Maple Grove City Archery Hunts
Minnesota
Hello fellow archers. I am wondering if anyone has any information on the Maple Grove Archery Hunts allowed by the City and the DNR?
Specifically, I am wondering if there is ample public land to hunt or if it is limited to private land?
If you have hunted in Maple Grove in the past, what has your experience been?
I am an MBRB member and try to participate in those hunts but those also require being drawn, that said what have your successes been and or failures?
Just any general thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
Simon
I live in Maple Grove and can tell you there are very little opportunities to hunt there. Besides the Fish Lake and Eagle Lake special hunts, theres is no hunting allowed anywhere but on private agricultural land. In order to hunt in Maple Grove you must get the permission of a landowner, which can be next to impossible, and then get a permit from the city. Plus the housing areas are all off limits and that is where many of the deer live. That said, Maple Grove is being overrun with deer. The deer population has absolutely exploded in the past two years. We used to see groups of 2-3 deer occasionally in our neighborhood. Two years ago that went up to groups of 4-6 deer quite often. Last winter we were having groups of 8 to 12 deer come through our yard almost every night. It was nothing to see 20 or more deer driving home from work within a mile of our house. Based on what I saw last winter I would estimate the population in the square mile around our house to be at least 30 deer. That number could double this year as there are many does showing up with twins and triplets. Last year the Eagle Lake and Fish Lake hunts removed a total of 12 deer. I applied for those hunts this year, but didn't get either of them. I am hoping that the people that did get drawn for those hunts take at least 20 deer this year. The problem is that may hardly even dent the population. I have talked to the city of Maple Grove in the past about the deer population and they did open up the Eagle Lake hunt last year. But there are many 5-10 acre parcels in the area that hold a lot of deer and those deer are off limits. I am afraid that the deer population has surpassed the critical point where there simply will not be enough natural food to sustain them throughout the winter. Last winter was a relatively easy one. The deer completely cleaned out all browse type bushes/trees in our area and were left eating grass and leaves. I hate to think what could happen if this winter is a tough one. Until the city decides to do something about it, there is nothing we can do.
I hunted MBRB and Maple grove area about 16 years ago. A lot of deer initially but then they get pushed off of the parcels that were being hunted. Similar to most metro hunts, too many hunters, guys scout areas to much or just normal pressure the deer soon leave into those "off limit" areas. I think a better plan is longer hunt season, most user conflicts are reduced once cold, cold weather sets in, but there is a considerable x-country skiing, snowshoe user group too.
Thanks for your responses. I did pull out and print the city map for allowable parcels of areas to hunt. There are a few public areas that are either city or state owned that are more than 5 acres. I didn't read anywhere that the hunt was limited to private land. I would assume all parks are off limits but there are a few parcels. I have a call out to the Maple Grove PD to see if i can get clarity
I have lived in Maple Grove for 25 years and have investigated this thoroughly. There are only two ways to hunt in Maple Grove. The first are the special hunts at Fish Lake and Eagle Lake parks. The other way to hunt in Maple Grove is to get written permission from a landowner detailing exactly where you will be hunting and then getting a permit from the city. There is no public land anywhere in Maple Grove open to hunting. The only way there will be more deer hunting in Maple Grove is if the city allows more controlled hunts. Here is the link to the rules: https://www.maplegrovemn.gov/departments/police/hunting-permit
If hunting was allowed in Maple Grove, my deck would be a great place to hunt. LOL
Putting Maple Grove aside, there are a great deal of public hunting opportunities within a 90 minute drive from Maple Grove. Specifically, the Sherburne National Wildlife refuge (30,000 acres), the Sand Dunes State Forest (3571 acres), the Kunkel WMA (2456 acres), the Mille Lacs WMA (5758 acres), and the Dablo WMA (3100 acres) all offer excellent deer hunting, enough room to get away from the crowds, and are all within a 90 minute drive of Maple Grove. There are some smaller WMAs in that area too, but they tend to get pretty busy which makes bow hunting a challenge. Having deer spooked by small game hunters is way to common on those. (Been there. Done that.) If you go to one of the places I mentioned, you will want to get mobile with a lightweight hang-on tree stand and climbing sticks or a light-weight climbing deer stand. Also, get a game cart for getting the deer out. You can't drive a vehicle out to get your deer. Then you usually need to be prepared to walk a half mile to two miles to get to where the deer are. But there are deer in all those public hunting lands and a little effort can be greatly rewarded.
Good luck.
Thanks again for the responses. I did get a call back from the MGPD and they confirmed no public land hunting is allowed on any parcels. I also sent a about a dozen letters to landowners in Orono and only one response (to the negative). I got drawn for an MBRB hunt this year so I will definitely hunt that and i have hunted a few of the WMAs north of the cities and honestly i won't do that anymore. It was very scary to be in the woods with a lot of people shooting anything that moves and have limited English skills. I just didn't feel safe as a bow hunter. That said, that was many years ago. I have hunted Sherburn before and have seen some monsters taken out of there as well. I will stick to my usual routine again this year.
As I recall the Van Lith buck was shot in Maple Grove. The place no longer exists but the memory of the archer allowing me to hold that rack for a brief time still remains.
I think the van lith buck was by Annandale?? Like an entirely different world in the 80s.
Did maple grove even exist then?
i Thought about it a bit more..... curt shot that buck near maple lake
Had a close friend that built a house near Eagle Lake in 1980, stay there for several weeks on job interview in 82 and remember the area was just developing but with space. Now my granddaughter lives there and just a lot of congestion, St. Cloud is becoming another burb of the Cities.
Buddy of mine grew up in Maple Grove; used to hunt pheasants where Perkins sits. Hemlock used to be like running the deer gauntlet before all the development. Personally, I wouldn't step foot in the traffic jam known as Maple Grove these days! You can have it..
Maple Lake—>Van Lith Buck
