So what is the hunting like in northern Minnesota? What game species are available and what are the bag limits for residents? I have a job possibility there. I am assuming the fishing is good, looks like a lot of lakes.

How is the landscape? Is it overly urbanized? I am looking at the Bemidji area and surrounding. How's the cost of living? The hunting is very important.

Any suggestions for gathering information? Any help is appreciated!

I grew up just south of Minneapolis. I moved to KY a few years ago but miss and think of home every day.
A few things: Mosquitoes are big and thick, thicker and bigger than anyone can imagine. People joke about toe-skid marks made by the kids as they are dragged across camp, four engine jobs that rumble by around and around as they search for a target zone.
The cold is SO COLD and lasts SO LONG! We once had frost in the lowest sections of the farm in August, one year the corn was killed off stone dead September 5 in the late 1970s and this was in Southern MN! A town in Northern MN, Embarrass set the record in MN, the article is below.
Finally there is the problem of "Minnesota nice", a derogatory term for natives by outsiders. It refers to the friendliness of Minnesotans. If you are the friendly type you will LOVE the place.

If you can manage the world's most beautifull spot, love shooting, hunting, fishing- anything outdoors you'll love the place. I forgot, the taxes are high mostly due to one of the best education system in the U.S. so if you have kids the schools are exceptional.

As I tell everyone it is the Center-of-the-Universe. Everyone thinks I'm joking but I'm not.

Here's the article:

Minnesotans take the cold snap in stride
Chuck Haga, Richard Meryhew and Paul Levy, Star Tribune

Published January 6, 2004 COLD06


EMBARRASS, MINN. -- Aw, this isn't so bad, his eyes said. This isn't bad cold.

As the temperature outside the Cold Spot Bottle Shop tumbled toward a forecast 30 degrees below zero Monday night, it was almost as an afterthought that clerk Aaron Lamppa pulled on a jacket to step outside and show off the sign.

The sign brags about 64 below, the temperature some locals claim to have recorded here back in the deep winter of 1996. The official state record, noted by a National Weather Service agent outside nearby Tower on Feb. 2, 1996, was 60 below.

Whichever mark you accept, it was the coldest mass of arctic air to settle into Minnesota in nearly a century of recordkeeping.

Sixty below. It's a number that seems hypothetical, or something the Mars rover would report back to Earth, but it happened, and periodic mentions of Embarrass on network TV as the coldest spot in the nation have secured the tiny town a place in the nation's consciousness. It's a status Embarrass embraces, just as it embraces winter.

A bundled-up bicyclist pedals west in St. Paul.Jeff WheelerStar Tribune
Lamppa, 23, said he would close the Cold Spot -- the bottle shop, not the town -- at the usual time Monday, 8 p.m., and go home, take a hot shower and settle in for some TV.

When it's 30 below, he said, "you know because your nostrils stick together."

When it's 60 below, that doesn't happen, because anybody with any sense stays indoors.

"I stayed inside all day" that day in 1996, Lamppa said. "I didn't leave the house. Neither did my dad or my brother. There's no point."

Aaron Lamppa shows off -64 below sign.Mike ZerbyStar Tribune
The coldest spots in Minnesota on Monday were just south of the Canadian border in the neighboring towns of Littlefork and International Falls, which recorded lows of 29 below.

But all across northern Minnesota -- from Hallock in the northwest to Tower in the northeast -- temperatures ranged from 20 to 29 below, with windchills of nearly 45 below.

In Duluth, the low Monday was 15 below, just 3 degrees shy of the lowest temperature recorded there for all of last winter, said Cammye Sims, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Duluth.

Although temperatures and windchills weren't nearly as formidable in the Twin Cities, residents still felt winter's sting. Cheeks turned rosy, furnaces quit and car batteries died.

Byron Paulson, a Weather Service meteorologist in Chanhassen, said that with temperatures today in single digits above zero and winds of 10 to 15 miles per hour, windchills in the metro and outlying areas again will be 20 to 30 below zero.

Paulson said the normal high for the Twin Cities in early January is 22 above. The normal low is about 4 above.

Monday's lows ranged from 5 below to 10 below in the Twin Cities and outlying areas.

"We really aren't that much below normal as far as minimum temperatures go," Paulson said. "We're just spoiled, that's all. These temperatures are not a big deal. Not for January."

