Best MN County-Big Bucks

[CabinBoy]

Perfect, I kind of figured that, just had to check. No doubt that good paying jobs are hard to find up here. Nice place to live if you like the outdoors, and have a little extra $$$ to support the habits. Only bad thing is deciding what to do this time of year - fish or hunt? Decisions, decisions!!

[Gissert]

No, I think BLB was serious - there are NOOOO big deer in Ottertail County. None. None at all.....

[BLACKJACK]

Goto the library and look at the MN Sportsman magazine. This months issues was concerning where the most bucks are shot and next month they will have an article on where the best spot is to shoot big bucks!!

I think in general you can say the best big buck spots are areas with lower hunting pressure and adequate cover, bucks have a better chance to survive.

[SUNNYD]

Are you sure....??? I heard something about about a nice one being taken with a muzzleloader last year?

[Gissert]

Nope, nothing to see here, move along...

That WAS a great looking buck, with an interesting story to boot. I have had one picture of a huge 8 pointer this year, and a couple of other decent bucks. Not much on the cams lately, though.

[matthothand]

Right now I am pretty sure the place that has the highest density of trophy bucks is within st. louis county...specifically the city of duluth. Duluth's city limits have not been hunted for roughly 30 years until last year. I have pics of bucks up to 160 inches and the guys that hunted last year shot a lot of big bucks with the biggest going 184 and change i think. A lot of 150 to 170 inch deer though definately the highest density in the state of deer that size.

this is the bigest buck harvested so far this season within the city but there are dozens bigger that have yet to be harvested.

[matthothand]

I just did some research and found an article about the topic at hand. I will put the relevant portion of the article in quotes below and if anyone wants to read the article in its entire context I will post the link for that below as well.

Quote:

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If you are interested in a trophy whitetail buck you should start by researching the record books of individual states, and the Pope and Young and Boone and Crockett records. A few years ago I checked the record books prior to 1988. At that time there were 12 states and provinces that had produced more than 60 record book heads. Six of them had over 100 heads and Minnesota topped the list with over 200 entries. Not surprisingly the Midwest had seven of the top producers. The other states were Texas, Montana and the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Minnesota was far ahead of the other areas with 75 typical and 74 non-typical Boone and Crockett entries, and 36 typical and 42 non-typical Pope and Young entries, for a total of 227. Wisconsin came in second with 155 entries, Kansas with 114, Saskatchewan with 110, Iowa with 106 and Illinois with 95. During past years neither Iowa nor Kansas allowed hunting by non-residents, but they do now. Obviously all these areas should be considered if you are looking for a trophy hunt.

A more recent look at the Minnesota State Record book with heads registered up until 1990 shows a whopping total of 902 heads that meet the minimum requirements for the Pope and Young or Boone and Crockett record books. There were 420 Boone and Crockett heads alone. The difference in numbers from the state to national records can be attributed to the fact that many hunters never enter their state record heads into the national books.

Trophy Hot Spots

If you look at trophy numbers by area you will see that each of the states have "hotspots", a county or several adjacent counties, that produce high numbers of trophies. The southeast corner of Minnesota is probably the premiere trophy area of North America. Of the heads that score over 170 points from 1985-1990 in that area Winona county has 11, Houston 8, Fillmore 8, Goodhue 5, Mower 4, Freeborn 4, Steele 3, Wabasha 3, Rice 2, Dodge 2 and Olmstead 2. Outside of the southeast hotspot where Ottertail County 15, Beltrami 15, Itasca 14, Aitkin 11 and Lake Of The Woods 10. A total of 20 counties in Minnesota have over 5 Boone and Crockett heads.

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my source

[Cooter]

I would never think St Louis Co having a high density of big bucks but would think its a top producing co because of its size - is it not just a monster of a county? And the Duluth hunt, boy those hunts sure do put out old monsters just about anywhere they have them. Hopefully you guys can stick a few more of em!

[troutmaster]

thats a very intresting article matthothand, to think i'm sitting on some of the best deer hunting in the country

[dillon]

Does anyone know where I can get info(regulations) on the Duluth bow hunt? We are planning to move there and I would like to be prepared for next fall. It sounds like a great opportunity to have a chance at a nice deer without traveling far.

[matthothand]

Dillon, below is a link to the HSOforum of the Arrowhead Bowhunters Alliance. The ABA is the group that the city has allowed to conduct and manage the hunt. Within the HSOforum you should be able to find any answers to your questions.

A.B.A.

I'm loving this city hunt...Today I passed up three bucks. Two would've scored inches either side of 130".

[dillon]

Thanks Matt. It sounds like a unique hunt. I'm already looking forward to getting out and scouting once the current season is over.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

I would have to say houston county also, but if you do get a buck in NE MN, chances are that it is a hog, even though there are not too many up there.