Antler Point Restriction Bill Passes!!!

CLICK HERE FOR LINK

Sad day for MN hunters. Good to see special interest control private land.
Shawn

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Sad day for MN hunters. Good to see special interest control private land.
Shawn

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You need to do your homework Shawn 65 percent of MN hunters want APR, not just special interest groups, and oh by the way MN Deer Hunters Association another special interest group fought against APR.

I say the same thing to all the people opposed to It won’t be sad when you kill your first huge buck……

E-mail: WE WON! APR in zone 3!

Minnesota Whitetail Alliance

Hey all you APR Supporters! This is a great day for us! After a lot of work, we finally have the result we wanted – APR is here to stay in zone 3!

Thank you to everyone who sent in letters, made calls, spread the word about the Alliance, educated your
friends and neighbors, and just flat out showed your support every chance you could. Representative Drazkowski made a final push to try defeat APR, but he was unsuccessful (more on him to come in future posts so stay tuned). The Game and Fish bill passed unanimously – that’s right, not a single no vote. The APR language really wasn’t questioned as it shouldn’t be with the evidence of support we had. A link to the final bill is below, but essentially, the DNR will be allowed to implement APR in zone 3 as it sees fit. There was a stipulation thrown in at the end that will force us to go through the legislative process before we can make it happen in other areas of the state. Ideally it would have been great to not have to do this, but ultimately, it was completely expected. While it is sad that we are the only state that has ended up making this deer management issue a political one, we won’t talk about that right now. Let’s take some time to celebrate.

Please stay tuned in the upcoming months for what is next for the Minnesota Whitetail Alliance and our efforts to expand APR and the protection of yearling bucks. I promise you that we will keep up this fight, but I will say that after a very long and stressful battle, I will likely back off on this for a couple months to “recharge my batteries”. In the meantime, start thinking about how you might help in our future efforts. Send us a message if you want to get involved in expanding the protection of yearling bucks.

Additionally, don’t forget to thank Representative Hansen, Senator Schmit, and DNR Officials for their efforts here. Without them, none of this would have been possible. Here is the link to the 2013 Game and Fish Bill:

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE BILL

Have a great summer!

Ted Wawrzyniak

CLICK HERE FOR LINK TO WEB SITE

Really, self control? Have any of you ever hunted over here (WI)? We don’t need antler restriction over here because we self regulate it on private land and shoot some nice deer. And yes, I have shot some nice deer, without restrictions on the almighty horns.

These restrictions take away from the hunt, plain and simple. Those that preach, “shoot an antlerless deer if you want the meat” have lost all sense of how the hunt should be and what it’s about. And I’m not that old.

Guys, Be careful what you wish for .
Shawn

You don’t need apr over there (as badly) because the orange army can’t start shooting until the rut is mostly over. Congrats to zone three hunters in MN! Your future is looking great .

^ so instead of telling hunters which animal to select, WI scheduled the season during a more “sporting” timeframe

(while MN has deer hunt during rut, but considers it a mortal sin to fish walleyes during spawn?)

as much as it pains me to say it, appears WI is doing something the better way here

but then again, I guess MN is widely regarded as a state that needs more hunting and fishing regs

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You don’t need apr over there (as badly) because the orange army can’t start shooting until the rut is mostly over.

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Exactly all one needs to do is take a look at the number of record book bucks that come out of WI compared to MN and it does not take long to see which state has more mature buck in there herd. I would love to see the MN gun season moved out of the peak rut time but I do not think MN will see that happen for a very long time.

I hunt deer for the meat. I have yet to make an antler stew that was worth eating! IF you want to hunt for trophy’s then by all means go for it,I admire the dedication it takes to harvest the beast! BUT please do not put me down for shooting a spike or fork horn,I will eat venison for the rest of the year. If I had to have an antler restriction for the area I hunt,I would gladly stop hunting and continue my musky fishing through deer season…BTW,I hunt in the brush county of Clark County,WI Paul

We just want to shoot a deer to. Could care less if it had horns or not. If its brown it down. Throw it in the freezer and get back to fishing. Older bucks taste like crap anyways. So you got nice horns. What do you throw the meat in the ditch somewhere?

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65 percent of MN hunters want APR, not just special interest groups, and oh by the way MN Deer Hunters Association another special interest group fought against APR.

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Don’t go trying to buffalo people with this statement Steve. APR were NOT put before the whole state so saying that they were wanted by 65% of deer hunters is a bold faced lied. 65% represents the number in favor during public meetings that were held in Winona, the heart of the area affected by the rules wanted by a special interest group located in that corner of the state. That group is largely bow hunters….the ones that can shoot these huge heads a month and a half before a gun hunter can even give pointing a gun at one a thought. Who does it benefit?

