MN bill to end shotgun zone


This would be my gun of choice.

my dad has the same gun in 22-250 and its a tac driver.
 
I didn’t follow this til the end but just looked it up and it failed.
Thanks for updating us that are not quite as good at following as closely.
 
I didn’t follow this til the end but just looked it up and it failed.
It'll be interesting to see this year's regs. They're gonna have their hands full as the future unfolds. The war on deer has produced some unintended consequences for the DNR in MN. It's getting harder to find processors given all the CWD booga boogery. I know of a few camps that have quit shooting does in intensive harvest zones because nobody wants to do the processing or eat the meat, camps of 10+ hunters seeing dozens of deer/day and not pulling the trigger. It doesn't take more than a year or two of that and things spiral wildly out of control.

Throw in the cover crop revolution in agriculture, and winter survival across the landscape is going to soar.
 
It'll be interesting to see this year's regs. They're gonna have their hands full as the future unfolds. The war on deer has produced some unintended consequences for the DNR in MN. It's getting harder to find processors given all the CWD booga boogery. I know of a few camps that have quit shooting does in intensive harvest zones because nobody wants to do the processing or eat the meat, camps of 10+ hunters seeing dozens of deer/day and not pulling the trigger. It doesn't take more than a year or two of that and things spiral wildly out of control.

Throw in the cover crop revolution in agriculture, and winter survival across the landscape is going to soar.

I’ve only been back and hunting in MN again for a few years but do they look at the regs across the board every year? I thought they were prone to leave things alone for the most part unless the zone was part of the goal setting reviewed that year or there was some other significant change like more cases of cwd detected or notable winter kill.
 
I’ve only been back and hunting in MN again for a few years but do they look at the regs across the board every year? I thought they were prone to leave things alone for the most part unless the zone was part of the goal setting reviewed that year or there was some other significant change like more cases of cwd detected or notable winter kill.
They change zone limits and add and lengthen seasons all the time. Grands Rapids may get a special slaughter zone this year because they assigned a positive test to a roadkilled deer. Brainerd got roped into a slaughter because they declared a deer to have CWD. My zone has swung from extremely loose regs and flatbeds of does being hauled out on sundays to bucks only, and now back to hunters choice. It wouldn't surprise me if we were roped into a 2-deer zone this year, strictly as a marketing program.

The last time the DNR shot the sh*t out of zone 1, wolves were quickly rebounding, and back to back severe winters all hit at once. We had a ton of deer, and then none. It caused an exodus of hunters out of zone 1, and into zone 2. The weather is better down there, and there are more deer. But the DNR needs to get rid of the big bucks in zone 2, or people are going to come to expect those and not kill the meat deer. It'll turn into what's happened in SE MN.
 
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If you go on 24 hour campfire there is a 350 legend thread in ask the gun writers.

I think there are better cartridges out there.

I also hope someday there’s a compromise and some form of cartridge (s) are legal in Minnesota.

At 19.99 a box of 5 slugs it’s extremely expensive sighting a rifled slug gun in, much less just practice to get proficient.
 
They change zone limits and add and lengthen seasons all the time. Grands Rapids may get a special slaughter zone this year because they assigned a positive test to a roadkilled deer. Brainerd got roped into a slaughter because they declared a deer to have CWD. My zone has swung from extremely loose regs and flatbeds of does being hauled out on sundays to bucks only, and now back to hunters choice. It wouldn't surprise me if we were roped into a 2-deer zone this year, strictly as a marketing program.

The last time the DNR shot the sh*t out of zone 1, wolves were quickly rebounding, and back to back severe winters all hit at once. We had a ton of deer, and then none. It caused an exodus of hunters out of zone 1, and into zone 2. The weather is better down there, and there are more deer. But the DNR needs to get rid of the big bucks in zone 2, or people are going to come to expect those and not kill the meat deer. It'll turn into what's happened in SE MN.

Have you seen any information regarding the Grand Rapids positive case affecting area 172? Emily case did not.


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My land down in 157 has been a cwd surveillance zone the last couple years. Deer density is notably higher than my parents place north of grand rapids (197) and its still only a 1 deer limit area.
 
Have you seen any information regarding the Grand Rapids positive case affecting area 172? Emily case did not.


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Not yet. I imagine we won't know until regs come in the next month or so.
 
My land down in 157 has been a cwd surveillance zone the last couple years. Deer density is notably higher than my parents place north of grand rapids (197) and its still only a 1 deer limit area.

Well piss on my back and tell me it's rainin.. My 40 (zone 157) went from hunter's choice to two-deer limit and my parent's place by Grand Rapids (now 679, formerly 179) went from antlerless permit lottery to a two-deer limit.

I'm not totally concerned about 157, maybe it'll even allow some of the fudds to shoot a doe instead of insisting on shooting a 1.5 YO buck with their only tag. But the damn population up north shouldn't be considered for two-deer limit. Their goal was to increase the population that is hurting from winters and wolves but now all of a sudden they need to decrease it further.. dumb.
 
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Well piss on my back and tell me it's rainin.. My 40 (zone 157) went from hunter's choice to two-deer limit and my parent's place by Grand Rapids (now 679, formerly 179) went from antlerless permit lottery to a two-deer limit.

I'm not totally concerned about 157, maybe it'll even allow some of the fudds to shoot a doe instead of insisting on shooting a 1.5 YO buck with their only tag. But the damn population up north shouldn't be considered for two-deer limit. Their goal was to increase the population that is hurting from winters and wolves but now all of a sudden they need to decrease it further.. dumb.
That's because there was a CWD positive in "679" hence the change in the 179 to 679.
 
Minnesota DNR and does do not get along. They actually hate older bucks too !
 
That's because there was a CWD positive in "679" hence the change in the 179 to 679.
Yep, they spelled it out pretty clearly in the area description. Depressing.

"DPA 679, which was 179, had a boundary change in 2021. The goal is to increase the population 25%. Because CWD was detected and the CWD response plan calls for liberalized harvest, the goal of increasing the population will be delayed."

"delayed" is a pretty nice way of saying "we will not allow this struggling deer population to recover and increase in the foreseeable future. Rather, we're going to ask you to shoot more of them"
 
That's because there was a CWD positive in "679" hence the change in the 179 to 679.
At least they capped it at 2 deer. I had expected them to go unlimited with the new mill coming.
 
New mill coming?
 
Not seeing the connection to deer regulations but I like the idea of a new mill in town!
 
Not seeing the connection to deer regulations but I like the idea of a new mill in town!
I'm excited about the mill too. It'll be nice to get some habitat made across the region.

CWD is found where it needs to be found, and it's a very effective tool to manage deer numbers. It never seems to pop up where there is an absence of hostility towards deer.

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I'm excited about the mill too. It'll be nice to get some habitat made across the region.

CWD is found where it needs to be found, and it's a very effective tool to manage deer numbers. It never seems to pop up where there is an absence of hostility towards deer.

View attachment 44970

I didn't know there was hostility towards deer in the northwoods like there is in ag country. Did a little searchin and did find where there were some loggers and forest ecology folks pushing back against all the hunter frustrations circa 2014 after DNR opened up the slaughter of the herd for a number of years prior.
 
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