Hit Lists

[mnmaverick]

It's quiet on the Minnesota forum here! Who's ready to get some backstraps in the freezer?!? Any good bucks on the hit lists this year?

I have a couple that are pushing 130, but I'll be holding out for a really big boy this year. My neighbor found a monster shed this winter about 1 mile away from my property. We figure the deer will be 180-190" if the other side is a match!

[rjohannsen]

Mav, no doubt it is quiet on here! What gives? I need something to read when I am sitting at work all day bored and day dreaming about being in a stand Sept. 17th, 25 feet over a soy bean plot in SE MN!! There are definitely some monsters in the making on your property. I have personally seen trail pics of bucks on Mav's property that most others would shoot in a heart beat. QDM takes a patient hunter! Can't wait to see if that 190" bruiser makes an appearance for us!!

So....let's post some trail cam pics, people! Aren't you guys excited??

[Hunt2Eat]

I saw you posted about SE Minnesota, this last month I have been scouting down there in just about all of the WMA's of the area. Ive been hunting the last 5 years out in Montana where I was going to school and now I have moved home. I got the itch and cant stop thinking about deer season. Would enjoy some advice. Would you recommend the first season or late season? When does the rut occur in SE Minnesota? Planning to hunt the firearm season, been looking around 344 unit. I have no problem tromping, just dont want to get stuck hunting with mad groups of people. Please let me know what you know, thanks and good luck this fall !!!

[mnmaverick]

I saw you posted about SE Minnesota, this last month I have been scouting down there in just about all of the WMA's of the area. Ive been hunting the last 5 years out in Montana where I was going to school and now I have moved home. I got the itch and cant stop thinking about deer season. Would enjoy some advice. Would you recommend the first season or late season? When does the rut occur in SE Minnesota? Planning to hunt the firearm season, been looking around 344 unit. I have no problem tromping, just dont want to get stuck hunting with mad groups of people. Please let me know what you know, thanks and good luck this fall !!!

Welcome back to MN! SE MN is a great place to hunt, although I haven't done any public land hunting, so no idea what the crowds are like. I hunt 80 acres of private land in 345. My only advice is to find a good WMA or state park (Whitewater?) and walk in as far as you can. Most people are lazy, so the farther in you go and the tougher it is to get in, the better. Check out this recent blog from Wired to Hunt: http://wiredtohunt.com/2011/08/31/4-key ... hitetails/

For rut timing, you definitely want the first season, although I'm sure there is a lot less pressure late season. Best week tends to be much like the rest of the Midwest -- First two weeks of Nov.

[sbertram87]

Hi rjohannsen i am pumped for hunting i have no trail cams but i will be hunting in a few zones and for the first time they are all managed so does watch out. The numbers are 218, 214, 213, plus i get to hunt in 222 which is intesive. I am disabled and hunt with a corss bow. Been hunting with one since 2008. So i hope this year i get my first deer with the corss bow doe, buck fawn does not matter. Once i get the first deer down my guess it will be a doe or fawn the i am buck hunting. What zones are you hunting in?
take care

[Hunt2Eat]

MNMAVERICK- Thanks for the help.
I had a few follow up questions. I thought I would do the last season just because of the crowds. How would you pattern the deer in late Nov? Also I was going to hunt a semi dried up creek bottom hoping to get some deer following the river bottoms or would you recommend a timberline on a crop field? You said State Park or Whitewater what have you heard about the hunting? I have never hunted out of a tree stand either, would you recommend tree, ground blind, or what I was going to do was just lean up against a tree. Thanks for the help

[mnmaverick]

MNMAVERICK- Thanks for the help.
I had a few follow up questions. I thought I would do the last season just because of the crowds. How would you pattern the deer in late Nov? Also I was going to hunt a semi dried up creek bottom hoping to get some deer following the river bottoms or would you recommend a timberline on a crop field? You said State Park or Whitewater what have you heard about the hunting? I have never hunted out of a tree stand either, would you recommend tree, ground blind, or what I was going to do was just lean up against a tree. Thanks for the help

Late Nov should be good as well. The crops will be down by then, so the deer ought to be in the timber. I would find the thickest, nastiest cover you can find (where other people won't want to go)! I don't know that there is anything about a dried up creek that the deer would particularly like unless it is a pinch point or natural travel corridor. I guess I'd be more inclined to get on a ridge . Get topo and aerial maps of the area you want to hunt and look for natural features (hard edges, soft edges, pinch points, saddles, etc) that would be travel corridors, and then pick the one that has the best access route. I hunt strictly out of tree stands because it allows me to see better in thick forest, but with a gun you can try ground hunting as well. I'd just be a little careful about being on the ground on public land during gun season.

Like I said, I've never hunted public land down there, but there are certainly a lot of people that do hunt Whitewater and other WMA areas. I'm not sure how the hunting is, but you can ask at local archery shops, etc to get an idea. I think there is one in Elba which is right in the middle of Whitewater. Good luck!

[rjohannsen]

Hey guys...sorry I haven't been on in a week or so, and haven't replied to anyone yet.

Hunt2Eat, welcome back to MN! MNMaverick and I hunt on his land in SE. Not super far from Whitewater. All of his advice is spot on (as usual!). For gun season in a WMA I would try to find a ridge or soft edge the deer will travel when other hunters bump them or miss a shot at them. Like Maverick said, get as far into the WMA as you can. Spot and stalk your way in (as you would hunting elk or something else in MT), then find your spot on a ridge, etc. and stay put. Something will get bumped and come your way. I always hunt out of a tree stand, but I understand the difficulty of lugging even sticks and a hang on deep into a WMA. How about one of those one person blinds with a seat?

Beltrami, good luck hunting this year! We hunt in 345. I think it is going to be a great season!

MNMaverick....5 days to go! The truck is half loaded already. See ya Friday for the trip south!!

[sbertram87]

rjohannsen ouch 345 only one deer for you this year. Good luck to you as well post pics.
take care
steve

[Bogleg]

I have hunted public land on 344 my whole life. My parents live in Elba.

I would say that the best way to hunt the area is definitely from a tree stand. And you definitely want to be in said stand ALL DAY during the gun season. If you are hunting the second season, the crowds typically aren't as bad, especially now that does can be taken during the first season.

During bow season you won't encounter too many other bow hunters on public land, and there is a lot of public land in 344. There are mature buck to be had, but you can't really hunt them on field edges. You need to get in the woods, on the trails they use to head to their feeding areas from their bedding areas.

The nice thing about 344 is you can approach many of the woods from above AND below, so it is also possible to sneak into the woods and intercept deer heading to their bedding areas in the mornings.

During gun season, you need to get as far from the main trails and roads as you can to avoid other hunters. In fact, it is very nearly impossible to avoid other hunters, so we have found the best tactic is to stay in the woods, plan on being in the stand all day, and use the other hunters to your advantage. Hunt the tough lowlands, cross creeks, go places that the deer will go to avoid the humans stomping through the hill sides. Get there early and keep your eyes open. There are some big, big valleys in 344, and getting deep in them can often give you opportunities away from the crowds as well.