I’ve heard reports from other Upper Peninsula residents that they have more bears than deer on their deer baits during November (baiting deer remains legal in the U.P.). I’ve now had the same experience in Keweenaw County.
A sow with two of her three cubs at the author’s U.P. deer bait.
One of my deer baits in the oaks, where there’s an excellent mast crop this year, has had between six and ten bears on it, most of which are sows with cubs. Deer are also in the oaks, taking advantage of the acorns, but there are fewer of them on camera at that location than bears. Most U.P. bears are in dens by November, but when there’s plenty of food available, they stay awake longer to take advantage of it.
The reason I’m not sure whether there were six or ten bears that visited the bait is that I originally thought there was a female with two cubs, a female with one cub, and a lone bear on the bait, based on game camera photos at that location. Recently, I got photos of a sow with three cubs at that spot. I think the family of four are new animals, but I’m not 100% sure. Of the many pictures I had of the sow with two cubs, a third one may not have appeared in photos, but I don’t think that’s likely.
Either way, that’s a bunch of bears for one location. The DNR does not include cubs in their bear population estimates. Their estimates apply only to animals at least a year old. I can assure you, however, that those three to six cubs that are not included in their population estimates eat lots of food.
Part of the reason there are probably fewer deer on camera at that bait is that there’s little to no food left for them when the bears are done dining. I usually put out less than two gallons of bait at a time. Bears can easily consume whatever food is available, especially a family of three or four.
Most bear activity has been after dark, which could increase daytime visits by deer in the area. Bears keep deer away when they are present, but deer will visit baits after bears are gone, if there’s any food left. Adult deer have learned to coexist with the U.P.’s abundant bear population.
Besides the high number of bears at the one bait, there was at least one bear taking advantage of each of the other two deer baits I have been maintaining. Fortunately, the number of deer visiting the other two spots outnumbered the single bear. A bear at another site appeared on camera during daylight hours.
A bear at another location keeps messing with the camera I have there. The animal hasn’t damaged the camera yet, but it could. When checking the camera out, the bear repeatedly moves it, so I don’t get as many pictures of what’s going on at the bait as I otherwise would.
Damage to trail cameras is minor compared to the financial losses some deer hunters experience who try to use spin-cast feeders anywhere in the U.P. Bears are abundant throughout the region, and they routinely render feeders inoperable when attempting to access the corn inside them. They aren’t willing to wait for the feeders to dispense corn. They do everything in their power to get all of the food when they want it, and the feeders end up broken.
While attending the annual big buck night at Rapid River Knifeworks on November 18, I spoke to a gentleman who shot a bear that dressed out at 290 pounds this fall on a large chunk of private land in Delta County.
The property owner who gave me permission to hunt was glad to give me the opportunity to shoot a bear. He told me, he has too many of them. He put out seven spin-cast feeders for deer on the thousands of acres of land he owns during late October, and they were all trashed by bears. Each feeder cost $280.Total loss for those seven feeders is $1,960.
Another hunter at that same event, who hunts in Dickinson County, asked me, “What can I do to keep bears from damaging my deer feeder? It happens on a regular basis. I put nails on the feeder to keep bears away, but they bent the nails. That didn’t work.”
Electric fencing might be the only way to keep bears from damaging deer feeders. Short of that, it can be a waste of time and money to use them, except when bears are denned. Based on what I’ve seen this year, most of deer season will be over before bears enter dens for the winter. In fact, I still had a bear on one of my deer baits on November 28.
The U.P. did get some snow during the first week of November, causing most bears to become dormant for a short period of time. The weather soon warmed up, however, melting the snow. After the snow was gone, bears were back at the deer baits.
A major snowstorm hit the U.P. on November 26, dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas. That was not enough to put all the bears in dens, however. One adult female didn’t mind the snow. She was on one of my baits from the 25th through the 28th.
As a veteran bear hunter, I’m more tolerant of bears than many deer hunters. I’ve heard a number of them who are upset about bears on their deer bait make threats to shoot the bruins illegally. A big part of their frustration is that they think bears keep deer away, which is not the case. One possible solution to the abundance of bears in the U.P. and the problems they pose is to issue more bear licenses during bear season.
The deer bait I had with as many as 10 bears on it is not the only place in the U.P. where sows and cubs are present. I spoke with several hunters who saw numerous females with cubs while hunting or on their cameras. All of those cubs will result in a big jump in the number of legal bears in the population during 2026 when they become yearlings.
