steeliebob

The Michigan DNR claims that the UP can sustain a wolf population of about 2000 wolves and there is a possibility of a wolf hunting season. There is also a possability that there will never be a wolf hunting season. Right now they estimate that there are between 500 and 700 wolves in the UP. I find it ironic that deer numbers are always estimated on the high side and wolf numbers are always underestimated. I am by no means an expert on deer numbers but I do know that they are way down in the UP. I cannot believe how the DNR does their math, in the future they may sell 100 wolf licenses for what about $100 ea which equals $10000. Lets underestimate but I believe about 25000 residents and non residents of the UP will not be buying a Michigan deer license next year at $30 ea or $750,000. How long is the DNR willing to eat this loss of revenue? What about the UP businesses who rely on sportsmen to support them? They have already proven that they will jump ice flows to migrate to the lower penninsula. It is only a matter of time and the lower penninsula will have breeding packs. A wolf is a non game species the same as a cougar, the DNR has a fund to collar them, tag them and chase them around the woods. This money comes right out of your license money plus some federal dollars which comes from the money you spend on guns and ammo. So you live and hunt in the lower penninsula and you don't believe that the wolves in the UP will effect you. Just wait another 5 years and look up this post. Somebody please show this post to a DNR biologist I am willing to bet that they will not disagree with me.

As far as I am concerned shoot all of the wolves & cougars that you want to. The season never closes but don't get caught. It doesn't even make the classifieds anymore when someone shoots a UP wolf during deer season. I have yet to ever hear of the DNR paying their $5000 reward for information leading to the arrest of anyone who has killed a wolf. I think they die of lead poisoning about 5 miles from the point of impact. What I hate the most about them is that the DNR spends hunderds of thousands of dollars per year on them and they are federally protected. Now the DNR is going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cougars. I think the budget will be reduced when they don't get deer license fees anymore. If I could not hunt in the lower penninsula I would sell all of my hunting gear. Back in the 1990's there used to be 20+ deer per sq mi where I hunted now there is less than one deer per sq mi.

St Ignace MI. My office is 200 ft off of the lake huron shoreline. I get off work back up to the boat drive a mile to the launch site and in about 40 minutes from work I have four lines down. It sure is nice to get off of work and have fish in the cooler w lines out within an hour.

I started in 69 when you pulled long lines with a tadpoly or flatfish. I fished the runs on the rifle river for a few years then moved up to the UP where catching coho was the norm. Then I moved back down to the rifle river area again. Now I am fishing back in the UP probably will stay until I get planted or tossed overboard. I caught my first salmon at age 13 and at 14 I took my first nice steelhead which by the way was netted by Fred Bear. I remember that one the most of all of the chromers that I have caught.

You have to sit on the edge of a swamp and just wait them out. It is tough to do but they are there. The small cedar swamp that I was set up on came to life at dark an hour after I shot my deer. Good Luck. The guys hunting up in the UP are seeing more wolves than deer. I just talked to a guy who saw three wolves last night. US 2 hardly has any traffic right now, nobody wants to hunt up here anymore. The DNR should open season on them.

Way to go!!!! Save some room in the freezer for the fish. I got my deer and I am back to fishing tomorrow

Before all hell breaks loose, let me sell you a homeowners policy and we can both go to Gander Mountain

Nice buck he should make a great hat rack

Across the road from the camp gate is a big apple tree, when I pulled in Friday night after dark there were about 15 does and fawns eating with 4 bucks none bigger than a 4 point. I wonder if the DNR considers this a baitpile??? There is no sound biological proof that stopping hunters from using bait will stop the spread of desease such as CWD or TB. Just like in the UP where if you have the combination license your first deer has to have 4+ points on one side. The DNR did that to produce bigger bucks but there is no biological proof that this will work. I was at a meeting recently where a DNR biologist admitted the DNR was wrong by doing this. If their own biologists disagree with what the DNR is doing then I am sure that sooner or later the DNR will be challenged in court. I think that it is a money issue and the DNR wants a reason to write more tickets. Just like a few years ago a DNR biologist commented that wolves were good for the deer. I guess so right down to the last one.

Every hunter in the family filled a tag this year (2009) one Illinois deer one lower penninsula deer and two from the upper penninsula. Everyone has extra tags so it will be interesting if anyone gets a bonus deer. Nobody has been in the woods more than 4 days so far, so for the limited time invested that is not too bad. A couple of does and a couple of smaller bucks.

I am sure that all of you guys have your favorite brine and smoking wood as do I. Lakers are usually pretty greasy and do not smoke well. Last summer I cut a couple of lakers into steaks threw them into the brine overnight put them on my smoker. When they were about 1/2 done I brushed on orange marmalade jam. You got to try this every legal laker goes into the smoker now.

New count when I came across the bridge North Bound the count was just over 4000 deer that was on 11/22/2009 at 9:30 pm. It was still down 35% they do count deer going both ways so I helped them out by adding one. I shot a big doe (no fawns) in Ogemaw County.

