Michigan TradGangers

JLeMieux · May 09, 2015, 12:48:00 AM

Anyone on here from the Harrison area? My grandfather gave up hunting when I was pretty young and we never had the opportunity to hunt together. Me growing up in Louisiana and my grandparents living in Michigan didn't help. He turns 81 this October and is in good health. I'm trying to convince him to make a hunt with me before they head south for the winter. They have a place on one of the lakes in the Harrison area. I know there is public land in the area but was wondering if it is heavily pressured or if it has a good population. Honestly, it doesn't really matter because that's not what the trip is about, but I would like to know what to expect. I love that area in the fall and I'm really looking forward to climbing a tree come Oct!

Dave Pagel · May 09, 2015, 08:48:00 AM

I have a cottage on one of the lakes north of Harrison, which is in Clare county. There is a big piece of public about 10 miles north in very southern Roscommon county that the locals just call the oil fields. I imagine there is at least a couple of thousand acres of state ground that an oil company runs some wells on and maintains the road system. A lot of oak and poplars with a mix of good size cedar swamps. It gets hunted fairly hard and our population is down due to 2 bad winters in a row, but I used to have very good success there.

There are other pieces of public ground in the area, but all will be hunted pretty hard. I just know this one the best.

D.P.

dnurk · May 09, 2015, 09:33:00 AM

There are tons of little pockets of state and federal land up in that area. I've done a lot of grouse hunting up there and this is where I find my hunting spots

MI dnr

Bow season gets a little pressure but not much. With a little work you can find a few decent spots.

JLeMieux · May 09, 2015, 09:36:00 AM

Thanks for the response! I know Michigan as a whole gets a lot of pressure so I figured that area would not be any different. Hopefully we can find a quiet spot where we don't step on anyone's toes.

JMR · May 10, 2015, 12:06:00 PM

I have family that lives in the Harrison area, so if you have any troubles finding property to hunt there let me know and I will ask my brother in law if he knows of any public land you might be able to try.

finkm1 · May 10, 2015, 12:45:00 PM

Just a few miles north to Grayling you will find a lot of state land and federal land. You can hunt the ridge along the South Branch of the Ausable River and walk in the footsteps of Fred Bear.

JLeMieux · May 11, 2015, 01:03:00 PM

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have some research to do, but I think I'm on the right track.

Jon Stewart · May 11, 2015, 01:11:00 PM

Keep an eye on the Michigan forums section. They will post when they have their invite in the Grayling area hunting camp in October. It is on public land and they welcome everyone. They are an outstanding group of hunters.

last arrow · May 11, 2015, 04:24:00 PM

There is an area of public land north west of Harrison along the Muskegon River that used to have a good population of Deer. Keep in mind that it is not a "trophy" area as it is heavily hunted during the rifle season but you should have little problem finding areas to hunt during the archery season with ok deer populations. Expect to see many does and few bucks.

MikeNova · May 12, 2015, 08:01:00 PM

I'm not from Michigan but a bunch of my gear comes from there. Union Jack longbow, Paul jalon arrows. Here read you guys have a bunch of werewolves up there or sometimes they are called dogmen. I'm thinking about coming up there and hunting one. What's the best way to cook them? Can I use a non silver broadhead?

mangonboat · May 13, 2015, 11:33:00 AM

I used to hunt the oil fields years ago and the deer that were killed tended to be very young...I'm guessing doe to heavy hunting pressure every gun season.

Dave Pagel · May 13, 2015, 03:24:00 PM

I hear you Mangon. I hunted the oil fields a lot in the mid 80's and the population was good. The bigger bucks I killed were all in the big cedar swamps. I hunted it again in the early 90's when I moved back from Wyoming and the population was hurting after a gypsy moth issue in the oaks and a couple of bad winters. I don't think it has ever really recovered. We have had two bad winters in a row now so even some private ground around there is hurting some.

D.P.