MN deer hunting opener: Caution urged due to wet weather
November 07, 2009 17:53 PM
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(LUXEMBURG, MN) -- There is a certain order to life on a farm. And Don Massmann can tell you the corn harvest is supposed come before the opening day of Minnesota's deer hunting season.
"We're usually done by deer hunting or closely after," says Massmann from behind the wheel of his John Deere combine. "This is a very wet strange year."
On the eve of this year's deer harvest, three-quarters of the Massmann corn crop -- with an even higher percentage statewide -- remains in damp and muddy fields.
"It certainly will affect the hunt," predicts Steve Merchant, wildlife program manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
More corn in the fields means vast stretches of farmland where deer can hide, which means the state's 500,000 deer hunters may have a harder time bagging a deer.
More deer in the corn also raises the likelihood hunters will also venture into the corn.
Merchant urges caution. "The number one rule of deer hunting is you've got to know what's behind that target and quite frankly if you're in the middle of a cornfield you're not going to know what's behind a target."
Bob Erickson, a veteran of 51 deer seasons, agrees. "It's a tough place to hunt." Erickson was stocking up on last minutes supplies Friday at the Gander Mountain store in Waite Park. He considers himself too old for driving deer out of cornfields, but is certain others will be doing it.
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