General Hunting Discussion
Forest County Deer Hunting
The DNR was out in the Blackwell area opening day with a plane and there were a number of hunters who got tickets for baiting!! Just enough snow to pick out the bait from the air is what the warden told the guy we talked to that got caught!! A little more than $300 is the fine!!
About a dozen hunters in camp and not all dedicated hunters. Deer sightings down from last year. Shots heard opening weekend almost non-existent. Our group broke camp Tuesday morning with the heavy snow predicted. one spike and a nice big bodied 10. Sounds like we did better than most groups in the area with another group we know going 1-15 with a small 3 pointer and two groups of similar sizes skunked...........
Last week I took a 3 hr. walk in the National Forest in the Laona area where we have shot many deer over the years and it doesn't look good. Only crossed 3 tracks and 1 bed in the fresh snow, no scrapes or rubs. Back in the days when there were deer up there there would be trails like cow paths and scrapes and rubs all over. The most deer sign I seen was a couple piles of wolf crap full of deer hair. Seems to be deer close to cabins and town but back in the big woods the deer are pretty sparse.
Was up for a long weekend with two others and there were not many deer moving. The does that were seen were still grouped with fawns. Hoping its getting ready to heat up! Anyone else experiencing the same? Always seems like a later rut in Northern Forest County!
Huck
Its November 4th and this thread is dead. Who has been out? Im headed back up for the gun opener this year. Probably will hunt Saturday and go from there. This year will have a son in tow. Hope to see some deer. Been a tough decade or so. LOL. Hunt out of Carter and the wolf sightings are up on cameras. Still a few deer around but nothing like the stretch from when I started hunting in 1990-2008.
Deer hunting in Forest County has changed a lot over the last 10 years or so and most of the changes are not for the better. I have deer hunted in the Laona area for over 50 years and we used to shoot a lot of deer in the National Forest. Last 5 years we have only shot one buck on Public land. Areas where I could find 20 scrapes and rubs now you are lucky to find any tracks. About the only thing good is there are less hunters. Luckily we got smart and bought our own land where we can see deer and still shoot a few. For the most part the woods are too mature and there are too many predators on public land but if you can find areas where there has been logging you can find some deer but that's where all the hunters are too.
Hi Guys:
Wanted to see if I could bend some ears and get back up to speed on Forest County Deer Hunting. I haven't deer hunted the area in a lot of years, we used to hunt by the boy scout camp out of wabeno/laona, but our area has all changed with new logging roads and activity. I'd love to get back up for rifle/muzzleloader season, but don't even know where to begin. Saw 12 doe grouse hunting up there last year, so i'm hopeful the deer population is back. Matt
Still a good 2 ft. of snow on the level in the woods, some cold mornings the crust is hard enough for a person to walk on. Took quite a few snowmobile rides around the county this winter and seen very little deer sign for the most part except for around cabins and some sign around a few swamps. Swamps where years ago when they were yarded like this year there would be trails like cow paths, now there are hardly any tracks at all. Last few winters we also seen a lot of wolf sign on the trails but didn't see much wolf sign at all this winter. Guess the wolves aren't going to hang around if there are no deer to eat!!
I will say I was shocked with the snow depths when I was up this past weekend. Took the sled out on a few lakes and would have been buried and stuck without gunning it. Riding around in the forest, the deer are heavy in the cedar swamps. I saw paths 3 feet wide going in and out. The deer know how to survive. Tough winter in terms of the severity index. No doubt this is not a step forward for the population. I do believe it was on the rise in So Forest County going into the winter. On a positive note, winter did start late. Hope it ends early as well. -WW
We gave up hunting in Forest County years ago. Went near Poople River. Snow about eight years ago and not a track anywhere in four days. Fun to get pissed up in the cabin but better off to leave the guns at home. Go south and look near corn fields.
The guys mostly say population is down due to overshooting does but it should have rebounded by now.
Bears, wolves weather and lack of browse my bet.
