SE MN Deer hunt 2016

Hi all,

I recently just got some land to hunt in SE MN near Red Wing. Its a 140 acre plot of land with mostly field and a little bit of a tree line that backs up to a bluff. I have never hunted river areas like this before and I am curious as what I can expect (although I know this is different for each specific area).

Are the deer patterns similar to those of central MN or do they vary greatly because of the different “climate” that river areas produce? I am going to be hanging trail cameras in the next few weeks here to see what I am going to be working with. The land owner has mentioned that he regularly sees a heard of 15-20 deer, although he never gave any specifics.

I am new to using trail cameras and I recently picked up 2 Wild Game Innovations Blade x6 lightsout Camera from Fleet Farm that were on sale. I am planning to put an 8gb memory card in the camera. Any tips or tricks to working with trail cams would be greatly appreciated. I am also planning to put a salt/mineral block from the local fleet store out to help with the picture taking process. How far back do I set the block from the camera to get a good quality picture? I am basically wanting to see what is out there for deer and see if I can start to lay down any patterns that they may have. I am planning to put both cameras out on different areas of the property. Any suggestions as what I should be looking for other than the obvious deer trails and old scrapes/rubs?

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I have never hunted near the river so I can’t help much there.

Trail cams can be addicting, you have been warned Best advice I can give is set the cam out so that it is looking up or down a trail, not across a trail. This gives the cam more time to wake up and get pics before the deer go by. Also the sun will rise in the east, go across the southern sky and set in the west, face your cam to the north as much as possible to keep from getting pictures with the sun in the back ground. Use the multi shot setting so you get several pics of each deer.

Establishing a mineral lick site is a great way to “take inventory” to see what’s around. During the peak of the deer’s salt cravings in the mid summer, you’ll see every deer working the area, but take it with a–errrm–grain of salt. Those deer won’t all be there come fall.

I set my cams back about 20 feet. If your camera has a “test mode” that shows you when the sensor activates, do some walking back and forth to confirm the distance to make sure the camera is picking up the movement.

Pick a good mineral site because once you get one started, you’ll want to keep using it year after year and the salt washes into the ground, so the deer keep coming.

As far as how to hunt the property, there is no formula. Only scouting can tell you that. Put in some boots on ground time now while brush isn’t thick and try to find the trails and travel routes.

Also, watch the fields for entry points if the deer are feeding out in the fields. Using a trail cam’s “plot watcher” time lapse mode can help you figure out where the deer come in from and often this will reveal a travel route and the deer’s general direction of movement at that time of day.

For example, in my south plot last fall, the deer tended to enter from the southeast and work to the north as the afternoon progressed. After some investigation, it looks like they bed down on some high ground with thin trees or along a creek bottom in tall grass areas. Then they move into the plot to feed in the late afternoon, exiting to the north for reasons only they know for sure.

Keep on the scouting and you’ll develop an understanding pretty quickly.

Grouse

Eyehunter,

This sounds like an awesome setup and with a few improvements you’ll really have a good time hunting it.

IMO–and it’s just that, my opinion–I would not check cams as often as every other day. That’s too much disturbance and scent being laid down for my taste. I know it’s tempting with all those awesome pictures, but once the cam and setup is dialed in, I’d leave it for at least a week between checking and then go in/out very quickly and quietly.

I use 16 GB cards and most of my cams are set between 4 and 8 MP, I use the lowest MP setting. At those MP settings, even the 8 MP cam will shoot over 1000 pics on a card. So checking frequently is not necessary.

As far as mineral, Deertracker posted a DIY mix on this site and I’ve seen other mixes that are similar on the web. It is vastly more economical to mix your own with common feed store or Fleet Farm ingredients. I make up 200 pounds of mineral for what 2 name brand rocks/blocks would cost and keeping in mind the “deer specific” blocks/rocks are 95%+ salt.

If you’re planning plots for this year, better get going! It’s August tomorrow.

I’d get in there and spray down the plot areas with Roundup ASAP. Hand sprayers are fine for small plots.

IMO, you’re too late on average for brassicas to reliably mature. I would focus on clover blends and grain mixes, both of which grown quickly and continue to grow after the first frosts.

Grouse

EyeHunter wrote:

Good info here.

I’m kinda in the same boat as Ryan. Recently married into about 30 acres (20-25 of woods) that butts up to a River in SE MN. Part of the land is ridge/bluff and the other half is bottom land where it appears the deer cross the river. I shotgun hunted the land last year for the first time but only hunting it for a small period of time, it was hard to pattern the deer. I’ve been scouting the land quite a bit this year. I’ve noticed it’s much easier to spot the heavily used deer trails in the spring/summer compared to the fall when the growth has died.

