Im getting mixed reviews, some have done pretty well some cant find a buck among our heard of does. What are you guys seeing?

There's a thread up in the Hunters Campfire. My story is up there, but I saw 39 deer, including five bucks in two days. Missed a ten pt, got an 8 pt.

I'm seeing lots of deer and hearing plenty of shots.

I have a buck in freezer already, and have been letting everything go in hopes of a monster. 2-3 Huge bucks in area, plus many smaller ones.......

Michigan bucks. Texted to me today......




1st is my good bud's cousin Al's wife's 9pt.

Next is my bud's 14year old son's first buck. Shot with my old Ruger 77 tang safety 243 and my 100gr SGK handloads......

Ken details on that 1st buck WOW! seen 11 deer in 2 days 2 spikes and a buck chaseing a doe couldnt count points, getting hit good with snow now! out of 11 hunters 4 bucks 2 8pts, a 6 and a big 5pt. with no brows aged 31/2

No details, John. I will be hunting with him tomorrow. He did say she hit it far back, and didn't find it until next morning. Plenty cold, so no worries, and the coyotes didn't get to it.

I hunted in some serious snow/wind this evening. Lots of deer, no monster bucks....

Did you make it to the UP? Im 10 miles west of Caddy, 16 inchs on the flat wind chill Zero and still snowing hard, they should be moveing after this front moves thru!

No I stayed south. I got my eye on a few huge bucks. Hope at least one is still alive! My god the weather is bad.

Just got a text of a 6pt my bud killed in da U.P. It is slim pickens up there right now........

I fig it would be bad up there not to mention the lack of deer, our #s are way down around here also! good luck getting one of them big boys! i did get a doe 2 days before the rifle started.

Real slow around the west end of M-55. People are taking a few, but nobody seems to be seeing the 2.5 year class and older bucks everyone expected with the antler restrictions going into effect last year.

The lack of hunters for a weekend opener was also surprising. It was like a Tuesday opener. One of the local TV stations had a story about decreased license sales. Jay's in Clare claimed a lot of people simply refused to spend the money and left without buying anything. I figure that'll produce extra funds for the DNR with tickets for hunting without a license.

We had very few hunters around here, i may have heard 20 shots on sat. and 2 on sunday! No real big bucks around, I think they didnt make thru last winter!

30" of snow on the ground, and I haven't seen a deer yet. Better than being at work though.

Bud took a 6pt near Escanaba today....

Saw 6 bucks on opening day, killed a 6pt at 8:45 and an 8pt at 2:30, both chasing does. The guys that hunt across the road from me usually really do well and came up empty this year. All the bucks were on my side this year


Yanked gut with this Crotts

Mac Bridge numbers are down 40 percent.

numbers seem way down to me as well and I'm hunting Eaton Rapids. Guys are not happy on Michigan Sportsman forum.

what county?

How many days have you hunted?

thought this was funny and accurate.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=70659&d=1416398341

Screw that. Where exactly is your stand and when will you NOT be in it

This is my eleventh year hunting my land and it's possibly the worst year of all. Opening morning started out pretty good - saw 6 deer including a fawn spike in the first 45 minutes. After that it's just been the occasional sighting of the same 1 or more of that group. Where are all the 4 and 6 pointers I should be seeing? I've been letting a lot of spikes walk the last couple years, but they seem to have vanished along with about half the usual number of does. It's not winter kill because back when things were thawing in late winter there were deer everywhere.

Weather has been rotten, that's for sure. This is the first morning all week that I've seen sunshine, but the wind is cranking. Again.

It's discouraging. I'm off this week and planned to hunt every day, but with hunting being so slow I decided to take yesterday and drive down to Onekama and pick up a tractor I just bought. What an adventure that was. I left my house a few miles south of Mackinaw, picked up a rental trailer in Petoskey, then drove through Traverse City and on to Onekama. I had the tractor on the trailer and chains and binders in place just before 4 pm and because I had run into some serious lake effect snow heading South out of Traverse I decided to head inland across M-55 and pick up either US 131 or continue on to US 127, depending on visibility and road conditions.

I ended up going all the way to 127 and heading North toward home. Conditions plain sucked. I didn't arrive home until 10 PM- 6 hours after leaving Onekama.

