Archery Hunt MO vs SE MN

Plans went haywire from Antelope to Elk to a solo archery hunt. I’ve hunted private North north/western MO but that’s also not going to be an option next week. Because it’s solo, I have some hesitation to make the MO drive but other then time on the road, I guess it make really no difference then heading to SE MN…which I’ve never hunted. Because CWD is present in SE MN, I can shot a buck with my bow and still go rifle hunting.

Is SE MN an excellent choice or should I just head out to MO? 5-6 days of hunting. Thinking in between Bethany and Milan area for MO.

Pros and cons list has started but maybe I’m missing something to help persuade me one way or the other…Decisions Decisions Decisions…

How good of shape are you in? If billy goating up and down bluff country is a realistic physical expectation for you I’d go SE MN. I’m a little biased as I’m unfamiliar w/ MO beyond what you see on TV, and have shot my 2 biggest bucks in SE MN.

BigWerm wrote:

How good of shape are you in? If billy goating up and down bluff country is a realistic physical expectation for you I’d go SE MN. I’m a little biased as I’m unfamiliar w/ MO beyond what you see on TV, and have shot my 2 biggest bucks in SE MN.

I did finish a 70.3 Ironman this summer!!! Lol. Thanks for the info. It would be nice to try SE MN. Is it busy during the week? A lot of hunting areas? I’ve done little searching for this area.

Thanks,
CC

Well then you should be good to go, although I don’t think you dragged a 200 lbs deer on the Ironman did you? I hunt just outside of the CWD zone and on 2nd weekend so I’m not much help on your other questions unfortunately.

Week days aren’t too crowded. There are lots of public hunting areas in there and getting permission on private can be done fairly easy especially with the CWD hunting.

How much time are you going to have? I don’t think I’d plan to drive down, hop in the woods and shoot a buck in a couple days, or a week. They’re deer and they can mess with plans like that in a hurry. PLUS….any deer you shoot has to be tested and a whole deer cannot be taken out of that area so you need to factor in time for boning/packing.

I spent the last few muzzleloader seasons down hunting just outside the original cwd zone and the deer numbers are way down after they extended the zone to include there farm 2 years ago. Still better numbers then where I hunt in northern mn. The owners say it has been the extra seasons when the most pressure has been by their farm.

Thanks all for the info. I’m strongly leaning towards MO. I’m more of a “scenery” hunter so if I don’t get a deer,no worries…it’s about the adventure. My goal is just to see some dandy bucks and if I get the chance to shot one, BONUS!

I’ll hopefully get some nice pics for the “Live from the Tree stand” thread.