I’m currently experimenting with salt/mineral blocks and just set up a trail camera the other day (looking across the deer trail, I’ll have to tweak that). Living near the land it’s hard not to swap SD cards in the camera every other day. I’ve got 16G SD cards and have it set for pictures and 10s videos. How long would you let the camera sit without disturbing it?

As far as blocks: I’ve used the Trophy Rock (all natural) and another block (not all natural). What’s everyone recommend for mineral blocks/licks? I also purchased some clover to plant in the bottom land this fall which will definitely be an experiment. I plan on a few smaller plots scattered in the same general area making it easier to water if need be. Any suggestions for planting and growing?

To start with. I check cameras 1 time per month as I have to drive around 200 miles round trip to just check them. Lots of driving and walking for 1 day. Last check (7/30/16) I had 1300 pics on one camera and about 250 on the other one. I had over 100 pictures of the same doe during a 45 min time span that she spent at my mineral block. Figured out that I tweaked the settings on accident last time to have a shorter shutter delay, resulting in massive amounts of pictures.

I had my brothers father-in-law (who’s land I am hunting) purchase me some mineral blocks that they use for the cows. Great results and I think I paid him right around 10 buck for 2 blocks. Dirt cheap in relation to “deer specific” blocks as TheFamousGrouse mentioned. I did purchase a small 5# apple flavored block to test out. From 6/30 to 7/30 they completely destroyed the apple block, leaving a chunk about the size of D-cell battery on the stump where I left it. I am not skilled or competent on food plots as I dont have the land to venture into those yet, although it seems you have a good plan in place. Add variety (sugar beets, rape grass(?), corn, etc…) to the planting as it will potentially keep them there longer and/or coming back on a yearly basis.

Here are the latest pictures from July. I’ll be heading down one last time 9/3 to check and get all stand preparations in place before opener. The woods will have 2 full weeks to set before I step foot out there again to sling some arrows.

I have 1 very curious doe who I mentioned in my last post who is my most frequent visitor, sometimes spending as much as 45 mins at the blocks. About 15 of those mins were pictures of here looking from side to side. I presume that she was watching her own back or keeping a keen eye on her fawn. I have 5 different bucks working the same area. 1 picture is hard to tell how big he is, but I know his rack is different from the rest (WGI_0356), I have 1 spike buck, 1 four pointer, 1 six pointer, and 1 8-pointer for sure. They are all growing nicely and it will be interesting to see how the season plays out. I am hoping to thin the does out in the area as I have scouted many that never make it past my camera. Brothers father-in-law also reports seeing as many as 15-20 deer on occasion at dawn and dusk grazing the hay fields.

Enjoy the pictures and hopefully will have 1 final pre-hunt update for you next weekend.

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Deer are deer, don’t overthink it. They’re inherently lazy and like the path of least resistance in most cases. I have hunted this type of terrain for years and I like to hunt benches and the tops of drainages, especially during the rut. These areas become major travel corridors. Scent will sink at night and rise in the morning, take this into account when looking for spots. I have several morning stands and several evening stands based on thermals and food. Get out there and enjoy it would be my best advice. Good luck

Thanks for the tid-bits Pete S.

I only have 2 stands that I can use right now for hunting as I haven’t made another investment into one. I am hoping to get one set on a ridge and one in a valley or drainage ditch area. I will then alternate based on what is/isn’t working that well or play the wind in my favor, depending which is relevant at the time.

Final check of the cams revealed that we have twins!! I had a weird gut feeling that the doe was carrying twins based on how big she was, and my camera proved me right. (Sorry for beating my own drum)

Got a real good 8 point that I will probably take a crack at if given the opportunity. The 6 pointer that was there didn’t make an appearance this month on the camera, not sure if he got pushed out or is just MIA. The 5 pointer is a new guy to the area, looks like he might be a 1 year old or maybe even a 2 year old. One night on the camera the 3 main does and the 5 pointer all made an appearance at the same time, pretty neat to see them all together. Here’s a few pictures as my computer is acting up and wont let me transfer them all yet, still working on that

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We had a bumper crop of the nuts. And squirrels. And raccoon. And deer….in town yet. I think that late frost was sporadic in coverage and many areas I have been to have as many acorns as what we had here at home.

If the nut crop is poor where you are I’d just shift stands to areas with forage crops on edges and find trails to and from those peripheral feeding areas back in the woods. Oaks go thru cycles in nut production so deer adjust a little when the nut crop is in decline.