Thanks for the responses folks. I’ll try and get a pic of the 140+ from St Croix co. AS far as other thoughts.
I have 250+ acres just north of Gransburg next to the reserve. It is so loaded with deer it is not even funny. The kids, a son and daughter ages 15 and 13, shot 11 deer with bow this season up there, including a 125 10 point which is good for the area. I had to keep going back to the DNR and buy more permits, which I believe they still have some. We were there practically every weekend including the few days of teacher inservice. The ratio of does to bucks is ridiculous up there. Waaaay too many does. Too many deer, but the kids sure have a blast. We reserve the Buffalo trips to the rut only and then only for bow as they just don’t move for gun that well. I found that the few days on either side of halloween work the best for my buffalo hunt, other than that, we just don’t go to Buffalo that often. The other two guys go to Buffalo about every weekend and then a week or two as they can fit in vacations. They do very well with the Bucks, but will say the same thing I am saying here. The kids don’t like Buffalo, but I would prefer to go to Buffalo for the size, which is better I might add, but for sheer numbers and a couple of kids with bows, Burnett will win every time. I say buffalo is hard to hunt, but that is compared to Burnett. In Burnett the trails are very distinct and the deer are for sure less wary. My daughter took a nice doe in Burnett, spined it so it dropped on the spot, so.. we gutted it right there. The next day she took another one in the exact same spot, almost standing in the previous days gut pile. It just seems we don’t have to deal with the thermals, the hills, ETC. We just trial it and there ya go. My son will take the 4 wheeler right to the stand and shoot away. Weird actually since the two locations are barely 2 hours apart.
The deer are totally different. Buffalo deer FOR SURE have nicer meat, coats, and racks – hands down. You see few heavy horned bucks in Burnett, but when you do, it still is comparable to Buffalo. I bet the numbers are the same. I still stand by my thoughts that numbers are not there in Buffalo, they are for sure good, but lower than directly surrounding counties in about any direction you want to go. I don’t know why. But in St. Croix and northern Pierce, the numbers are much better and it seems they are hunted harder primarily due to land access. Earn a buck for buffalo would not make sense to me. Earn a buck would make sense for Burnett, but only if yo take TWO does first. Don’t get too hung up on Buffalo you guys. take highway ‘P’ (I think), or the road between Elmwood and Spring Valley (there are two of them, go the back way that does not follow the river). You will get permission every time for bow and I bet you can’t tell the difference between that land and Buffalo, except for the fact you can get on it for free. In short, Buffalo is over rated, but still good. Remember where the Jordan buck came from, it was alot closer to Burnett than Buffalo and that deer held the record for 80 years – prior to QDM and mineral supplements. The norther Iron river area has got to be the biggest sleeper of them all.

Thanks for the responses folks. I’ll try and get a pic of the 140+ from St Croix co. AS far as other thoughts.
I have 250+ acres just north of Gransburg next to the reserve. It is so loaded with deer it is not even funny. The kids, a son and daughter ages 15 and 13, shot 11 deer with bow this season up there, including a 125 10 point which is good for the area. I had to keep going back to the DNR and buy more permits, which I believe they still have some. We were there practically every weekend including the few days of teacher inservice. The ratio of does to bucks is ridiculous up there. Waaaay too many does. Too many deer, but the kids sure have a blast. We reserve the Buffalo trips to the rut only and then only for bow as they just don’t move for gun that well. I found that the few days on either side of halloween work the best for my buffalo hunt, other than that, we just don’t go to Buffalo that often. The other two guys go to Buffalo about every weekend and then a week or two as they can fit in vacations. They do very well with the Bucks, but will say the same thing I am saying here. The kids don’t like Buffalo, but I would prefer to go to Buffalo for the size, which is better I might add, but for sheer numbers and a couple of kids with bows, Burnett will win every time. I say buffalo is hard to hunt, but that is compared to Burnett. In Burnett the trails are very distinct and the deer are for sure less wary. My daughter took a nice doe in Burnett, spined it so it dropped on the spot, so.. we gutted it right there. The next day she took another one in the exact same spot, almost standing in the previous days gut pile. It just seems we don’t have to deal with the thermals, the hills, ETC. We just trial it and there ya go. My son will take the 4 wheeler right to the stand and shoot away. Weird actually since the two locations are barely 2 hours apart.
The deer are totally different. Buffalo deer FOR SURE have nicer meat, coats, and racks – hands down. You see few heavy horned bucks in Burnett, but when you do, it still is comparable to Buffalo. I bet the numbers are the same. I still stand by my thoughts that numbers are not there in Buffalo, they are for sure good, but lower than directly surrounding counties in about any direction you want to go. I don’t know why. But in St. Croix and northern Pierce, the numbers are much better and it seems they are hunted harder primarily due to land access. Earn a buck for buffalo would not make sense to me. Earn a buck would make sense for Burnett, but only if yo take TWO does first. Don’t get too hung up on Buffalo you guys. take highway ‘P’ (I think), or the road between Elmwood and Spring Valley (there are two of them, go the back way that does not follow the river). You will get permission every time for bow and I bet you can’t tell the difference between that land and Buffalo, except for the fact you can get on it for free. In short, Buffalo is over rated, but still good. Remember where the Jordan buck came from, it was alot closer to Burnett than Buffalo and that deer held the record for 80 years – prior to QDM and mineral supplements. The norther Iron river area has got to be the biggest sleeper of them all.

