Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Michigan UP vs. Eastern Kentucky for Deer?

Deer are absolutely pushed by snowfall in the UP but I don’t know if its 50 miles. Wouldn’t surprise me though. I hunt in the Huron mtns and I can absolutely verify it pushes them to lower altitudes...keep in mind we are talking lake effect snow so the snowfall levels are very localized. 200 ft in elevation can mean the difference in 20 inches in snow in a days time no joke. That said weve shot good deer in deep snow

And yes KY women are several leagues above the bovines we have up here. I imported my woman from out of state.

The UP is awesome...but I’d you want 150 class white tails...head to Iowa LOL

Do you get any quail on your land. It seems like reclaimed mine can be good cover for them.

The winter of 95-96 we lost upwards of 200K deer up there. And then the next year we got hit hard again with long lasting snow. Deer can handle it for a while, but when there's still a couple feet on the ground in April there's going to be substantial deer kill. The UP deer populations have never recovered IMHO. Throw in unchecked wolf predation and you can see why the numbers stay low. The only strong populations are over by the WI border in Dickinson and Menominee Counties. These counties don't get the lake effect snow that the Superior shore receives every year and have a more agriculture. The east end has agriculture too, but doesn't see the deer numbers like they do.

There is a migration. We used to hunt it when the conditions lined up with the season. There's a well worn migration trail east of Seney crossing M28 where the lowland bogs give way to the hardwood uplands. I've hunted most counties in the UP and can't say one is better than the other. Most of the camps are west of M35. A lot of these camps have blinds with only one 15 foot wide, 50 to 100yd long shooting lane through the cedars where at the end lies a huge pile of bait. They stare out the blind window until a racked buck shows up. The guys that hunt public are usually a little bit more mobile. There are some very good hunters who do the spot and stalk thing. The get on good bucks most years. My favorite hunting was usually solo, later during the muzzleloader season - cut a set of big tracks in a foot of fluffy snow and stay on them until it's fruition. Didn't work out very often but the hunts were spectacular. Got a couple on the wall that way too.

I saw the biggest buck I've ever laid eyes on, dead in a trailer, outside the Tally-Ho in Curtis about 25 years ago. 5 X 8 bed with the rack propped up in front and the back legs hanging out the back. It had to be 300+ on the hoof. It attracted quite a crowd. Saw it again when it won big buck night on a Michigan outdoors show.

Teal sums it up well. There's more to the UP than just bagging a buck; the camps, the camaraderie, the fishing - trout, walleye, whitefish, smelt - the hiking, atvs, the pasties, the smoked fish, Trenary Toast, Yooper Dome, snowmobiles, the Packers, Mighty Mac and on and on. And the freedom. Haven't lived up there in years, but I'm dying to get back.

post script: As of 12/1/20 the bridge count is down 33% for the season.

Yep, sure did, late '80s - early'90s as I recall, but I can't seem to find any old news references to it now.

Restocking deer from Wisconsin to a few counties here in Western KY started in the early '60s and1973 was KY's first deer hunting season of just 3 days, antlered only and if I recall correctly there was a minimum antler requirement too.

If you like snow and cold, I assume Michigan is your place

If you stay in KY longer than 48 hours, your IQ will drop significantly

Trump 2020

yes we have quail

Amazing, they went Trump.

I've never even been to the UP let alone hunted there. But I've lived in Eastern Kentucky so I'd say the UP. Has to be better, if not the deer hunting then everything else.

Cock?

Doesn't everyone? I'm going up to Marquette in mid January to do some snowshoeing.

Oh look, another worn out old man with the gay hate. Why are you geezers so fixated on gay sex? Friggin weird.

Lol! NoDak can get awfully sporty in that department too. Saw 20 below on a late season duck hunt near Cando. If Hell didn’t freeze over that day it wasn’t for lack of trying.

Don’t forget fat women

Sorta like mopeds. (which you can only ride two months of the year up there - fat chicks are year ‘round)

Do NOT listen to this guy ^^^^^^.... The fact that there is a private deer hunting camp with high dollar clients set up on former river bottom farm half way between my farm and Shaman's place is purely coincidental. The fact that the #5 typical 10 point WT was taken about a mile and a half line of sight off my front porch is also totally coincidental. Don't waste your time in KY Zone 1....

<sarcasm off>

I depends on where in KY you go. Some areas have lots of deer and flatter ground, some areas are farmland/woods, some are tough steep terrain w/ less hunting pressure, and some areas are gentle rolling hills. Anywhere in the state can produce large deer, but finding the right place for you will require some travel, study, and leg work. KY seldom has as cold and snowy weather as the UP, but some like it colder, so it's a personal choice....the two places are much different..

Every time I drove east on US 2, every state I went through was 5 degrees warmer.

What sucks about the yoop is how long winter drags on for, and the damn overcast days.

So you think there are no moonshiners or meth cookers in The UP??