Wisconsin Gun Deer Season

Minnesota’s gun deer season is two weeks before Wisconsin’s. It coincides nicely with the Minnesota rut. Anyone in northern Wisco is lucky to catch a deer in rut with their rifle. Just curious how many Northern WI guys have experienced rut activity during gun season? My cameras are full of daytime buck activity every year from 10/31 to 11/15. Then they shut down.

I think 600,000 orange coats hitting the woods in one day alters their patterns. I used to hunt around Prentice (north central) and there was usually some rut activity. Timing and hunter impact dictated what the deer do

I’ve always wondered this too. Realize that not every opening date is the same in Minnesota though either. Nov 7 is technically the latest opening date that MN can have because I think its required to be the first Saturday in November. So it’ll be the 6th next year, then the 5th, etc. It can never be on the 8th because that would be the second Saturday in November then.

Also, bear in mind that the entire northern third of Minnesota lies north of Wisconsin on the map. I don’t know if that makes a whole lotta difference in terms of rut timing but generally the further north you go, the earlier the rut is.

gimruis wrote:

Nov 7 is technically the latest opening date that MN can have because I think its required to be the first Saturday in November.

Wrong.. Last year it was on November 9th. It is always the three Saturdays before Thanksgiving.

Rutting like crazy in SE MN right now.

Watched my buddy miss a doe.
Doe ran away, came back 2 minutes later being chased by a 12pt. Buddy misses doe again, then starts missing the buck, did connect once with the buck before running out of shells. Then within 5 minutes i see a big 8 point sniffing the trail of the doe and buck. The 8 appeared to be gut shot (by someone else). Whole lotta rutt’n going on and my buddy corey can’t shoot for poop!

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

Wrong.. Last year it was on November 9th. It is always the three Saturdays before Thanksgiving.

Gotcha, thanks for correcting. So the starting date can still range from as late as the 9th to as early as the 2nd if my math is correct.

I would hate gun hunting during the rut, such a waste. Bow hunters need the rut to move deer because of the lack of hunters, gun hunting has a bunch of almost hunters wandering around aimlessly to move the deer so the rut isn’t needed.

onestout wrote:

gun hunting has a bunch of almost hunters wandering around aimlessly

I’m a gun hunter and I don’t wander around aimlessly. I sit patiently in my stand for 11 hours waiting.

Thanks though, appreciate the comments jackass.

Minnesota starts the saturday closest to November 6th.

Twice now, I’ve shot bucks opening day of Wisconsin’s season, that were cruising, grunting, looking for does. One, shortly after first light, on private and one, midday, on heavily hunted public. I have also had friends shoot bucks that were actually bird dogging a doe. Not common, but it does happen.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>onestout wrote:</div>
gun hunting has a bunch of almost hunters wandering around aimlessly

I’m a gun hunter and I don’t wander around aimlessly. I sit patiently in my stand for 11 hours waiting.

Thanks though, appreciate the comments jackass.

I said a bunch, not all, you say you sit all day but I think we all know which group you fall into by your response….lol

onestout wrote:

you say you sit all day but I think we all know which group you fall into by your response

And we all know which group you fall into based on your initial comment and response too.

I think the WI gun opener can range from 11/17 to 11/23. It is always the Saturday before ThanksGiving (which is the 4th Thursday in November). In general, the earlier our season starts the more rut activity you see. The earlier in the season the more likely you will see rut activity.

onestout wrote:

I would hate gun hunting during the rut, such a waste. Bow hunters need the rut to move deer because of the lack of hunters, gun hunting has a bunch of almost hunters wandering around aimlessly to move the deer so the rut isn’t needed.

We do?
I thought we used water, food, bedding as the factors for ambush points…

The fun part of the rut is over by the time Wisconsin opens, but you still occasionally see a buck and a doe paired up.

I for one think it’s part (not all) of the reason why Wisconsin is so much better for deer hunting than in Minnesota (referring to the population).

Minnesota’s rifle season is like allowing night time dip netting for walleyes during their spawn.

They send an Army of orange into the woods when the deer are most vulnerable and distracted.

I’m not a biologist, but I can say with 100% certainty that if Wisconsin opened the same weekend [as MN] the harvest would increase dramatically for the first few years (and then precipitously drop off from there).

Have had cameras out for a month out of 1000 pictures i have had 3 daytime pic,s of almost mature bucks . Many pics of them at 2am or just after dark . Been that way for years

B-man wrote:

The fun part of the rut is over by the time Wisconsin opens, but you still occasionally see a buck and a doe paired up.

I for one think it’s part (not all) of the reason why Wisconsin is so much better for deer hunting than in Minnesota (referring to the population).

Minnesota’s rifle season is like allowing night time dip netting for walleyes during their spawn.

They send an Army of orange into the woods when the deer are most vulnerable and distracted.

I’m not a biologist, but I can say with 100% certainty that if Wisconsin opened the same weekend [as MN] the harvest would increase dramatically for the first few years (and then precipitously drop off from there).

While you may have a point on some of this, I believe that the primary reason Wisconsin has more deer than Minnesota is based on habitat. The entire northern third of northern MN lies further north than any portion of Wisconsin and is harder on deer survival, both because of harsh winters, lack of food, and more wolves. Also, the entire western half of MN is prairie. Prairie doesn’t support a lot of deer either. Wisconsin is the best deer habitat in the country. Especially the western portion. It’s perfect lush, fertile, rolling hills combined with nutrient rich crops. Just my 2 cents