Rifle Hunting the boundary waters in Minn.

[Deadweight]

Deer hunting in Minnesota, the first saturday in Nov. is their open day rifle deer season. Hunting Federal land, great success with trophy 130" whitetails. :D

[shady oaks]

congrats. but come on, pics, a story? give us something.

[uptracker]

I went through there that day, but kept going to ON. Saw quite a few trucks and 4 wheelers though.

[tadmdad]

I agree with you guys, we hunt Mn opener every year the quality
of hunting is much better than Mi. After 20 yrs hunting W. U.P.
I haven't went back for the last 3 yrs, just to much hunting pressure
and people just shoot every buck they see, not QDM IMO. We had a
good year in the Boundary Waters, I posted camp pictures in the
Photo Gallery. I think if we want better quality deer here in MI
we can learn alot from the hunter in MN and not shoot every
buck we see, let em go and let em grow. Just my 2 cents

[beer and nuts]

tadmdad---these type of posts are getting real old, maybe we need BETTER hunters in Michigan. Quality is something different to you, going to places where 2.5 year olds tend to be 120 class deer is something special and 130 class deer are a dime a dozen in alot of places in MI, seen it in Marion buckpole for just one example but these posts that continuie to knock down other hunters need to be reviewed by the mods and I would think deleted, tell your story about MN but leave your agenda at the keyboard.

[uptracker]

No offense, but why are you sick of hearing it?

Hunters are going elsewhere for a reason. If you don't want to hear it, maybe we and/or the State should step up to the plate and create a better herd to keep hunters in Michigan. Sure, good bucks can be had here, but it's better hunting with better bucks on the other side of the fence.

I would like to know where 130" bucks are a dime a dozen in MI. Washtenaw and Jackson Co. usually record less than 30 P&Y caliber bucks per year combined. With some 500,000 tags sold every year in Michigan, your odds are horrible. Your odds are something like 1 in 8,500+.

[tadmdad]

Beer and nuts- I believe all of our agenda's are to see better quality
deer in MI, but the discussion is how we can do that? I heard a very
interesting quote once: A smart man learns from his mistakes, but a
sign of a intelligent man is learning from other peoples mistakes.:)

[tadmdad]

I agree look at some of the other states data, P&Y bucks, Iowa
1 in 230, Ill 1 in 245, can we learn from these states from their
QDM here in MI, I would like to think so.
No offense, but why are you sick of hearing it?

Hunters are going elsewhere for a reason. If you don't want to hear it, maybe we and/or the State should step up to the plate and create a better herd to keep hunters in Michigan. Sure, good bucks can be had here, but it's better hunting with better bucks on the other side of the fence.

I would like to know where 130" bucks are a dime a dozen in MI. Washtenaw and Jackson Co. usually record less than 30 P&Y caliber bucks per year combined. With some 500,000 tags sold every year in Michigan, your odds are horrible. Your odds are something like 1 in 8,500+.

[Fishnmachine]

I hunt MN every year, not for the deer but for the fact that hunting partners live there, I hunt near where you guys are talking about, and have taken and seen some great deer there, but I hunt in MI a lot more than MN because I live here, I like the fact that in MN zone where I hunt you get one open tag, and if you want a bouns tag it is a doe tag, I think the open tag lets a lot of people that would normaly pass does for small bucks because that is the only tag they have, take a doe, and let the small bucks grow, I like the idea anyhow, just my thoughts

[beer and nuts]

Just a note on the 130 class bucks, Marion buckpole had at least 10-12, 130 class plus bucks(maybe a few went 125!), and a few that were in the 140-150 class and that was the on the second day in the evening when I saw them(think it was a 2day buck pole). It would be interesting how many of those bucks were officialling measured and recorded in some sort of orgainization? I also heard Skips in Grayling had some real monsters as well. I though I heard a couple that went 140 plus!?!?