If the apr concept has such strong substance, it should have been applied state-wide or perhaps Camp Ripley and the state parks where archers can hunt, not just one corner of the state. Congrats to all who voted for this and those who went to war to get the rules put in place….you are no better than the natives and their netting.

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If it’s brown it down.

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That is my grandpa talking. That is the mentality that gets us into these kinds of messes.

I am happy to see this. I can’t tell you how frustrating and upsetting it is to pass on a fork or basket 6 hoping to see it bigger next year. Only to see it in a neighbor’s truck that afternoon.

Agreed, hunting is a way of life for many people in my family. I don’t care how many points it has. Fishing slots have a purpose to maintain numbers, what purpose does this serve besides trophy hunting?

First off, nowhere near 65% of hunters wanted this. The SE MN Whitetail Special Interest Group lobbied hard and got their people out to take the online survey that most hunters knew nothing about. Then if you did take the survey, the questions were skewed to encourage answers that support APR. Rather than being proud of forcing your beliefs on everyone else, you should be ashamed to be part of a group that encourages further government intervention in the lives of Minnesota citizens.

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what purpose does this serve besides trophy hunting?

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Then narrow it down to been primarily for archers. They should have adjusted the date allowing the taking of ANY antlered animal to STATE-WIDE when ALL forms of hunting can take a deer. Just like the native netting and spearing thing, this is simply a one-sided piece of s//t that benefits one small segment of the sportsman society. As I said earlier, this element is now right up there with the painted faces in my book.

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These restrictions take away from the hunt, plain and simple. Those that preach, “shoot an antlerless deer if you want the meat” have lost all sense of how the hunt should be and what it’s about. And I’m not that old.

Guys, Be careful what you wish for .
Shawn

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Times are changing. Deer hunting was once subsistence hunting for all, you went deer hunting to fill the freezer full of meat so you made it through the winter. Now it seems most people deer hunt for the enjoyment and the bragging rights associated with taking a big buck. There are still a lot of guys that hunt for food, they buy a gunner tag and shoot the first deer that comes by. Nothing wrong with that at all. Some guys will spend 60 or more days in a tree passing up dozens of deer looking for a big buck. Nothing wrong with that at all. Both are perfectly fine ways of hunting and neither one should put pressure on the other to hunt their way. This bill was a way for one side to prevail over the other and was a huge embarrassment for MN IMO.

There is no end to the people who want to control what you do. A constant battle. This free nation can’t even see fit to let folks take a buck without first approving of the number of tines on its head.

Laws like this will ensure I won’t be interfering with you grand hunters from getting your trophy buck because I won’t be spending another dime in zone 3 on deer licenses. Laws like this are probably the only thing that could drive me away from hunting completely. Fine someone or potentially confiscate their gun and truck or whatever else for miscounting antlers? Just what we need is another criminal manufacturing law. Out of your mind.

Could someone from outside MN suggest that maybe this is about money? If MN gets more big bucks people from neighboring states might come to MN for a chance to shoot one, thus putting more money in the pockets of the people who just voted on the bill.

Being in Iowa (no APR) I have never heard of someone going to MN to hunt deer.

Kevin, as a Minnesotan who bought land in Iowa to deer hunt. I am curious. I have always had the perception that most Iowans had a self imposed APR and that was a major factor in IA being a 100X better deer hunting state.

I have been going to Montana for the last 7 years. Same thing there. People just don’t shoot little bucks, usually. Montana does have APR there in certain areas. I also have hunted moose in BC where there was APR.

I’ll never spend another penny in zone 3 during deer season again. I’m not going to waste my time travelling 3 hours, spend money on hotels, food, ect, only to see a bunch of 4 and 6 pointers walk by again.

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Kevin, as a Minnesotan who bought land in Iowa to deer hunt. I am curious. I have always had the perception that most Iowans had a self imposed APR and that was a major factor in IA being a 100X better deer hunting state.

I have been going to Montana for the last 7 years. Same thing there. People just don’t shoot little bucks, usually. Montana does have APR there in certain areas. I also have hunted moose in BC where there was APR.

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No, I don’t think there really is a self imposed APR since most hunters around here hunt for food and take big does. The bow hunters usually have their own standards, very few shoot does or small bucks from what I have seen. The gunners and muzzy hunters usually take does since a doe tag is stupid easy to get here. Most everybody during gunner season gets a doe tag if they are after meat, a few of my buddies try and get either sex tags but always end up taking the first decent doe that passes by. They just get the either sex in case someone in their party accidentally puts a slug in a small buck. I know, not the way I would do it.. but when you have 15 guys pushing deer, accidents happen I guess.

