What do you think about antler restrictions??

[Rost]

Yep, and I even forgot about a few! Here's my best bud Ryan and his 2006 archery deer...

Here's his little cousin (Mike in the previous pictures son) with his 2006 buck as well...

Notice none of these pics are of me . I drew a dough tag this year, so I couldn't shoot a buck. O-well, that is the price I am willing to pay.

Also, non residents are welcome to come and deer hunt, but they must wait until the third drawing. So the chances of drawing a buck tag are close to none.

[ortonville]

by looking at rost's pictures this is what i have been trying to put into words. if mndnr where to do like south dakota it is not that a person wouldnt be able to shoot a deer it just means you would get told what kind of deer you where going to shoot. if you only want the meat there are county's with left over double doe tags.some of you guys that are so negitive sit down and talk with a south dakotan and learn about there season's and the way a hunter applys for the tags before you yell and holler that it wont work it will and the pictures prove it.for the past 5 years i have bought indian tags in south dakota and it is great. you would not belive the deer and quality of the deer we see.and the best thing is we only spend an hour on the road

[Cooter]

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The part you left out is that past 17 years. Wisconsin is producing the most pope and young buck

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Thanks, that's what I was getting at...just couldn't let my cheesehead pride leave that alone Powerstroke, I think its about time you add to that MN P&Y list....good luck bud, I know I'm not helping the WI numbers any

[Cooter]

I've never heard of the lottery system like SD has but it sounds like a winner. The EAB here in WI is not perfect, but I like it as it not only indeed reduces doe numbers but also allows more bucks to live past 1.5 years. BTW, has anyone heard about the results from antler restrictions down south - I'm positive at least on state(Miss?) has them? If not maybe I can scrap up some info. Later.

[iffwalleyes]

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I've never heard of the lottery system like SD has but it sounds like a winner. The EAB here in WI is not perfect, but I like it as it not only indeed reduces doe numbers but also allows more bucks to live past 1.5 years. BTW, has anyone heard about the results from antler restrictions down south - I'm positive at least on state(Miss?) has them? If not maybe I can scrap up some info. Later.

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Yep SD and ND systems are very good I feel. I always apply for a buck first drawing. Typically I get it but some times I don't so then I have the choice to draw a doe tag on the second draw where you will typically draw the tag so you will have your tag for the year. Then we usually have a 3 and some times a 4 th drawing if there are several tags left over. Then if there are still some left you can get them over the counter. The Game and Fish determine each year how many bucks and does are going to be harvested and that is how many tags are allotted. It is a great system after growing up and MN and hunting every year in both MN and ND I prefer ND hunting because I always see more and usually better buck in ND.

[BLACKJACK]

Good post Bigbucks.

[BLACKJACK]

Comparing South Dakota to Minnesota is like comparing apples to oranges. MN has a lot more hunters than SoDak. I've been out in SoDak on the opening of deer hunting the last several years and you rarely see a deer hunter, and if you do, they're in a truck. In MN you see red coats all over on opening of deer hunting.

Rost, could you resize your pictures so this post is readable again?

[wallythewalleye]

Can you party hunt in SD or ND? Also do you have to draw for a buck for bow hunting and gun hunting. I think that a draw system would not work where you have an out of control population. Most of the people that didnt get drawn for the buck would not go. If I didnt get drawn for buck bowhunting I wouldnt go. I shot most of my does with a gun and Im after a big buck bow hunting. Look at Iowa number one for big bucks per deer harvest. They got that way, because there gun season is right when the bucks arent moving much. MN gun season is right where the buck are moving the most. I would bet that if southern MN or even northern Mn moved the season to Dec the deer harvest would decrease at least 20% the first year.

[Rost]

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Comparing South Dakota to Minnesota is like comparing apples to oranges. MN has a lot more hunters than SoDak. I've been out in SoDak on the opening of deer hunting the last several years and you rarely see a deer hunter, and if you do, they're in a truck. In MN you see red coats all over on opening of deer hunting.

Rost, could you resize your pictures so this post is readable again?

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Maybe True, but it would still help the buck population if only have of those people have buck tags.

[Craig_S]

To me, there's a huge difference between Minnesota, Iowa, and South Dakota. Maybe not to the folks in the Minnesota farmland south and west, but in the woods, seeing is believing.

We're over run with deer. The harvest figures support that. I just heard it may go to 270,000.

If I was hunting fields with some forested pockets, with the deer density we have here, it'd be a turkey shoot. I'm hunting huge woods where visibility limits shots to maybe 60 yards with a rifle. We've seen the big boy three times this rifle season. And nobody could score. Because we're ethical enough not to punch lead through pucker brush. The deer lay low in response to opening weekend activity. Open land is an entirely different scenario. I don't hunt open land.

I believe a later season, out of the rut, would drastically reduce the kill numbers. They'd lay low in the brush and swamps until the season was long over. But we have too many deer?

Why do we want to do that? QDM or not, there's too many animals. And the quality animals seem to still be here. Let's kill some deer. For my neighborhood, kill does should be a bumper sticker.

Craig

[NAPAFISH]

I hope QDM is not forced. I could care less what size antlers. To me every deer is a trophy. You still get the same tingle inside regardless of what the head looks like

[BLACKJACK]

I'm personally against antler point restrictions, especially in zone 4 where I slug hunt. The season is so short, two days, bad weather or unpicked corn fields can really affect your hunt, the only deer you might see is that small buck. And yes I'd rather shoot that small buck and have venison in the freezer rather than no venison.

I'm also concerned that other states, especially out west, have tried antler restrictions and have gone away from them because they don't work? Why would MN want to implement something that has failed in other states?

I'm also concerned about young bucks getting shot and left to lay because they don't meet the antler point restriction.

[Mudcat21]

Antler restrictions.....NO Thanks! Last time I shot a buck the antler's tasted like dump but the rest of him was pretty good. If your party chooses to go with QDM fine, but some of us don't care about the size of antler and just want to shot deer. The DNR wants us to knock the deer herd size down, that means shooting any deer regardless of gender. I will gladly do my part every year to knock down my legal amount of venison.

[sticknstring]

I'm with Cory - I would love to see something done in MN whether it's point restrictions, earn-a-buck, or even a buck lottery although that would be my last choice but if it means seeing more mature deer than so be it. Pushing the season back a few weeks would be fantastic but will never happen in MN. Strong traditions, cold December weather, and not enough deer killed would be a few arguments of this. I primarily hunt the big woods and if I had to venture a guess, I'd say nearly 75% of our year and a half year olds are spikes. It's discouraging hunting when these are the majority of your buck sightings. I cannot count how many spikes I've passed this season so far. You have the "meathunters" and people who only hunt once a year who are happy to take anything that happens to pass by which is great - that is how it should be, point being it's impossible to please everyone but it would be nice to see a few areas similar to some of the state parks opened up to firearms season with point restrictions opened to archery as well. Now if I could just get a few hundred acres of my own and manage it with my preferences in mind - I'd be set!