# Bear Point Creep



## Csilsby (Jan 7, 2021)

Hello all, I currently have two points for Michigan bear and I started to wonder if Michigan has a serious point creep problem for bear. My grandparents have a cabin on Drummond Island and I would love to hunt that Unit but I do not think that will ever be possible with the points I currently have. What do you all think?


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## PTPD2312 (Oct 19, 2004)

Keep applying and saving the points.


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## Spartan88 (Nov 14, 2008)

People wait long periods in some BMUs.


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## WillHunt4Food (Sep 25, 2007)

I have 7 points at age 30 and have come to the realization that I likely won't have a chance to ever hunt bears on Drummond with the current point configuration.


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## steelyspeed (Apr 10, 2016)

Csilsby said:


> Hello all, I currently have two points for Michigan bear and I started to wonder if Michigan has a serious point creep problem for bear. My grandparents have a cabin on Drummond Island and I would love to hunt that Unit but I do not think that will ever be possible with the points I currently have. What do you all think?


Unless there are some major changes made to the current system, yes point creep will be a problem. My guess is that in 20 years Drummond tags will require 25+ points, possibly 30.


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

It took me 13 years to draw 
a permit for Baldwin. If I wasted my money it would take more than that many years before I drew again. Anyone want to help a guy that would be at least 100 years old before I could draw again.


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## Hoytman5 (Feb 1, 2008)

I'm sitting on 18 points right now. I've already shot a nice Michigan bear so thinking about donating my points. I'll be turning 50 in a couple weeks so I've got to keep that in mind as well if I ever get the itch to hunt Michigan bear again.


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## Csilsby (Jan 7, 2021)

WillHunt4Food said:


> I have 7 points at age 30 and have come to the realization that I likely won't have a chance to ever hunt bears on Drummond with the current point configuration.


Yeah I am 22 now and I'd love to get a bear on Drummond because I have spend a decent amount of time there throughout my life, but I'm in the same boat as you.


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## Csilsby (Jan 7, 2021)

steelyspeed said:


> Unless there are some major changes made to the current system, yes point creep will be a problem. My guess is that in 20 years Drummond tags will require 25+ points, possibly 30.


Hopefully some better point systems are being used by then.


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## Csilsby (Jan 7, 2021)

Hoytman5 said:


> I'm sitting on 18 points right now. I've already shot a nice Michigan bear so thinking about donating my points. I'll be turning 50 in a couple weeks so I've got to keep that in mind as well if I ever get the itch to hunt Michigan bear again.


Why not shoot another nice Michigan bear?


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## ducksarge (Jul 3, 2011)

Just curious, why is Drummond Island so popular/ hard to draw ?


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## Biggbear (Aug 14, 2001)

ducksarge said:


> Just curious, why is Drummond Island so popular/ hard to draw ?


Popular because of the nearly 100% success rate. Hard to draw because they only give out a handful of tags.


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## Hoytman5 (Feb 1, 2008)

Csilsby said:


> Why not shoot another nice Michigan bear?


Just don't have the itch too. I keep putting in for a preference point thinking I would get excited to do it again. I have a one track deer mind I guess! Maybe next year......


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## 12970 (Apr 19, 2005)

Now that it is a Required Point System some place are Once in a Lifetime! A friend used his and it was at 13 points for the Baldwin Unit and Did Not take a BEAR! He stopped applying as he is in his mid 60's and having to wait again is just to long. As for the Point System yea it is close to the ELK System You could wait a LIFETIME and Never get a License. Sad part is prior to the Elk System some got a Chance Twice and then Came the "Pure Michigan Hunt" which you could get another Elk License if it were a Cow a Bull and It was to be 1 and done till they started the PMH not saying some have had a second chance but some have the LUCK! I cannot put the time in Yet till I am Retired and because there is Only 1 Hunt for the Baldwin Unit a chance in 10 days it is also a 1 Time Hunt so once I retire I will make the most of it in the Southern Baldwin Hunt BMU. It is just the way It Works. I currently have 18 points and maybe 2 years till I will retire and have the time to bait etc for a Bear CHANCE... But seems the Bears disappear once the Hounds get to Practice, once the one hunt period is Over the Bears pop up on my game cameras that has been the way it seems to work. And I see the hounds often during the time they can Practice prior to the Hunting Season...
Newaygo1


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

ducksarge said:


> Just curious, why is Drummond Island so popular/ hard to draw ?


Trophy BMU maintained by a handful of tags per year. The Island has a high bear population.


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## WillHunt4Food (Sep 25, 2007)

ducksarge said:


> Just curious, why is Drummond Island so popular/ hard to draw ?


For me, Drummond is a special place. Been going there for family vacation every year for almost 20 years. Others in my family have been going longer. Shooting a Bear in a place I haven't been to frequently isn't much of a draw for me. I would rather shoot 1 bear in a place that is special to me than shoot 3+ bears in some random spot.

Hard to draw because of limited tags. They've flipped between 5 tags, 2 tags, 1 tag, 5 tags and now 6 tags over they years.


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## B.Jarvinen (Jul 12, 2014)

Hope y’all don’t mind a Baldwin unit question: is that unit also subject to ‘point creep’ ? I have been wondering about this for a few years now. 

I don’t follow such things all that closely as I have no plans to try this. But I do enjoy the company of bear hunters wherever I go; almost always the most knowledgeable outdoors people, right up there with trappers. Sept. 14th is like Christmas Eve in the west U.P. and it is always nice to see such outdoor excitement before I retreat to the bar and the beach for a couple days right then. And if you run into trouble deep in the highest country Appalachia has to offer, it will be a bear hunter that comes along first. 

Around the Baldwin unit, I routinely meet people, both points holders and non-bear-hunters that all say the same thing about the unit: “a lot more bears in it now.”

So without attempting to read many years of DNR rule books, what is the trend on points & tags in that one?


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

I did not keep track of the creep. As I think I posted earlier that it took me 13 years to draw a tag for Baldwin. It kept creeping up over the years.


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## Flag Up (Feb 15, 2009)

My wife and I both have 19-20 points. Plan is to hunt Drummond the same year after we retire. We will do a do it yourself hunt. I know nothing about Drummond but do know how to hunt bear.


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## kstout (Dec 26, 2005)

Flag Up said:


> My wife and I both have 19-20 points. Plan is to hunt Drummond the same year after we retire. We will do a do it yourself hunt. I know nothing about Drummond but do know how to hunt bear.


You might want to do separate hunts. Yours one year, and your wifes the next? That way you can better concentrate on baiting, and you get to experience the Drummond Island hunting experience twice!


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