What are the benefits to hunting your state?

[minnesotahunter]

The #1 Benefit to hunting Minnesota is that Iowa and Wisconsin are short truck rides away.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Hawthorne]

What exactly is the law with buying tags and cross tagging in MN? I have never been able to figure out exactly what's legal. A lot of guys buy tags for the wives and shoot a deer for them even though their wives don't even hunt. Is that considered cross-tagging too?

No. That is poaching.

People abuse party hunting TERRIBLY bad here. To be done legally, both people need to be within earshot of each other. You can legally cross tag with as many people as you want as long as they are willing to give up their tag an you are legitimately hunting together.

I know lots of people who abuse it, and the "my wife shoots a doe with her bow every year" (followed by hysterical laughter) happens a lot.

My boss has people with tags waiting with their phone in hand through all of shotgun and muzzleloader season. I have relatives who put their wives tags on deer too. Drives me crazy.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

It is so common and people talk so openly about shooting deer for other people who do not even hunt that I thought it must be legal in some way. Thanks for clearing that up.

Illegal in Michigan also. A guy I work with was bragging about a buck he had shot. It was his third buck that year and the legal limit is 2. I asked him how he tagged it. He said he used his uncles tag and his family have been doing it for years. I told him it was illegal and did'nt care to hear about it. Then he came back and said its their land nobody would know. Guy is a moron.

[ Post made via Android ]

[mainebowhunter]

What exactly is the law with buying tags and cross tagging in MN? I have never been able to figure out exactly what's legal. A lot of guys buy tags for the wives and shoot a deer for them even though their wives don't even hunt. Is that considered cross-tagging too?

No. That is poaching.

People abuse party hunting TERRIBLY bad here. To be done legally, both people need to be within earshot of each other. You can legally cross tag with as many people as you want as long as they are willing to give up their tag an you are legitimately hunting together.

I know lots of people who abuse it, and the "my wife shoots a doe with her bow every year" (followed by hysterical laughter) happens a lot.

My boss has people with tags waiting with their phone in hand through all of shotgun and muzzleloader season. I have relatives who put their wives tags on deer too. Drives me crazy.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

It is so common and people talk so openly about shooting deer for other people who do not even hunt that I thought it must be legal in some way. Thanks for clearing that up.

Illegal in Michigan also. A guy I work with was bragging about a buck he had shot. It was his third buck that year and the legal limit is 2. I asked him how he tagged it. He said he used his uncles tag and his family have been doing it for years. I told him it was illegal and did'nt care to hear about it. Then he came back and said its their land nobody would know. Guy is a moron.

[ Post made via Android ]

Guys do it here also. Its totally illegal. No party tagging at all. I know one guy who liked to shoot good bucks...would shoot. He would bring someone else in with him to tag it...just in case the buck was too small. If it was a good buck, he would put his tag on it.

There are a lot of guys who believe that was long as a deer gets tagged, its all that matters.

[headgear]

Tons of public land where I live... and that is all I got.

That made me laugh... I had to think for a bit to come up with something that was truly positive about our deer hunting LOL

But yes MN does have a lot of public in most parts of the state... Not all.

Another "good" thing about MN is you can hunt all seasons and kill as many bucks and does as you want, as long as you have friends with tags! Plus if poaching is up your alley, the DNR will print you 3 buck tags even though you can only use one. Super easy to get away with here LOL

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Ya the list of negatives is larger but I decided to keep it positive. With all that public land I can easily get away from the pressure of other hunters so that can be nice. Everything else kind of takes away from the land access and low pressure areas. Way up north I can easily setup and hunt knowing I am the only hunter for a mile or more, sometimes having multiple square miles to myself. Sounds like paradise until you tack on all the other obstacles to finding a mature buck.

[mainebowhunter]

Tons of public land where I live... and that is all I got.

That made me laugh... I had to think for a bit to come up with something that was truly positive about our deer hunting LOL

But yes MN does have a lot of public in most parts of the state... Not all.

Another "good" thing about MN is you can hunt all seasons and kill as many bucks and does as you want, as long as you have friends with tags! Plus if poaching is up your alley, the DNR will print you 3 buck tags even though you can only use one. Super easy to get away with here LOL

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Ya the list of negatives is larger but I decided to keep it positive. With all that public land I can easily get away from the pressure of other hunters so that can be nice. Everything else kind of takes away from the land access and low pressure areas. Way up north I can easily setup and hunt knowing I am the only hunter for a mile or more, sometimes having multiple square miles to myself. Sounds like paradise until you tack on all the other obstacles to finding a mature buck.

That is a positive!! I love to be in the woods...tripping over 40 other hunters...not my idea of a fun time. Trying to run from the pressure all of the time...not my idea for a good time. So yep, low deer densities mean less people. Lots of guys have just given up. When I find a 3.5yr old or better, there is no competition from anyone else. (or very little). That just means I have to scout 4x as hard. Lets just say its a breath of fresh air to head for the heart of the midwest every season. Burnout is tough here. Going day after day some years and not seeing a deer...wears on you after awhile. But there are always things to learn.

