Michigan whitetails

[WNC]

Been hearing from a few people about how many whitetails there are up in Michigan and how nice it is to hunt around the Lakes. I'm getting the fever pretty bad and was thinking maybe a trip up that way next year might be in order. I'd like to get my first whitetail using a smokepole.
Any suggestions as to where (if it exists would be a nice, quiet, mostly unpopulated area that's not pressured too bad during the season?
Thanks a bunch

Greg

 

[RJR]

Public land pressure is all over. It's real hard to find a place where you don't run into at least some other hunters. I used to hunt a place that I hiked 2 and a half miles back into until last year when I hiked in on opening morning and found a half dozen guys where I had hunted. Seems the DNR had cut a new fire trail into the area (150 yds from my blind) so that it could be cut. Lost that spot and still had to hike out. If you can hook up with someone on private land you should have a good hunt. I'm not saying there isn't good hunting on public land, it's just scarce. Take care, Rick.

 

[WNC]

Thanks Rick. Looks like I need to start doing some checking on private land then.

G

 

[djnye]

hey there deaddawg,we need more folks like yourself in our woods so don't stop coming up here because of a logging road(the feds always have to "improve" things). there are millions of acres of commercial forest land available to hunt up here without permission. i just spent two weeks walking(i can't stand blinds--excuse me musketman for being 'punny') and saw one other hunter, and he was my neighbor.so don't give up on finding quiet woods to hunt in the u.p.(however, it may not all be the best virgin timber area like the spot that deaddawg is referring to.

take care, daniel

 

[musketman]

quote:Originally posted by djnye:
i just spent two weeks walking(i can't stand blinds--excuse me musketman for being 'punny') no problem

 

[Rocky Johnson]

The older I get the better I like my blind. I live in southern Michigan but the frist week I hunt Ontonagon County the only people I see are the ones I hunt with. Ther is a lot of woods up there.Local people say the wolf population is why we don't see as many deer as in the past.One buck for eight hunters. I came back home to get my buck. The solitude is what makes the hunt up there for me. Rocky

 

[djnye]

the rather modest wolf population we have in the u.p. offers more malevolence to the mouse herd than the deer herd.

take care, daniel

 

[Rocky Johnson]

Djnye - It would take a lot of mice to keep a 100 pound + puppy fed. The people around Bergland are not happy about the wolf deal.Rocky

 

[djnye]

had a malamut/sheepdog mix--weighed 130+ and could go days off those little critters--he'd leave his bowl sit. in he woods i live in, there are a lot of little critters. in bergland, like most anywhere up here, some people say a lot of things. i get my best black ash from a swamp by bergland and the folks i work with there don't think that way.

take care, daniel

 

[sse]

Hi guys - When I'm sitting on the ground in Michigan, I usually have mice skittering all around. Half tempted to grab a few and roast 'em up to see what they taste like.

As far as hunting pressure, during regular firearm season, public land is tough. There are some pockets of federal that may be overlooked here and there. I would imagine the UP would be pretty slow in many areas, there's a lot of room up there. During muzzleloader season it really slows down and weather permitting, one can get a look at the deer. I wish I had a chance to get out this last December, it was very mild at times.

Good luck, sse

 

[Haggis]

One of my brothers lived in Michigan during the winter of 1987 and 1988. He had a bunch of kids and times were tough. He took a young buck about every two weeks right on through the winter and into the spring until he moved back to Kentucky. He said he couldn't tell that he'd made a dent in the local population.

That's saying something when you factor in that he was just hunting out his backdoor.

 

[sse]

Haggis - Times have changed since then. The northeastern portion of the state, with the bovine tuberculosis, has been met with an extermination policy from the DNR. Many sportsmen and landowners a lot more knowledgeable than I complain that the DNR policy has been a train wreck in slow motion.

I heard a farmer to say a year ago, in that same vicinity, that not long ago he could see good sized herds of deer and choose a good rack and shoot. Not so any more. He also said the same about turkey populations, which I was hunting on his property at the time. As far as either pursuit, he doesn't bother anymore saying: "Its a waste of time!"

Mind you other areas of the state still do very well.

Regards, sse

P.S. That mid to late 80's time frame marked the start of an incredible warming trend here, which did not really end until the winter of 2000-2001. That one and the ones since have been like the good old days.