Yesterday I explored a new area that is a public
land wma (MN). The area has a lot of diversity. I walked almost the entire area. There are plenty of food sources & cover, a lot of buckthorn. food sources are red oak acorns, birch, sumac.. Still green in the forested part as we haven't had the first hard freeze yet. This year in MN there are less deer and so hunting is more limited in much of the state. This area is in the metro so the limit is much higher, up to 5 antlerless. I didn't see ANY exciting sign.. No rubs, scrapes, poo..nothing. Is it possible there are no bucks in that area? The wma is surrounded by farmland. I'm guessing the deer are highly educated and have b.a.'s in human mgmt. Where are they??
If there is food and cover, there will be bucks, but they may be very wary. I live in town (Gray is truly a small town), and the area behind my house is too moist to build on, so there is considerable woods, probably 40 acres or a bit more. This near town center. There have been several generations of deer raised there including 2 FINE bucks that I saw. Also, my son, on his way to school, one day had to stop his car right down the street from the house so 23 turkeys could cross. Therefore, I would be very surprised if you have no bucks at all.