What to do?

[jgator81]

I'm considering coming over to Minnesota to hunt next rifle season.  I'm over in North Dakota (Minot area) so this would be somewhat of a road trip.  I considered maybe going on public land...perhaps the Itasca State Park or something.  Figured I could go in the spring on a family camping trip and do a little scouting then return in the fall to hunt.  Does it get crowded out there during the deer season or is it reasonable?  I would most likely travel light with a Ghost Blind for portability.  Limiting factors would be transporting the deer back to ND or I would just have to drop it with a processor.  I would assume in Nov the deer would be ok in the back of the truck field dressed until I could get it to the processor or even back here to Minot...unless its too cold of course it would freeze.  I would really like to process one myself as I have never done it.  I watched my uncle when I was 15 but never have I had the chance.  I'm not looking for huge bucks although I'll take one    

The other option I am considering is finding a hunting lodge on private property.  I'm not interested in a big money hunt, just mainly a place to sleep and guaranteed land to hunt.  Found a website for a place that has 30 deer stands and you can bring a max of 4 people.  While at the lodge your group is the only one on the property. Cost is $175 a night per person.  They don't hold your hand, they just drop you off everyday at your stand and pick you up.  This option would probably be nice as a normal hotel is not going to have anywhere for me to process a deer (if I'm lucky enough to get one)   

I'm really just interested in getting my first deer.  I've bow hunted over here a few seasons but never had any luck.  Usually I can find deer but I have had hell getting into position to draw back and get a shot   There are a lot of guys that are good at it around here but the lack of concealment does make things a little difficult.  For rifle tags over here I have to pay non-resident as my home of record is Florida and ND will not give anyone that does not have a ND drivers license a resident rifle tag..they will for bow just not rifle since rifle is a lottery.  I figure if I am going to pay non resident prices for a gun tag, I may as well go over to Mn where they have nice trees and forests.  It really is beautiful over there.

Any thoughts/suggestions some you over there have are appreciated!   

[Fawkinnae]

Hi jgator81 - welcome to the site. This is not really my area of expertise but, I'm pretty sure you would not be able to hunt in any of the state parks. There is however lots of public land to hunt on. My hunch is the further you are from the Twin Cities the fewer hunters you will encounter.

[HD]

WMA'S you can hunt, state forests you can hunt. Some state parks have "special" hunts by lottery.

Non-resident firearm licenses are 165.00

[Onin24Eagle]

The North entrance of Itasca state park is a mere 15 minute drive from my house.  They do allow rifle hunting in this state park.  In fact, the park itself is it's own designated deer area (area 287).  All stands and blinds must be taken down at the end of each day when hunting in the park.

The downside to hunting Itasca park is exactly what you are worried about, the crowds.  It is very crowded there and though I've never hunted it myself I know people who have and every one of them said they probably would not do it again for that reason. 

There is, however, some very large tracts of state and county land all over in that area.  I hunt about 15 miles West of Itasca park towards North end of the Strawberry Mountain Forest Road just off of hwy 200 near Roy Lake.  Although I am on private land, there is nothing but public land for miles and miles to the South of us.  We do get quite a few hunting groups that hunt the land butting up to our property but if you were to go further in you would find lots of areas where you should not run into anyone.  There are two reasons for this.  One, our land has the only agricultural field around for miles, so naturally those hunting the county land try to get as close to that as possible.  Second, there are lots of people that are too lazy to go into the forest another 5, 10 or 15 miles.  I'm not saying that there's nobody back there, but there is a lot of area and few people hunting it.

There is also a lot of public land around the park itself.  I personally have not hunted any of these areas for deer and cannot attest to how crowded they get, but there are vast tracts of state and county land in the area.  I would imagine that there would have to be somewhere where you could find your own little area without being disturbed.

Should you wish to check these areas out sometime or want to do any scouting in the area just PM me and I would be glad to take a day and show you around. 

[jgator81]

 Wow!  That's amazing.  I found where you are talking about on google earth.  There is nothing from hwy 200 south to 113.  That is all country land?  So is it like ND...if it's not posted you can go in?  I appreciate your offer and may take you up on it in the spring.

The North entrance of Itasca state park is a mere 15 minute drive from my house.  They do allow rifle hunting in this state park.  In fact, the park itself is it's own designated deer area (area 287).  All stands and blinds must be taken down at the end of each day when hunting in the park.

The downside to hunting Itasca park is exactly what you are worried about, the crowds.  It is very crowded there and though I've never hunted it myself I know people who have and every one of them said they probably would not do it again for that reason. 

There is, however, some very large tracts of state and county land all over in that area.  I hunt about 15 miles West of Itasca park towards North end of the Strawberry Mountain Forest Road just off of hwy 200 near Roy Lake.  Although I am on private land, there is nothing but public land for miles and miles to the South of us.  We do get quite a few hunting groups that hunt the land butting up to our property but if you were to go further in you would find lots of areas where you should not run into anyone.  There are two reasons for this.  One, our land has the only agricultural field around for miles, so naturally those hunting the county land try to get as close to that as possible.  Second, there are lots of people that are too lazy to go into the forest another 5, 10 or 15 miles.  I'm not saying that there's nobody back there, but there is a lot of area and few people hunting it.

There is also a lot of public land around the park itself.  I personally have not hunted any of these areas for deer and cannot attest to how crowded they get, but there are vast tracts of state and county land in the area.  I would imagine that there would have to be somewhere where you could find your own little area without being disturbed.

