Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Michigan Hunters, how did you do?

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.