# Very disappointed



## turnquij (Dec 3, 2004)

For three years i applied for a permit in soutnern Michigan with no luck yet many other get drawn EVERY year. So i decided to apply for one in the northern lower. Got drawn for unit A, made plans to camp at Clear Lake north of Atlanta, check the web site for availability and ammenities, no dates mentioned. Yeah well got there and NO WATER very P'd off. Spent Sunday scouting 3 hens, monday found sign and 1 hen, tuedsay morning no birds, tuesday evening visited some friends hunting partner took a tom. Wednesday afternoon got home and took a mileage reading. 1000 miles of driving total birds seen 7, 6 where hens all of which were alone. I would have been a happier and had more money in pocket if I had jut gone to meijer and bought one. To hell with michigan.


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## Sprytle (Jan 8, 2005)

I always buy the zz hunt which is all of southern mich private land only.
You dont even need to pay the application fee because they ALWAYS have about 45,000 leftovers. First two full weeks.


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## Beaversson (Jun 5, 2009)

Sprytle said:


> I always buy the zz hunt which is all of southern mich private land only.
> You dont even need to pay the application fee because they ALWAYS have about 45,000 leftovers. First two full weeks.



Me too you just might have to take the zz hunt and spend a lot of time knocking on doors. Ask bigger farmers not hobby farms. big time farmers know how much a turkey can eat at least that's what the guy told me this year. 2 days later i was cleaning a turkey!!!


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## beer and nuts (Jan 2, 2001)

Thats why scouting is so important for turkeys, especially in NLP. there aren't turkeys at every section of land up here. Sorry for your luck but 50% success rate ain't to bad!!


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

The turkeys in the northern lower took a real beating (like beat to DEATH) in the winter of 2008-2009. They will be slow to recover as there numbers had started to decline before that hard winter. With the deer baiting/ feeding ban going into effect alot of the people that had been feeding turkeys were afraid to for fear of getting ticked if a deer happend to show up at the feeder.

I agree with the ZZ hunt in the southern lower would be your best bet. You just got to go out and knock on doors to get permission.


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## Swamper (Apr 12, 2004)

With that many miles driven, were you road hunting much of the time?

I'm going out for the first time ever turkey hunting tomorrow up in Manistee County. Latest count is there will be 4 kids (ages 5-12) plus my brother and myself situated in two blinds right next to other...with me holding the only permit and obviously the only gun. So my chances for taking a bird are so-so; good news is that I'll have plenty of eyes helping me watch for the birds. I'm just glad to be out in the woods with family, after a long winter, health is a blessing.

Good luck to everyone!

Swamper


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## ruger223 (Feb 2, 2010)

It seems the numbers are way down in the Iosco and Alcona county areas also. We had a large flock around camp for years and now it has all but disappeared. With nearly a half mile of river bottom on our land, it was not uncommon to hear a dozen Toms in the am on the roost. It has been tough finding the remaining birds. Has this been the case else where in the northern lower?


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## beer and nuts (Jan 2, 2001)

> It has been tough finding the remaining birds. Has this been the case else where in the northern lower?


 YES. and below is your reason 


> The turkeys in the northern lower took a real beating (like beat to DEATH) in the winter of 2008-2009. They will be slow to recover as there numbers had started to decline before that hard winter. With the deer baiting/ feeding ban going into effect alot of the people that had been feeding turkeys were afraid to for fear of getting ticked if a deer happend to show up at the feeder.


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## Scottygvsu (Apr 19, 2003)

I don't blame you for being frustrated. I live in the area you were hunting and with access to some large chunks of private ground. On properties where I would tag out in a day or two I've yet to hear a gobble. I've called in a couple for a buddy and they've all been longbeards. Not one jake yet. That doesn't bode well for next year either. Also huting big woods gobblers is a whole different ballgame. Not many huge fields with little woodlots and drainage ditches here. Its a heck of a challenge and at least your buddy got one. But don't give up on NE michigan! the next few years may be better. (And we could use all the tourism we can get!)


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## ryan-b (Sep 18, 2009)

isnt mid michigan about the cut off line for where wild turkeys can survive naturally year round?


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## wintrrun (Jun 11, 2008)

ryan-b said:


> isnt mid michigan about the cut off line for where wild turkeys can survive naturally year round?


 
They can survive anywhere there is habitat that allows them too. Food , water , cover ,thermals etc.....


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## codybear (Jun 27, 2002)

Dont feel bad, I live up here and havent bagged one yet.
I have been out every morning at 5am and hunt until noon.. The few birds I have found had other hunters all over them AND there was evidence of hunters calling them before the season even opened.. Even a few of my secret private property spots are dry this year.. This is by far the lowest numbers I have seen up here since I started turkey hunting in the early 90's.. In certain regions up here you really have to put the time in if you want increase your chances.. I've burned at least $200 in gas so far so your not alone... 

