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Post by Sandbur on Nov 15, 2022 7:45:37 GMT -6
WI DNR tried to make deer disappear in a section of SW WI (literally, there was an Eradication zone). It was impossible. Hunters can certainly reduce deer numbers to a point where hunting them becomes difficult and perceived as not worthwhile, but a reduction in hunter interest will lead to a rebound in deer numbers. Especially in suburban areas where hunting is limited/not allowed. And those areas need to not have hard winters and wolves to rebound.
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Post by smsmith on Nov 15, 2022 7:56:02 GMT -6
WI DNR tried to make deer disappear in a section of SW WI (literally, there was an Eradication zone). It was impossible. Hunters can certainly reduce deer numbers to a point where hunting them becomes difficult and perceived as not worthwhile, but a reduction in hunter interest will lead to a rebound in deer numbers. Especially in suburban areas where hunting is limited/not allowed. And those areas need to not have hard winters and wolves to rebound. I would say northern MN/zone 1 is likely a lost cause as far as deer hunting is concerned. At least as far as quality deer hunting goes anyway.
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Post by daydreamer on Nov 15, 2022 8:21:23 GMT -6
And those areas need to not have hard winters and wolves to rebound. I would say northern MN/zone 1 is likely a lost cause as far as deer hunting is concerned. At least as far as quality deer hunting goes anyway. My dad hunted 7 days straight, all day sits, in zone 1, Casa County from Nov 1-8th. Saw one spike. I had a trail cam running all summer and had one buck on camera and a doe/fawn combo up there. Tough sledding. Nobody at the restaurant on opening night had shot a deer. Thankfully I had Covid so didn’t have to endure that!
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Post by Bwoods11 on Nov 15, 2022 8:31:13 GMT -6
Ive seen few big buck pics for my area . A couple archery and a couple shotgun . Spoke with one hunter that said he just gave up and he hunts prime stuff. I had a good friend who has 60 acres of nice habitat …half wooded , food plots, ponds…First time ever (skunked).
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Post by Foggy on Nov 15, 2022 8:43:22 GMT -6
I would say northern MN/zone 1 is likely a lost cause as far as deer hunting is concerned. At least as far as quality deer hunting goes anyway. My dad hunted 7 days straight, all day sits, in zone 1, Casa County from Nov 1-8th. Saw one spike. I had a trail cam running all summer and had one buck on camera and a doe/fawn combo up there. Tough sledding. Nobody at the restaurant on opening night had shot a deer. Thankfully I had Covid so didn’t have to endure that! I took a deer into Emily Meats today to have it processed. Emily Borders Zone 1 and 2. Asked a butcher I know there about the season. He didnt have any numbers but said the deer count was WAY down from last year. I hunted Sunday from 2pm until dark. Beautiful day in the woods. Saw two deer.....did not hear a single shot. I should have watched the end of the Vikings game. Hunting interest is declining big time in our neighborhood. Groups have shrunk in numbers and in effort put into the hunt. Not sure about the future. Hunting land is extremely low supply. Why is that?
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Post by Freeborn on Nov 15, 2022 9:07:09 GMT -6
I had the same experience this season, almost zero neighbors hunting. To the south of me there is a large farm family where they typically have young people sitting in hay wagon blinds on open fields. I also typically see them on my SW corner of my property. This year none of them hunted, nobody in that family was where I typically seen them.
There is also a small group hunting 60 acres to the east of me, they typically drive to their place in the morning and hunt. This year I only saw them one day of the season. I also see they have changed their tactics, choosing to drive their trucks to their stands rather than walking in.
Not sure if its weather driven or other issues but something has changed. The family not hunting is odd, I do think the surviving mother who was on that farm died in 2021 so maybe someone else is managing the property.
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Post by biglakebass on Nov 15, 2022 9:24:17 GMT -6
I wonder if some of the lessened pressure in spots could be that they enjoyed the early antlerless hunts and filled their freezers, so now dont have to battle the weather we can see during the regular firearms season.
Surely plausible in some instances. Maybe not a huge factor, but surely a factor some places.
