The late November lull

[bwoods11]

Lull...?? Come to zone 1 in MN. You will see what a real lull looks like. I would be willing to bet approximately 60-70% of hunters did not even see a deer. Many hunters have likely gone 3+ years without seeing a deer. The MN DNR has created the largest lull in "professional" big game management. Regulations that are a complete abomination for sure.

Harvest by year for zone 1:

2017- 57,909
2018- 50,203
2019- 42,412
2020- 39,656
2021- 37,819
2022- 30,459

That is absolutely ridiculous numbers ! Zone 1 in Minnesota is a mess ! The Minnesota DNR has failed Minnesota deer hunters over and over.

Sad situation.. but that is why so many of us Minnesota hunters—hunt other states!

 

[Brian662]

That is absolutely ridiculous numbers ! Zone 1 in Minnesota is a mess ! The Minnesota DNR has failed Minnesota deer hunters over and over.

Sad situation.. but that is why so many of us Minnesota hunters—hunt other states!

Moving the gun season back one week would do wonders for the state's deer herd.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I'm of the opinion that the horrendously abysmal deer and moose numbers in MN are not an accident, and in fact are 100% deliberate.

Timber companies want ALL deer dead. No deer = faster forest regen = more profit quicker. Minnesota not the only state with a timber lobby. Pa. deals with our hardwood timber lobby too. Doe tags by the thousands. I've passed on lots of does I could have easily killed. Gotta have moms to give birth. We do OUR OWN deer herd management LOCALLY by cooperation between camps. If we didn't, we wouldn't have much to hunt.

 

[SD51555]

Timber companies want ALL deer dead. No deer = faster forest regen = more profit quicker. Minnesota not the only state with a timber lobby. Pa. deals with our hardwood timber lobby too. Doe tags by the thousands. I've passed on lots of does I could have easily killed. Gotta have moms to give birth. We do OUR OWN deer herd management LOCALLY by cooperation between camps. If we didn't, we wouldn't have much to hunt.

It's an interesting time right now. Logging is moving in high gear around me finally. The trees have been falling down for a few years already, so we're due. It should create a decent response from the herd once those logged acres thicken back up.

 

[Tree Spud]

Insurance companies that provide car insurance put heavy pressure on the DNR to reduce deer populations here as they end up covering deer collision damage. Hitting a deer can easily rack up $3k - $5k of damage on the low end.

 

[PatinPA]

We have so many doe around me that our rut gets screwed up and spread out over a wide time period. I routinely see buck chasing or with doe into December. I have videos of buck working scrapes well into December.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Insurance companies that provide car insurance put heavy pressure on the DNR to reduce deer populations here as they end up covering deer collision damage. Hitting a deer can easily rack up $3k - $5k of damage on the low end.

I've heard this a whole bunch and it makes sense but I've never seen any proof or evidence of such. Anyone have any links?

 

[SD51555]

I think we're in a generational shift in deer hunting in zone one. It won't be too many more years of this and camps are going to age out after 5 or more years of not seeing a deer. New guys will not step forward and pay for the gas, gear, and work to keep them going. That will be a whole new problem when the deer do finally rebound. The boys at Fort Collins, CO or Manhatten, KS better have that birth control vaccine feed ready for helicopter deployment, or there's gonna be a population problem after the hunters quit.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

The trees have been falling down for a few years already, so we're due.

Diseases or bugs causing trees to fall?? Or just ancient trees??

 

[Kooch]

There are some mighty large trees in his neighborhood. I’d say old and big.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bowsnbucks]

It won't be too many more years of this and camps are going to age out after 5 or more years of not seeing a deer.

Seeing that same thing here. Hunting license numbers have been going down and new kids aren't taking up hunting like in years past. I overheard a few kids say things like "Dad, we never see any deer. I'm tired of sitting so long." and "I'm bored. We haven't seen any deer for 2 days. Can we go home now?"

These DNR's and Game Commissions are gonna keep running low on license funds if they keep hammering deer numbers. Look for license fees to keep going up to compensate for fewer numbers of hunters buying them. Timber companies better be funding their retirement - because fewer and fewer wardens are joining the ranks too.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

The way access to hunting land is getting constantly more difficult, the thought of there being an over abundance of deer on public land and an inability to find people willing to hunt them is hard to imagine. Kind of like lakes that get fished out when things are good. When they rebound you can bet your ass there will be hoards of ice shacks on it again once word spreads. With cwd and the political climate around wolves/bears, I have a hard time seeing any notable rebound anytime soon.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Meanwhile in WI where they dont have to deal with bears, wolves or the made up CWD bullshit (sigh)....... Just an extra kick in the balls for us losers in MN. We are plummeting year after year here, but states right next door are somehow having MORE with all the same problems we have. They must not have an existential climate emergency in WI.

