For those who have ever hunted Michigan's Baldwin unit for black bears, I'm curious about your overall hunting experience. I should have enough preference points to draw a tag next year if I apply. This would be a total DIY adventure for me. Bait only; no dogs. Was it a quality hunt? Did you see many hunters? Were dog hunters an issue? Bear sightings? I've read a couple of old threads here before and would love to hear from those who have hunted this unit. Any specific details you can share is much appreciated. Feel free to send me a pm. Thanks.
They only give 70 tags for a 12+ county area. DNR stats show only half of those who draw actually hunt, and success rate is fairly high.
You really won't have much to contend with. Hunt experience was great, no dogs, plenty of bears hit bait, and my FIL arrowed a 290 dressed make. All public land with my wife and I running bait.
I think the western upper peninsula is your best bet . Gwin and Baraga units are very good so long if you put in for the First hunt . ( no dogs )
I drew in 2008 and shot a nice bear. I hunted close to Interlochen near the grass lake swamp. Cadillac area produces some big bears. I did hear one rifle shot on the second night of my hunt period however my bear showed up about twenty minutes later
. I did have three different bears working my bait.
Plenty of bears in Baldwin and plenty of public land. Tracey took a bear the first day of her hunt this year. She had a couple hitting her bait. Dogs are not supposed to run the week prior and opening day. There are dog hunters in the area but not as many as the UP or Red Oak.
Lots of bears around for sure Baldwin is about 40 miles from me. I have only hunted the UP so far but would like to run my own baits but don't kniw if I can wait that long agian. I can pull third season in the UP almost every other year.
I had a permit in 2013. Had a lot of action on my baits. Had bear on the bait 4 evenings while hunting, but didn't shoot a bear. Had a very large bear I was trying to get. Had it around several times but never got a good shot. Had several smaller bears on the bait that I passed. All in all I had a great time, no problem with dog hunters. Small game opener I had a few bird hunters near my baits when I went to re-bait but it didn't seem to affect bear movement. My friend had a permit the year before and shot a bear the first night of the season. We live near Big Rapids, and had baits on both public, and private land, and had action on both.
Stephen, I sent you an email with a copy of an article that was published about my 2008 Baldwin Unit bear. Let me know if it didn't come through.
Thanks for all your input. I'm kind of excited about the prospect of drawing this tag. Limited tags; large hunting area; a few large bears. Plus it's close enough I can run baits myself. If anyone else has anything to add about this unit, please feel free to jump in.
Steve, just be cognizant that some areas will have dog hunters training dogs on bears up until the moratorium begins about a week or so before the season. Some spots are close to home for pack owners to run bears here in southern MI to train and then they head north once the season starts. If you're hunting a large tract of public land with some access two tracks there may be some hounds owners training.
Thanks for the tip, Ray. Years ago in the Red Oak area I had some issues with dog hunters in my area. Nothing against dog hunters, but it seemed like my baits went cold after that. I think that's one of the reasons I kept accumulating just points all these years instead of trying to actually draw a tag.