Question for the U.P. Hunters and landowners.

[teddy12b]

I live in Indiana and it's about 6 hours to the bridge from where I live.  Every year around here it's the same thing, nowhere to hunt locally and if I find a spot it's already crowded and pretty low deer population. 

Having said all of that I have gone hunting in the U.P. on two different occasions.  I love it up there and I'm dreaming about someday buying land up there.  Around where I live land goes for about 10k per acre, so the 1k or less per acre of the U.P. is very appealing plus I love it up there anyway. 

What kind of hunting pressure do you all see up there?  Is there a decent deer population on the eastern side of the U.P.?  I wouldn't be wanting to get land near anything, just something in the middle of nowhere, and that's not too hard to find up there.  Any suggestions?

[1sourdough]

 I grew up in the U.P. & live in WI after living around the country. I own a camp on 30 acres & a camp on 800 acres in a family partnership. My main area of expertise is Baraga Co. I have also done the counties around Baraga. Both of these places allow access to as much Federal,State, & paper company land as you care to walk, or in many cases ATV. The camp on 30 cares is severly underutilized, you want to try it out maybe? I just got back from a short deer hunt, I passed on 2 4 ptrs since I bagged several earlier. I also got a bear in Sept. I drive up through Green Bay, Do you go over the Mackinaw Bridge? If you can come to like 'Escanaba In Da Moonlight' a U.P. connection may be in your future.

[1sourdough]

 I have to go but we usually hunt 'The Big Woods' I don't see many hunters, even on opening day.

[teddy12b]

The last time I was up there on public land I heard shots all around me all day long.  I'd love to just own my own land up there but then there'ld still be people around me somewhere.

[1sourdough]

 Hunting land is about $1000 an acre up that way. Of course it varies, mostly higher with location,water,timber, type of road/access,power, etc. Yes there are a few hunters around. We usually do some private & some public access type land. I don't have anything against bait piles but I never use one. I don't like when a hunter tries to 'claim' an area on public land because he has a pile there. I've also hunted a few 100 yrds the other side of his pile if the wind was right. I also like to see if hunters try to kick me off my own or families land because I have WI plates. It's like a test. A few years ago when we came out of the woods this female hunter was in a tirade about us hunting a particular spot. We let he go on and on as we came out of the woods, she even had called the sheriff. She was mute & embarrassed when she saw who we were. Can't one start that sort of thing off with a 'Hello'?

 After the 1st 4 days of deer season pressure starts to drop off fast. I also factor in the quality of the hunt fairly high. Some places I/we go the deer numbers may not be real high but it's a good hunt. I have never been content to go to the back 40 & sit in a blind all day. The economy on some places of the U.P. is not the best lately, & usually lags a ways behind the rest if MI, also in the tank. I don't wish them any ill will but there seems to be a fair amount for sale. It could be a good time to buy if you want to bottom fish.

 It's a little drive for even me but more so from IN. I go because of connections & I'm used to it.
 

[teddy12b]

Sometime this spring either late may or June I'm going to make a trip up there and try to have it setup where I can look at a lot of different lands for sale. It's hard to gauge just how good something really is until you've walked through it.  I keep telling myself that the worst case senerio would be having hunters all around my property line and that would really cut down on my actual huntable land.  30 -40 acres would be the minimum to make it worth while in my mind.

[Cap'n Jon]

Have you thought about going up via the Chi-town side and look for land around Escanaba?  It's now a boom town employment wise and thats where the BIG deer are. 

[teddy12b]

Going up there around Chicago would make to drive too long to make it worth while.  I've hunted in Wisconsin and there are plenty of in the middle of nowhere places to get good land for cheap with less of a drive.

[lukewiersma2007]

this was the first year i hunted in the eastern UP and i saw a very good amount of deer for the three days i was there. i also saw a 4 point and there was a buck pole at the local motel with 5 really nice bucks...i barely heard any shots all weekend

[petemi]

I'm north of Engadine, about 60 miles from the bridge on a 120 acre farm about half woods.  Superb deer hunting, excellent small game, bear and varmint.  Lately we have more than our share of "tall coyotes".   You'd be hard pressed to find anything around here under 1500 an acre;  adjacent land just went for 2500.  Ten acres down the road went for 25,000.  That was a couple of years ago and there was a well and storage shed on the property.  If any of you want land up here, don't let grass grow under your feet, get going on it.  It is going up faster than you can put money away.  Better to lock it in now and save in the long run.  Just an opinion.   We've made huge improvements in our place over the last 15 years.  If I had to sell, I wouldn't consider any offer under 500 thousand.