I just google mackinac bridge deer count for past years. It has been so ****ty up here the last ten years the DNR does not want the record posted so it stops at 2000. I will be crossing the bridge in a couple of hours to hunt in the lower. I will give you an update on the deer count on Monday. I used to see deer like you would not believe at my steelhead spot, I have been back there no less than 50 times this fall and only saw 2 deer. I have several friends who have not recorded a deer on their trail cams all fall. I know of about 50 guys who just go to Canada to hunt and will not buy a Michigan license anymore. The last week of season I will be hunting in the UP but I will be packing my fishing poles too because I don't expect to be hunting very long.

I used to live in Saginaw before I moved to the UP. I fished under the mercury vapor lights all of the time usually with a 1/8 oz leadhead w a chartruse twister grub with the sparkles in it. On a good night you would reel in a fish on damn near every cast. It was awesome. Started in October and fished like this until the river iced over. We ice fished near the same mercury vapor lights on first ice and did very good too.

Its dinner!!!!! Good going and good luck hunting

You are soooo right about wolf hunting. What are they going to eat when they kill off all of the deer? I believe there will come a day when everyone has a loaded gun in the house waiting to shoot at a wolf. That is the other reason I hunt downstate, I have had a couple of opportunities and let em go the next one might not be so lucky. The deer I saw a couple of weeks ago was being run by something because it was dead tired when it stopped by me and could have cared less that I was only 50 feet away. It was real concerned with what was behind it. If you want to see something real interesting go to the mackinac bridge website and look at how the deer count numbers have declined since the wolf numbers have increased.

Just as I figured it would be the bridge count was down 44% last night at 9:00 pm when I crossed. Less than 1000 deer have been counted so far, the wolves have ate them all. Precisley why I live in the UP and hunt in the lower. Back in the 1990's you would trip over deer walking into your blind 5 miles from my house. The same area I used to hunt....I have only seen two deer there this fall. Now I am driving to whittemore 140 miles away to hunt. I guess amongst other things you can blame this on the DNR too.

I got a J plug in the middle of the back a couple of years ago...it did not come out too easy. I had to go to the hospital and get it cut out and had 8 stitches in the back to remind me. OUCH!!!!!! I don't fish with that idiot anymore

I have never tried a slammer board but I will try anything. I do not have a problem with hit and runs on the tip ups. I usually connect with the fish but I always leave it go for a couple of minutes after the flag goes. I am going to make a new type of tip up device this winter for ice fishing, if it works out you might see it in cabelas soon.

I fish in less than 10 feet of water. I am on the ice and set up at least 1/2 hour before daylight. Use the hand auger a gas auger will spook the fish in shallow water. I have tip ups with 8 pound line just enough weight to get a spawn bag to the bottom about 16" up from a #14 treble hook. On that treble hook I have a spawn bag the size of your fingernail. I also use ice rods with spawn bags, set the rod on a bucket with the bail open and a rubber band in the end eye. When the fish runs the rubber band will pop out and do not stand near the hole. I also rig ice rods with a small orange or red tear drop and a wiggler or wax worm with a bobber just big enough to float your rig. You will want to be off any stream or river mouth that has a natural run of steelhead even some that do not will have enough feed flowing into the lake that trout are attracted to the area. Northern Michigan and the UP have areas that offer super good ice fishing for steelhead coho and lake trout. I am sure to be out there as soon as we get good ice, the gear is ready to go. Mornings work best for me but I have caught them mid day and evenings as well you just have to work a little harder

I just run plain spoons with a leader 12 pound florocarbon and very small swivels and I have had great luck. I am fishing out of St Ignace and the DNR refuses to plant fish up here too. So great luck means 3 or 4 fish per trip unlike SW Michigan where we fill a super sized cooler every time we go out down there.

I have some pics from last winters steelhead in the gallery section under steelhead and salmon. Just can't wait to go. Will be on the river in the early am then it is off to deer camp

I use a very small split shot just enough to get a spawn bag to stay on the bottom and a #14 or #16 treble hook put it into a spawn bag about the size of your fingernail. You can run this off of a tip up or ice rod. On an ice rod I leave the bail open and set it on a bucket w a rubber band in the tip eye. I step back from the hole and when you don't see the rubber band get to the pole. I also use wigglers and wax worms on an orange tear drop with an ice rod. In the UP we fish off any river or stream mouth the L Michigan side can give up some nice trout in the spring. The northern lower penninsula streams can be really hot too. I have the gear ready to go but the rest of Nov looks to be too warm for ice. L Superior has super good ice fishing for trout and it gives up some real nice coho as well but on cold winters you will need an extension to the auger

I have a 19 foot starcraft holiday w 120 inboard I have learned to keep only the necessary gear and the hot lures in the boat not alot of extras. This works out well because you are not tripping over lots of rods and equipment. It also forces you to use what works and not what does not work. I normally fish w 6 rods out but cut back to 2 or 4 in the dark. I guess if I had a bigger boat I would have more equipment. When I pull up to the dock at the end of the day my cooler seems to be just as full of fish as the guy who has 10k worth of equipment on his boat. I still pulled my share of goods out of the boat before I tarped it up. It hurts when I go into the garage and have to look at it collecting dust

Mike, if you are looking to go on a guided hunt I know of a couple of guys in St Ignace who chase them all winter long with plots and ticks. Give me a call at 906 643 8630 and I can set you up mabey. They shoot lots of coyotes too.