AJ300MAG is correct about the Thumb. I would not recommend the Thumb unless you want to spend more time waterfowling than deer hunting. Big bucks are taken in southern Michigan too, but mostly on private land.
Eastern UP has lots of limestone....Niagara escarpment. Locals will tell you that the wolves eat all the deer. But the fact is that bad winters knock the deer numbers down except where they are fed all winter( a practice which will be prohibited to control CWD.) Deep snow, cold temperatures, late springs kill off malnourished YOY deer. There are deer in the Pickford area but they migrate south when the snow starts to fly, frequently before the 11/15 opener. If you can find property across the migration routes between the old lake plain around Pickford and the cedar "swamps" down by Lake Huron/Les Cheneaux you might have decent reliable hunting. Eastern UP Property values took a beating in 2007-2008 and there have been a fair number of hunting camps for sale at good prices as boomers age out/die off.
Western UP agricultural areas ?North of Menominee have so many deer that crop damage control permits are available in large numbers. Hunting access might be like the Thumb though.
Cadillac area is as described, but the poster did not note that it is also a Quality Deer Management area with antler restrictions; minimum 4 points on one side. Over the past 6-7 years I did not see any but spike bucks, none of those 8-12 pointers that QDM promised. The only deer we shot on a leased farm in the Manton area were does. Some say the Amish in the area keep the numbers down.
There is a lot of neat country in the UP and northern lower. I like the NW part of Emmet county near Lake Michigan, but tribal hunters work that area before 11/15. Check out Drummond Island...there are deer and bear there. DNR wildlife biologists in Newberry and the Sault might help you understand eastern UP deer population locations and dynamics.
Last edited by Aagaardsporter; 01/17/20. Reason: add
