# Death of a Michigan Deer Camp - A Millennial's Prespective.



## Jimbos (Nov 21, 2000)

How I lived through some deer camps is a great mystery.
We tore it up in the north country, got banned from bars, and in general acted like azzholes. I enjoy it more now with my wife and crazy Lab who thinks the deer are for him.


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## rork (Dec 22, 2016)

I have enjoyed many of your stories. Thanks.

I was born into a fish-crazy family in 1958, and was only exposed to hunting when Dad was gone to places like Vietnam, when we'd live in the German alps with my relatives who have owned hunting rights on the mountain for several hundred years, or when we were stationed near there. I was taught to nearly worship nature though. Dad died when I was 13, finally got to MI when I was 17. Taught myself to fish and gather all over this land. Learned botany, and mushrooms.
Finally got a mentor when I was 24, and in him, and my hunting partners since then, I have been the luckiest person on earth. I was taught archery, to use sophisticated mountain climbing techniques on trees, to almost never use the same place twice, and to track even if the blood droplets are measured in nanoliters, and to never give up. It was hard to start, but deer got more plentiful, I got better, and we've been shooting plenty since the late 80s, on public land in SE MI. It's a bit like a deer camp even though it's just around here. My house is closest, and we share meals or people spend the weekend. We get along well, being matched in education, religion, politics, nature-loving, etc.
Father-in-law bought the other hunting camp, an 80 near Alpena around 1990, with a tiny trailer on it, since replaced by a giant house with 2 outbuildings, sleeps around 16. Their tradition is gun though. And 10-12 people really would show up. I feel claustrophobic there, but would come up just before thanksgiving, after many of the younger folks were gone, to cook, track, gut, butcher, and whatever else the old-timers needed doing, and go steelhead fishing in the middle of the day. I'd keep the rifle they'd give me (it feels very unnatural) warm in the morning and evening in a tree, and even see deer, but never shoot one (we don't need more meat). The old-timers are even older now, and often don't stay through thanksgiving, so some years I don't go.
I feel a bit sorry for the gun opener guys, with all the pressure of trying to shoot a deer in just a few days, when you haven't been out 30 times before like I have. Most hardly even get to observe deer behavior except for the 5 seconds before shooting. I wasn't that fond of their culture either.
But things are changing. One of the young women started coming, and shot the biggest buck ever taken there 2 years ago. Her appearance has been civilizing. We are trying to get them to switch to doing camps in the bow season, with some success. Cross bows help (them). As others have chimed in, it's a place to get families together, study karst and the big lakes, plants, shrooms, fish, boat. We can have days in Aug-Oct where the value of the shrooms obtained in a day is more than the value of a deer. Most of the "cousins" are younger than me, and their kids are just getting to an interesting age. When dad-in-law asks the bro-in-law and me what we plan after he's gone I can point to bro-in-law and say "whatever he says". Prediction is hard about the future, but seems bright.


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## animalx1 (Apr 13, 2006)

I have been deer hunting since 1973 when I turned 14 and could (then)legally firearm hunt. Unfortunately I have also seen the demise of two different "deer camps". My first "deer camp" was around the family property and surrounding farmlands. A few years later after I graduated I started working and was lucky in that my employer was large enough to let people off work for firearm deer season so I continued to be able to take a few days off to hunt. Made some good friends while at work and soon enough got invited to their deer camp "up north" between Grayling and Kalkaska. It was a good time. All were good, solid, serious deer hunters. We stayed at a cabin that one of my buddies owned and we hunted some public land and also had permission to hunt some private. We didn't kill a lot of deer but we thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and experience of deer camp. We hunted together for 15 years or more. Tragedy struck two different times and two of my best friends passed on to hunt in the never ending camp in the sky. There were four of us that formed the core of our deer camp and us four were always there for opening week but some years there were more but not usually over six of us. With the loss of two of the core members camp just didn't seem the same and pretty soon after that the cabin we stayed at was sold and that was that. I still deer hunted at my parents place the next several years over in the thumb where I had started to deer hunt so many years before and did alright. Killed quite a few deer but nothing that would make the record books. Several five pointers, a six, a seven, my biggest was an eight pointer, and enough does to keep my family in venison most years. Time went on, mom and dad sold and moved out of state and the property I grew up on had hunted small game and deer on since I was old enough to hunt was gone. So I guess you could say that was the demise of "deer camp number two". In the meantime I had moved up to the Gladwin area and found a small patch of public land that wasn't over hunted and made that little plot my own little "deer camp". Then a childhood friend and I got together and now I hunt at his place in Mecosta County. Usually it's only Kevin and I but sometimes his son hunts with us, sometimes his granddaughter hunts with us but usually it's just us two. So even though my childhood deer camp is now gone and the camp in Kalkaska County is gone I still go to deer camp. Even though the people have changed and the physical property has changed places over the years the camaraderie felt is the same, the mystique of opening day is the same and the tradition of deer camp and opening day of deer season is still the same. I can honestly say that since 1973 I have only missed one year of deer camp. I see around me here in Gladwin County that some of the camps that were here when we moved up here 20 years ago are still there and going strong and it makes me a little nostalgic for the years gone by. I still miss Dean and Charlie from deer camp in Kalkaska. I really miss hunting our family property in Lapeer County. But if you are truly a deer hunter you make your own traditions as time goes on and circumstances change. I'll never forget the times I had, the friends I made and will always cherish the memories I have of deer camp wherever it happened to be, and I am always looking forward to the new memories to be made at deer camp each year.


