BradS
11-24-2008, 06:09 PM
Just spent the better half of the past two weeks and three weekends in the woods in Eastern MN deer hunting. I have to admit this was probably the worst in terms of weather and moon that I have seen in some time. Most days were windy enough to keep the deer down, the moon during the first week allowed the deer to play all night long, sleep during the day.
However, there seems to be more going on. This is the first year ever that I did not see deer, any deer at all. I hunt private land which has always had a good deer presence in the past. However, even the adjacent property owners note a huge decrease in the take this year. I heard the fewest shots in the woods since 2003 when it was 18 below on the opener. Something else that was extremely odd, I did not see any squirrels during the day. Typically I will see 5 to 10 grey and black squirrels, it was as though the woods were cleaned out. I spoke with other hunters that hunted land ranging from just North of the Twin Cities to the north border, from St. Cloud/ Brainard, east, including the arrowhead. They reported roughly the same, the harvest this year was way down.
In searching the area I noted a couple of scraps, but much less overall activity. My conclusion is that we have an overabundance of Timberwolves as well as a reported Cougar sighting in the area I hunt. I know the local DNR has tried trapping the Timberwolves based on local farmer complaints. My understanding is that he has trapped a couple but does not feel there was a problem. I did find some suspicious droppings in the woods as well as some tracks that were no coyotes by any means. That may explain the deer decrease, but I am not sure if that also explains the squirrels also.
I would sure like to hear about what others found in MN over the past few weeks. Because of the mild winters the deer population had increased the past few years. We got spoiled in the last 10 years, never had to spend many more than about 2 to 3 days in the woods to take home a nice freezer full of venison. Those days may be over.
Brad S
Hebrews 10:39
However, there seems to be more going on. This is the first year ever that I did not see deer, any deer at all. I hunt private land which has always had a good deer presence in the past. However, even the adjacent property owners note a huge decrease in the take this year. I heard the fewest shots in the woods since 2003 when it was 18 below on the opener. Something else that was extremely odd, I did not see any squirrels during the day. Typically I will see 5 to 10 grey and black squirrels, it was as though the woods were cleaned out. I spoke with other hunters that hunted land ranging from just North of the Twin Cities to the north border, from St. Cloud/ Brainard, east, including the arrowhead. They reported roughly the same, the harvest this year was way down.
In searching the area I noted a couple of scraps, but much less overall activity. My conclusion is that we have an overabundance of Timberwolves as well as a reported Cougar sighting in the area I hunt. I know the local DNR has tried trapping the Timberwolves based on local farmer complaints. My understanding is that he has trapped a couple but does not feel there was a problem. I did find some suspicious droppings in the woods as well as some tracks that were no coyotes by any means. That may explain the deer decrease, but I am not sure if that also explains the squirrels also.
I would sure like to hear about what others found in MN over the past few weeks. Because of the mild winters the deer population had increased the past few years. We got spoiled in the last 10 years, never had to spend many more than about 2 to 3 days in the woods to take home a nice freezer full of venison. Those days may be over.
Brad S
Hebrews 10:39