Deer around Siren

[Whopper Stopper]

Maybe I should ask where did all the deer around Siren go?. I spent a week up in that country and the deer weren't. What's going on?

WS

[muskiemanAD]

My wife has a family cabin and a bunch of land to hunt just west of Siren. I was up there today and hung stands for next week. The sign looked pretty good. However we heard the same thing that the numbers are down. I think there are pockets with solid population but places where they are down. You hunting this upcoming weekend??

[Whopper Stopper]

Yes I will be in the stand Sat. morning. I was just curious if the numbers were down all over or just in certain spots. This year bow hunting I saw more bear than deer (not kidding) I have heard a few locals blaming the bears for the decrease in deer.

WS

[nolte]

I'd say numbers are down quite a bit in the area. Multiple years of $2 unlimited doe tags has taken a toll. There was also a massive wind storm a couple years ago that probably killed a fair amount and the much of that land had to be clear cut. Many spots haven't grown back enough for cover and the stuff that is left is darn near impenetrable. The deer that are around just hunker down in that stuff in the daylight. Many people blame bears but I think their impact is overblown because they only get after fawns for a brief period and then switch to forage. Now wolves will harass deer all year long and even if they don't kill them make them much more jumpy.

[skee0025]

This will be my first year hunting the area. I will be just west of Webster. Put my stand up 2 weeks ago and there was plenty of sign, some still steaming, so i have hope.

[DonBo]

Multiple years of $2 unlimited doe tags has taken a toll.

I believe this has had more impact in the area than anything else.

[Jarrid Houston]

Yep first time in my life I am not showing up to deer camp in hopes to get my deer somewhere else. Our camp is in Grantsburg. When I was younger there were days that I witnessed dozens of deer per day, now I am lucky to wen see one! That is why I am taking my first year off of gburg camp. I love all activities that go with "deer camp" hanging with family, friends, eating, all other traditions, but for me. Deer hunting is about shooting a deer, not partying my arse off and sleeping in when I should be in the woods. I can do that after I shoot a good buck, or other times a year. Good luck to all that will be in the area. I will be stayin at home and hunting else where this year

[Bagley]

We hunt private land just SW of Siren. For seven guys hunting we probably saw at most 10 different deer total in 3 days. We also know a group that hunts public land down by Fredrick and for 9 guys hunting there they saw 1 deer all weekend. I've never heard such minimal shooting in all the time I've hunted here. I'm not sure I heard even more than 20 shots between morning and evening of opener Saturday.

Something is definitely going on with the deer population in this area. It gets noticeably worse every year. Maybe its a cyclical thing? I'm not sure.

On another note, why is there a bonus doe tag given with the buck tag in unit 16? Also, why can you buy additional doe tags in unit 16? It cant be good to wipe out every deer that still exists when the population is so low. The DNR needs to re-do a deer census in this area. Something needs to change.

[DonBo]

On another note, why is there a bonus doe tag given with the buck tag in unit 16? Also, why can you buy additional doe tags in unit 16?

This is exactly why there are so few deer in the area. They've been giving away those tags like candy at a parade for far too long now.

You're absolutely right, something needs to change.

[skee0025]

I hunted the area opening day. I saw 4 deer all day. 3 does and a buck.

[Boosey]

Interesting Thread. I have been hunting Granstburg as a non-resident land-owner for 16 years. I bow hunt and host youth gun hunts during the early season and statewide season with my kids and friend's kids through the Mentor program. I manage food plots and trail cameras year round. We are seeing next to nothing!! My son hasn't seen a deer yet this year (both bow hunting and rifle hunting). It's virtually impossible to get these kids interested with zero sightings. Before they started giving away doe tags and providing unlimited $2 tags, the harvest opportunities were adequate. All we could talk about at deer camp was "the good old days". That doesn't get 10 and 12 year olds interested. I've been following the recommendations of the Consultant, Dr. Deer, the DNR hired. Most of it I agree with, but I think more needs to be done epecailly around population estimates. I just "skimmed" on the DNR site that these estimates for 2012 are 52 deer per square mile in area 10. NO-WAY! Please verify if you find this not to me true as I just skimmed. One significcant statistic is last year. The DNR offered unlimited doe tags, so theoretically you could shoot as many does as you saw), yet the harvest was down (28% I believe) in area 10. That is statistically significant! Stay (professionally) vocal and hopefully change will come. I talk to a lot of locals and have family member in the area and the concensus it there...It's bad.

[Whopper Stopper]

Reading some of the reports makes me feel a little better. I sat in my stand on the opener and saw 9 deer. Two were bucks the rest bald. After what I had seen during bow season I was happy just to watch them.

There certainly was very little shooting. Looking forward to a couple of late season sits.

WS

[nolte]

One significcant statistic is last year. The DNR offered unlimited doe tags, so theoretically you could shoot as many does as you saw), yet the harvest was down (28% I believe) in area 10.