Anyway, hunting is slow and the weather stinks, but at least I'm not at work.

I hear you. The weather/wind is nothing short of disappointing. Really sucks badly. I am supposed to meet a bud down by the Huron river to go hunt today around 2:30. Thinking of putting it off until tomorrow. High winds really suck. Tomorrow should be decent, I think. 25� but sunny with less wind(I hope). Some of the snow should melt over the weekend, here.

Which reminds me, I need to go snow blow soon

I have been hunting Washtenaw County. Shot a buck back on Oct 8th. Seen several monsters in gun range, but not bow range. Haven't been able to get a big buck in gun range since season opened. Weather isn't helping......

You certainly have the hot spot.

My brother hunts and lives in Saline, and it sounds slow for him and his crew

I have 23 acres near there I could go to but we haven't.

I just may hunt Jackson tomorrow....or this weekend....

I hunted public in the NW corner of the LP for the opener and saw 20 deer; 19 does and one buck not within legal limits. Everyone in our 7-person party saw deer which is awesome. I've never seen so many deer on public land in my entire life!!

Seriously what college wouldn't put those 19 doe to 1 buck odds in their promotional material??

Of course our DNR cut antler less tags to practically zero. I'm really happy for the antler restriction and apparently they thought there was a great deal of winter die off but I didn't see it.

I headed south to a client's place NE of Muskegon where I nearly always see deer except this year when we hunted the entire youth hunt w/o seeing anything. It's in a thick riverine area w/ lots of hardwoods and adjacent farmland w/ standing corn. Spent all day Monday & Wednesday and saw lots of rather nice looking gobblers but no deer.

I did see enough tracks to believe my 9 yo and I can fill his doe tag Saturday though...

Hunted Ingham this afternoon and saw 7 antlerless. BIL saw a 6pt and and 8 pt and a few does.

Weather for Sat and Sun looks bad here, freezing rain turning to showers. Was going to take the kids out but they don't want to go in that stuff.

405wcf

The Soo now has 54" of snow. That's 44" above average. Ironwood had 60" as of yesterday. Some guys hear Marquette had 43" in two days just before gun season. A lot if them said they weren't going to be able to get to their gear until spring. They left blinds, cameras, etc in the woods. A ton of people are snowed into their camps.

No wonder the harvest is down...and two bad winters back to back. The U.P. herd is in trouble...BIG TIME.

Yep, Sad state of affairs...no doubt...

Took this guy today. Spot and stalk.....

I've completely abandoned UP hunting. It's incredubly sad, and I don't think the northern LP is a whole lot better. I go south for archery, barely gun hunt anymore. Here is my 2014 crossbow buck. It'd take a minor miracle for us to grow one like him up here!

Nice bucks boys!!

Nice way to tag out.

yote time now

Hunted in Alcona County near Curran. Worst hunt in 26 years. 9 guys n camp and we all hunted 6 days or more. 56 man days of hunting and not one shooter buck. We have a 6 point rule. Lots of does and yearlings, a few spikes and a couple of fours, no one seems to know where the bucks went.

Took a large doe yesterday moring, the warm up settled the snow down and got the deer moveing, story on the Savage form.

Son got a heavy 7 point. Narrow but at 14 years old, he'll shoot anything and be happy!

Saw bucks every day, does every day. Nothing worth shooting though.

Alright guys, I gotta ask - how has much of the U.P. fallen so far in terms of animals and animal quality? (not so much the farm country but the big woods)

Growing up, my dad and I would travel to the U.P. in a couple of different spots but our group shot some decent bucks in the Bates and Amasa areas. That seemed to peeter out over the years too. And the last place we hunted further east had the biggest oak ridge I've ever encountered (mini mountain with acorns everywhere) and it was devoid of deer the last time we hunted there.

Winters? Lack of logging? The need to kill everything with 3" on top?

From my experience, (much like it is in northern WI) if you took away the 4-wheelers and baiting, a good many would quit hunting.

What say you?

