Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Northern MN Deer Population

Tzone, will do.

My daughter and son in law say they are seeing lots of deer.

Their only issue is dealing with metro Hmong folks who shoot quite a bit. Guess things get a bit heated between them and the locals.

They haven't seen much for wolves out that way and are cruising all kinds of back roads and trails checking things out.

I have had way to many jump in front of me when riding on the HD.

I hunt north of Fosston, and this year we're seeing more mature bucks and does with two fawns than in the 2013 season.

I hunt near Bagley and I've been seeing some does when I travel back to the farm. My population gauge is what I see driving through Itasca state park area on hiway 200 and there are less deer. The rut hasn't cranked up yet. There are times when I see 5 deer per mile going through the park and I drive real slow then...

Saw a nice 8 point buck at my lake place north of Solway and may sit on my cabin porch a while.

Only 2 doe permits in our crew of 10...

We have no doe permits. We are in the "bucks only" zone. I'll hunt with the crew on opening weekend then I'll break out and find some new areas with deer.

There is enough logging and the rut should be really rolling during the first week of hunting.

This 2x this year, and once way closer than I care for, that Electra Glide handles better than most would think.

Our spot is close to McGregor, Deer population is down for sure probably 30-35%. Have seen a couple nice bucks we will see what the season brings.

Spoke with a DNR biologist he made the comment that there were spot areas up north that had a 50-60% winter mortality rate. His general take on it is that in the long term it will be good, as the strong did survive. He called a genetic cleansing.

Time will tell
D

It will be a tough year, but it's hard to beat quality time in the northern woods of MN! I like the cleansing idea - it'll lead to a stronger population in the long run.

I wonder what would happen if they started the SE MN antler restriction state-wide? I feel like something needs to change, and I'd rather see more deer with a chance at something huge vs the current policy. Spike bucks are going to take a beating this year.

MN Dan is right on the spikes being shot. Reading outdoor new on antler point restriction is a huge debate in the editorials.

I just hope its not like the late 70's early 80's when just seeing a deer was amazing. We have been blessed with too good of hunting for a long time where meat hunters like me could freely take a doe.

I started hunting in the early 90's on the iron range where we were excited to see a deer period! If we pulled a doe permit for the crew it was a huge deal. The year my dad and I both got drawn...whoa Nelly!

I will hunt on my usual spot for opening weekend with the boys, but if there are no deer, I'm going to put some miles on the truck and check out some of the. Lear. It's that are new from last winter and this summer. I'll pack the climber on and go. I'll find deer, it's just tough to stop hunting where I have since HS.

MNDan, I think you're rift about the spikes taking a pounding. But I also don't mind that they do. I'll be the first to admit, if I see a spike buck when my 9 hear old boy is with me this November, we are going to try to get a shot at him. I like big horns but we eat deer as much as possible. He will go home on Sunday night with his uncle and I will be looking for racks then.

I'm hoping to have a doe in the freezer from a park hunt I got drawn for. If that happens, the young bucks are safe.

I can see both sides of the argument for apr's put the north country deer here resets itself about every decade it seems.

Your comment about doe permits brings back youthful memories.

I remember getting a highly coveter "red metal" doe tag... and I think I flexed it too many times and it broke.
Did not see any deer.

A year or two later - I remember getting my doe permit card back where they "stamped it" and mailed it back to you.
Did not see any deer either.

Sadly I remember throwing those items away when I went to school and they would have been cool memorablilia.

Now I pray we are not back to those deerless days if we have a few bad winters in a row.

Where we are, I think those days are here again for a few years. The population will come back now that there is logging again.

Went out today to put up a new ladder stand but no sign.
I did find a funnel so that will help.
Deer are in agricultural fields now.

Heading out in the morning to check my cameras up by Isabella. Will know by tomorrow night if Nov. will be a cold camping trip.

In my area the APR idea would be a bad idea. It already has a very low deer pop. because they try to keep the moose healthy.

If my hot spot works I will give an update.

I haven't filled a tag in several years now. Sure wouldn't like having to pass up a spike so the guy on the next trail over gets his 6 point next year. Really have mixed emotions on the antler restrictions. I see the reason, but really don't like the restriction. I'm hunting with T-Zone up north, and it sure looks like the herd took a pounding last winter. No doe tags, and maybe antler restrictions are the way to go. Tom did see a big bear on one of his trail cams back in where we are hunting.

Late to the party, but it looks ok around here. Like other areas, the population is down somewhat but there are still a few deer around.....

A problem with the DNR setting harvest limits is they depend to heavily on strictly mathematics of harvest numbers.

Last spring during a public meeting on deer harvest they took a pounding on the registration system. To many folks don't bother to register anymore, take more deer then allowed, wolves, etc.

Then it turns out the DNR doesn't even do a count for an area except around every 10 years or so.

How can they manage something that they never look at it from the ground or the air?

my locations are in the northern end of Pine County and the southern end of Carlton county.

While I have not seen as many deer as say 3 or 4 years ago, I am seeing plenty of deer.

I'm going to respectfully say that is the most cost effective way for the DNR to do the job because we couldn't afford to have every area of the state counted more often or flown over. Our hunting licenses fund them and can you imagine how much they would cost if we all demanded yearly surveys and paying for pilots, fuel, and more bioligist every year. DNR is one of the few user funded groups and I don't want to pay $100 for a in-state deer tag. They can only survey so much for the budget allowed so we have to wait our turn.
Can you imagine the amount of APR and other tweaking they would do if they had more data?

We have 450K hunters out the shooting about 30% so you have a lot of data being collected.
If you know of people not registering their deer - Call TIP. Clean ourselves up.

I like the new phone registration system - super easy. I wouldn't complain about the MN dnr compared to the WI dnr who uses deer stations only and they don't have the hunt data crunched when the set the next season data.

The old phrase is we don't want to get all the government we pay for, but do we really want to pay for more? And then realize wolves and weather are huge impacts. Would we really have more deer?

Afterall - the MN DnR is letting hunt timber wolves now and they take a lot of heat from the anti's for that and they contnue the hunt. They are doing something!

BTW - I don't work for the DNR. I'm just a tax payer that pays his "user fees" (hunting license) and really doesn't want to see them go up and watch more people quit hunting due to costs...

I drive through there weekely and you're right. When I see deer on the drive, it's in that stretch. Usually on hwy 23.

I too like the new call in system. But... I don't mind the WI system either. I never really thought it was a pain to haul them to a station. You usually pass a 1/2 dozen on the way home anyway.