The funny thing is, so few hunters(percentage wise) in MI go outstate and when that one guy or group gets a great spot to hunt and they post the hell out of their experience and pictures and then preach about their experience as IF they just hunted the entire STATE and the entire state is like that and then compare that to MI....take that with a grain of salt.(thats what I'm sick of hearing) I saw the pics of tadmdad and i assume his group-nice bucks, but I also have seen private buck polls in Menominee that woudl make their group of bucks look like yearlings, now if I took that group of guys in Meniominee and plastered that in the PA forums saying PA needs to be like Michigan, what perspective would that give!? Also, I hunted in MO this year and from what everybody that thinks MO is some sleeper state they might find another thing coming...we found good land through Due Dilegence..and in my seacrh it was unbelievable what I found--the same complaints we have here. You find less pressured land, you find better hunting...the NW corner had so few hunters where we hunted it was baffling, move another 5 miles from us and it was a war zone according to some, get outside the outfitter stuff and alot fo MO bucks are 1.5 year olds! Why did I go outstate, well for one and the big one-my 11 year old son could hunt and that sealed the deal and I'm all about new land new experience and road trips, and oh yea pheasant hunting helped too! Thing with MO that helps is a 2.5 year old is a really nice buck, but still a 2.5 year old!

[shady oaks]

tadmdad---these type of posts are getting real old, maybe we need BETTER hunters in Michigan. Quality is something different to you, going to places where 2.5 year olds tend to be 120 class deer is something special and 130 class deer are a dime a dozen in alot of places in MI, seen it in Marion buckpole for just one example but these posts that continuie to knock down other hunters need to be reviewed by the mods and I would think deleted, tell your story about MN but leave your agenda at the keyboard.

no offense beer and nuts, but what post were you reading????:confused: the man simply told us about a successful MN hunt. nowhere in the 2 or 3 lines does it once knock down michigan or michigan hunters.

[swampbuck]

a 17 year old from our camp had a 140+ 8 point measured at skips. took 2nd place. there are big ones out there. but your going to have to get out of sight of the road to find them.

[Gilbey]

I'd love to see pics as well. Beautiful area. Did you go by boat or ATV? Congrats on a great hunt, myself and a guy from St. Cloud, MN were kicking that idea around next year, or maybe the Camp Ripley hunt.

[beer and nuts]

Shady Oaks--there is only one sentence in his post where it says, ""We had a good year in the Boundary Waters, I posted camp pictures in the
Photo Gallery.""", all other sentences has MI negative response to it. But whatever....

Swampbuck, thats a dandy 8 point for sure.

Some people tend to go blind/deaf when they see big bucks somebody else killed, but boy oh boy they can not wait to tell about all the spikes they saw on top of vehicles....from what I saw this year some far MI had a banner year for good sized bucks!!!

[tadmdad]

I agree with you Beer and Nuts it had been a very good year in MI.
And I believe the quality of the buck harvest has been going up for
several years now in MI, and thats a good sign. But we all have to
realize there are many different reasons we all hunt, and that a trophy
is in the eye of the beholder. I have 3 daughters, all of which hunt, and
I use to take them in a baby harness in the woods with me before they
could walk. To see the youngest one this year on her last season of the
youth hunt (16 yrs. old) pass on 6 small bucks, while we were waiting
for a 10 pt. that we saw scouting told me that she is maturing as a
hunter. But her first year (14 yrs. old)when she harvested a mature doe, that was a true trophy in her eyes, I wouldn't have missed that day for all the tea in China. The oldest is now in college in Fla. she came home to visit in October, I called her to give her the flight info, and her first ? for
me was "Dad,so where are we going hunting" PRICELESS. So, I believe
its a matter of priorities for all of us, personally I would trade all of the
deer I ever harvested, for just 1 day in the woods with my children. :)

[uptracker]

I'd love to see pics as well. Beautiful area. Did you go by boat or ATV? Congrats on a great hunt, myself and a guy from St. Cloud, MN were kicking that idea around next year, or maybe the Camp Ripley hunt.