Skane, I am all for taking away baiting and 4 wheelers. I am the oldest guy in camp (67 years young) and I am the only person to walk to the blind. Everyone else drives in the 4x4, some as short as a 600 yard drive. My blind is 3/4 of a mile and I enjoy the walk twice a day, come back to the cabin for lunch. The hunters of the 1950's and 60's were better hunters. They learned the woods and the deer trails. They put in their time and paid their dues to harvest a buck. Shooting over a bait pile is not sport, it is an Ambush!

I do not use 4 wheelers, bait, or sit in a box blind. Never felt the need.

3 of my last 4 bucks were shot offhand, while walking. Including the one above....

I had all of last week off for hunting and except for a couple obligations that got in the way, I hunted nearly the whole time. Basically, I just watched the same few deer move through in different combinations. I must have seen the same little spike about 10 times, including the time I heard him coming and, not knowing it was him, I hit the grunt tube a couple times. He came charging in like his ass was on fire. I had to fight back the laughter at seeing him acting so bad azzed.

I saw a decent fork horn on Thursday evening. I tried everything I could to put a brow tine on him to make him legal, but no go.

I took a stroll through the woods to see where there was movement and found the first scrape I've ever seen on my property. It was on a lightly used deer trail about 75 yards from a stand that I haven't hunted in a few years. I plan to plant myself there before dawn on Thanksgiving morning and see what happens.

I have a doe tag, but doubt that I'll fill it. There just doesn't seem to be as many deer this year and since my son put some venison in the freezer during the youth hunt, there's no point in shooting a doe when the deer numbers are down.

Well Skane, I hate to say it but you are right about baiting and AV's. My area had so much baiting I could see corn kernals all the way down the logging road. Even if there was no snow I could have litterally tracked the kernals to the guys stand. To make matters worse, it is a walking trail and two signs say no motor vehicles allowed. They drive right by the signs. If it wasn't for baiting I am sure I would have heard half the shots I heard this weekend ( 15) as far as the ear could hear, even counted the ones so far away they were just " pooffs" instead of cracks. I wish more than anything they would outlaw baiting so the deer would move on their own. My only strategy is circling where I know there is bait, find tracks coming to and from the corn. I sit upwind of tracks I think will head back to the bait. Very few big bucks will come to bait in daytime so I try to head them off. I have spots to do this but no luck yet. Ban bait and ban all atv's on public land and I think we would have half of Price co. to ourselves.
There was a time the hunting was OK . Since then wolves, bear, doe tags increased and then the perfect storm, a severe winter up there. To encourage my son, I told him this should be the bottom of the bottom for deer hunting. He saw one doe Sunday evening , I saw nothing and we considered one deer sighting a success. Oh well.

Agreed. Add to that the friggn wolves, the DNR's liberal antlerless tags and hunters who feel a need to fill those tags 'cause if we don't shoot them someone else will'. Then sit in the local bars and bitch 'cause they don't see any deer!

I think the biggest changes are in our expectations and how it now compares to the southern lower. The limiting factor in the U. P. deer population is the winter habitat and feed.



There is only one other hunter I personally know that doesn't hunt over bait. I did it for a few years while hunting with a group that did, but gave it up. I am happier, and just as productive. We have a generation of hunters now that has known nothing else. Without the bait there would also be less need for the 4-wheelers. While I'm on the soap box, I would get rid of the two-buck tag, and issue more doe permits.

My 180 UP acres in the big woods of northern Menominee County looks like deer heaven on an aerial photo, or when you walk through it, but deer numbers are about 10% of what they were back in 1995 when I bought the property.

Where I saw 25 deer a day in the late 90's, I am seeing 2 or 3. The other night I actually had 7 come through and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I have only seen one buck, a 3-point. There are a few small bucks on camera and one big bodied 7-point that showed up one night at 3AM and then disappeared.

It has been a discouraging season. The extremely severe winter of 2013/2014 killed a lot of deer, but they were way down before the winter started. The weather, diseases, coyotes, bobcats, eagles, cougars, bears, wolves, cars, poachers and crop damage shooters all get their share before the hunters hit the woods.

Our area has been logged in the past few years and there is quite a bit of new growth that should have improved conditions for the herd.

I have NEVER seen any detectable benefit from the "Let 'em go, let 'em grow" philosophy. We let small bucks go on their way every year, but never see them all grown up the next year. I believe that the breeding bucks are the first to die in a bad winter, because they have run all of their fat off chasing does, just before the cold weather hits.

