I had a permit in 2013. Had a lot of action on my baits. Had bear on the bait 4 evenings while hunting, but didn't shoot a bear. Had a very large bear I was trying to get. Had it around several times but never got a good shot. Had several smaller bears on the bait that I passed. All in all I had a great time, no problem with dog hunters. Small game opener I had a few bird hunters near my baits when I went to re-bait but it didn't seem to affect bear movement. My friend had a permit the year before and shot a bear the first night of the season. We live near Big Rapids, and had baits on both public, and private land, and had action on both.