Northwoods old school whitetail

[Scottyboy]

I'm in MN, and I wouldn't bother trying to hunt deer in northern MN.

Will echo this as a MN res. For what you are looking for, it’s not here. You would laugh, or maybe cry, if you would see what we consider a “big chunk” of public land…especially coming from the west.

If you want to do northern MN for anything I would recommend bear and fishing, both can be very good.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Not trying to be a party pooper, but I am from WI and am part owner of a large chunk of property in the North Central part of the state (Price County). There are some very good reasons that I don't deer hunt there anymore.

Have you considered NE WA or Northern ID?

 

[chanson_roland]

We used to have a place in Maine. Deer densities are low, but given the latitude, the Bucks can get huge.
You won't see a lot, but what you see will be impressive. First Maine buck I saw in the wild, I thought it was a chestnut horse that had gotten loose.

Northeastern Bucks

 

[DunnCoHunter]

i would say if you’re looking for any sort of quality buck on public land in Northern WI, you will have a disappointing hunt. If you want to just go hunt and shoot a buck you could have a great time

 

[cnelk]

I grew up in N Minnesota with a 30-30 in my hands.
Killed so many deer with it.

Pic taken 1979 or 1980

 

[RMM]

If I were looking to do a hunt like that, I would head to the Adirondacks and hunt them like Larry Benoit did. If you've never heard of him, look him up. He was famous for snow tracking big whitetails.

 

[LostFarmer10009]

I was itching for a backcountry experience on the East Coast a few years ago and ended up at the base of Santanoni Peak in the ADK. It was far enough in to get away from everyone and everything but not so far that I wouldn't have pulled the trigger. The bottoms were so thick that you couldn't see 10 yards and it was much more open at the higher elevations. I found plenty of deer sign - I just never attached it to a deer. I really enjoyed hunting that wasn't my usual sit and wait. It was so much fun I might end up there again this year. It's better to hunt a little later in the year to make sure you have some snow on the ground or rain to help with the tracking.

 

[goalie]

If you're doing northern MN, do it with a handgun.

But, yeah, wolves have made it much tougher lately.

 

[TheJimmer]

Echoing the Northern MN people, Northern WI is the same. There is a number of deer but mature bucks are limited with all the predators around. The bear population is pretty latge right now.

 

[WCB]

Will echo this as a MN res. For what you are looking for, it’s not here. You would laugh, or maybe cry, if you would see what we consider a “big chunk” of public land…especially coming from the west.

If you want to do northern MN for anything I would recommend bear and fishing, both can be very good.

MN has more public and big chunks than a guy could hunt in 3 lifetimes. Don't just look at wps, wmas, state forest, Natl Forest. Look at all the Tax Forfeit land in the NE almost 1/2 or at least 1/3 of MN. Now deer population is another thing but there is no lack of publicly accessible land in MN. There are chunks every where that are 10K-20K acres...somes 2-3x that size and many of those conencted for 60-70K acres of accessible land.

Again deer herd quality is a different conversation...and many times it is thick nasty swampy mess...but its there.

 

[Scottyboy]

MN has more public and big chunks than a guy could hunt in 3 lifetimes. Don't just look at wps, wmas, state forest, Natl Forest. Look at all the Tax Forfeit land in the NE almost 1/2 or at least 1/3 of MN. Now deer population is another thing but there is no lack of publicly accessible land in MN. There are chunks every where that are 10K-20K acres...somes 2-3x that size and many of those conencted for 60-70K acres of accessible land.

Again deer herd quality is a different conversation...and many times it is thick nasty swampy mess...but its there.

Could hunt and want to hunt are 2 different things. . (As you alluded too) The northern part can be OK, my in-laws in Thief River and have thousands of acres I could hunt; but simply not worth it. A real good friend is by big falls and each year they may get 1-2 deer all rifle season (between 6-8 people), again not worth it. My cousin lives north west ish of Duluth, they only bear hunt any more. So yes, there is public but the vast majority, if not all, where you can “get away” from people is like you say a swampy shit hole near impossible to get to, or a waste of time even trying to get there.

Especially for someone coming out of state.

 

[wind gypsy]

Man, I sure wouldn’t call the majority of the MN northwoods a swampy shithole but I wouldn’t call it good hunting either. I sure enjoy the vastness of the public opportunities there from an experiencing the landscape perspective compared to my small private parcels further south. I just see a lot more deer on my private parcels further south..

 

[WCB]

Could hunt and want to hunt are 2 different things. . (As you alluded too) The northern part can be OK, my in-laws in Thief River and have thousands of acres I could hunt; but simply not worth it. A real good friend is by big falls and each year they may get 1-2 deer all rifle season (between 6-8 people), again not worth it. My cousin lives north west ish of Duluth, they only bear hunt any more. So yes, there is public but the vast majority, if not all, where you can “get away” from people is like you say a swampy shit hole near impossible to get to, or a waste of time even trying to get there.

Especially for someone coming out of state.

Yeah I get it...guys want tons of deer, wide open woods to walk easily in and no one around. That is not the point. But you can't tell me from Mille Lacs Lake north to Canada and from the lake superior/WI border west to HWY10/Detroit Lakes north a guy can't get into A LOT of public/tax forfeited land with deer on it. I've done it myself during MZ season and get into deer everyday.

Not saying it is "good" hunting in general across the whole area that is just as bad as saying there are no deer and that whole area isn't worth it.

 

[msalm]

I spent my early years hunting northern WI not too far from the UP border. You could stillhunt all day and not cross a human track. There were a lot of deer at the time, mid-80’s to early 90’s and I learned a lot sneaking through the cedar swamps, aspen clearcuts and hard maple ridges. Killed my largest buck by rattling him in on the second day of rifle season on an island of pines in a cedar/tag alder swamp. Even picked up a Win 71 in 348 Winchester and had a great time hunting slowly through the cover looking for deer. Saw Fishers, Pine Marten, camp robbers, a bobcat once, and even a spruce grouse. It was a GREAT experience that taught me how to HUNT. Still remember vividly shooting a buck on the run with that old Winchester as he ran through the timber at 40 yards. Had to shoulder the rifle and point to the sky to align my sights as it was so dark in the cover with an overcast sky. I opened both eyes while lowering the rifle and shot him as he leapt through a 5’ opening by swinging through and slapping the trigger. Hit him just above the heart and he ran on and disappeared…no noise, no thrashing. I found a bright blood trail and after 40-50 yards he lay there stretched out, dying on the run…..absolutely awesome memories.

So yes, if you want to experience that type of hunt, I say go for it…I’d look at northern Maine as N WI isn’t worth a anymore…but good luck!