What area do you hunt?

[USPENAMC]

Hi I was just wondering what areas you hunt. For the Past 2 years i have hunted the RUM RIVER STATE FOREST and hunted the same little spot and on my first year shot 2 does and missed a massive buck (my 1st time deer hunting) and this past year i shot a 6 point buck and my friend shot a massive 10 point buck. This year i drove by cambridge and looked into a field and there must have been 15 does running around I plan on stopping by the landowners mailbox and leaving a note requesting hunting permission. Does anyone know what area cambridge falls in as far as hunting area

[bigbucks]

I don't know, but look at the deer zone, permit area map from your deer hunting regs last year & you should be able to figure it out. You may need a regular MN map to compare roads & narrow it down, but that should do it. If you don't have your regs book from last year you can open a pdf file on the dnr site if you look under regulations & then hunting.

[EXTREME]

A little piece of advice on asking permission. Go up to the house in person; don't leave a letter in their mailbox. I wouldn't let anybody on my land without seeing what kind of person you are. Good luck

[USPENAMC]

That is the thing i explain in my letter the reason for not doing it in person. Some people have a hard time saying no to people and feel bad therefore i let them know that if i dont hear back from them they will not receive any more mail or contact from myself. I also gave them plenty of options and ways to contact me and I let them know we are willing to meet in person with them to discuss any special rules they might have and all the other good stuff

[Maverick41]

I hunt in the Northwest corner. It's North of Thief River Falls about 25 miles. It's a great area that consistently produces monster bucks. The bear and grouse hunting is very good as well.

[USPENAMC]

is it public land

[Maverick41]

My family owns 80 acres next to about 1800 acres of prime state land. Many people hunt the state land, around here it's known as the Nelson Swamp, many big bucks have come from there.

[jlm]

You mean Nelson Slough? Been there and hunted it many, many times. Great area for grouse and ducks. Gets a little packed for deer hunting though (rifle). Great place to bow hunt however! That whole area up there is good for most anything! Good luck!

[WAG416]

JLM- So your the one who shoots all of the grouse out of the slough before our hunting party gets there.

I believe our group has put miles upon mile in those woods and haven't flushed nothing but some woodcocks and IF we were lucky, maybe one or two Ruffys a day.

Maybe we hunt the non-grouse section of the woods. And the only ones we shoot are the trespassing birds who shouldnt be there. Never hunted waterfowl there, But I've heard good things.

Anyways, I hunt NW MN and gopher trap the Red River valley.

WAG

[Maverick41]

JLM-

It's nice to hear that you have hunted to Nelson Slough. Yeah it's a great place for hunting most anything, although the ruffed grouse numbers seem to have been going down a little the past few years. Me and my dad got a great buck up there this past muzzleloader season. I will agree with you that it does get crowded up there for rifle season. When is the last time you hunted it?

[jlm]

I hunted it several times last season for grouse and have hunted bear in there as well. I have not hunted ducks in there for several years and have heard they actually drained the swamp.....is that the case? There always seems to be a good population of grouse in there even on the low cycle years if a guys is willing to work hard to find them. The good thing is that there is so much land, there are plenty of places to hunt. I have of few relatives that have cabins in that area and my cabin is not too far away so I head up there a few times every year. Great place to hunt, that is for sure!

[jlm]

Wag-

Sorry, did not see your post when I responded before! Ya, that area is strange when it comes to grouse. You either find a lot of them or none at all. I have had the best luck right after the first snow fall in that area. I am not sure why but the birds seem to be more active and dumb up a little. I have had real good luck just prior to the rifle season or right after. Don't worry about me shooting all the grouse, I seem to have a habit of scaring them more than harvesting them! Sure is fun though!

[Maverick41]

JLM. I'm curious of what part of the slough you hunt in. I hunt with Wags and we usually hunt the southern part of the slough. The best I've ever got for grouse was 2 one day while I was walking a cut. There is so much ground to cover in there, you could almost get lost. So you have relatives up here huh? Any names I might know? Did you ever know anyone who lost a dog up there last fall. One was found wandering around with it's beeper going. I believe it was a Pointer, not sure though. I know I usually hear dog's beepers going off when I'm bowhunting, those things are loud. I've probably heard you hunting up there.

[jlm]

I have had good luck most everywhere in that area, however, the further you get from the road the better. My best luck ever was a couple of years ago. We drove in from 32 (I think it is 32, the big gravel road) which would be the north side of the entire block of state land. We drove in as far as we could get until you get to the motorized restriction sign. From that point all the way until you hit the slough is usually pretty good. A couple of years ago I saw a covey of ruffies that had to be 15 to 20 birds. If I remember right, it was just after deer season. It seems that later in the year they are more difficult to find but when you do, they are in good numbers. A good dog is also VERY helpful. You might also want to try some of the smaller pieces of state land in that area as well, I usually flush a few in the smaller blocks. Good luck! Oh, I never heard of anyone loosing their dog. I hope they found it, that is all of our worst fear for sure!

[koWALLEYEski]

I hunt all areas around fergus falls, mn. Orwell is a new home for me to hunt because of the sale of out hunting land last year. It sucks. I guess i need to find a new spot again for next season.