Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Birth of a deer camp

No fluf, we re-formed over the 2 week old slab after chipping off all of the questionable surface areas. I made extensions for the floor drains and dropped a new water closet flange for the toilet which extended it up about 4" as well.

We laid out panels of steel road mesh, then before the pour we wet the old surface with a bonding agent, then sprinkled the surface with Portland powder and broomed it all together to a paste/slury.

The pour was 3.5 to 4", aggregate was pea rock, 3# fiber mesh per yd and I guess I can't recall the other details of the mix design right now (5 bag?) I'm still a little fuzzy in the brain housing from lack of sleep.

The last of the concrete was in the forms at around 10pm wed night. This was an intentional night pour for cooler temps to aid in a slow finishing process. And it cooled off plenty, it was low 50's.

It was an all nighter, with the last power trowel being pulled off the slab at around 9:30 am thurs.

I am very happy with the new surface, I'm confident in it's strength and I'm now looking forward to seeing some walls go up hopefully starting Monday.

You need to read the rules on party hunting in MN and understand how OTC sales work here. There are rules in place to keep these things from happening. We have a call line called TIP (turn in poachers) to handle people doing what you reference.

Jeez... some of your proposed antler restrictions and rule derivations get hard to manage. Remember only 1/3rd or so of the hunters get a deer so driving in all sorts of restrictions gets hard to handle/enforce and will probably encourage more rule breaking than ever. People sitting here posting about deer hunting are passionate and will study the ules, but most people just want to know what they can harvest because they are casual hunters that hunt for different reasons.

I grew up in mn, memorized the rules before I could hunt. Though the rules state that you can't do that, doesn't mean lots of folks don't. As you clearly stated in your second post, folks don't always follow the rules. I have hunted many states and one thing I have seen over and over is most sloppy hunters I have encountered have plates from great lakes states. I don't say that to be inflammatory, just my observation. It's definitely not a majority of the hunters from there.

I don't like antler restrictions either. To a point, we already have that in place with the definition of a "legal buck" with the spike length description. For me, that's enough. It gives the definition of what is antlerless and what is a "buck" which allows hunters to use their tags correctly.

Antler restrictions above the verbiage that directs us on what gets an antlerless tag and what doesn't, would not be a good thing IMO.

If a group or individuals wish to practice some of the QDMA theories I totally understand that and I totally respect it.

I myself do not put priority on trophy status. That is not to say I wouldn't be happy about taking a very nice buck while practicing fair chase DIY hunting. I certainly would be very happy. But my personal interests and feelings about hunting wild game is much more primitive in function. To me it is a respectful harvest of meat, as natural as possible, without my personal influential efforts for genetic guidance or antler growth supplements, or selective harvest in hopes to preserve a potential "trophy" for a coming year.

I have zero interest, absolutely zero. Polar opposite would possibly be a better way to describe how I feel about QDMA structures and intentional enhancement efforts geared towards "trophy" hunting. No thanks, I'll wait for mother nature to provide me with my "trophy" opportunities. Perfectly aware and perfectly happy with the idea that it may never happen for me.

My hunting interests are in the respectful harvest, proper care for the meat, cutting, packaging, cooking and enjoying the whole thing from field to dining table.

I have let many deer walk, antlerless and young bucks. The reasons are very fluid, never exactly the same from one season to the next. My deer hunting mind set can range from "take anything I can get" to "If I don't see a decent buck, I'm ok with not shooting a deer this year."

It's very fluid and there are too many contributing factors to list but it changes with the deer population, it changes with who I may be hunting with, where I may be hunting, the weather itself, the current inventory of my freezer at time of hunt.. etc, etc.

Many things together form my intentions for a hunt on any particular day. And even then, they are simply intentions, and it takes a lot more than intentions to fill a tag.

That's a lot of jibber jabber and I'm sorry for that. My point was to shed some light on my personal deer hunting values which I inherited from the basic culture I was raised in. More of the hunter/gatherer mindset, and it is important to me to expose and express that sort of culture, those sorts of beliefs and that set of reasons for hunting. Sometimes I feel it is becoming lost and forgotten in the shadow of game/sport/trophy mentality.

My roots are still loyal to the "necessity" mind set. Which has nothing to do with antler scoring. I know I am far from being alone in my sentimental connection to "the old days". Also I am far from being alone in the hunter/gatherer mind set with priority and respect for whatever comes down the trail completely wild and completely natural.

I believe it would be unfortunate for trophy oriented structure to be imposed on hunters such as myself.


As far as "management", I tend to draw the line at overall population management. That's all I want. Simple goals, simple rules.

I just want the DNR to limit their extreme knee jerk management practices. Especially when the pendulum swings in the population reduction direction. Please, go easy on the tag issuing.

^^^That's how I roll as well^^^



Party hunting.... What if a family of four, parents & two young kids, really enjoy eating venison. They are not wealthy & also raise a large garden to help feed the family. Mama doesn't really like the killing of the deer but really enjoys the end result.

Is it unfair for dad to shoot a deer for him & one on mama's legally bought license?

Glad to hear you finally got a good foundation to build your dream on.

I'll have to swing by & take a look on my way to the place where the carnies hang out.

I agree the DNR mismanagement of the deer herd is very frustrating. "hey Frank lets let people shoot 5 deer a piece for 5 years straight." "Yeah good idea Bill" says Frank. 5 years later..."WTF there are no deer left Bill!" exclaims Frank. "I wonder why?" Bill says. (To be clear, I never took part in the 5 deer slaughter. We didn't have a population to support it. Not even close.)

