How was your opener?

[TrophyEyes]

We were down in SE MN and saw so many deer it was sick. I think the total between 2 guys was upwords of 75 deer. Personally I saw 3 decent bucks, two 8's and one 10, but didn't pull the trigger. They were still only about 2 1/2 years old and really had some good potential. I know this because I have seen the gene pool and these guys matched a 197 that was taken two years ago. The little bucks were harrassing the does to no end down there, but the big boys I think were hunkered down a bit. Ended up shooting a doe yesterday morning, the nice thing was that she ran up hill towards the truck before expiring. I only had a 25-35 yard drag. Now if she would have dressed herself that would have been impressive.

[Sutty]

We had a good hunt, I saw the first 'Monster Buck' since I have been hunting, that was cool. Didn't get a shot at him. Did take a small buck and our group took another.

We had 4 hunters in our group this year (down from 7) and usually end up with about a 50% success ratio unless we get a doe tag or 2 which we have not had for a few years.

[Kyle]

I did get a button buck. I thought it was a young doe. Im a meat hunter so Im happy with the little guy. Hes going to be really tender.

However, I have to say that I think the DNR is full of dump with the numbers they are putting out about the deer herd in specific areas. This is the second year in a row that out of 12 people only 2 people shot deer. No one saw a thing! And its not just because they werent moving. Dont let anyone fool you. The deer are rutting, and if there are deer in the area, you are more than likely going to see them. The DNR has my area posted as MANAGED. That is a buncha dump, the deer numbers are down so much that I honastly think it should be totally closed to hunting for the next few years.

Obviously Im really sick of the bad hunting. This place used to be outstanding. I know because the 300 acres has been in my family for generations. I also dont think its just in our area. We could count the shots on one hand that we heard each morning. And I know there are quite a few hunters in the surrounding areas. From talking to my other buddies that hunt a few other areas, they also had terrible hunting and heard almost no shots!

I am totally blaming this on the DNR. I believe their information needs to be gathered more accurately. Deer numbers have been down for the last couple years according to other people, and I dont think it is smart to be issueing mutliple licenses anymore. Im just tired of the people that make the decisions for this country screwing up and making the things we used to love go down the dump hole. I believe my own experience and the experience of other hunters much much more than I believe the DNR about deer numbers. We are the ones out there year round spending countless hours scouting and hunting.

[Bubbadust]

Our opener was excellent. My dad and I hunted by Rochester and I shot a nice 7 pointer Saturday morning and he shot a 6 pointer Saturday afternoon. In 18 years of hunting my dad's 25 acres, we've never taken 2 bucks in a season before (in fact only 1 of the 18 deer I had shot previously was a buck, with only 3 points). My cousin's husband also arrowed an 8 pointer there 2 weeks ago.

Usually we only see does and fawns, but this year we only saw one other doe, plus a dead doe by my stand a dead fawn by my dad's.

[Steve Foss]

Quote:

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I did get a button buck. I thought it was a young doe. Im a meat hunter so Im happy with the little guy. Hes going to be really tender.

However, I have to say that I think the DNR is full of

dump

with the numbers they are putting out about the deer herd in specific areas. This is the second year in a row that out of 12 people only 2 people shot deer. No one saw a thing! And its not just because they werent moving. Dont let anyone fool you. The deer are rutting, and if there are deer in the area, you are more than likely going to see them. The DNR has my area posted as MANAGED. That is a buncha

dump

, the deer numbers are down so much that I honastly think it should be totally closed to hunting for the next few years.

Obviously Im really sick of the bad hunting. This place used to be outstanding. I know because the 300 acres has been in my family for generations. I also dont think its just in our area. We could count the shots on one hand that we heard each morning. And I know there are quite a few hunters in the surrounding areas. From talking to my other buddies that hunt a few other areas, they also had terrible hunting and heard almost no shots!

I am totally blaming this on the DNR. I believe their information needs to be gathered more accurately. Deer numbers have been down for the last couple years according to other people, and I dont think it is smart to be issueing mutliple licenses anymore. Im just tired of the people that make the decisions for this country screwing up and making the things we used to love go down the

dump

hole. I believe my own experience and the experience of other hunters much much more than I believe the DNR about deer numbers. We are the ones out there year round spending countless hours scouting and hunting.

