Well, my fellow Michiganders, our season is closing soon. This was a very strange season for me. I shot a mature doe my first time out(Oct.7th.)I falsely assumed it would be a banner year. Not the case. I did see deer, but I recorded my lowest number of sightings in years. This is on my own property and there really haven't been major changes on surrounding properties. My 30acres is situated in SW Mich. farm country in Van Buren County. Another thing I noticed was how soon deer went nocturnal. Sightings on trail cams revealed deer moving through but not in daylight. Did any of you experience similar season?
Ditto Vesty. After the youth season the deer all but disappeared until midnight to 500am according tour trail cams.
I am up by Scottville and I also own my hunting land.
We are seeing the same thing here in Southern Ontario. I can only assume and blame this weird weather we are having. We haven't been below freezing at all yet and December 24th is calling for 14C (59F). That is downright balmy. I am still sitting in my fall clothing
While I sure enjoyed the archery season here in the Yooper, there was a lot to be said for the hunting. We did not have a doe tag this year and the few bucks I saw were all little ones with less than 6pts. I left my tag unfilled for only the second time in more than 40 years of bowhunting here in Michigan.
A lot of these samiches being ate this year.
(http://i846.photobucket.com/albums/ab28/miklvines/IMG_7351.png) (http://s846.photobucket.com/user/miklvines/media/IMG_7351.png.html)
I hunted my place in da UP a little. More importantly, I have several trail cams set up to let me see what is out there. I saw some resident deer, but darn few, certainly as compared to previous years. I didn't drop the string at all up there this year.
Mike, please pass the mustard.
ChuckC
Keep the reports coming guys. I think we might see a pattern here.
Not just MI, it appears the north of MI, WI, MN, ND and maybe more got hit hard the last few years and the herd is WAY down. Hard winters, too many does taken, oh and always gotta blame wolves too, what the heck.
I don't know why, but it appears the good ol days (for now) were a few years ago.
All of that changes annually.
ChuckC
Same here in Mecosta County. Had some good bucks on camera up through August, but once acorns started to drop, and bait piles went out in the middle of September the number of pictures went way down, and they went from mornings and evenings, to the middle of the night. First time in many years I haven't put any venison in the freezer.
We have loads of deer and some really nice bucks. I sat with my grand daughter for the youth hunt and she passed up many many chances to shoot deer including nice bucks. She just wanted a larger buck than she shot last year. The youngest that hunted shot a 6 point and the older grandson he also passed up deer. It was just after the youth season that the deer went into day time hiding.
On a side note: we are in an APR area and that has really improved our hunting over the last year or so. really nice bucks are on the camera.!!!
Using the last few yesrs as a barometer, the opportunities and sightings of deer were considerably better. I shot one opening day and would like to add another closing day. Good Luck!
Denny
Here in SW Michigan my sightings were slightly lower than last year, but many were hit hard with EHD a few years back and they are still recovering. Unfortunately I am the main reason I haven't arrowed a deer yet. It wasn't the deer's fault.
I'm in the UP, very few deer to be seen. Far fewer trail cam pics than I would normally expect. The woods where I hunt were very quiet this year. With the deer numbers being as low as they are I know a lot of people who are less passionate about hunting decided to skip hunting. Not nearly as many out of towners hitting up the public land. I only heard 3 shots on opening day of rifle season, crazy. Things have been trending in this direction for a number of years but last two season have been more dramatic. There are still deer out there however, I did have 3 really nice bucks on camera, no close range encounters though. Hope things will be better next year.
SE Michigan, Jackson and Lenawee Counties were dismal this year. I've hunted the same private ground for 15 years and the deer numbers are down. The deer I am seeing are fawns and year and halfs. Haven't seen a mature buck or doe in a couple of seasons. I am concerned....
Same here for me, seems to be a trend....no trying to bash anyone, but when you start hunting them mid September and don't let up until January 1st it can't be good for the herd.
I actually saw more deer this year than last year on the property I hunt. Last year I only saw 2 bucks all season and this season I saw several. Firearms season did seem much quieter around my area but I still saw more deer on the opener than the past 5 years combined. However I don't think there are more deer in my area I think the neighbors to the east made some changes to their property that may be funneling some deer my way. Good luck in the last few days.
As Kstout said - "Had some good bucks on camera up through August, but once acorns started to drop, and bait piles went out in the middle of September the number of pictures went way down" - is exactly what we saw in northern Mason County. We had a late frost and had almost no acorns so I'm sure it was a result of baiting activity. Before that I was thinking we were going to have a good year as it appeared we have better numbers than recent years based on sign seen while scouting and what the cameras saw.
There did not seam to be as many hunters in any season as in the past. With the weekend gun season opener I was expecting the federal land surrounding my property to be overrun but relatively few hunters were in the woods and some typical camps on the federal land remained empty.
Daytime deer movement did improve the second week of November and I shot a last minute doe on 14th. Still bucks were few and far between, and legal bucks (APR area) even more so.
Last season I didn't see one deer during the rut. This year I missed a 6 pt and seen deer just about every sit. Still at it with the mild weather in the second season. Going to hunt a few times over the holidays, hopefully I can get a :archer: "Yule" deer.
Yep tag soup this year . We viewed a few deer in October but again once the gun season began the deer moved to areas with heavy cover ( not on my property
I have been keeping a journal for the past fifteen years. Upon reviewing it deer sightings were up from previous years. I started using a trail camera the last two years and put them out starting in june. Bucks I judged to be older than 1.5 years were nocturnal all summer and up until the rut. 80 percent of morning sightings occurred within the first hour of legal hunting, one half hour before sunrise until one half hour after sunrise. Evening hunts 90 percent of sightings occured from sunset until dark. The trail camera pictures were very similar to what my journal indicated
I am headed up to our place today for a few days. No late doe season in my area so the deer should be calming down a bit since the 13th. Maybe all the work I did on the place over the summer will pay off as they come in to my plots for some late season food.
D.P.
Not a lot of deer here seen after the youth hunt. Mostly my fault though. I got a sour attitude when the neighbor shot and wound. 3 bucks with a crossbow. I found one for him. He and his boys keep the herd thinned down around here. Them and the youth hunt. The youth hunt never affected me much until the other neighbor started a greenhouse mini truck farm. The family owns a bunch of land and wants to eliminate the deer from their crops and hay. Getting ready for elk in Sept.
I had a tremendous year with both sightings and opportunities in Livingston County. Saw more bucks than does.
Hope to slip out behind the house the next 2 nights since the storms have finally subsided. Hunting my place up by Bitley saw decent amount of deer for a change, small bucks. Behind my house near Rockford they have been nocturnal the last month and not even sure there are any around.. I see a doe or two occasionally wander by. Not normal for me...
Kinda slow in my area of Livingston County up until the rut kicked in.. First week in November was pretty good with lots of buck sighting.. after gun season its been pretty slow
It was a weird season, no doubt. I hunted very little partly due to health issues, including a second shoulder injury. I saw a fair number of deer but no large bucks at all. I think our deer population is down, despite what the DNR says.