Not to mention all of the Bald Eagles we have now. I passed one on I-75 last week. Near our camp they nest in the giant White Pines. Thers a lot of critters around that go unoticed. Look at Warner Glenn and the American Jaguar. I doubt those came from Mexico in a garbadge truck. But by far the most dangerous and obnoxious is the two left footed fudge packer... errr I mean eater .....Well you know what I mean. This includes any one from the republic of Ann Arbor !
I used to hunt South of Dagget on the 12 mile road between Hwy 41 and 338 (just South of Wallace). We had a cougar on the property in the late 80's - early 90's. my ex-mother-in-law saw it cross the driveway during the mid day. We found a spot in the woods one winter where something had jumped and killed a deer, and we found tracks several times. There is a fellow (former employee of the Cincinati Zoo) nearby on 338 that has a private zoo. He has BIG cats; siberian tigers, african lions. He saw the tracks and confrimed them as a cougar.
BTW, there is nothing quite like sitting in your deer stand before light and hearing the lions roaring. ...... Does it sounds like its getting closer????? LOL
Posts: 120 | Location: Wisconsin, USA | Registered: 05 February 2004
There is video of a Mountain Lion with her large cub in Monroe County from this summer. Reasonable thinking tells me lions will not bother munching on people since there are plenty of deer about.
I think the MDNR planted the lions and that wolves were planted by the DNR some time ago. I think they started with the wolves. I also think this came about to drastically reduce the deer population because of the insurance industry. Just a theory....
We've even got wolverines in Tuscola/Sanilac County and it was last seen in Metamora.
Ann, I would love to see that video. Do you have any specifics about viewing it? As for the DNR planting. Well maybe. I doubt it though. There is enough wolf and cougar in Canada.
They have been denying the cougar sightings for decades. Interesting to note however, that it is illegal to shot a cougar in Michigan. I was on the MDNR site yesterday when I saw that. So, why make it illegal to shot an animal that you claim doesn't exist?
I AM up in YOOPER territory a fair amount. My one son goes to school at Mich Tech at Houghton in the Keewanaw. I try to ride my 1100GSA up and visit a couple of times before the weather turns bad, which can always be an adventure up there in the fall.
Then I also used to slog around for deer and bear in the "porkee pines" when I was "a little younger."
just fantastic country. Keep hoping the UP will secede from the lower and form it's own state. I'd go in a heart beat.
Posts: 624 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 07 April 2003
Ann, I believe that would be true of any livestock that is the same as native game. The same would be true with Mallards and Turkeys Whitetail and pheasants etc. If they were ever here they would be protected under the game laws. I'm not trying to make any sort of common sense out of what the DNR says, I'm sure we all know how hopeless that is ! You would be able to legally hunt, year round with no license, pigs, boars etc that were escapies. There might be some claims by the owners of escaped animals as livestock but as one of my neighbors likes to say, You just have to practice the three S's. Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up !
I saw the video on a local news program. I suppose you could ask them? It was Channel 7 (ABC) out of Detroit. The video was shot by a private party from a window in their home. The lions were distant but it was obvious what they were.
The DNR seems to do things like that, they made it illegal to shoot that wolverine too even though this is not their natural range. Some years ago a farmer had some of his pen elk escape. They lived "wild" for quite some time. I saw some large tracks on my hunting lease at that time and spoke to the landowner. He told me it was from elk!
I (as well as the rest of the neighborhood) was going to hunt them and the DNR said the animals belonged to the state and it would be illegal for us to kill them. The person who lost the elk wanted them killed as recovery was impossible. I never did hear what happened to them.
Posts: 19621 | Location: The LOST Nation | Registered: 27 March 2001
Steve, the only 'zoo' that I know of in the area is DeYoung's Family Zoo on 577. My bother has been there many times with a friend that has a farm and takes a few crop damage deer to the zoo. I guess that it's amazing to watch them feed.
Toivo
Oops, my bad. I meant 577, not 338. DeYoung's is the place I was talking about. It has been a few years since I have been up there, and my memory is starting to go.
Posts: 120 | Location: Wisconsin, USA | Registered: 05 February 2004
Ann, when were you at NMU? My father went there and so did my brother.
All you guys are making me homesick - I joined the Navy outta Menominee and have hunted my entire life along HWY 551 and then just over into Delta county..
Ain't nothing like Nov 15 at the end of the day in Perronville Pub, or LaBranche. (yusta chase broad women at the Broad Axe!!!)
