Where to Go?

[B-man715]

Hey Guys,

I moved to Stacy earlier this year and procrastinated on getting my driver's licence. Well I finally went in and got it done, they said it would take a month to get it in the mail.

Long story short, I wasn't planning on hunting in Minnesota at all this year, but my license just showed up today!

I have this weekend and all of the following week off for a needed vacation, I was planning on bowhunting in Wisconsin and do some duck hunting too. I already tagged a nice buck, so I'm looking at other ways to spend my vacation.

But now my options have opened up. This is about as last minute as it gets for me

Thinking about pulling the fish house up north somewhere (in Minnesota) and do some rifle hunting late next weekend and the following week. Obviously I'm going in completely blind, having never stepped foot on the ground I would hunt.

I'm not familiar with any of the state and national forests, or deer densities, or a lot of other things.......LOL

Any general area better than others?

Looking to get away from the crowds and have some fun!

Where would you go? Some areas I'm interested in are Oar, Babbit, Ely and north of Duluth in the national forest.

I can't imagine much hunting pressure up there during the week?

Thanks for the help guys!

[NoWiser]

I would be headed to somewhere in the Superior National Forest for sure. There is nothing like hunting big woods bucks! Between Saturday and Sunday you should be able to find an area that has little to no hunting pressure. I'd use opening weekend more as a scouting weekend (not for deer, but for people). Don't be afraid to talk to hunting camps when they are sitting around the fire. I've found most are very willing to talk to you, once they know you don't intend on hunting in their spots. They can help you find areas where nobody hunts. Once you find an area that doesn't have people those two days, you know you will be golden during the following week to chase unpressured bucks. You have a great opportunity to explore some new territory, and with that much time, have a good chance for a nice buck, even if you are hunting a new area. I tell you what, everyone thinks the "dream" is having a couple hundred acres of private land to hunt. I'd take the thousands of acres of public land up there over that any day of the week! That part of the state is just awesome. You may not see as many deer, but the hunting experience is unbeatable! Good luck!