Where's the Deer?

[jltimm]

So if there is 6-8 deer on 140 acres is that good or bad? I think it's terrible because I have yet to see a deer since Sat. afternoon.This year is worse than last, and that was the worst year of hunting I've ever had.

[Harmonica Bear]

I don't think you can compare North Dakota's management with ours. We have roughly 500,000 deer hunters in this state, ND's entire population is around 600,000. They have nowhere near the pressure Minnesota has.

From everything I've been reading the problem isn't management or wolves or pressure, it's those darn COUGARS! I think the state must be over-run with them!

All kidding aside, thanks Lou for posting, I think that is great PR on your part. Helps set the record straight to a certain extent. I think the states management is just fine and has gotten better. Personal hunting success many times has a lot of peaks and valleys and just becuase you have an off year, for whatever reason, doesn't mean the herd is being managed improperly.

[96trigger]

I would say with crop rotation, forresting, and urban sprawl, it can be common for some hunters that hunt in a pretty isolated geographic area, meaning the same place every year, that they can have stretches of years where there will be ups and downs. I know in my little chunk of private land, some years it seems like there are a lot of deer, and others, they just aren't using it as much. Same with the turkeys. This year, that chunk of 40 acres wasn't pastured during the summer and man, the deer have been in there. But other years, when its pastured, not so much, its just a travel corridor for them from one place to another. I think the DNR should mandate that cattle should not be allowed to pasture any wooded areas during the summer as it tends to decrease the number of deer I see in the fall...

[sparkydm]

How do you know the overall population has declined? Did the "retards" tell you that? I personally have seen less deer this season, but I've been seeing more sign than in past years. Is this too because of the "retards"?

[livintofish]

Just thought I would post a couple facts about estimated deer numbers and harvest in MN from the Sept-Oct issue of the DNRs Conservation Volunteer "there are an estimated 1.2 million whitetails in MN, among the highest number ever recorded". Of course this is an estimate but keep in mind that survey methods have not changed so it is still a "relative comparative ratio". The next fact is of even more interest to the common concern I have heard the last couple of years about people thinking there has been a major decline in whitetail population(I'm not doubting there could be some decline of course, thats how managment works populations wax and wane). "Hunters bagged 260,000 deer last season, which is fourth highest in Minnesota's documented history". I remember the same topics of conversation last year when this near record harvest took place! Thanks all for the good thoughts.

Maybe there is a reason they call it hunting....not shooting

[jkcmj]

We have had another great season here. I harvested 2 adult does and 2 doe fawns. My brothers son got a doe fawn and my brother harvested an adult doe and a large 9 point buck. We usually take about 10 deer each year off this 160 acre farm in zone 146 near Winona. We see deer about half of our morning or evening sits, but at times go days without seeing them. On my pre-season scouting cams I had 20+ different bucks working scrapes. We all passed on multiple small bucks and 3 of the 4 saw mature bucks, although only one was harvested.

My Dad owns another 160 acre farm in Buffalo County, WI where we used to get large numbers of deer. After a few years of the cheap unlimited doe tags, I have seen very few deer around that farm. I bow hunted there at least a dozen times this year and had one chance at a doe that I passed on, and saw a total of 3 deer. My family are as much to blame as the neighbors(nine does harvested by my brothers last year), we all need to consider our own area and only harvest what it can sustain. We to can learn through trial and error just like the DNR, and limit our own harvest to the environment around us.