---

Many deer units are quite large, and while deer populations might be thin where you are, they may be abundant 10 miles away and within the same unit you're hunting.

How detailed must the DNR be to satisfy you? You want to triple the number of units so they can narrow population estimates down that far?

Also, and I really am not trying to be mean, but if you and your family have had that 1/2 square mile for generations, that's about half the size of a typical deer's home range, and the largest single factor controlling the deer population right around your family's and your neighbors' land (you mentioned the hunting was bad at the neighbors' too), likely is the hunting pressure you all have exerted over the years.

I don't know your selection methods, and maybe I'm dead wrong here, but because a unit is considered "managed" and has more liberal bag limits than a "lottery" unit doesn't mean all tags need to be filled each year.

I have rellies who have deer camp at a farm in southwestern Wisconsin that had deer as thick as fleas for 10 years, but after those 10 years of shooting everything wearing deer hair and filling all the liberal Wisconsin permits available in that high-density area, a couple of them started whining about where all the deer had gone. Someone piped up: "They're all gone because WE SHOT THEM ALL, Grandpa!"

So the whole deer camp instituted a financial penalty on anyone who shot a buck with less than 8 points and decided to get and fill fewer permits. Now, three years later, the deer are coming back strong.

Again, I'm not saying this reflects your hunting philosophy, just pointing out that these things do happen.

[c&amagn]

Great post STFCATFISH--- Our group of 4 hunters near Pine River did ok. My father got a decent 8-pointer and my Nephew shot his first deer a good sized spike. We were very happy for him, he was just thrilled. I passed up 3 smaller does and we saw a few more out and a about. Headed back up the next two weekends. It was great to be out. The three small does guessing last years fawns not this years I let pass went onto the neighbors property and I didn't year them crack at them either. Good to see!!!

[vister]

i'd have to say we did pretty dang good! I guess by looking at the 3 hanging up caped out. grandpa got an 18 inch spread 9 pointer, good mass, length and height. my brothers girlfriend took a 16 inch inside spread 10 pointer with incredible mass and length. her first by the way. and last but not least, my youngest brother wit the biggest rack i have ever seen taken in a 20 mile radius. 22 inch inside spread 13 pointer. 6 and a half inch circumfrence at the base of both, both brows split, incredible mass, beam lengths of 24 inches on one and 25 and a half inches on the other, and good heavy tines, with decent length. i'll try to get some pics if i can figure it out. we figure the big one may go 170-180 b and c. all of which taken with in a half mile of each other, in full out rut.

[Kyle]

stcatfish-

I hear ya about the units issue. I dont want there to be more units, but from talking to various people at work, and at the butcher, that hunt in various parts of the state, there all saying the same things I am. I simply just think that the numbers the DNR are putting out dont reflect the actual numbers in alot of places in MN. On the topic of my hunting land. It is a 300 acre piece of property in 3 different sections all meeting at corners. Surrounding my land is a very heafty amount of state land. I dont have an exact number, but Im etimating around 10,000 acres but definatly no less than 8500. My great grandfather bought the land, and since its been in our family we have covered alot of that area. Most of our stands arnt even on our land. for example my stand this year was exactly 4 miles from the farthest person in my family(GPS calc.) I have heard countless stories on poor management and why deer numbers plummet. As meat hunters, and the occasional trophy that any of us might take ever couple years, it would be easy to see how a team of guys could fill every tag they are allowed to have. However, that just isnt the case with us. for 12 people, we have never taken more than 15 deer. We just dont need that much, and that hasnt happend in 10yrs. I heard, and I dont know how credible it is, but I heard the DNR put out info. saying there are 37 deer per square mile on average. Im sorry, but if there is that many deer and Im 4 miles away from my relatives, someone should have seen something. Like I said, Im happy because I was lucky enough to get one, and deer hunting is not just about harvesting deer, but that kind of hunting really brings down the moral.

[Steve Foss]

No prob, hunter. Just seemed a little strong to me, fully blaming the DNR like that. Now that I hear more of your facts, I sympathize with you more.

But still not TOTALLY.

I don't know over what range that 37 deer/sq mile figure is supposed to cover, but the deer herd is estimated at about 1.2 million, and Minnesota has a bit more than 86,000 square miles. That math gets you about 14 deer per square mile throughout the state. And that's a meaningless figure for our purposes, since what we're really talking about are far smaller units of measure.