And they won't last long.

Paulson said cold air will begin leaving Wednesday, with highs reaching the mid-teens to mid-20s late in the week.

By noon Monday, AAA Minneapolis had received 354 emergency road service calls -- nearly all of them for battery-related problems. That far exceeded the average of 200 to 300 calls received in Hennepin County during a typical 24-hour period, spokeswoman Dawn Duffy said.

Around the state, AAA receives an average of 700 to 800 calls in a day. By noon Monday, AAA already had received 693 emergency road service calls, most of them tows or jump-starts, Duffy said.

Good for business

Heating and furnace companies worked overtime, too.

By midday, Kath Heating and Air Conditioning in Little Canada had responded to nearly 30 calls from homeowners who'd lost heat. That's five to six times as many calls than on a typical Monday, said manager Larry Adams.

CenterPoint Energy Minnegasco had 50 percent more heat-related calls than usual on a Monday in January, spokesman Rolf Lund said.

Some representatives of heating companies welcomed the chill.

"We've been looking forward to it," said Pam Costello of Hinding Heating & Air Inc. in St. Paul. "It's good for business. We could have had this a couple of weeks ago."

Up north in Gilbert, not far from Embarrass, Kim Preiner was marking a nice uptick in business, too, at Kim's Oil Co. He delivers fuel oil and provides full service at his gas pump -- so customers don't have to leave their cars.

"I'm used to the cold," he said. "And this is when I make the hay. . . .

"I used to like Minneapolis for the weather," he added, gazing thoughtfully to the south. "I was an avid softball player, and we had a pretty good slow-pitch team. We'd hit the cities in April because, hey, those guys were playing already and we still had snow."

A few miles from Gilbert's business district, Jay Mattson and many of his neighbors grabbed a few more logs from the woodpiles stacked outside their homes.

A heavy-equipment operator, Mattson built a basement wood furnace about 20 years ago to supplement his oil furnace. He prefers wood-generated heat. "It feels good," he said. "It's a nice, even, steady heat. And it smells nice."

You learn to live with occasionally bitter cold in northern Minnesota, Mattson said.

"I just stop doing anything on the outside," he said. "I catch up on my inside projects. Ten below is OK. I can deal with that. But below that, it's not so much fun anymore. Nothing works. Machinery stops. And it's harder to ice-fish."

Well, I grew up in middle Minnesota, and I still live here.
I still hunt in northern and middle minneosta when I get the chance, and I still fish a bit as well.

It does get cold here. No doubt about that. But it usually doen't last too long. One day it can be 20 below, and the next day it might be zero and the next 20 above. the last few winters have actually been quite mild.

We do have deer season. the rifle season is dependent on the zone you live in. I believe the Bemidji area would be zone one, which would mean a two week deer season. Last year for the first time in a long time one was able to purcahse an extra license in many areas, meaning that one could take two deer, although one had to be antlerless.

We do have a Moose Season. It is a once in a lifetime draw.
(if you are drawn thats it, no more) and we also have an Elk Season would you believe. Only one or two tags every couple of years for a very small band of Elk up North.

Bemidji has a beautiful lake. And you are not far from Red Lake (upper red lake has world class crappie and walley fishing)

there are abundant ruffed grouse in that area as well. No pheasants that far north though, although southern Minnesota has lots of pheasants, as well as a growing population of wild turkeys.

Duck numbers have been poor in the eastern part of the state, but are still abundant as you get closer to the Dakotas.

Taxes are high here. But yes, we do have a fantastic education system (there is a college in Bemidji by the way) and we have excellent health care as well. The university of Minnesota has a world class Medical and Dental School.

And of course, Minnesota is not all that far from Canada if you want to travel a short way to hunt. I have gone to Manitoba a few times to hunt geese and there were days when I don't think there was over a couple of minutes when I didn't see geese in the air.

We have fantastic fishing in Minnesota, and if you like sitting on the ice we have great ice fishing.

We don't have mountains though. A few hills if you like skiing, but no mountains.

