2023 upper peninsula michigan deer camp

Thank you for watching my video: 2023 Upper Peninsula Michigan Deer Camp
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Every year i look forward to making my upper peninsula deer camp video. Unfortunately we're not singing a happy deer camp song. Deer camp still has that good free feeling vibe but there doesn't seem to be any deer. I worked hard the last two years doing land management, planting food plots, hinge cutting trees and trying to improve the soil so we can make future food plot without having to bring a lot of implements and other food plot tools in the future. So when you have 12 trail cameras set up on 100 acres of land you'd expect to see a solid deer herd. Unfortunately that has not been the case.
While we're not seeing a lot of deer we are seeing a lot of bears wolves bobcats and coyotes. There are a few moose as well but even with them we used to see a lot of moose. Could it be that we have a predator problem at deer camp or is it like the Michigan DNR report states that there just isn't enough food for the deer to stick around and bed on our property.
This year the first camp brought a wood splitter so we didn't have a lot of deer chores this year like we usually do. We just needed to stack the wood that they had split and then clean up around camp.
Rob and I had intended on going to camp and tracking some deer. We had been researching the big woods deer hunting technique and were watching a lot of videos to learn how to determine the size of a buck by its tracks and be able too tell how fresh the tracks were. We gave it a shot the year before but ended up getting out hunted by a wolf pack that began tracking the same deer as us shortly after we had started. So we were super excited to get to camp and give this technique a second try.
As the days started leading up to the deer camp opener the temperatures kept getting warmer and warmer and the chances of being able to track a deer through the snow was becoming less and less. A couple days before deer camp we finally got a couple inches of snow. But unfortunately in the same day that same snow had melted and became a muddy mess. When we showed up at camp there wasn't a hint of snow. Unfortunately we didn't really have a plan b.
Having to stick to the same old techniques of sitting in deer blinds over small piles of bait it wasn't looking to good. As the deer camp went on it didn't get much better. we didn't see many deer, or even deer sign.
Next year I still plan on heading to deer camp too make some much needed improvements to the land. I plan on planting even more food plots and trying to build a deer herd that will want to come back year after year.
No matter how much hunting camo you have, how nice your deer blind is or how many food plots you plant, if there isn't any deer in your area you're not going to harvest a nice buck. No matter what we're always excited to go back to our upper peninsula deer camp. The silence, the stars, the northern lights and all of the other wildlife in the area make it a magical place to visit.

[@marais888]

That's alot of bears and very cool to see a bull moose. My condolences to you and your family on the passing of your Grandpa.

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

Thank you. Yeah the moose are always fun to see. We actually had one shot up right in front of one of our blinds on the 14th so unfortunately no one was sitting in the blind to see it in person

[@finpainter1]

Nice game cam shots.

[@anton1949]

Was in the UP the first 2 weeks of Dec. Saw zero deer riding around in the woods. But around town they were all over the place by the Menominee river. I think they feel safer around people and the noise, than in the woods with the predators.

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

Yeah we definitely see more deer after we leave camp lol. Usually around cities or in the small areas of farm country up there.

[@DroptineRidge]

Sorry for your loss! I enjoyed this video, especially the animal count. Looks like lots of predators. One trick I have done in the past is to take barbwire and wrap it all the way up the tree. It seems to help keep the bear damage down.

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

Thank you and thanks for the info I've always thought of trying something like that but I definitely plan on doing that in the future. Congrats on your success this season too.

[@t.jwoodworth8166]

First off sorry for your loss. We have a camp in the same area as you guys. Cross country we are 4.74 miles apart. We harvested one 8pt on the 3rd day. Hunted for 12 days up there and well over 130 hours in the woods and 3 of us saw zero deer and as a camp only laid eyes on 3 deer all rifle season. (I personally haven't shot anything at deer camp since 2018) It was the same story as your camp. Not much on camera at all and baits not getting touched for days or weeks and alot of wolf/predator and bear activity on our cameras. Everyone we talked to in the area all said the same thing we have also had those same hot streaks as your camp but since 2019 season it has gone down hill drastically. Enjoy watching all the vids!

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

Thanks you. I was wondering if others in the area are having the same issues. Some of the guys at camp were worried that we might be doing too much with the land management that's scaring the deer away. We actually saw 4 deer at camp. Just didn't get them on camera. I saw one like I said in the video and my brother saw 3 does cross the rail heading south like in. years past. But with no snow we couldn't really tell how much activity there was. I do have a couple cellular cameras still working at camp. The one has had no activity and the other one is set up over that food plot and has only has had one wolf on the camera.

[@BobPeterson-rw9yw]

I hunt Iron county WI, not too far south of the line, and did hunt Iron cty MI for years. This part of the UP used to have it easier from the standpoint of predators and winter, but the hunting there had gotten too poor for me to justify the effort. It's not a lot better in WI - a lot of wolves, even more bears, coyotes, cats, and bad/late winters. My buddy that hunts up north of Ironwood saw nothing in a hard week of hunting, had nothing on his cameras after early Nov. Not a lot we can do. I guess I'm grateful now for having come up hunting in the 80s, 90s, early 2000s when things were really good, including the camp life which now is becoming a thing of the past. Don't know how good you got it til its gone.

[@Elonzo-k2y]

😢

[@campbenny]

Great video buddy. It can be tough hunting in the u.p. I think your Chic fil a will pay off sooner than later.