[catmaster1557]

Hunt east of Backus. Shot a 1 1/2 year old 4 point about 9:30 saturday morning. Not as many deer around as in past years. Time to get ready for Iowa now in 3 weeks, can't wait!

[Kyle]

another thing I would like to see is a different buck rule. Im not sure which states have it, but I personally think hunters should have to put into a lottery for a buck. It is impossible for even one team of hunters to try to manage a deer herd if everyone else around you is shooting little bucks. Im sure there are other methods for keeping a healthier deer herd and more bucks. maybe a different method would be better. I know some parts of the state experience inbreeding in the herd because there arnt enough bucks to go around. That doesnt happen in texas where they manage the buck to doe ratios better. I just gotta believe there are methods out there that would be much much more beneficial than ones MN DNR is using now.

[vermilionwally]

In my group up near cook we usually get 1 deer a year between 7 or 8 of us. Last weekend between all of us we saw like 5 deer. And were all spread over a big area with our stands too. I didnt hear nearly as many shots as normal either.

[surewood]

Saw a six Sat morning and passed on it. The tenth hour in the stand I shot a 8pt. Still have some tags in the hunting party and they said it will be alright for me to shoot a buck for them. No luck sunday. Today saw a six chasing a doe twenty yards from the stand in the morning and saw a doe this evening ten yards from my stand. Did'nt here it with all the wind and there it was but passed for an oppurtunity at one of the bucks I found sheds to they are probably between 150" and 160" now so there is plenty of motivation to hold out for a mature buck.

[Steve Foss]

For those interested, there is a thread going over on the archery board about how Minnesota is managing the deer herd.

[grizzald]

I hunt 424 about 12 miles north of Appleton, which is a lottery zone, and it really showed this weekend. Hardly any deer were seen, or shots herd. Between bow hunting (been out about 15 times so far) and slug hunting I've seen a total of 9 deer and only one buck. And we own river bottoms and some great hills for hunting. All I can say is it's a good deal the DNR put us in a lottery zone this year...

[chris3]

" On the topic of my hunting land. It is a 300 acre piece of property in 3 different sections all meeting at corners. Surrounding my land is a very heafty amount of state land. I dont have an exact number, but Im etimating around 10,000 acres but definatly no less than 8500."

Trust me, if you are in an area with deer habitat and 8500 acres of state land in Minnesota their are plenty of deer. Even if the DNR opened it up to "shoot as many deer as you want" during the hunting season, it would not decimate the population. There is a reason there ARE so many deer, "while we are at our computer bithching about the lack of deer" the deer are out there getting aquainted with the land(maybe nocturnally)so they know where every branch and tree is, no less a big orange blob with a gun.

[Wanderer]

Maybe the DNR has accomplished their goal in some areas??

I remember hunting Pine River as a kid. We never did better than 3 for 5. I usually only saw the one I got over the course of the season. We weren't very good hunters then either but there just wasn't alot to go around.

For the past 5 years I've been saying "These are the Good ol' Days" for deer numbers with all of our exploded herd sizes. It has made me an impatient hunter. JMO.

[livintofish]

Shot a nice big doe about 2:30 on opening day after seeing nothing all morning on the stand. A beautiful day to be out in the woods. Saw several turkeys, about 2411 squirrels (gray and red) and had a downy woodpecker land on my gun barrel. Our party of 12 took 9 deer opening day and saw nothing on sunday or monday. Many of this years deer were running around and a few were shot. One member of our party took a real nice 10 point that dressed at about 200, which was good to see, always nice when somebody shoots a big boy. This big guy had a huge swollen neck on him too, which I have never seen in person to that effect, ruttin hard . It was a good season and I can't wait for some tasty doe sausage .

[Gofishleech]

Quote:

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i'd have to say we did pretty dang good! I guess by looking at the 3 hanging up caped out. grandpa got an 18 inch spread 9 pointer, good mass, length and height. my brothers girlfriend took a 16 inch inside spread 10 pointer with incredible mass and length. her first by the way. and last but not least, my youngest brother wit the biggest rack i have ever seen taken in a 20 mile radius. 22 inch inside spread 13 pointer. 6 and a half inch circumfrence at the base of both, both brows split, incredible mass, beam lengths of 24 inches on one and 25 and a half inches on the other, and good heavy tines, with decent length. i'll try to get some pics if i can figure it out. we figure the big one may go 170-180 b and c. all of which taken with in a half mile of each other, in full out rut.

