The lake is entirely surrounded by City property. A couple of the property corners are close to the lake but the entire shoreline is owned by the city.

The Permit issued by the state of MN for the dam to be constucted on Silver Creek specifically states that the waters impounded by the dam be “left open and unobstructed for use by the public”. Note the words “unobstructed for use by the public”.

SBR It, you are correct about the zoning issue. The Board would need a permit to build a parking area and that would be under the jurisdiction of Haverhil Township zoning. Maybe if enough people park along the road and access the lake legally the township will realize the need for a parking area.

Perhaps this forum will be more conducive to intelligent discussion than one on another website.

One, the State of MN has authority over the use of public waters, local agencies do not. Two, Silver Creek and Silver Creek Reservoir(SR-2) are public waters. The property surrounding SR-2 is owned by the City of Rochester who shares Authority of the land with other agencies of the Zumbro Joint Powers Board. The Joint Powers Board does not have the authority to regulate the use of public waters. They only have authority to regulate the land surrounding the lake. Haverhill Township, a member of the Board, has opposed allowing access to the lake via the surrounding property. I have, today, requested official comment of the DNR regarding accessing the lake.

Here it is!

—–Original Message—–
From: Craig Blommer [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 10:14 AM
To: Moore, David
Cc: Suellen Rau
Subject: Fwd: Public Water Law

David,
I am responding to your e-mail you sent to our info center regarding
access to the Silver Creek Reservoir.
The simple answer is yes, Silver Creek Reservoir is public water.
Provided you can access the water without trespassing and you don’t walk
around the shore land of the lake. To legally access the reservoir you
would have to walk up (*or down) Silver Creek.
The attachments should help explain.

Thanks.

>>> Joel Wagar 01/27/06 9:30 AM >>>
This attachment is from our website. In addition the Permit that was
issued for construction of the Dam at SR-2 contains the following
language:

“Any extension of the surface of said waters resulting from work
authorized by this permit shall become protected waters and left open
and unobstructed for use by the public.”

Let me know if you need anything else.

* I added “or down” as water flows downstream into the lake from the public road. The attachment was a synopsis of water access rules and precedence.

Had to break ice this morning on pool 5 to go duck hunting, won’t be long until we can fish the hard water! But there still ain’t no ducks!

Hunted upper pool 5 this morning, sloughs are freezing over and very few ducks flying. We did manage to get 5 Drake Mallards, 2 Drake Black Ducks, and 1 Drake woodie for 3 of us. not great but better than it has been though still not any numbers of ducks moving through My guess is the ducks bypassed the area this year.

Hunted upper pool 5 this morning, sloughs are freezing over and very few ducks flying. We did manage to get 5 Drake Mallards, 2 Drake Black Ducks, and 1 Drake woodie for 3 of us. not great but better than it has been though still not any numbers of ducks moving through My guess is the ducks bypassed the area this year.

Passed up 2 forkies and a fair 8 pointer, I’m still questioning myself on the 8, trying to get in the management mode and pass up the smaller bucks, but he was a nice 8 just not quite big enough though maybe, maybe I should have, nah. Wished I’d had the camera, we pulled off an awesome stalk on him and a forkie while they were feeding along the edge of a crp field. Gotta bring the cam next time! Between my brother-in-law and myself we saw 6 bucks Saturday morning, the 8 pointer being the largest.

Passed up 2 forkies and a fair 8 pointer, I’m still questioning myself on the 8, trying to get in the management mode and pass up the smaller bucks, but he was a nice 8 just not quite big enough though maybe, maybe I should have, nah. Wished I’d had the camera, we pulled off an awesome stalk on him and a forkie while they were feeding along the edge of a crp field. Gotta bring the cam next time! Between my brother-in-law and myself we saw 6 bucks Saturday morning, the 8 pointer being the largest.

boone and Crockett report
Boone and Crockett

boone and Crockett report
Boone and Crockett

Lawrence Lake is about 1 mile north of Brownsville, MN along HWY 26. There is a Tavern (Bissen’s) in Brownsville, though I do not recall, in the past 25 years, a tavern being at the marina.

