Declining Deer Herd Part 2: Deer vs. Wolves with Gary Gorniak 

Gary Gorniak for Governor. Its so refreshing to hear someone speak common sense about wolves and to be spot on on every fact regarding wolves and whats happening with the UP deer herd. I also want to add, a big thank you to Discover the U.P.!! I am in awe that you have spent the time and devoted your space giving Gary the platform for people to hear his voice and the voice of the common sportsman that knows more about whats really happening in our U.P. outdoors than our own Michigan DNR. Hopefully we have reached a turning point in they can't hide the crash any longer. With the mandated online reporting and the mild winter this year, the DNR's lies will be very exposed this next deer season of 24 for sure. However, Chad Steward did try to create a talking point, saying they are still going to send out deer surveys via mail implying because they're not sure of the accuracy of online reporting yet. Will the DNR never quit trying to make up excuses as to the low harvest numbers. Enough is enough. Lastly, just because the DNR issues doe tags, it does not mean we hunters have to buy or use them. If you want to do a small part and help return the numbers back upwards, then I'd encourage you to lay off the does for a few years regardless of what population numbers are being stated by the DNR. Its seems its really up to us to practice conservation from here on, the Mi DNR has clearly failed.

Nice to hear from people that actually spend time in the UP woods that see and understand what’s going on. No longer any coyote’s in the UP where I hunt, but there are more wolves than deer. I believe that some of the DNR so called biologists are educated beyond their intelligence!

Keep up the good work Gary. We appreciate your efforts.

Absolutely correct Politics.

I'm from Wisconsin. It no longer is a trophy state at least the Northern half. Our camp in Bayfield county 11 hunters. 9 days. Hunt all day wet dry or cold. We sit. We drive. Our totals this year were 7 seen. None harvested. 7 deer 9 days 11 seasoned hunters. You ain't alone

Best interview I've ever seen..Gary has it totally right. I hope the dnr listen to him. It's a sad sad deal what's happened to the deer herd in upper peninsula. I've hunted there 35 yrs saw and felt what happened when the wolves showed up. They ruined the UP in so many ways

Great video, thank you for sharing. Hopefully things change soon.

His idea of a diverse group of ideas is what is needed now with our geopolitical environment. I pray my grandchildren can enjoy a thriving wildlife ecosystem Stay safe and harness up my fellow wildlife enthusiasts

My family has property and a camp in Moran twp as well. 3 years ago, the last year we hunted for Deer there, we saw 10 wolves chasing 1 doe. Since then we have had 6-8 cameras in a 2 mile radius of our camp and we have seen only 1 doe. Last spring the doe had a fawn with her. By August she was alone again. Last September and October we spent a lot of time scouting and Bear hunting in the area. We saw quite a few Bears no Deer and numerous Wolves on all our cameras. There has been logging activity in the area over the past 20 years however there is still good winter habitat around there with cedar, balsam and hemlock as well as poplar so they cant blame the decrease in Deer on just that.

I couldn't agree more with what he is saying. There are more wolves than deer in north western Chippewa county.

I live in the Eastern UP and I don't see nearly as much small game as ten years ago. Yet, I hear wolves howl 3-4 times a week and see tracks daily in the winter. I also see tracks frequently in river banks in the mud. Rarely do I see a shooter buck.

Thanks Gary..I'd love to help you any way I can. You are so CORRECT!!!

Great video!!!

12 times bow hunting and 8 times gun hunting I never saw a deer this year in Mackinac County. I fish night and day on the Carp River in Mackinac County and never saw a deer on the river all Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Thank you so much Gary for your hard work and pointing out thus disgusting wolf problems we have. I could write 10 pages on the problems they have caused in the UP including the complete destruction of our deer herd. I've spent weeks over 35 yrs of hunting there and trapping. Anybody wants to argue..I'm here!!!

