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gaylord area deer herd

4K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  jcam2412 
#1 ·
I am looking at some land 10 minutes from gaylord was wondering if someone lives in that area could give me some feedback on deer densities and quality of bucks.

please pm me if you have any feedback Thanks
 
#3 ·
That area is over populated for about 20 miles in all directions from town.
I would say your way off base with that statement. The deer numbers are just starting to rebound. I am glad that they are not like they use to be but there is still plenty of room for more deer. The quality of bucks is much better in areas where they are not hunted as heavily such as hard to access areas and thick cover. i live a few miles south of Waters and i rarely see deer in the woods and on the roads. However areas with oak stands will produce some.
 
#4 ·
I would say your way off base with that statement. The deer numbers are just starting to rebound. I am glad that they are not like they use to be but there is still plenty of room for more deer. The quality of bucks is much better in areas where they are not hunted as heavily such as hard to access areas and thick cover. i live a few miles south of Waters and i rarely see deer in the woods and on the roads. However areas with oak stands will produce some.

The area im looking at is large parcels of land all private the pc im looking at has about 100 acres corn and 40 alfalfa
 
#5 ·
The area im looking at is large parcels of land all private the pc im looking at has about 100 acres corn and 40 alfalfa
Ag land will always produce good #'s regardless of whether in southern or northern michigan as long as the deer have ample cover along with the food.
 
#6 ·
That's true, except when they've all been shot...

The herd in Otsego County has never been huge, they just get too much winter, and there really isn't much ag at all, overall. Just lots of overgrown forest.

A few years ago, I can't remember exactly when, they opened up the antlerless permits to phenomenal proportions, and the majority of the herd was slaughtered, plain and simple. I'll see four or five a year, probably, now, where I used to see 20.

You can drive for many, many miles in Otsego County and never see a track...in many areas, there's more elk than there are deer.

If I were shopping for deer hunting land, I would NOT buy in Otsego County.
 
#7 ·
I would agree with the above. We have 60 in the Vanderbilt area, we do foodplots and let the small bucks go (if we see them). We have had the property for 15-years and for the first 5-7-years, we would see both bucks and doe regularly when hunting. Over the past few years, we hardly see anything, the occasional doe with a yearling here an there. In fact, we have not seen any deer this summer. There are lots of tracts, but all deer up there are late nighters. All land around us is all private. IMO, just not enough natural food source to support big numbers. This is an area where QDM would benefit the herd. Provide more food and also cover. For hunting land look around west branch and south IMO.
 
#8 ·
Buck "quality" around here is extremely low.. I have lived and hunted in Gaylord for over 20 years now.. As some of the above members have stated, they had a slaughterfest that started in 1996 and it didnt stop until 2 years ago and they really wiped alot of the herd out, especially on the east side of the County... Now they are back to the same rules that caused the over population in the first place (no anlterles permits available on both public and private).. However, they have never done anything to help protect some of the bucks.. This area NEVER has a hard time selling Doe permits and if they make them available, you better be in line because they will sell all of them the first 24 hours no matter how many they issue.. This area also has a big "If its brown its down" attitude.. Before buying any hunting property around here, I would first check with all the neighbors to see if they have a managment plan in place... Also keep in mind that our deer go to yard here and the winters can be brutal. We have more anual snowfall and cold temperatures than any other county in the lower peninsula.. Otsego county is still considered the TB zone too so you can bet if more cases pop up they will take action and start reducing the herd once again.. Did I scare you off :lol:

CB
 
#9 ·
Buck "quality" around here is extremely low.. I have lived and hunted in Gaylord for over 20 years now.. As some of the above members have stated, they had a slaughterfest that started in 1996 and it didnt stop until 2 years ago and they really wiped alot of the herd out, especially on the east side of the County... Now they are back to the same rules that caused the over population in the first place (no anlterles permits available on both public and private).. However, they have never done anything to help protect some of the bucks.. This area NEVER has a hard time selling Doe permits and if they make them available, you better be in line because they will sell all of them the first 24 hours no matter how many they issue.. This area also has a big "If its brown its down" attitude.. Before buying any hunting property around here, I would first check with all the neighbors to see if they have a managment plan in place... Also keep in mind that our deer go to yard here and the winters can be brutal. We have more anual snowfall and cold temperatures than any other county in the lower peninsula.. Otsego county is still considered the TB zone too so you can bet if more cases pop up they will take action and start reducing the herd once again.. Did I scare you off :lol:

CB
Yep i spent three evenings and put out 3 cameras for a week Saw zero deer and had 1 doe and 1 fawn on camera 2 days after the heavy rain last week. i found 1 set of tracks entering 100 acres of corn. They definately are not there thanks to all for helping me out on this one . good luck up there and i hope things get better. im now looking in ohio for land a little more pricy but the herd is much more stable there and winters dont seem to bother them.
 
#11 ·
I put about 40-50 miles on my boots and who knows how many on my truck last week up there and probably saw about 40-50 deer total. One buck which was a dink.
Welcome to my world. I am getting pretty excited when i start to think about hunting the slp this year.:bouncy:
 
#12 ·
so depressing to hear all this, this will be my 2nd year living in the area and i figured i just had a terrible spot last year, i was hoping this year would be better, but it sounds the same all over the county from what you guys are saying...i work all over the state and it seems as soon as you leave the county i start seeing more deer, especially to the east as i get towards alpena county and west getting closer to the boyne/petoskey areas

i don't own any land but i have been thinking about trying to get some of the older folks that let me hunt their land to let me plant food plots next year to try and hold some of the deer in my area closer to my spot but until then i will see more fox and grouse in my stand than deer!
 
#13 ·
so depressing to hear all this, this will be my 2nd year living in the area and i figured i just had a terrible spot last year, i was hoping this year would be better, but it sounds the same all over the county from what you guys are saying...i work all over the state and it seems as soon as you leave the county i start seeing more deer, especially to the east as i get towards alpena county and west getting closer to the boyne/petoskey areas

i don't own any land but i have been thinking about trying to get some of the older folks that let me hunt their land to let me plant food plots next year to try and hold some of the deer in my area closer to my spot but until then i will see more fox and grouse in my stand than deer!
Dont get too discouraged, there are deer in Otsego, and the surrounding counties. If you want to be successfull you have to put alot of effort and time into locating them. Understanding where they move and what they are eating and the terrain that they are living in helps tremendously.
 
#15 ·
When I moved to Gaylord in 2000, I used to drive around the michaywe / old state road / state land south of old state road between Old 27 and Meridian Line Road (the eastern border of the county) on summer evenings. It was not unusual to see 100+ deer in a couple of hours.

Now, for the last 12 months, I drive from Gaylord to Lewiston every day. I have seen less than 20 deer in the last year in this same area (and most of them have been on McCoy Road in people's backyards). There are not even any road kill on Old State Road, Turtle Creek Road, or M-32 east of town.

Every year, I hear from people who take some nice bucks in the state land south of Old State and east of Old 27 - they are usually miles off the paved road in the thick terrain (lots of bears in there too), and a buddy's in-laws have a farm between Gaylord and Vanderbilt and they take a number of deer (including nice bucks) annually.

Overall, very few deer in Otsego County right now. It is almost surprising to see one these days. My friends in metro detroit find it funny that they have deer in their backyards on a regular basis in wayne county yet we have none here.
 
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