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Got'a see those picks, souinds like a monster buck!!!!

[SkeeterMark]

As usual, the kids got the deer. 15 year old shot two bucks that came by about 8 am. One hit right where you'd draw a (Contact Us Please) if you could, the other a little far back. He had some tracking to do for that one, and he did a great job. Trailed it for about 1/2 mile, sees it "dead" in some guys back yard and starts walking up to it. Up it jumps and takes off again. Naturally he can't shoot, and avoids the temptation to do so, since he's in some guy's yard. Waits a while and follows the deer another 1/4 mile where he finds it swimming across a small (20 acre) lake and sees where it makes land. He comes to get me and we go to the lady's house which is nearby, though where he thought it went was a ways down and all cattail swamp. She is nice enough to let us use her duckboat and off we go. My son was dead on, as we found it a few yards deep in the cattails precisely where he thought it went in. Had to "dispatch" it with a shot to the head, but were able to load it up in the boat and make the retreive. I can't believe the thing was still strong enough to swim at that point. They must really get an adrenaline hit when they are wounded. This was certainly the first time I ever came back in a boat with a 6 pointer - now that's some good fishin'.

Anyway, I was pretty proud of the effort he made to trail this son of a gun, as I'm sure a few folks would have given up at the point of seeing it swimming away.

As for me, I haven't gotten a shot at anything worth while in 3 years now. Score for that time period: The two boys - 8, me - 0, which is fine by me. I've shot my share over the years and it's more fun for me to see them get the shooting anyway.

[Big-Al]

I had seen 18 deer by 8:30 Saturday morning when I shot the a doe. Four of the deer that I saw were adult bucks, but nothing real nice. Saw more deer each outing the rest of the weekend but no more shooting. The group was 10 for 11(with two nice bucks) by 9:00 Monday morning. The neat thing is that nobody shot more than one!

[bigbucks]

We went 11 for 16 on opening day. Nobody fired a shot on Sunday, nobody's been out since to my knowledge. Some of us will be hunting from Wednesday night through some time Sunday in various places. We mostly saw only small bucks & most were shot. 7 bucks, 2 does, 2 doe fawns (the only 2 fawns we even saw, which seemed odd) Only saw 1 or possibly 2 other does. Personally I shot a fork that was a runt & then shot a two year-old 8 pointer, because both my brother & I thought he'd hit it, he hadn't.

[brassman]

Our group of 8 got two six's both shot on two pieces of land. the one buck was the only one we saw on the main property. Saturday morning howveer there were some wolves howling about a mile to our west. My gut pile from the weekend before was totally cleaned up in under a week, so maybe the wolves pushed the deer out for the weekend. usually we get about four to five deer on opener. too cold and windy to hunt today. was out this morning but the wind was fierce and plus I accidentally pushed one of those reflective tacks under my fingernail about a 1/4" throbbing right now.

[Kyle]

Chris3

I see you point except that my hunting party of 12 people are probably 1 of 20-30 other hunting parties that hunt that 8500 acres. This land is 60miles from any kind of good agricultural land too. Deer populate to the food sources, and though there is food in the big woods, a great number of deer in MN are concentrated to major cities and other agriculturally friendly site. The iron range is definatly not one of them. I simply stated how my opener was. My hunting party and I have discussed this issue for countless hours, and believe me, if there were any other good reasons for us to not see deer, we have thought of them. However, being that we are experienced hunters, and have hunted the general area for a long time, we feel that the deer numbers are down. plain and simple. The numbers are down in our area. Thats it.

[inthecattails]

Just returned today from zone 105. Saw the most deer I have ever seen on opening weekend (Saturday to Monday). Saw 11 deer of which alot were bucks. Got two bucks and a doe. Also saw an albino deer running through the woods as one of our guys kicked it up on his way in to camp to warm up. It was a rain snow mix Sunday afternoon and all night. Monday morning the ground was white. Snowed all day Monday and when I left Tuesday it was a sleet. Was really windy Sunday into Monday morning. The guys that stayed an extra day headed out Tuesday in hopes of catching the deer on the move after being hunkered down with the weather. Looking to head back up to fill some more bonus tags!!