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## anon02032020 (Oct 2, 2003)

Until the regulations are changed deer hunting in Michigan ended for me. It's really sad that as a landowner in Michigan with decent hunting land but no deer to hunt even after a clear cutting it I won't spend a dime or one second deer hunting.


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## arkeesli (May 17, 2012)

matinc said:


> Until the regulations are changed deer hunting in Michigan ended for me. It's really sad that as a landowner in Michigan with decent hunting land but no deer to hunt even after a clear cutting it I won't spend a dime or one second deer hunting.


Some hunters will spend their entire lives hunting without realizing its not the deer they are after  (stolen from someones signature on this site, replace hunting and deer with fishing and fish)

Yeah, regulations suck in Michigan. Got any sweet hunting/deer camp stories?


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

matinc said:


> Until the regulations are changed deer hunting in Michigan ended for me. It's really sad that as a landowner in Michigan with decent hunting land but no deer to hunt even after a clear cutting it I won't spend a dime or one second deer hunting.


It is tempting to want deer on the square of the chessboard we are standing on,even to expect them. I know.
Steppng off that square is not always easy but is how to encounter deer elsewhere.

Delighted with my recent square. But now C.W.D. is encroaching on it.
Still ,it ( Michigan) remains a big chessboard.
Deer are where you find them ,more than where you want them when the area around where you are determins if they are in huntable numbers or not.


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

Maybe clear cutting is the problem. I have to ask, why do you only stick to one place to hunt.


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## anon02032020 (Oct 2, 2003)

Here's mine my grandpa had a heart attack on opening day n died a week later. Yeahh


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

stickbow shooter said:


> We only had three guys in camp that drank everyday ( they were cops and a DJ for a Detroit radio station lol) the rest of us were occasional drinkers.


Our tent camp host hunting the Deadstream would roll in with his trucks rearend about dragging and set up a sweet camp. Kerosene bus heater,stove,carpeted main tent, small generator in the outhouse tent for lights and the few minutes of nightly radio reports.Tables ,cots,ect.
25 years (for him) on the same site worked out the bugs well.
He would leave a plank between two trees for hanging utensils and a wire high up a pine for an antenna ( radio ) and no other sign but flattened/bruised ground once camp was broke.

Anyway , regarding drinking. The man was about 5 foot even ,70 (no way it was 80?)plus years old the last year I hunted there, and one noted previous pre retirement trick at work was top stand by a desk ,and then without a step..jump up on to it.
His nightly ritual was a single nightcap shot of schnapps ,followed immediately by a sneeze. Every night at lights out.

Time and cruel brain condition led to a final camp for him.
Setting up the stove ,securing fittings was forgotten and the tent was damaged.
More and more things were lost mentally in the months to follow and with no more camp in the forecast (he knew that pretty much when he fired the tent) things went downhill fast.
No surprise he kept slipping out of the place he ended up in when needing more care and watching then "home could provide. He was a still hunter. Still itching.Even if no longer knowing what or wherefore.


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## davulek (Sep 12, 2016)

I'm 50 and my Bday is November 18th. I hunt my birthday every year. I have found the best way to maintain continuity in a deer camp is to own it. I realize that is not always possible, but in my case it is.
Our camp is simple: 40 acres woods and tangle and 10 acres is pond. Surrounded by farms. We hunt deer, rabbit, turkey and waterfowl.
We have a 1966 Avion camper that was gutted and rebuilt into a bunkhouse. 50 years old and bone dry. We paid $300 as the mice had gotten it. We installed a wood burner and it sleeps 4. We wired it for 12 volt lights with 2 deep cycle batteries and a solar panel. We also have a Genny. We have an indoor kitchen and an outdoor kitchen and also have an outhouse. We haul in water.
I live in Suburban Detroit and it's only an hour away in Irish Hills in Washtenaw County. Me and my one buddy are the regulars, 2 others are semi regular, 2 others are occasional. I found my regular hunting buddy at my daughter's softball game. I size people up and then strike up a conversation. Within a couple minutes you find out if they are hunters. I will invite them out to hunt. If they follow up they are serious hunters, if they don't they aren't. if the first time they come you find out they are douchebags, don't invite them back. So far so good.
I must say that I find the "moving around on state land with a camp tent" pretty appealing though. Looks like an adventure.


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## anon02032020 (Oct 2, 2003)

Here's another. Had two 18 inches wide 8 pointers walk in together. Could have shot both let them both walk. My dad shot one n neighbor got the other.


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## DecoySlayer (Mar 12, 2016)

We would tent camp, near Maple Valley, MI. Our camping spot was about 300 yards from the gate of the Denton Creek Hunt Club. Mid-Forest was on the south side of that tract of state land.

We would hang our deer on a "hanging tree" near the tents. We would take several deer each year. One man, Ed, never took one, in all the years I knew him. He would go out, but never shoot. He cooked a lot and ate sweet onions like apples.

