How was your season?

[Mn Walleye 1976]

How did your season go? Our group went 2 for 7. We hunt in zone 2 area 246, where we can shoot up to 5 each. But opted to end our hunt last night, after hearing the weather reports of rain and wind this weekend. We did not see that many deer at all. I hunted for a week straight and only seen 2 deer. Total deer seen by the group was only 5. How can we control the deer numbers if we can't see them. Plus the rut was nowhere near the peak in our area.

[Neiko]

So far it has been good for me. I shot an 8 pointer at Ripley that my buddy first hit so I let him have it. I got a 6 pointer opening morning and then a doe on Wed when we had the big winds. Both were shot with my new CVA muzzleloader and I am pleased with the results. My dad who is 77 came hunting with us which was nice because he hasn't hunted in the last 20 years plus he had gone 8 years before that with out getting a deer. Well we put him on our best stand which is close to the cabin and he shot a yearling Sunday am and a Doe in the PM out of the same stand. He was pretty excited and will be back next year. Other then that only 1 other guy got one out the bunch of 6. My buddy hunted my stand the Monday and had 6 wolves come in to the cleaned up gut pile. He said he didn't hear anything until the last one came in and they were only 20yards away. Made the guy from Illinois think a little more on his way out.

[RussDaBuss]

We got 3 for 2 in area 222. 3 Does... I seen 6 Deer total. I hunted Sat. and Sun. last weekend, Tuesday and then Yesterday and today (was real fun out there today ) But hey, I was out when it started raining and no use coming in once your wet!! ..Anyway, passed on 3 young bucks and a couple other does. Sure hope the neighbors did not get um but I gotta try.. Got enough venison for the year and now time to try for the big one with the ML!! Good luck whoever is still hunting!

[emtbucket]

We went 11 for 9 and I shot 3 of them. We also hunted 246. Friday we shot 3 bucks, one being a nine pointer. Took off one day to butcher the first 6 and that day the wind blew which worked out for us.

[captkev]

First weekend I shot a nice doe, and today I shot this small 8 pointer, can't wait for muzzle loader season.

[shamalex72]

Neither my dad or I even seen a deer. Hunted 248 on the weekends and 249 after work during the week. First time I can remember going the whole gun season without so much as a glimpse of one.

[Mo Gator]

Horrible!! We hunt 245 a little NW of Park Rapids. It's some great land with alot of deer, and our success has been great over the past few years. But this year was absolutely horrible. I just don't get it. We only shot one fawn for 8 hunters, the deer just were not moving at all. I put in a good 25 hours in the stand between opening weekend and this weekend and never saw a deer. That has never happened to me.

I finally got to shoot the gun yesterday morning, taking a nice coyote at 30 yards. The 180 grain 30-06 put a hole the size of a softball in him!!

[Riverratpete]

For a party of 6 we came up with 1 monster 9 and 1 fawn doe..(Same guys got both)hunted hard since last Wensday..pretty tough sledding with the weather which was GREAT for being in the woods, just crappy for any deer movement. Only actually saw 1 deer and never did get a shot..on the upside want to get out and chase Grouse, lots of them and I can tell anyone where theres a million squirrels (grays and reds) that need killin

[tjm]

I hunted the border of zone 3 and 4 one side of the highway is 3 the other is 4

Sat/sun were short of any shooter bucks saw lots of small fawns being chased around.

Helped out the farmer mon-thur picking corn then i hunted in zone 4 friday morning.knowing i would need to make longer shots i decided to use encore 50 cal with a scope.

I sat inside an old barn knowing the deer love to cross in the area.Daybreak i had 3 110-115 class bucks chase a doe 75 yards by me.That was it until 8am here comes 1 of the bucks i been looking for all week while picking corn.The farmers hired hand was filming the whole show.

500 yards away and closing fast 155-160 inch buck chasing a doe the hired hands poking me do ya see it do ya see it.I said shut up for pete sakes he's 3/4 mile away.I told him to go around the building site to get a better camera shot cause once i was to shoot my muzzle loader a puff of smoke was going to wreck the whole shot.

Bucks now 150 yards away and heading straight at me so i look over to see if the camera mans in place and ready he is as i look back to the deer they seen me move.Oh no the doe takes off away from me but the buck holds his ground looking at me head on.Not much of a shot so i waited a few seconds then he trots up another 20 yards.Looks at me stil head on no shot then he bolts straight away runs about 50 yards and makes a very big mistake.He stops braodside looks at me and i dropped the hammer on him.I had no clue if i hit it or not way to much smoke to see.After about 5 seconds the smoke clears enough to see he's dead as dead gets

Camera mans runs out across the picked bean field i'm try'n to reload cause i had no idea how dead he actualy was until i watched the video.Watched a lot of hunting shows only saw 1 or 2 i can recall of a deer droping in it's tracks from a shoulder shot like this 1.It looked like someone cut all 4 legs off at 1 time.Can i say it's a good feeling when they drop that fast.