I can imagine, finding a good buck and then realizing, 4 other guys found the same one. Yep, that would wear on me also.

[cedarsavage]

What exactly is the law with buying tags and cross tagging in MN? I have never been able to figure out exactly what's legal. A lot of guys buy tags for the wives and shoot a deer for them even though their wives don't even hunt. Is that considered cross-tagging too?

No. That is poaching.

People abuse party hunting TERRIBLY bad here. To be done legally, both people need to be within earshot of each other. You can legally cross tag with as many people as you want as long as they are willing to give up their tag an you are legitimately hunting together.

I know lots of people who abuse it, and the "my wife shoots a doe with her bow every year" (followed by hysterical laughter) happens a lot.

My boss has people with tags waiting with their phone in hand through all of shotgun and muzzleloader season. I have relatives who put their wives tags on deer too. Drives me crazy.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

It is so common and people talk so openly about shooting deer for other people who do not even hunt that I thought it must be legal in some way. Thanks for clearing that up.

Illegal in Michigan also. A guy I work with was bragging about a buck he had shot. It was his third buck that year and the legal limit is 2. I asked him how he tagged it. He said he used his uncles tag and his family have been doing it for years. I told him it was illegal and did'nt care to hear about it. Then he came back and said its their land nobody would know. Guy is a moron.

[ Post made via Android ]

Lots of guys in Michigan seem to do that. Funny thing is most of those guys complain the loudest when other guys do it. I listened to a guy carrying on about that for a couple seasons then last year he shot 3 8 points

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[DeerDylan]

PA pros:
Antler restrictions
two week breaks between bow,rifle and late season
Rifle season is always the Monday after Thanksgiving so not a ton of rutting still going on
Coyotes are open year round

NY pros:
Sunday hunting
lots of public in my general area
super super low taxes.....

[ihookem]

Lot's of public land in WI. Very happy for the opportunities we have here. Couldn't imagine living in a state that is strictly private with very poor public. If I travel far enough north it wouldn't be out of the question to have 1000's of acres to myself during the bow season.

Another thing I appreciate is the diversity of hunting land available here. You can hunt farmland, marshes, swamps, hill country and big woods all within a few hour drive.

If you travel far enough north you have 1000's of ac. to yourself? Kind of crowded for me. Honeslty, in Price co. where I hunt , I honestly wonder if there is a bowhunter in 10,000 ac on a weekday. I have never , ever seen another bow hunter up there in 25 yrs . This is kind of neat for northern Wis. and I like it. 24 dollar tags . I can hunt public land a 4 mi. drive from my house, about 1000 ac. 10 mi. east I have 30,000 ac. It is high pressure though even in bow season.

[Dewey]

Lot's of public land in WI. Very happy for the opportunities we have here. Couldn't imagine living in a state that is strictly private with very poor public. If I travel far enough north it wouldn't be out of the question to have 1000's of acres to myself during the bow season.

Another thing I appreciate is the diversity of hunting land available here. You can hunt farmland, marshes, swamps, hill country and big woods all within a few hour drive.

If you travel far enough north you have 1000's of ac. to yourself? Kind of crowded for me. Honeslty, in Price co. where I hunt , I honestly wonder if there is a bowhunter in 10,000 ac on a weekday. I have never , ever seen another bow hunter up there in 25 yrs . This is kind of neat for northern Wis. and I like it. 24 dollar tags . I can hunt public land a 4 mi. drive from my house, about 1000 ac. 10 mi. east I have 30,000 ac. It is high pressure though even in bow season.

No doubt. When I hunt up in Ottawa National Forest in the UP it's even better. Almost a million acres and very few bowhunters.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[oldrank]

I probably have 4 or 5 people a year offer to buy buck tags for me to fill. I am constantly explaining I will not take a deer with their tags and I have far to much to lose by doing so. I will gladly take anyone hunting with me n even give venison to some but it stops there. Just not worth it for me to risk something I love so much.

[ Post made via Android ]

[IkemanTx]

Benefit.....
Long seasons and generous bag limits (excluding some counties, 3 does and 2 bucks statewide).
Cons.....
One of the smallest percentages of public land in the nation, contributing to especially high hunter numbers on any public land within 3 hours drive of metropolitan areas. (This means at least 50% of pubic lands in the state)

I will say, if you can afford $2,500-3,500 for a lease (yes, that is a standard price for a decent lease here. It isn't uncommon to pay 3k-5k per gun/bow for 5-6 slots per 1,000 acres, assuming a 150+ has EVER been spotted on the property) you could actually get on some good deer.

[ Post made via iPhone ]