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

Thanks Ben, We'll see what happens with the future food plots. No matter how bad the hunting is there's no place I'd rather be than the U.P. that first week of firearms season.

[@alcantrell5340]

Good job guys, you worked really hard. Can’t wait to see what happens this fall.

[@mattn9628]

I started trapping at my camp. Helps with the predators. It’s also really fun.

[@Ufishinfeathiesp]

If there was deer, they would be eating the foodplots. Ive been doing foodplots on my property here in the U.P. for over twenty years. Unfortunately even with this mild winter there won't be more deer next year, those wolves are eating every day

[@njorgnjorg6057]

Looks like you guys should take up bear hunting. You have some good ones

[@skoviak]

The Wolves are out of control, and bait sites and food plots in Wolf country are only attracting the Wolves. They probably have been picking off the Deer one by one. A wolf only needs a scent trail leading out of your bait or food plot to go on a hunt. There's plenty of natural forest foods...Wolves are the problem hands down.

[@dinohouse1235]

Hey Josh, sorry to hear about your Grampa, it's very cool that you did get to hunt with him since you were 12-years old, I have a camp in-between Escanaba and Marquette , I went up more this past fall than I ever have, July, Aug, Sept, Oct & November I spent 20 days up at camp hunting Bow & Gun, the absolute worst deer signs I have ever seen in 40 years, I saw more Wolf poop & Wolf tracks than deer tracks. I had 10-cameras out at 10 different bait spots over a 15-mile span. absolutely dead, I heard more wolves howl than ever before, and like you said, with the wolves they kill everything they can catch and whatever gets away moves out to a safer area. the fact that you are able to have good growing food plots , which should draw deer in for miles around and still not see deer? there is just such a reduced number of deer period, if you think bout it ,now there may be one shooter buck in a ? 5-10 square mile area, what are the chances that you will see it? very low, i would walk 4-10 miles the days I didn't sit all day and saw only a couple buck rubs, no scrapes, I still love UP Deer Camp and will always go up, but I'm not sure the next generation will because of the lack of deer sign, the wolves have to be kept in check !! the food hasn't changed , the winters are milder then ever, there should be more deer than ever? BUT with coyotes, Bear , Big cats now and the 2000 or more Wolves the deer don't stand a chance. take care and keep up the UP Deer Camp forever.

[@Ufishinfeathiesp]

The deer still migrate south. There simply isn't the deer left north of you to migrate down to

[@t.jwoodworth8166]

Will you guys be up at all next month? Ill be up for 10 days. Maybe ee can meet up?

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

Not sure when we're coming up this year. I'll let you know of we make it that way

[@donbriggs8234]

My uncle used to live up there he wasn't Google City he was a trapper and a hunter

[@MatthewZimmerman-om5ng]

Whereabouts in the UP. We hunt in central Menominee county

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

We’re in northern iron county

[@bigwilderness3006]

It is the deer wintering complexes. They are fewer then yrs past and the ones that are left are piss poor condition. Look at this yr deer numbers,they are better because of the mild winter many deer never migrated. We must do something about how we manage our winter complexes as well as predator management. The bear hunters need to stop the idea of trophy bear management. We as hunters are the number managers as well. Good video. Miss the old days myself. Was a absolute blast 20 yrs ago.

[@kenaidog6974]

Its the wolves. No doubt.

[@donbriggs8234]

You need to have coyote hunting an trapping

[@mikemccutcheon8372]

Dogs?

[@we-will-see-what-happens]

Easier to say than wolves and coyotes

[@doitforfunoutdoors2997]

The biggest problem for you guys is a lot of people shoot every deer they see …. Like you mentioned in the video for 3 years straight you guys shot 3-4 deer a year in an area with an already struggling deer herd . If you want does to get bred their needs to be bucks around . And when there’s bucks around you don’t kill them all. I hunt in northern wi and for YEARS we didn’t have any deer around . And even with doe tags my pops wouldn’t let us shoot does (before it was buck only) . And we passed up smaller bucks and after about 2-3 years of doing that and a few neighbors doing the same we had tripled out deer numbers . And another thing to think about is what your planting . We used to plant brassicas every year and the deer rarely touched them . We switched from brassicas to oats and winter rye and the oats and rye never got longer than 4” because the deer kept them plots mowed down constantly. Food for thought man good luck this season and sorry for your loss .

[@JoseyWales-m5b]

Wolves

[@robertdahse4569]

To many wolves,agreed

[@tommclain8100]

Sounds like the Michigan DNR is just as full of shit about the wolf numbers as they are here in far Northeastern WI (Florence County, right on the border of the U.P.) WAY more than they want to admit to. In my opinion, your land management is not scaring any deer out of your area, but the fact that they are not pounding that food source tells me you have very few deer in your area. My condolences to you about your grandpa. I lost my dad a few years ago. He was the heart and soul of our deer camp. Good luck this coming season.

[@donbriggs8234]

Start taking people on bear hunts around there get the predator numbers down and I think you'll have better gear success

[@jameslindenthal840]

WOLVES AND WINTERS LOSE OF WINTERING GROUNDS THE WHOLE U.P. WORST FOR ME IN 50 YRS IN THE SUMMER THE DEER HAVE MORE FOOD THAN FOOD PLOTS WOLVES, WINTER, WOLVES , WINTER.