U.P. St. Martins Island deer harvest pic (was poaching raid)

[Musky Buck]

good observation leech as well as I doubt they were all shot the same day etc. and instead of calling those poles meat poles I think braggin poles must be closer to accurate in this case. It sure seems like a blatant disregard for the animal (deer) itself. Where's all the people in camp ? And I doubt there's a meat processor on the island itself, to butcher that many must be quite an undertaking. Can't wait to hear details of this operation.

[ntrider]

interested to hear more...went to mich dnr site and found no mention of this in their reports for the week this supposedly happened...found terry short in dist. 1 but no mention of this???

[Muskie456]

I'm not defending anything hear but I don't think the meat went to waste for sure. This may be wishful thinking but we have had plenty of cold temps lately and if it happened mid Nov. the deer might be o.k.. Those are pine trees that are in the photo. The only desiguiose sp? tree in the photo is that birch tree and it dosn't have leaves. I counted 34 deer in the photo but it sounds like there were more. Just think a group of 7 hunters in the state of MN could of killed that many deer legally in an intensive harvest area(switch all but seven bucks for does).

[JimmyJames]

This is sick, but it does show you what a deer herd does when managed correctly.

[vister]

i was muzzy hunting this past weekend in the vacinity of hillview. we went cruising around the backroads, and decided to drive by the hillview management area. they must not be muzzleloaders, as there wasn't a tire track in the snow. i asked my buddy how HMA did this year, and he said they only got 4 nice bucks out of the area this year.

believe me when i say this musky, our hunting land is by far better than what they have to offer up there!!! its just that they have control of what gets shot on thousands of acres of their own land, and even the neighbors are selective, so there is probably one chunk of over 6000 acres that is selectively harvested. but hands down, if i had a chunk that big around here, id have some mighty fine specimens to hunt after!!

[StMartin]

Wow some misinformation all the way in MN. I hunt St Martins Island along with 21 other guys. Also we brought over wifes and girlfrieds because we let the deer get out of control over the years and we culled off the smaller ones. The trees are cedar trees and have no leaves also not one deer went to waste. It's crazy how everyone jumps to concusions and want to hang us..Your looking at 10+ years of management our past pole's were much more impressive, but the last two have been these smaller bucks so in the future we'll get back to the previous years. How many of you had to wait for a 10pt to get out of the way so you could shoot the heavy 8pt? Not many....Ya we're a bunch of hicks just killing everything.

[96trigger]

So don't take this the wrong way, but assuming that what you are saying is true. What is the deal with the deer without tags? Where they just not tagged yet? Your story sounds good, and god knows that journalists can sensationalize the story. It really didn't sound like the program thought much of it either. Instead of a story on poaching, they spun it to be a story on the success of the deer on St. Martins island, which does lend credibility to your story. Anymore info you can give?

[fr0sty]

Thanks for posting. The email I received is making the rounds. These things travel far and wide in a rapid way. Before I posted it here, I found the same story on several other hunting boards and the news story from that tv station.

If you have time, I think many here would appreciate more info on how you manage the deer herd there.

Anyway, thanks for again for taking the time to give us another view point.

[Musky Buck]

I hear ya on jumping to conclusions but when I googled that, all I saw was poaching ring broken up on St. martin island so I guess media media media. My only ? would be when do you guys skin these animals and butcher etc. Was the photo from like opening day or weekend? Either way you boys had better have sharp knives and equipment lol. What's it cost to hunt the island or who owns it ? That would be pretty cool to know you could chase them all day and they are landlocked ? How do they survive winter ? Thanks for any info.

[hockeybc69]

Whats with emailing all this??

Why not just post what the facts are?

[LOTWSvirgin]

I would like to hear the facts to so come on post em

[Musky Buck]

I will STmartin, it was a big wow to us Minnesotan's I think to see a meatpole like that in 2009.

[Effie07]

StMartin, saw a forum elsewhere with the CO's in the picture and the author claiming to be a friend of one of the hunters. Clears up a lot of questions. Just wondering if you would confirm it is legit before I reply back to the 10's of people who sent me the email with the claims of poaching.

[eyeguy 54]

I found this, it's info

Hi Everyone,

Wow...what a crazy day it's been for this topic. First, I want to apologize if any of my wording previously was mis-construed as endorsing illegal activities. The picture below (actually not this one but other ones of this buck pole) and the many news stories circulating depicts 31 bucks that were killed on St. Martin's island in Lake Michigan, about 16 miles off the coast of Michigan's southern U.P. There are a million rumors about going around about how all these or even some of them were poached. I'll present the information as I know it, you can decide.

My step-brother, Kris, knows Rich (one of the hunters of the island) personally. I know Rich through Kris. Rich and his crew have been managing this island for many years now. About 4 years ago, Kris helped Rich and his crew manage some does on the island. It was then that Kris (and Rich) convinced the rest of their crew that to truly get better trophy bucks off the island they needed to start culling more of the inferior bucks. (Previously, they would only shoot 10 points or better).

Last year, Rich's group finally all "bought-in" to the idea of culling some bucks. They killed about 15-20 bucks all 8 pts or less. Which brings us to this year (I'm trying to make a long story not quite as long).