Here ya go. May not be the waters, but close enough:

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q71/n8line1978/2006OntarioBuckPole1.jpg

[2PawsRiver]

Tad, those are some nice pictures....................hope the lady is your daughter or your a dirty old man:D ;)

[tadmdad]

tadmdad---these type of posts are getting real old, maybe we need BETTER hunters in Michigan. Quality is something different to you, going to places where 2.5 year olds tend to be 120 class deer is something special and 130 class deer are a dime a dozen in alot of places in MI, seen it in Marion buckpole for just one example but these posts that continuie to knock down other hunters need to be reviewed by the mods and I would think deleted, tell your story about MN but leave your agenda at the keyboard.

I just returned from a weekend hunt at a buddies property up near
cadillac, he has about 160 acres. After talking to several of his
neighbors about their hunting this year, largest buck harvested
about 100 class 8pt, not stellar. I also picked up a couple of the
local newspapers, one paper had pictures of the Marion buckpole,
previously mentioned in this thread. Total at Marion, 63 bucks
5 of which were 10pts, I don't know where the 130 class bucks
are a dime a dozen. :lol:

[halfcore]

Not to split hairs here B&N, but its important to note that most guys who shoot nice bucks parade them around to every buckpole they can to clean up on prizes, etc. I would be a few of those nice ones were not all taken in the immediate area.

Marion is decent hunting, but is isnt a Jackson, Washtenaw, Cass, VanBuren, etc.

Just a note on the 130 class bucks, Marion buckpole had at least 10-12, 130 class plus bucks(maybe a few went 125!), and a few that were in the 140-150 class and that was the on the second day in the evening when I saw them(think it was a 2day buck pole). It would be interesting how many of those bucks were officialling measured and recorded in some sort of orgainization? I also heard Skips in Grayling had some real monsters as well. I though I heard a couple that went 140 plus!?!?

The funny thing is, so few hunters(percentage wise) in MI go outstate and when that one guy or group gets a great spot to hunt and they post the hell out of their experience and pictures and then preach about their experience as IF they just hunted the entire STATE and the entire state is like that and then compare that to MI....take that with a grain of salt.(thats what I'm sick of hearing) I saw the pics of tadmdad and i assume his group-nice bucks, but I also have seen private buck polls in Menominee that woudl make their group of bucks look like yearlings, now if I took that group of guys in Meniominee and plastered that in the PA forums saying PA needs to be like Michigan, what perspective would that give!? Also, I hunted in MO this year and from what everybody that thinks MO is some sleeper state they might find another thing coming...we found good land through Due Dilegence..and in my seacrh it was unbelievable what I found--the same complaints we have here. You find less pressured land, you find better hunting...the NW corner had so few hunters where we hunted it was baffling, move another 5 miles from us and it was a war zone according to some, get outside the outfitter stuff and alot fo MO bucks are 1.5 year olds! Why did I go outstate, well for one and the big one-my 11 year old son could hunt and that sealed the deal and I'm all about new land new experience and road trips, and oh yea pheasant hunting helped too! Thing with MO that helps is a 2.5 year old is a really nice buck, but still a 2.5 year old!

[WinMag]

Trophy bucks are definitely not a dime a dozen in Michigan. I hunted 5 long hard days in the NW UP and 2 long hard days in the NW LP and I never saw a single buck. I had a great time, but seeing bucks would have made it better. I'm going to scout different Michigan land next year.

[beer and nuts]

Halfcore--""but its important to note that most guys who shoot nice bucks parade them around to every buckpole they can to clean up on prizes, etc. I would be a few of those nice ones were not all taken in the immediate area."""

As much as you would like to think this happens, its rare, the Marion buckpole had from what I could tell had a ton of local boys bucks as the bigger ones. And also, as best as I can remember never have seen duplicate names as winners in local buck poles, in the paper or pictures and I read the HL, Rosco, and Grayling papers. Now if you think the winners of Skip's is running outside a 30 mile radius, then yes it might be happending. But lets not try to blemish the Mi deer herd anymore than some on here try desperately to do for some reason!?

Also, the Marion buckpole had some real big 8 and 9 points too, even 8 and 9 points score in the 130's!! Trophy bucks are killed EVERYDAY around here, but if we start comparing these bucks to Iowa or your buddy that came back from Illinois, than yes your going to be disappointed.