Earn a Buck, what a set up for wanton waste.

Who consistently shoots pope and young deer? Hmmm, Buffalo County, WI was the #1 county in the nation for “Boone and Crockett” and “Pope and Young” entries from 1991-2000 and I believe still is.

QDM works for producing large antlered deer, no question about it. The question is, should the “government” manage the deer herds for the enjoyment of all, or for the enjoyment of “trophy shooters”? I say manage for the enjoyment of all (herd population based on the carrying capacity of the managed area) and let the “trophy hunters” hunt for their trophies.

Earn a Buck, what a set up for wanton waste.

Who consistently shoots pope and young deer? Hmmm, Buffalo County, WI was the #1 county in the nation for “Boone and Crockett” and “Pope and Young” entries from 1991-2000 and I believe still is.

QDM works for producing large antlered deer, no question about it. The question is, should the “government” manage the deer herds for the enjoyment of all, or for the enjoyment of “trophy shooters”? I say manage for the enjoyment of all (herd population based on the carrying capacity of the managed area) and let the “trophy hunters” hunt for their trophies.

Why should “everyone have an equal chance at a trophy buck”? If everyone is shooting 170 class bucks what becomes a trophy. How about having “Boone and Crockett” and “Pope and Young” set up new categories for bucks shot in QDM areas? At one time, the entry of an animal into one of the record books was a recognition of hunter accomplishment not herd management. I also have hunted Clark county in WI and if I were to shoot a decent 130’s class buck there, it would mean a hell of a lot more to me than if I were to shoot a 170’s class buck in Buffalo county. I have hunted (shotgun, archery, muzzleloader rifle, muzzleloader pistol, and centerfire revolver) for deer for the past 25 years and have yet to shoot a “trophy” buck, but every deer(35) I have shot has been an accomplishment to me. I am not against QDM entirely but I feel it best be applied by landowners and private wildlife managers not the state.

I recently read that having an antler point restriction in an area of one of those states has actually had a detrimental effect on mature buck populations as the 8 and 10 point 2 1/2 year old bucks were being shot more frequently thereby reducing the population of mature bucks. I’ll try to find the article and post it.

Why should “everyone have an equal chance at a trophy buck”? If everyone is shooting 170 class bucks what becomes a trophy. How about having “Boone and Crockett” and “Pope and Young” set up new categories for bucks shot in QDM areas? At one time, the entry of an animal into one of the record books was a recognition of hunter accomplishment not herd management. I also have hunted Clark county in WI and if I were to shoot a decent 130’s class buck there, it would mean a hell of a lot more to me than if I were to shoot a 170’s class buck in Buffalo county. I have hunted (shotgun, archery, muzzleloader rifle, muzzleloader pistol, and centerfire revolver) for deer for the past 25 years and have yet to shoot a “trophy” buck, but every deer(35) I have shot has been an accomplishment to me. I am not against QDM entirely but I feel it best be applied by landowners and private wildlife managers not the state.

I recently read that having an antler point restriction in an area of one of those states has actually had a detrimental effect on mature buck populations as the 8 and 10 point 2 1/2 year old bucks were being shot more frequently thereby reducing the population of mature bucks. I’ll try to find the article and post it.

Yes, Pope and Young Club is changing the rules effective in 2004, however the listing, of animals shot with a bow with greater than 65% let-off, will be designated as such. Check out “Club News” on their website.

Yes, Pope and Young Club is changing the rules effective in 2004, however the listing, of animals shot with a bow with greater than 65% let-off, will be designated as such. Check out “Club News” on their website.

In the 80’s the MN/DNR had a farmland deer mgmt program that would age your deer if you sent them the teeth then they’d send you back a patch and the age of your deer. The “basket” 6’s and 8’s that we submitted teeth from were actually 2 1/2 year olds. I’d rate it difficult at best to “age” young deer by their antler size. Though, the presence of many spikes and fork horns may just mean a good supply of bucks for the future. Or, perhaps the drought like conditions of this past summer may have had an effect on antler growth this year though with readily available water sources in our area but, I’d guess it’s just chance that that’s what your seeing.

