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Michigan deer harvest off 13%

Deer hunting up there is really tough from wolves and harsh winters, this winter being as mild as it is will help. When I’m up at our place in Michigan (L.P, 3/4ths up), old timers at bars, general stores, bait shops talk about the good ole days in the U.P deer hunting 90s-2000s I’ve been told. The guys that continue to hunt up there basically do it for nostalgia
 
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Bigcountry40 said:
Deer hunting up there is really tough from wolves and harsh winters, this winter being as mild as it is will help. When I’m up at our place in Michigan (L.P, 3/4ths up), old timers at bars, general stores, bait shops talk about the good ole days in the U.P deer hunting 90s-2000s I’ve been told. The guys that continue to hunt up there basically do it for nostalgia
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That’s sad….
 
They will find a way to take care of these overpopulated deer areas. It will be their answer to insurance a farmers. Now to figure out who "they" are.
 
I just messaged a buddy on Monday that lives over just West of Baraga, at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the UP. He is a fisheries biologist up there and has many contacts across the UP. I had found a post on FB on a mountain lion killing a deer near a town called Toivola which I knew was nearby him. Sure enough he confirmed the trail cam video was from a known guy about 20 miles from his house that had been getting a few pics of mountain lions in the area.

https://www.facebook.com/eli.schaefer/posts/896472218647594

We got to chatting and soon he sends me a video from an employee of his's trail camera, less than 5 miles from his house, with 8 big wolves in a pack going past it. Here is that video:


He said that deer hunting isn't the same as it used to be when I would go up to hunt with him during and after college. The fact that his one son shot his first buck this year was a big deal in that area. Several years back an old buddy and I went to the UP south of the SOO to do some bunny (snowshoe hare) hunting. The place we went to was a guarantee to kick up bunnies as we hunted it many times while in college. Though the habitat looked identical still we were lucky to cut a single bunny track in miles of walking. What we did see was plenty of big dog tracks. Later we ended up talking to a local who said the wolves have taken over the area and wiped out bunnies, deer, you name it. They have been screaming for help on wolves and now with the mountain lion becoming more prevalent they are about to give up.

Now that Michigan has mandatory deer registration it will be interesting to see how bad things get up there before they actually do something. Yeah, another DNR that is afraid to take the bull by the horns.
 
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For the rest of Michigan (L.P) I received a mass email from Michigan DNR that hunters were not killing enough does. I can say between my sons and myself we are doing our part!
 
Bigcountry40 said:
For the rest of Michigan (L.P) I received a mass email from Michigan DNR that hunters were not killing enough does. I can say between my sons and myself we are doing our part!
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I bought my licenses and didn't even hunt this year. Every time I talked with the farmer up in the thumb area he said they weren't seeing a whole lot. For me it wasn't worth the trip up there as I've made the trip many times to see 0 deer in years past. Not to mention working 6 days a week I always had to play catch-up around the house on shit that needed fixed or done.
 
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Big_Holla said:
I bought my licenses and didn't even hunt this year. Every time I talked with the farmer up in the thumb area he said they weren't seeing a whole lot. For me it wasn't worth the trip up there as I've made the trip many times to see 0 deer in years past. Not to mention working 6 days a week I always had to play catch-up around the house on shit that needed fixed or done.
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At my in-laws shack located in Huron National north of Glennie (Alcona County), the area always seems to hold deer, when I was up there for last week of December, the deer sign was minimal only seeing two and harvesting 1, but acorns were abundant (like they were everywhere). I am doing a gun season camp up there this upcoming year for the first time ever, I'm excited to see what its like. I also seen the most grouse I have ever seen this past december, I flushed several cubbies walking the property.
 
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I have quite a few friends that run bear dogs in the UP. It’s not much fun for them when they locate a dog with the gps collar and all they find is a skeleton picked clean and the dog’s collars. Plus, it doesn’t take wolves much time to do their damage.
 
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