ZONE A 100 series

[Boar]

Anyone in the contest that hunts that??? Causr thats when rifle season ends in MN.

[glenn57]

yea i do!!!!!!!! but i'm done in MN head to sconnie thursday!!!!

[Boar]

Ok cool glenn! Good luck!

[dakids]

I hunt in 172

[Leech~~]

I hunt in 172

But private land right?  This is the first opener I haven't deer hunted in like 50 years.  Just got off the phone with my buddy where him and his son spent a week in the woods in 172 and got nothing.  Wolve tracks is all I saw scouting and not a deer in the last 3 seasons in 172.   

[Steve-o]

Wolves don't care if it is public or private land.  I think 172 is some of the toughest woods in the state to hunt deer - even before the wolves re-established.

There is not much agriculture for deer to feed on and plenty of tamarack swamps among the woods for them to hide in.  The mixed hardwood forest is generally choked with dense, twiggy undergrowth.  There is a lot of public/Potlatch land logging and they clear-cut wide sections.  Those sections regrow in 2 or 3 years with impenetrable stands of poplars.  Deer go in and it is nearly impossible to get them out.  I'd say it takes 20 to 30 years before the trees start to thin out and maybe 50 or more before the woods go back to normal.

I reckon the zones surrounding 172 aren't that much different.

[deadeye]

Steve-o,
I have good news for you. I watched the aspen regen after logging three times and it does not take that 20 to 30 years to be able to hunt the regeneration area. You can hunt years 1-3 because even though they regen it thick as dog hair, the stems are slim and after the leaves fall you can see into them well enough to effectively hunt the area. Now, it not the same in years 4-10 it which the area is pretty much impenetrable. Starting at year 10-12 enough stems have died that you can once again start hunting the area as you can walk through without getting stuck.  Overall I think clear cut aspen is a good thing but not huge chunks of land. Three years ago I had about 20 acres of aspen logged off. I marked the area in irregular shapes with fingers. Oaks, ash and basswood were not taken so some areas were "thinned" more than clear cut. It's quite an experience to watch the regeneration take place over the years.   

[Pulleye16]

I hunt 171 and it's been very tough the last few 3 years. We hunt public and we used to have several RV's camped all week and about a dozen to 2 dozen vehicles parked.

It's been steadily dropping since the wolves moved in hard and this year...THREE TRUCKS in the parking lot and not one RV. By Sunday it was two trucks and Monday...none. Our party of 12 over the last three years has bagged a total of 3 or 4 deer that I can remember off hand. 

I thought it was bouncing back this year from what I saw but not after talking with the rest of our party and the local meat locker.   

[dakids]

I hunt in 172

But private land right?  This is the first opener I haven't deer hunted in like 50 years.  Just got off the phone with my buddy where him and his son spent a week in the woods in 172 and got nothing.  Wolve tracks is all I saw scouting and not a deer in the last 3 seasons in 172.   

We only own 26 acres.  I hunt all public land. 

[Steve-o]

Steve-o,
Now, it not the same in years 4-10 it which the area is pretty much impenetrable. Starting at year 10-12 ...

I may be off on my estimates and recollections, but the point is, clear-cut logging only makes tough hunting tougher. 

My biggest regret is not keeping a journal every year I hunted.  For the longest time I could remember everything important about every season, but 7 years turned into 15 years turned into 40.  Over that time we've hunted in 5 different patches of woods, but now it is a little fuzzy as to how long we spent in each spot. 

I remember in the 2nd spot we hunted, there was a section that had been logged off and was fully overgrown with impenetrable poplar - so 5 to 10 years before we got there.  (I used to hunt either edge of it and shot my first buck there.)  I went back to that section a few years ago and it was all back normal woods.  It takes a long time. 

Interestingly, there was a patch of woods right next to the cut that was never logged.  It was allowed to grow 30 or 40 or more years (pick a number) longer than the woods that was clear-cut.  At some point in the past 5 years a strong wind came thru and now the old-growth is so full of blow downs that IT is now almost impenetrable.  Whereas the younger stand of trees withstood the wind without much damage.

[Leech~~]

I hunt in 172

But private land right?  This is the first opener I haven't deer hunted in like 50 years.  Just got off the phone with my buddy where him and his son spent a week in the woods in 172 and got nothing.  Wolve tracks is all I saw scouting and not a deer in the last 3 seasons in 172.   

We only own 26 acres.  I hunt all public land.

And, how did you do?   

[Jerkbiat]

I hunt zones 101 and 105 up here. It has been a slow season so far.

[dakids]

I hunt in 172

But private land right?  This is the first opener I haven't deer hunted in like 50 years.  Just got off the phone with my buddy where him and his son spent a week in the woods in 172 and got nothing.  Wolve tracks is all I saw scouting and not a deer in the last 3 seasons in 172.   

We only own 26 acres.  I hunt all public land.

And, how did you do?   

I was the only hunter out of 9 hunters to even see anything.  Small buck.  Yes I shot it.  Only hunted a few hours as I have I lot of work to do on the new cabin.  Going to taste great while ice fishing this winter.  My buddy killed that big buck.  He hunts about a mile and half from our land. 

[Boar]

Post it up buddy we gots to see you could win a prize!

[dakids]

Post it up buddy we gots to see you could win a prize!

No sign or shell casing

[Leech~~]

I hunt in 172

But private land right?  This is the first opener I haven't deer hunted in like 50 years.  Just got off the phone with my buddy where him and his son spent a week in the woods in 172 and got nothing.  Wolve tracks is all I saw scouting and not a deer in the last 3 seasons in 172.   

We only own 26 acres.  I hunt all public land.

And, how did you do?   

I was the only hunter out of 9 hunters to even see anything.  Small buck.  Yes I shot it.  Only hunted a few hours as I have I lot of work to do on the new cabin.  Going to taste great while ice fishing this winter.  My buddy killed that big buck.  He hunts about a mile and half from our land.

I didn't even go up this year but there were 5 guys that did and saw nothing, two stayed all week, got nothing 172.