Expected worst Deer harvest in 20 years!

[Bureaucrat]

Ducks and geese eating the winter wheat in the dakotas, pheasants spreading russian olive seed in MN. I suppose one could argue for the eradication of just about anything if you tried hard enough.

Save the Red Lake Crappie!

[BuckSutherland]

They don't call it deer killing for a reason, enjoy the season. I have spent a lot of time in the woods this fall/winter and that's what its about, not complaining about a government agency! Seems your passing the blame!

Ugh

This post is so good it gets two thumbs up from me.

When will some of you understand that ITS NOT ALL ABOUT THE HUNTING SEASON. That some of us just like more deer in general.

[Bureaucrat]

I know walleye guides in Montana that kill every single northern they can legally keep because they believe they hurt the walleye population. Guess what, you're taking northern home too.

I cringed as I watched them butcher countless 36+" northerns over the years. On an "unrelated" note, I never did catch my 46" northern I had hoped for.

[BuckSutherland]

Yes, the herd size is small in a big chunk of the state. Less antlerless tags issued. What more is the DNR supposed to do?

I wish I could come live in magic fairy tale land with you. There have been several attempts on here to explain how this decline has been happening for several years, and all the money we urinate away on employing the DNR and they are unable to ever get out in front of a problem. Walleye collapse, then they finally do something to a lake, deer are gone, then they go bucks only. Moose are gone. Lets close the season. Talk about leading from behind.

What more could they do??

1. More zones could have been bucks only. 172,197,179,171,173,184 AT LEAST should have been bucks only. I was in all of those zones, and the snow was DEEP and the cold was terrible.

2. Predator control

3. Shorter season

Good grief. You make it sound like they have no control over the situation. How many more deer would be alive today if the wolf numbers were actually around 1,000 or if they would have laid off handing out all the extra permits. Obviously people like yourself gobble up whatever drivel they put out. If they would have said all these extra tags are too much so we are done with them people would have trusted them. The biologist are the ones that told people to go out and shoot them and everything would be ok. And here we are today with number way down and going into what looks like another hard winter.

[laker1]

Maybe this site getting a little off topic and more irrational?

[SmellEsox]

The only thing I will offer is what the weather people mention. The average or mean may have been colder. We didn't have the extreme cold temperatures. The nights were averaging times above or at normal,the problem was day time temperatures were much colder than normal.

Disagree with you on the lows. We had more days below 0 than we've had in 100 years and more days -20 or colder than we've had in 100 years. We didn't have the -40 stuff, but lows were very cold. Agree that it had an impact here in Little Falls area.

[B. Amish]

the really important factor about the last two winters is that it was still winter when it should've been spring. that's what really crushed the deer.

[laker1]

I looked it up and you were right or close to it.

Brainerd had 18 days below -20 degrees F. last winter. Coldest -25 degrees F.

Winter of 95-96 also had 18 days and winter of 96-97 we had 20 days below -20 degrees. Those winters had more extreme cold and lots of snow.

You were right on lot of cold tho and that brings up my point that it was a hard winter on the deer. I know within a small area I hunt they found over 6 dead fawns died because of the severity and know others who found dead deer not eaten on east of Mille lacs lake.

[laker1]

the really important factor about the last two winters is that it was still winter when it should've been spring. that's what really crushed the deer.

Correct,deer get hit hard when March comes around and their metabolism starts kicking up,thus needing more food which wasn't there and also the work to get thru the snow.

[leechlake]

hate to be a deer in NY right now, 5 feet of snow? Good luck to the hunters next year.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Maybe this site getting a little off topic and more irrational?

Laker, no worries. That's just Buck being Buck. He's an expert at everything including wildlife management, pro sports, how to destroy habitat with a plow, sending ground water to the gulf of mexico, and the environmental benefits of ethanol.

We're actually quite blessed to have him around to set us all straight.

I can only hope his paychecks are large enough to fairly compensate for the vast amount of 411 he lays on us all, and in a real polite manner to boot.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Correct,deer get hit hard when March comes around and their metabolism starts kicking up,thus needing more food which wasn't there and also the work to get thru the snow.

I wonder if the heavy June rains and follow up flooding does anything to the herd. I have no information that says yes or no, just curiosity on my part.

[harvey lee]

Eric, in North Dakota a few years back we had some very heavy rains and flooding. I was talking to the local CO that fall about the der herd issues and asked if he thought the harsh winter did all the damage. His thoughts were, the heavy rains and flooding did more harm to the young der than the severe winter as they got pushed out of the habitat they were living in and the wet weather also exposed the deer to pneumonia.

Just what the Co thought.

[Jameson]

...I wonder if the heavy June rains and follow up flooding does anything to the herd. I have no information that says yes or no, just curiosity on my part.

Yes, and it has been documented by Professional Wildlife Managers in MN. Get a young bambi all wet for several days and they get cold and die. Heavy rains in an area during fawning season can wipe out that year class.

