# Ray's U.P Hunting- PICS



## Busa Tom

I want to tell everyone about a GREAT hidden gem in Bear Hunting- Ray's U.P Hunting. I feel like I am advertising for him, but Im not, nor getting any $ from him, but he is an AWESOME fella! Just a Yooper who knows his sh1t! No cell phone, no computer, he's a Yooper, who does a FANTASTIC job guiding Bear Hunts!


This was my 5th year of points. Last year 92 out of 100 got tags with 4 points, I was one of 8 that didnt- What the hell? Anyways, I have NOTHING but GREAT things to say about this guide- Ray's U.P Hunting. It is $900 without lodging, and $1050 with for next year. We stayed in a 6 bedroom house with a huge pond/lake behind the house- open for fishing. The Guide Ray was Awesome, friendly very knowledgeable. 5 Bear were shot on opening night, and I shot mine the second night. He starts baiting them 30 days before season opens, and if your not happy with your spot he will move you, as he has many baits, miles apart from each other. There were 16 hunters, some brought campers, and even had their wives with them. Others stayed at the house. I had a great trip, and again ask any questions, and tell him Tom the Ironworker sent ya! Here ar some pics, and again tell him Tom the Ironworker sent ya! Ray- 906-265-9420


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## Busa Tom

Here's some more! Tell Ray Tom the Ironworker sent ya! 
Ray- 906-265-9420


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## fishonjr

Congrats on the bears.It sure sounds like they know what the heck they are doing! Great Pictures! Looking at the one with the boat house and dock reminds me of the place up in Temagumie (might of spelled it wrong!) Ontario where I went on my one and only bear hunt.

Fishonjr


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## brohnson

wow, what a great deal bro


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## HunterHawk

congrats on a successful hunt!!


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## Rustyaxecamp

Congrats. Sounds like Ray is one to add to the short list of good, reputable guides.


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## Wally Gator

Congrats on a fine UP burin... My Uncle also hunted with Ray and tagged a fine Boar the first week. My dad and his huntng partner were hunting in the same general area and had bears on them every night... They only started baiting 3 days before season and still went 1 for 2 only cuz my dad was holding off for a 300 pouner. Man this is turing out to be one heck of a year for all the bear hunters seems like every one is tagging out... Looks like you guys had a blast... Good Job!!


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## jayzbird

Congrats on the bear. Sounds like you had a awesome hunt!!


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## larrydbollman

Sounds great! Looks like you guys had some fun up there! Thanks for sharing your pics! Nice bears!!!


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## UltimateOutdoorsman

Awesome!


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## old graybeard

Congrats!:coolgleam


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## Cadmus

Busa Tom said:


> I want to tell everyone about a GREAT hidden gem in Bear Hunting- Ray's U.P Hunting. I feel like I am advertising for him, but Im not, nor getting any $ from him, but he is an AWESOME fella! Just a Yooper who knows his sh1t! No cell phone, no computer, he's a Yooper, who does a FANTASTIC job guiding Bear Hunts!
> 
> 
> This was my 5th year of points. Last year 92 out of 100 got tags with 4 points, I was one of 8 that didnt- What the hell? Anyways, I have NOTHING but GREAT things to say about this guide- Ray's U.P Hunting. It is $900 without lodging, and $1050 with for next year. We stayed in a 6 bedroom house with a huge pond/lake behind the house- open for fishing. The Guide Ray was Awesome, friendly very knowledgeable. 5 Bear were shot on opening night, and I shot mine the second night. He starts baiting them 30 days before season opens, and if your not happy with your spot he will move you, as he has many baits, miles apart from each other. There were 16 hunters, some brought campers, and even had their wives with them. Others stayed at the house. I had a great trip, and again ask any questions, and tell him Tom the Ironworker sent ya! Here ar some pics, and again tell him Tom the Ironworker sent ya! Ray- 906-265-9420