Our hunting pressure has steadily fallen over the years and there are few young people in the deer camps around this area. It will be a minor miracle if I am able to take a legal buck on my property this season, despite spending the summer planting clover and rye and doing everything I can to improve the deer habitat on the place.

But I'll keep trying...

Good to hear form ya Wildhobbybobby. If I saw 2 deer a day I would be a happy camper. I only sat 14 times this year and saw deer two times. Don't laugh Wildhobbybobby, but I sometimes look at land up by you cause it is so much better than where I am. Someday , maybe, I will buy land there.

The biggest factor is the UP winters. The second biggest is the way the DNR handed out doe tags for so long. Bait kills our season. Our rut is very weak, no competition. Bucks don't have to go all out to find does to breed because they don't have to compete with another buck for the most part. I rarely see chasing and seldom see bucks cruising. There's hardly any buck sign in the woods, no need.

I gun hunt another big woods state with no baiting. There's sign everywhere, deer are on their feet all day, heavy competition...all with less than six deer per square mile. Find a buck or a doe group, sit it and shoot a wall hanger. Doesn't get any better. Deer there also respond to calls there, unlike the UP.

I hate hunting the UP, but I live here and have started a family. I may be limited to UP hunting the next 1-2 years.

Don't get me wrong, I love the UP and like to hunt the big woods, and I also really enjoy puttering around the place all summer doing prep work for deer season. It keeps me off the streets.

But I can't help thinking that things could be better if management of the wildlife here had less to do with politics and more to do with reality and some consideration for the people who pay the bills.

We can't control the weather, but there are other factors that affect the deer population that could be improved if there was the will to do so.

Too bad guys don't bait em after season to help keep them alive during the winter as much as they do to kill em.

I have no issue with bait. Im not a fan of hunting over it. I agree with whoever made the comment about today's young hunters needing bait, seems darn few have any woodsman about them.

I confess that I hunt over bait from a nice heated blind. I spent many years sitting by a runway on a stump, but I just can't take the cold any more. I guess my He-Man days are over.

Last winter before I left for FL, I put about 3 tons of nice, second cutting hay out for the deer. While I was gone and hearing about the severe conditions, I worried that "my" deer would run out of food and succumb to the weather.

When I got back, there was still some hay left...good news and bad news...the deer never ran out of food, but there weren't enough deer to eat the food.

And...the wolf tracks around the hay piles can make you wonder just exactly WHICH animals you are feeding...

That's ok WH Bobby, I sit in a blind during gun season too when it's cold. I will sit in one forever now. I can't stand the cold and wind. I have a blind on a small hill overlooking a 5 yr cutover. Behing me is a swamp. I can't believe how much warmer a blind is. I used to sit in a tree and freeze. I also don't really mind some bait. I have put a few handfulls , or a coffee cup of corn along a log where my son sits sometimes. For some reason, not every baiter is a slob hunter, but every slob hunter is a baiter. It is enough to stop them for minute. I am also convinced deer are leary to come into bait with wolves around. All that deer scent has got to be a dead giveaway when a pack of wolves come through. The dumb ones die quick. Also, if you find wolf kills , the whole deer is gone. You won't even find the backbone. Even the hide is torn off the hair and nothing is left. Here are some wolf kills. Nothing left but the skull and the hoof.

I've seen wolf kills that look quite different then that too. That one looks quite old and may have had snow on it for some time.

I'd like to blame the wolves, but I just can't put it all on them. I've hunted areas/states that have a way worse wolf problem than MI and I just don't see it. I'm all for knocking the numbers down though. Go out to MT, ID, MN or even WI and you'll see a wolf issue. We have way more land mass and way less wolves per capita. Our deer numbers are dwindling more because of winters and over harvest than wolves.

I watched the winter of 02-03 kill UP whitetails, 07-08 & 08-09 kill UP whitetails and now 13-14 & 14-15 kill UP whitetails. In between, our numbers rebound a bit.

What most are unconsciously complain about though us the fact that we were way overpopulated prior to the winter of 95-96. That herd wiped out our deer yards and ultimately 200,000+ deer died. The numbers rebounded a bit, but the DNR knocked them down with doe tags...too many.

