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If you ventured out to do some deer hunting in and around Chisago County last week, perhaps some of you asked yourself the same question that nagged me as I sat in my stand on opening day: “If there are 1.3 million deer in the state, where are they?”

I don’t think it took hunters state-wide too long to realize that the DNR’s optimistic prognostication that the 2004 hunt would meet or exceed last season’s number of registered deer was, well, wrong.

The unseasonably mild weather did little to get the deer moving, and the rut, if it began at all, arrived too late to make any difference for local hunters. I’ve experienced the rut in full-swing and there’s no mistaking it: skittish does and their young moving in numbers while bucks abandon caution in pursuit of them. This past week, I saw no evidence that led me to believe I was observing deer in the midst of the rut.

We could have done worse last week. My father-in-law, Ron, bagged a buck on opening morning hunting family-owned land south of Marine-on-St. Croix. My brother-in-law, Mark, and I, within the span of about thirty seconds the day after opener, hit a buck and doe on some privately owned land a few miles down the road from Scandia. If not for that brief span of time and some quick shooting on our part, this year’s firearm deer season would certainly go down as our crummiest on record. We simply didn’t see the number of deer we expected to see.

Yes, my family and I love the taste and versatility of venison. Most years, it’s a foregone conclusion that I’ll put two deer in the freezer, so the single deer I took during the gun hunt simply won’t cut it.

As I was sitting in a pine tree last Sunday afternoon, watching the sun set on a disappointing gun season, I felt frustrated that I’d experienced yet another day without a single deer seen or a shot fired. Making my way down the tree at quitting time, my hopes lifted a bit as I thought, “Thank goodness for the long bow season.”

You can bet that when the first real cold snap arrives next week, I’ll be back out in the woods.

Dan Brown’s weekly outdoor column is brought to you by Frankies Bait and Marine in Chisago City and St. Croix Outdoors in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin.

Dan Brown is a director at the Chisago Lakes Achievement Center in Chisago City. In addition, Brown is a fly casting instructor and trout fishing guide at Seven Pines Lodge in Lewis, WI. Recently Brown was featured on Ron Schara’s Minnesota Bound and ESPN II’s Backroads with Ron and Raven, as well as KSTP channel 5’s Eyewitness News Morning Show. He is a Taylors Falls resident and can often be found on the area lakes, trout streams and the St. Croix river.

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