Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Michigan U.P. hunting opinions

Down to the last stages of the interview process for a job in Norway, MI and am wanting to find out about the hunting in the U.P. What's the good and bad? Thanks!

Norway is a decent area. Gets much less snow than areas closer to Lake Superior, but is also a bit colder as a result of being away from the lake.
Grouse and woodcock hunting are excellent and the deer hunting isnt too bad either, although you won't kill many big deer in the UP. Great fishing is close by as well

Norway is a nice area. I grew up in Kingsford, just a few miles away. Good hunting and fishing, good folk. Downside would be winter I suppose if you're not used to having them. Sometimes it takes awhile for people to warm up to outsiders but its worth the wait. What kind of work do you do?

I am a pastor interviewing at a church in town.

I hope you enjoy snow for about half the year.

No way. Norway doesnt get that much snow...sheesh, it aint the Keweenaw.

Good luck Dan. If you like the outdoors, its a great place to live, IMO.

I can only think of one place in the world I'd rather live than the UP and I'm already here.

Dan,
Dunno if you're a native Arizonian but the cold/snow can take a bit of getting used to.

That's a really nice area. And, opportunities abound for a man of the cloth - don't know too many parishioners in my neck of the woods that wouldn't welcome the pastor to hunt their ground.

Sounds very enticing!!! We lived the past 6+ years in Idaho so we do have experience with snow and negative temps. Any moose up there?

There are indeed some moose in the UP. Unfortunately (as far as I know) there is no hunting season for them but I know it was discussed a handful of years ago.

Grinning- ran out of wood last year in April and couldn't get in the woods...down on the Muskegon River...

Our camp is by the Keweenaw but we hunted down by the WI border for twentyish years--there certainly are more deer on the Lake Michigan watershed. It is beautiful country there, too.

We had hopes for a moose season at one time and you could see them come out to a bog by camp, but I don't think that it is going to happen anymore.

The camp we hunt out of is not far from Norway and the actual owners live in Norway. This will be my dad's 55th year in camp. I make it up every other year due to my work schedule. Big deer but not a lot of trophies to be had. What i've noticed over the past 10 years is that it seems like less and less people hunt every year. Last year i don't think we had more than a dozen cars even pass by. Grouse populations are cyclical but when the numbers are up it can be fantastic.
Lots of talk regarding the effects of the wolf population on the local deer herd.
Great people up north but i guarantee it will be like nothing and nowhere else you have ever been.

Michigan's UP is one of my favorite places. Lots of wild land, good hunting and fishing.

I can't speak specifically to the Norway area, but the UP has some excellent bear hunting. There are also guys who do well on bobcats and coyotes. We will be hunting wolves again in 2015.

Norway is also near Iron Mountain, home to Tom Izzo and Steve Mariucci!

405wcf

Steelhead and Salmon with in easy reach, deer and bird hunting should be fine, the hard part is just finding one to shoot!

My first 12 years of deer hunting were in the UP, near Gwinn and the surrounding area. As others have said, you wont see many deer but the deer tend to be heavier, and mature bucks can be HUGE. I good friend had a camp near Foster City/ Felch. Every few years someone in their camp would connect with a very nice buck.

As said before Grouse can be plentiful and it pays to have a dog. Also as others have said this area of the UP does not get the heavy snow cover that the Lake Superior shoreline and is generally referred to as the "Banana Belt". The turkey hunting in the lower half of the UP can be pretty good as well. Trophy brook trout still exist for those that work hard or are just damn lucky.

We make our annual trips to the UP and I make it a point to either wet a line or get out for a walk in the woods each time. It is amazing county with amazing people. Buy yourself an Stormy Kromer, learn to like pastys, Cudighi sausage, and Trenary Toast and you will fit in just fine.

You have been blessed to have been called to a congregation in the UP, and you will soon understand why Yoopers are pretty serious when they refer to it as "God's Country".

Congratulations.

I lived near Mqt and hunted as far south as Gwinn for 6-8 years.

There are quite a few wolves there now and a deer out in the open is a rare occurrence now (at least in the north anyway).

you may be far enough south to still have decent deer numbers, but in the north there are no where near the numbers they had in the lat 80's and early 90s.

great place though, still one of my favorite places to have lived!

The last few winters have really had severe negative effects on the deer herd of the lake superior watershed. Last year we had snow on the ground until June and fawn survival was very low.
The wolves havent helped either.

I don't know if its because I used to listen to Da Yoopers or because I like to watch Escanaba in da Moonlight but I really want to get up to the UP for some hunting some year.

Mike,

If you're coming to chase deer, bring some plywood for a blind, a couple hundred pounds of corn, beets or rutabagas and you'll fit right in.

Sounds like a plan.

When I used to hunt in the U.P., my strategy was to locate several long-running bait piles and sit a swamp between the two.

The sounds of four-wheelers in the distance on their way in generally meant I'd be seeing deer shortly.