Last year they didn't take enough, so this year they brought in 22 hunters to help get more bucks. Rich told me that about 30 different hunters hunted the island during the season (22 was the largest number at one time I guess).

I honestly don't recall how many square miles St Martin's Island is off the top of my head. Someone can look that up. It's big though. You can imagine the attention these guys get when they come back to the main land... worse yet when they get back to town and people don't even know about the island. Jealousy and accusations start to boil. Rumors spread. Wardens get called.

The DNR raided the island this year on the tips of many concerned hunters that "illegal stuff" was going on out there. What the DNR found was 31 bucks on the pole, and several small bucks and does laying around. 10 of the bucks were untagged. The DNR did a thorough investigation, questioning everyone they could. In the end, there were 10 tickets given for the untagged deer.

Let me clarify "untagged deer". These guys had tags for their deer. They were not simply untagged. They just plain hadn't tagged them yet because they were on a private island and weren't too concerned about wardens out there. The tags and the hunters that shot them were there though. So the tickets were more for "delayed tagging" than that of poached deer.

Here's where my opinion comes in:

No, I do not condone them not tagging these deer, and I'm glad they got ticketed for this. They and everyone should know better. However, I do not see this as poaching. How many of you have ever "waited until you got back to camp" or "waited til the next morning" even to get your tag on a buck. It's not right and should be punished, but I don't see it equivalent to poaching. Buying a tag after the fact, putting someone else's tag on it that didn't shoot it, or not having a tag at all are some of my definitions of poaching. If this were found to be true the DNR would've acted accordingly and I would support them for it.

Some other information:

Rich and his guys all divide up and sit with each person who is actually doing the shooting. They get most hunts on video even. If Rich ever gives me permission, maybe I'll feature a clip or two on the site. They do this to ensure that these friends of theirs that they invite in shoot the right buck because not all of them are able to identify the right bucks to shoot.

I do not condone poaching or any illegal activities. If the DNR officers that were on the scene thought there was anything more to the situation than what there was, all of those deer would've been confiscated immediately. I've never know the DNR to leave a stone unturned. I believe these guys were wrong for not tagging each deer immediately, but I do not believe they are poachers. If any other FACTS come to light in this situation, I will post them.

I'll leave this thread unlocked now so anyone else can chime in with their opinions too. Please try to keep it clean and be respectful. I will not stand for this forum being a place for unsubstantiated rumors and accusations to fly around. If I've left something out that I can clarify, let me know. If there are details I don't know, I'll try my best to get an answer.

Thanks everyone.

[fsh4trout]

Thank goodness they got rid of all those "inferior" bucks!!

Are their any scientific studies that back up this mindset? If you deem a buck inferior before he reaches his full potential in antler size, you will never know what could have been. Bucks peak in antler size around age 5 so if he is killed at age 2 cause he is "inferior" he can never grow his biggest rack. Culling bucks is ridiculous. You can't predict a buck's future antler size. Just sayin.

[mrklean]

im just happy to see they werent poached, we can all say they were wrong for culling or whatever but fact is they were hunt legally, just not tagged in time so we should all as sportsman be happy these animals werent killed for the sake of killing for antlers or just to being killed.

[fr0sty]

After reading the post by windowpane, I have decided to change my thread's title. Hope to hear more on how they manage their deer herd.

[SrBrits]

as usual, jealousy and fear mongering got this thread smoking hot.

[leech~~]

Window, who owns the island, and how can we join their group!

[96trigger]

I think the only place that cullinig would work is on an island or in a pen.

[vister]

ive waited to tag a deer until i got to a road before, usually every deer i shoot. those crappy tags we get just dont cut it if you have to drag a deer through some nasty stuff, or even a hay field!

funny thing about that, my tags have never had prepunched holes in them, since they started the blue electronic licensing, but some of my buddies from a bit farther north, have never had anything but adhesive tags to this day. whats the deal there. you know how many boot laces i've sacrificed in order to tie my tag to a deer!

[tedl]

ive waited to tag a deer until i got to a road before, usually every deer i shoot. those crappy tags we get just dont cut it if you have to drag a deer through some nasty stuff, or even a hay field!

funny thing about that, my tags have never had prepunched holes in them, since they started the blue electronic licensing, but some of my buddies from a bit farther north, have never had anything but adhesive tags to this day. whats the deal there. you know how many boot laces i've sacrificed in order to tie my tag to a deer!

I carry some twist ties in my pocket with my tags. They work good and hold up.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

ive waited to tag a deer until i got to a road before, usually every deer i shoot. those crappy tags we get just dont cut it if you have to drag a deer through some nasty stuff, or even a hay field!

Ya know, legally you don't have to tag it until you get it to your truck or it's final resting place. So no need to worry about losing the tag dragging it through the thick stuff.

I think you have to validate the tag at the kill site, but the tag doesn't need to be attached until after it's out of the woods.

[Sumander]

I carry zip ties for attaching tags!

[Nate McVey]

Thanks for posting that windowpane, it's nice to know that they legally took those deer. As for culling, it's up to their group to decide how they manage their hunting spot. QDM has been a huge topic of debate on many sites and there are many opinions on the subject, to each his own.

Looks like the DNR officers were ok with it, judging by them posing for the camera