Federal trappers are back

[SD51555]

Man, you guys have been busy today...

Ok, here's a pile of thoughts for you so I can get caught up.

*It's hotter than p1$$ here for 4 months and that's 3 months more than I can take. I'd prefer to be on a bucket in a 30 mph wind at 27 degrees fishing than 100 degree heat and no wind.
*SE MN is terrible. I remember tripping over a pair of sheds in Houston county that would have likely went well over 130". Also stumbled on a 5 point side with a near 10" G2. Found sheds when estimating roof jobs in peoples' lawns. When I asked if I could have it, the lady said, "Go ahead. I always seem to run some small ones through the lawn mower if I miss them in the spring."
*I said long ago that the biggest set back we could be facing was last year's mild winter. Another bad one would have set us back to the stone age and angered even the 2-day/yr guys and a real movement could have taken hold in the core ranks.
*The DNR could likely be hitting their revenue cliff. I think the state sold about 40,000~ fewer tags last year vs '13. At a certain point you cannot raise the price in an environment when the product starts going to $h1t. When the old farts hang it up and a kid doesn't pick it up, the revenue pool starts to dry up. Not to mention those in the middle that just walk away.

 

[bat man]

You have more optimism (and sales ability) than I do. I have no doubt that co-ops can work, I do doubt my ability to form and assist "running" one.

You are not alone. I really think we can tweak a presentation and field day that only requires similar interested send mailing addresses of the area landowners. GIS + tax data makes those addresses easily accessible.

 

[Greta&Gus]

I know what crappy hunting is, On occasion, I hunt northern third of wi. It isn't any different than what u guys have.
If the hunting is that bad, why not move, sell, get a different hobby? Complaining is just that. It gets depressing, and I work hard to keep a positive attitude.
Dont worry though my days are coming with Cwd. I'm going to loose far far more than a few thousand dollars for the investment in my property.

I have no shortage of hobbies, but deer are a passion.

Just got the report, as of yesterday they have gotten 6 wolves and counting.

 

[dipper]

And if your investment is about to go bad...

Sell high buy low right

Nowhere

u guys are turning into optimists

 

[bat man]

Sell high buy low right

u guys are turning into optimists

..while you would appear the eternal hypocrite.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

SD - I agree with the last point you made with an asterisk in post #50. Same thing happening in parts of Pa. Not NEAR as many kids taking up hunting as before here. When I started to hunt in 1970, just about every male kid in school was hunting for SOMETHING. Small game, turkeys, deer, ducks ........ now - after raising 2 sons thru 15 years of sports, hardly ANY of their friends even talk about hunting, much less take part. The revenue pic isn't looking so good here either. PGC on a big campaign to get more kids interested in hunting here. Problem is - the kids that DO hunt aren't seeing much - if anything - after 2 days sitting on a deer watch. Farmers " clean farm " and leave no brush rows or fallow fields, strip corn fields like a vacuum cleaner - so habitat sucks in many places. Small game hunting is nowhere NEAR like it used to be. Tough to keep 'em interested in those conditions.

For any doubters ........ co-ops can work, even if it's an informal one. We talked among 6 camps in our mountain area and by laying off the does, the deer numbers started to rebound. Kids were still allowed to take a doe, but no kids hunted after the first 2 days. Kids that didn't see anything weren't in any rush to come back, so more does walked. And many of the guys were not upset to let the does walk in order to see more deer the next year. Seeing more deer in the food plots at these camps draws guys to sit on porches and patios during spring and summer with binoculars & spotting scopes to watch the feeding. It gets the hope level up, seeing return on work & sacrifice of " no trigger ".

Hang in there, gents !!

 

[SD51555]

It was a huge pain in the ass to hunt when I was in football in high school. Never got home before dark, and if we made headway in the playoffs (which we did), we were a 2 hour bus ride in the wrong direction from the hunting land. A couple of those years I had to drive till 2am to get to where I was going to hunt the opening morning. Those are the formative years. The only reason I stuck with it is because nothing else appealed to me for fun.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

SD - The only thing about both sons' friends and the sports is that they were baseball players in the SPRING !! Only a few played football in the fall. Most of them don't fish either. Both sons had to scratch around to find guys their own age to hunt & fish with. Number of interested guys is VERY LOW.

That situation is sad to me. I don't know what I'd have done without hunting, fishing & trapping in my life growing up. Good clean ( and legal ) fun. I spent GOBS of time outdoors with my Dad, uncles, cousins, and friends. Some of the young folks don't know what they're missing with their thumbs on buttons.

 

[Greta&Gus]

As of this morning they have killed 8 wolves. I am not sure how low they intend on trapping for but that would seem to be a decent dent in the local population. No wolf season this year is going to keep the Federal trapper employed for a long time. Apparently he said he is booked solid with work.

