Rabbit Hunting in Michigan

[mark goodfellow]

I am just curious to hear from some of you rabbit hunters in Michigan. This time of year I'm nervous about going out to state land and gunning with the beagles, with all the bow hunters out for deer season. Fortunately I have private land to rabbit hunt, however my brother in law would absolutely kill me if I was running dogs over there this time of year, since he deer hunts there. He thinks a couple of 20 lb beagles will keep the deer away for ever. I basically hunt state land in the tuscola and lapeer county area.

so I'm just curious if you have had any run ins with deer hunters this time of year. Another concern of mine is I have a 13 month old pup that I've tried to take a deer but hasn't gone yet, but I've been fooled before by these little hunters, and the last thing I want is a deer chase during deer season. So in the end I usually start rabbit hunting after the deer gun season, but i am anxious to get out there. any comments would be appreciated.

thanks
Mark

[golden acres]

Mark luckily I have Private land to run also, but I leave dear hunters alone for a weak or two at ther beginning of bow season then it is first come, I will not turn down on dear hunters but if I am their first. I am leaving for Drummond Island next weak and never have any runnins up their. Remember it is rabbit seaon also
See ya James Golden

[Spruce Ridge Beagler]

I run state land during bow season and I bow hunt as well. You just need to be respectful of other hunters period. If I pull up to a spot and a truck is parked there I just go somewhere else just the same as I would not drop down on another beagler.
Once I was about to drop dogs and a bow hunter pulled up , all he asked was that I give him 15 min. to get in his stand before I cut loose. He was smart enough to know that the dogs may move deer his way.
Now gun season is a totally different story, no running at all private or state land.
Good luck , Dave

[chapkosbeagles]

this is the olny time of year i lay my hounds up. they will get shot around here period. deer hunting is big. i am also a big deer hunter. so i understand how it would feel to sit there in a cold hard stand for 8 hours. than have some guy come in and drop his dogs down. there goes your hunt. all that time wasted. that hudge buck could have been comming down the wood line

[sgc]

Drove by state land today on my way to run dogs on some private property & saw only one truck parked on the side of the road boardering state land. This time of year in the past there would be at least 7 trucks over this stretch parked about every 150 yards, especailly on a Saturday morning. I'm sure its because of the deer baiting ban here in Michigan this year. It looks like less guys going deer hunting if they can't shoot a deer over a bait pile.

[reddog1]

I always take my hounds to Drummond Island in October to avoid the deer hunters in my area. I do have some private land that I can run on and I do if I know the land owner is not hunting. He has beagles also and the deer there are used to the hounds running. One of the biggest bucks I have ever seen was when I was running on this private land and he was not running away, He was watching where the hounds were. I guess he likes to listen to beagles also

[Danny King]

i have deer standing 20 yards from my kennel with hounds barking every night i dont think deer are afraid of dogs i have people to that wont let me hunt there land untill deer season is over then i have people reguest that i run there land to get the deer to move but i wont go to state land unless there is no one parked there

[walleye101]

this is the olny time of year i lay my hounds up. they will get shot around here period. deer hunting is big. i am also a big deer hunter. so i understand how it would feel to sit there in a cold hard stand for 8 hours. than have some guy come in and drop his dogs down. there goes your hunt. all that time wasted. that hudge buck could have been comming down the wood line

If I had been sitting in a cold hard deer stand for 8 hours, I would be darned happy to see some guy drop some dogs down. If you are in a stand that long without any deer you are in the wrong spot. Somebody better get something moving.

[Ron Conroe]

you know what most people forget we pay taxes on that land to so we got just as many rights as they do, i get sick of hearing deer hunters cry, thats why most of us beaglers lose most of our hunting spots because the deer hunters want to shoot that big buck, hell so do i, but i'm not gonna quit rabbit hunting, i have just as much fun, i don't care what anybody says dogs are not gonna scare any deer away, they might leave for a little bit but they will be back.

[Schag]

I am not from Michigan, I am from Ohio, and we run into the same problems here. It seems that big game has always taken precident over small game. I hunt several farms that guys bow hunt. Some don't care, some do, so I hunt the land that the bow hunters don't care, and have patience for the other farms. I have one spot that a guy bow hunts, and he doesn't care if I am there before him, he will hunt anyway. Last year, however, one of my favorite spots was leased by a deer hunter, and he said NO to any rabbit hunting. I have ran that spot since I was a young man, and money won over friendship from the farmer. I was disappointed to say the least. It seems that most of the land today is being leased. I better take on a second job so I can afford it! I can't blame the farmers, because our government is forcing them to make profit off of their land other than striclty farming. The bottom line is this, we are all outdoorsmen, and we better start treating one another with respect regardless of what the other man is hunting. Crowded woods is a norm around here.

[Joeyman]

STATE ground is public land. That means anyone can hunt there. If they don't like it then tell them to go find Private land to hunt.

ITS PUBLIC LAND

[TallPaul]

Ran many times, probably in the same areas, your'e talking about. What I've done in the past was to wait till about 9-9:30 then I hit the state land, Always tried to be curtious about where I saw vechiles, and assumed it was a bowhunter. Those areas also seemed to get a lot of grouse hunters. Though last time I hunted it, which was a few years ago, the coyote numbers seemed to be up, though there are a few pockets. depending on the area, your hounds should be broke from fox, yotes, and deer.
Good Luck, A few times on those lands, will make you long for a honey hole of hares to the north.
Paul

[Matt Wilson]

Deer season in Mi is a joke started on sept 18th with early doe season and doesnt end untill jan 1. Deer hunters think the own the woods untill season is over. You can only shoot 4 deer per hunter in my area and there are so many deer I fill my tags the first few days of gun season. I dont feel safe running our own land beacause all the neighbors are fence sitters so I just try to run mid day which sucks when you work during the week

[Ron Conroe]

tv has made deer hunting so popular, around here you got to have a lot of money or own your own land , because everybody with money is leasing up all the land,and they won't let you rabbit hunt, they are afraid you are gonna scare their precious little deer off, they don't have a clue about dogs or rabbit hunting. i remenber 20 years ago you could go anyplace and hunt, not now, if we wait until deer nuhting is over we would have about 2 months of rabbit hunting.screw the deer hunters we got just as much right as they do in the woods.

[steve w]

If the deer hunters only knew, the dogs circle the rabbits and the deer circle the dogs. The deer only move enough to stay feeling safe which don't take much around here then they usually come back to where they were after we move through. A smart deer hunter could probobly do well around a guy running beagles.I run state land and do like the others and avoid a deer hunter as best I can, and start late and finish early when possible.I did have a guy pull up the other day and ask if I was getting started or done , I said I was leaving and before I got loaded up he was off for his tree and could have cared less about me "runnin' his spot". Sure wish they all were like him.