Teal, I was there from 1981 until 1984, now that is making me feel old! I spent a lot of time in the Dead River basin and in some large floating sphagnum bogs near town. I never saw other people there and wonder if these places still exist or if they went the way of the bull dozer. I used to collect cranberries for Thanksgiving and Christmas at home downstate.
My memories include a lot of snow shoeing and skiing to class on occasion. I'll never forget those days where you could not find anywhere to shovel snow to get out of your driveway. It was piled so high it would just come back down on you! Oh, or the bicycle flags on cars so you could see people at intersections.
Once, going home for some kind of break from school, I remember the car full of students I hitched with got stranded in Seney as there was a blizzard and the roads got closed. Nothing like the Seney stretch!
Posts: 19621 | Location: The LOST Nation | Registered: 27 March 2001
Just invited to a by God real Michigan deer camp for the opening week Nov. 15. I am really excited as I have never hunted from a deer camp, only day trips. They tell me that there are some big bucks up there, but they are few and far between. Should be tons of fun!
You will have a great time. The UP is deer hunting the way it used to be. There is truely something special to being in deer camp. It's more than just hunting. It's a place where people are judged not by their profession but by their company. Do they have an upbeat attitude, sense of humor, a willingness to pitch in, ethics, woodsmanship skills, etc. The hunting in the UP can vary. There is a lot of country there. What part are you hunting?
Jeff
Posts: 784 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 18 December 2000
You'll have fun for sure but Michigan sells 750,000 deer licenses every year. You be sharing the woods with lots of folks ( we call it the orange army). Hopefully they will push a big one your way. We have lots of deer but the big ones are few and far between so if you do get one, pat yourself on the back!
Posts: 19621 | Location: The LOST Nation | Registered: 27 March 2001
Quote: You'll have fun for sure but Michigan sells 750,000 deer licenses every year. You be sharing the woods with lots of folks ( we call it the orange army). Hopefully they will push a big one your way. We have lots of deer but the big ones are few and far between so if you do get one, pat yourself on the back!
This is very true. Pay close attention to who else is around. I hunted the UP for better than 20 years, till I sold my camp. You will have a great time.
If the deer have access to a farm field, then you can expect some real monsters. Other than that, just enjoy! If you get a chance, turn on a local radio station in the evenings. The 1st week of deer season, they are loaded with hunting reports. It is one of those places where people never lock their doors, schools are closed for opening day deer season and nights in a deer camp are a great time.
You will have a blast. Ann is right that Michigan has 750-800,000 deer hunters but there is so much state, federal, and paper company land up there it's easy to get away from the crowds. I would suggest carrying a compass. It's big country. I think it's much easier to get turned around then it is hunting the mountains of the West. In the mountains you can usually see where you are and can follow drainages. Without the big changes in elevation everything looks the same. It is deer hunting the real way.
Jeff
Posts: 784 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 18 December 2000
Glad to hear you'll be joing us. My camp is just under the bridge. Hunting in the UP for the opener is a real experience. The only thing I've ever seen like it is deer season in Texas with the Welcome "Hunters" banners on all the BBQ's and small stores. Don't forget your long Johns and NEVER EVER squat with yer spurs on !
Quote: If you see a mountain lion(even tough the DNR says they do not exist in MI, do not shoot because this nonexistent beast has also been listed as protected/endangered by the DNR )
Well I know of 2 people whome I trust explicitly (one's my cousin and another is departed) have reported seeing and coming withing 30 yards of mt lions in the Bark River area (13 mi from Escanaba) dist between the 2 about 10 miles as the crow flies (I'm guessing here)
Don't leave the camp w/o some type of weapon.
I saw a mountain lion when I was driving north of Timmins, Ontario, on my way north for my moose hunt. Crossed the road about 200 yards in front of me, an hour before sunset. That's about 300 miles north east of Sault Ste. Marie and the UP. Our MNR has denied their existence for the last 20 years (they've been considered extinct in Ontario for the past 100 years). Just this last summer they acknowledged that there does appear to be a population in the province.
When I called the local MNR, they didn't even want a report. The operator just said "We know they're out there."
Posts: 2921 | Location: Canada | Registered: 07 March 2001
Quote: If you see a REEEEEAAALLLYYYYY big deer be sure it is a deer. If you plink a moose it is a $50,000 fine.
When I was a kid a "Downstater" did just that with a Elk. He thought he had a world record so he promptly took the beast to the nearest DNR check station to have his record book "Whitetail" measured and recorded. They just happened to have a set of cuffs his size.
