Presuming you mean during the three week long season, which ended October 31,

There is reasonable pressure on all of the HAP lands during the weekends, but hardly any during the week.

I shot my pair this year on public land within the Sharptail zone, and met many hunters that had shot their’s on HAP land as well.

 

Presuming you mean during the three week long season, which ended October 31,

There is reasonable pressure on all of the HAP lands during the weekends, but hardly any during the week.

I shot my pair this year on public land within the Sharptail zone, and met many hunters that had shot their’s on HAP land as well.

I’m looking for the future. I want a new shotgun, my 24” barrel thick grouse/turkey gun isn’t great at open shots, and need a vehicle before I take a week or so to go adventure in the UP.


- VHR

 

I hunted some HAP land this fall for sharptails and didn’t even see one. But, I have no idea what I’m doing and have no dog. It’s just to pass time while duck hunting.

But I did see sign. So I know they’re there!

 

I started hunting last year and don’t have a dog either. Currently, I am just happy to be outside and maybe stumble into a rabbit, squirrel, grouse, or woodcock.


- VHR

 

Drive the gravel roads first thing in the morning in Chippewa county and look for sharp tails. Search out the land owners and ask for permission. There is not much competition. If you flush a flock they can easily land in the next 1/4 section over so ask multiple landowners. Their habitat is open hay fields along with the brushy areas that adjoin the hayfields.

 

I just though of something I’m pretty sure that the Conservation district manages the HAP program for the DNR. Try there or contact David Jentoft with the DNR in the Soo.

 

The season is short and the limit is small, but if you really want to get into sharp tail, I suggest you join the Michigan sharp tail association. Covid slowed down the activities in last couple years, but there’s a spring leak survey and a summer meeting with a work bee (cancelled last year tho). even if you don’t participate, the contacts you’ll make from this group will really help your season.

Sharptail are a nice break from ruffed grouse hunting, but can be just as frustrating. More than once, dog and I walked a few hours without a trace of them, then see a dozen sitting in a tree while driving home. Keep a sense of humor while hunting these guys…

 

The season is short and the limit is small, but if you really want to get into sharp tail, I suggest you join the Michigan sharp tail association. Covid slowed down the activities in last couple years, but there’s a spring leak survey and a summer meeting with a work bee (cancelled last year tho). even if you don’t participate, the contacts you’ll make from this group will really help your season.

Sharptail are a nice break from ruffed grouse hunting but can be just as frustrating. More than once, dog and I walked a few hours without a trace of them, then see a dozen sitting in a tree while driving home. Keep a sense of humor while hunting these guys…

Your last sentence is oh so true. The year before the DNR closed the season for several years, I knew it was coming so I wanted my son to get a bird.

It was a couple days before the end of the season so not much time left for us. He had a day off from school so we hunted hard all day and hit up several of my favorite spots without seeing anything. Walking back to the pickup on a 2-trac at the last spot of the day we look down the road and the sun is accentuating some brown/white spots down by the truck maybe 250-300 hundred yards away. Oh poo, a flock of STG in the road and no way to get close enough for a shot, so we just kept plodding along and lamenting our bad luck when suddenly I realize something. The birds, even though way ahead of us, were moving down the road toward the truck. When they got there some went around the back and some ducked under it, which was nosed into a fallow field access. With the truck and tall grass for cover we hustled up there, slowly peaking around the back of the truck and were face to face with about ten birds. We each bagged one and I had the one my son shot mounted. For many years I was pretty sure these were the last sharptails to be killed legally in Michigan. Thank heaven the work of the STG Association and some realistic thinking by some DNR biologists proved me wrong.

I too recommend joining the STGA. It is a great group and as we all know the more people in a group the louder their voice and more attention the DNR and the USFS will pay to them. Yes, USFS, there are birds on the Hiawatha and plenty of existing and potential habitat. If I were still on the advisory committee, I would be pushing hard to open that public land to hunting if only on a trial basis for a few years to see how the population reacts. FM

 

Sharptail numbers aren’t what they used to be due to avian predators. It’s too bad that their numbers can’t be controlled to some extent.

 

To answer your question….

This was the first year I hunted them. I scouted the day before the opener (wasn’t really helpful because I don’t know what I’m doing). I picked my top 3 HAP spot for the next day and went to the hotel.

I got to my first spot about an hour before legal shooting. Truck idling by the check in. Same with spots 2-3. I panicked and started driving around. Every spot had one or multiple tricks in them. After an hour of driving around I found an empty piece. 10 minutes into hunting 3 trucks with 8 guys and 3 dogs pulled up, checked in and started hunting. I went way to the back but got ran off by about 50 curious steers. Went back to my truck and moved on. Every truck in the road was a hunter looking for an empty field and most fields had guys waiting for a group to finish so they could go through it. It was like this until late afternoon.

Day 2 had almost no one hunting. I was pretty frustrated after the opener. I got stopped by a CO and asked about all of the people and he said it was pretty common.

Went back for the last day with a buddy and we saw one other hunter total.


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So Opening Day is crazy even if it is a Monday. Assuming the next two days were the 11th and 12th, quiet during the week. Thanks for that info.


- VHR

 

This thread has given me something to consider for next season...

 

For what it’s worth. I’d rather go after ruffed grouse and woodcock locally than be part of that zoo again. It was interesting but cows, people, barbed wire and electric fences were not very appealing after the fact.


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