One year, Ed, saw a mouse in the cook tent, he chased it around for about ten minutes and finally killed it.

Ed took out a pen knife and "field dressed" the mouse and then "tagged" it, putting on his metal tag. (Who else remembers those metal tags?)

Later that afternoon a CO came by, checking deer and looking for the coffee we always had there, that CO was an annual regular. You would not believe how hard that guy laughed when he saw a field dressed, tagged, mouse, hanging from the deer tree!


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## onebadc20 (Jan 20, 2011)

Man this thread has brought back some good memories!

As a millennial, circa 1985, I was fortunate enough to have grown up enjoying deer camp. My grandpa had leased a chunk of land near Elkton along the Pigeon river. Most of it was farm land but the woods along the river seemed to always produce a deer or two every year. We had two old, and I mean old, campers setting on blocks set up in one corner of the field. I imagine the campers at one time sat on tires but the tires had long rotted away. We called it "Lucky Buck" deer camp. There were cards laid out in a royal flush placed in between some plexi-glass screwed to the back of the oldest camper. This was our logo!

Throughout bow season, everyone was invited, wives, children, you name it. But during the gun opener only children olden enough to behave without supervision were allowed. The first time I seen a deer in the woods by myself was there. I was around 10 or 11, wearing a full blaze orange winter suite laying on the hill facing the river. This small doe about stepped on me before I seen her. Still remember that day like yesterday. 

I also remember the many frustrating nights of losing all my poker money (all the change I had saved up all year) to my cheating uncle Randy. He really wasn't a cheater but I was a sore loser. That camp also taught me how to play euchre. Although none of the adults would really teach us kids how to play, they just made us sit there and watch. Me and my cousins eventually figured it out and ended giving them old guys a run for their money. 

Unfortunately, the land ended up getting sold and we lost our lease back when I was around 16, (2002 time frame). I've always wondered if the campers are still there, or if any of the Tipi's we built as kids are still standing. 

After college, I moved to Southern Indiana in 2007 for work. While the deer hunting is, IMHO, way better down here, nothing can compare to a true MI deer camp. I have tried on many occasions to get guys down here to start a deer camp, but everyone wants to hunt their "honey hole" on gun opener. Plus gun opener is always on a Saturday, so the public land is beyond sketchy. We have started up a squirrel opener camp, although not the same, still proving to be alot of fun.


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

I remember we use to have an fuel oil stove in our first tent camp, and a woodstove. The fuel oil stove kept acting up. We would wake up with the strong oder of fuel oil . We would clean it out and it worked for a while. Well one night after " sangria night" It made its last mistake. I was awoken to cussing and the noise of someone hitting the stove. We all got up watching one of our gang dragging the stove out of the front door. We all new what was coming next, shots rang out in the night. Dude just snapped lol. The next day we all lined up and sent it off to hell were that thing belonged. It was either us or it. Since then it was one big wood stove.


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## davulek (Sep 12, 2016)

U of M Fan said:


> Because there is nothing like a U.P. Deer camp.


Do you take "The Jimmer" with you?


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## U of M Fan (May 8, 2005)

davulek said:


> Do you take "The Jimmer" with you?


You lost me. What's the Jimmer?


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

U of M Fan said:


> You lost me. What's the Jimmer?


Oh my God UofM, you don't know who Da jimmer is. Lol He is a fella in Esky in Da moonlight movie .


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## jamie2003rkc (Dec 22, 2016)

I don't reply much on here but this one struck a chord with me my deer camp is dying ( No I am not a millennial nor are most of the hunters in the camp )


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## U of M Fan (May 8, 2005)

stickbow shooter said:


> Oh my God UofM, you don't know who Da jimmer is. Lol He is a fella in Esky in Da moonlight movie .


LOL!!!! I only seen that movie once and I used smoke a lot of hippie lettuce back in the day so I don't remember ****!!!!


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

U of M Fan said:


> You lost me. What's the Jimmer?





U of M Fan said:


> LOL!!!! I only seen that movie once and I used smoke a lot of hippie lettuce back in the day so I don't remember ****!!!!


Well you and Jr28schalm would " hit " it off. Lol


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## QDMAMAN (Dec 8, 2004)

arkeesli said:


> (so please keep all anti-Millennial jabs to angry Facebook posts, however good-hearted insults gladly welcomed – in fact one might say I feel _entitled_ to them… HAH!).


Life's too damn short to drink Blatz, tradition or not!


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

I would be in jail.


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

QDMAMAN said:


> Life's too damn short to drink Blatz, tradition or not!


Blatz ain't have bad for draft beer.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

arkeesli said:


> Yup, well said Waif, love the shot of schnapps followed by a sneeze. Every time. Whats up with that? Some of these old timers got some weird sacred rituals. RIP!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


One of the things you have to do is make a photo album for deer camp. On the back of the pictures, write the date, names of the people and where the picture was taken. We have one at camp with pictures that go back probably 50 years. Keep a copy at home. Put any funny things you find in the back. We have a census notice that was dropped off during the last census. That one gets a laugh because camp is a small cabin with a hand pump and outhouse set way back in the woods. It might have been a joke played on us by my buddy’s kid.


