First Bear Upper Michigan

[Cedarsavage]

I got my first bear on the 15th. I've held a couple tags and had a few close calls; including a miss in 2017, and spooking a nice one 2016 when my safety clicked. It felt like a different experience than hunting whitetails for some reason. People talk about how good the meat is; they're not kidding. Definitely has a different flavor than venison and I'd say I even prefer bear. I can get this tag every 2-3 years, and plan on doing it that often. The biologist said he was 2.5 and average for the area. We have a fairly high density and high hunting pressure between bait and hounds.

I spent a ton of time scouting, baiting and a little time hunting. I got it on video check it out here (Bear Video)if you're interested. It's kinda interesting, it's my first go at filming, and I thought man was I somber after the kill. Later I realized I've been like that after a bunch of animals and excitement sets in later, I just normally don't have a camera recording it. I'm working on another video as a part 2 that covers scouting, baiting, preparations and lessons learned because on a baited bear hunt the actual hunt is really only a small fraction of the story. Added here Lessons Learned VideoNow that I've done it, I feel like I kinda have a bit of understanding with bears. Definitely not a high level of knowledge, but now I feel like I know enough to begin learning. I spent a ton time picking the biologists brain, and have a bunch of ideas to try to get after an older age class next time around. I expect to finish that in a week or so.

Thanks

 

[jdmaxwell]

Congratulations

 

[Cubsscrubsjakes]

Congrats on your successful hunt. You're gonna be hooked on bears now.

 

[Fowler530]

Congrats, glad to see your hard work and dedication pay off with a nice bear! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Wmmichael20]

Nice what unit were you in, a few friends and I were in Newberry the same time coyote hunting and kept checking in at the dnr post to check out any successful hunters.

 

[MTJake]

Congrats man!

 

[Cedarsavage]

Nice what unit were you in, a few friends and I were in Newberry the same time coyote hunting and kept checking in at the dnr post to check out any successful hunters.

I was in Gwinn unit. You were a little east of me. I’d imagine with all the hounds men there were a few bears brought in. I would think coyotes would be tough with all the foliage.

 

[Wmmichael20]

I was in Gwinn unit. You were a little east of me. I’d imagine with all the hounds men there were a few bears brought in. I would think coyotes would be tough with all the foliage.

Yeah they we're laying low we couldn't even get one to respond to a locator call.

 

[stumpknocker]

Way to get it done! It is a lot of work to run a bait most don't realize.

Tag every 2-3 years though?? Figured y'all had more bears than that

 

[Wmmichael20]

Way to get it done! It is a lot of work to run a bait most don't realize.

Tag every 2-3 years though?? Figured y'all had more bears than that

We do, it depends on which season you apply for and which management unit is all...third season in some units have leftovers and they can b bought over the counter every year.

 

[Gen273]

Congratulations!!

 

[Cedarsavage]

Way to get it done! It is a lot of work to run a bait most don't realize.

Tag every 2-3 years though?? Figured y'all had more bears than that

We do have a lot of bears. You can get third hunt period every year in a lot of units. There’s a lot of hound pressure and bird hunters here during that hunt. The closer you get to October the more bait piles are in the woods too. I’ve done third hunt before and seen bears, I just felt like there were a lot of factors out of your control.

 

[Cedarsavage]

We do, it depends on which season you apply for and which management unit is all...third season in some units have leftovers and they can b bought over the counter every year.

Do you live in the up? Or just hunt up here.

 

[Wmmichael20]

Do you live in the up? Or just hunt up here.

Hunt in the u.p. family has cabins in two of the management units. Gwinn and Newberry.

 

[stumpknocker]

We do have a lot of bears. You can get third hunt period every year in a lot of units. There’s a lot of hound pressure and bird hunters here during that hunt. The closer you get to October the more bait piles are in the woods too. I’ve done third hunt before and seen bears, I just felt like there were a lot of factors out of your control.

Gotcha. Wasn’t sure how it worked, thanks. States I’ve hunted in (NH, ME, and SC) have very liberal hunts, in terms of time allotted, and being OTC, and yet its a very niche hunt with very little pressure. Thought that was the case for all eastern states. Good to hear people are getting after it in MI but I’m not jealous of that pressure lol.

 

[TNTBR]

Congratulations

 

[bobinmi]

I'm debating on hunting the OTC next year. I'm at 12 points and still can't draw the Baldwin unit. Congratulations on your bear.

 

[Cedarsavage]

I'm debating on hunting the OTC next year. I'm at 12 points and still can't draw the Baldwin unit. Congratulations on your bear.

Idk anything about Baldwin unit but with that many points I wouldn’t take a leftover cuz you’ll lose your points. You can easily get any first hunt up here. What’s Baldwin usually take to draw?

 

[Wmmichael20]

I second cedar Savage...all those years of saving to throw away on a 3rd season leftover would just be depressing...one more year and you should be able to get Baldwin unit ...heck hopefully next year this Corona crud will pass and you could get otc tag in Canada to get your bear hunting fix. I just wouldn't go wasting all those points you spent so long building.

 

[Wmmichael20]

Idk anything about Baldwin unit but with that many points I wouldn’t take a leftover cuz you’ll lose your points. You can easily get any first hunt up here. What’s Baldwin usually take to draw?

I think at last I checked 13 or 14 gets you a crack at one in the Baldwin unit.