Hotspotoutdoors

I have a cabin in the area and will be up for the 3rd weekend of the firearms season. Didnt have any luck with the bow this fall in the area.

How has everyone been doing so far during rifle season?

4 of us hunted from Saturday the 7th to thursday the 12th near Longville and didn't evan see a deer But we saw plenty of wolf tracks

We bow hunt south of there, no Deer this year but heard Wolves howling every evening hunt. We had lots of nice Deer and a few good bucks on the cam's but nothing coming out during day light. We also are going to try this weekend rifle. Good Luck.

We shot 4, nothing huge. I shot 2 which were together, plus the other 2. Those 4 were the only deer seen from opener to monday afternoon, and friday-sunday this weekend.

These reports help confirm that the numbers are generally down in that area.

I am seeing far fewer deer the last couple years.

I have hunted this area a long time and up until last year we never saw or herd any wolves where we hunt and now we see fresh wolf tracks in the morning around our camp

My cabin is 8 miles east of longville, on mckeown lake. Their were five of us hunting and we all got deer but this wolf thing concerns me. I found two deer carcuses last winter and one this fall. I'm not hearing the wolves this year yet like I did the past two. From what I've been hearing these wolves really have the deer on the move. Does the dnr watch or regulate this wolf population a all?

Back near a fresh cut in the Trelipe trail there were live traps set this summer. They monitor the wolf population but as far as I know do nothing to curb it.

Some of the really nice key areas of public land just south of my cabine have quite a bit of wolf traffic. Heard them this summer and found tracks all fall.

Here is some good DNR info on the wolf population. See the map at the end of the document.

MN 2008 Wolf Survey

my observation on a deer stand this year compared to the last 30 years hunting in longville area are, i hear less shooting, see less dear. opening saterday i heard 3 different sets of wolfs to the west of me (hand lake area) and 2 sets to the east (old Grade area)in that same evening i have also seen signs of big Cats in the area, i think we are being affected by alot of preditors in the area. i think the MNDNR could do a good job at managing the number of wolfs if the federal goverment and different animal groups stay out of what they don't know. i fear every time i go grouse hunting with my springers i will encounter a pack because of all the scat i see. its a matter of time when the wolf numbers get so high the deer herd gets low, that deer in center minnesota will be put on the endangered list and we will all be squirrel hunting with high powered rifles. by the way heading into this lat weekend only seen 2 deer but nothing close to shoot

huntwithspringer, remember why the predator population is high...the deer population is high. It's the predator/prey relationship at work - Mother Nature at her finest. The cycle of life continues...

My only complaint of hunting the Old Grade Road area isn't the wolf population, or a rumor of a stray cougar, or even Bigfoot, it's all the danged weekend idiots with no woodsmanship, respect, or ethics.

This is the Whitefish version of Whitewater. Every vacation home owner and tourist thinks this is "up north" to them and pounds this area in to ground...

The sad thing is on top of wandering armies of orange, we have bear hunters with no sense of territory respect, and grouse "hunters" that don't know how to walk since they own ATV's and 4WD's.

I know it's everyone's public land, that's why it ticks me off so much when people treat it like they do. But hey if you want to blame wolves for poor hunting conditions, why not, everyone else is...

leech~~ would be complaining of wolves if he hunted in Iowa...

he seems to continually do this year in and year out. I live in the area you whine about and still have no problem seeing and/or hunting deer locally. Maybe if you spent more than a weekend in the area, you'd quit blaming your shortcomings on wolves.

I do want to thin the packs down a little, but despite that, still see plenty of deer.

I suppose it's wolves making all the 7 ft high browse lines in the area???

We saw a couple glimpses of deer for 3 guys in 2 days in various spots. Numbers are low. Heard registrations are WAY down.

Hopefully they will rebound in a year or two.

I too hunt near Longville with my boyz. My youngest, who is sixteen, went out to do some early morning bow hunting early in the season and came face to face with a big wolf. He had his head lamp on and was just heading off the highway. When he got up on the other side of the ditch he saw two eyes looking at him. He knew it wasnt a deer and thought was a coon until it stood up and walked right in front of him. He said it was only 4 to 5 yards from him. So he dropped his gear and was at full draw in a split second. He did not shoot! He was shaken when he got back and was white as a ghost. He told me the thing didnt even care about him. As he walked back to the truck
on the Highway (49) he could hear deer snorting at him from the edge of the woods. They knew the Wolf was near and did not want to come out to the field as they usually do.

Back in 1985 I was treed by a black bear with her cub in Wisc when i was Bowhunting. Scared the [PoorWordUsage] out lf me. I can still hear her clanking her teeth together. That is an errie sound echoing in the woods. Did you read the Sunday Star Tribune. On the back of the sports section was a story of a wolf encounter.

