Those swamps are the remainder of lakes which turned out to be a little deeper than the drainage ditches the tiles are run to. Went from waterfowl lakes to mosquito ridden swamp. It does provide winter cover to the handful of birds that make from the egg but there isn't much nesting cover as the land is plowed to the point the tractor sinks into the morass.
The largest deer (body weight) are regularly found in the far north part of the state, not farm country. The homestead is closer to Canada than a MN town and at least one buck dressing over 200#, often significantly more, is taken every year. The rest of the state see the occasional large deer but it seems much less common on a percentage basis.
Funny thing is, the deer of SW MN seem to be losing ground to the larger Missouri River deer expanding out from NE. The genetic lines of that portion of MN seem to run on the small side and somewhat counter to Bergman's Rule (I think that is the one).
I miss the Huns, they like droughty conditions and a normal year is just too wet for them. 30-40 years ago they were pretty common through the southern 1/4 of the state and along the western edge to Canada but now it is nearly a red letter day to find a covey. Thankfully, they are still pretty common in ND, MT, and Manitoba.
