2020 North Manitou Island hunt in Michigan, any going?

[Fish_monger]

Booked passage to the island with a local charter captain (ferry is out for the year). Just curious if anyone is going, or has gone? Do you think the virus and ferry issues will increase or decrease the usual number of hunters?

I took my fishing boat over for a 2 day scouting trip this summer and I’m super stoked. Do most guys camp at the village and pack in from there? I’ve got a few camp spots picked out about 3 miles from the pier but I’m wondering if we’re going to be bumping shoulders with other hunters.

 

[Murphy]

I've never gotten around to doing this hunt but it sounds like a good adventure. If it follows the trend of Turkey hunting in Southern Michigan it will have more hunters. I suspect that no regular ferry service will likely decrease participation tho. Good luck and let us know how you do.

 

[Jbriggs4524]

I wouldn't really worry too much about the virus situation in Michigan, just wear a mask and social distance. I don't think it will reduce hunters numbers too much either. but by the sounds of it, if it is difficult to get to then seeing a lot of other hunters should not be an issue. Good luck and shoot straight!!

 

[Fish_monger]

Just spoke to the NPS rep. She says over 120 applicants already if anyone is curious.

 

[deerhunter2881]

Just spoke to the NPS rep. She says over 120 applicants already if anyone is curious.

Wow that’s a lot of people compared to previous years

 

[deerhunter2881]

Booked passage to the island with a local charter captain (ferry is out for the year). Just curious if anyone is going, or has gone? Do you think the virus and ferry issues will increase or decrease the usual number of hunters?

I took my fishing boat over for a 2 day scouting trip this summer and I’m super stoked. Do most guys camp at the village and pack in from there? I’ve got a few camp spots picked out about 3 miles from the pier but I’m wondering if we’re going to be bumping shoulders with other hunters.

I will be going this year for my first time booked a spot on a private charter

 

[Fish_monger]

I will be going this year for my first time booked a spot on a private charter

Are you camping in the village, or back country?

 

[deerhunter2881]

Are you camping in the village, or back country?

I will probably be camping back country if there is a lot of people

 

[Mimachinist]

Hey guys I know the hunts getting close. I’d really appreciate it if you guys could document the hunt. I’m planning on doing this hunt in the future and am not really sure what to expect. I’d love to see what gear your running and how you go about storing the meat throughout the week.

 

[Fish_monger]

Hey guys I know the hunts getting close. I’d really appreciate it if you guys could document the hunt. I’m planning on doing this hunt in the future and am not really sure what to expect. I’d love to see what gear your running and how you go about storing the meat throughout the week.

Absolutely. we’re leaving southern MI at 4am tomorrow, super excited!

I’ll try and do a full write up when I get back. I was surprised how little info there was out there when I was planning my own trip.

 

[Mimachinist]

So how did your hunt go?


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[Fish_monger]

So how did your hunt go?


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we were scheduled to leave Thursday morning at 9am. weather delays pushed us all the way back to a 5:15pm arrival on the island. we were soaking wet from the trip over in 5’+ waves. ended up spending the first night in the village so we could dry out by a fire.

friday, we hiked in to stormer camp where we planned on setting up. it looked like a nice clearing on the sat maps, but that wasn’t the case. Waist high grass and rolling rutted ground. nothing flat for the tent. It was also very close to a high traffic trail. We ended up hiking in to our plan B location another mile or two away and spent the evening scouting.

Saturday morning (opener) was nice. I think I counted 30 or so shots fired by lunch. my buddy ended up shooting a nice 9 point, I took a smaller 8.

Sunday and Monday the wind was blowing 40-50 miles per hour. maybe some gusts above that. Trees falling all over the woods, blow down on all the trails. our camp neighbors ended up taking two nice bucks during all of that. We didn’t hunt much.

the forecast was calling for 60°+ weather Tuesday-Friday. we called the boat captain to see if we could move our Saturday departure up to Thursday and he said no. Either Tuesday morning or Saturday. The “just call me when you’re ready to leave” agreement fell apart quickly when he dropped 100+ guys on the island. We ended up on the Tuesday morning boat out.

some take aways for next year:

NPS said they booked 156 if I remember correctly. I think captain Jimmy took 111. several others were ferried over on some 16-18 foot walleye boats on Saturday when the lake laid down. everyone had weather delays. Some a few hours, some days. Be flexible.

the woods are thick. The island has been taken over by small (beechnut?) trees. Trunks are about the size of a broom handle and the leaves are right at eye level. they are everywhere. A lot of the woods I hunted had maybe 15-20 yards of visibility.

most of the guys I talked to were also first timers. everyone did their scouting via Google maps/ onX, so naturally people were drawn to the same features. swamps, clearings, and orchards seemed to draw the crowds.