So all in all it went from poor hunting not seeing any shooter bucks to geting a deer i been looking for all week

[USPENAMC]

I have multizone so i have tried area 157 rum river state forest and then carlos avery and havent even seen a deer and i have been out there both weekends in 157 and during the week in carlos avery i guess it hasnt been a good year havent seen a darn thing

[DRH1175]

Hunt 225 near Almelund. Actually horrible this year. Combination of mild weather and corn still in. We got 1 doe for the 3 of us. Seen a group of does opening morning and nothing the rest of the season. Kicked deer just about everymorning on the way to my stand. Once day break hit nothing! Thank god for Bowseason hopefully in a couple weeks of cooling down they will get on the move. The rut guide I have based on the moon says rut will be in full swing around Nov 20th makes sense as I have just started to see the scrapes this last week.

[Ole #1]

Hey USP, I'm heading out to the rum this afternoon. Hopefully the weather will get them moving, it's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully I can see where the deer are moving.

[bigbucks]

9-13 first weekend, 4 bucks, 3 does, 2 fawns.

3-13 second weekend, about half the guys changed, 1 doe, 2 fawns, not much moving.

Shot 4 does with my bow on 4 different properties, had a great year personally.

I shot a 7 pointer opening morning myself, too small, should have let him go. I passed on a couple of other small bucks, missed tough shots at a couple of decent bucks. Opening morning in our area the deer moved like crazy, since then we pretty much had to move them & that was kind of feast or famine, one drive each weekend moved 5 or more deer, the other 7-8 moved 2-3 total.

[lawdog]

Quote:

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I hunted the border of zone 3 and 4 one side of the highway is 3 the other is 4

Sat/sun were short of any shooter bucks saw lots of small fawns being chased around.

Helped out the farmer mon-thur picking corn then i hunted in zone 4 friday morning.

---

Ummm, TJM I hope that is just a typo since zone 4a is Sat-Sun and zone 4b is Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues.

If this post is correct as written, you shot this buck out of season illegally and you filmed it and and bragged about it on a HSOforum full of hunters that hate poachers...

[lichen fox]

Our group ended up with 24 for 16, mostly in zone 255. One small buck and 8 in the 110 to 130 class, the rest were adult does. Nearly everyone in the group saw plenty of deer to shoot at and numerous smaller bucks were passed on. The highlight of the hunt was the last day with my daughter. She had tried 7 different stands during the course of the season and had yet to even see a deer of any kind. I took her to yet another stand on Sunday evening and as the sun went down and the season was waning a nice doe walked out into the field about 150 yards away. She got the doe in her crosshairs and squeezed off a well placed shot...the big doe dropped right in her tracks!! It was her first year hunting and she was excited to say the least!! I looked at my watch when we walked up to the deer and she had got her deer with 7 minutes to spare!! A perfect end to the 2005 rifle season for our group. Time to get back to the Bowhunt!

[CodyDawg]

It was great for me personally, shot a nice 11 pointer. I prolly saw 30 deer on opening day, including 6 bucks I passed up. The group shot 7 bucks for 9 hunters with 1 doe. Unfortunately, 5 of those bucks were little. Our guys just cannot understand the concept of letting them go so they can grow. For the season I passed up 8 bucks, so I am trying to do my part.

[USPENAMC]

OLE #1

How have you done on the Rum? Hope your day goes well yeah I might have to find a day this week to hit the rum ill have to drive there from eden prairie but no biggie if not there is still the last weekend this upcoming one. Like i said i just want something for the freezer, and actually my most important priority is getting my little brother (12) to at least take a shot at a deer. He doesnt lose faith we havent seen anything but he has enjoyed his time out and thats a great fun part of it. any info email me [email protected]

[tjm]

Yes lawdog it was a typo.should have been zone 3a.Not slept awhole lot between hunting,farming and catchin the flu oh yea and geting woke up by all those bucks in rut in my dreams it made for lots of sleepless nites

[moby1]

I hunt zone 243 just south of park rapids. I hunted the entire week and still came home empty handed. The 68 degree day, 55 mph wind day, and full on rain day didnt help any. I have hunted the same spots for 5 years now. I park at my buds farm and walk down the gravel road about .5 mile to the trail to my stand. In years past there are a lot of fresh tracks on the road every morning. I walk on the tracks in the road so I know when there are new ones. This year there were only about 5 sets of fresh tracks the entire week. I spooked a deer on the way in to the swamp on opening morning as well as on the last day. It's kind of hard sneaking in to the stand through 8-10" of standing water and mud. It was too dark to see them but there was plenty of snorting going on. Other than that I did not see or hear a deer in 8 days. It was somewhat frustrating. I was hoping this years chances were better since I upgraded to a 2 man ladder stand so I can comfortably sit ALL DAY. There were quite a few shots opening day but didnt seem like as many as in past years. As usual the midweek action was nonexistant since the numer of hunters drops dramatically until the second weekend.

