Looking for info on a snowshoe hare hunt

[Dan440]

I am from Indiana and i am planning on making a trip to Michigan to hunt snowshoes. Because i have never even been to Michigan i was wondering if anyone could send me in a good direction on some goood public land to hunt on. Maybe give me some basic directions, counties, or roads. I was to the U.P has good hunting, but i dont know. Any info would be helpful. Thanks Dan

[steve688]

Dan, most guys won't give up there hunting spots. What I did was buy the Delorme Topo USA from cabelas and started looking for swamps surrounded by pines and mixed forests. The program actually tells you and can be updated. Great investment. You might be able to find maps showing where the state land is on Michigans website, and a discription of what game is there. Thats what I did. Line up a bunch of spots close to each other so if one doesn't pan out, the next isn't to far away.

[bucks better beagles]

I agree with Steve, however, If you find the town of Harrison on a Michigan map and draw a line through it and across the state. Anyplace north of that line would be a good place to start. They are south of there too but harder to find. There are many little gun and bait shops around there whose owners are generally happy to assist. The farther north you go, the easier it is. Just look for a big cedar swamp and let em rip.

Eavesdrop on some of the discussions on here long about the beginning of October and some secretes will be given out! (But don't tell anybody I told you to do so)

[JCM]

Find a map of Hiawatha National Forest in the UP. Look for swamps and cedars, the thicker the better. The dogs should do the rest.

[intrepid]

What i did before i made the trip north was to call the DNR, and ask them where there where good numbers. I ended up talking to one guy,and he told me where to go. Put my dogs down and they had a start in two minutes.

[mybeagles]

I lived in northern lower for a long time. The hare numbers are extremely scarce and non-existent in some areas that used to be good. The U.P. has much better populations but the Wolf and coyote problem is getting out of hand causing many to run in enclosures.

We had a couple years with early spring thaws where the snow was gone and the rabbits were white. Buel Johnson has some grand kids that would bring a big group up and kill limits of hare like that. Not much you can say, it's not illegal, but certainly unethical.

Mybeagles

[northernhare]

I lived in northern lower for a long time. The hare numbers are extremely scarce and non-existent in some areas that used to be good. The U.P. has much better populations but the Wolf and coyote problem is getting out of hand causing many to run in enclosures.

We had a couple years with early spring thaws where the snow was gone and the rabbits were white. Buel Johnson has some grand kids that would bring a big group up and kill limits of hare like that. Not much you can say, it's not illegal, but certainly unethical.

Mybeagles

Is there anything you can do to protect the hounds from coyote and wolves other than running in enclosures?

[T LEE]

I lived in northern lower for a long time. The hare numbers are extremely scarce and non-existent in some areas that used to be good. The U.P. has much better populations but the Wolf and coyote problem is getting out of hand causing many to run in enclosures.

We had a couple years with early spring thaws where the snow was gone and the rabbits were white. Buel Johnson has some grand kids that would bring a big group up and kill limits of hare like that. Not much you can say, it's not illegal, but certainly unethical.

Mybeagles

Is there anything you can do to protect the hounds from coyote and wolves other than running in enclosures?

When we run in the U.P we try to make noise. Every Wolf that we have seen seems to be getting out of dodge. We slam truck doors, run 7 to 10 dogs at a time, Miss Alot of shots at hare crossing the two tracks and we NEVER leave a hound down after dark (Which is the most important). I was told at a local grill that if a hound stays out overnight , "The Wolves will get them if the coyotes don't."

Nothing is fool proof. We see wolves nearly every trip but in 10 + years of going, this is what has worked for us.

[S.R.Patch]

We have had hounds stay out all night, not by choice tho...
Bubblegum was the only one I lost in wolf/cat country of the North.
It seemed to me if the hound was out running and sensed danger, they would go silent and lay low. This is the only thing that I can accredit to their survival through the night as most all have been single hounds missing at a time and we all know how a single hound draws in predators.
Our rule of thumb is to catch up all hound 1 hr before dark for the best chance all are accounted for before the shadows lengthen.