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Just in case yinz didn't see it:

http://www.postbulletin.com/sports/...9d6391c-3e80-11e8-a53b-b77c36a18a53.html

Interesting article.....I'm originally from the Rochester area and have hunted deer there many years. It's a tough place to hunt as private land abounds and the good woods areas are jealously coveted. The deer population is generally good but hunting by shotgun hampers things a tad.....not that I'm advocating use of big game rifles.....

It's at least good to see what appears to be a sincere effort by the DNR to make for a better hunting environment. I started hunting Wisconsin many years ago when it was clear the hunting was far preferable there.....even for the non resident license.

I have lived in Minnesota all my life and to be honest if you own enough private land its decent hunting,but on public land the Minnesota DNR does very little to improve deer hunting for residents or non-residents .

Thats funny as hell. Tell everyone you know that’s how hunting is here.

I hunt all public land and have never had much trouble seeing deer. Yes, some years are better than others, but we always have a good hunt and fill some tags. We were 3 for 3 last year and done before noon on the first morning. All on public land.

Maybe he means if you stay withing sight of a road......

I guess I need to spell it out better: if you want a little deer like a fawn, doe or small buck, ya Minnesota has enough small deer for its brown its down hunters. but MInnesota has very few nice bucks to hunt in the upper half of MInnesota on public land,mostly caused by too many wolves and poor DNR management. yes I see plenty little deer back in the Tamaracks,just not many big bucks anymore. > if your a non-resident why would you to try and hunt this state unless you want just a small deer or a trophy forkhorn ? > Minnesota DNR has a problem and just maybe the next governor will make some big changes ? if you a resident and only hunt here in Minnesota and have never been to a different state that has nice bucks runnin around your miss`n the fun !

We will have to agree to disagree Pete. I have 3 bucks that I'd call big on the wall that all came from MN public ground. All from northern St. Louis Co. There are guys on here that shoot a lot more impressive deer than I do from MN public ground as well. Does it happen every year for me? No. Not even close, but that's part of the fun for me. The hunt.

I hunt other states as well and will agree they do have more deer than northern MN. I have dozens of trail cam pics, again, all on public land in MN of what anyone would call a trophy buck.

+++++1 What Tzone says.

Northern Mn public land can be tough hunting. Where we hunt Cass county there is barely any hunters left compared to 25 years ago. I have plenty of trail cam pics, of deer that even southern MN hunters will say that's a nice buck. Not enough hunters, wolves, big tamarack swamps, hard to shot over 75 yards in most places.. Makes it a challenge for sure.

[quote=pete53
I guess I need to spell it out better: if you want a little deer like a fawn, doe or small buck, ya Minnesota has enough small deer for its brown its down hunters. but MInnesota has very few nice bucks to hunt in the upper half of MInnesota on public land,mostly caused by too many wolves and poor DNR management. yes I see plenty little deer back in the Tamaracks,just not many big bucks anymore. > if your a non-resident why would you to try and hunt this state unless you want just a small deer or a trophy forkhorn ? > Minnesota DNR has a problem and just maybe the next governor will make some big changes ? if you a resident and only hunt here in Minnesota and have never been to a different state that has nice bucks runnin around your miss`n the fun ![/quote]

Really? Really?!!!

If you are serious, maybe you ought to consider doing a little bit of research on where you can hunt and what the deer populations are there. There are places where deer are overpopulated and underharvested closer to you that you likely imagine. If you find those areas, yo will find big deer. All you need to do is just look.

Really? Really?!!!

If you are serious, maybe you ought to consider doing a little bit of research on where you can hunt and what the deer populations are there. There are places where deer are overpopulated and underharvested closer to you that you likely imagine. If you find those areas, yo will find big deer. All you need to do is just look.
[/quote]

>>>don`t worry about me "old Pete53' I do just fine , but let`s be honest for a non-resident its not easy hunting for a decent buck compared to out west in Minnesota ,where I see 50- 100 deer a day and some decent bucks every day too out west. let`s not forget the DNR are not doing there job good enough ! do you realize the person in charge of Minnesota deer in the DNR that this person has never hunted deer ? have you ever been to a deer meeting with the Minnesota DNR ? do you think our liberal governor Goofy is really doing anything to help ? Minnesota has a serious wolf problem in half of the state ,if your from the southern half of the state or twin cities you have no ideal how bad it is up north !