I cannot believe (mabey I can) the # of roadhunters. They would drive really slow down the road scanning the swamp/field I hunt, which happens to be private and posted, all the while I am watching them throug my binocs. All of a sudden they see me sitting in one of the stands and they speed up like nothing is going on. I always see them in a couple of minutes again since we are near the end of a dead end road. I just wait for the day when one gets out and shoots a deer. Needless to say I doubt we will let them collect the kill. Mabey its just me but it drives me nuts. I know for a fact that a few are locals. Everyone knows it goes on and I have overheard more than one conversation on the matter in local watering holes.

HMMMMM, wonder what goes on when no one is around the property.

[eyepatrol]

We hunt area 452. Saw plenty of deer. A small herd of 6 deer no more than 1 mile from my grandarents w/ 2 bucks in there right away Saturday morning. Didn't get a chance at either of them as they went into a guys farm grove that we couldn't hunt. Probably saw close to 1/2 doz bucks during the 2 days I hunted. Lots of does around though.

We got 7 of 9 which is all we wanted. All does this year unfortunately. Only had 2 chances at bucks and they didn't pan out. Probably saw 30 deer over the 2 days with nearly all the bucks living through the season (I'd assume). Next year should be a good year for bucks if they make it through the winter. Usually lots of hunters in the area we hunt, but this year there were only some on Saturday and not a soul on Sunday. One big cornfield 1/2 mile from my grandpa's place that I bet had atleast 10 deer or more in. We watched 6 go in there one day and who's to know how many were already in there. Oh well. Can't wait for next year already!!!

[WAG416]

lichen fox- tell kayla congrads on her first deer.

Hunted zones 207 & 208 mostly, our party ended up with 18 does and fawns, with only 2 fawn bucks, pretty good managment year anyways, didnt see awhole lot of antlers this year, a spike a fork and smaller 8, hopefully they are all still walking. Got the muzzloader ready for the 26th.

wag

[Tripleplay]

We hunt a leased 90+ acre hay field near Itasca in area 245. Last year we pretty much had tons of deer in the field and my buddy took a very big 8 so a very good season. We also left all of the spikes and forks as well as a couple of basket 8's running around so we had high hopes.

This year I added two of my 12 year olds to the mix so I had a little different focus.

We didn't see a deer until 10AM opening day when a high-racked buck trotted across the field. We actually knocked him over and chased him around in the woods and finally pushed him to another party. Not a great start to the hunt.

We ended up with a good 8, a big spike (my son with some help from my buddy and myself, but he hit it first), two big does and a yearling (daughter dumped it across the field at 370 yards on the only shot she took on opening day!). After I got the 8 pointer and one of the does, I said I'd only shoot if one of my kids hit one first so I know I could have added a couple of more to the hanging tree but didn't really care if we got anymore.

Second weekend, 60+ degrees on Friday afternoon, pouring rain all Saturday afternoon and snow and big wind on Sunday. No deer although my kids had some chances and just couldn't get a shot off or missed. Wish we could have gotten one more for my buddy but still not bad, 5 deer for 4 hunters.

Main comment would be not nearly as much shooting as I expected due to the supposed deer numbers. We saw significantly fewer deer than usual but did connect on most of our opportunities. Many complaints at the hotel about fewer deer sightings so we consider ourselves very lucky to have gotten what we did.

[almostthere!]

Total deer seen: 8

Total shots taken: 7

Total hits: 7

Total recovered: 6 (1 was lost but the neighbor took a shot)

[half2fish]

we did pretty good up in 104. 9 of us shot 9 deer. i got a nice 7 point,my dad got a 8 and a doe,my little brother got a HUGE doe,brother in-law got a small button buck,uncle got a 6(supposed to be a 8 but he broke off 2 tines),cousine got a spike,other uncle got a 4 point and a little doe. all in all it was a great season. i personally didnt see many deer (3) but my dad saw 32 deer,and my little brother saw 8. those two people saw the most. very fun. now i cant wait to try for a doe with either my bow or my muzzleloader. or maybe both. good luck to all that are stil hunting.

[wooly1]

Best season ever! Only because my 13 year old son got a dandy 8 point buck. He dropped in its tracks. It was still twitching so he fired four more times, hitting it once more. First shot got its aorta and double lung. Proud Papa.

As for the rest of us I saw 7 deer total, passed on a small 8 and a spike. Two other hunters saw one deer. Not alot of shooting around Turtle River/Bemidji. I believe the warm weather kept the deer bedded most of the day with movement happening mostly at night.

Good news - I have a hunting partner for life now. I told him next year he gets to clean his own and mine because I gutted his this year. He doesn't know but I was just kidding. I'll happily gut his and mine for at least the next ten years as long as we are hunting together.