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## arkeesli (May 17, 2012)

Hey I was to low on the totem pole to make that executive decision. I am not sure what the thinking was behind blatz... probly just going the economy route. One guy made sure to buy a case and start drinking them slowly the week before hand to acclimate his bowels - and liver. But seriously... don't joke about blatz.


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## arkeesli (May 17, 2012)

petronius said:


> One of the things you have to do is make a photo album for deer camp. On the back of the pictures, write the date, names of the people and where the picture was taken. We have one at camp with pictures that go back probably 50 years. Keep a copy at home. Put any funny things you find in the back. We have a census notice that was dropped off during the last census. That one gets a laugh because camp is a small cabin with a hand pump and outhouse set way back in the woods. It might have been a joke played on us by my buddy’s kid.


We got em! Videos too! One of the guys took a video every year since the camcorder came out, (and became affordable)


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## QDMAMAN (Dec 8, 2004)

brushbuster said:


> Every one is dead now or moved out of state. I miss camp.


It's only been 2 weeks....and he only smelled dead! :yikes::lol::lol:


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## QDMAMAN (Dec 8, 2004)

arkeesli said:


> Hey I was to low on the totem pole to make that executive decision. I am not sure what the thinking was behind blatz... probly just going the economy route. One guy made sure to buy a case and start drinking them slowly the week before hand to acclimate his bowels - and liver. But seriously... don't joke about blatz.


There's a lot here and it's not "deer" camp, but the memories will live on with us for decades to come, and more adventures await us next year and in years to come. MAKE it HAPPEN!
https://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/threads/idaho-elk-2017-big-t-and-friends.586308/


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## Rasputin (Jan 13, 2009)

petronius said:


> One of the things you have to do is make a photo album for deer camp. On the back of the pictures, write the date, names of the people and where the picture was taken. We have one at camp with pictures that go back probably 50 years. Keep a copy at home. Put any funny things you find in the back. We have a census notice that was dropped off during the last census. That one gets a laugh because camp is a small cabin with a hand pump and outhouse set way back in the woods. It might have been a joke played on us by my buddy’s kid.


Probably really was a census worker. The local assessor doesn't even know we are there, and we got 2 of the census packets stuck to the doors! 

Our camp is dying. It was started in the '60's and as of now the youngest member is in his 50's. None of the kids have any interest in it. Plan is to sell the deer camp and build a trout fishing cabin. At least the kids fish!


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

Rasputin said:


> Probably really was a census worker. The local assessor doesn't even know we are there, and we got 2 of the census packets stuck to the doors!
> 
> Our camp is dying. It was started in the '60's and as of now the youngest member is in his 50's. None of the kids have any interest in it. Plan is to sell the deer camp and build a trout fishing cabin. At least the kids fish!


My buddy is luckily with his place. His dad bought 40 acres in 1968. His dad’s family was from the area. We started going in the early 1970s. My buddy’s two sons late 20s and 30 go all the time. Over the years, we’ve had a few others pop in and out. Core group is six of us, two generations as the last from generation one died a few months ago.


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

ferrisone28 said:


> We have a similar, possibly opposite situation. Our camp started by my uncle and co-worker back in the 70s. My father wasn't really included in the camp at all when I was growing up. Suddenly in 1994, my father solely willed 160 acres and he decided to split 120 between his siblings (as community property) since it was all homesteaded by their father and his brothers. He kept 40 acres to himself, which I now own and maintain. Deer camp suddenly shifted from the backwoods canvas tent into a cabin, which was a remodeled tool shed and chicken coop from back in the day when it was an active dairy farm.
> 
> I happened to turn 14 that year, so it was my first time EVER hunting and obviously deer camp experience. It was great! However my father and I were viewed as "outsiders" even though we are family. The uncle and his coworker are great friends, their sons grew up together, etc.. lifetime of friendship. They are in their 70s now. This generation is now into their early 40s and have families and land of their own to hunt. They brag all that time about the deer they shoot downstate. They complain about the lack of deer in PI county, DMU 487 and wanting to create their own APRs for the "camp". The only reason they keep coming is tradition. Last year deer camp hit 19 members as other friends were invited, etc.
> 
> ...


Whooo-Eeee!
(Don't be shocked ,but I personally have to much passion into my postage stamp of a property and would bristle slightly if insulted on it. Not the same as a public land camp where agreement by democracy is established. Or other agreed upon arrangement, or as a guest.)

A bout the time anyone insulted my dad (who put up with some real crappy attitudes and actions at a prior three generation camp- now gone ,lost to those who inherited it due to some of those attitudes)... new rules would be posted and signed by guests. 
Rule# 1. My land ,my rules.
Rule #2. Don't wear out your welcome or forget you are a guest. Bunkhouse rules mean don't step on toes. Even if you need to go out of your way not to.
Rule #3. You better be asking, not telling me;who will be here.
Rule#4. See my property boundaries? That is where you as a guest leave your entitled attitude if you are going to be here. Or else you need to get stepping towards one of those boundaries ,now.


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## Petronius (Oct 13, 2010)

stickbow shooter said:


> Blatz ain't have bad for draft beer.


Oldtimer’s beer.


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

petronius said:


> Oldtimer’s beer.


That's what I am lol.