Well - I don't particularly trust the influx of down staters during hunting season - meet too many people who "got permision from the owners son" to hunt (thats me and I have never said anything to anyone).
Quote: Don't leave the camp w/o some type of weapon.
What? What on earth are you afraid is going to get you in the UP?
Jeff
I can tell you I have had some rather close encounters with some of the local bear in the UP while fishing. Seems like they like fresh caught trout without have to work for them and some have evidently learned that the Sierra Club teaches the "trolls" "if approached by a bear, drop your pack/lunch/bag and walk away keeping it between the bear and you and maintaining eye contact with the bear. The bear may stop and be distracted by your bag." which equates to a free lunch if they approach you. I was carrying my 4" model 57 with some heavy loads I worked up and managed to NOT have to use it both times, but it was "interesting" (on one bear hunt I had the same gun and ammo and was close enough to smell the blueberrys on it's breath as it came by through the dog pack and dropped it with a passing shot that almost had bear hair on the front sight. )
Then a buddy of mine on the back side of the Seany preserve had to go out into neck deep water to avoid an encounter with a blackie that wanted his "kit" while he was fishing. We all know the old saying 99% of the bears want nothing to do with you, but there are a lot of bear in the UP and that equates to 1 out of every hundred being an asshole bear and those ARE the ones you come across because they will find you instead of running away.
THen with the lion thing getting more prevelant and they have not been hunted in what... 100+ years in Mich so who knows what they think. Just know they DO attack folks on the West coast. I live in the Northern lower and On 2 occasions in the last year I have seen one about 2 miles from my home. Late at night a few times I have heard some really horrendous cries out in the dark and can only believe it is one of the cats because nothing else I know of can make a sound like that. I am surrounded by forest and have found bear scat at my back pond 100yds from the rear of the house. Across the street from me is State forest that runs for 14 miles North before you cross a "civilized" area (paved road and 3 store settlement)and it is about 16 miles wide with the same wild. THAT area is filled with bears and probably a big cat or two, along with scads of coyotes. About 5 years ago something killed a doe in the middle of the night not 40 yds from the back of my house, it was probably 120 pounds when it was alive. My wife saw a 'yote by it out the back window. I went out to look and there probably wasn't 20 pounds of meat left on it. Don't think the coyotes could have run it down and eaten that much so quickly, or, if they were just waiting for whatever killed it to leave so they could get their fill on the scraps. (I have taken car killed deer and planted them out in the woods to see how long it would take the coyotes to strip one down and it takes about 2 days before it is fully consumed.) Whatever it was it didn't make enough noise to attract our attention or our dogs. The coyotes are usually more noisy then that.
NOT counting just some of the weird people that you find out there in the woods also. I just never go into the woods unarmed anymore. I got charged by a small blackbear( I might have even outweighed it, it would have been close) in Canada one fall and it was not fun even though he was not THAT serious and he just wanted me away from his dead moose. He stopped at about 20', which was about 1 foot outside of my "shoot this thing!!!!" range I had planned on. That .375H&H felt very "nice" in my hands. I don't think my 2" bladed Swiss Army knife would have given me the same feeling. Anymore, I throw on the 4" 25-5 loaded with heavy loads when I hit the woods with or without the dogs for some exercise.
Posts: 624 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 07 April 2003
MI is a CHL state with it also being "shall issue". What I carry on my own land is up to me too. If I wanna walk round with a 50BMG I can and will. I am lucky in the respects that I have a place pretty much outta the way - it is the rare transgressor.
Stump shooting with a 22lr or any rifle as I walk round is a good way to improve off hand shootin' too IMO.
PS- I also have gotten frendly (drunk) with many of the officers that would be doin' the arrestin' - never hurts
Lawcop, Is that true year round if you are not on your property? One thing I want to clarify is I in no way was arguing against a persons right to carry. I have a CCW license myself. I just have never felt the "need" personally to be armed everytime I've set foot in the woods in the UP. Certainly there are lots of bears, 10-15,000 blackies but the historical record of attacks on humans is pretty thin. As for mountain lions, that seems to be a big question in Michigan. From the DNR perspective it's is there evidence of a reproducing population. Lot's of anecdotal evidence but I don't believe any hard proof. Certainly there are not enough cats to warrant any great concern in my view. Maybe I'm just a rosy optomist but I view the greatest danger in the woods as me tripping over my own big feet.