Should you wish to check these areas out sometime or want to do any scouting in the area just PM me and I would be glad to take a day and show you around.

[Onin24Eagle]

I'd say that about 90% of it is County or State land.  The other 10 % is private or tribal.  Most of that 10% is tribal.  They have white signs posted showing where the tribal land is and it is well marked.  It's really not that much though.

If you look up "Clearwater county MN GIS" on Google it will take you to the online mapping page for the county.  Click the "online mapping" link and that will bring up a new tab with the map.  This will give you a pretty good idea of how the Eastern half of that forest is divided up.  Start by zooming in on the LaPrarie Central township in the SW part of the County (scroll on your mouse should work to zoom).  If you zoom close enough you can see the plat lines and how each section is divided up.  To find ownership, click "identify" at the top of the screen and then "select one" from the drop down menu that appears.  Click inside any section and you will get information on who owns that tract including name, address and sometimes even an phone number.  Almost everything you click in this area will be Clearwater County Memorial Forest.  If it says "White Earth" anywhere in the description, it's tribal.

Mahnomen County does not have online GIS mapping so you would have to go old school and get a plat book to see how the Western half of the forest is divided up. 

And yes, it's like ND over here except for agricultural land.  Basically if it's planted or fenced then it is "assumed" to be posted.  If it's not agricultural and not posted you may enter but if it turns out to be private you must leave immediately if asked by the property owner.  Best to always check a plat book first so you don't run into that problem. 

[jgator81]

Thanks!  I tried to send a PM but I dont see any sent items in my box.  Not sure if what the deal is.  I checked out the GIS map of Clearwater County..very neat!!!!  Is the DNR Deer unit map a little vague?  The GIS map was as you said...most of the land was State or County, but the DNR Deer unit map has the Reservation listed in those same areas (unless I am not oriented correctly)  It seems to have the White Earth Reservation plotted from hwy 200 near Roy Lake south to Hwy 113 and East to West from Itasca State Park over to Twin Valley.

I think I may take a scouting trip next month while there is still snow on the ground and I can see tracks good. Also, I looked at potential lodging.  The closest place I saw was a Super 8 in Fosston  which is about a 30 min ride to Roy Lake.  I'm ok with that but do you know of anything closer?   

[Onin24Eagle]

The White Earth Indian Reservation is an "open" reservation unlike, for instance, the Red Lake reservation which is "closed".  Tribal members are allowed hunting and fishing rights anywhere within those boundaries but that doesn't mean it's all tribal land.  Red Lake on the other hand is all tribal land.  The only land you would need to avoid here is any land actually owned by the tribe.  That entire are is within the reservation borders but most of the land is not tribal land and is therefore open to the public.

There are a couple of places for lodging.  Not sure if the lodge or any of the cabins in Itasca Park are available but you could try there.  There's also a small mom and pop place in Bagley called Dutch Mill Motel and Video.  Another that comes to mind is the Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen.  Never stayed there but I'm told they have a pretty nice hotel.  All three of those would be around 20 miles from Roy Lake.  One more place that comes to mind is the Loon Song Bed and Breakfast on Heart Lake just West of Itasca park.  I don't know if that one is even open after Labor Day but you could call and find out.

As far as coming out next month you would want to bring out a snowmobile for sure.  Most of the forest roads in that area are not plowed at all and a good number of them get groomed as snowmobile trails so driving a truck back there isn't an option once there's enough snow on the roads.  Right now they have about 8-10 inches and it's snowing pretty good out at the moment.  We're supposed to get another 3-5 by the end of the day.  I'm guessing the groomers could be back there as early as tomorrow.

[jgator81]

Ok that makes sense about the reservation.  I don't have a snowmobile so I'd maybe better wait till March or even April...(I had a Floridian moment there I think )  Do you think I would be ok in a 4 wheel drive truck in Nov?  I imagine that would all depend on the type year you are having over there. 

[Onin24Eagle]

As long as there isn't much snow you'd be OK even with a Geo Metro.  Roads are very well maintained back there.  They can get washed out in areas after a lot of rain but they are usually pretty quick to fix that as there is a lot of logging activity in the area so they like to keep the roads in good shape.  They also do rally races back there every summer and all of the roads that they race on get a fresh coating of class 5 every year.

[jgator81]

What would you look for in that region for a good spot.  From the arial images I see a lot of woods with a few small open areas which some look like little depressions or just little openings in the forrest.  Are these good areas to check out? 

[Onin24Eagle]

Sent you a PM

[jgator81]

Got your message but I can't reply.  Said it was sent successfuly but nothing in the Sent items.  Are there any admins on here that can check my settings?

Sent you a PM

[HD]

Got your message but I can't reply.  Said it was sent successfuly but nothing in the Sent items.  Are there any admins on here that can check my settings?

Sent you a PM

Once you get off of "minnow status" (I think it's set at 10 posts) you will be able to use the pm function. And once you are able to send a pm, it won't be saved in your sent folder unless you click the box to save.

HD

[jgator81]

Aww man....minnow staus.  Roger that. 

Got your message but I can't reply.  Said it was sent successfuly but nothing in the Sent items.  Are there any admins on here that can check my settings?

Sent you a PM

Once you get off of "minnow status" (I think it's set at 10 posts) you will be able to use the pm function. And once you are able to send a pm, it won't be saved in your sent folder unless you click the box to save.

HD