Wishing away Michigan Gun Season...

[IronCreekArcher]

Anyone out there in any state feel my pain, depression, anxiety...etc.  I don't know if there are enough adjectives to describe it really  :rolleyes:  ...maybe some of you can sympathize and help out with my lack of verbage.  No offense to the gun hunters out there its just the terrible experiences I have had while bow hunting during Michigans firearm season has almost made me hang up the recurve.  Anyone who has hunted in the Southern Lower knows...might as well be in Iraq.

[ChuckC]

Public properties around Madison ( Wisconsin) get hit pretty hard too.  For years we would just go visit the Footed Shaft on opening day of gun season and not worry about it.

ChuckC

[vermonster13]

Hard to feel your pain. You've had 6 weeks of archery only and still have the month of December.

We get 3 weeks of archery only.

[Overspined]

I am right there with you, it is depressing. The orange army who usually scout the weekend before are out with quads screwing up the rut already! Isn't it great. They should have a drawing and break up the gun season so not so many are out all at once. All I usually do after gun season are deer drives with muzzleloaders. Sometimes I can find a honeyhole in some sort of neighborhood setting to sit for unpressured deer (AKA: deer that sometimes come out during daylight in michigan...)

[BowHuntingFool]

I really have no problem with gun hunting, I enjoy it! I just pick up my Flintlock, 95 grains of Black powder, stuff a patched round ball down the muzzle and go to the woods! I love it!

[IronCreekArcher]

Correction Vermonster13...our bow season runs from October 1st to November 14th.  Before that we have early firearm from Sept 18th to the 22nd, then youth gun season from Sept 27th to the 28th, then regular firearms from Nov 15th to the 30th.  Then bows only from Dec 1st to the 4th (why I don't know, it does the archers no good, must be a token gesture to keep the days between the two seasons at almost an even split.) Then Dec 5th to the 21st we have muzzleloader season then from Dec 22nd to Jan 1st we have Late Shotgun.  All totaled we have 49 days of bow season and 50 of gun.  The thing is not the amount of days but rather their timing.  We have one full week of gun just before the bow opener, tell me how fair/grand that is.  Also, the general firearms starts during the later part of the rut, just when things are getting good around here. Another problem is the fact that when the boomsticks start deer might as well be ghosts.  1 million (MIDNR Statistic) gun hunters tend to have that effect.  Couple that with a failing wildlife managment approach and it makes me wonder why I even pay them the license fees for what litte of a so called good experience I can find around here.  Sorry, none of this is pointed at you it just brings up the crux of a heated debate in this part of the state but thats a whole different animal.

[mparks]

"It's like Christmas with guns."LOL  I love it.

[vermonster13]

Firearm license sales for Michigan were about 730,000 last year with 300,000 archery licenses sold. Firearm hunters took 60% of the deer killed and archery took 25%, Muzzleloader and special tags took the rest. You also get to hunt with your bow through muzzleloader and shotgun season of which there are far fewer tags sold for than archery.

Deer seasons are for controlling deer numbers and the Michigan DNR has very specific goals for the populations. Unless archery hunters start taking larger numbers of deer and purchasing more tags don't expect much change.

Still wish we had as many days open to hunt as you fellows do. 6 weeks and done here. Firearms starts here Saturday and goes for two weeks. Been two weeks without being able to chase deer and I'm Jonesing big time! lol

[jacobsladder]

Im headed to the deepest part of the swamp with my longbow.....it will be like hunting in the middle of a big pumpkin patch with all the orange around me... i just hope i dont get shot on the way out... I've already heard the chainsaws cutting shooting lanes, seen the orange ribbon tied to trees so that the fellows dont get lost...apparently they've forgot what a compass is for.... I'll be after the pressured deer where they go...in the thick stuff.

[jacobsladder]

Vermonster... the 60% and 25% number is just a wild guess based on number of licenses sold for archery and firearm...I do agree we are lucky to have plenty of available hunting... i personally do not like any gun seasons before archery... that was the beauty of our archery season..the deer werent pressured and you could pattern them ..now they are being shot at  two weeks before archery season.... I do like to archery hunt the late muzzle loader season...after the deer have been holed up for 2 weeks during gun season..they tend to visit the crop fields early to fatten up and get ready for winter during the late season.....

[vermonster13]

No wild guess, it is based on the deer killed. 249,000 with firearms and 126,000 with bows. The rest were muzzleloader, youth and special hunt tags.

Of course firearms could say they liked the days when there were no archery seasons and the deer had been unmolested before they got their crack.

Just giving other points of view. We tend to look at things only from our side. I very much like the fact that Archery is first here, then the two day youth hunt followed by two weeks of firearms and then a week of muzzleloader/archery with at least a week off between each season.

