Michigan - Reduced Deer Hunter(s) Numbers.

[JMG]

Michigan Deer Hunting Article


I found this article interesting. It reminds me of many churches that are dying out.

 

[Birdbander]

I'm a Michigan resident. My first deer hunt was in '84 when I turned 14, on a small private farm owned by extended family. I hunted each year until joining the Army, every chance I had to come home on leave. Upon leaving the service & moving home I found the extended families children had replaced me on hunting the farm & I lost access. Other farms in the area were being bought & consolidated, with no access. My last deer hunt attempt was in 2003.

Hunting public ground for deer doesn't appeal to me as I've experienced too much conflict with archery hunters while upland hunting. Can't imagine the unpleasantness of the "gotta get my deer before the next guy" scene of firearm deer on public.

One thing not mentioned in the link about increased deer numbers is the fact that deer hunters are continuing to kill bucks while purposefully not taking does in adequate numbers. I've heard two reports of this listening to the news this week.

I'm certain I'll never return to deer hunting in Michigan. I have little doubt that there are plenty of former Michigan deer hunters that are jaded beyond any chance of buying another resident deer license. Good luck to the DNR.

 

[seeth07]

Exactly the same in WI. It has amazed me the last two or three years just how few people I see parked at the 6 public properties I pass each morning/evening going to and from work. I even often see deer on those properties - just no one hunting them.

 

[Steve O]

That article is propaganda. The DNR is run by the politicians, not the biologists. Because of threats from the farm bureau and insurance companies there was an incredibly effective campaign of eliminating as much as possible our deer herd. This was done under the guise of various health and safety concerns ala TB and CWD. In the UP the wolves were left unchecked and that herd is gone. In the northern half of the LP, where the vast majority of the land is public and the traditional deer camps flourished, the unlimited doe tags in the hands of very effective, yet ignorant MI deer hunters destroyed that herd. The only place deer are doing well in Michigan is the southern half of the lower peninsula which is 90% private land where hunters are managing, not the politicians. If you don’t have a family farm, you are screwed. That’s the position I’m in. For the cost of a 40 acre lease where you deal with neighbors and trespassers, I can go for a week to Alberta/Sakatechewan and experience world class deer hunting. This is what I do in addition to hunting all over the rest of the USA for everything else. It is really sad; I have ZERO desire to hunt deer in my own state. It has allowed me to experience 25 other states and 6 Canadian provinces worth of hunting experiences though so I will stick with the glass half full…

 

[Brauee20]

It's a multitude of issues. In southern Michigan the slow death of family farms and folks unwilling to kill does are leading the way in my opinion.

When I was a kid my dad and uncles had permission on probably 2k acres to hunt besides what they owned. We'd push entire blocks at times late season. Those 500-600 acre farms have all been bought out and are now condensed to 3 or 4 corporate entities around us that farm 5-20k acres, some lease most don't. One had 83,000 acres before the feds came knocking for fraud.

A couple years ago we had 53 deer in the 45 acres of cut beans behind the house at the farm on Thanksgiving day. Dad said he was going to start calling extended family and friends that have limited access out to kill does if they wanted. Mind you, a heated blind, comfortable chairs, tractor retrieval and a minute walk to the blind from the house behind the barn. We made about 10 phone calls, and gave up. Everyone wanted to shoot a buck.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I blame crossbows and the people who use them for most of these issues.

 

[Steve O]

It's a multitude of issues. In southern Michigan the slow death of family farms and folks unwilling to kill does are leading the way in my opinion.

When I was a kid my dad and uncles had permission on probably 2k acres to hunt besides what they owned. We'd push entire blocks at times late season. Those 500-600 acre farms have all been bought out and are now condensed to 3 or 4 corporate entities around us that farm 5-20k acres, some lease most don't. One had 83,000 acres before the feds came knocking for fraud.

A couple years ago we had 53 deer in the 45 acres of cut beans behind the house at the farm on Thanksgiving day. Dad said he was going to start calling extended family and friends that have limited access out to kill does if they wanted. Mind you, a heated blind, comfortable chairs, tractor retrieval and a minute walk to the blind from the house behind the barn. We made about 10 phone calls, and gave up. Everyone wanted to shoot a buck.

If you need help outside the extended family, I’d lend a hand. I volunteer to help for the handicapped hunt at Shiawassee and have some family visits scheduled Thanksgiving week and Christmas but am all for proper deer management. I’ve shot all the MI bucks I ever need.

 

[Addicting]

It's a multitude of issues. In southern Michigan the slow death of family farms and folks unwilling to kill does are leading the way in my opinion.

When I was a kid my dad and uncles had permission on probably 2k acres to hunt besides what they owned. We'd push entire blocks at times late season. Those 500-600 acre farms have all been bought out and are now condensed to 3 or 4 corporate entities around us that farm 5-20k acres, some lease most don't. One had 83,000 acres before the feds came knocking for fraud.

A couple years ago we had 53 deer in the 45 acres of cut beans behind the house at the farm on Thanksgiving day. Dad said he was going to start calling extended family and friends that have limited access out to kill does if they wanted. Mind you, a heated blind, comfortable chairs, tractor retrieval and a minute walk to the blind from the house behind the barn. We made about 10 phone calls, and gave up. Everyone wanted to shoot a buck.

Call me, I will unleash my kids. They will pile them up.

 

[Ben Lamb]

IDK about below Clio (That's where the bad things are), but in the NW Lower, it's not that bad for access or quality of hunting on public land. Sure there's people but if you get a mile off the road, you generally don't see anyone else. I do see a big change in private though. Tons of conversion to golf courses, vineyards, cidery's & subdivisions. Farmers can't compete with Turkish cherries and the next generation doesn't see any profit in farming so it gets sold to developers, who then name their development after the place they destroyed. I'm seeing more leases around us as well, with food plots and fancy blinds.

Fewer places to hunt close to home = fewer hunters

 

[FlatlandHunter]

I am a NR from the state below MI and am very fortunate to have my Dad own 140 acres near West Branch. We took 2 does last week in a day, 1st for us with archery tackle. I have only seen 1 buck up there so far this year. I am on the fence about picking up a single doe tag for gun season. I still have 1 either sex tag left. We have bucks on camera but a lot more does and fawns. I think our property could use another 6 does taken this year. We have 360 acres south of us that we can recover on but no one is allowed to hunt. Unless my Dad steals all our shells during gun season I think a few of us will take more does.

Most of our does don’t dress more than 90-95#. The one I shot last week dressed 120# and I am curious to see what she is aged at.