Blue

Ann,

You might be more specific on what you're looking for in terms of hunting. I used to live in Grand Forks, ND and spent a lot of time with my camera over in Minnesota. If you're willing to do some traveling you can have some world class hunting well within one day of Burrrrmidji as North Dakota for waterfowl is without peer in my opinion. Pheasant in South Dakota is about as world-class as it gets. Your Ruffed Grouse hunting right in that area of MN can be a lot of fun. While there is deer hunting in that area I don't think it's all that great compared to other areas but then I'm spoiled by hunting central KS...I do have a friend that hunts the Red River right on the border and if you know what you're doing you can find some rather nice whitetail up there. Excellent mulie hunting out west too.

My advice...learn to love your fishing and spend a lot of time hunting in ND.

One other thing, Minnesota is a state that loves laws and taxes. They seem to have about 6 state laws for every one we had in North Dakota and that filtered down into hunting and fishing as well.

Just a few things that come to mind readily.

Reed

P.S. The state bird is the skeeter...

Well lets see.........Is Mn over urbanized? Anywheres near the Twin Cities yes........... ya might throw in the east side to SE side into that as well . West side to northern end no .



Lots of whitetail deer . Draw a line roughly from the Twin cities to the NW corner and you would have separated the rifle zone from the shotgun zone. Also lots of wolves and bears in the north end . Of course , you can't shoot the wolves .



Out here towards the Dakota border where I live ,we have scads of pheasants at this time . If we have another dry spring , you won't even have to aim , just point your shotgun in the air and pull the trigger..........also pretty decent waterfowl shooting........





The skeeters up north by Bemidji are way worse than the other guys mentioned , they should have been named the state bird.........and cold.........? you have got to be kidding........some winters you never see 10 degrees for about 8 or ten weeks , breaking zero is doing good.........that's along with howling winds that keep the wind chill index worse than 40 to 60 below for weeks on end ...........just watch the movie Grumpy Old Men and you will have a pretty good view of Mn in the winter......the cold makes for lots of good ice........did I mention that these Norwegians can still barely speak English yet after several genrations? You might have to learn how to eat lutefisk..........



But all in all it's a great state .........the weather keeps the riff raff out ya know ?

Reed

I think the Deer hunting here is much better than you know about. Last year Minnesota hunters took over 140,000 deer, and the deer population is estimated at close to 1 million.

Blue

I will agree with Reed about the hunting laws in Mn..........you need a lawyer along with to intrepret the laws when hunting ducks in Mn .



I don't think the taxes are that horrible compared to many other states........if you have a homestead property they are not that bad.........you do have a state income tax.........

Gunslinger

Come on now. Many of The waterfoul laws are propogated by the U.S. Wildlife Service, and the states follow what they are told.

I was in South Dakota a couple of weeks ago. It was so damn windy there that one had to hold onto the wheel of the car real hard or face getting blown in the ditch.

I will have to admit though that North Dakota has world world world class watefoul hunting. But now North Dakota isn't going to let anyone from Minnesota go hunting over there anyway.

Blue

Hi Ann,
I've been living in MN since my senior year of high school ('98) and my parents have owned a cabin on Lake Vermilion since 1978. Bemidji is a nice place for fishing, don't know about hunting, though.
Whitetails: If you like hunting whitetails you'll like MN. I'll be honest and say that I've never been a fan of hunting by tree stand, but in many areas it's the only choice. Residents can usually get drawn for black bear, I've been drawn every year I apply, but getting one I've found difficult since the "mild" winters have resulted in good berry growth.
TAXES: Don't ask my parents . Let's just say that if you don't have an extra "summer home/cabin" you'll be fine.

The way I see it, in MN you have deer season and then hibernation. Then you fish all summer. If you don't fish much now, trust me you will. Walleyes, smallies, muskies, northerns, etc. BWCA too.
I don't know about MN nice, I guess that's true. The Coen Brothers gave this state a sterotype it'll never live down, but head up north and you'll find youself on the set of Fargo. I guess that's enough for now, if anybody asks "you tell 'em I went to Embers."

Get north east around crookston and lots of farm and many deer. intesive harvest area. Hibbing area has deer, moose, bear, and all kinds of predators and varmints.

After I read the other answers to your post....

I lived in Minnesota for 15 yrs. I hunted about 30 miles north of Hibbing each year. The hunting was great. MY first wife was from Minnesota, my children live in Minnesota. My second wife is from Minnesota. Her entire family is back in Minnesota.

