The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association is thrilled to invite you to one of our biggest events of the year—the 38th Annual State Habitat Banquet! Join us on Saturday, February 22, 2025, at Timberlake Lodge in Grand Rapids, MN for a night dedicated to supporting Minnesota’s incredible wildlife habitats.
This, our first newsletter, marks another milestone in our young history.
The seed for this embryonic organization was sown on March 19, 1980, when eight avid deer hunters from the Grand Rapids area met to explore the possibility of forming a statewide association of deer hunters. The need seemed to be self-evident: although other wildlife groups (grouse, waterfowl, bow hunters, trappers, etc.) are already organized, the largest group, some 300,000 plus firearm deer hunters, never had an organizational voice in the state.
There's nothing fun about bowhunting in the waning days of archery season. After weeks of pressure from gun hunters and muzzleloader hunters, there are a lot fewer deer around than at the beginning of the season. And by Christmas, temperatures can be brutal. Throw in a stiff northwest wind and you might start to wonder if you belong in an asylum, rather than a tree stand. So why do late-season bowhunters take to the woods in less-than-ideal conditions? Because they can. When you live for deer hunting, you have to take advantage of every opportunity. Despite the brutal conditions, December can actually be a good time to tag a deer.
Mark Anderson hunts from a heated deer stand mounted on a Chevy truck bed on his property outside Sauk Centre these days. “I’ve paid my dues freezing in ladder stands,” says the 84-year-old. Like in 1982, when he shot a non-typical 18-point buck. “It weighed 190 lbs. dressed. We made a gun rack out of the hooves. Today it has my dad’s old Zulu 12-gauge shotgun hanging on it.” Moments like these, hunting with his son-in-law while his wife and daughters bake Christmas cookies back at the house, keep Anderson coming back for more.
The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA) is proud to announce an exciting collaboration with the Minnesota Chapter of Safari Club International (SCI). Together, we are stepping up efforts to advocate for responsible wolf management in Minnesota—an issue that affects wildlife preservation, the health of deer herds, and the outdoor heritage that we all cherish.
I saw the big fella cruising on a crisp November day. He was covering ground in a great hurry grunting with every step. Then, six does and fawns came flying out of that gnarly bedding area on a knob adjacent to a fresh aspen cutover and beaver pond, not wanting anything to do with the randy fella.
I grabbed the grunt call off the hook and challenged his manhood with my own deep, guttural grunt. I’ll never forget that image when the ten-point jammed on the brakes and bellowed the loudest grunt I’ve ever heard.
460 Peterson Rd
Grand Rapids, Minnesota 55744