Boosey,

I agree with nearly all you said, but I think this is inaccurate. I don't think 10 had unlimited $2 tags last year or the year before. 3 years ago they did though I think. Last year I think only 16 had the $2 tags while 10, 11 and 8 all had bonus, same as this year.

As I expected, it was another BAD year. I'm sure the weather will be blamed but hunters still were out hunting. They might not have been able to sit as long but most still put a bunch of time on stand without much luck. Heck even the guys in heated box blinds weren't seeing much. Which is odd since cold weather usually forces the deer to move during the warmest part of the day. That didn't happen.

I saw a total of 2 deer on stand the first day, both little bucks. I never saw another deer on stand. Saw a few other does doing drives but that was it. I have friends who have great private hunting land and even they struggled to see deer. This includes bow season during the peak of the rut.

I think all bonus tags (including archery) need to be shut down for a few years in the area. Otherwise it's going to be a slow road back to a decent population. With the amount of timber cutting done in the county, we should have plenty of browse for the deer to rebound if we just let them.

The SAK population estimate needs to be scrapped pronto. It is far to slow in the lag for what is actually happening with the population. I am very curious to see what the harvest stats end up being. The DNR better focus some effort to get the deer hunting back on track in our area or they chance losing the most important revenue stream they have.

[nolte]

The DNR released the preliminary harvest numbers. As I expected it was down from last year, which was down from the year before. I only look at bucks because doe harvest is dependent on bonus and herd reduction tags. In buck harvest, Burnett was down 15%, Douglas 30%, Washburn 23%, and the big loser Polk was down 36%. You'd be hard pressed to find better deer habitat than Polk. The public land access is much less than the other three counties and is smattered with farms, swamps and hardwoods. There is a few areas that have a lot of public land that get hunted hard, but the surrounding private should have the same typical hunting pressure. Hopefully somebody takes notice of what is going on and we try to get things back on track. A lot of those bonus or 2$ does end up being buck fawns which can't be next years little bucks or the following years nicer bucks.

The DNR is on a big crusade to get people and youngsters into hunting. That's pretty tough to do when they aren't seeing deer.

[Muskiemanzan13]

I personally think the DNR needs to get a hold of things in that area. With the panfish limits where they are.... Sturgeon shouldn't even be keepable. Period. Well it is what it is.

I agree though. If they want to get youngsters into the outdoor sports then they should probably manage the fisheries and other wildlife better.

[Stevoreno]

I have a cabin about halfway between Webster and Grantsburg as the crow flys and I am surrounded by the Crex Meadows WMA. I rarely bother to even scout in the Crex any more due to the lack of deer and deer cover (now). I have hunted 6 years now, bow only as at 160 bucks I would rather do my gun hunting in MN...

Things are getting worse every year. I used to get some traffic and a few bucks would show up on my camera, only at night, but this year it is just down to nothing. I thought the clear cutting in the Crex due to the big blow three years ago would help us out but it certainly has not. I hunted in my heated box blind at least 12 days this year spending an average of 6 hours in the blind. I have seen two does. One of them I saw twice. One yote one grey fox and three bears. I was so shocked to see a live deer when the first one came through that I didn't get any shot.

When I first got the cabin my neighbors were using the $2 tags to fill the freezer. They are not so happy now.

[DonBo]

Welcome to the forums Stevoreno.

I remember the first year they gave away all those tags. I was hunting with a new group of guys. They shot I think like 30 some deer that year. The following year they wondered why they weren't seeing very many.

"Where'd they go?"

What do mean, where'd they go? You killed 'em all last year.

"Oh, 30 isn't so many in this big area."

Yeah, but that cabin over there? They got 30 also. That other cabin over there? They had 20 some. That one down the road? Same thing.

"Oh, I guess that is a bunch."

Been going downhill ever since.

[Jarrid Houston]

Yep wrong mentality for people to think that the deer they shoot doesn't effect overall population. Not intelligent! Anyway, sad news from deer camp in Gburg (south crèx area) not 1 trigger was pulled!!! As I mentioned earlier I was taking a year off that camp to maybe have an effect? Plus I didn't feel like wasting time not seeing animals. But in all the years of that camp, we're talking same camp my great GPa started long long ago, not 1 pull of the trigger this year!!! NOT GOOD. And o see those preliminary numbers, makes sense. Discusting.. I may not even hunt next year.

[Jarrid Houston]

What are your guys thoughts on the politicians that tried to cancel the late for season? I for one am defin in favor of it (my opinion) for the obvious reasons!!! To bad it's not going to happen, maybe next year

[DonBo]

Yep, that late antlerless season should have gone away years ago. Betting we've seen the last of it for a while.

[6arrows]

Could only hope. Another cold sit tonight and didnt see a darn thing.