By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Ontonagon County — Five hunters, four bears. The 2024 Michigan Bear Season opened in the Upper Peninsula on Sept. 11 and area veteran hunter Groveland Township Jason Wilton reported plenty of success in his camp.
“The bears were active very early in the day,” said Wilton, who started making the eight hour trek north just before Labor Day to set out baits. The best mix, says Wilton, continues to be a concoction of cookie dough, doughnuts, granola, topped off with a few gummy bears.
Each August, Wilton heads to the Bergland hunting zone of eastern Ontonagon County in the western Upper Peninsula to deposit the bait. The September UP Bear season is by lottery and allows baiting a few weeks prior to the opening.
“We had some pictures (from trail cameras) of way bigger bears then the 220 pounds my daughter shot, but they are a lot smarter and show up in the middle of the night,” he said. “They are way more nocturnal.”
The mid September days in the Upper Peninsula was about 80-85 degrees which is warm but there was a good breeze, he said. Due to the heavy fur coats, if the weather is too warm, bears don’t move during the heat of the day.
“We hunted in a ground blind this year and the bear came in at about 40 yards,” he said.
The weather was better than the 2023 season which topped a sweltering 95 degrees, said Wilton.
“Lots of berries this year, not great for baiting but still bears would rather eat sugar and doughnuts. The bear herd looked very healthy this year, with three sets of cubs and sows coming into our bait.”
Lots of space for hunters and lots of bears this year.”
Cody Norton, the bear, fur-bearer and small game specialist for the state DNR, said the state bear population is relatively higher compared to a decade ago.
Statewide bear populations are flourishing by design in the upper peninsula and northern section of the lower peninsula, said Norton during an interview with The Citizen. The bear hunting quotas in both regions were reduced by the DNR in 2012.
“The 2021 bear population estimates for the northern lower are about 2,200 animals, that’s an increase of 70% since 2012,” said Norton. “That’s one bear for eight-square miles.”
The bear population in the upper peninsula is about 10,650 or about one bear for every two miles, he said. Since 2012, that number has increased about 25%.
Statewide total bear hunting permits are about 7,000, of those about 1,100 are issued for the lower peninsula.
“Right now we are at the point of stabilizing that population, that’s our goal,” he said.
The western upper peninsula has the highest concentration of bear harvested.
“We are hearing good things from the UP hunters this year,” he said. “For bears the main source of mortality is hunter harvest. Bears can live a long time and have few natural predators.”