MN and WI both have a multitude of issues in the northern halves of the state.
Yeah, wolves, bears, and some improper management are involved. But rarely do I see mentioned the lack of cutting on National Forest lands, and, in my mind, it's the biggest of the enchiladas.

The young growth that all wildlife needs to flourish is either in very small pockets or it simply doesn't exist at all.

Extreme winters have not helped the cause of late either.

Yeah, cutting is good. Old growth don't support much life.

PA had the same problem. They’ve started cutting in the Allegheny National Forrest again after decades. There was hope it would help Ruffed Grouse populations, but there’s something else at play and the RG is still struggling.

You don't know what you are talking about.

I've been hunting clear cut areas for years now.
From fresh cut to about 15-20 years old is best,then it becomes to grown up and thick to see them, unless they are close.

Scott, the forest areas around our camp are being harvested full swing, have been regularly for quite some time now. I honestly get a little nervous that soon nothing will be left lol. Hopefully this helps our deer rebound from the bovine TB management disaster we had in our area.



As far as this topic and some of the comments, I'm not for a more detailed management plan. We are hunters, the king allows us to take a deer from his kingdom in trade for money paid to the king. That's enough goddam management for me. When you drill down deeper with fine print conditions on how to hunt the kings deer, the king can shuvhisdeeruphisass. It's a liberal move and I'm sure liberal hunters would love it.

"this state sucks, there are no big horns, I need the big horns and it's the states fault for not making everybody pass on the small bucks"

I say F-you, go hunt somewhere else if you think it's someone else's fault that you can't find a big buck. If you are to that point where you want the state to throw conditions on all of your fellow public land deer hunters so that you might be able to get a better deer more easily, I'd really rather you just get your checkbook out and buy yourself a high fence hunt. If I choose to pass on a small buck, that's fine. My decision. But the thought that my kids or other young hunters can't shoot a spike or a basket because some QDM Nazis got there way on a state level? F that, I'll go to war againstthatshit.

We have big bucks, and you don't have to own a bunch of land to get them. You do have to put some work into your hunting efforts though (or many times people just get stupid lucky with very little effort). That's the way it's always been and that's the way it should be.

I think hunting and fishing regulations should move forward with the rule that for every single new regulation, two old regulations need to go away.

Some guys might find it hard to understand, but big horns are not a priority for all hunters. Detailed management efforts to improve the "quality" of the deer because some hunters figure all deer should look like high fence freaks, nope, F that. No thanks.

Northern Dave, I live part of the year and own some land north of skime,i seen what happened to my deer hunting area and how poorly the DNR handled the 10-15 years of the Mexican T.B. cattle problem that ruined deer hunting,caused by a rancher from Skime buying a bull from southern Texas for breeding his cows,that unknown to the rancher and never was tested had Mexican T.B. spread thru the deer herd and other rancher`s cow herds. out of all the 1,000`s of deer shot by sharp shooters only .04% had the disease , that small % was near the 1st ranch too. then on top of that 2 long cold snowy winters destroyed and killed more of the deer herd,and wolves did very well too during this time also. now the DNR can`t figure why the elk population in that area is lower than normal now, its simple less deer wolves need to eat so now wolves kill elk,bear, maybe a moose and rancher`s livestock. we both know how well the deer population was before the T.B. disease came in and now the deer population is still a lot smaller than it was. I too want kids to enjoy seeing deer and if they want to shoot a small deer great in my book ! good to all deer hunting this fall. Pete53

I now hunt to teach my kids. The deer I shoot now are for our freezer. We eat 3 a year if we can. I shot a small buck last year and was happy as hell to do it.

But I'm with Dave, I do not want the state to tell me the size of deer I can shoot. There are enough rules already. I go in the woods to enjoy the hunt, the camp, the food, the company, the food, the fires, the bullschit, the food, and the stories around a cool busch light.