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## Cadmus

Busa Tom, I read your post about Ray's U.P. Huntin'. I noticed that you hunted with Ray in 2008. My friend and I hunted with Ray in 2014 and at that time Ray was hitting the wine pretty hard and we were disappointed with the hunt Ray provided. We told Ray about our disappointment and he agreed we had reason to be to be upset but, Ray also added that if we gave him another chance that he would make it right with us. We saved our points until we had 7 MI black bear hunting points. We called Ray to set up our Sept. 2021 black bear hunt, he remembered us and agreed to make it up to us. When we got to Ray's in Iron River he got a bad case of amnesia, he lied to us, and was very unprofessional. As time went by we quickly realized that Ray was getting drunk every day. By 4:00 to 6:00 PM every day Ray was so drunk that he made no sense when we tried to have a conversation with him. By Ray's own admission he has graduated from drinking wine in 2012 to vodka and orange juice in 2021 that he drinks out of an Ensure bottle so no one knows he's drinking alcohol. Whatever this guy was in 2008 he is now nothing more than a useless drunk. We paid Ray for a 5 day hunt, we only got to hunt 2.5 days when decided to leave on the 3rd day because we did not feel safe depending on a guide that was as irresponsible and drinking as hard a Ray was drinking. So, be warned, DO NOT - I repeat myself DO NOT waste your time, money and valuable MI bear hunting points with this drunken looser. I know how a bear hunting guide is supposed to treat his clients as we have hunted black bear in Saskatchewan 3 times and the difference between our Saskatchewan hunts/outfitter and Ray of Ray's U.P. Huntin' was as different as night and day. Cadmus


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## sparky18181

What unit does he hunt outta


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## Fishindeer

Wow, 2 stories totally opposite ,congratulations on your hunt Tom and sorry for your experiences Cadmus.


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## shaffe48b

I've been told all yoopers are raging alcoholics. What the hell else are they going to do? Did he have any active baits for you?


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## Tilden Hunter

Fishindeer said:


> Wow, 2 stories totally opposite ,congratulations on your hunt Tom and sorry for your experiences Cadmus.


Two different time frames.


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## Fishindeer

Tilden Hunter said:


> Two different time frames.


Yep a old post your correct didn’t look at the dates of Tom’s hunt, should have caught it in Cadmus post. I was thinking that his prices were quite low for these times.


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## Cadmus

sparky18181 said:


> What unit does he hunt outta


Amasa, Berglund, and Baraga.


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## Cadmus

shaffe48b said:


> I've been told all yoopers are raging alcoholics. What the hell else are they going to do? Did he have any active baits for you?


Yes, I will tell you that the first baits that he had us hunt were being hit, only after dark, and because only a couple of logs were removed from the pile and the fact that the logs were not moved very far,(more less the logs were disturbed more than moved) we discerned that they were small bears. The second baits that he moved us to, because we were not seeing any bears at the first bait, did not get hit. But we only hunted those baits once because of his drunkenness' we decided to cut our losses and leave. Also, when he moved us to the second baits he told us that he had spent all the time he was going spend with us. That is not what a reputable guide tells his clients 3 days when we paid for a 5 day hunt.


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## shaffe48b

I am definitely leary of using guides. Too many horror stories and they are not restricted to this state. I don't think your results are restricted to raging alcoholics. You're generally promised one active bait to my understanding. Whatever that means.

And I don't give second chances either.


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## Cadmus

shaffe48b said:


> I am definitely leary of using guides. Too many horror stories and they are not restricted to this state. I don't think your results are restricted to raging alcoholics. You're generally promised one active bait to my understanding. Whatever that means.
> 
> And I don't give second chances either.


Shaffe48b, 

Our Saskatchewan bear outfitter (that we used 4 times) recommended that we hunt our bait 2 to 3 days before he would willingly move us to a new bait. All of the outfitter hunts that I have been on i.e. bear, caribou, deer, numerous, numerous fishing charters ALL treated us with respect and understanding. That was not the caser with how we were treated by UP Ray. I totally agree with you, first time shame on you second time shame on me. I was totally against giving Ray a second chance but, my hunting partner talked me into giving Ray a second chance. In fact, the night before we were to leave for our bear hunt I was willing to give up my bear hunt deposit and not go at all. But I let my hunting partner talk me into going. After we got there and were treated the way we were my partner told me that he wished that he would have listened to me and not gone on the hunt. 