I talked to a friend that hunts by Verndale and 2 of their party members shot 3 antlerless each during the early anterless season..... I have not seen him since, so I dont know if those 2 guys hunted the regular firearms season or not.
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Post by Freeborn on Nov 15, 2022 9:30:51 GMT -6
I wonder if some of the lessened pressure in spots could be that they enjoyed the early antlerless hunts and filled their freezers, so now dont have to battle the weather we can see during the regular firearms season. Surely plausible in some instances. Maybe not a huge factor, but surely a factor some places. I talked to a friend that hunts by Verndale and 2 of their party members shot 3 antlerless each during the early anterless season..... I have not seen him since, so I dont know if those 2 guys hunted the regular firearms season or not. This could be what happened near me, most of the farm family are meat hunters.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Nov 15, 2022 9:35:24 GMT -6
When the harvest is down 20% you would think the DNR would think "Gee maybe we don't need all the extra seasons and maybe there aren't as many does out there that as we thought"
But I doubt it!
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 15, 2022 10:03:08 GMT -6
When the harvest is down 20% you would think the DNR would think "Gee maybe we don't need all the extra seasons and maybe there aren't as many does out there that as we thought" But I doubt it! . I wonder if these early hunts actually increase the harvest. Maybe deer just get smart quicker and hunker down for a month.
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Post by biglakebass on Nov 15, 2022 10:07:32 GMT -6
Absolutely!
Once they feel pressure its lights out.
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 15, 2022 10:10:00 GMT -6
I would say northern MN/zone 1 is likely a lost cause as far as deer hunting is concerned. At least as far as quality deer hunting goes anyway. My dad hunted 7 days straight, all day sits, in zone 1, Casa County from Nov 1-8th. Saw one spike. I had a trail cam running all summer and had one buck on camera and a doe/fawn combo up there. Tough sledding. Nobody at the restaurant on opening night had shot a deer. Thankfully I had Covid so didn’t have to endure that! One of the guys I used to hunt with and his neighbor hunted 8 days before they each saw their first buck. That was in Cass County. They each own prime land. Another friend up there said they saw their first deer in shooting hours on day 10 and no bucks on camera at all. Last night I got a message from a guy up Remer way and he said his son drove home on the Old Grade, if you know that country. Foggy does for sure. His son did not see a deer track. I have hunted years like that up there and I was dang lucky to see a spike or fork. We wanted venison to eat and had no doe tags.
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 15, 2022 10:12:18 GMT -6
And those areas need to not have hard winters and wolves to rebound. I would say northern MN/zone 1 is likely a lost cause as far as deer hunting is concerned. At least as far as quality deer hunting goes anyway. I think much of it has been for decades. I know old timers who are now gone and they often had one nice rack for their lifetime. Usually not high scoring, but shorter tines and heavy dark racks.
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Post by smsmith on Nov 15, 2022 11:28:05 GMT -6
When the harvest is down 20% you would think the DNR would think "Gee maybe we don't need all the extra seasons and maybe there aren't as many does out there that as we thought" But I doubt it! . I wonder if these early hunts actually increase the harvest. Maybe deer just get smart quicker and hunker down for a month. If the numbers BLB posted earlier are accurate, those early hunts clearly do not increase the harvest. As far as the DNR thinking they should ease up...lol. Never going to happen. They are still worried about deer spreading Lyme's disease, Bovine TB, CWD, and whatever else they can use to drum up fear about whitetail deer. edit...I did find it interesting this year that I saw more antlered bucks than does/fawns. It reminded me of the old days of Earn A Buck in WI. The north neighbors said they had "does all over the place" so I'm assuming they had more acorns left on the ground than I did.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Nov 15, 2022 16:15:02 GMT -6
I sent an email to the local DNR zone manager in charge of 277. I asked him to send me the harvest data from this year and past years in comparison and noted that if the harvest is down as much as they are saying, it should be evidence to stop these special seasons (example: early antlerless) which allows up to 8 deer total.
Can't wait for the BS that will come back!
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