MN Gun Opener Reports

[Freeborn]

I saw 7 does tonight and shot a buck. I took an eight pointer. That makes two eights and a ten point for our party of five. Nothing huge...but we had a great time and everyone saw and passed on several deer. My grandsons refused to shoot any does and were hunting good bucks only. They did not score though.

All of our bucks weighed within a few lbs of 200 lbs. My grandson is going to hunt next weekend too. We were in Emily tonight at the processor there. He said they had more deer than other years and it was busy all day. I had to brake hard three times to avoid deer on our 50 mile round trip. We saw 20 deer on that drive tonite.

Also we have laid off the does and smaller bucks for a few years...so we have a fair inventory at my property. Better than expected for my immediate area. As I said before....my area is a bit of an anomaly in MN. We'll see if the stats bear me out.

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Congrats, looks like your hard work paid off. You can't beat those numbers

 

[Freeborn]

Ended up 0 for 5 in area 240. Third year in a row.o_O

I saw one deer off in the brush and couldnt even tell you if it was a fawn, doe or a young buck.
Group passed on 3 antlerless and one 6 pt.

Congrats to all that had success.

There should be a dominate buck on your place particularly if you have permanent doe groups. The bucks should be chasing now or with this cold weather should start. Lots of season left, keep after them.

 

[bat man]

What part of the unit is he in? From a purely anecdotal standpoint, I'd say I heard 10 times the shots yesterday that I did last year on opener. My buddy agreed. It was short lived however. We speculated that it was guys shooting at the first deer they saw because they figured it may be the ONLY deer they saw.

wrong bro in law oooops

 

[bwoods11]

This snow and future cold weather is not a good start for our wildlife this winter. We are looking at 12 inches and it looks like it will stick around.

 

[bueller]

Ahh. So this is why the MN gun hunt is during the rut. Because ole man winter strikes mid November. :cool:

 

[biglakeba$$]

There should be a dominate buck on your place particularly if you have permanent doe groups.

I bowhunted Saturday thru Tuesday last week in hopes to catch a buck before the guns hit the woods and saw a grand total of 2 does.....

Believe me Jerry, I have contemplated all the angles that we SHOULD have deer of all flavors living in or adjacent to the place.

 

[biglakeba$$]

No question it happens. Always amazing when you hear the single gun shot in the last half hour of daylight. Coyote? Maybe. Cat? Maybe. Deer? Maybe.
Honestly, I can say I have never heard anything what I would consider to be "close", but I am also not there during the week.

My Dad and nephew are hunting until Wednesday, so we'll see what happens with the snow. I am hoping I can get back up next weekend. My daughter wants to shoot a deer and she is all gung ho to go up again, but she has hockey Fri, Sat and Sunday.... She just skipped it Fri, and Sat for opener. So I need to mull over what the right thing to do is with that.

The real answer to it all is that I am in a cold pocket according to our wildlife manager. ;)
Its that simple.

 

[foggy]

Cool pics everyone.

Foggy how did the camp pranks go over?

My grandsons are getting paranoid of all the pranks. It's getting so they gotta check behind every door and they absolutely know to check their bunks before climbing in. I either gotta lay-low on the practical jokes......or come up with a few better ones. We had a great time together.

Every mooring we gather in my pole shed with a small light on before we go on our way to the stands. I always give a "safety talk" and I think those boys take most of what I tell them "to heart". I told my family that every hunt starts with a safety talk....and this year it was about how to get help if someone were to get badly hurt (they really didn't know the 911 number at my land). No jokes about it.....safety is job 1.

They are growing up to be good hunting buddies and fine young men. :)

 

[leexrayshady]

A report from another forum, poster from the Glenwood area

Seen around 50 deer Saturday morning...about 6 or 7 were bucks...one bigger one chasing the doe ground around in the center of the property. My son seen him the closest that morning but couldn't get a shot...came within about 150yds of me but waited. Seen around 30 deer Sat evening along with same bucks. Bigger one came by my son twice but he didn't get a shot. Then he came by stand I was in with a friend...around 25yds so he took him. 9 heavy points with one kicker...brute of a deer and all we could do to get him in the truck. Probably score around 150. Next morning we seen about 30 again. Sunday night the deer really came out and must have seed close to 60 along with some new bucks...there were 4 really nice bucks just out from me with a couple that were really nice. Son ended up shooting a 9 with a kicker...first buck for him at 12yrs old so he was pretty thrilled.

Was really fun watching the deer select different food plots. The one most liked was the forage radish plot mixed with Peas&Oats...they would were pulling the radish up with the root and then chewing down the root...they were specifically picking the radish out and working the stem to make sure they got the root.

