Greetings; I live aprx 40 miles west of Minneapolis MN and love deer and coyote hunti

• Sep 7, 2016

• #1

K

kenjk

New member

Joined

Sep 6, 2016

Messages

4

Greetings, I wanted to thank everyone for the opportunity to join this group. I live aprx 40 miles west of Minneapolis MN (in the Watertown MN area) I love deer and coyote hunting, but have found it difficult locating public land that I am comfortable hunting on, as you never know who else is hunting in the area, as well as if they are practicing safe hunting. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #2

JohnCushman

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Nov 27, 2009

Messages

13,265

Location

South East Colorado

Welcome! There's plenty of open land out west Come on out!!

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #3

Muskeez

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Aug 21, 2012

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1,745

Location

NW Iowa

Welcome! Look on google earth for strips of timber close to home and work your way out 30-45 miles out so you can still drive it for a evening sit. Then start knocking on doors. Literally. Expect a dozen no's, and then you will find a piece that some farmer will hopefully let you hunt. After that, start buttering him up with packages of walleyes, get his wife a big Poinsettia for Christmas, and take care of their land like it belongs to your father. Don't leave ruts in the mud or litter and help out with chores if you can. Then go find another spot just like it and do the same, cuz you never know when the son-in-law or grandson decides to hunt it and you get booted. Seriously there is no replacement for politely knocking on doors. Best wishes!

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #4

N

North Country

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Joined

Oct 17, 2015

Messages

20

Location

Minneapolis

Welcome from another fellow Minnesotan!

I would recommend the Onxmaps products for MN if you haven't tried those already. That can help you find many bits and pieces of public land that you might not have known existed.

I have a WMA picked out to hunt this year and am testing out a new theory. I've done a google search of this spot and haven't found anyone talking about it yet. I think this might be a good predictor of hunting pressure. It's also grown in the past few years through some new acquisitions.

A lot of areas I google I can find people complaining about the hunting pressure and disrespectful people ruining hunts. So I figure if nobody is talking about this it can't be too bad.

Another tip for you that has been passed down to me from another HT member in MN: Get a set of waders. This allows you to go where others won't.

Good luck!

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #5

Coyotes-R-Us

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Sep 6, 2014

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385

:hump:

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #6

NoWiser

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Joined

Feb 12, 2013

Messages

2,129

Location

Minnesota

Welcome. I live 40 minutes south of the metro. I gave up on hunting the area. If you head north, getting a deer every year should not be a problem. There is more public land than you could hunt in 100 lifetimes and if you work hard or get creative you should be able to find a place to yourself. Some of the areas I hunt up there have a lot of coyotes, others have a lot of wolves. I've never hunted the former but have successfully hunted wolves when they had a season on them.

Good luck! Head north with a shotgun a few times this fall to do some scouting, and shoot some grouse while you're at it. I have no desire to hunt private land with all the great public stuff out there.

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #7

M

MN Public Hunter

Guest

Hello from another MN....There is plenty of land by me Don't waste your time knocking on doors....this is a public land hunting site, not private land hunting site. I'm starting to think most people on here hunt private land as of late based on comments . I'll shoot you a PM.

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #8

E

emrah1028

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Joined

Aug 31, 2011

Messages

540

Location

Victoria, MN

Welcome. I'm in Victoria. Yes, private access is the sacred golden egg around here. I've knocked on most of the doors in the Victoria, Carver, Waconia area. No dice. Public land aplenty though. You can pm me for further discussion.

Emrah

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #9

duckhunt

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Dec 17, 2012

Messages

5,347

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Newhartford Iowa

MN Public Hunter said:

Hello from another MN....There is plenty of land by me Don't waste your time knocking on doors....this is a public land hunting site, not private land hunting site. I'm starting to think most people on here hunt private land as of late based on comments . I'll shoot you a PM.

Click to expand...

Its a do it yourself site. Doesnt matter if its on public or private. I hunt both public and private.

 

• Sep 7, 2016

• #10

Muskeez

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Joined

Aug 21, 2012

Messages

1,745

Location

NW Iowa

You can talk public only all you want but if there is very little public to be had and hunters are stacked up on it, I'd much rather bust azz asking landowners and finding private land and being able to enjoy hunting vs. having a chip on my shoulder about being a public land only guy no matter what part of the country I am in and being miserable hunting around a bunch of other people. Sadly if you aren't "out west" you can't just walk farther than the next guy to get away from the crowds, cuz if you do you just hit another road So, however and wherever you decide to hunt, just hunt and enjoy it and pass it on to the next generation.