Now what do you think of the zone 3 antler restrictions

[jkcmj]

With the exception of the kids, we have been letting young bucks pass for several years on our dad's 160 acres. We were even taking the time to make sure young deer were not button bucks. In order to accomplish that, we had to quit driving deer. There was no way we could see the buttons without a close exam and enough time. Prior to our management change, I had only once or twice seen a mature buck in the previous 10 years. Since then, I have had 1 or more encounters each season with mature bucks. The trade off has been many long, boring sits without deer sightings.

Since venison is, and always has been, our primary meat, we ended up increasing our doe harvest in order to keep the freezers full. The herd could not take the loss of mature breeding does, so now we have a big shortage of does and fawns. We had a total of 4 mature does on trail cams since I put them out several months ago. Only one had offspring, a single fawn button buck. We let does go both last season and this one, but numbers have stayed low, and now the freezer is getting empty. We had 16 different bucks on trail cam last year and a similar number this year. 4 to 1 buck/doe ratio. Due to the herd structure, I would have harvested a young buck this year if not for the points regulation.

My only shot at a mature buck this season came on the last hour of the last day of the 1st season. I waited a second or two to verify points, in so doing I lost my clean broadside shot. The buck was over on my off shoulder and I was forced to take a poor shot and missed. Shots I would have passed on will likely be the norm now. I know I am not going to throw what is likely my only chance to harvest a buck.

I have found myself enjoying the hunt less. After trying it both ways, I am now strongly against the point restrictions.

[koonie]

[quote name='My only shot at a mature buck this season came on the last hour of the last day of the 1st season. I waited a second or two to verify points' date=' in so doing I lost my clean broadside shot. The buck was over on my off shoulder and I was forced to take a poor shot and missed. Shots I would have passed on will likely be the norm now. I know I am not going to throw what is likely my only chance to harvest a buck.

I have found myself enjoying the hunt less. After trying it both ways, I am now strongly against the point restrictions. [/quote']

You were "forced" to take a poor shot? That will likely be the norm now?

[grate8]

Here my thoughts on polls

The majority voted Obama in

Enough said

ya, and the minority voted in Bush

enough said

[MidCoast]

I dont like the new antlers restriction. Especially opening antlerless for 3A and allowing a bonus antlerless too. It will take out the deer population.

[jkcmj]

[quote=koonieYou were "forced" to take a poor shot? That will likely be the norm now?

[gr8icefishinmind]

maybe you should be a responsible hunter and not take a shot unless it is a good shot!!!

[surewood]

Maybe it's not for trophy hunters. Maybe it's so the baby deer don't get shot up every year. Agreed gr8icefish. Don't take bad shots.

[Gordie]

with or without APR ther is NO EXCUSE for taking poor shots its just not ethical to do that.

[surewood]

I'm not exactly sure what the buck to doe ratio is in zone three, but APR will allow more bucks to walk and help to balance that ratio. An imbalance causing to many does to not get bred til a month or later when they go into there second estrous. The fawns are born much later and can't put on the right amount of body weight. Their survival rate decreases much more. Which is another reason I'm for pushing the rifle season back a week. Let the bucks get some breeding in before they're being chased by 500,000 hunters. It's not about Trophies. It's about a healthy heard for the deer, and their habitat.

[james_walleye]

Hey jk, you might want to get your facts straight. A clear majority in the DNR surveys was for some form of protection for young bucks in zone 3. Lets not try and pretend some small vocal minority pushed this rule into place.

PS there is NO excuse for taking a marginal shot.

To answer the initial question. I don't think this will be able to be properly answered until APR's have been in place for a few years. I don't anyone will complain about seeing more mature bucks in SE MN. I think there will be quite a few people that will change their tune in the next couple years.

[Todd Caswell]

maybe you should be a responsible hunter and not take a shot unless it is a good shot!!!

OP most likely passed on the near perfect broeadside shot on a " NICE " 3 to 4 year old buck, but because he needed to count points per side, he took a marginal shot when he finally saw that it fit the rules for the [Note from admin: Your post has been edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]

wanting a BIG BUCK for there wall..

Sorry but this will never go state wide NEVER EVER EVER>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Too many red necks that like to eat the meat and could give a squirt less about the horns....... One more good reason to live in the NORTH half of the state...........Too many push overs down there

[surewood]

I would'nt say never. I think they need to put out alot more information about the goals of APR. A balanced heard is a healthy heard. Deer numbers/age structure are all important. I'm not for APR cause I'd like for each individual to make their own choice. I think with more info some people would change the way they hunt without being forced to.

[Todd Caswell]

I would'nt say never. I think they need to put out alot more information about the goals of APR. A balanced heard is a healthy heard. Deer numbers/age structure are all important. I'm not for APR cause I'd like for each individual to make their own choice. I think with more info some people would change the way they hunt without being forced to.

Exactly.....................................

[DHost21]

I love it!! Im sick of the brown its down mentality. I would love to see it in all the shotgun areas forsure and eventually keep moving north. I agree check back in 3 or 4 years and it will be more accepted a lot of people just arent patient enough

[hockeybc69]

I like the direction this is going!!!!

