Big woods, northern Michigan

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kenn1320
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby kenn1320 » Tue Nov 10, 2020 3:23 pm

Good info guys. I'll be hitting this area in the spring


"Its about taking the right shot at the right time with good equipment." Dan Infalt
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby Sparkey » Wed Dec 16, 2020 6:24 am

headgear wrote:
kenn1320 wrote:Looking for insight to hunting this type of terrain. Rolling hills with 150ft top to bottom elevation change. Areas are timber managed. Pole/log density as well as aspen, oak, etc blocks. Initial thoughts were hill country tactics, but im thinking maybe they are bedding in the clear cuts and hitting the hills for oaks after dark. Thinking maybe the best approach is walking the clear cuts as a transition line, looking for sign.


In northern MN and hunt a lot of the same stuff, they are very likely to be in the older clearcuts but up in the best hill bedding as possible. Two of my better spots are a mess of ridges and hill tops in a 20-40acre clearcuts that have grown up. Pretty much nobody is hunting them because there are so few trees and the deer pile in. Been a swamp hunter most of my life too so don't ignore those either, in fact some of my better spots are big hills close to big swamps, bed in the hills and use the swamps as escape cover for wolfs and other hunters.

How do you rate hills and swamps this time of year? Hills are pretty much a no go im assuming does your swamp stategy change late season?
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headgear
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby headgear » Wed Dec 16, 2020 7:00 am

Sparkey wrote:How do you rate hills and swamps this time of year? Hills are pretty much a no go im assuming does your swamp stategy change late season?


Late season I just focus on tracks but I have snow up here so it might depend on your area. Lately I have just been finding less and less deer in the swamps, I think it might be just a lower deer population thing but I started seeing more deer and better sign when I focused more on hills. Actually all of my better spots seem to have a combination of hills and swamps, the bucks like to bed up high in the thick cover but also close to big swamps for escape cover. I also do a lot of tracking late season but again snow, was on some nice bucks tracking this year, just never got a shot off. When tracking they are using both the swamps and hills from what I can tell, best to let the sign tell you where to hunt anyway.
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby Sparkey » Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:32 am

Got you i assumed with pressure and bare trees theyd be in the hills less. We just got snow finally a whopping 8 inches
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headgear
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby headgear » Wed Dec 16, 2020 2:51 pm

Sparkey wrote:Got you i assumed with pressure and bare trees theyd be in the hills less. We just got snow finally a whopping 8 inches


Just thinking back on past hunts and I sometimes find them bedding out in the open more late season. With the snow on the ground visibility is that much better, so hills are still in play, clearcuts, and sometimes those open ash swamps have a really good view in the winter. Any good cedar swamp can be good year round too. Let the sign tell you where to hunt them, sometimes you just have to keep hiking until you find the good too, plenty of nights I just walk and walk and never setup, just part of the game but you cover more ground and find more bucks that way.
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby Sparkey » Fri Dec 18, 2020 4:46 am

Do you back track the the tracks or just use them as co fidence to hunt an area? I found a small area cloas to thw road that looks like a buck is coming out of a river thats pretty open and cruisng down thick doe bedding which this side is pretty open. but i set up shop on the ground unconfidently just on where his tracks were coming out of the river i didnt see anything the last 2 hours. Somehow i dont believe hes there during the day i could be wrong do bucks scent check at all hours typically? When you say you dont set up some nights like you dont even hold still for the last half hour of light ?
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby Sparkey » Fri Dec 18, 2020 4:51 am

headgear wrote:
Sparkey wrote:Got you i assumed with pressure and bare trees theyd be in the hills less. We just got snow finally a whopping 8 inches


Just thinking back on past hunts and I sometimes find them bedding out in the open more late season. With the snow on the ground visibility is that much better, so hills are still in play, clearcuts, and sometimes those open ash swamps have a really good view in the winter. Any good cedar swamp can be good year round too. Let the sign tell you where to hunt them, sometimes you just have to keep hiking until you find the good too, plenty of nights I just walk and walk and never setup, just part of the game but you cover more ground and find more bucks that way.

Do you back track the the tracks or just use them as co fidence to hunt an area? I found a small area cloas to thw road that looks like a buck is coming out of a river thats pretty open and cruisng down thick doe bedding which this side is pretty open. but i set up shop on the ground unconfidently just on where his tracks were coming out of the river i didnt see anything the last 2 hours. Somehow i dont believe hes there during the day i could be wrong do bucks scent check at all hours typically? When you say you dont set up some nights like you dont even hold still for the last half hour of light ? Driving 2 tracks and hiking dosnt bother me i actually rather enjoy.it its just seems like nothing is connecting or i dont want to booger anything i guess that just comes woth experience
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby Trout » Fri Dec 18, 2020 5:47 am

If I wasn't tagged out, I would be still hunting and glassing the downwind side of this year's hardwood clearcuts or select cuts. Even though they feel pretty wide open, those tops provide good cover, and they double as food.
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby headgear » Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:40 am

Sparkey wrote:Do you back track the the tracks or just use them as co fidence to hunt an area? I found a small area cloas to thw road that looks like a buck is coming out of a river thats pretty open and cruisng down thick doe bedding which this side is pretty open. but i set up shop on the ground unconfidently just on where his tracks were coming out of the river i didnt see anything the last 2 hours. Somehow i dont believe hes there during the day i could be wrong do bucks scent check at all hours typically? When you say you dont set up some nights like you dont even hold still for the last half hour of light ? Driving 2 tracks and hiking dosnt bother me i actually rather enjoy.it its just seems like nothing is connecting or i dont want to booger anything i guess that just comes woth experience


No more like tracking like the Benoits kind of tracking them down and trying to get a shot at them, however I have back tracked them to bedding when scouting. I have also tracks bucks and tried to setup on them too so nothing wrong with mixing hunting styles.

For the nights I don't setup are usually the nights I don't find any good sign in an area. Way back when I started beast hunting I would hunt spots instead of bucks, lots of that is because I didn't have as much time, however now the more I scout and get on fresh sign the more bucks I am running into. Even then about half the time you are on old sign and don't see anything so I will put on a lot of miles to find the good stuff.
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Re: Big woods, northern Michigan

Unread postby oldrank » Fri Dec 18, 2020 12:30 pm

Good thread. The big woods stuff is new to me so trying to soak up any info I can get for next year.


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