Talk about a nightmare.. Im now 12+ hours away from my leases in Ohio, and I don't know anyone. Im looking for some guys to hunt with, show me the ropes around here, bow shops, public land, how to get permission around here, anything that can be helpful. I don't even know where to start. Ive been here for 48 hours and it seems like I'm already doomed. Any help would be appreciated. Tyson
My girl friends father is not doing well, she works full time and is care taking so since my job is flexible, I'm here to take some of the burden off indefinitely. I live right downtown in North Loop. I've heard about all of the public land in MN but i don't know enough about it yet to be dangerous.
I live about an hour north of you not real sure what the closest bow shop is. I live near the sherburne federal land and the sand dunes state forest. I also work seasonally at Carlos Avery WMA probably the closest public land to you.
How pressured are the public land spots? Can you access with motorized vehicles? we use bikes at our pub spots in VA.
No wheelers allowed, like any public land the further you go the better it gets. Archery Country is just up the freeway in Rogers I can't vouch for their work but they do have multiple locations. They are just about a mile away from Cabelas.
I go through Archery Country mainly. I've used both Rogers and St. Cloud locations and both are decent not to mention easy to get work done without appointment or dropping off your bow. Far as hunting areas go, look on the MN DNR site for bow only WMA's because once firearm season starts you won't want to be in the woods, public lands gets hit hard and over run then. If you need some more help just let me know I'll do what I can
welcome to MN; Bwana archery is a nice local shop in Little Canada, may not be that close to you though. WPA's, and WMA's are good starts, pack in and out your tree stands the same day; when the small game season starts (same as the bow season) those lands can get hit hard. You may be interested in some city hunts, thats if you can tolerate barking dogs, kids playing, and people potentially walking through, but pages 95-98 can give you insight; potential for deer quantity and quality in those hunts too https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/hunting/full_regs.pdf also OnX maps or MN's recration compass will show WMA's WPA's and walk in areas https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/compass/index.html good luck!
As Jmnhunter said OnX is a great resource and the MN DNR website isn't terrible either. Last year was the first year I hunted in Minnesota. I started by looking up WMAs in the counties that were closer to my work. I then pulled up the map on OnX to see what kind of tree cover/toppo I was working with and narrowed down my search from there. I then took a bunch of weekend days about this time last year and drove around to those spots I narrowed down and put boots on the ground. I haven't hunted directly in the metro but hunted SW about an hour in the LeSeur area and had decent luck. Public land around here you'll run into squirrel and rabbit hunters for sure. As far as a good archery shop I've been a huge fan of the folks over at Cabin Fever sporting goods in Victoria which is about 30 minutes West of you close to Lake Minnetonka. I was just in there today. They get busy and don't have a huge staff so expect to spend some time there and shoot the **** with everyone. You'll pick up some good info from the folks and customers in there Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Recreation Compass on the DNR website is a great tool for finding public spots. Like was said above, small game hunters can be bad on some pieces, same with waterfowlers once that season opens up later in September. Bow-only or out of the way parcels are definitely the way to go here. I live in the South Metro and don't get north of the Cities too much, but if you need some help down my way shoot me a PM. Happy to give you a few pointers.
All I can offer is a welcome to Minnesota! I'm in the SW corner of the state so i'm not much help. Not sure how far you are away from Whitewater but that would be a decent spot to check out during archery season I would think.
Thanks for the help! Are there any good bowhunting clubs or groups locally I should check out or join? Id like to meet some guys to hunt with. MAybe willing to trade some hunts
Welcome to MN, I would also recommend onX maps, it has overlays of public land as well as Walk In Areas which you need to buy a permit for when you buy your license. There are some really good spots down there on the Minnesota River.