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## Lamarsh (Aug 19, 2014)

The deer camp my family usually went to sold a year ago. I am 34, my brother is 32, and we are currently looking to buy our own and start our own tradition with our own property. 

It's not lost with millennials. We just have to choose whether we want to preserve and pass on the traditions.


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

This might come across wrong, or might ring a bell?

After a few years of State Land a buddy 10 years my senior approached me about a huge parcel of orchard and 80 acres of woods and a field with 50,000 trees. The land owner wanted all deer dead!

We had 40 crop damage permits and only 4 of us... plus our tags. That was in 86 or 87.

I was the only one bow hunting. The price 850!

Through the years I was able to bring guys in, many from this forum. What a Mecca. This went on for nearly 20 years.

Camp? For the pampered they would stay at motels, but some of us would camp at nearby Campgrounds and have a hoot!

Not sure how many deer were harvested over the years, but in the hundreds!

Each year we offered more more money. The owner was pleased. At the end we payed something like 1200 a season including rabbits. No squirrels.... he liked squirrels.... all season!

Camp was a hoot! Even old Thunderhead would come by! Bands on weekends... wild!

The owner's son matured and they started hunting. Cool, but some of our stands started missing. Really no biggie.... we got them back at the end of the season. 

We were able to milk this thing for a few more years fishing the Maple River for cats at night and taking our share.

The son started making plans for building a house on the original 80. We got locked out after 20 some years.

Some (the ones with real money started hunting South and out West) The rest of us had our feelers out. The first 2'seasons we found some property not too far North, but the price just floored us for what it was. We took deer, but we were spoiled.

In order to find anything like what we had... 8k! Add our camping fee, which went to 400x 3 a month, or lodging at 100 night... the few left pulled the plug! My dad after he moved to Florida told me not to bring him any more and my wife did not appreciate venison.

There was no way I was going to spend that type of dough just for myself. I now just buy prime cuts and skip deer season.

They priced me out! Buy land? Start farming? No Way!


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

To not buy or lease...allows the nomadic tent camp.

Still ,if comparing to your previous mecca it won' t be the same.


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

Waif said:


> To not buy or lease...allows the nomadic tent camp.
> 
> Still ,if comparing to your previous mecca it won' t be the same.


I would never buy, just to spend time farming for a deer or 2! 

Just not that important! Don't get me wrong, I love the hunt (mostly bow), but to spent nearly 2 months sitting in a tree? 

I shot my share.... that being said, maybe a doe for my personal use (since no one else will eat it, sure


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## rick gerber (Dec 14, 2016)

Wow, a bunch of great Deer camp stories, There are alot of memories of deer camp for me as well, as I begin my 54th year of deer hunting.I hate to say it, but I have lost a few jobs because of the opening of Deer hunting. Come on, you know the feeling you get when fall is in the air, and the anticipation of possibly bagging the big one, or for me, just putting meat in the freezer, The excitement of opening morning, the feeling you get when you start walking out to your blind while its still dark, hearing all the crackling of the leaves while walking to the blind, thinking it might be a deer bouncing away from your place in the woods. I remember my first time going out with my Dad when I was 10 yrs old. I listened to everything my Dad would tell me about hunting, as we sat and waited for the elusive deer to come down one of the runways we had scouted out days earlier.My Dad would have gathered a few small branches and sticks for when we would get cold. We would take a few of the sticks and, and as we sat there on the ground, we would build a small fire between our legs to keep our hands warm. Now days we take our portable heaters and keep warm in our blinds. times sure do change.Back in the day, we always slept in a tent, and slept with old paint and moving blankets to keep warm. We would set up camp, and then my brother and I would go out and find old pine stumps for the fire at camp, as we would sit around listening to the stories from my dad and all the rest that used to come up. We would consist on Chili, Bean soup, and ring bologna and crackers, The elders would ALWAYS sit and eat Limburger cheese, and drink there beers, and laugh at the gas they would release at camp, and blame one another for it! Now fall is in the air again here in Northern Michigan, and I can still get that same feeling I had 54 years ago.I wish I could still go out with Dad, and sit out on the ground, and share the experience of Deer hunting once again! Thanks for everything you taught me Dad! I miss you!


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## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

We usually ate like kings while at camp, or it seemed. Everything just tasted good there. Especially breakfast, the smell of bacon and eggs and fried potatoes plus piping hot coffee.We always had the one guy in camp that was the cook, it was my cousin for the longest time. Now I took the reigns. We use to have meals like strogenoff, cabbage rolls, spaghetti, chili, Mexican night , steaks, shrimp and chicken, porketta roast and yes pasties. Sometimes we would even do a Thanksgiving meal. We had home made breads and cookies and pies and smoked fish. Yep we ate good, still do. There was another time while I was in my 20s, my cousin and I lived in a log pile for a week eating nothing but baloney sandwiches on a bowhunt. But that's a different story.


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

One 9 day tent camp well down a logging trail in the U.P. when a teenager in the 70' s, it was near zero the second week of Nov. near noon on a rare temp. check...I gained a pound a day!
( No, it was not all dirt.)


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## General Ottsc (Oct 5, 2017)

My grandpa and his friends started the camp in Prudenville in the late 50's. He was given the title of cook every year, but you never walked away hungry. 

