Bear hunting season opens in Upper Michigan

ISHPEMING, Mich. (WLUC) - Bear hunting season officially started on Wednesday for much of Upper Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources runs 10 bear management units, or BMUs, across the Upper Peninsula and parts of northern lower Michigan.

The DNR’s Bear and Small Game Specialist says the U.P. bear population is strong.

“We’ve got close to 80 to 85% of the bear population up here in the U.P. for the whole state, so, most of the bears are up here. We have a higher bear density. Our latest population estimate for bears is just under 11,000 in the U.P., so that equates to about one bear for every two square miles. So, we’ve got a really good, healthy, robust bear population up here,” MI DNR Bear/Small Game Specialist Cody Norton said.

Norton says the demand for bear hunting is increasing. The DNR determines who gets bear hunting licenses through a lottery system.

“Even though we have a robust bear population, a healthy bear population up here, we have more interest in being able to bear hunt than our population can provide. Given how we have our season set up, we have to figure out a way to be able to give out licenses fairly but not overwhelm or be detrimental in any way to our bear population,” Norton added.

Retailers say when hunters first find out they’ve got bear tags, they buy items like ammunition and new scopes and then buy other hunting accessories as they get closer to opening day.

“As we got closer to today, more people are coming in and getting cover scents to cover their human smell, maybe some bear attractants, maybe some lighter weight camo because of the temperatures this week,” Wilderness Sports Manager Ryan Pizziola said.

The Owner of Stampede Sport and Feed in Ishpeming says trail cameras have become popular with hunters.

“There’s a benefit to it. Sometimes you see things on your camera that you just don’t see when you’re there. There is an advantage to the cameras. Now, everything is mobile, it’s sent right to your phone, so you do have a real good advantage,” Stampede Sport and Feed Owner Bob Tasson said.

There are three bear hunting seasons in the U.P. This first one ends on Oct. 21.