[surewood]

Dhost, I might be all for it in 3,4 years if hunters don't govern them selves better and be more selective before they pull the trigger. As of right now I would love to see more info available and mailed to hunters houses on the topic and why it's done. I just don't like the idea of taking power from the hunters as of yet.

[picksbigwagon]

I'm not exactly sure what the buck to doe ratio is in zone three, but APR will allow more bucks to walk and help to balance that ratio.

How can APR balance a buck to doe ratio if no one knows what the current ratio is?

I completely agree that deer hunting should be pushed into December and not the first 3 weeks of November. I also think no one should be hunting those 3 weeks either.......

[Gordie]

Not trying to start something but alot of guys are saying how great it will be in 3 or 4 years and I will bet my last dollar that these same guys will be the ones saying that there are to many hunters in this area because of what these APR have done.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you cant please evryone at the same time no matter what is done.

[Basseyes]

Not trying to start something but alot of guys are saying how great it will be in 3 or 4 years and I will bet my last dollar that these same guys will be the ones saying that there are to many hunters in this area because of what these APR have done.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you cant please evryone at the same time no matter what is done.

That's a great point.

We use to hunt down in zone 3 but gave it up because of the pressure. Now we own a 40 up north and have put a ton of work into it. We are not big deer hunters, more bird hunters but love improving the habitat. This year we weren't able to hunt the first 2 weekends of the season. We hunted the last one and my kid watched a doe for a while and was waiting to see if a buck would show. This was the last day of the season. After a while he elected to harvest what he thought was an adult doe. It was about 60 yards away with a light sleet/snow falling on a foggy morning. He shot it and dropped it in it's tracks. He got me and we went over to see it. It was a small spike. It's antlers were right at 3"s give or take a 1/4". He has great eyes and never saw the spikes even with it being out in the open and able to watch it for a while. If he would have known it was a small buck I think he would have let it walk.

APR's are a good idea in some areas of the state.

In heavily wooded areas the DNR has to give the hunters a bit of a brake. How they do that I don't know. Out west where there's elk APR's they at least give you an eye guard or brow tine inch along with the point restriction that helps you out if you know its an older bull that just doesn't have the points any more. MN should do something along those lines. Be it a spread or something. Agree this would be nice if it were a more gradual less restricted walk towards some way of protecting the 1 1/2 year old bucks. Deer are under a tremendous amount of pressure from mid September through December. Not sure if that is such a great thing. Am all for letting the kids and older people shoot what ever walks by.

As far as moving the deer season back there's no way most guys who don't have enclosed stands could sit most years in northern MN towards the end of November into the first part of December. Like the idea of protecting bucks during the rut. But that could be some very cold weather up north.

[flipper]

I have a problem with moving the season back. In my area the deer have already herded up for the winter. This means that the deer are now inhabiting about 10 percent of the area they were in earlier. It seems they have herded up earlier this year for one reason or another. Anyway it is easy to see that most of us hunters would not get a chance to hunt in their winter areas and it would lead to an unhealthy large population trying to make it through the winter.

[PostFrontal]

I think it will be alot easier to count those points on 2 1/2, 3 1/2, and 4 1/2 year old deer (especially when there are more of them)...instead of all the first year and 1 1/2 years olds we did this year....

[DHost21]

I think it will bring pressure down in zone 3 yes but i think the APR will be a good thing and im hoping they expand it to all the shotgun areas atleast and then that will dispurse the hunters again.

[hockeybc69]

I do agree with the fact that APR should not be included in lottery areas. Thats gonna make slim pickens for hunters unfortuneately.

[JIvers]

I hunt in 347, which was a lottery area this year, and I had to hold up on a shot just before sunrise on opening morning because the deer I had the red dot on was acting like a buck, but had no antlers I could see. So I let him head back in the treeline after the does he was chasing. Fifteen minutes later he chased a nice doe right to me; by then I could see he was a spike. So basically APR rules cost me fifteen minutes of hunting time, as I shot the doe.

I am more than willing to give the APR rules two more years; if I see more mature bucks I think some inconvenience is worth it. If not, then pull the plug on them. In the meantime, if I have to pass on a few spikes while waiting for a big buck or doe, so be it.

[JIvers]

I have a problem with moving the season back. In my area the deer have already herded up for the winter. This means that the deer are now inhabiting about 10 percent of the area they were in earlier. It seems they have herded up earlier this year for one reason or another. Anyway it is easy to see that most of us hunters would not get a chance to hunt in their winter areas and it would lead to an unhealthy large population trying to make it through the winter.

x2 to this.

Starting shotgun season in December works well further south, but even in 347, which is right on the Iowa border, bumping the shotgun seasons back to December would be a bad idea, IMO.

My land in 347 is on high ground; by early December the deer are moving in to the Upper Iowa River valley for the winter. Hunting there in many Decembers would be fruitless, as the deer are gone for the season.

In addition, there is the weather factor, as deep snow and bitter cold would make even hunting in drives difficult.

Any proposal to move shotgun season in Minnesota back to December has met and will meet active opposition from me, in part because I only hunt on stand, and I do not want to drive through a blizzard at 5:00 AM, walk through a foot of snow, and sit in a stand when it's -10 in order to hunt deer that have moved several miles away for the winter.