Field Notes Michigan

[DeerCamp]

Anyone have any luck turkey hunting today? I havent heard of anyone shooting one yet. My season starts on May 7th, Im counting the days down! Also anyone find any shrooms? This weather has been weird as of late hot cold hot cold..I've seen a few that have been found, but most reports arent very good yet.

[gatodoc]

Not a turkey hunter, but know many and all of them have gotten birds here in East TN this year. The gobbling started early this year and the bearded boys seemed more active than usual....So far 28,000 have been killed statewide and predictions are over 30,000 by the end of the season in a couple of weeks....

My turkey hunting buds have jumped a blue million deer they say...It seems the deer and turkeys here cling to the same habitat and we're getting good numbers of both...

Now if we could only grow some big bucks like you guys have up north....From what I've read, they are genetically the same. Does anyone know why they seem to grow bigger with bigger racks up north?

[largemouth19]

It has to do with climate, deer have to be bigger and heartier so survive the harsher winters. That's why in northern Canada the deer are absolute bruisers. Why they get so big in Texas though is beyond me.

[Deebz]

Texas deer don't really impress me that much. I think if you looked at body size and weight you'd see that they are quite a bit smaller in the body than Northern deer. They do put on some impressive inches in their headgear, but there isn't a whole lot of mass in most of the racks I've seen come out of Texas. The body size and mass is due mostly to the nutrition they're getting. They don't get the huge amounts of corn and such the Northern regions do.

The length of the beams they produce is mostly due to having quite a bit more control over their gene pool. It seems like most of the successful ranches in Texas use high fences. (Not trying to start a high fences debate, but other people on the forum who know first hand about hunting in Texas rely on fences to control the deer herd and predator populations etc...) This allows them more control over their herd genetics as far as being able to cull inferior racked deer, and possibly introduce beneficial genetics as well.

[bigbuckbagger11]

Got a chance to get out the end of opening week. I hunt around the mid-Michigan area (Merrill, if anyone's ever heard of it). Saw quite a few does and one massive buck about 75 yards out in a field. Tried to rattle him back, since there are a lot of bucks in the area, but no luck. I'm able to get back out this coming weekend, and I'm trying to decide what feed to put out to best attract more opportunities. I've put out mineral blocks and some Deer Caine Black Magic, but have had no luck. I have picky deer around me, as they have nothing but corn and soybean fields around for feed.
Any ideas on a good mid-Michigan feed attractant? My standby is simple corn, which is always a winner, but until they take out the corn and soys around where I hunt, I don't know that it will necessarily bring them in. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.