Lack of Hunters?

[Big Al]

Has anybody else noticed a lack of hunters this year on state land? I've been hunting Yankee Springs recreational area every day this season and I have only seen 1 other hunter all season!! Driving by the hunter parking areas which are normally full all day every day, half of them are empty or nearly so. What's going on? I sure hope this isn't going to be an ongoing trend but is sure is disturbing. Big Al

[Kevin]

What are your kidding?
I tell you Al, I find State or Fed land that is not crowded, I am just thankful and try to see how long it can last.
Seriously though, I love when I get some privacy on public land but maybe some of our DNR friends can weigh in on liscenses issued relative to previous years. I have not been generally lucky enough to have your problem.
Happy Hunting!
-Amos

[Steve]

Yeah, I'd be quiet about it and keep hunting. It might not last long.

[yoda]

They all Came to the U.P. Al You can have them all back

[Pat Eddinger]

Quietest opening day ever in my neck of the woods,and I'm hearing the same from lots of my customers,Lisc. sales are waaay down,and firearm and ammo sales are big time down from last year,as reported by several of my wholesalers and a couple other outdoor retailers I talk with.Some of the guy's have said that they are too busy with work,and several have said that they were bummed out by the low deer numbers and bad odds when compared to years past.I hope the insurance industry that paid off MUCC,and the QDM folks are happy that they may be driving hunters away.Good luck folks!Pat

[marty]

Good point Pat I kinda of believe that the hunting numbers are dropping. I'm in 452 but have really noticed the decrease of hunters. Read somewhere that out of 28 hunting states only two were down and michigan was one. Hope the DNR is happy with license sales cause they already lost one young hunter in my family and I may not even hunt in michigan next year......marty

[fishinlk]

You guys crack me up talking about low chances of getting deer and not hunting next year! Lets see.... If you bow hunt and gun hunt you can legally shoot 2 bucks, correct??? Plus how many does? The avg. hunter success rate is almost 1 in 2??? WHAT ARE YOU CRYING ABOUT! Here in OH the success rate is 1 in 4. You can shoot 1 buck, PERIOD. 1 more doe if unless you hunt an urban area. I still come north to hunt when I can scrape together the $100+ for a license. When I do I see more deer in three days than I do in a month down here. And I hunt the "deer rich" southern counties of Ohio. Think about what you've got up there... I swear, more people up there take too much of your state for granted.

[Eastern Yooper]

Well now, lets see:

-You can buy a regular firearm license good for 1 antlered deer only

-You can buy a bow-only license good for a deer of either $ex

-You can buy a combo license in which you may use both tags in one season. However: if you use both in bow and elect to take 2 bucks, one license is labeled 'restricted' and this means you may only use it to tag a buck having 4 or more points on one side. BUT: you could also use one tag for an antlerless deer. OR: you could use both for antlerless deer. NOW: if you elect to use only one tag for an antlered buck during bow, and save one for rifle, well, you may do that but that tag is only good for a buck and remember that one must have 4 points on one side if you shot a smaller buck to begin with. ALSO: you may not use either combo tag during the firearms season to take an antlerless deer, even tho you may do so in archery.

O.K. then. Lets move on.

There are also antlerless deer tags available by drawing. That is, unless you are a landowner and this in turn means you may purchase 1 tag over the counter prior to the drawing deadline. A landowner means someone in the U.P. or southern MI owning 5 or more acres, and all the rest of the state has a 40 acre minimum.

You may use your private tag on any private lands within the respective management unit..... but not on public property.

There are also general antlerless permits available for various units throughout the state. These may be used on either public or private lands within the unit.

Got all that memorized so far?

Good.

lets move on to blinds. Blinds may be placed on state lands no sooner than 10 days prior to the start of the respective season. Blinds cannot be constructed of anything other than natural materials. You may elect to use a portable blind but it must be removed at the end of each day hunting. You may also use a tree-stand but no branches may be cut or trimmed and screw-in steps are not allowed. You name and address must be visible on all blinds, and the first person to occupy a blind may legally hunt from it. Remember you may not cut shooting lanes on state lands.

Got all that?

All-rightee then, lets move on to baiting. In the U.P. you may place up to 5 gallons of bait on one site. In the lower Peninsula you may only use 2 gallons. Remember the T.B. affected areas may not use bait at all. Bait must be spread out in a 10' by 10' square area. You cannot bait prior to Oct 1. Mechanical feeders - which were not legal last year - are again legal this year.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....... have I missed anything else?

Obviously, I'm being sarcastic. It's no surprise that groups such as 'Whitetails Forever' and the Practical idiot are promoting their causes. People are getting fed-up with it all. Things are getting too darn complicated, and there frankly is no reason for it.

Remember what happened to duck hunting about 20 years ago? Seems as though the same is happening to deer hunting.

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VEGETARIAN: Indian word meaning 'Bad Hunter'

[This message has been edited by Eastern Yooper (edited 11-20-2000).]

