MN Deer numbers

Twolftg

Twolftg

Active Member
Hey any of you Minnesota guys, I know alot ended up on another forum, what do you think of the numbers in your hunting area? I was never super upset myself with the deer numbers but I expect next year if the winter is light It will be insanity like the early 2000. Where I hunt in 157 they are only giving out 300 doe permits. On a short 3 mile drive to dinner last night at the cabin I counted 32 deer. 14 in this field alone.deer#.jpg
 
I haven't counted more than 5 deer in a field in this area since moving here in '12. Unit 215.

And here I figured you were in northern MN Twolftg
 
Twolftg said:
Yeah I am definitely not iron range or anything but I wouldn't say I am central MN.
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Depending on where in 157 you are...you're either about even with me or a bit north. I'm central or west central (just on the edge where they meet) MN. I'd call your location east central MN. Definitely not northern MN. Heck, Duluth isn't northern MN
 
I'm sure there are some hot spots around but for the most part I'd say numbers are still down. Still not seeing the same number of dead deer along the side of the roads and in the fields like I did in the early 2000's.
 
smsmith said:
155, 156, 157...doesn't matter. Not northern MN.

Good luck this year, doesn't sound like you'll need it though
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I guess it's all semantics, what's north..what's south... on the east side of the state we are north of any agriculture other than hay production. Thanks for the luck, hope you have some if you need it. ;)

wklman said:
I'm sure there are some hot spots around but for the most part I'd say numbers are still down. Still not seeing the same number of dead deer along the side of the roads and in the fields like I did in the early 2000's.
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I suppose your right, maybe I am fortunate, every where I have hunted between zones 156, 157, 173 has had a fair population, I have been happy with. Now it feels like they are being over cautious but it will be enjoyable to not have to hike a mile back from a road to get to good deer.
 
As far as the MN DNR being overly cautious...I'd personally disagree. My unit has had one year of Hunter Choice in the last 10 years, every other year it has been Managed. Hunters per square mile have gone up, deer densities have gone down.
 
I'm in 159 in the Hinckley area along I 35.

Deer numbers have been steadily increasing since the bottom dropped out in the winters of 2012 and 2013 with over harvest of does and heavy winter kill in my area in past winters. I have just short of double the regular deer on my property now than I had during the summer of 2014, so the recovery is looking good.

As always, mature bucks are in short supply due to heavy hunting pressure and shoot-em-all meat hunters who have to deal with the loss of doe tags by killing every buck they see. Nothing I can do about that except doubling the effort on the sanctuary areas to hopefully provide a safe zone.

I have learned that I need to be more aggressive in managing winter survival. I now lay in a stock of corn every fall so I have about a ton of corn at my property in December and ready for emergency feeding. I have feeders placed and ready as soon as it is legal so I can start emergency feeding immediately if needed to keep my herd alive.

Fawn survival on my property has been very good in 2014-15. I'm reserving judgement for 2016 as I need to see trail cam pics from the last month to make sure the little guys I was seeing back in June are still alive and well. As of June, it looked good, but fawns can disappear very quickly in my area.

Grouse
 
smsmith said:
155, 156, 157...doesn't matter. Not northern MN.

Good luck this year, doesn't sound like you'll need it though
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Stu, Twolftg is around 6-7 miles from my place as the crow flies to give you a another idea of where he is at. This summer on an evening with good conditions driving from my place to up by Tamarack you could probably see 50+ deer most evenings and maybe close to 100 if things were perfect. The last time we were close to that was 2011. I know a guy near him that was feeding 30+ deer a few years ago during the last harsh winter. Quite a few others were feeding them on their own dime as well, + gov't deer feed from MDHA which seemed to have a local impact. We definitely have some pockets of deer around here but I know some guys further back in the woods away from the limited Ag land where things don't look as good. There is still a decent amount of logging around us to that helps a lot with habitat as well.


And for 75% of the population in this state they think Northern MN starts around Hinckley. I gave up on convincing them otherwise :cool:
 
west branch said:
Stu, Twolftg is around 6-7 miles from my place as the crow flies to give you a another idea of where he is at. This summer on an evening with good conditions driving from my place to up by Tamarack you could probably see 50+ deer most evenings and maybe close to 100 if things were perfect. The last time we were close to that was 2011. I know a guy near him that was feeding 30+ deer a few years ago during the last harsh winter. Quite a few others were feeding them on their own dime as well, + gov't deer feed from MDHA which seemed to have a local impact. We definitely have some pockets of deer around here but I know some guys further back in the woods away from the limited Ag land where things don't look as good. There is still a decent amount of logging around us to that helps a lot with habitat as well.


And for 75% of the population in this state they think Northern MN starts around Hinckley. I gave up on convincing them otherwise :cool:
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Thanks for the clarification WB. I know there are some pockets of deer up there, some parts of that area are much (much) better off than my area.

As for northern MN...my inlaws live in the Faribault area. They think Alexandria is "up north" :rolleyes: Northern MN to me implies being within a 45-60 minute drive of the Canadian border.
 
Those extra deer can get cleaned up quickly with 15 hunters per square mile with 2-3 tags each in their pocket, and 16 days to fill them.
 
MarkDarvin said:
Those extra deer can get cleaned up quickly with 15 hunters per square mile with 2-3 tags each in their pocket, and 16 days to fill them.
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True, I don't believe i saw every single deer in the area on that short drive. I obviously cannot speak for everyone but I am seeing as many deer as I ever have including back when guys did have multiple tags for multiple years. With only 300 doe tags in the area it will be interesting to see what it looks like next summer.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 
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