[DonBo]

...or if they would have laid off handing out all the extra permits. If they would have said all these extra tags are too much so we are done with them people would have trusted them.

That's exactly what they've done. A bit late? Certainly, but they are doing it now, so why the beotching? What is it you want from them?

[Abndoc]

Yep, just because we can- doesnt mean we always should, everyone keeps judging the DNR, but never stopped pulling the trigger with all those added does permits in your pockets. I'm going out tomorrow with my 11 yr old, with the new changes over here, i didnt realize I still get a buck and a doe tag, so I bought an doe tag to make sure i can get my son a crack at something. I'm not going to fill all my tags just cause I can. Manage your own land and the DNR can do whatever they want.

[BuckSutherland]

...or if they would have laid off handing out all the extra permits. If they would have said all these extra tags are too much so we are done with them people would have trusted them.

[ANYFISH2]

That's exactly what they've done. A bit late? Certainly, but they are doing it now, so why the beotching? What is it you want from them?

Speaking for myself,

To not repeat the errors in regard to tags again.

Some accountability, and improved monitoring will go a long way.

[BuckSutherland]

Laker, no worries. That's just Buck being Buck. He's an expert at everything including wildlife management, pro sports, how to destroy habitat with a plow, sending ground water to the gulf of mexico, and the environmental benefits of ethanol.

We're actually quite blessed to have him around to set us all straight.

I can only hope his paychecks are large enough to fairly compensate for the vast amount of 411 he lays on us all, and in a real polite manner to boot.

Thanks for making it about me Eric. Its not, its about deer management, and the perception that the DNR has little fault in 290 down to 120 in ten years. Sorry I dont at all agree with your fairy-tale of how we got here.

[PurpleFloyd]

The thing is as the herd was trending down over the last year there wasn't a peep made by the same people who are currently outraged about that downward trend.

In fact, until last winter the very proponents of the current audit were preaching that hunters should pass on small bucks and put a doe in the freezer if a Hunter wanted meat.

I had plenty of debates where I pointed out that does drive the population and that taking a small buck was actually better for the population. Of course all I heard was things about balanced herds, 1:1 Buchanan to doe ratios and not shooting small bucks.

It wasn't until the thread that Getanet dredged where a few certain individuals came up with the scheme to push population increases as a path to APR that all of this audit and blame the DNR stuff came up. Try as they may to distance themselves from their very own words, they said what they said and you have to take them at their word .

[jay83196]

The average hunter doesn't know better....or probably care! That's why you have laws/rules so if people follow them reasonable quotas are met. If the trigger is pulled following the rules it shouldn't matter and hurt like it is, iF proper harvest rrgulations are in place! Sure winters would still effect it but years of intensive harvest did far more for many area's in the north. Many of us are paying the price for people taking too many deer FOLLOWING THE RULES!

[Eric Wettschreck]

No prob Buck. Anytime. You know you like the spotlight.

As far as your pixie dust fairy tale goes, at what point are you going to stop looking at the past and start looking forward? No one is giving the DNR a free pass on what happened years ago, but it's fair to say it does not all rest completely on the shoulders of the DNR.

So far we've had tough winters, tough springs, disease, trigger happy hunters, habitat loss, and predators come into play. DNR has zero control over the weather, no control over disease, very little control over trigger happy hunters, not much if any control over people razing down every tree they can to plant more corn, and once the legislature finally allowed it the DNR opened up a wolf season.

It was stated a couple posts ago to not make the same mistakes as were made in the past. Herd size is down, less antlerless tags issued. Herd size is down, DNR purposely reduced harvest numbers. Pretty much all they could do unless you have some type of fairy tale solution you'd like to offer that would increase herd size this year.

[Abndoc]

Many of us are paying the price for people taking too many deer FOLLOWING THE RULES!

Like I said just cause we can, doesnt me we should. I'm forunate enough to have a piece of property that i have had access to for 7 years. Its 220 acres. I have a great relationship with land owner and basically have total control over it. Just because I'm allowed to shoot as many does as possible with the tags handed out-following the rules, doesnt mean I'm going to. We as people including the DNR are not perfect, but to keep saying we are just following the rules and blame the DNR for it all is ridculious. If i go out and shoot a buck with my bow, one with the gun and my kid shoot one with a gun, along with endless doe permits what would the land look like next year. Stop blaming and start helping control it. Who really needs 4-5 deer in their freezer anyways. How much do you end up givng away or throwing out every year.

[Getanet]

Guys, someone mentioned Red Lake a few posts back. The answer is staring us right in the face...we need to start stocking deer!

Easy peazy, why didn't I think of this sooner!

[hockeybc69]

Damm..... right under our noses and nobody brought it up.

Trap out of high density areas like we did with turkeys. Brilliant!