What about the 70's when guys pissed themselves if they saw a track?

Look at our antler size compared to other big woods states a similar climate. In some areas of the UP, a 3 1/2 year old is a dink six. That same deer may be 120" in another big woods state. I won't venture to give my philosophy there though.

I could go on and on. It's safe to say that we have way too much bait in the woods and way too many deer hunters for the herd the UP now carries. It's driving people out or causing them to give up all together.

It was a winter kill for sure cause it wasn't there in the fall. I've seen some wolf kills that still had a bit of meat on the bones. Wolves will even eat the nose on a deer, just leaving the top of the skull. Weather the wolves killed it , who knows. Maybe it was ready to die when the wolves found it.

I agree with pretty much everything you said, Dooger. I'd say we are basically returning to the 70's at this point. And my 6-point from last year was indeed a 3 1/2 year old buck.

Predation from all sources is a bigger factor than it was 25 years ago, but certainly not the whole problem. I won't lay it all on the wolves either...but I have yet to see a wolf protectively escorting a deer to the safety of the food pile.

One sad fact is that there are fewer people around that care about deer numbers and quality deer hunting than there used to be, and that cannot bode well for the future of the sport.

Sounds very much like my place just South of the bridge, WHB.

Food plot and letting the spikes go for years with nothing to show for it.

Well, Scott, it still beats spending time in Detroit.

BAM!

It's all about Beer Camp and sitting 8-10 hours to shoot a dink and get back to Beer Camp...then home after a few days.

It sure does.

A little perspective sure helps put a bit of a shine on, doesn't it?

I read several reports earlier and the general concensus was that bout 60% of the UP herd died to winter kill/predators. Obviuously, the northern part of the state got hit very hard as well.

Remarkably, the southern 1/3 seems to have faired mch better and numbers are still very good.

I gotta think that this crappy weather is only going to further contribute to lower overall kills this year, statewide. Which may be a good thing, considering.

We still easily have one of the largest herds in the nation. Maybe not 2 million deer anymore, but eventually, it will bounce back. It always does.

I think we all need to shoot some doggies this winter......

1+ on the doggies! Hunter #s are down, iv thought that for the last few years but the sat. opener proved it! I think alot of guys are takeing there vac. time for the youth hunts, 2 guys in our group did that this year! but with the bad weather this season maybe a few bucks will make it to next spring if the winter not very bad!

Maybe we should get together some time this winter, John. Try to take out some coyotes.....

In the northern half of the UP bow/ MZ season should start on Oct 1 and end Oct 15. Keep rifle season as it is. One tag only for the whole UP that must have 4pts or better. No doe permits or does killed with a bow in the northern half of the UP. Clear cut every acre of state owned winter habitat as it's all browsed out. Manage state owned land containing Oaks and Beech for mast production by selective cutting, but manage non mast producing trees via clear cutting. Bump tag prices up to 200 dollars for residents and 500 for NR. Hire more CO's to crack down on the slobs. For starters...

$500 !!!!! Starting ot think youdon't want me there!!.. I know we have to do something. I don't know quite what. I think for starters we should have shot more wolves this year cause it will be very slim pickins with so few fawns this winter. SHould shoot a bunch more bear , at least in Wis. One buck per year up north and no does. Start cutting trees. like BWalker said. We have to do something. Wisconsin is going ot have a wakeup call. 22,000 less tags were sold this gun season. Honestly , I also think bait makes them move much different than without bait. At least then it would force them to move more in the daytimes. ALso, Wildhobbybobby, 25 yrs ago not as many hunters baited, now every ball slingin inbred is dumping bait . You have competition now and every deer in 1/2 sq. mi.know were all the corn piles are. Here is an example. When I get to my cabin on Wednesday night, there are deer waiting in the yard for me to put down some apple, corn or some old cereal . I go out and I can litterally be 10' form them and they stand there and look at me. By Friday afternoon the deer hear the atv's and know it means piles of corn being dumped. By Friday night we see 1 deer or so and Saturday night we usually don't see any. They are all at the established bait piles and know just where they are. Now days they are very conditioned to bait piles.

