[mauser06]

Today is the gun opener in Michigan.

I scouted for 3 days and covered many miles.



I'm nestled in my chosen spot...

About a half hour past legal shooting time....no hunters seen...no shooting...no deer. Lol


VERY different from a PA public land opener!



Stay tuned...if there's any action I will be somewhat live on this post!

 

[RegularJoe]

I may have missed it but where in MI are you Mauser?

 

[mauser06]

Leelanau County. NWish of Traverse City.



Over an hour and a half....no shots lol. Maybeeeeee a couple way off...


Completely different than PA lol

 

[RegularJoe]

Good Luck and just enjoy it!! Rut has to be happening there too, ya never know what you might see!!!

 

[mauser06]

Thanks! They say it is on fire....


The rut, the moon and hunters moving all line up for good midday movement..


It's awesome...even with not much happening....this is about as wild of a hunt as you can get..

I'm within a half mile of the lake Michigan shoreline too... can hear the waves breaking.


Very cool experience.

 

[chilli]

Very cool. Good luck. I will be watching.

 

[chilli]

Very cool. Be safe. I will be watching.

 

[mauser06]

1115 a shot finally rang out that id say is in this block of woods...still a good few hundred yards off behind me near the roads.

 

[Adam]

What are your plans, brown and down? Any doe? Decent buck??

 

[RegularJoe]

If you don't need the meat too badly I'd hold out, Mitch Rompola might push a big one past you....

 

[mauser06]

I'd like to see a deer lol


3 point to a side antler restriction. At this point a legal buck is getting a 225gr Accubond sent his way.

3.5+yo bucks are usually only carrying racks like our 2.5yos. 14" or so wide 100". Bigger happens but kinda rare.

These deer in this specific area being close to the lakeshore endor some of the harshest winters around....every winter.

I was here for like 2 weeks a couple winters back....no joke every night 8-12" fell. Funny thing was the news or no one's reports included it or mentioned it. Not to mention the winds off the lake.


I have something behind me now. I swore it had to be a deer but my winds been blowing there all day. Gunna stay ready.... maybe it is deer!

 

[mauser06]

8lb black squirrel......figured lol.

 

[Adam]

Well good luck buddy! Keep us posted!

 

[mauser06]

Thanks!

Will do!

Haven't heard any shooting since 1115 except a volley of 5 whyyyyyy off a little bit ago.


I walked countless miles the last 3 days. I walked a few miles of really nasty swamp...I've walked low land...high ridges...

I was dumbfounded by the lack of sign. A rub here n there. Trails but no droppings or rubs or scrapes.

The area I'm hunting showed the most sign...I have atleast 3 scrapes here...good trails with recent use...good buck tracks.


I thought maybe i wasn't finding the deer. Now I know it's just a lack of deer.

 

[mauser06]

2 doe just came!!!

Hopefully a buck follows!! They were running either from a hunter or a buck.

 

[Adam]

No doe tag?

 

[mauser06]

Nope and I wouldn't shoot one even if I was starving. Just ain't hardly any deer here.

For perspective....over the last 10yrs upto 2012 buck harvest per square mile has been less than 5. Average around 3. Die harvest per square mile is less than 2.

Can shoot 2 bucks here if you get the 2nd tag too...

Hunter density is said to be 10-12 per square mile.


3% of the county (7100 acres) is public land...

So factor good hunting on private ground and farmland into those numbers and I am hunting some very tough ground...

 

[mauser06]

Don't even know how many doe just fed infront of me for the passed 20 minutes. Atleast 5 but I think 8-10. Hard to keep track!

I cannot believe there wasn't a buck with them.

Some of the doe were giant I'd bet over 200lb...kept expecting to see a rack on their heads.

 

[RegularJoe]

Hey that beats seeing nothing, things are looking up!!! I rode snowmobile up above the bridge in March of this year, snow is part of life there, kinda like tropical storms in florida.

 

[mauser06]

Talking to others and my day was actually really good.

Actually got a cold front and decent rain tonight...will make my access a LOT quieter and im going to be sitting over 2 scrapes...after a rain is always good time to watch scrapes!

The quiet access will be huge I think. Can try your hardest...but if you're gunna get where you're going you're gunna make noise when the leaves are piled up high.


I'm going to be in the same area but about 100-150yds west where the deer were coming from and I know there's 2 scrapes.


Talking to the guy i met this evening...he's hunted there 9 years 350yds or so from me...he said my day was about as good as they get in there unless it's really cold and snowing..then the deer from the higher lands move down there for the winter..not the case this year...he didn't see anything...was snorted at once..I knew the wind was completely wrong for his spot.

He said pressure will be much lighter tomorrow and hunting in where I do the deer go back to normal over night because they know winter is coming and the does are looking for food and the bucks are looking for them...


Probably not hunting till dark... actually probably only hunt the next 3 mornings/afternoons.



Funny with the deer density so low they claim hunter success rates on bucks is near 50%. That's interesting to me...and with only a shot or 2 possible in my block of woods I still have hopes of getting a shot at a buck...

I literally didn't see a hunter all day...the guy i met saw 1 guy and he knows him..he still hunts the area and is there every year.


Completely different than PA hunting....it's actually very enjoyable...

And truth be told...many guys in PA don't see 10 deer on the opener...so I have no complaints...might even be back next season...I already took the time off...

Reminds me of hunts on TV in Saskatchewan...big woods remote setting and out of nowhere a big ole chocolate racked buck emerges. Nearly all the rubs in there are on pines and cedars. I'd love a heavy chocolate rack!

Beggars can't be choosers...I will but the Whelen to a 3 point half rack lol.