Not using a guide, I understand your position, but it is tough to bait the bear yourself when you are hunting a 9 hour drive from where you live. 

Thank you for your thoughts/comments,

Cadmus


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## Luv2hunteup

Many problems can be avoided by doing your due diligence and checking every reference provided. Some may be shills but if there are voids in bookings be aware that something could be off. Good guides and outfitters have few openings that remain infilled.


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## stickbow shooter

My cousin had issues with that guy . He tried to get territorial ,and it didn't go well.
I'll just leave it at that.


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## Cadmus

Luv2hunteup said:


> Many problems can be avoided by doing your due diligence and checking every reference provided. Some may be shills but if there are voids in bookings be aware that something could be off. Good guides and outfitters have few openings that remain infilled.


Agreed.


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## Cadmus

stickbow shooter said:


> My cousin had issues with that guy . He tried to get territorial ,and it didn't go well.
> I'll just leave it at that.


I'll assume it didn't go well for Ray. Good for your cousin, Ray needs to be taught a lesson.


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## shaffe48b

Cadmus said:


> Shaffe48b,
> 
> Our Saskatchewan bear outfitter (that we used 4 times) recommended that we hunt our bait 2 to 3 days before he would willingly move us to a new bait. All of the outfitter hunts that I have been on i.e. bear, caribou, deer, numerous, numerous fishing charters ALL treated us with respect and understanding. That was not the caser with how we were treated by UP Ray. I totally agree with you, first time shame on you second time shame on me. I was totally against giving Ray a second chance but, my hunting partner talked me into giving Ray a second chance. In fact, the night before we were to leave for our bear hunt I was willing to give up my bear hunt deposit and not go at all. But I let my hunting partner talk me into going. After we got there and were treated the way we were my partner told me that he wished that he would have listened to me and not gone on the hunt.
> 
> Not using a guide, I understand your position, but it is tough to bait the bear yourself when you are hunting a 9 hour drive from where you live.
> 
> Thank you for your thoughts/comments,
> 
> Cadmus


I don't hunt Canada but I understand the guiding business is heavily regulated. Perhaps it's too regulated. But the relevant point is that any random yahoo can't just start guiding hunters on public land. They need to have a lot into it. Hence why your typical average experience with a Canadian outfitter really can't be compared with some random yooper you hired to bait bear for you. Unless you did a lot of vetting first.

Your buddy owes you. The problem here seems to center around the guide's drinking. I'm not sure who would anticipated that this guy would have checked himself into AA and turned his life around simply to make a couple of disgruntled bear clients happy. As you yourself seemed to realize, the ending of this story was written before it began.


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## snortwheeze

stickbow shooter said:


> My cousin had issues with that guy . He tried to get territorial ,and it didn't go well.
> I'll just leave it at that.


Good for him!



Cadmus said:


> I'll assume it didn't go well for Ray. Good for your cousin, Ray needs to be taught a lesson.


If I were you he'd be swallowing his teeth! He would've been taught a lesson. 
Better luck on your next adventure


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## shaffe48b

As if these a guys being allowed to operate their business on public property isn't a privilege enough they then threaten others from using it for their private recreational purposes.

They arent the only ones pulling this crap but for them it's just that much more ridiculous.


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## Cadmus

shaffe48b said:


> I don't hunt Canada but I understand the guiding business is heavily regulated. Perhaps it's too regulated. But the relevant point is that any random yahoo can't just start guiding hunters on public land. They need to have a lot into it. Hence why your typical average experience with a Canadian outfitter really can't be compared with some random yooper you hired to bait bear for you. Unless you did a lot of vetting first.
> 
> Your buddy owes you. The problem here seems to center around the guide's drinking. I'm not sure who would anticipated that this guy would have checked himself into AA and turned his life around simply to make a couple of disgruntled bear clients happy. As you yourself seemed to realize, the ending of this story was written before it began.


