Moving to Michigan

[chowtownsfinest]

I'm from the West. Only hunted elk and deer in Oregon and Idaho. Moving to Michigan soon. Need some advice on how to adapt to the midwest whitetail game. Any insights?

 

[Drg]

I'm from the West. Only hunted elk and deer in Oregon and Idaho. Moving to Michigan soon. Need some advice on how to adapt to the midwest whitetail game. Any insights?

Depends on if you hunted whitetail or mule deer in the past. Whitetail are more spooky. I have hunted both. And depends on if you are hunting public or private lands. The upper peninsula can be different than the lower. Bigger tracts of public land but wolves have hurt the deer herd in many places

 

[BigE]

I've lived and hunted in MI for whitetail and AZ for elk. The two places are drastically different but the general hunting skills work everywhere. Avoid at least two of the three in letting them see, hear or smell you. You didn't mention bow or rifle. Crossbows are legal, too. Rifle in lower MI requires straight wall cartridges.

There is some truth to the oversimplification of hunting in MI from a blind or stand on a farm field edge on opening day with a feeder (not for the deer but maybe they stop by too, wink/nudge). The western style of getting some elevation and glassing a lot isn't as likely since the terrain and flora doesn't comply.

 

[ikesnipecity]

where at in MI are you moving to? In michigan if you dont have your own ground, its a game of scouting, finding THE spot, and then waiting them out.

 

[SirChooCH]

Lower 1/3 of the state, find the agg and hang a tree stand in a field corner or funnel leading to it.
Middle 1/3 hike until you find fresh acorns and hang a tree stand. They prefer them fresh dropped not stale.
UP put out some bait and wait it out.

About 2/3 of all deer are killed Nov 15th-18th first few days of gun opener. Lots of people in the woods pushing deer around. Even if you only bow hunt, try to be out there and wear your orange because deer will be pushed around all day.

 

[chowtownsfinest]

Moving to the Northern portion of the lower peninsula. Traverse City is closest urban area. I hunt with rifle, bow, and muzzleloader in Idaho. In western hunting I'm not very good at sitting in a stand or blind. Want to spot and stalk (obvs not happening) or still hunt through large tracts of public.
Sounds like I will want to find a house with acreage and get used to sitting.

 

[ikesnipecity]

Moving to the Northern portion of the lower peninsula. Traverse City is closest urban area. I hunt with rifle, bow, and muzzleloader in Idaho. In western hunting I'm not very good at sitting in a stand or blind. Want to spot and stalk (obvs not happening) or still hunt through large tracts of public.
Sounds like I will want to find a house with acreage and get used to sitting.

West, south, East of TC? all have major amounts of Public Land.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Moving to the Northern portion of the lower peninsula. Traverse City is closest urban area. I hunt with rifle, bow, and muzzleloader in Idaho. In western hunting I'm not very good at sitting in a stand or blind. Want to spot and stalk (obvs not happening) or still hunt through large tracts of public.
Sounds like I will want to find a house with acreage and get used to sitting.

That's what I would do. I'm from WI and my wife from MI, have hunted both states. All private though.

 

[Traindriver]

Moving to the Northern portion of the lower peninsula. Traverse City is closest urban area. I hunt with rifle, bow, and muzzleloader in Idaho. In western hunting I'm not very good at sitting in a stand or blind. Want to spot and stalk (obvs not happening) or still hunt through large tracts of public.
Sounds like I will want to find a house with acreage and get used to sitting.

There is fantastic Public land hunting from Kalakaska through Vanderbilt. You can walk for days and still hunt.
Nice thing about Michigan is the wind doesn’t swirl as bad. Normally wind direction stays the same and shifts slowly.
Normally a swamp that meets a hardwood stand won’t let you down.
You’ll enjoy it, and most of your western hunting skills will carry over.
Get ready to see a lot of deer and make shots very quickly.

 

[jfk69]

Others have pretty much covered it. Lots of public land around TC, fair number of good bucks in that area. FWIW, the Rompola controversy buck, along with a ton of other big bucks he shot were from that area. Your firearm will probably be set up a little different. I’d say SFP lower power variables that have covered turrets will be the most common you see. A 300 yard shot here is a long poke in most cases. Yes it could be longer but in spite of what you may hear, I’d bet 98.5% of deer killed here are shot well under 200 yards. Our DNR does a piss poor job of managing the herd, so be ready for that. 2 buck and 10 doe tags in most areas, whether the area can support it or not…