Wanted: Place To Hunt

[JSteinmetz]

So anyone else deer hunters around the SE corner anywhere?  I have 12 acres, and for the first year in a long time, we have seen no sign of deer in the area.  I've checked with the neighbors, and they all say the same thing.

Anyone know of a decent place to hunt in Macomb/St Clair counties?  I haven't deer hunted public land in years, and I'm not even sure where to look.  Usually go up to the UP to a buddy's cabin, but he's in the middle of a ton of stuff and won't have time to go this year.

[CV67PAT]

Check out Algonac State Park and the St John's Marsh.

[JSteinmetz]

Thought about the park, but too many trigger happy nutjobs there. I never thought about the marsh. I live about 5 miles from the marsh. I'll have to check it out.

I'm looking for somewhere I can take my 10 year old. He turned 10 in august, and he has been shooting since he was about 6. (Honestly, some days he out shoots me...) He has been bugging me about hunting since about July.

[CV67PAT]

I've hunted the park during the week almost alone. Sundays were the worst when I hunted there because St Clair county prohibited Sunday hunting. And state land was exempt from that county law. Been a few years since I've hunted in that county, so I am not sure if that is still an applicable law.

The marsh presents it's own unique hunting experience, because of the tall grass and flat terrain. In years past the DNR farmed feed lots on the North side of the marsh area.

I also introduced my son to firearms and hunting at that age. His first hunting time in the woods with me was at 6. His orange vest covered him from shoulder to toe. He grew into it.

Good luck. Enjoy the hunt.

[wardog6t]

EHD (Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease) Has hit hard in the southern lower. I hunt in a couple of areas in the southern lower and have noticed a huge loss just in the last year. An area I hunt just about every weekend,  last year with an average of 10 deer per sit is down to 3-4 this year.  As the numbers still continue to come in. The low estimates are in the 10,000 range however as more farmers cut crops and more hunters enter the woods I would assume the numbers will go up.

The mild winter and hot,dry summer have something? to do with it. However according to statistics because of the mild winter the effects of less winter kill the deer should be able to bounce back. The real problem or question is what has changed? EHD has been know about for two years with a kill rate of a couple hundred the first year to thousands this year? This isn't a TB or CWD type disease so there are still a lot of questions. The disease has been around since 1955 but this year alone has tripled, plus some the entire kill rate since 1955. The real issue is the coverage of the disease. When TB hit in the Northern lower it was pretty much centralized in a core area and still is some 20 years later. The scope and geographical coverage this disease covers could become a real problem if the DNR does not act appropriately.  The State, DNR and People have known about this disease for over two years yet its just now hitting main stream media outlets.

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121020/METRO/210200350/1409/rss36