If it is deer hunting land you want, I wouldn't consider anything north of M-28, and I'd stay out of the big woods.  The first time heavy snow hits, regardless of the month, the deer  are out of there and move south and yard up in this area.  We have more deer here year round for the simple reason there is more and better food available in farm country.  For example, I have 20 acres of alfalfa, and we and all the neighboring farms are practicing Quality Deer Management.  Usually, by December muzzleloading, deer hunting is prime here, and you can hunt all day and not hear a shot.   Most hunters have filled their tags by then.  I always save a tag for the late season for that reason.  You'd better bring your snowshoes and woolies.

[teddy12b]

Do you know of any realtors with websites that I could look at?  I've done some web searches, but haven't been too impressed with what I've found.  I get e-mailed listings of land in the U.P. but it's mostly in the central or western areas.  I'd rather find something within and hour and a half of the bridge.

What did you mean by staying out of the big woods?  It's about all woods up there from what I've seen.

[petemi]

My neighbor, friend and hunting buddy is Todd Miller.  He is a senior forester with Grossman Forestry in Newberry, 906 293-8707.  He is also a Realtor with Cummings-McCraney Real Estate in the same building.  Todd is very active in QDM.  (Quality Deer Management) The big advantage you have in working with him is that he can show you a piece of land, and at the same time tell you how to improve deer habitat, what can and should be cut off of it, and what you should be able to net toward the purchase price on the timber sale.  He was a kid out of college 17 years ago when I had Grossman run forestry lines on my property.  Todd's the one who did the work, and now we hunt each others property.  Hes a quarter mile north of me and on the other side of the road.

Second question:  No, the southern Upper Peninsula has miles and miles of farm land.  The big, north woods lie north of M-28.  It is beautiful country, the beginning of the boreal forest.  Down here in the banana belt, we're maples, poplar, spruce and balsam.  It's the real north woods up there.  But,.........deer don't eat a lot of jackpine!

[petemi]

A side note, Menominee and Delta Counties, Escanaba area, are famous for their NUMBERS of deer, not really their size.  They actually run smaller than other U.P areas............I know I'll get a battle out of this one!!!

[ihookem]

Petemi, I hear the same about that area. Not much for racks. Maybe because it's sand country, maybe overpopulated. Have you hunted public land there? I always wanted to hunt "da UP"  but  is so close to Wisconsin gun. Also, I hear a lot about land going up in price, maybe in some areas but it has been going way down in NW wisconsin the last few years. The UP should follow suit with the worst ecomony in the nation.

[MI VHNTR]

The land in the Central UP has been going up steadily in price. $1K/acre seems pretty common. Lakefront property is really going up in price and it doesn't matter where the lake is either. MI VHNTR

[petemi]

Quite a few years ago I went over to Menominee county and scouted Mead property before the season and found deer everywhere.  I found a great spot with dozens of crisscrossing deer runs and decided to open the season there.  I went over to Escanaba the day before and got a motel room.  I was out before dawn...............It was packed with hunters......everywhere.  I was back home, hunting my own land before 10 a.m.

[petemi]

Yeah, the U.P. probably has the worst economy in the national.  I would think most Yoopers earn well below the national average.  The one thing in our favor is the fact that it is ALWAYS crappy.  It is not very good now because the demand for lumber is way down.  Iraq and Katrina helped boost it somewhat, it could be worse.  I often marvel at our farmers trying to compete on a world market with land that's mostly clay, sand and rock and a 15 minute growing season,..... if it doesn't happen to freeze!

[ihookem]

  But hey, it's nice up there! Here in S.E. Wisconsin it's all private except for a little bit.  Money aint everything, I remodel houses and come across many very rich people, and I get to know them well. Most are normal but they have as many problems as we do but their problems are different. They worry about employees that might be stealing money , getting contracts, loosing workers, getting sued, etc. We just work and go home, go fishing and do simple things to please us. It seems to take a Mexico trip to make them happy. Youpers  look out their door and see nice land to hunt and play. Later , ihookem

[Mr. Joe]

I hunt in the baraga county area as well!  Small world.  Actually im skanee just out of L'anse.  I have to say, i dont see any hunting pressure and we always do well.  Keep in mind im from the Dexter area and choose to hunt in the U.P.  I honestly feel you have the same chance at a wallhanger up north as you do down state.  There are more down here, but a lot less hunter up there.