In the 80’s the MN/DNR had a farmland deer mgmt program that would age your deer if you sent them the teeth then they’d send you back a patch and the age of your deer. The “basket” 6’s and 8’s that we submitted teeth from were actually 2 1/2 year olds. I’d rate it difficult at best to “age” young deer by their antler size. Though, the presence of many spikes and fork horns may just mean a good supply of bucks for the future. Or, perhaps the drought like conditions of this past summer may have had an effect on antler growth this year though with readily available water sources in our area but, I’d guess it’s just chance that that’s what your seeing.

I’m sure the 60 day waiting period has expired for this buck. Has anyone heard any updates on the status of his score?

I’m sure the 60 day waiting period has expired for this buck. Has anyone heard any updates on the status of his score?

Is it possible that condensation is forming on the cold barrel and your leaving the gun in a case. I’ve rusted many a barrel by leaving them overnight in a cloth case. stainless steel is stainless, not rustproof. And I also unload my ml daily. I’ve also pull off the end of my ramrod trying to dislodge stuck bullets due to corrosiveness of the powder. Now I clean my guns daily with bore butter. Just make sure the nipple/primer area is free of moisture or oil when reloading.

Is it possible that condensation is forming on the cold barrel and your leaving the gun in a case. I’ve rusted many a barrel by leaving them overnight in a cloth case. stainless steel is stainless, not rustproof. And I also unload my ml daily. I’ve also pull off the end of my ramrod trying to dislodge stuck bullets due to corrosiveness of the powder. Now I clean my guns daily with bore butter. Just make sure the nipple/primer area is free of moisture or oil when reloading.

Forgot to add that my 9 year old, Kyle is holding the deer, not me! 3 more years and he’ll be deer, duck and turkey hunting with me.

Dave AKA “Bogsucker”

Forgot to add that my 9 year old, Kyle is holding the deer, not me! 3 more years and he’ll be deer, duck and turkey hunting with me.

Dave AKA “Bogsucker”

The Super-Blackhawk spoke well yesterday. I shot a decent 8 point about 2:30 pm yesterday. I took off of work at 1:00 pm and hunted some public land near Rochester. I still hunt the area as it gets a lot of hunting pressure and the deer usually don’t move unless your right on top of them. The Wind was blowin snow and rain at about 40 mph when I shot him at about 30 yards. Knocked him down instantly then he tried to get up so I popped him 2 more times just to make sure, probably wouldn’t have had to shoot him again though. Now I have to wait until Muzzleloader season to shoot a doe (all season lic.)!

The Super-Blackhawk spoke well yesterday. I shot a decent 8 point about 2:30 pm yesterday. I took off of work at 1:00 pm and hunted some public land near Rochester. I still hunt the area as it gets a lot of hunting pressure and the deer usually don’t move unless your right on top of them. The Wind was blowin snow and rain at about 40 mph when I shot him at about 30 yards. Knocked him down instantly then he tried to get up so I popped him 2 more times just to make sure, probably wouldn’t have had to shoot him again though. Now I have to wait until Muzzleloader season to shoot a doe (all season lic.)!

Blue Fleck

Yeah, I’ll be sitting on the bluff northwest of your house with the Super-Blackhawk .44 mag Saturday morning, I also hunt with a .54 cal black powder pistol. Dad’s been down checking on the loggers this fall and has seen a few deer, hopefully the logging hasn’t disrupted the deer too much. Thinking about duck hunting the island Sunday afternoon. Have you duck hunted it at all this year?

Blue Fleck

Yeah, I’ll be sitting on the bluff northwest of your house with the Super-Blackhawk .44 mag Saturday morning, I also hunt with a .54 cal black powder pistol. Dad’s been down checking on the loggers this fall and has seen a few deer, hopefully the logging hasn’t disrupted the deer too much. Thinking about duck hunting the island Sunday afternoon. Have you duck hunted it at all this year?