Minnesota: Hunters for Hunters

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DeerCast posted a feature on the work Hunters for Hunters is doing to address the wolf population in Minnesota. My wife’s small family farm, which she is now the executor over, is in hunting unit 176 near Lake Vermillion. We used to see deer regularly, and this was a property I enjoyed hunting 40 years ago. Today it is a deer wasteland, with wolves heard regularly (and occasionally seen by those who live on the property). The deer population has bottomed out on this property and once common moose sightings are now non-existent. This was the first I had heard of Hunters for Hunters, but I was encouraged by what I read.

Link to Hunters for Hunters

DeerCast News: Minnesota Hunters Take Aim at Wolf Population
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[homerj]

No changes regarding wolf management (mis-management) in MN will come from HfH

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I know firsthand how harmful Eastern Coyotes can be on a deer population...combined with harsh winters, low quality browse, diseases, etc. I can't even imagine how utterly devastating wolves must be. I am always thankful I don't have wolves or wild pigs.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

This is what wolves do in your back yard.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Its good effort is being done. Unfortunately i think this new group does more harm than good due to the leadership.

 

[jsasker007]

Seems that a lot of organizations start off with good intentions until the politics start. Then things change for profit and favors more than anything. $$$$

 

[SwampCat]

Realistically - how many wolves do you think are illegally killed every year. I cant imagine these good old boy southern neighbors I have, passing up a shot at a wolf - legal or not. I know a few of them in bear country here - and all of them claim the illegal harvest on bears is much larger than the illegal harvest. I know there are quite a few illegal gator harvests - I find them floating - just not nearly enough

 

[bwoods11]

Zone 1 has wolf problems, some in central MN as well. However, the Minnesota DNR had had a far bigger negative impact on the deer herd statewide!

More seasons, more weapons, tags, special antlerless seasons. Zero buck management….It is has been such a disappointing race to the bottom in Minnesota.

I have friends that are from Minnesota that are die hard hunters that don’t even hunt in Minnesota! They go out of state and have bought farms elsewhere.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Zone 1 has wolf problems, some in central MN as well. However, the Minnesota DNR had had a far bigger negative impact on the deer herd statewide!

More seasons, more weapons, tags, special antlerless seasons. Zero buck management….It is has been such a disappointing race to the bottom in Minnesota.

I have friends that are from Minnesota that are die hard hunters that don’t even hunt in Minnesota! They go out of state and have bought farms elsewhere.

15 years ago I had over 1000 acres of prime river bottom land in south central MN to hunt by myself. I stopped hunting it during gun season because of all the trespassers. The land was posted, DNR was called many times, and the same person/group was back the next day. I hunted 1 small portion about 40 acres, the rest I would have never even known they were there, but they insisted on hunting a few hundred yards from me. I gave up, then only bow hunted it. Then gave up on that as well after having the same idiot sitting in my stand nearly every Saturday afternoon. He would tell me that I can always go hunt somewhere else, so eventually I did.

Moral of the story, I purchased land in another state because the DNR, police, courts didnt do enough about it.

 

[Brian662]

15 years ago I had over 1000 acres of prime river bottom land in south central MN to hunt by myself. I stopped hunting it during gun season because of all the trespassers. The land was posted, DNR was called many times, and the same person/group was back the next day. I hunted 1 small portion about 40 acres, the rest I would have never even known they were there, but they insisted on hunting a few hundred yards from me. I gave up, then only bow hunted it. Then gave up on that as well after having the same idiot sitting in my stand nearly every Saturday afternoon. He would tell me that I can always go hunt somewhere else, so eventually I did.

Moral of the story, I purchased land in another state because the DNR, police, courts didnt do enough about it.

That's funny, I've had two trespassers on my land within the past 4 years and both were prosecuted after lengthy searches and multiple agencies working together to track them down. Sounds like times have changed or the law enforcement where you used to hunt wasn't/isn't worth a damn.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

That's funny, I've had two trespassers on my land within the past 4 years and both were prosecuted after lengthy searches and multiple agencies working together to track them down. Sounds like times have changed or the law enforcement where you used to hunt wasn't/isn't worth a damn.

I know of at least 4 tickets in 2 years that he was given, he didn’t care.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

I know of at least 4 tickets in 2 years that he was given, he didn’t care.

Heard a story a couple times whenever I would go to Arkansas and duck hunt. Probably bs but may have some truth. An out of state guy wasn’t killing any ducks where he could hunt and finally had enough. One morning before light he launched his little boat right in the middle of the refuge. After 30 minutes he had a stringer of greenheads, he packed up and headed back to the launch. Mr Greenjeans was there and obviously wrote him a ticket. The guy says, I had so much fun I’ll be back next year.
Could definitely be an old hunting tale but I wouldn’t put it past someone. What is the deterrent. $500? $1000 tops if the judge was a real hardliner? A guided duck hunt is several hundred per day, a lease is thousands upon thousands, buying duck ground is millions. So all in all a couple hundred dollar fine seems like a bargain. Criminals have very little in the way of incentive to stop, especially crimes against property or wildlife.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

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[SD51555]

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That is wild.

 

[jsasker007]

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Made that look easy too. If they need to they can just run them and eventually the deer loses.

 

[jsasker007]

Livestock will be next or is already on the menu depending on location and level of hunger for the wolves.

 

[Maddog66]

They do the same thing to elk in WI. They pull bears out of dens. They come in our yards and attack our pets. They stand us down in close encounters.

The only answer, unfortunately, is for people to handle our own business. The govt doesn’t gove 2 shits about our very real concerns.

 

[SD51555]

When I lived in Duluth, the city tracked wolf attacks on pets in town. 15 years ago they were eating purse dogs right out of people’s back yards in town. The year I left, they hit the annual record by the end of May.

And the city is full of deer. But I’d imagine pudgy dogs were a far easier meal than deer feeding on corn and beans in the rail yard.


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[Mortenson]

Are there are a lot of deer/auto collisions up north? I assume not very many anymore since the lack of deer. Did there used to be a lot of auto collisions? We used to have a taxidermist in northern WI and I recall one year he stated he and his wife had already hit ten that year. The wolves are doing what they were put there to do. The powers that be give us snipers and you guys get wolves. I wouldn't expect any changes.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Are there are a lot of deer/auto collisions up north? I assume not very many anymore since the lack of deer. Did there used to be a lot of auto collisions? We used to have a taxidermist in northern WI and I recall one year he stated he and his wife had already hit ten that year. The wolves are doing what they were put there to do. The powers that be give us snipers and you guys get wolves. I wouldn't expect any changes.

Not sure about anyone else, but on my road, it was normal to see 10-20 deer on any given morning, or evening in a 5 mile ride. Now, I dont think I have seen a deer on the road within 10 miles of my place in a month, and even since hunting season, maybe a couple at most. It really has turned into baron land around me.