According to the Michigan DNR deer hunter numbers keep dropping. They say deer numbers have been increasing in the lower peninsula and hunter success is up.
I am still new to MI hunting and can’t relate to what is was like in years past but last year I spent a day and a half scouting on state lands near Gladwin to north of West Branch. Hunters with large campers seemed to be everywhere and I was a little overwhelmed at the prospects of seeing nothing but orange on opening day.
I did end up finding a couple small tracts of state land where no one was set up so I hunted there the first morning and did here some shooting close but didn’t see any deer or hunters. In the afternoon I could have shot a couple yearlings but let them pass, this year I probably will not. My friend that was hunting with me did see a buck but it crossed through a shooting lane and was gone to quickly for him to get a shot. We did hunt some the second day but it was more scouting than hunting and we ended up leaving for home.
I am doing a similar hunt this year mainly because I want to use some of my rifles in bottlenecked calibers and to get a feeling for what public land hunting is like in MI.
I feel I will be able to get a deer or two in southern MI where I’m living but want to hunt the north country and see more of it.
jedman
I
Jedman, in past years the Gladwin area was known for large numbers of deer per square mile and almost as many hunters.
There is a certain cachet/flavor/quality to hunting up north where one can avoid the orange masses.
This means a longer drive to larger masses of public land in the tip of the mitt or the UP where one can walk away from the roads. Most hunters do not appear to have compass/topo map/gps skills to navigate out of sound of vehicles on roads. Check out the extinct dune areas between Cross Village and Wilderness State Park. I found that if you hike over a dune or ridge one pretty much has the area to oneself. You will need some wilderness navigation skills despite not being far from roads and trails. Fewer deer but better overall hunt experience. Also research commercial forest lands which allow hunting...DNR website.
In terms of eating venison, have you met the farmer/landowner of the fields near your home? Permission to hunt private land? Living in the neighborhood might be an advantage.
Check out hunting on DNR managed areas and Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge. These may require participating in a drawing in order to gain access.
When I lived in SE MI I would canoe into the backside of state game areas furthest from roads/parking areas. Very quiet so long as there wasn't any skim ice!
Good Luck wherever you end up.