[IronCreekArcher]

Vermonster...thats the problem...the DNR here in MI manages for profit margins and reduction of deer numbers, not producing quality deer.  In Iowa their DNR manages for age structure in the deer herd and look at the type of animals they are taking year in and year out.  Michigan can not even begin to compare with a state like that with the seasons we have.  Don't think for a second that the animals being taken in states like Iowa, Kansas and Illinois are by accident.  The firearms harvest numbers are impressive in total quantity of deer but the quality of those deer are marginal at best and the majority of that percentage are does and fawns with most fawns being button bucks.  Yes, we can hunt with a bow during all firearm seasons but the effectiveness of which is reduced to the farthest margins at best.  To see a deer during daylight hours during any gun season is nothing short of a miracle most literally.  If you consider us lucky that we can use our weapon of choice during firearms season then we are lucky but it stops there.

[IronCreekArcher]

Also, to the point of the gun hunters liking their deer unmolested, how many bow shots have you heard on opening day?  Last year alone I counted 135 shots from dawn to Noon on the gun opener and that was only what I could hear obviously.  Not only that but the deer you do see are running in a panic from block of woods to block of woods trying to get away.  No, kidding one year I watched a family group of does and fawns that started out at six in number run to three block of woods and 5 of the six got killed and the 6th came out of the woods wounded.  It was a button buck and I shot it as he came limping by me.  I did not shoot by choice.  Come on over and you can hunt my spot anytime during any gun season, we will see if you want to come back...  

[jacobsladder]

vermonster...where exactly do you think the dnr comes up with those numbers...i can assure you there are hundreds if not a thousand in my tiny town of dansville that arent reported...those numbers are so far fetched its a joke...Ive hunted in michigan all of my life and know of very few that reported deer killed to the dnr...and a large number of these deer are being processed by the hunter. The dnr are pulling these numbers off of their checkstations and maybe from some of the processers... Or most likely just out of their rear. Its not a requirement to report a killed deer. (Dave..sorry man, im just not a DNR fan..I admit it    )

[IronCreekArcher]

Vermonster...didn't think you would step into that one did you...lol...I hope this thread is not coming off as hostile that was not the intention...just venting a little frustration at the ever dwindling opportunity here and it sounds like even that is better then what you have over in Vermont.  You can share my campfire anytime no matter how small and pitiful...lol  

[IronCreekArcher]

Jacob...get ready buddy...stay low and watch your 6...so where is dansville anyway?

[jacobsladder]

[IronCreekArcher]

Jacob any luck this season yet?  Been slow down here as far as shootin goes...been seeing some nice ones running some does though...got 13 guys from Detroit surrounding me on their lease.  They have me cornered on my little 20 acre swamp...now I know how the rabbit in the brush pile feels...lol

[jacobsladder]

sent pm.

[Arwin]

I used to hate it when firearms started, but now have learned how to hunt around it, or use it to my advantage. Here goes:

 Scout for hunters the same as you would for deer.   Drive around the spots you intend to hunt and look where the obvious gun hunters will be. Now find a way to back-door them on opening day. They will push deer to you all day long.

 Sit in your stand as long as you can take it. Most of my gun season bow kills were after 11:30am. The Orange Army gets bored or cold and will leave the woods around 9:30-10am. An hour after that the deer will scurry around. I love to watch the inexperienced gun toters with "Elmer Fudd Face" try and sneak around the woods. The deer will be 100yds ahead of them and heading out, without the hunter even knowing it.

 Jacobsladder has the right idea too. Get into the nastiest stuff possible. The thick stuff is useless to most gun hunters looking for a 75yd shot. We bowhunters know how to play the "in close" game. Thick stuff allows for a 15 yd maximum shot distance, which is perfect for trad gear.

 Get your butt off the ground!! This is mainly for safety. I've had slugs go whizzing past my head on heavily pressured land. It didn't take long for me to get into a tree. You can also see approaching hunters way before they could pose a possible threat and you can see the deer being pushed to you much sooner. If your not a fan of climbing trees, invest in a ladder stand. If you put it in the thick and nasty, no one will find it.

  Get in early! Most novice hunters will wait till 20 minutes before light to come in. Beat them in by 40 minutes and keep your flashlight handy to shine them off if they get too close.


 Hope this helps. I have battled public land odds for 11 years and figured out some ways to be successfull during this time. I will say make your first two days really count, odds are they will be your best.
 
 I find that 2-3 days before gun season ends, most hunters have bagged a deer or given up. The deer move somewhat back to normal. I'm usually looking forward to the 3rd week of December after Nov 18th.