AREA 157 FOR DEER HOW DID YOU DO LAST YEAR

[USPENAMC]

I hunt area 157 and last year i didnt Even see a single deer. i hunt public land right near 169 State Forest land and I spent 2 weeks and nothing the past few years before that i did take 1 buck and 1 doe. I was wondering how you guys did in that area last year.. or if you have hunted this year with a bow. i only hunt rifle but just wanted to get some info on how you did what time was the most productive and what technique you used

[Jeremiah Johnson]

uspen, i've been bowhunting the same area since opener, and i've seen a couple right away, and every weekend but one this month; i havnt seen a deer, i dont know whats going on, there is ALOT of pressure though with alot of grouse hunters and bowhunters. Last year we managed to get a couple of does during the rifle season, but those were taken off of deer drives...

[USPENAMC]

wow yeah its been weird although the deer we did see we took so its not like we saw an abundance of deer maybe its time to switch places although it seems to late to go look anywhere else hmmm i wonder where i should head out to.

[USPENAMC]

i might just have to head to red wing.

[icehousebob]

Some friends hunt there and last year they only got one deer for four guys. They have a trail cam set up this year and it shows more coyotes than deer, and none of the deer are young ones. At night, you can hear packs of coyotes all around and I think I know what's happened to all the fawns for the last few years.

[almostthere!]

Isn't area 157 notorious for an over abundance of deer? According to the DNR, it is.

Shoot a few coyotes when you see them. If you don't eat them, I know people who will gladly take them. Serious.

[USPENAMC]

i will take a few yotes if i can last year i saw nothing only squirrels between 5 of us we sho nothing and one of the guys saw 3 does but they were getting out of the area like there was no tommorrow we hunted the entire season ..nada, zip, zipo, nothing, and not even yotes??? but like you said thats prob whats happening to the fawns...RUM is attached to that wma and i don know if i should try the wma

[USPENAMC]

anyone know the closest place to get a hotel room around here or something so i can stay the weekend????? places to eat, hang out.. maybe watch the boxing match on november 4th

[USPENAMC]

does princeton have a bar or anywhere one could have a few cold ones on saturday night and hotels available?? or should i head to the mille lacs area?

[Borch]

I don't know. I've been seeing lots of deer just working and driving through the area. One of the guys here at work sees more deer in a day than I usually see in a season in 156. I guess it depends where you hunt. There are plenty of them around that's for sure.

If you're hunting public land get deep in the stuff away from the roads early and stay late. Let the other hunters do the work for you.

Good Luck this weekend.

[Grant]

last year we took 4 for 5 guys- 3 does and a big buck- all on second weekend- opener was complete bupkis.

[USPENAMC]

Thanks guys be safe

will any of you hunt this area?? it would be good to know fellow fmers will be in the area.

thanks good luck and have fun

[USPENAMC]

funny you say to get real deep which i want to do but here is my story

the first two years i hunted a stand that must be 100 yards in you can see the road and i missed an 8 pointer on my first ever hunt then i shot a doe on sunday next year i shot another doe.

yet last year when i went in deep nothing /zip/zero

my question is should i go back to the place i started at or should i venture and try a new place??

[Borch]

Generally deer will try to escape all the incoming pressure. Look for escape cover(thick) and funnels. Personally I look for saddles on ridges, small high spots in swamps, a finger of high ground between water features(pond, river creek, etc. If you have one of those features near a road you may be better off there. That and the drag to the truck is so much shorter. Just getting away deep doesn't mean you'll see deer. You still need to find those spots that deer tend to go when the activity level goes way up. They don't use these spots year round so you're often looking for land features more than high concentrations of deer sign.

[USPENAMC]

5 of us nothing for both saturday and sunday my brother 12 missed his first opportunity on a doe.

the bad part was that sat morning i get there and they had logged the area where my trusty stand had been. so it started off bad i went to an alternate stand and saw absolutely nada all day there was alot of shooting going on so im hoping alot of people got their deer.

[Grant]

opener was 2 for 5 this year... we'll see about second weekend. mostly all small does, with a couple little bucks- biggest I saw was a slightly larger sized forkhorn.

there's a couple of wolves around the Sandstone area, making them a little spooky this year.