We have big Iowa bucks here because there is so much land. A deer can go years without being seen by a hunter. Spend all summer/early fall in the thickets and corn fields, then all winter on top of bluffs and in the dense crap where the gunners cant find them. They don’t run into a lake every 2 miles and have to show themselves like in MN

I’m not saying your opinion is wrong Tom, but I don’t see how you can correlate one race taking all they want in any fashion they want to APR.

APR does not discriminate against any particular race. APR does not discriminate against what weapon you choose to hunt with. APR does not discriminate what timeframe I can hunt. If this is your argument, I can see why APR passed.

I personally support it because I think a more mature deer herd is a healthier deer herd. Yearling deer are dumb anyone who argues that point has spent little time in the woods in my opinion. Give these critters a chance to grow. For the brown it’s down hunters, wouldn’t you want to shoot the biggest deer possible to provide the most meat possible for your family? For those who claim this will ruin tradition, is the hunt about killing or comradery??

If Mn truly wanted to create a trophy hunting state, they would move the gun hunting seasons out of the prime rutting period. The state would eliminate party hunting/cross tagging. That’s not gonna happen. So I don’t think the sky is falling quite like some suggest.

This legislative session looks like it is going to be the worst I can ever remember. They are adding more taxes, regulations, and spending.

I don’t deer hunt, but the Venison steaks this weekend off of my Dad’s 6 pointer sure were good. Its funny that most people who are in favor of these regulations own private land and already practive APR. I can respect them for doing as they please on their land, but I don’t respect those same people when they want to regulate what their neighbor does just so they can increase the odds of harvesting a trophy. I’m yet to see any sound biological evidence that this will “balance the herd.”

Comparing Mn deer hunting to Iowa deer hunting is beyond silly. Almost like comparing Illinois vs South Dakota corn crops it just doesn’t make sense.

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Comparing Mn deer hunting to Iowa deer hunting is beyond silly. Almost like comparing Illinois vs South Dakota corn crops it just doesn’t make sense.

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How about WI vs MN? WI is 50X better deer hunting and basically the same habitat and food.

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No, I don’t think there really is a self imposed APR since most hunters around here hunt for food and take big does. The bow hunters usually have their own standards, very few shoot does or small bucks from what I have seen. The gunners and muzzy hunters usually take does since a doe tag is stupid easy to get here. Most everybody during gunner season gets a doe tag if they are after meat, a few of my buddies try and get either sex tags but always end up taking the first decent doe that passes by. They just get the either sex in case someone in their party accidentally puts a slug in a small buck. I know, not the way I would do it.. but when you have 15 guys pushing deer, accidents happen I guess.

We have big Iowa bucks here because there is so much land. A deer can go years without being seen by a hunter. Spend all summer/early fall in the thickets and corn fields, then all winter on top of bluffs and in the dense crap where the gunners cant find them. They don’t run into a lake every 2 miles and have to show themselves like in MN

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That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. So a guy doesn’t need to kill the first deer he sees cause he’ll see 100 deer a season and can take does and pass small bucks? That is what I got from your comments. I would agree with that.

As far as not being seen. Come on up to my “deer cabin” on the Canadian Border/BWCA border in the Boreal Forest. Let me tell you about deer never being seen. If a guy is willing to put in the miles and get back where most hunters will not go, there are some monster deer to be had that may have never seen a human.

Of course some of those places, you will have to eat the deer to get him out.

I remember a buddy shot an odd little buck once WAY back in there. I was not happy when he showed up at camp with his story. It took a ton of work and a lot of time to get that little guy out of there. We often try to stress “only shoot deer you REALLY want” back in there.

If that’s you in the pic kooty I suggest knocking off the smoke so you can look forward to dragging deer. Experience here.

My argument is that the new ruling does NOT benefit the masses simply because the whole state hasn’t been included in the law…only one small segment of the state and all meetings fell inside that area where others with a voice would have to travel many many miles to participate.

Correlation is made because a small segmnent of society is affecting greater than what has been claimed. If the apr’s are such a wonderful thing for ALL DEER HUNTERS, why can’t the opening day of a BUCK season stand for ALL hunters, state-wide? If native netting/spearing of walleyes when they are vulnerable and doesn’t harm the resource, why can’t you do it?

Guys. This is FORD V CHEVY. Nobody will ever win the argument. It’s one mans way of thinking vrs. another’s. With that said, most guys don’t like being told what to do.