I’ve never hunted any further north then about Buffalo County…but driving up that way (Hayward/etc) i’ve always wondered how deer survive the long winters up there. The climate of N Wisconsin is so different then around La Crosse/areas south.
Back when i hunted hard (early 90s) if it was brown, it was down.
MN doesn’t give nearly the bonus tags that Wisconsin does. I know in the past the limit was as many as you wanted and they were like a $1.
Now the tags are different. You have to pick if you are hunting private or public land and maybe a few other things. So things are changing.
I honestly don’t care. I think the herd is better small.
The deer are plenty thick around here. You have to enclose everything in wire or you might as well not bother planting it. Just a couple days ago I was out for a walk, and a group of at least ten deer crossed the road in front of me in the middle of the day.
Speaking from watching CWD progress thru the herds around here, it is usually a sign that the herd was under pressure (food, etc). However most of the state wildlife agencies don’t take that seriously until it progresses to the point when CWD shows up and then they are faced with more serious herd reductions.
In Michigan (southeast area) we have more than we ever did, even hiring people to kill them. They are even in the cities. I’m 8 miles from Detroit and saw one yesterday.
just curious about something, Mark. Please understand I know less than nothing about grains other then corn. Around here in TN they actually plant wheat in the late fall and call it “winter wheat” and it grows in very cold weather. SO I was surprised to hear you say your wheat might have been killed and can’t take much cold. Is that just a different kind of wheat? Thanks.
Winter wheat is cold hardy until it puts out the last leaf, known as the flag leaf. After that stage the head starts to develop and cold injury can occur. A warm winter can cause early growth and will put you at risk of a late freeze. Think of it as your trees, they are fine all winter but can’t take much cold once the fruit starts to form.
Wheat is just like fruit trees it can take zero or below in winter but hardiness decreases in spring as it takes off growing. Winter wheat can probably take -20F at it’s most hardy. But teens or low 20s can do serious damage after the heads form.
I didn’t get a deer this year, but there was lots of excitement here about deer. Would you believe that LESS THAN 5 MILES FROM WHERE I HUNT…and only about 12 miles from where I live, a guy shot the biggest white tail deer ever taken (based on B&C scoring) by a hunter. EVER!. 5 miles away!!! A deer could certainly walk 5 miles, so that buck could have walked by ME. Glad it didn’t or I’d still be laying there stone cold dear from heart attack. Poor guy missed it one morning but was lucky enough to get another chance.
Here is a story and photo from the New York Times (not exactly a bastion of hunting!)
It was actually debunked about being a world record. Its the world record taken by a hunter but not ever recorded. 2 others were found that were bigger.
But yeah thats freakin huge, id have peed my pants & forgot to shoot.