For me personally, hunting is like this. I will usually bow hunt all season and pass up doe after doe, buck after buck waiting for a "nice" one to come along. I pass up smaller bucks in hopes that they are bigger next year and I also don't want my deer hunting to end right away unless its a nice buck. (1 and done on bucks in MN) Many times I have eaten bow tag soup and I don't care at all. I just love the experience of being in the woods and watching nature up close.

Now during shotgun and muzzleloader seasons, I'm not nearly as picky. I turn into a meat hunter then.

I guess I never considered their style really "knee jerk" from what i observe in my zone 184. When the population is high, they have managed or intensive and then a couple years down the road they pull back to lottery. Up in the arrowhead, its bucks only now because there are less deer and more timber wolves so they made it buck only and increased the wolf quota. Part of the problem is timber harvest is down too so the older forests can't sustain the population boom from a few mild winter years. The population has a lagging reaction combined with the winter wild card.

I don't believe what the postman or farmer when they say there is more or less deer by what the see. It just tells me there is more or less feed in the woods and when the deer are out visible on the fields during the day, we have an overpopulation issue. At least that is what I observe on my family farm with the hunting land behind it. ;-)

So in my rambling - I think the DNR handles the deer better because they have the data and they can make the call better than us. In the end, if you don't have data, all you have is an opinion.

And if you put the opinion on paper, then you have "data".

Now this is a good question to ask the MN DNR is how many people did harvest multiple deer and how many per hunter?

I asked the local meat processor about intensive harvest and he said a lot of people took advantage of it the first year and not much after that. The people that process their own deer are the wild card, but they get tired of cutting deer up as much as people get tired of eating too much venision.

Speaking for my immediate area only. There is one party of up to 40 people that took full advantage of the 5 deer thing. If it was brown its down. Didn't matter whose land they snuck on to fill their tags either. And I've heard from more than one guy, whose got a friend or two in that bunch, that they threw out more venison each year than they ate. Their own land borders my uncles and we caught them driving all the deer off my uncles to their land well before daylight. When confronted, the elder of the group said "we didn't think you minded because we do this every year"

After 5 years of that it didn't take long to decimate a deer population that couldn't support a 5 deer limit in the first place.

You want to see me do my disappearing act? Just mention "deer drive".

Hey, where did Dave go?

That is an excellent post.

Almost me, to the letter.

I've said it before, the experience of being in the wild, hunting with either Deb (Wife), or Doug(Son) is where I get the most enjoyment.

Next is the communal meat hanging, cleaning, cutting & packaging in our neighbours shop.

Finally, it's enjoying hormone, antibiotic & steroid free natural protein.

Uhhh....I dono? I tink he vent to da chitter den der

Sounds like you need to build fences and put up some no tresspassing signs and work with your neighbors. Thats not really a DNR thing for the whole region. 5-wire barb is very effective because people know they are tresspassing and can't hide behind the fuzzy borders excuse. Back it up with traile camera footage and you have them.

Now to add fuel to the fire... and this comes from someone who grew up rural and now works in the cities and still owns property up there....

Is it "city hunters" tresspassing or is it the "locals" who know someone who is a friend so "its OK to hunt there"? It sounds like the later in your case.
I've had more issues with the locals tresspassing than "city hunters" personally.

These are locals and it was addressed by me at a community event. As far as I know it has not happened since. They are not bad people by any means. Just greedy hunters IMO.

We don't get the "cities" hunters around here too much. I think you'll find that further north and east of here.

It's not OTC tags that are a problem. In MN not everyone can can shoot a doe, and unless the rules have changed, you cannot fill someone's doe tag in MN. Just the buck tag.

Problem areas are in a situation like 101 where chickenbuck is, where for 4,5, years, tags were virtually unlimited for $2. Or where GG and I hunt, were there really are not many deer, but you can still shoot 4 does according to the DNR. Living on the edge of mother nature, when everyone KNOWS dispite 3 or 4 warm winters in a row, we're going to get back to normal with average or above average winter kill, wolves, and coyotes.

It wouldn't bother me really. Its better than the current system the MNDNR employs; Shoot off enough deer until hunters complain for 3 years, then cut antlerless tags, to all, including youth, to virtually nothing in most northern zones, until insurance companies complain of too many road kills. Then start process all over again.

Agree 100%. If I get a chance to go on a special hunt, I may refrain from popping the first legal deer that walks out, but when it comes down to it...I have 3 people in this house that eat the heck out of venison and my management goal is to keep the freezer full of meat. I haven't bought burger since I've moved into this house. It's all been from deer.

I'm OK with not shooting a deer in certain areas, but I will then buy tags in places or seasons that I can shoot a deer, which to make meat for my family.

My reasons to pass on deer depend on how I feel on that day. I've passed on a shot at a nice buck, to later that day shoot one that was smaller. Several times it was who I was with, once it was the situation, and how much more it got me excited.

I did once shoot a 5pt buck exactly 3 minutes into the 2010 MN deer season. That was it, season over. I was the only one hunting. My hunting was done. I don't want to do that anymore. I didn't like having vacation to hunt and not being in the woods hunting deer.

I'm more of a "hunt" guy. if I have meat, I couldn't care less if I get a deer. To me, it's about teaching the younger generation the RIGHT way to hunt, teach them the way of the woods, a bit of survival, start a fire, cook some weenies on over a couple of cut cedar chunks. Watching a red fox chase mice in a clear cut. See the grouse drumming on a downed spruce log, beer with the crew and the BS that ensues... That's how I roll.