I met Tom and his wife 5 or 6 years ago at a little bar just outside of Alma. The one just northwest of town that follows the Buffalo river. Nice guy actually, but we only talked about him and not myself. Three of us lease over 500 acreas of prime hunting land close to where Tom puts up his hunters. We see these folks all the time. The cost for the lease is about 1500 bucks per person, which is about what Tom charges for a three day hunt, but we get the land for everything for the entire year. We have never had a problem with Toms clients. Been doing this for several years now. Unfortunately, deer hunting is going the way of everything else. Those who have it ($) get to play. The old days of driving the deer around the Snyder farm, Thiesein Ridge, Cook Valley, and countless others are gone. I will miss them severly. On the other hand my other property in St. Croix Co produced a 145 class buck on the last day of the season. Since I hunt from Burnett to Buffalo I can say that Buffalo is not the only place where big bucks reside. You can still get on land just as good and maybe even better in the Elmwood, Spring Valley area of Pierce Co. I don’t think Tom had anything to do with the high price of land. This is common everywhere in the state. If you want to buy Buffalo land, just wait until CWD hits and it will. How about next years “earn a Buck”? Buffalo is actually hard to hunt and I do see more deer in Burnett. Buffalo is not that hot. Sure we shoot deer there, but we really only hunt deer there around halloween and the opener. Of the three of us, we have not broken the 150 barrier, but 140’s are common as we usualy take one or two a year plus several does. You can’t wine abpout Tom. Where we lease we are always told “When ever you boys are done just say so, I have a list of others as replacements”. We are most likely going to let it go this year, because we can get twice the land at 1/2 the cost just a few miles north.

Anyone remember when there was hardly any deer in Buffalo co. I do. Like the years around 1973.

I met Tom and his wife 5 or 6 years ago at a little bar just outside of Alma. The one just northwest of town that follows the Buffalo river. Nice guy actually, but we only talked about him and not myself. Three of us lease over 500 acreas of prime hunting land close to where Tom puts up his hunters. We see these folks all the time. The cost for the lease is about 1500 bucks per person, which is about what Tom charges for a three day hunt, but we get the land for everything for the entire year. We have never had a problem with Toms clients. Been doing this for several years now. Unfortunately, deer hunting is going the way of everything else. Those who have it ($) get to play. The old days of driving the deer around the Snyder farm, Thiesein Ridge, Cook Valley, and countless others are gone. I will miss them severly. On the other hand my other property in St. Croix Co produced a 145 class buck on the last day of the season. Since I hunt from Burnett to Buffalo I can say that Buffalo is not the only place where big bucks reside. You can still get on land just as good and maybe even better in the Elmwood, Spring Valley area of Pierce Co. I don’t think Tom had anything to do with the high price of land. This is common everywhere in the state. If you want to buy Buffalo land, just wait until CWD hits and it will. How about next years “earn a Buck”? Buffalo is actually hard to hunt and I do see more deer in Burnett. Buffalo is not that hot. Sure we shoot deer there, but we really only hunt deer there around halloween and the opener. Of the three of us, we have not broken the 150 barrier, but 140’s are common as we usualy take one or two a year plus several does. You can’t wine abpout Tom. Where we lease we are always told “When ever you boys are done just say so, I have a list of others as replacements”. We are most likely going to let it go this year, because we can get twice the land at 1/2 the cost just a few miles north.

Anyone remember when there was hardly any deer in Buffalo co. I do. Like the years around 1973.