys that hunt the park that saw about 1 deer for 3 hunters the whole weekend. I guess if that is what a 5 deer limit area is suppose to be like good luck retaining youth hunters!!!

[B. Amish]

why don't you call the dnr?

[Matt Breuer]

Just north of the park it's intensive harvest, and there are LOADS of deer. I know Two Inlet's is jam-packed with deer too. I do'nt hunt in the park, but the surrounding areas host big numbers and big deer. Bummer to hear you've not having stellar luck!

As for the management... it's sad how things go. We were intensive in Bemidji for quite a few years, and now we're lotto and the hunting sucks compared to before. And I have land in the TB Zone, talk about depressing....

[B420]

We have 110 acres 10 miles west of the park and that area seems dead too. Between two guys we have seem a total of 2 deer so far. There isn't very much deer sign around at all either, pretty depressing!!

The boys we know around us to are having dismal luck also.

[jerkbait]

I hear ya Matt about having land in the TB zone. We are 2miles from the Skime store. Pretty tough hunting there.

[picksbigwagon]

why don't you call the dnr?

+1

[winterwalleye]

matt b just north of the park is lottery area 184 until bagley about 25 miles .to the west area 298 is managed.to the south areas 258 and to the east 259 are all lottery. seems to me they think the park is loaded with deer .I also hunt the park and very few deer are left.I agree with shorthairs,if the surrounding areas are all lottery and 1 managed something sounds pretty funny with the management of the park. I heard the least amount of shooting in the park in years.

[germanshorthairs]

I will call the DNR- I just thought someone on here may know the answer. I will call the 1888minndnr and see. I also wanted to see what others think from this forum.

[Pinusbanksiana]

Remember that managing for deer is just one option. It could be that they want the numbers of deer reduced in Itasca to promote the natural regeneration and health of white pine seedlings. Management practices are dictated by objectives.

[germanshorthairs]

I guess I have planted many white pines and bud capped them with no problems-also if that is the goal of the park why don't they let the public know that is what they want -NO DEER. As a taxpayer I think I have the right to know if a state park is managed to have no deer so the plants can grow better. Also, I ran into a guy that was attacked by a wolf on the nicollet trail last year. He was scared sh"?less. We heard the shots and met him on the trail. He was just trying to enjoy lunch on the ground. Do you know if this is the managment plan of the park??????

[TRZ II]

I know guys who hunt the park and 660 acres of private adjoining land. their trail cams had very few deer this year and amazingly high amounts of wolves. That is the reason for fewer deer not DNR management. They need to fight harder for a wolf season, that would help the problem.

[Pinusbanksiana]

No, before everyone goes nuts, I am just putting this out there and I don't know if it is true.. We can't manage all of our public lands for deer and the enjoyment of deer hunters though. And I am a deer hunter.

[germanshorthairs]

Pinusbanksiana-that is fine if we don't manage all of our land for deer then why not let the people know that. Tell people what you are managing that land for and why!! Think about the people that own land around the park. They are not seeing deer because of the liberal limits in the park. There are tons and I mean tons of people that take advantage of the park being a 5 deer limit-(they just say they shot the deer in the park even though they did not, why not you can register it online or by phone and if you do go to a big game registration site, they do not even look at your deer anyways). If they want to rid the park of deer put a fence around it. They are messing with the landowners(taxpayers) around it. If they want the park to be a natural area-then why even allow hunting?? Let the land be natural. Killing all the deer is not natural is it??? I am just very upset with the way the DNR is managing the park and adversely effecting the land around it. Also how they are only hurting there bottom line. How many young kids want to sit in a treestand all day to maybe see and I say maybe see a deer every 4 days?? If that is the way they want to manage the park then put a fence around it!!!

[Pinusbanksiana]

Again, I don't know how they manage the park. I was speculating. But I do think that hunters need to see the woods for what else it offers rather than deer hunting. And I enjoy hunting very much myself. Please don't attack me for stating how I feel on this issue.