Just might have to do that Ken Iv not realy hunted yotes much went out 2 times last winter but the snow was so deep you cant find a place to park off the road and the, un plowed roads had 3 ft. of snow on them, need a snowmobile. maybe snow shoes but I have a bad leg leg now! Im hopeing to get a big Bobcat when the season opens saw him bow hunting!

I hear you. Last time I went was private property. Snow was so deep it took an hour to walk 100yds. More like work than fun....Lol

Like you guys, I need to work on the coyotes #'s this winter.

I'm looking forward to getting out in the woods in the AM and watching over that freshly maintained scrape I found last Sunday. Hopefully it doesn't belong to that same horny little spike I've been seeing so much of, but to a legal buck.

It's time to cut a tag !

Get after it, man. Need deer/rifle pics.

Cousin Kevin up in da U.P. just shot a nice 10pt. So there are still some deer left up there somewhere.....

I like the line of thinking BWalker noted above, but the price hike is a little steep.
I would STOP ALL BAITING.
I would like to see a TRADITIONAL ARCHERY AND TRADITIONAL ML SEASON only in late Oct.
I would like to see something addressing how close to a property line you can put a blind or stand (and bait if we can't get rid of it). IF you are not hunting my property why do you have to set/bait 5 feet from it. This summer I will be hitting the garage sales for cheap used pop ups. I will be putting them just inside my property line right beside the ones on the neighbors and public land that adjoins my property.

So far no shots fired at deer by me or my group. Seen a lot of antlerless and will fill that tag during the late season.

I have similar ideas to what MRK outlines above:

1) End all baiting (never gonna happen too much $ involved!!)

2) Move reg firearm opener to 4th Sat of Nov or 1st of Dec & make it a full month long in areas deemed appropriate (see #5)

3) Establish early ML season 1st wk of Nov or last of Oct

4) Allow no buck smaller than 3 pts on one side to be killed in the whole state

5) Do away completely with OTC buck tags and put in place a lottery like they have in Wyoming, with more DMUs allowing more targeted management, using �any deer� and �antlerless only� tags

6) Make violation of any game laws less desirable than death itself

I just wish it were illegal to shoot smaller bucks. Problem is, many hunt simply for meat, and you can't eat the antlers.

Still, plenty of larger bucks and does to kill, though.

IDK. Both sides can make a very valid arguement, I guess. Just because I don't shoot smaller bucks, doesn't mean everyone has the luxury of being picky when it comes to filling the freezer....

Totally agree and that's why I think they could, in many areas, issue an awful lot more antlerless tags. If a man (like me; 5 kids who love venison) wants to fill his freezer no reason to kill immature bucks.

But I also see your point re: antler restrictions. I guess I think of our deer herd & it's lack of trophy potential as an issue of economic development for the state and a perception change in the best interest of all involved. You're absolutely right though; valid arguments on both sides.

I hunt in an area where there are no antlerless tags ever. Between that, the fee hike this year, and the point restrictions, I didn't buy the combo tag. I got the single brown and down tag. If they would sell us doe tags instead, then I would buy them.

"Remarkably, the southern 1/3 seems to have faired mch better and numbers are still very good."

I have hunted the same Southern MI acreage for over 40 years. This year by far has been the worst deer hunting I have had in all those years. I sat all day opening day and the day after and only saw 2 does. Usually, I see anywhere from 25 to 40 deer on opening day.
I have talked with neighbors and friends and they are reporting the same results. We have about 40 people entered in our "biggest buck pool." As of this evening we only have one person who has gotten a buck and that was a smallish 7 point.
People are reporting the bucks they are seeing are spikes and small fork horns and that the does and fawns are smaller than previous years.
IMHO I think last winter was also hard on the deer in our area.

Went out this afternoon, sat till dark had 2 Nice does walk by that was it, 26 out no wind 5" of snow, one of those Just dam nice to be in the woods type hunts!

Right on; that is why no matter what happens here'll always hunt in Michigan. This state is gorgeous and being outside in it is amazing.

My son & I have taken up bird watching which is a wonderful supplement to those times between deer sightings.

IMO, Should be 1 buck per person, Not 2. I believe hunters will not waste a tag on a year and a half old deer.

