Mn gun opener
- Thread starter SD51555
- Start date
bwoods11
5 year old buck +
I talked to a guy that has a really nice farm in West Central Minnesota. He has it all timber, pines, creek, ponds, cattail swamp, crop fields, food plots.
He hunted the 9 day gun season, he never saw a deer! Past years he said, I’d see 10-20 a day. Really odd, and not a good sign !
Southeast of Alexandria, MN….
He hunted the 9 day gun season, he never saw a deer! Past years he said, I’d see 10-20 a day. Really odd, and not a good sign !
Southeast of Alexandria, MN….
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
How is that possible?
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Y’all already have rifle in rut and crossbow, you might as well legalize baiting and go ahead and put the nail in the coffin
bwoods11
5 year old buck +
Let me rephrase that, I checked with my buddy on that to verify —-7 of the 9 days he hunted !
Zero deer ! Didn’t see one . Unbelievable
Brian662
5 year old buck +
I'd have a for sale sign on the corner already. Life is too short for that nonsense.
Angus 1895
5 year old buck +
Like I said earlier….
Normally I see enough deer to buy a non resident tag in Minnesota.
Been here 10 days….saw one deer. My wife has seen 2.
Normally I see enough deer to buy a non resident tag in Minnesota.
Been here 10 days….saw one deer. My wife has seen 2.
AtomApple
5 year old buck +
Ooooffffff da ! Updated from DNR page.
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AtomApple
5 year old buck +
Archery typically accounted for about 30,000, it will be interesting to see that part of the graph now that X-bows are considered season long archery equipment for able bodied citizens.
I almost wonder if the influx of noob/hack x-bow hunters turned the deer weary or nocturnal before the rut???
I’m just trying to think of possible reasons why the harvest is so low… (other then wolves)
SD51555
5 year old buck +
Two things I'm fairly certain dramatically changed the season around me:
1. Acorns galore. There are still loads of acorns out there. I've never had food sources last this long on my place. Deer never had to come out in the open during October. Also worst bow season I've ever had for sightings.
2. Predator pressure just as gun season opened. Too many nights hearing packs of coyotes out raising hell. I never heard wolves, but there's talk of them in the hood. I've never seen one on camera either.
SD51555
5 year old buck +
One thing I think is for certain, low deer numbers will fix low deer numbers. You have to be a certain level of insane to keep coming to this. I am. But how many don't have guts, or lack of brains to keep doing this up here? The hunt next year may be cancelled without the DNR because nobody shows up.
Foggy47
5 year old buck +
I have seven cell cams here in my zone of MN. In the past three weeks I have several dozen night time pics of deer including some nice bucks. I have TWO daytime pics on my cams. The deer simply go nocturnal with the rifle season here. ....and in fact have almost no movement during the first two weeks of rifle.....day or night. They got us wired.
This. It’s rifle season during the rut. Our rifle season not during the rut in WI turns them nocturnal. Your chance of success goes way down after opening day. It’s not the boogeyman (x-bows). Its rifle season for you guys that brings out everyone and their uncle.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
If deer turn nocturnal with pressure (which for the record I don’t think they do, I think they just alter their patterns during the daylight) wouldn’t the increased pressure from riflebows be a factor?
The increased pressure from x-bows is minimal compared to guns. I’d guess the majority already bow hunted but switched to xbow. It’s not bringing out many new hunters.
AtomApple
5 year old buck +
I think you are wrong there. I hear of more rifle hunters that bought a xbow to be able to hunt earlier and all season, than OG bow hunters switching. We will see when the numbers come out. When I registered my deer over the phone, there was a question about what type of bow I used.
Howboutthemdawgs
5 year old buck +
Agree to disagree. But admittedly I don’t know northern hunter behaviors
AtomApple
5 year old buck +
Your statement seems to contradict itself.
when hunters say deer are “Nocturnal “ they don’t mean literally “up all night, sleep all day”. It is just a catch all phrase meaning, they move very little during the day, and not into open areas.
I’ve listened to the MSU Lab guys, and they don’t seem to get that either.
does anyone have a better word than ”nocturnal “ it’d be willing to change my speech patterns.
