Once again In my area In central Mn I'm only allowed one deer period this year!! We have more doe's then I even care to talk about but yet these Mn DNR yahoo's don't want to do anything about It. The neighboring land owners don't help the situation either when It comes to hunting, they don't believe your a good hunter If you don't shoot a buck (size don't matter) so no doe's get shot anyway. Usually It's 1.5 year old bucks every year and a few 2.5's. Man this Is getting frustrating!!! :mad1: It's getting to the point In the area where I hunt that If you see a mature buck your doing damn good. That's a far cry from what It use to be around here.
Just roll with the punches bro.... MN is still a good state, just be glad you aren't living and hunting whitetail in South Carolina or something.
I feel your pain Schultzy. I just found out my zone will also only allow 1 deer per hunter this year. Last year we were allowed FIVE (4 doe's and 1 buck). How do you go from allowing 5 deer to just 1 deer? I am seeing just as many deer around here as ever before. This is really gonna suck for all the guys around here who have been trying to do a good job of managing their populations in recent years.
Yeah, I don't know if the DNR thinks there was a lot of winter kill around here or what? But, everyone I know is seeing ALOT of deer this summer...especially does. Now we have to give up our buck tag to kill a doe??? Give me a break. Everyone who belongs to the local QDMA chapter here is really pissed off right now.
Don't bother coming to northern Wisconsin. It is the exact opposite here. Up north they have released so many antlerless permits too many years in a row and have decimated the population.
Hey, You can always move to AK and take up caribou hunting. You're welcome in my camp anytime Schultzy.
we get a lot of the same thing in AL... we've got potential to land some big deer down there, vast food supplies, big populations, good terrain/cover, relatively low pressure... the problem is that nearly everyone hunts under the "if its brown its down" philosophy so they shoot a TON of young bucks and refuse to take does... kinda sucks really...
Be glad you don't live and hunt in Ca...no does at all... I just take along a deer tag here in case I see one, bear hunting or hog hunting
The Valley (Matanuska Valley) has a couple big dairy farms there but you could always become an Ice Road Trucker on the Dalton Highway!!!!
Wow, that's not good. I'm lucky to hunt in a liberal state but for hunting purpose's only. We are and have been able to harvest 2 bucks and unlimited does with each weapon during that weapon's season for a very long time. You can hunt with bow during the other season's but have to do so under the laws of that season, ie wearing orange etc. That means anything you harvest has to be checked under that particular weapon even though you used a bow. So, I can take, let's see here, 6 bucks and If they have a crossbow season this year 8 bucks and as many does as I want to shoot. Have to read up before the season to see if any changes were made to that format but I am very happy for the bag limits.
Shultzy...PA is a one buck state and I think I have it bad. Keep your chin up bud. PS You're welcome at my fire anytime.
Schultzy, I could always take you hunting over here in Michigan and we could compare forkies being shot. Sounds like Michigan is rubbing off on Minn. and that is why I hunt Illinois. Good luck!!Walt
Steve, I know it must be frustrating but at least your seeing deer. You wouldn't like being in my shoes and going a whole season seeing 2 deer. I have to go to Minn. just so I can get to see what deer really look like. At least they took my area out of the slaughter everything zone this year. The laughter is the WDNR says my area is 22% over populated?
Well as a MN DNR yahoo, I have a few comments. Where I hunt I can still take 5 deer. Some of my "sub areas" of this area certainly can support 5 does being harvested by multiple hunters, multiple years, but there are also "sub areas" that could not support it at all, these may only be seperated by 5-10 miles. You can only break Minnesota down so far into permit areas and unfortunately one size doesnt always fit all. In an ideal world, yes each farm would have custom regs, but thats impossible. Also keep in mind that a good portion of new hunting laws and regs do not come directly from the DNR's mind. Many are developed and passed in the legislature. For example the new law allowing hunting predators at night with lights, not a DNR idea, it came from a legislator and his constituents and was passed in the legislature, the DNR simply has to enforce it now (this happens more than you know). I would guess the deer regs come directly from wildlife managers, however; and they just cant please everyone all the time. After working for a number of years for the DNR, I have come to realize that in many aspects of my job there is definitely a "darned if you do, darned if you dont dilema." You simply try to please as many as you can because as state employees, we are working and paid for by the citizens of MN.