Seasons should replicate Ohio's (They have it right). Longer bow season with gun season in December 1 week and MZ 4 days

Hunters should be required to call in their kill like Ohio hunters do

Don't understand why you guys want to eliminate bait.

Simple really

I'd like to eliminate bait to normalize deer travel patterns and force hunters to hunt deer.

Really with today's technology I think bow and MZ could go right away. Limiting bow hhnting would save many wounded deer that runs off and die.
The problem in the UP is we kill too many bucks and in some areas not enough does. Compounding the problem is the winter range has been destroyed by mismanagement. Wolves, bears and yotes are also a problem, but not to the extent the above issues are.

Great idea till you think about how fragmented land ownership is now. Many landowners would have no deer at all on their property without bait and hunting by traditional methods(tracking, drives, etc.) is hard to do legally because of trespassing issues now.

There was a recent DNR study where they collared a bunch of deer. You would be shocked at how many died to predators. Once the snow gets deep then freezes, the coyotes can run on top, and the deer move like snails.

The deer hole up in the deer yards or cedar swamps where the air is warmer and wind less, and the predators find these places and it's game over.....

You raise excellent points in both those posts.

Down here by me I've been encouraged to see the NFS doing some clear cutting in areas where there has been a lot of climax forest. I don't know how much of that has taken place in the UP but seems like a no brainer-win/win from both revenue & habitat management perspectives.

Tim (MRK) made reference to having seasons for non-modern equipment which could help w/ over harvest due to ease of kills w/ crossbows/in-lines etc, but it seems like more small & localized DMUs that'd allow managers to particularize the issue of tags (both buck & doe) would help with that also.

As far as bait and older methods of hunting I completely see your point. I personally bait at a couple of stands on private land that is surrounded by (currently standing) crops for that exact reason, though I never expect to fill buck tags only doe over bait; I put buck stands around but not over bait.

Great discussion all!

I got back from the UP last week. In 5 days of hunting, between 3 of us on a 260 acre private farm, we saw 242 deer. Only one monster chasing a doe at 400yds, that I couldn't get to stop. We got one big doe with a land owner doe tag and saw two wolves.

Banana belt? Or migration trails?

If so, 16 deer per day per hunter isn't bad at all. I'm not saying it's right, but 10 years ago you would have seen that x2 or x3 over there.

You'd be lucky to see a deer a day in my neck of the woods.

Ohhhhh baby! Butcher shop just called. Mucho jerky, jalapeno/cheddar salami and spicy sticks with cheese incoming.

Thanksgiving all over again!

I'm turning green here.

Keeping my fingers crossed that ML will be magical for me, or that one of my boys will score during late doe.

Not holding my breath; hope you enjoy the fruits of your labor! That sounds wonderful!

I am stuffed with venison goodness right now. And a few sniffs of 100 proof bourbon....grin

We got snow coming down and I just may go spend the night in Jackson tomorrow and hunt Jackson or Grass Lake with a couple buds.

Of course the drink will be flowing, and we will be stuffed full of sausage, jerky, and smoked cheese, whether we shoot a buck or not.

I still have a honey hole in Jackson that is as of now, still untapped. Rumor has it a 12-14 point is in the hood. And my bud saw a good buck of 8 or more points in Grass Lake today (little long of a shot for him, but I woulda killed it easily ).

Lots of possibilities/places to take a buck tomorrow. Of course, I am tagged out, but there will still be some tags present. If I shoot one it will only be to give it away to someone who wants it. I'm just going to have fun.

Good luck......

They get a few, no doubt made easier by the fact the deer are starving to death in the yards as there is no food for them.
Back in the 90's when there was deer all over the place in the UP we still had tons of coyotes and bears. Though we did have less wolves then than now, the wolves have seemed to knock the coyote numbers down quit a bit, at least in my area.

In the places I hunt, the coyotes have seemingly knocked down the numbers of all other forms of life. I see less of everything now. Except coyotes. We have taken a few, but not nearly enough.

The last couple times I went coyote hunting, I thought I was in the arctic circle. Stupid crazy amounts of snow, and temps that would keep most hunters in the cabin. No colors, only white, from the bottoms of the trees to the tops.