I agree with you, if Ray continues along this road that he is currently on, he is going to implode.


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## Carpenter Bill

I have seen his sign along Highway 2 , Often wondered how it was, Sounds like ray could use a little help use a little help or he may drink himself to death. Some guys like that can give all guides a bad rap. Save in my points for red oak, Hoping to kill wrinkles one day at the rack shack.


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## Cadmus

Carpenter Bill said:


> I have seen his sign along Highway 2 , Often wondered how it was, Sounds like ray could use a little help use a little help or he may drink himself to death. Some guys like that can give all guides a bad rap. Save in my points for red oak, Hoping to kill wrinkles one day at the rack shack.


Thank you for your reply Bill. You are correct, my hunting partner and I agree if Ray keeps drinking like he is he is going to implode. You hit the nail on the head when you brought up the bear hunting points. When we talked to Ray to book our 2021 hunt with him we told him that we had 7 points and due to my hunting buddy's & my age this would probably be our last bear hunt. It seems to take about 6 points to get the 1st hunt in the area you want. Therefore, it will be 2027 before we could go again (unless we got lucky in annual draw, but that hasn't happened for us in the last 15 years). I wanted to hunt in Red Oak this year but I let my buddy talk me out of it and to go with Ray damn it (but hind sight is 20/20). Best of luck to you when you go on your Red Oak rack shack hunt.


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## Biggbear

Cadmus said:


> I agree with you, if Ray continues along this road that he is currently on, he is going to implode.


There is currently a thread on Michigan bear hunters FB page that apparently Ray did just that, implode. It happened in the woods with one of his clients. It's too bad, addiction leaves chaos and havoc in everyone's life it touches.


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## alaska86

Biggbear said:


> There is currently a thread on Michigan bear hunters FB page that apparently Ray did just that, implode. It happened in the woods with one of his clients. It's too bad, addiction leaves chaos and havoc in everyone's life it touches.


I don’t do fb, so I’ll have to wait for someone to post it.


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## Cadmus

alaska86 said:


> I don’t do fb, so I’ll have to wait for someone to post it.


Biggbear, Even though Ray screwed my hunting partner and myself, I am very sorry to hear that. He is/was a very nice guy when he was sober (which was rare). Thank you for informing me of Ray. I am on FaceBook but, I do not really know how to do or find anything on it. Cadmus


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## Cadmus

Cadmus said:


> Biggbear, Even though Ray screwed my hunting partner and myself, I am very sorry to hear that. He is/was a very nice guy when he was sober (which was rare). Thank you for informing me of Ray. I am on FaceBook but, I do not really know how to do or find anything on it. Cadmus


Alaska66, there are way too man y facebook posts about Ray to put here (about 40 to 50). See if you can go to this link to read everything. Cadmus



__ https://www.facebook.com/Chelseaeoleary/posts/10108264905370484



Let me know if that link works for you.


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## Cadmus

Cadmus said:


> Alaska66, there are way too man y facebook posts about Ray to put here (about 40 to 50). See if you can go to this link to read everything. Cadmus
> 
> 
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> Michigan bear hunters | Facebook
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> www.facebook.com
> 
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> 
> Let me know if that link works for you.


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## Cadmus

Cadmus said:


> Alaska66, there are way too man y facebook posts about Ray to put here (about 40 to 50). See if you can go to this link to read everything. Cadmus
> 
> 
> 
> __ https://www.facebook.com/Chelseaeoleary/posts/10108264905370484
> 
> 
> 
> Let me know if that link works for you.


Alaska66 try thjis linkl. I had the wrong link on my previous reply: Log into Facebook


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## Fishindeer

Cadmus said:


> Alaska66 try thjis linkl. I had the wrong link on my previous reply: Log into Facebook


Wow lots of good stories and a couple good videos. Just looked through a year of Michigan bear hunters and some out of state videos. No Facebook account for me yet. Bear coming out of corn being harvested was neat, Bear vs wild hog in Tennessee was crazy. Toward the end. Thanks for sharing. Yes others having problems with UP guide too.


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