Minnesota has mismanaged its deer herd for years. It is not just the DNR's fault either. The hunters in this state do not have the same desire to work towards big bucks like the states around us. Years ago the biggest bucks and sheds came from Minnesota so the potential is here but party hunting and shooting every thing you see has ruined the big bucks. Sure you have pockets of big bucks, look at SE MN they have got rid of party hunting and practice a lot of QDMA and it shows. Until a number of hunters in the state stop shooting 6 little bucks then b**ch that they didn't see any big bucks we will never catch back up with Iowa and Wisconsin
I didn't see this post but I wanted to start a conversation about this. If you had the final say and all the power how would you guys fix the deer herd? The DNR is listening to hunters so lets start talking about ideas and if we start talking to groups like the mn deer hunters and keep the ball rolling maybe we can get on the right track with our deer herd. One idea that I have found interesting is the 4 point side rule. I know you can still shoot 7 and 8 point year and a halfers, but I would say a majority of year and a half bucks are 6 points or less. This would boost the age class of MN's bucks greatly. Another idea I think might help out is the party hunting as MR mentioned. Not everyone HAS to shoot a buck or even a deer every year. A related idea is we need to end the 5 deer one year and only a buck the next year. Complete mis management if one year you can shoot a buck and 5 does and the next year you have to apply for a doe tag or only get one deer either or. What do you guys think about these ideas and what are some of your ideas?
I would like to see this implemented in our area, just to try. It's not even about how many per side, it's the fact that people have to actually take the time to look at a deer to determine whether or not it's a legal buck; not shoot any deer that moves which is sadly the case at least around here.
I agree with you, that would help people actually looking at bucks and determining if it legal and not the "If its brown its down"... Ive even heard guys say they talked to people who "heard" something so they took a couple shots... ugh
Yupp, you wont catch me hunting during gun seasons. I try to catch up on goose hunting during that time but even in the middle of a corn field scares me. Always have orange with us and wave it at passing vehicles. Heck a couple years ago I stopped in the middle of an 80 with the tractor/ripper to take a leak and had multiple shots buzz right past me...
There are a number of things that could help Minnesota improve the chances of shooting a mature buck. Here are 3 of them but 1 and 2 are the most important IMO. 1. Eliminate party hunting 2. Move the gun season away from the rut 3. Antler point restrictions (except for kids)
What is the reason? Wisconsin is not all that, the northern 1/3 is in as bad or worse shape than Minnesota. Wisconsin has more CWD as Minnesota as well.Wisconsin has Buffalo county that is why the records.
It's more than Buffalo County, almost the entire state of wisconsin is in the red on the Boone and Crockett map by county. I would like to see gun season moved away from the rut aswell. Would you move it back?
I think the gun season is ok, maybe at most move it back a week to catch the tail of the rut. Mostly though, I think the biggest and easiest fix is to stop party hunting. I think everyone deserves their chance to get a deer, but I don't think that one person should be able to drop every deer they see and just use other people's tags. I like the idea of antler point restrictions as well, but I understand that issue gets a lot of push back because people want to shoot whatever. I will admit last year when late season rolled around, the forkhorn I had been passing on since September seemed a lot more tempting.
Yeah but if we had the antler point restriction everyone would complain for 3 years then they would realize oh this isn't so bad then in 3 more years they would start saying " I've been saying we should do this for years and they finally did...." Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Agreed. I would be happy to see an APR. You would hear a lot of grumbling to start, but after one year people might say "hmm I saw more basket racks than forkhorns this year"... after two years "I saw a couple decent bucks out there this year" ... after 4-5 years "I saw a bunch of decent deer, and so and so saw a giant" .. There are a number of reasons the biggest bucks in MN typically come from the SE. Antler point restrictions happen to be one of them. After my first camera pull last week the biggest I had on camera was a forkhorn though, so I am admittedly biased.
I would like them to move the gun season back a few weeks. I am torn on the APR because I think it helps short term but long term could cause more problems. The young 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 that will be studs and are 8 points or more will get shot before they get a chance to mature.
Well as it sits right now the odds of those exact deer getting shot before they hit 3 is pretty darn high to begin with. APR at least ensures that a really high number (I want to say I saw a stat someplace that said 80%) of 1.5 year olds that are under 8 points would make it through to at least being 2.5. Instead of being shot as an 8 point 2.5 year old, that deer is probably getting shot as a fork horn or a little basket racked 6 at 1.5 years.
If the goal is to be able to hunt bigger bucks like they are in Wisconsin and Iowa then that doesn't change the fact that those hunters that would shoot a forkhorn or basket rack would shoot the 2 1/2 year old with a ton of potential. It comes down to hunters that want to shoot BIG deer letting them walk until they are 4+ and quit using the excuse if I don't shoot it my neighbor will.
When is peak breeding where you're located? I watched numerous bucks running around in the middle of the day chasing does both weekends I hunted. My brothers wife shot a nice 9 point that came into an open field at 10am. I would most definitely consider that peak breeding.
Last year for me the second weekend was definitely full rut. I saw a lot of bucks up and moving during all hours.
