Deer lottery results are out

Third year in a row 0-5 for doe permits. Maybe someone can explain to me how zone 156 was allotted 300 permits, but 157 got 2500? Weird.

Deer numbers go down fast once you get north of 157, but I’m in 159 and no permits for either me or my father. Not that it matters much to me, personally.

The days of being guaranteed a doe permit were a blip and we may never see the population levels like that again. The 1990s and 2000s were not “normal”, they were a result of a combination of mild winters and other factors that we may never see again.

Grouse

I’m fine with no permit too…but 300 versus 2500?

157 is further south. I believe the goal in 156 was to build the deer population following 2014. It may depend on where you are in 156 with respect to what kind of numbers you are seeing. I hunt in 156 within a mile of Hwy 210. It’s been absolutely sparse the past couple years. Just glad to see to herd rebounding this year. Been seeing a decent number of yearly bucks. Will take a couple more years to get a better age distribution.

I will never understand how they determine such a huge population swing from one permit area to another, but I do have proof that it is real. We are seeing 15-20 does/fawns a night in our alfalfa and we are hunters choice, my buddy is 15 miles to the east and doesn’t have 20 deer on trail cam all summer and they are management.

brian_peterson wrote:

I’m fine with no permit too…but 300 versus 2500?

Very odd indeed…RR

Is there a way to find out other than the mail?

Francis K wrote:

Is there a way to find out other than the mail?

Never mind. I found it.

In Iowa every first tag is for any sex. Next tags in countys where they are available are doe or fawn only. If extra tags are left after a certain date and you have bought the first two at regular $28 price you can buy all you want at $14 till they are gone. These are all for doe or fawn.

In Iowa every first tag is for any sex. Next tags in countys where they are available are doe or fawn only. If extra tags are left after a certain date and you have bought the first two at regular $28 price you can buy all you want at $14 each till they are gone. These are all for doe or fawn.

Some of the areas you just have to wonder what the dnr is thinking as far as deer numbers go. Look at area 223 and 224, 224 is the sherburne wildlife refuge and is lottery but right across the road in 223 it is managed. I don’t get it.

Makes me feel fortunate to have bow land in 601…I used to hunt 292 and 253 for many years and the numbers were never really there in 292 but always good in 253. The latter being a lottery zone…

The one thing I’ve gotten used to in Zone 1 is it doesn’t stay one thing for very long. Whether bucks only, lottery, HC or managed. Seems to flow from one to the next, up or down.

I and my son also hunt within a few miles of Hwy 210 in 156 and the numbers the 2 years we have hunted there have been pretty slim. Hoping this last milder winter helped out.
I live in the small sliver of the south part of 182, south of the city of Cloquet, which is lottery and 300 tags.
300 yards west of my house is bucks only (199, FDL rez), while 1 mile east is intensive harvest (182) and the 5 deer limit. I have hunted all 3 areas in the same day, bumping from one to the other at different times of the day. Makes for an interesting day.
This year I didnt even buy a rifle license, just got my bow license and will get Junior his rifle license. Figure I’ll just bow hunt thru the gun season if I dont have one in the freezer by then, only seeing yearling does and does with fawns so far.

we are in 151 and went 2 for 6 or 7… it was intensive harvest maybe 5-6 years ago, now it is lottery since then ??? (when it was intensive harvest, some were dragging out fawns left and right, 5 at a time. One guy and his son and daughter would take their 15 by the 2nd weekend)

Stanley wrote:

Some of the areas you just have to wonder what the dnr is thinking as far as deer numbers go. Look at area 223 and 224, 224 is the sherburne wildlife refuge and is lottery but right across the road in 223 it is managed. I don’t get it.

I don’t get it either.. I hunt in 157 near county road 18 and I have a group of friends that hunt in 152, the Mille Lacs WMA (surrounded by 157). 157 has been lottery or either sex for a few years now and Mille Lacs WMA has been bucks only for many years.

With that said, my grand pappy, cousin, and I didn’t get drawn last year but each of us did this year. Grandpa will shoot the first thing he sees. Always has, always will. My cousin and I try to wait as long as possible for the big boys to make a mistake and show themselves. IMO the deer population around our place can’t afford a pile of does to be taken.