My dad started going in 1966. The amount of stories from the "good ol' days" are neverending. Many of them I'd heard over and over again, but I never get tired of them. 

As my grandpa and his friends got older and began having health problems, they left camp to their kids and their friends to continue on. Once again, the stories continued on and my dad took over as camp cook.

I always remember when my dad would go to camp and we'd always ask if he got a deer. It was always no, until the one year when he got a six point. Naturally, my brothers and I didn't believe him haha. Even when he brought the antlers home and the meat, my brothers and I said one of his buddies let him borrow the antlers and meat to try and convince us he got a deer.

Then when I became of age, I asked if I could go to camp. My dad was thrilled! Come to find out, my mom told my dad he wasn't allowed to pressure my brothers or I into going to camp. We had to ask on our own.

That first year was really special for me because my grandpa, who probably hadn't been to deer camp in 25 years, wanted to go. My dad was a bit surprised too. So that's 3 generations at camp. That year too, we had 12 guys sleeping in the cabin. Only half were hunting though. The rest came to party haha. I got to see how the "old timers" did it; telling old stories, drinking lots of beer with a couple of shots in between, playing cards. Even my grandpa was in there doing shots. Nobody got a deer that year, but it was a great time. That was also the last time my grandpa went up to camp as well. 

Fast forward to today. All the "old timers" have either passed away, have health problems, or have lost interest. My dad and I are all that's left of the original deer camp. My dad said he's going to keep going as long as he can. And even though I have yet to harvest a deer at camp, I still keep going because I enjoy going. My year will come to get that nice buck. I've seen some bruisers out there, but the shot opportunity wasn't there. As far as the foreseeable future, deer camp will die with me. I will go as long as I can too.

It's nice to see some camps are going strong. But many are dying and it's a sad thing to see.


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## arkeesli (May 17, 2012)

It’s that time of year.

Got a text from my dad yesterday:
_"Ya think ya got any time for deer hunting this year? Opens on a Thursday. So far looks like most guys are going Tuesday till Sunday. Cook wants to know asap. You know how them damn cooks are!"_

I didn't respond right away.

... Do I have time for deer hunting?

When? In between my 50-hour work weeks? Personal days are reserved for "activities not of pleasure" and I don't get vacation days.

What about my kids? My wife works a full-time job as well, it really isn't fair to leave her alone for a few days, her job is stressful, she needs respite too. A 6-month-old and 2.5-year-old are MORE than a handful.

Do I have time? What about my master’s thesis I'm writing. There's a deadline for the assignments I am working on. I'm trying to get it finished before the kids get older. We need the pay bump for college savings.

... Do I have time for deer hunting?

There is more to the question than asking if I can make it to deer camp. Just like there is more to deer camp than deer hunting.

Although many people shared similar stories about dying deer camps, and struggling to find the time, a lot of you shared the sentiment “if you really wanted to go, you’d go.” It just isn’t that easy. I wish it was.

I am glad to say this thread has been an inspiration to me. My text in response was “_tell the cook to cool his sh*t and count me in Thursday-Sunday”_ … I’m sure I’ll be eating out in the snow, but at least I’ll be at deer camp (for the second year in a row)!

I turned 30 this year and I hope there will come a time where I will pass on stories to my son, and maybe even to his son AT deer camp. I enjoyed reading about wives and aunts and daughters at deer camp – and I am hoping that being the 4th generation, I’ll be able to establish deer camp that is open to bringing my wife and daughter. Would it change the dynamic? Maybe. But this thread has made it clear, everybody’s deer camp is different. One thing we all share however is that longing feeling you get deep down when you think about Michigan deer camp – that is what has been passed on to me, that is what I want to pass on.


Thanks again for all the comments, the stories, the inspiration, and the kick in the pants to get my ass to deer camp again


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## Boardman Brookies (Dec 20, 2007)

Cool thread. Our camp was similar. All of the old timers have passed on. Then there is the family drama. Also both of my brothers are still active duty. So our camp that numbered around 8-10 ten every given year has dwindled down to just my Dad and I. However this year my youngest brother got leave so he will be up for the week we go.


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## MrFysch (Feb 9, 2008)

Expecting 7-10 this year. I will miss my first one when I am in an urn on the mantle at camp.


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

Tomorrow begins the Independence Hunt.
Just a blip in time and in deer hunting.

But for a friend who passed ,and to myself it was a high watermark in the season.
The preparation ,anticipation and camaraderie had evolved into being grateful to get out and a spirit of , a kill is important ;but no so much that it interfered in our hunting....While the fun nature found in most camps still prevailed with it's attendant ribbing and laughter.

Matters need tending here at home.
The truck is being held hostage another day for well earned repairs.
Sleeping in suits the routine.
Former near unrestrained drive to hunt for huntings' sake , has faded.

Were my buddy able to call ,(some year maybe , I'll delete his phone number ) ...Rest assured I would break any restraints keeping me at home to join him again. Even if only briefly.

Dad has aged out and worn out. He'll anticipate fresh venison and want to hear accounts , and will be looking out the window on the opener too.
He had a buck come in near the house a year or two ago and got all excited. With no tag.
But his last hunting partner was his last. And with his passing so too were any kills for Dad.