I often wonder when people count if they truly mean individual deer or just deer sightings, if I see a deer walk lets say south loose track of him but 5 min later see a very similar deer come from the same direction , I count this as just one. but kuddos to him for passing the does and focusing on the bucks

 

[biglakeba$$]

I read your post and knew who it was immediately... I went over and sure enough it was Kyle. :)

 

[wiscwhip]

A report from another forum, poster from the Glenwood area

Seen around 50 deer Saturday morning...about 6 or 7 were bucks...one bigger one chasing the doe ground around in the center of the property. My son seen him the closest that morning but couldn't get a shot...came within about 150yds of me but waited. Seen around 30 deer Sat evening along with same bucks. Bigger one came by my son twice but he didn't get a shot. Then he came by stand I was in with a friend...around 25yds so he took him. 9 heavy points with one kicker...brute of a deer and all we could do to get him in the truck. Probably score around 150. Next morning we seen about 30 again. Sunday night the deer really came out and must have seed close to 60 along with some new bucks...there were 4 really nice bucks just out from me with a couple that were really nice. Son ended up shooting a 9 with a kicker...first buck for him at 12yrs old so he was pretty thrilled.

Was really fun watching the deer select different food plots. The one most liked was the forage radish plot mixed with Peas&Oats...they would were pulling the radish up with the root and then chewing down the root...they were specifically picking the radish out and working the stem to make sure they got the root.

:eek: I'm guessing this "Glenwood area" is nowhere near sandbur! Probably be hard to get this guy or anyone else in his situation to vote "increase" in a stakeholder meeting. I hope you aren't hearing too many reports like this, they undermine the crap out of reports like those that sandbur gives. Differences like the ones between this report and sandburs reports point precisely to the fact that MN's varied habitats need a more "hands-on" micro-management style than just dolling out the tags in massive amounts over huge areas and then walking away, which is what it seems your DNR is best at.

 

[foggy]

Minnesota has very diverse habitat and weather. From east to west it can go from forest lands to range-like prairie.......and from south to north it goes from intensive agriculture to managed forest lands and huge lakes. Hundreds of miles separate very diverse climate situations too. Oftentimes agriculture will vary dramatically from one-county to the next. Sandbur's "south land" is dramatically different than where he grew-up a hundred miles to the north.

There is little doubt that the area manager at Little Falls is the worst game manager in the state of MN.....or at least the policies in that area are a disaster. Some of those guys need to be singled out and go looking for a new line of work....IMO. Other areas can be quite good....IF the area is not in the extreme cold north.....filled with wolves......or intensively managed for agriculture (or dense pine plantations). That is one reason why we have area managers. Some are definitely not doing the right thing for sportsmen.

 

[bwoods11]

I read your post and knew who it was immediately... I went over and sure enough it was Kyle. :)

Oh my gosh!!!!

50 deer? I'll do some checking guys. I know this guy and I know where his farm is. Sounds like a real stretch. I'd believe he shot a buck but ????

This is same guy that somehow got a spot on boat pro staff and the year before he was fishing off shore with his spincast reel upside down??

 

[Deer Kar]

Ok, this guy came buy about 5:30 following one of my rows of crab apples.in my NWSG, he was definitely chasing and on the move. I always hate gutting deer in the dark, but now it's time for a porter.:)

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Congrats on the deer!!

 

[West Branch]

Here are the MN DNR CO reports for opening weekend:

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/content/mn-dnr-weekly-report-nov-10-2014

Looks like a lot of baiting.

The best one:

CO Randy Patten (Northome) attended a district meeting, worked a complaint on trespass, and checked baited deer stands. Enforcement action taken for hunting deer over bait and transporting a loaded firearm in a motor vehicle. Extremely low deer numbers have made baiting gain popularity again. Fortunately for those hunters choosing to use bait they will get to sit out next season and give the herd a chance to rebound.

 

[foggy]

It's a shame to read about so much baiting and illegal activity. When I walked thru Mills FF the other day.....some of the hunters were loading up on bait items. Makes me cringe.

 

[kabic]

Here are the MN DNR CO reports for opening weekend:

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/content/mn-dnr-weekly-report-nov-10-2014

Looks like a lot of baiting.

The best one:

Fredin asked one hunter for his hunting license and the hunter responded that he didn’t have one and he was party hunting off his friend’s license.

LOL

A good report:

One call from a father with his 12-year-old son was handled where the boy shot and killed their first buck that walked by their stand. As the young hunter and father were looking at the buck it was discovered that the deer had already been shot once. Several minutes later a hunter following the deer tracks and blood trail approached them and told them he had shot the deer and was tracking it. The young hunter decided to give the deer the hunter as, in their words, “It was the right thing to do.” Although this was hard for the young hunter he understood that he prevented the deer from going to waste. Hats off to this young man!

 

[bwoods11]

Ha ha ha......Party hunting off his friends license. CLASSIC ANSWER!

Did anyone hear about the guy that tried to steal someone's else's hanging deer and they saw it happen and called 911!! Anyone have that link?

Now that is Minnesota for you!

 

[kabic]

Funny stuff calling 911 for deer theft

http://www.kare11.com/story/news/cr...hunter-caught-stealing-deer-carcass/18803785/

 

[wiscwhip]

We have deer stolen out of the back of pickups every year around here. Some guy shoots a nice one and then feels compelled to parade it around to all the local bars and low and behold he has an a$$ full of liquor by the end of the night and when he finally leaves the bar to go back to camp his deer is missing from the truck bed. In those instances, where the need to feel like a hero overcomes common sense, I do not feel sorry for them in the least bit.