Michigan elk

[slewis12]

Any one in here that would like to see michigan start a new herd in the U.P.? I have seen they were considering it a while ago wonder if they ever did the study? I think it would be a better spot than our current herd. i would think less issues with farming in the porcupine MT area we could even see better quality bulls up there with it having some hard to get to areas. whats your guys thoughts?

 

[ATH]

I'm sure the elk would like it better. The current herd is in a bit of a populated area (for elk). The biggest elk I ever saw in MI was a dandy 6X6 about to be put down in the median of I75 by police after being hit by a vehicle. But how are the wolves up there now? It's been 15 years since I lived in the western UP and hiked the Porkies.

 

[slewis12]

They are hunting them now so they are probably being a problem for some areas but with a good size planting of elk i would think they would build up well i would think that area could support a slightly bigger herd say the 1000 to 1500 range and would provide a a nice hunting oppourtunity. looking at the draw odds for michigan its a joke 100 tags issued total over 260,000 chances which isn't like points you just get extra chance for every year you apply with a cap of 12 per person with over 34,500 applicants thats absolutely horrible i'm headed to montana this year for elk/deer combo hunt because my luck i'd be on my death bed and i would finally draw when i'm 90, old and wearing a diaper! i'm happy we are starting to restrict points on deer even up north in the lower pen. as the quality of bucks has diminished considerably i have only ever seen one wall mounter and i plugged him i wont shoot smaller than a 6pt for the simple fact i want my daughter to have a good first deer. I was wondering if anyone would ever chime in on this as i know lots of people leave for out west to elk hunt because its such a debacle to draw a tag and by the way only 30 of those are either sex the other 70 are antlerless/cow tags

 

[ATH]

Even as a MI native I never bothered applying due to the odds and difficulty accessing elk even if you drew (I think you are required to hire a guide?). So much easier to do research and go out West. I have 50% success in MT on bulls, not so bad for an out-of-stater.

MI would do better on the bucks if they would eliminate the 2-buck rule. It guarantees nothing is going to grow so you shoot the first you see. In IN you only get one across all seasons. So people actually get choosy. I've shot a couple smaller ones when running out of time, but I don't know anyone who will shoot anything under a decent 8-pt the first week of gun season. And there's a high % shot at that.

 

[slewis12]

I agree one buck is fine too the outfitter I don't think that's required at this time but I could be wrong I think in the beginning it was but now before you can hunt elk you now have to do a elk hunt orientation and get a slip before your tag that you drew is valid it's quite the ordeal now and possibly a hilarious debacle on elk hunting. I laugh every year when my 2 friends tell me they applied again I tell them the day you draw will be the day I can hit a match stick at a mile with a 270 lol slim to none I hope something changes with the current dnr sooner than later they are so focused on bird hunting that they forget everything else how about a actual plan one year let's focus on this next year and on that the following not 5 years all of eggs in one basket your thoughts?