A general forum for the discussion of hunting with beagles, guns, clothing and other equipment and just talking dawgs! (Tall tales on hunting allowed, but remember, first liar doesn't stand a chance)
Well it is offical after 16 years of going to Beaver Island
yesterday dave roop and i made reservation for Drummond Island at the end of oct.
too much posted land and too many deer hunters on beaver island
we had alot of great times on beaver island sad to see it end
hope it works out
GO BLUE !!!!
Me and a couple of buddies are booked to go up there Oct 15 we have never been there or hunted hare but thought it would be worth a try, if you or anyone else has any info to share it would be appreciated, not trying to take away from your post.
hey BG we are arriving on sun(15th) and leaving on the Thursday(19th), I think the cabin we reserved is unit #2 they seemed to be getting short when I called. I wished you guys had of been able to make it up a few days earlier it would have been nice to hunted a day or so but with the way our luck runs we will be camping a day or 2 longer just trying to find our dogs. lol.
BYB, we rented cabin 7, a beautiful log home. We have five of us going, and since its the first time for some, we went big on the housing to make it comfortable and memorable. Leave some in the swamps for us to kill... Tony
Oh and by the way, I know of at least three other groups headed up the same weekend we are...looks like it might get a little tight on available hunting space...Tony
I'm an ex-Beaver Island hunter too. We started going to Drummond for the same reasons you are. This Oct. will be my fifth straight trip. It doesn't have the hare density that Beaver does but there's more room to hunt. I was used to the the non-stop running on Beaver and it kind of spoiled me. On Drummond the hounds have to actually search for a hare. It is easier to keep a pack together with fewer hare though. I hope you have a good hunt. I've met Dave Roop a couple of times, he's a real nice guy.
I asked one of the boys what they were feeding those hounds and he said "Mostly rabbit tracks"---Willet Randall
BG that looks like a nice place, not to sound stupid but how does everybody house their dogs? we are planning on taking a trailer with 2 or 3 dog boxes on it but we haven't completely decided on how we are going to keep the dogs that are not hunting or during the day when we are not hunting?
I plan on using a gang chain during the day when they are not running, and depending on the weather, I might leave them in the box at night if its bad out. If its nice enough, the gang chain will hold them. When running, I guess we will just leave the hounds we want rested in the box. I plan on running two different groups of dogs, so each time out they should be somewhat rested...Tony
We've gone up to Drummond the past 5 years and will be up there another week this Oct. We usually take around 8 dogs, run 4 in the morning and the other 4 in the afternoon. We put them out on the chain when we get back to eat and sit in the sun, then they are put away in the dog boxes overnight. We take all of the dogs with us while we hunt, the ones that aren't hunting stay in the box. You can leave them at the cabin, but some people complain about barking dogs and I've heard of a couple being stolen. It's alot of fun up there, and we've always had alot of luck, I would definitely recommend tracking collars though, the dogs can go out of hearing on a hare and there have been days when we spent more time hunting for the dogs, thank goodness they had tracking collars on!!
I have been wandering about the tracking collar deal we don't have any but all the dogs will be wearing shocking collars, not sure if that will help or not but I guess we will see.
ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A FIRST TIME HARE HUNTER ON WHERE TO GO ? IS THERE SOME WHERE DECENT AREAS ON THE MAIN LAND NOT SO FAR UP THAT A PERSON CAN HUNT? LOOKS LIKE A TON OF STATE PARKS RECREATION AREAS. ALSO ANY IDEAS ABOUT WHEN THE SALMON RUN IN THE RIVERS?{ NORTH WEST MICH} WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A COMBO TRIP IF POSSIBLE. STAY FOR A WEEK OR TWO.
THANKS