[Stinger]

I don't know where you all hunt but in my neck of the woods I heard and counted no less than 150 gun shots opening day and I quit counting at noon. Deer hunting is as popular as it's ever been, it's the other hunting seasons that are loosing hunters.

As for Fred Trost and the rest? You can tell a lot about a person by how easily they are confused.

[Skibum]

I have to weigh in with Trout. A lot of hunters got spoiled in the 80's and early 90's when the deer numbers exploded. I rember well the days when you were allowed one deer a year, period, and doe permits were tough to come by. That meant if you killed a deer with a bow you were done, no gun hunting. Success rates were under 20% for gun season and around 5% for bowhunters. Tree stands were not allowed for bow hunting much less gun hunting and baiting was basically unheard of. I remember it being a big deal when rifle hunters killed 100,000 bucks. This was not in the dark ages but back in the 70's. My personal opinion based at least on many of my aquaintances is two fold. First many serious deer hunters have switched primarily to bowhunting. Tree stands and modern archery tackle have improved the odds tremendously and success rates are now somewhere around 35-40%. Second the pace of life has icreased dramatically in the past 30 years. Many of the people I used to hunt with regularly have turned into golfers and use their vacation time for that (gag). Many gun hunters are now one day wonders so the pressure has really fallen off in many areas after the first day. The upside is that it seems like more bucks are surviving making for good late season hunting for those who are persistant and allowing more to survive to produce better racks.

Skibum

[Pinefarm]

Pat, where is your store? We had the exact same story here in Baldwin. Very, very slow. After last years rifle opener, we hardly ordered anything because we had enough left over from last year. I'm sure part of the reason that license sales were slow is because a lot of people probably already bought combo licenses earlier in the year. But that doesn't explain slow store sales and slow traffic. It also doesn't explain very little shooting and empty camp sites. I heard on the radio that DNR biologist Jeff Greene said that the Big Rapids check station was down over 10%. My guess is that the U.P. Bridge count will be way up and southern Michigan will set yet another record. One thing is for sure, the DNR can play with the numbers all they want, but people like you and I know the truth. Also, go and talk to the bar, motel and party store owners, let alone wholesalers. I have and they have the same story. Slow. However, with the huge increase of bow hunters in the last 15 years, I'm sure that the over all season kill will be pretty good. But it's a fact that the "big sales" rifle openers are a thing of the past.

[rrbuckmaster]

I know the motel i stay in I had no problem getting a room 3 weeks before opening day. Last year it was filled about 4 weeks before opening day, 2 years ago,i called in the beginning of oct and they were filled. I would say hunter numbers are down in the mio area anyways.

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HAPPY AND SAFE HUNTING TO ALL.

[Big Al]

Stinger,
Must be you've never hunted in Yankee Springs, it's a big block of state land between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. Two years ago I counted over 500 gunshots before 10:00 on opening morning. Last year I changed my hunting strategy because of all the pressure. Instead of hunting underneath an oak tree or along a trail like the rest of the guys I sat up in the middle of a swamp and let the other hunters push deer towards me. I saw 25 deer and 12 hunters on opening day. This year I saw one hunter and one deer. Something's going wrong and I might have to change my strategy once again. Big Al

The Oakland Press Article stated the number of hunters and licenses sold were down this year. I have talked with many hunters that quit deer hunting because of not seeing deer and I guess as they stated the blame is on the QDM for allowing to many anterless deer licenses the past few years, especially in some areas. I guess it doesn't matter to most of us that hunt for the sport and not the kill. I only saw 2 deer the first 2 days and both were bucks, shot a 5 pt. and my hunting was done.

[Pat Eddinger]

Bob,
I'm in Hartford.
Last year we went through 9 or 10 rolls of Lisc. stock and then burned up the machine the day before opener.This year we have only burned 6 rolls of stock.The ammo sales are waaay down,and to add to it I LOWERED prices on all of it Below what the local wally world gets for the same ammo!Deer scent sales are way down,and the number of guy's coming through our doors has been way down.
I yakked with my distributor rep at Accusport and he concurred that sales to this region(U.P. and western lower MI)are below 50% of what they were at this time last year.I can honestly say that the number one gripe I'm hearing is "There's no deer sign,and darn few deer"!!!Sure quite a few guy's are getting bucks and lots of the 3 per person doe tags are getting tagged,but the effects of the DNR war on the antlerless deer are showing up.The average guy that hunts around here is happy with a yearling 4-6 point buck,and wont take a doe untill late in the season just to put something in the freezer,and that's mostly what they are after.I find it distressing that because of the pressure brought forth by trophy hunters the majority of deer hunters are getting the short end of the stick.The insurance industry is whining about the surge in deer car accidents,but the herd Size(By the DNR count)was higher in 89'&90' by far and there were fewer accidents then.Odd?Anyway,hang in there ice fishing is coming!Pat