 

[sandbur]

I find it funny how you constantly are on the MN guys about complaining over no deer yet you have no concept of what the situation is. You yourself talk about having too many deer, a problem I would trade in a heart beat, and don't understand the difficulties some of us are dealing with. I hunt in Pine County which for years has been regarded as one of the best counties in MN to hunt. My grandpa used to drink at Jim Jordan's bar. You are pampered in regards to deer hunting. I will admit, I am jealous. My family has poured countless hours and thousands of dollars into our property and are now left with a deer desert thanks to hunters, the DNR, and wolves. You just don't understand and never will.

Good luck hunting this year, I hope you get to pass many 3 and 4 year old bucks.

Good post. We complain, but we are working for change as a group.

 

[sandbur]

2 Game wardens in MN drafted an idea several years ago to combat the crosstagging/party hunting issues. It was shot down by either the legislator or the top brass in the DNR.

The wardens are WELL aware of the problem. I spoke to our warden last fall about the topic and she said that the number one ticket she hands out now is cross tagging violations.

Its an epidemic when permit allocations get more strict. People are looking for any way possible to take deer, whereas when its a liberal tag allocation year, people are able to acquire additional permits with ease.

I was visiting with the Tips Director (and Regional MDHA Director) last night and suggested we need a public service commercial about what is legal and illegal party hunting. I feel many younger hunters have a completely wrong picture of it. Use of youth tags, and now the over age 84 tags. what makes up a hunting party.

He will be spending a few hours in the car with the person that trains game wardens this week and he wants me to call him and remind him to discuss it on Monday morning. I think a retired game warden could make the commercial.

 

[West Branch]

As of this morning they have killed 8 wolves. I am not sure how low they intend on trapping for but that would seem to be a decent dent in the local population. No wolf season this year is going to keep the Federal trapper employed for a long time. Apparently he said he is booked solid with work.

In the winter of 2015 the wolf population was estimated at 2,221 or 3.2 wolves per 100 sq km of wolf range. 100 sq km is 38 sq miles, which is slightly larger than a normal township. I believe they say the population doubles after pups are born and there is a 50% confidence interval so population could be as high as 9-10 wolves per 100 sq km. So in theory they would have got all of the wolves in a township sized area. Did they happen to say how many were adults vs. pups?

Also back in 2004 and 2008 the population was closer to 3k. Maybe if we got howling for wolves to advocate that "more deer = more wolves" we could get even more pressure on the DNR to increase deer populations. That idea seems so crazy it might work :confused:

 

[sandbur]

^^^I'd love to see MDHA taking on some of these very pertinent issues we face. Without their "name" (and $$$$) it will be much harder to get anything accomplished.

Agreed!

 

[sandbur]

In the winter of 2015 the wolf population was estimated at 2,221 or 3.2 wolves per 100 sq km of wolf range. 100 sq km is 38 sq miles, which is slightly larger than a normal township. I believe they say the population doubles after pups are born and there is a 50% confidence interval so population could be as high as 9-10 wolves per 100 sq km. So in theory they would have got all of the wolves in a township sized area. Did they happen to say how many were adults vs. pups?

Also back in 2004 and 2008 the population was closer to 3k. Maybe if we got howling for wolves to advocate that "more deer = more wolves" we could get even more pressure on the DNR to increase deer populations. That idea seems so crazy it might work :confused:

WCCO TV had a report about people losing dogs to coyotes in the cites. I still think we could find a predator to replace the coyotes in the cities and give HOWL a real taste of nature.

 

[sandbur]

^^^I'd love to see MDHA taking on some of these very pertinent issues we face. Without their "name" (and $$$$) it will be much harder to get anything accomplished.

I'm sure you remember the lady from the Brainerd Chapter who is very involved and cooks the great meals for us at the Regional meetings. She shares the same concerns as me.

 

[Greta&Gus]

In the winter of 2015 the wolf population was estimated at 2,221 or 3.2 wolves per 100 sq km of wolf range. 100 sq km is 38 sq miles, which is slightly larger than a normal township. I believe they say the population doubles after pups are born and there is a 50% confidence interval so population could be as high as 9-10 wolves per 100 sq km. So in theory they would have got all of the wolves in a township sized area. Did they happen to say how many were adults vs. pups?

Also back in 2004 and 2008 the population was closer to 3k. Maybe if we got howling for wolves to advocate that "more deer = more wolves" we could get even more pressure on the DNR to increase deer populations. That idea seems so crazy it might work :confused:

So basically there are 8 to 10 wolves per township, that hurts just to hear it. I heard third hand that there were two breeding pairs of wolves so my guess is the rest were pups and juveniles. I am just hoping and praying that this will leave a void in the predators for a while and the deer will fill that void. Both us and our neighbors have bear hunters coming in this year to knock down a few more predators. It has been a long time since I have done any predator hunting but I am finally going to dust off the coyote caller.

 

[SD51555]

Maybe if we got howling for wolves to advocate that "more deer = more wolves" we could get even more pressure on the DNR to increase deer populations. That idea seems so crazy it might work :confused:

That, or sponsor pet adoption in northern MN. That seems to be a core food source as well.