 

[Mortenson]

Money printing will make up for the loss of dnr income. Just the way I see it. Pretty pessimistic these days.

I think kill tallies in WI are akin to votes in Maricopa Co. They're probably b.s. but no one will ever know. And how many guys are killing the first deer they see.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Meanwhile in WI where they dont have to deal with bears, wolves or the made up CWD bullshit (sigh)....... Just an extra kick in the balls for us losers in MN. We are plummeting year after year here, but states right next door are somehow having MORE with all the same problems we have. They must not have an existential climate emergency in WI.


View attachment 47652

They have better habitat and have rifle season after peak rut. ND only shoots 20% as many deer as MN and I’d say they manage deer better than we do.

An article I’ve read a couple times over the years explaining why WI shoots a lot more deer than MN.

Amparo A. HERNANDEZ

*CORRECTION* Also survived by brothers, Rudy and Nacho. (Full notice ran Sunday.)

www.twincities.com

 

[Brian662]

Meanwhile in WI where they dont have to deal with bears, wolves or the made up CWD bullshit (sigh)....... Just an extra kick in the balls for us losers in MN. We are plummeting year after year here, but states right next door are somehow having MORE with all the same problems we have. They must not have an existential climate emergency in WI.


View attachment 47652

WI has all those things.
WI DNR is messed up too, but not as bad as MN.

 

[SD51555]

The way access to hunting land is getting constantly more difficult, the thought of there being an over abundance of deer on public land and an inability to find people willing to hunt them is hard to imagine. Kind of like lakes that get fished out when things are good. When they rebound you can bet your ass there will be hoards of ice shacks on it again once word spreads. With cwd and the political climate around wolves/bears, I have a hard time seeing any notable rebound anytime soon.

Quality hunting land is the key. There's plenty of public land up by me. It was still fairly busy this year, but I think that was because nobody shot anything. The day 1 baggers weren't successful this year, so they had to stay afield. I feel bad for the zone 2 and 3 guys, because I do see interest shifting to those places that have deer. Same things happen with fishing. Most people in MN drive past hundreds of lakes to get to one that has quality fish in it.

Me? I put fishing on the back burner while I was getting my property and cabin set up. I'm in no hurry to take it up again, but if I can rig up a simple boat next season, I may get one for going down the road to a local lake. But me plowing $250,000 into a deluxe truck/boat/fishhouse/sled/shed combo ain't ever gonna happen. I can have a lot of $500 guided days for the opportunity cost of owning that much stuff.

 

[Brian662]

Quality hunting land is the key. There's plenty of public land up by me. It was still fairly busy this year, but I think that was because nobody shot anything. The day 1 baggers weren't successful this year, so they had to stay afield. I feel bad for the zone 2 and 3 guys, because I do see interest shifting to those places that have deer. Same things happen with fishing. Most people in MN drive past hundreds of lakes to get to one that has quality fish in it.

Me? I put fishing on the back burner while I was getting my property and cabin set up. I'm in no hurry to take it up again, but if I can rig up a simple boat next season, I may get one for going down the road to a local lake. But me plowing $250,000 into a deluxe truck/boat/fishhouse/sled/shed combo ain't ever gonna happen. I can have a lot of $500 guided days for the opportunity cost of owning that much stuff.

The difference in zones 2 and 3 at least in my area is, more broken ag land, no wolves, higher percentage of private land. All of these factors will make it more difficult for the deer herd to see bigger reductions in numbers. We also (in my area of zone 2) rarely see winters bad enough for any sizable winter kill of fawns.

IMO, one of the biggest challenges facing the herd in this area is and will continue to be, declining habitat. Buckthorn is such a problem in the timbered areas around here, and nobody seems to want to deal with it. The money the state offers for help doesn't begin to scratch the surface for the true cost of controlling it.

 

[roymunson]

I'd give my left testicular to get on a big buck. We have 1 5 year old walking the farm and opening morning of gun season he was at 100 yards (thus sayeth the trail cam), 30 minutes before light.

Hoping to get on him tomorrow when the weather changes.

Otherwise, it's gonna be a doe blitz this weekend.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Meanwhile in WI where they dont have to deal with bears, wolves or the made up CWD bullshit (sigh)....... Just an extra kick in the balls for us losers in MN. We are plummeting year after year here, but states right next door are somehow having MORE with all the same problems we have. They must not have an existential climate emergency in WI.


View attachment 47652

I beg to differ. Lots of wolves and bears, and a messed up political DNR, just not as bad as MN.

In my area and south it is kinda a young deer breeding ground, lots of fawns and 1 year olds. So lots to fill tags, but not quality. Kinda like a stunted sunfish lake.