Small deer

[Cooperman]

I have been deer hunting in the Nevis (Hubbard co.) area for about 5 years and can’t get over how small the physical size of the deer are in this area. Sometimes is hard to tell the Does from the fawns. When I see these deer I think to myself, it hardly worth shooting it for the little meat you get. I use to hunt 20 miles east, in the Walker area, and the deer were much larger. Can anyone explain what might be going on in this area. I know there is not a lot of corn in the area, like further south, is it genetics? Kind of frustrating.

[PurpleFloyd]

Interesting. I hadn't heard of that.

[Wanderer]

Could this be a trick on your eyes in different landscapes?  Or have you actually weighed several deer from both areas?

I understand what you're talking about, just asking the question.  I've noticed the same thing where I live near Little Falls.  The "neighborhood" deer seem like the smallest average size I've seen anywhere. And with places like Camp Ripley nearby that has been known for heavy animals it seems odd.  I haven't taken one in my immediate area yet so I can't tell if my eyes are playing tricks on me.

We have a place in Ely also, and those deer always look huge to me.  But again, I haven't taken one there yet either.  I guess I should actually try some time but I deer hunt other areas of the state where a 120 -  140 lb dressed adult deer is typical.

[Bear55]

You might just be running into younger deer, I have never seen drastic changes in deer size and hunt a lot of different areas. 

Edited October 31, 2017 by Bear55

[monstermoose78]

I do know this the arrowhead produces big body deer. Look at the 260 pounder shot in Duluth 

[delcecchi]

Shoreview has some pretty good sized deer too....     My brother's yard... 

 

 

[nofishfisherman]

51 minutes ago, delcecchi said:

Shoreview has some pretty good sized deer too....     My brother's yard... 

 

 

I can confirm Shoreview has some big deer.  I've got 2 bucks that hang out on my street on the south end of Shoreview.  My neighbor across the street actually put a trail cam out in his front yard and gets some good photos of them walking along the street at night.  We've guessed them at being 2.5 or 3.5 year olds with big racks with good mass already.  They're going to be real monsters in a few years.

Another neighbor tells tales of a big bodied 12 pointer roaming the neighborhood a few years back.

I also see a big bodied doe almost every night and her twin yearlings are also roaming the neighborhood.  Had the twins in my front yard over the weekend.

[Notime]

I harvested a big buck 7 years ago that weighed 260 hanging. Both the taxidermist and I figured he was well over 300 on the hoof. That was in east of Long Prairie. I have harvested several deer near Kabakona in the last 6 years and they all run out in the 120's hanging. I had a big doe last year that weighed 122 and an 8 pointer the year before that weighed 121.

[PurpleFloyd]

Nice deer. Glad all that talk from 3 years ago or so about the state not having big bucks has been laid to rest.

[Satchmo]

If your seeing small does with fawns, there is a good possibility that they are simply yearling does that were bred as fawns last December, and with the mild winters we've had, those pregnant fawns have had a much easier time surviving winter. You may not like seeing those small deer, but it truly is a good sign for a population rebound.

[nofishfisherman]

55 minutes ago, Satchmo said:

You may not like seeing those small deer, but it truly is a good sign for a population rebound.

That is true, so far every single large deer I've seen started out at a small deer. 

I'm curious the areas where people are seeing smaller deer, what was the population like a few years ago when herd numbers were the lowest? Like Satchmo said it could very well be that you're seeing the results of the population rebound with a lot of young deer.  Give it another year or two and see if size increases.

The good news is if you're seeing a lot of young does it means the population is rebounding nicely.  Each of those does should be good for another 1-2 deer come spring time and if we get lucky with another mild winter/spring the population could really take off again.