[Arctic]

Itasca is a 30,000 acre-plus chunk of land, with tougher access than much of the land around it. Deer numbers tend to get high in many of our state parks (this is a BIG problem here on the North Shore) due to less hunting pressure. In my part of the state the taxpayer gets screwed when deer mow down new pine plantations and the state or county has to replant. These trees, by the way, support the local timber economy. Too many deer are a BAD thing.

Another thing: deer don't have big territories, so what goes on in the park would have little or no impact on what goes on around it. Your average doe lives in about half a square mile (320 acres).

Deer hunting is deer hunting. Sometimes we see and kill a lot of deer and everyone fills his/her tags, and sometimes we kill few deer. There are a lot of factors that go into a successful hunt. That's life.

[germanshorthairs]

Arctic you missed the fact that if an area is a 5 deer limit and across the road it is a lottery (1 deer limit) As it is by Itasca. People that shoot their deer in the lottery register it as they shot it in the park because it is so easy. In return the area around the park continues to suffer. I also understand that too many deer is not a good thing(cwd etc..) but if you were to hunt the park as I have- there is no way the park has too many deer, unless a couple deer per square mile is too many. Also I don't have any knowledge or insight as to the hunts allowed on the state parks on the north shore. Have they allowed hunting for a 9 day season and 5 deer limits continually???????? Also, if the state is planting pines and not bud capping them that is not smart as anyone would know. Even if there is very few deer and you don't bud cap the few deer will eat hoards of pines. If that is what the state is doing up there shame on them. Don't kill all the deer so you don't have to bud cap.

Oh one other thing-Is the DNR Big Game manager a member of this site- maybe he could tell me how the park(Itasca) is managed?????

[flyfisher03]

For all of you complaining about the DNR not stating what the goal is for Itasca here is the management plan. It was an easy find on their HSOforum. Also they have press service announcements posted online all the time also for public comment and in site. If you are concerned about how it is managed go to the meetings.

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/parks_recreation/mgmtplans/itasca_plan.pdf

By the way they are good for 25 years.

[Arctic]

You generally don't have to bud cap unless local deer populations are high. Now that we've had intensive harvest in this area (180) for a few years now the deer numbers have been knocked back to more reasonable levels, and I don't see nearly as much bud nipping of young pines that I did five years ago. Some say the deer kill has been too high, but I can't really say.

As for Itasca, it sounds like the management problem there comes from dishonest hunters. The DNR can only set harvest goals based on the info they have. If the kill numbers they are getting from hunters is a bunch of [PoorWordUsage], then it's hard to only blame the DNR. The DNR needs to hear from folks like you.

I can't blame you for being angry and frustrated. I would be too.

[caseymcq]

... Also, if the state is planting pines and not bud capping them that is not smart as anyone would know. ...

[Arctic]

A drive along Hwy 61 from December until the snow melts might change ones opinion about that

[winterwalleye]

If there are too many deer in the park why aren't hunters seeing them and the locals saying the same thing. I can't believe there are that many deer in the park to justify a 5 deer limit.

[germanshorthairs]

flyfisher03, thanks for info-I just started reading it(it is a 200page document) and I already saw about three times where they said they wanted the deer population low as a goal. I guess I will have to get some folks together to attend a meeting or forum. Also to inform the many hunters who think that there are tons of deer in the park because of the liberal limits(most common people think if the limit is high there are many deer and that is not the case in Itasca-they just don't want any deer) Once again frustrated with the DNR. I feel bad for the folks that go up hunting there because they think the populations are high only to find out that the Park and DNR want all the deer gone and will continue to give high limits to acheive there goal. What a Joke!!!!!!

[Pinusbanksiana]

Time to find a new area to hunt.

[germanshorthairs]

Not time to find a new area to hunt-time to inform the many other hunters/landowners that I know up there so they are aware of the management plan-so they can also voice there opinions to the DNR. Let youth know that if they plan to see a deer do not go to the park as they have a small deer density and want it smaller for pine tree regeneration efforts. Local area will suffer from this knowledge and thats sad.

[B. Amish]

just guessing here, but i would bet a few more people visit the park each year for reasons other than to shoot a deer. maybe deer aren't king kong on their list of priorities for managing the park.