In my experience the deer were not terribly weary of people. I stepped out of my tent one morning and had a 10 point standing 60 yards away. I talked to multiple people who shot deer that walked out into the trails right in front of them. Lots of rubs, lots of scrapes.

even though we left Tuesday, most everyone we talked to had already shot deer. some does, some spikes, and the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life. I think this will be a record year for attendance and deer taken.
Apparently the hunt was spread out over multiple weeks in previous years. I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought that back next year.

 

[SirChooCH]

Awesome, grats on the bucks. This is on my goal list. I have backpacked manitou before but going back with deer on the mind would be way more fun.

 

[Hunt4lyf]

Thanks for this thread, it's really interesting and something I'd like to do sometime for sure.

 

[TrucklessYooper]

Yes thank you for posting this. I hope next year will be a more normal year.

 

[righthelix]

Hey, Fish-monger, thanks for sharing! I'm from SEM and have been thinking about this hunt for the last couple of years. Last winter I was planning to go in the Spring to scout around and check out the island and then covid hit and I postponed my plans because I was worried about the ferry being available. Sounds like that was a non-issue you for you during the hunt. A few questions if you don't mind taking the time:

- How would you rate the hunting pressure? Were you able to get away from the "crowds" if you hike far enough?
- How would you rate the bowhunting opportunities? I read that they used to have a separate bow hunt but don't do that anymore?
- I saw deer carts and whole deer in the boat photo. Did you see most hunters doing that or breaking them down and packing them out?

Thanks again and congrats on the buck!

 

[Fish_monger]

Hey, Fish-monger, thanks for sharing! I'm from SEM and have been thinking about this hunt for the last couple of years. Last winter I was planning to go in the Spring to scout around and check out the island and then covid hit and I postponed my plans because I was worried about the ferry being available. Sounds like that was a non-issue you for you during the hunt. A few questions if you don't mind taking the time:

- How would you rate the hunting pressure? Were you able to get away from the "crowds" if you hike far enough?
- How would you rate the bowhunting opportunities? I read that they used to have a separate bow hunt but don't do that anymore?
- I saw deer carts and whole deer in the boat photo. Did you see most hunters doing that or breaking them down and packing them out?

The hunting pressure isn’t a problem. I stayed fairly close to trails, ridges, swamps, etc. I’ll bet if you pushed in, especially west of the lake, you could go days without seeing someone

I’m not a very experienced bow hunter. there was plenty of buck sign and they seemed receptive to calls. you could definitely do it (but i don’t know why you would limit yourself.) The park ranger said you can hunt the island during any part of the Michigan bow/rifle season. you just have to use your own MI tags and follow Michigan regs. If I were bow hunting I would probably look for a private charter to take me the week prior.

probably 80% brought game carts. Most people quartered out deer for transport. we forgot our game bags.. that particular boat load was also a short notice trip so some guys just didn’t have time.

also a pro move we picked up from the “first lite boys”: there are plenty of barns and outbuildings near the dock you can leave stuff at. Things like a large yeti cooler of beer you can visit multiple times through the week, then transport your quartered deer when it’s empty.

like I said above, I’m betting this was the biggest year in decades. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was divided up into multiple hunts next year. Pure speculation though.

 

[righthelix]

I thought the hunting was limited to just the one week special hunt period they have there. Didn't realize I could potentially hunt it during the regular bow season. The NPS website made it seem (at least to me) like they only have the one week special hunt but looking at the 2020 Michigan Hunting Digest it does mention an archery only period from 10/1-10/27. Definitely learned something there - that might put a whole different spin on my plans as I was hoping to do this as a backpack bowhunting trip. Thanks again for sharing the great tips and info.