Hoopleheader
FNG
- Joined
- May 6, 2020
- Messages
- 96
Went down the rabbit hole of reading some random threads on wildlife, land, and permit management in the west that get people worked up (y’all really don’t like predators) or worried about this passion.
It got me thinking what concerns me about long term trends where I hunt, which is northern MN and WI.
Luckily we have plenty of public land so access to the outdoors doesn’t usually cross my mind. I lived in Lousisiana for a year, and the thought of paying someone a lease to hunt ratty little southern whitetails in pine plantings seemed incomprehensible. Have had lots of coworkers in TX to talk deer hunting with… what an odd, high fenced world.
By and large, the DNR in both states seem reasonable with policies.
We have wolves, and it’s never bothered me… my guess is any cap predation has on deer populations here has been offset by milder and milder winters, and the whole Mother Nature thing is part of the appeal of being out there. My opinion, realize I am asking to be flamed, please be nice.
My biggest concerns are:
For deer…CWD, CWD, and CWD. I don’t see positive endgame.
My favorite ruffed grouse… lack of consistant snow depth due to milder winters (they need it) and West Nile virus. Potentially forest management at some point, with a trend towards red pine plantings reducing forest diversity.
Pheasants will probably never be that great here again due to habitat loss.
Moose don’t seem to like ticks, whitetail delivered brain worm, or our warmer and warmer summers. I doubt I will see a moose hunt happen again in my lifetime in MN.
It would have been cool to see the tiny elk herd in NW MN expanded. Unfortunately the ever powerful NW sugar beet lobby had them legislated a nuisance animal to be limited by statute.
Pheasants will always be lame due to long term habitat loss.
I have no worries about gobblers other than crowded woods early season. They are thriving well north of their historical range…the lack of snow depth that is hurting my grouse helps them out during winter.
It got me thinking what concerns me about long term trends where I hunt, which is northern MN and WI.
Luckily we have plenty of public land so access to the outdoors doesn’t usually cross my mind. I lived in Lousisiana for a year, and the thought of paying someone a lease to hunt ratty little southern whitetails in pine plantings seemed incomprehensible. Have had lots of coworkers in TX to talk deer hunting with… what an odd, high fenced world.
By and large, the DNR in both states seem reasonable with policies.
We have wolves, and it’s never bothered me… my guess is any cap predation has on deer populations here has been offset by milder and milder winters, and the whole Mother Nature thing is part of the appeal of being out there. My opinion, realize I am asking to be flamed, please be nice.
My biggest concerns are:
For deer…CWD, CWD, and CWD. I don’t see positive endgame.
My favorite ruffed grouse… lack of consistant snow depth due to milder winters (they need it) and West Nile virus. Potentially forest management at some point, with a trend towards red pine plantings reducing forest diversity.
Pheasants will probably never be that great here again due to habitat loss.
Moose don’t seem to like ticks, whitetail delivered brain worm, or our warmer and warmer summers. I doubt I will see a moose hunt happen again in my lifetime in MN.
It would have been cool to see the tiny elk herd in NW MN expanded. Unfortunately the ever powerful NW sugar beet lobby had them legislated a nuisance animal to be limited by statute.
Pheasants will always be lame due to long term habitat loss.
I have no worries about gobblers other than crowded woods early season. They are thriving well north of their historical range…the lack of snow depth that is hurting my grouse helps them out during winter.