[tadmdad]

Halfcore--""but its important to note that most guys who shoot nice bucks parade them around to every buckpole they can to clean up on prizes, etc. I would be a few of those nice ones were not all taken in the immediate area."""

As much as you would like to think this happens, its rare, the Marion buckpole had from what I could tell had a ton of local boys bucks as the bigger ones. And also, as best as I can remember never have seen duplicate names as winners in local buck poles, in the paper or pictures and I read the HL, Rosco, and Grayling papers. Now if you think the winners of Skip's is running outside a 30 mile radius, then yes it might be happending. But lets not try to blemish the Mi deer herd anymore than some on here try desperately to do for some reason!?

Also, the Marion buckpole had some real big 8 and 9 points too, even 8 and 9 points score in the 130's!! Trophy bucks are killed EVERYDAY around here, but if we start comparing these bucks to Iowa or your buddy that came back from Illinois, than yes your going to be disappointed.

So, the ? that we need to ask is: so why should we be disappointed
when comparing our buck harvest to Iowa or Illinois? Do these states
have a better deer herd than Mi? Maybe we can learn something from
these states about QDM? Maybe? :rolleyes:

[Maxidog]

Here ya go. May not be the waters, but close enough:



Congratulations on your great trophy success! Did you get around by canoe, boat or ATV?
You got me thinking about making a trip up there next year.

[beer and nuts]

I do not think they have that much better deer herd than us, just better soil, less hunters, and 365 days of SLP weather!! Your comparing horn size, most of the time, whats the arguement for a 2.5 year old in Iowa sporting a 10 point rack and a 2.5 year old in NLP sporting a 6 point rack. Thats qdm or a better herd ?? Both 2.5 year old, just better horn developement and 20-30 more pounds of weight. Corn, soybeans, pasture and alot less hunters kinda helps these states!

[tadmdad]

I do not think they have that much better deer herd than us, just better soil, less hunters, and 365 days of SLP weather!! Your comparing horn size, most of the time, whats the arguement for a 2.5 year old in Iowa sporting a 10 point rack and a 2.5 year old in NLP sporting a 6 point rack. Thats qdm or a better herd ?? Both 2.5 year old, just better horn developement and 20-30 more pounds of weight. Corn, soybeans, pasture and alot less hunters kinda helps these states!

I believe some of this to be true, the 3 factors to growing quality bucks,
age,genetics,food. Of these 3, Mi has good genetics, the agriculture
throughout the state even in the NLP provides good food, we lose
few deer due to winter starvation, except in bad years in the U.P.

A personal friend of mine harvested a 10pt,157lb buck last year on
his property, he had the deer aged it was 2.5 yrs old, this was in
the NLP, as good genetics anywhere.

So, I am left to the conclusion that age structure is the main
issue, with 90-93 percent harvest of antlered bucks in some
of our counties it doesn't leave much carryover for next year.

I look at the management policies of where our group hunts
and learn from these policys on there deer herds. Mn, you
allowed 1 buck, and 1 doe w/combination permit, mandatory
check of every deer harvested, when, where ( you have to
give location of harvest down to the sq. mile), buck/doe, they
take a tooth and glands from each deer ( if not to be mounted)
This provides valuable data about their deer herd. Why not in
MI, wouldn't that eliminate alot of guess work, and probably
stop some of the over harvest by individuals.

In Ontario, 1980 was a very bad winter, they lost almost
90 percent of their herd, what did ON do, they closed the
hunting season for 10 yrs, until 1990 for residents, and
15 yrs until 1995 for non-residents. The end result, improved
genetics in their herd on the deer that survived, better age
structure,also a 1 buck harvest, and mandatory harvest registration.
I wonder how closing the season for 10 yrs in some of our DMU's
would effect our herd, and our hunters,or the insurance lobbyists?

But if we don't do anything here in MI, IMO we will lose alot of
dedicated hunters to our sport, and give alot more ammunition
to the anti-hunting groups. :)