We Finished out the hunting season with 2 deer for six people perfect number of what we wanted not to waste any meat. we seen about 12 deer total all season could have shot at least 10 of them. my intent was not to start or bash the wolf's, they are a majestic animal, but when i read east of me they trap 11 wolfs on a farm because of cows being killed, another hunter friend of mine hunting off county road 55 north of longville saw 4 wolfs run by bird hunting with my dogs on a give day last fall seeing 2 killed deer sites in one day by wolfs, same with picking blueberries and rasberrys last summer seeing wolf sign all the time. this is my opinion i could be wrong with the federal goverment not letting mndnr to manager the wolf population it causes wolf packs to increase in numbers causing more deer and farm animals as food source, more disease, pushing other preditors (coyotes)south you talk to people in the buffalo area the coyotes numbers are way up. Wolfs are getting a bad rap by the people that spend time in the woods because there numbers are to high 15 years ago when there wasn't a wolf problem we were hunting and heard them howling didn't get a deer that year because the pack in the area was hunting in this part of there territory thats life, that next year they weren't in that territory productive deer harvest for use. so to sum up what i'm trying to say, control the wolf packs not eliminating them makes them healther,they should be heard not seen,if they are at the DNR wants, hunters, outdoor people, and farmers would be happier.

as for the Olde Grade haven't been down there in 2 years to many inconsiderate people travel that, was walking trails down there going to cross the old grade almost got run over got sprayed with rocks

The federal government(USFWS) has attempted to delist the wolf within the western great lakes region for several years. It has been the work of several groups and thier lawyers to put wolves in this region back onto the Endangered Species List. Wolves were managed by the state for a little over a year before being "re-listed." The goal is to have them back under state rule shortly.


From Mn DNR Website
On March 12, 2007, Minnesota's wolf population was removed from the federal endangered species list. Wolves were managed under State Statute, Rule and by the Minnesota wolf management plan.

On September 29, 2008, after 18 months of state wolf management, a federal district court ruling placed wolves back on the endangered species list.

May 4, 2009 - In order to comply with the federal court ruling, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service submitted another federal rule in April 2009 to delist wolves in the Western Great Lakes Distinct Population Segment. Wolves in Minnesota were removed from the federal endangered species list and returned management authority to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

July 1, 2009 - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to a settlement that reversed the decision to delist gray wolves, returning Minnesota’s wolves to the "threatened" classification under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Also, here is the link to the states management plan
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/natural_resources/animals/mammals/wolves/wolfplan2000.pdf

and info from USFWS
http://www.fws.gov/midwest/wolf/

"Wow" S 16 Guy. Tell me how you really feel! I did not start this post or was the first one to say anything about the Wolves, other then we heard them howling every evening. I think If you read the post you will see others not just me are relating what they are seeing. IN OUR (oops) YOUR FORESTS.

I hunt the "Longville" area as well. It seems it was tough everywhere. Where I hunt I always hear wolves. At least for the last three years. Yes there are wolves around, but I don't think they are totally to blame. This is the first year I didn't get a deer. I also didn't get to hunt as much. We need to let the wolf threads die! They are here and have been for many many years. I believe there are several other factors that are affecting our deer seasons the last few years. Weather, baiting, ATV's everywhere etc. Please let this end, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Having hunted in the arrowhead my whole life, wolves have always been THE MOST HEATED TOPIC in camp. I have seen shoving matches between long-time party members over this. It seems everyone has a different opinion, that's human nature I guess.
I remember as a young kid hearing them howl just as I was leaving my stand for the evening and was scared #$%@less walking out. Back then, we used to blame the wolves when we had a tough season. Over the years we have learned to accept it.
Just this year my brother had a black timby move by his stand...the next morning he shot a nice buck. In my experience, severe winters have a much greater impact on deer population than do the wolves.

My dad saw a huge timber wolf this morning while out for a walk near woman lake lodge. He said it didn't even appear fearful as it crossed the road only about 20 yards in front of him.

I liked what "S 16 Guy" had to say about the "weekend idiots," I had two guys arguing opening morning about who was going to sit in a certain tree, the argument went on for at least 30 minutes with plenty of fighting words. Fortunaty when it was all said and done both idiots left the woods.

I'm not necessarily trying to bash the wolves or blame them for any hunting woes either. What is concerning is with the ever so increaseing population and the more frequent sightings in more populated areas. When is enough - enough?

Those idiots you talk about probally pay your bills, Locals

Barnez, thank you for stating the obvious. We all pay to share the same country up there...

Had a friend up from Arizona (he's a Chicagoan originally) and he was shocked at all the guys coming up here (MN) to his plane!
It was his 1st time; he bought a gun especially for the hunt and never saw a dang thing! I can report I at least saw a pack of mink.... Not what either of us were hoping for. I was scheduled to hunt the county parks as I had doen for the last 20 years and always saw deer...... Really disappointed. I like to whack em - but I'm happy when I at least see em.

We still enjoyed the hunt and were grateful to the gent that set us up to hunt with him.

There is a wolf season... Year round!!