Taxes and their dang self righteous Over Governmental attitude drove me out, and I will never ever live there again.

75 to 80 % of the states population lives in the Twin Cities.
The urban liberals screw up the rest of the entire state, with their dumb ass, never ending laws.

The DFL party is the strong hold for the Democrats. Even tho it stands for Democratic Farm Labor Party ( how more communist can you sound?)....... To me the DFL stands for DREAMING FAIRYLAND LIBERALS.

The party motto was " WE fly the flag of righteousness so high, we guarantee that you can't see the ground"

I love Minnesota, and love the people once you get out of the metro twin cities. Still were nice people there when I moved there in 1979, but they have long since retired or moved to a warmer climate.

If you move there, SaY HELL-O to government living with their nose in your face.

THANKS for all of the info so far, guys! How does the cost of real estate rate compared to other areas?

Wow, I am enjoying everyone's input. Good and bad, it's good to know what to expect. Now I understand winter is long by what you guys are saying, they aren't exactly short here in Michigan. Don't forget, this state is down wind of ya.

How about sunshine? Are the Minn winters dark and cloudy? Or, do you get a reasonable amount of sunny days? Here in Mich we are lucky to see the sun, the Great Lakes keeps us pretty cloudy. When the sun comes out most people are temporarily blinded.

Blue, I'm speaking more to antler quality, not necessarily sheer numbers. Yes, there are a lot of deer in MN and a lot of them get shot. As for waterfowl regulations, MN must work within the framework presented by the feds as does every state. I've never hunted waterfowl in MN but I have done a fair amount of waterfowl photography over there. It seemed to me that they were more likely to add additional rules and regulations compared to states with which I'm more familiary: North Dakota and Kansas namely. I'm familiar with Missouri too and they too like to make a lot of rules and regulations...I digress.

Ann, real estate prices. I can tell you that tilled ag land in the Red River valley to the west is some of the most expensive agricultural land you can find in the world. Very fertile and they grow sugar beets there...nuff said. If you're looking more for "hunting" ground I suspect it won't be too much different from Michigan. Like any place in this country, there seems to be an exponential relationship between price and proximity to urban/suburban areas.

Reed

Blue,

What is the bag limit on deer? Can you only shoot one per year? I've been looking at your DNR regs and am confused a bit and cannot pin it down. I don't know what the zones are, which doesn't help, but it seems like there are certain areas which allow more than one deer a year.

BTW- Where I live, Michigan, we are about as regulated as one can get. But if I wanted, I could shoot 5 deer. I like three for my freezer.

1 deer per person per year on the standard license. Then some areas have intensive harvest permits and that may be up to 5 extra tags. Those areas are usually farming areas. Then there is the bonus tags. Usually 1 extra antlerless tag. Minnesota is broken up into "zones" for deer. Zone one is north east MN and 2 weeks (3 weekends) duration and the longest. The other zones are divided into A and B seasons. You can get that info from the MN DNR web site. Then there is bow season and muzzleloader too.

That was what I could not tell, if you can shoot a deer in bow season, then another in rifle, etc.... Or, is it one deer period, no matter when you decide to hunt? That barring special zones.

Ann

The best I can tell you is that it changes every year depending on the whims of the DNR and the legislature, which is now in session.

It used to be that if you shot a deer with a bow you could not get one with a rifle. Now with this bonus deer situation I am not so sure that has not changed.

However, we do have what is called party hunting in this state. Technically, the party has to be out in the woods with you. The idea being that if you like to eat venison and you want a lot of it, if you buy the licenses for a number of people, and you shoot the deer for them while they are out hunting, then those deer are legal so long as those people register the deer. Once they are registered they can of course give them to you.

And of course, you can buy your bonus license if it is offered, which would give you at least two deer.

As for real estate prices, I can tell you that recreational land is going up in value just about as fast as farmland and city property. I have 140 acres of low wooded land in Pine County that is all woods and that my brothers and I use for deer hunting. My father purchases that land 30 years ago for $800.00 on a tax forfeit sale. That land could be easily sold today for $300,000.00 because it is very good deer hunting land and becasue it borders a river that has a lot of ducks on it.

I have traveled to upper michigan on a number of occasions. I do not believe that you will find norther minnesota much different from norhern michigan.