On a better note, I did find a spot this morning where knowone has been and managed to have 2 different Tom's going but they hung up about 100yds away and stopped at a gate and wouldnt go past it, grrrrrrr...

Lets hope tomorrow is a better day for all of us that havent scored yet

CB


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## Mitchell Ulrich (Sep 10, 2007)

I would have been a happier and had more money in pocket if I had jut gone to meijer and bought one. To hell with michigan. 



Turkey hunting is NOT for everyone.


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## codybear (Jun 27, 2002)

Mitchell Ulrich said:


> I would have been a happier and had more money in pocket if I had jut gone to meijer and bought one. To hell with michigan.
> 
> 
> 
> Turkey hunting is NOT for everyone.


That store bought cannot be as good because it doesnt cost $30-$50 a pound :lol:


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## multibeard (Mar 3, 2002)

Give me a wild turkey over a store bought force fed turkey any time. NO comparison in flavor, no mater what the cost.

As far as milage goes I hunted the garden penninsula for 8 years and never gave a thought to the fuel costs. If I scored or not I had an enjoyable time. That is what it is all about to me.


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## duckbuster808 (Sep 9, 2005)

turnquij said:


> I would have been a happier and had more money in pocket if I had jut gone to meijer and bought one. To hell with michigan.


That's why it's called hunting and not killing....if it was called killing, and everyone was guarenteed to get one, then everyone would do it....

Hell, I've been out hunting everyday before or after work in multiple fields where turkeys have been heard, and have yet to even hear a gobble since the season started....seen 3 hens so far and that's it....so I'd say you did pretty well atleast SEEING birds lol


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## DRHUNTER (Sep 15, 2002)

The turkey population upnorth has been slowly getting thinner and the 08-09 winter just about wiped them out up in my area (Oscoda) county as well. Thats why I've been hunting ZZ for the last few years. I've called in 7 longbeards in the last three days and all came within 35 yds. After hunting turkey in the northern lower it almost seems unfair when you hunt them down here. It's just a whole different ballgame, fun and certainly addicting. Take care.


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## ryan-b (Sep 18, 2009)

Ya!! to hell with michigan! Thats why its called hunting guys.. come on


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## turnquij (Dec 3, 2004)

Everyone,

I can appreciate your input. With very limited time, door knocking is not much of an option for me,(working during the day, training and instructing in the evening) so I do the best I can with what I got. 
I wanted to go hunting which I did. I do not necessarly need to kill anything, I do enjoy listening and calling to the birds. I fully expected to see and or hear much more than I did.
I was road hunting along with covering foot miles.
There were other factors that led to a poor attitude that I may have allowed to control my thoughts as well. 

Anyway, we live, we learn, we move on, dwelling on what brings misery is not healthy. Time to think about the Elk application, getting my boat finished so I can take my 7yr old daughter out fishing and before long I will putting the duck blind on the boat.

Everyone, have a fantastic day


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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

I have been preaching for years on this board and others that if you want turkeys in northern Michigan you have to earn them. You can't just buy a license and figure you've done your part for the wild turkeys of northern Michigan while wondering why the DNR doesn't do anything to help them. 

Sure, there's lots of turkeys in southern Michigan, but for most of us, getting access to the land they're on is not all that easy. Up north, all you had to do for almost three decades was get up here. That's something we shouldn't walk away from, but we are. 


In recent years, the predators have caught up, there's been poor spring nesting weather, and the winter of 2008/2009 was one of the worst in many, many years. Then people stopped feeding because they were afraid of the DNR...

The numbers have been sliding for years up north due to a number of compounded factors, add in a few hard winters like the winter of 2008/2009 and no feeding and in a not so distant future we will all be saying "remember when we could hunt turkeys on all that public land up north?"

That's why I've been involved for more than 25 years in an organized program to get the birds through the winter. It works. Period. Despite the hard winters, despite all the other factors that lead to depredation of the populations, we still have birds to hunt around here. 

If you hunt in an area up north where you used to have lots of birds and only have a few now, find out where those birds go in the winter, and do everything you can to make sure they make it through that winter. Talk to the landowners, make a few trips north during the winter months, and make sure those birds have adequate food...talk to the local sportsmans club, find other hunters in your area, and get organized. 

It works. Otherwise, I think it's very possible that by 2020 wild turkeys will be a thing of the past in the northern lower Peninsula. And what a lot of you should think about is that it's very possible the same thing could happen in southern Michigan.


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