Still , I'll head out tomorrow evening to property my hunting buddy only visited once and never did get to hunt.
Maybe more hunts will follow. But what we called "camp" during any season at his place (but a must during traditional firearm season ) with friends and family and chili will be no more.
Who knew?

Go join camp for a day or two. Spend at least a night. And bank the memories.
Deer will not be the most important thing about it should you find yourself well aged and looking back.
Then go home and love on your wife and kids some more.


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## Sewey (Jan 10, 2017)

Glad this thread got a bump, some good stories shared and looking forward to more. 

I'm excited to say that my BIL drew a doe tag up in Lake County and he is wanting to hit his cabin near Baldwin for the firearm opener. I had talked to him last year about going up and starting a "camp" of our own. So it looks like this year will be my first time experiencing a Michigan deer camp, even if it will only be 2 or 3 of us. This will also be my first time above the LFZ and hunting with a rifle caliber. While I'll be restricted to the APR's, I'm hoping he can fill his doe tag and we can begin a tradition to continue into our later years.

Good luck this year everyone, enjoy that time out in the woods with friends and family!


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## Trout King (May 1, 2002)

Always wanted a real deer camp. Right now mine consists of hanging out in one of my dad's old buddies pole barns with the boys after everyone gets done hunting separate properties. It's great to see my uncle who comes up from Texas each year and my dad's old buddies since he hasn't been with us for many years, but part of me wants a real deer camp. Up north, away from home, hunting vast tracts of public land. I even thought about starting my own with some friends, but reality is it would be hard with everyone on different schedules and young families. Someday I should probably just float the idea and try to make it work with a few guys.


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## buggs (Jan 21, 2011)

Our old Bitley deer camp (started in the 50's before I was born) also started dyeing off, I was the youngest full time member and I'm pushing 60. At a certain point in time the old timers were just not physically capable of hunting federal land anymore, or even using the outhouse for that matter - but trust me, if a deer were to have ever ran thru the cabins kitchen, those guys would have been all over it!
Nonetheless, the older generation diehards showed up year after year to pass on their knowledge to whoever would listen and I miss them all! I miss the chili! Crackers, cheese and bologna. Euchre tournaments. Going to the local tavern. The smell of bacon at 5:30 in the morning. Burnt coffee. Venison sausage reheated over a campfire. Sleeping on a 40 year old couch. The smell of moth balls. Acorns hitting the old tin roof. The stories about "the one that got away". Wind blowing thru the cracks in the wall. Taking a crap in an ice cold outhouse. Changing out of our hunting clothes on the tailgate in 20 degrees......
The last 10 years we probably averaged less than a deer a year, but our buck pole (or lack thereof) had nothing to do with a successful deer camp, just being around the previous generation, or seeing a grandpa bring a grandson (next generation) up to camp to witness their first deer was - to me - the single greatest aspect of deer camp. We scaled down since those days, bought a cabin with indoor amenities, and 3 of the old geezers still show up and relive their youth once a year. Recruiting the younger generation has been difficult, but we do get a few new faces on some years. I'll still deer camp until I die - even if I'm the only one who shows up.


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## mbrewer (Aug 16, 2014)

MrFysch said:


> Expecting 7-10 this year. I will miss my first one when I am in an urn on the mantle at camp.


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## mbrewer (Aug 16, 2014)

Waif said:


> Tomorrow begins the Independence Hunt.
> Just a blip in time and in deer hunting.
> 
> But for a friend who passed ,and to myself it was a high watermark in the season.
> ...


Love that post Waif.


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## MichMatt (Oct 24, 2008)

I hunted northern lake county first with my buddy's dad and some other dads. That was the start. My buddy's dad bought a cottage and that became our camp for about 10 years. Then dad got sick (big C) and had to sell for medical reasons. I tried to carry on the tradition even after my buddy moved to FL. I still recall renting a camper with my buddy and his dad. It was "dads" last camp as he passed.the following February. He didn't hunt that year but he was there. 
Moving to present times I now own a cottage and have a group that numbers between 6 to 8 at least for the weekend. Some hunt but others don't. We did lose one of the team due to C. He was 42 and it made us realize what a special time and bond we have. 
Look forward to it every year. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Been thinking about decline in deer camps... is it partially due to fewer and fewer wives allowing guys to go without a side of guilt?


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## ridgewalker (Jun 24, 2008)

The Bender deer camp on the Rifle will have begun 60 years ago in 2 years. I hope that it still exists. Actually the Bender deer camp started long before that in the loggin' days but those are stories too long to be told here. The deer camp on the Rifle began when my dad's uncle and he decided it was time to settle on one area to hunt as "the kids" were comin' along and they didn't want them to spread out too far during huntin' season. So the Camp on the Rifle began.

In the early days there were 15 hunters, at least, in the cabin and every inch of floor space including the kitchen had someone sleeping on it. Back then there was a 3 holer out back that was the talk of a lot of folks. Many are the tales that center around it. Even one that included a buck with it! Several wood stoves have come and gone since that time but the place is still heated with wood. The names of the mice have changed but they still do their push ups in our traps. One thing has changed with the years and that is the date of the opening of deer camp. It was religiously Nov. 15th back then. Now it is the first day of archery camp which this year will be tomorrow night. Nov.15th is still a hallowed day but it is just not quite the day that it used to be.