Yes, we have a lot of laws here in Minnesota. But we also have a pretty high standard of living as well.

Blue

If they keep the regs the same as the last 2 years you can buy the "all-season" deer license for $80 , which entitles you to a buck and a doe . The buck can be taken in any season, gun , bow , or muzzleloader . The doe has to be killed in a bow or muzzleloader season . If you buy the all season license , then you can't party hunt .

Confused yet ? (grin)

Then you can get "intensive harvest" permits for zones where the DNR decides the deer need thinning . These are for anterless deer , I believe , and I think you can buy them on a first come , first served basis .

Its one deer per year. You choose the season; archery, gun,, or muzzleloader. Its not lack of deer. Its a lot of hunters. But its not crowded around Bemidji, there is lots of public land to hunt I'm amazed that Reed apparently thinks the deer hunting (antler quality) is not great. I've hunted a lot of states for deer and you can see some great antlers around Bemidji. And the biggest whitetail in the world was shot in N Minn. 500 pounds. Check out the DNR website if'n you don't believe it.



Except;

1)you can shoot two in the Theif Lake (NW of Bemidji) area; one with bow and one with gun.

2) You are restricted to a zone during gun season but not during muzzleloader or bow season

3)You can buy an an "all season license" (the one I buy), which allows you to take one buck and one doe, during any season in any area, but you must have a doe permit (by drawing) to take a doe during gun season. Its my understanding that you WILL BE ABLE TO PARTY HUNT next year with the all season license. But, I don't like party hunting anyway- I like to kill my own deer, thank you, and it is heavily abused by folks who buy tags for wives, kids, pastor, etc. who never hunt.

4) most "areas" of each zone allow two deer per season.

5) you can purchase extra tags in many zones; up to 5 per year

6) I think you can still buy a statewide bucks only tag to hunt any zone during any season and take one buck.

7)Restricted to shotguns, pistols, and muzzleloader in southern half of state.

8)But, one cold, snowy winter can change everything.



There is more but you get the drift. Lots of different regs in different areas. Bemidji is a GREAT area! Probably two deer allowed there, nowadays.



I grew up in Brainerd, the center of the state. I went to college for two years in Bemidji. I moved to the arrowhead eventually! I saw the biggest deer of my life in Bemidji. I won't even say how big. You would not believe me. I was running my chesapeake bay retriever (me driving, him running) When WE saw the deer cross the road, I panicked and called the dog back to the car because I'm SURE the deer could have easily killed the dog.



Its cold in Bemidji! Westerly winter winds. If you are familiar with the Twin Cities weather, add on a month or more of winter to each end and you have Bemidji weather. The lakes get hard at the end of October and get soft at the end of April. The locals affectionately call the town Brrrrrrrrmidji! Winter in N Minn is great because that's the only time there are no bugs.



There are lots of skitters, some black fly, wood ticks, deer ticks, deer flies, horse flies, and other wildlife like woodcock, grouse, ducks (the northern flight/at freeze-up is fantastic). Great bear hunting too!



Bemidji is a great place to get lost! Go into a big tamarack bog sometime about dusk without a compass. You'll see what I mean. No landmarks! I love the bogs, hence my moniker!



Bemidji is near the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and the river flows through the town, and through Lake Bemidji, a great walleye lake.



The town was "discovered" by a French(?) guy named Bemidji (go figure). He was one of them "fancy fellows" with feathered clothes and silk tents. He paid a bunch of Indians to carry him (yes, carry) in a "carriage" up the Miss to find the headwaters. His picture used (still is?) to be in the Bemidji State University Library. Its worth a stop.



Here's a story for you:

During WWII, there was a prisoner of war camp with a bunch of Germans in it near Bemidji. Several prisoners escaped and the plan was to follow the Mississippi River to the Gulf. After many days spent with the bugs and bogs, the prisoners finally gave themselves up. Starving and very tired, they turned themselves in to a logger's wife. They had made it almost all the way to Brainerd, about 80 miles. They still had a LONG way to go to the gulf.

There are lots of MUD DUCKS in MN. that is what minneostains are called in Wis. Should have good deer hunting great black bear hunt good small games. You also have the BWCA to play in nice country.

Mud Ducks??????