Jeff
Posts: 784 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 18 December 2000
YOU CAN open carry anytime, BUT if there is a hunting season going on it is HIGHLY recommended that you get the appropriate license. That way you don't have the over eager DNR newbie thinking you are out hunting without a license. During most of the year small game is legal so get a small game lic. when deer season hits get a deer license. A bow license won't help much and the DNR is in a trick bag right ow about "no guns" on bow hunts, BUT what do you do with the legal CCW packers who have the right to carry?
I just get a small game every year and don't worry about it. The other thing is the odds of finding someone else where I walk are really slim. I don't frequent the rregular trails much. Even if I might come across someone I just fade into the depth and let them pass by. I am out for peace and solitude, not conversation.
Posts: 624 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 07 April 2003
Your last post pretty much is how I understand Michigan's laws. I have had BAD experiences in the past with Conservation Officers out on power trips (not in Michigan though), so I am always hesitant to carry on public land. Where I grew up out west we always carried, usually rifles though. I have found that gun fear has grown exponentially since my childhood. It is a sad sad thing, IMHO. What will terrify them next, shovels???
ASS_CLOWN
Posts: 1673 | Location: MANY DIFFERENT PLACES | Registered: 14 May 2004
There is video of a Mountain Lion with her large cub in Monroe County from this summer. Reasonable thinking tells me lions will not bother munching on people since there are plenty of deer about.
I think the MDNR planted the lions and that wolves were planted by the DNR some time ago. I think they started with the wolves. I also think this came about to drastically reduce the deer population because of the insurance industry. Just a theory....
We've even got wolverines in Tuscola/Sanilac County and it was last seen in Metamora.
Posts: 19621 | Location: The LOST Nation | Registered: 27 March 2001
i remember reading about the wolverine that was spotted not too far away from bad axe, mi. i too am going to the up this year. will be hunting around iron mountian, in dickinson county. taking my 8mm mauser, and a colt 45 on my side, just in case. i know it must be displayed outside of my clothing, cannot be concealed.
in response to the cougar/mountain lion thing, the dnr is asking hunters to bring cameras out in the field with them and snap pics of any cougars they see, and turn them in to the dnr for study. good luck up there, who knows, we might even run into each other. good luck, and happy hunting!
Posts: 497 | Location: Illinois | Registered: 27 May 2004
THEORY I heard on the Wolverine was that it got caught in one of the garbge trucks that come over from Canada. When it dumped, the wolverine came free and started looking for home.
its got a long swim to get there.
Posts: 624 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 07 April 2003
i heard something similar about the wolverine, the whole garbage truck thing. it's plauseable, as species of fish, algae, and crayfish are introduced to the great lakes and streams and ponds by ballast tanks, bait buckets, and so forth. hopefully, maybe a few more will find their way over here, and michigan can once again have creatures populate the state that is known for them.
Posts: 497 | Location: Illinois | Registered: 27 May 2004
Especially since there are no records of wolverines in Michigan dating back to the days of French missionaries and fur traders. The state got the name Wolverine State because of the way it's soldiers fought. Sadly they also named the football team of the school of left wing, long haired, dope smoking, hairy armpitted women, Birkenstok wearers that as well. Then again, a wolverine is nothing but a big weasel. GO GREEN!!!!!
Ann, I don't buy into your theory, then again I'm not a big conspiricy buff. I have no doubt that there are a few lions in the state. The question is where did they come from and are they a viable population? I would suspect a lion in SE Michigan to be one that had escaped from a private owner more than likely. The problem with the introduction of lions or wolves to make the insurance companies happy is that the main problems are in the southern part of the state. Kent County, where I live, leads the state with nearly 3000 car/deer accidents a year. As populated as it is the outcry over the introduction of large predators would be deafening.
Lawcop, Regarding bowhunters who carry the Michigan Attorney General recently ruled that a bowhunter who has a CPL may legally carry while bowhunting.
Jeff
Posts: 784 | Location: Michigan | Registered: 18 December 2000
Actually, lions are being reported all over the midwest. So I doubt they were lost pets. I think it's a great addition too but at least with Michigan, the population of people and urbanization will just lead to trouble for wildlife.
Coyotes are at an all time high as well. As a kid there was no such beast here.
Posts: 19621 | Location: The LOST Nation | Registered: 27 March 2001
But by far the most dangerous and obnoxious is the two left footed fudge packer... errr I mean eater .....Well you know what I mean. This includes any one from the republic of Ann Arbor ! 
You would be able to legally hunt, year round with no license, pigs, boars etc that were escapies. There might be some claims by the owners of escaped animals as livestock but as one of my neighbors likes to say, You just have to practice the three S's. Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up ! 