This year there will be two of the "kids" left hunting the property. By next year, I am told, that the other one will no longer hunt the swamps and the camp, but will stick to his farm. One good friend hunts with me still (and his father when well enough) when he can get the time off from work. My granddaughter hunts with me now but I fear that she will not remember nor care about the stories and traditions of yesterday. Her boyfriend seems to have a priority in her attention, lol. Subdivisions have moved nearby but our land and the state lands are still here. The river still runs but its banks are no longer as quiet and the beaver are no longer as easily seen. Some trails have turned into county roads. Most of the hunters have passed and the line of pickup trucks are gone. The trails in the swamps are fading because the "kids" can't keep them all open. The French and Indian graveyard lies quiet and untended because its precise spot will soon be forgotten and no one really cares anymore. Perhaps that is as it should be so that those that remain can be left to lie in peace.

The food is still great as long as I am not the cook. The smell and the sounds of the woods are still the same. However the faces are now those of memories albeit ones still sacred to the camp. Perhaps my granddaughter will bring the camp back to life but who knows? Tomorrow evening will bring the sound of a crackling fire back to the camp for 2018 and that is enough to keep me excited for this night. This "kid" still feels the call of the woods and of the camp 60 years later.


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## mbirdsley (Jan 12, 2012)

sureshot006 said:


> Been thinking about decline in deer camps... is it partially due to fewer and fewer wives allowing guys to go without a side of guilt?


I think this has something to do with it. Mine knew the deal before we got married. I even told her barring her being 9 months pregnant and/or her/my daughter being on their death beds I’m going north. But, still claims I’m abandoning the family. This happens when I go up for work detail the 2nd weekend of October and a few days for the opener. The first year we lived together nov 15th rolled around and her exact quote was “ oh that’s a every year thing”. Nobody in her family really hunts so she dosent get it.

Im sure it’s not just guys this happens too. I’m sure women who married guys from non hunting families face the same thing. Probably even worse. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Waif (Oct 27, 2013)

ridgewalker said:


> The Bender deer camp on the Rifle will have begun 60 years ago in 2 years. I hope that it still exists. Actually the Bender deer camp started long before that in the loggin' days but those are stories too long to be told here. The deer camp on the Rifle began when my dad's uncle and he decided it was time to settle on one area to hunt as "the kids" were comin' along and they didn't want them to spread out too far during huntin' season. So the Camp on the Rifle began.
> 
> In the early days there were 15 hunters, at least, in the cabin and every inch of floor space including the kitchen had someone sleeping on it. Back then there was a 3 holer out back that was the talk of a lot of folks. Many are the tales that center around it. Even one that included a buck with it! Several wood stoves have come and gone since that time but the place is still heated with wood. The names of the mice have changed but they still do their push ups in our traps. One thing has changed with the years and that is the date of the opening of deer camp. It was religiously Nov. 15th back then. Now it is the first day of archery camp which this year will be tomorrow night. Nov.15th is still a hallowed day but it is just not quite the day that it used to be.
> 
> ...


Ahh yes. 
Nothing like first fires of the season to wake up the ghosts of mouse wee-wee's. Sniff ,sniff. L.o.l.

Reads like you have some long whiskers about/around the camp. Congrats. In an at least you ain't the oldest habitant , kind of , in a way congrats.....


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## dinoday (Feb 22, 2004)

sureshot006 said:


> Been thinking about decline in deer camps... is it partially due to fewer and fewer wives allowing guys to go without a side of guilt?


Just a word of advise to younger guys (or not younger)..if you find that you married that girl...RUN...dump her, divorce...whatever it costs is worth it.
I married her..put up with that crap for 20 years. It never stops.
Now I'm married to a girl from Idaho that grew up hunting elk and I'll never look back!


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## Shoeman (Aug 26, 2000)

sureshot006 said:


> Been thinking about decline in deer camps... is it partially due to fewer and fewer wives allowing guys to go without a side of guilt?



What is this guilt you speak of? LOL

I do see a pattern of many marrying their mother! Can't do this, better ask to do that....

Thank god I waited and didn't fall for one of those controlling types! Or worse yet, knock one of them up!


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Shoeman said:


> What is this guilt you speak of? LOL
> 
> I do see a pattern of many marrying their mother! Can't do this, better ask to do that....
> 
> Thank god I waited and didn't fall for one of those controlling types! Or worse yet, knock one of them up!


How bout "you get to run off and I get to stay home"? Yeah, well, it isnt my fault when you're not passionate about anything...

My wife doesn't try to control me. But she sure doesn't understand. If she found something she loved to do I'd be happy she was enjoying it. I guess it's not always reciprocated even though you may tell them day one, and it's cool for 6 years until the ring comes.


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## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

I just think the decline in hunters could be at least in part due to changes in culture. More women are working outside the home and aren't just stay at home with the kids type. The fewer of them that grew up with fathers who hunted, the fewer will go along with it.


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## John Koos (Dec 20, 2017)

It's called life!
Just like that Harry Chapin song "cats in the cradle".


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