Nothing a yooper isn't used to, though.

I REALLY need to invest in some quality snow shoes.....

When I drag this baby out, play time is over. I'm not looking to save fur, and the 87gr.V-maxes can prove it

I wouldn't shoot another buck and I would probably edit your post and remove the part about shooting one on someone else's tag.

No question you have great land and a very good hunter (probably better than most), but I would tone it down a little. A lot of Michigan hunters are having a really tough season and will be lucky to kill 1 buck.

In the banana belt, near Dagget. The guys in camp said the same thing.

Well, fellas, got to brag on my wife. Many years ago, I built her a rifle to fit her, a petite .257 roberts. Then life got busy with family and she was never was fired up enough to go out. However, this year I asked her to go buy a left over doe tag because we do like a little venison and we have deer literally in our back yard. So she got the license and said, "well, its my license, so maybe I should go hunt." Our youngest son said "do it mom!!!!!" Se we've been going out together as time allowed, and this morning it happened. Went back to the blind and there was several deer in a small patch of standing corn we'd left. We got her arranged on the home made shooting sticks and she made a perfect one shot kill at around 90-100 yards. 100 gr. Nosler ballistic tip handload. Deer ran about 75 yards and piled up. This was about as good as being with my boys when they took their first deer. Will try to post a picture or two later.

Congrats ruffedgrouse!

Me too but everyone is makin way too much money for that to happen.

When are we going shootin? Lets go to Kent some time.

I have never, ever, taken game illegally. Or used somebody else's tag. Ever. But like you say, not that easy to get a deer for some. This is the exact reason why I was considering it. I can get them a deer. Not sure if it makes a difference, but it would be on private property wth the landowners tag. And the landowner would be getting the deer.

It may not be by the book, but I'd not consider it morally wrong. The landowner still paid the state to harvest the deer on their own private property. The only technicality would be who pulled the trigger.

Anyhoo, I'm told they have leftover over the counter doe tags available. So I will just go that route and let one of the guys with a buck tag hunt the big boys.....

Think I will take the 480 SRH. Why not?



Took this 8 pt with it. Hard to see, but it is in my right hand:

That is one bad ass shootin iron!

Do you think "are ya feelin lucky punk, well are ya?" just before you pull the trigger? If you dont you should.

Love the avatar!

I do love the 480. I crunched the numbers years ago, and found that after my bullet has traveled 100 yds., it still has more energy than a 44 mag has at the muzzle. Plus, it makes a good bit larger hole. I'll never need/want a larger handgun.....

It's a real shame they never chambered the 480 in the Blackhawk.

I have a Bisley Blackhawk in 45 Colt. I consider it the BEST factory made hunting revolver produced today. You cannot do better. Period. If they made one in 480 I would own it....

Well, it's the last evening of the last day and I'm sitting in the frigid, windy weather and hoping to see a legal buck. I've got a doe tag, but have seen few adult does this year and unless I get buried up by does in the next little while, convincing me that winter kill is in my head, I won't be using it.

It got warm here. Still $hitty though. Rainy, wind.

Lots of muzzleloader season left to fill your buck tag....

I'm convinced that we have one generation that has no idea how to hunt deer without bait. That generation is beginning to raise a second. The number of licenses sold would drop drastically if baiting was outlawed.

FWIW, I was told by a CO that the number of tickets written this year for violations of the antler point restriction increased drastically from last year. They tried to cut people some slack last year since it was the first year in my area that they were in effect. Not this year.

I have owned two of them, both stainless and in 45LC. Great guns.

I'm tagged out on bucks as of last night (old 6 point that needed to go). My season wasn't quite as bad (deer sightings) as a lot of folks in Michigan, I'm fortunate for that. I'm going to shut it down for rest of year and let the does go, hopefully our winter is somewhat mild because I have a ton of button bucks running around this year.

Heading to SE Ohio for MZ opener Jan 1.

Anxious to ice fish, which is one of my passions.

Haven't seen a buck since opening day of firearm. Found some fresh scrapes yesterday so we know they are there though. I gotta get me a landowner tag this week. We have way to many does. Last Sunday seen 18 does, last sat seen a dozen, this AM seen about 14 does.