Cheese Heads??????

Well, everything is sounding good except the one deer thingy. I really like to hunt deer and am used to being able to hunt more than one! I can look at bordering states too I suppose for a deer tag!

As a born and raised Minnesotan, it's been interesting to read all the responses. I lived in a few different states now, but MN is right at the top of the list. If you like alpine skiiing, ocean fishing, or elk hunting - don't come here. We do have pretty much everything else here, though!

I'm sure you have found the MN DNR web page, so you have an idea of what hunting is available. There is something here for everyone. At the risk of sounding like a tourist commercial, I do like it here. You've got all the summer sports and all the winter sports in one place. Bemidji is a good town, nice part of the state. Just a little north of where I am at. More outdoors stuff than you can shake a stick at.

Weather is always an issue, all year round. If you don't like today, it'll most likely be different tomorrow. It gets real cold and it gets real hot. It goes from -30 in the winter to 100+ in the summer. Michigan has got to have similar weather, esp in the UP. Maybe there is a little more mitigating effect from the proximity of the big lakes there, so there are fewer extremes if anything.

Plus, Mpls/St Paul is close by if you want the urban experience. Lots going on there. Amusement parks, the Mall of America, zoos, etc. The liberal gov't here is not the best, but it's still a lot better than Kalifornia! In fact, we just got a 'shall issue' concealed carry law passed last year. Most places are very outdoors-minded and sportsmen/women are quite important to the state economy as a whole. I've never had a problem.

I'd say go for it. Property in that area is not any higher than other areas in the upper midwest, unless you start looking at lakeshore property. Anything right on the water commands a steep premium. any questions, let me know.... maxman

The deer situation is real dependent on the weather, that's a main reason the regs are constantly being revised. Last year for example, we in the northern (rifle) zone, in my particular area, had an abundance of deer (DNR estimated 60 deer/sq milie). Each hunter could shoot up to 5 deer, just buy the number of tags you wanted to use. Some years, it's been much slimmer, and there was only one allowed per hunter. It depends on where in the state you hunt - lots of areas in each big zone, and quotas are divided up accordingly. Of course, you don't have to hunt where you live. I live in a shotgun-only zone, but drive 3 hours north each fall to spend 10 days in a rifle zone deer camp.

Lots of people hop across the border and shoot Wisconsin, North Dak, or South Dak deer too. Bemidji is close enough to the ND border. Canada is plenty close too. maxman

My Minnesota friends usually come to North Dakota for waterfowl, North or South Dakota for pheasant, and Montana or Wyoming for deer and elk.

I know you like to bow hunt, and Minnesota is great for that.

JD, you are right about that! Bowhunting is prefered by me, I just prefer that up close and personal touch.

But, I am never opposed to breaking out firearms when necessary.

Tell me though, if one must invest time and money to fill freezers by going out of state is there readily available land access? Oh, I hear there are some nice mulies to be had in the Dakotas, true?

Bog,

I have two freezers . Well, by reading the regs (no, I have not made my way through them all yet) it looked like few areas supported more than one deer per hunter. I may be making the wrong assumption here too, but my guess is these tags would only be available on private land.

Nice link, I see Minn is right up there. Nice maps too on numbers. I like what I see. I am perplexed by the positioning of Michigan though, it is a brown it's down state with 7 million deer hunters. I've killed the two biggest bucks I have ever seen. They were only 6 pointers. Have seen and let go many spikes and forkies. Lots of deer, we just don't have a lot of trophies here.

Minnesota is an awful place to live. The weather is terrible, the people are unfriendly, the hunting is pitiful, land is expensive, taxes are high, etc. etc. etc. Nobody should move here. In fact, more people should move out.

Regards, Wayne E. (formerly from Jacksonville, FL)

Bog, that is what I like to hear.

Big Dipper

I would be happy if only all of the politicians moved out.

Do you think Bighorn Sheep and Goats could survive in the Sawtooths.

Blue

Ann: You can take 5 deer in the Bemidji area, but getting access is usually the hard part, easier for a bowhunter.

There are some good Muleys in ND, but getting a rifle tag is difficult especially in the area I usually hunt which has both Muley and Whitetail. I usually bowhunt for whitetail close to home, but a resident bow tag can be used for Muleys as well.