Anyone paying attention to Michigan?

[dtrkyman]

I managed land in Illinois for a guy from Michigan, him and his family had the most ass backwards ideas for deer management I had ever been a part of, sorry to the fine Michiganders out there.

They refused to shoot does on the premise it attracted more bucks, duh, well when a buck is literally tripping over does during the rut he isn't making it very far!

They have a property in the thumb region, it was one of the most over populated area I have ever witnessed, 80 degrees in May and you could drive around and see 100 deer in a few miles mid day.

He had does on his property that knew all the guys by name by the time I was done there!

 

[Netherman]

I spent a great deal of time managing my land over the last 30 years in preparation to hand it off to my daughter (She goes to NMU this fall and is committed to living there) to see zero progress. This year we had our first little 10 points ever. My cousins shot them both on adjacent property promptly opening day. So yes, It's personal. Despite killing 12-15 deer and 4 bucks a year I've only killed 2 bucks in the U.P. this century. But my daughter did get her first this year on the same land as 4 generations did before her.

Did you write your name on them? Maybe your cousins didn't know they were yours?

To me "changing hearts and minds" is the trojan horse to eliminate the second buck tag. The true reason the supporters want OBR is for the above situation. I get that you put money and work into land management, trigger control, and a whole lot more. I just don't agree that taking away opportunity for all is the correct solution to this "problem".

 

[Netherman]

I managed land in Illinois for a guy from Michigan, him and his family had the most ass backwards ideas for deer management I had ever been a part of, sorry to the fine Michiganders out there.

They refused to shoot does on the premise it attracted more bucks, duh, well when a buck is literally tripping over does during the rut he isn't making it very far!

They have a property in the thumb region, it was one of the most over populated area I have ever witnessed, 80 degrees in May and you could drive around and see 100 deer in a few miles mid day.

He had does on his property that knew all the guys by name by the time I was done there!

This is why we have "too many deer" in Michigan and a OBR isn't going to fix it. The MI DNR needs to find a way to get hunters willing to shoot does onto these places. HAP, community outreach, take a kid hunting programs, late or early seasons, etc. The need to talk to farmers, outfitters, and leasees to figure out a way.

 

[Hickory1991]

Last year I looked into the HAP program for Lapeer county and not one property was listed. That’s the problem. No place to shoot does on private. It’s a shame. To see dozens of dead deer on I-69 going to waste. Not even enough funds in local governments to even pick them up anymore.

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

Did you write your name on them? Maybe your cousins didn't know they were yours?

To me "changing hearts and minds" is the trojan horse to eliminate the second buck tag. The true reason the supporters want OBR is for the above situation. I get that you put money and work into land management, trigger control, and a whole lot more. I just don't agree that taking away opportunity for all is the correct solution to this "problem".

MY cousins are the ones who bitched for 30 years giving every crazy conspiracy theory for why they never see big bucks and have never killed a mature deer... This isn't because I couldn't shoot them. An opportunity to what? They don't eat venison and they have garages full of meaningless dinks now.

 

[SirChooCH]

To get more back on topic, I saw over the weekend that Farm Bureau was winning the race and Earn a Second Buck had 5 commissioners ready to pass. But, at the last meeting DNR said they couldn't do it for 5 years with the app license structure or something...? So idk if they could actually make it work. I was personally thinking this would change the mentality by dangling the carrot of another buck tag to actually shoot a doe more than OBT. But if they can't enforce it there's no reason to back it.

Now I have heard OBT is back on the table to pass... So tomorrow voting will be interesting, if they make it to the voting and don't table it after the uproar from everyone. DNR live streams the NRC meeting on youtube for anyone who is not able to take vacation days to be there like me.

 

[Netherman]

MY cousins are the ones who bitched for 30 years giving every crazy conspiracy theory for why they never see big bucks and have never killed a mature deer... This isn't because I couldn't shoot them. An opportunity to what? They don't eat venison and they have garages full of meaningless dinks now.

The opportunity I'm referring too is the ability for everyone to take a second antlered deer in MI (including your cousins). I love the opportunity that MI provides for public land hunting and the ability to do it with two buck tags. I can hunt from Waterloo/PRA right out my back door, to Huron NF, up to Hiawatha NF and have a vastly different experience in each place.

I've only shot two bucks twice in the last 10 years, but I've hunted off that second tag enough to recognize there would be a significant reduction in my total time in the filed without it.

 

[Netherman]

I was personally thinking this would change the mentality by dangling the carrot of another buck tag to actually shoot a doe more than OBT.

I like EAB in theory, but think it's problematic where access to the does the DNR want's killed is problematic. I don't want hunters to have to choose overharvest of does (location specific) or missing out on a second tag.

To me this whole OBR/APR/EAB push is coming from the private land QDMA crowd trying to regulate their neighbors into following their ideal management strategy. Poor Public Paul is just along for the ride.

 

[SirChooCH]

Well the meeting agenda has been posted on the NRC website and APRs are going to make an appearance as well...Walters was the guy rallying the OBT crowd and now he is amending to APRs at the last minute?