GARY THANK YOU you are spot on with the wolf topic just seen 5 at my friends cabin .hunted 46 years in da up

That's 631 per county. I've noticed the coyotes are getting very brazen around my camp. I was charged by one last fall while grouse hunting. And coming much closer to the cabin. Are they getting that hungry.

I understand what you say I loss 2 beagles one for sure to wolves the other one I just could not find. Keep up the good work.

great video. nothing will get done with who we have in charge. and the attorney general sending a letter to the judge? a governer is anti hunter and putting a person in charge of the dnr that was in charge of the damn lottery. know one will say anything in fear of loosing there job.

We have the same issue here in Northern Wisconsin. We had more wolves on Bear baits then bears last year are deer population is near nonexistent

Deer hunters realize the problem because we are the true conservationists. I'll share your video but today's politicians don't listen once elected and we're not represented by the DNR. I've watched this deer biologist and he clearly doesn't have a clue about deer and management.

Hunting just down the road from you Rexton. Last 3 years have been terrible use to see 4 to 10 deer a day now most days don't see any. Don't know how it could get this bad. Why do we have doe permits? We won't have a hunt able herd if this continues. Winter is nothing like it was in the past.

I like the comment, "refuse to buy a deer tag", if you don't see deer I guess your out squirrel hunting! Think what a statement hunters could make If Michigan sportsman groups could get hunters/sportsman aligned if those in charge of DNR and NRC don't start coming to the table with real life solutions and better deer and wildlife management decision and not purchase deer tags for a season creating a boycott, hit em where it hurts in the pocket book, maybe they would listen and want to work together. Unfortunately, this would probably hurt a lot smaller business which is not the intention. I would definitely do it for a year if it would get things moving before situations get worse.

Thank you for showing this .

What is a wolf supposed to eat if not deer? Seems normal

Minnesota Wisconsin an Michigan Department of Natural Resources have been under estimated the population of wolves for quite some time .The logging practices have not help the situation over harvesting of evergreen cover especially!

Like around here,deer are all around town ,but not much in woods,same with iron river area.

I live in Northern Wisconsin and have the same problem. Guess our politicians are enjoying our licence fee's. I say we stop buying license's and vote these people out.

I live in southeast Chippewa county and have hunted all over the UP for 50 years I see fewer deer now than all the years I have hunted. Even back in the 70s I saw way more deer. I had a photo of a cougar on trail cam last feb 27th sent to dnr have never had a responce

As a hunter for 50 years i have watched populations go up and down, this is bad. We (hunters)paid for moose reintroduction but never received a chance to hunt them. Are moose declining also?

Predation, hunting, disease, exposure...so many things affecting numbers..

Also need to realize what people are doing to "help the deer" is probably also helping the wolves. Wolves learn where to the deer hang out/are being fed and hunt that area, who can blame them?

Deer hunting is going to be like pheasant hunting in Michigan, it's over with, the DNR childishly won't take responsibility because they don't own all the property, even though their responsible for game management, the best deer population in Michigan is where the DNR has the least amount of control, deer hunting is just done in the upper peninsula, its just like what happened to the elk herd in Idaho when wolves were introduced it went from 30,000 elk to less than 1000 elk, it's just over

Us hunters are not in the DNRS agenda.

I hunt in Wawa Canada also. You by a licence, you get a free wolf permit. true story. They want them gone.

The picture survey is not going to be accurate. Have you seen how they’ve placed the cameras anybody? What a joke. They aren’t getting the pictures. The ones they put in northern Marquette county were in bad spots and the ones in Chippewa county off H-40 were also in terrible spots. I personally saw the cameras in Chippewa county and the wolf tracks in the snow all over, they didn’t get a single pic of a wolf for a week or more at one spot but they came through regularly. If they really want wolf pictures just ask and we can provide them.

Politics the number one cluster out there

Two thousand is still way low. Iron county alone has hundreds. There's definitely a problem when they push inside the city limits and destroy backyard herds

Insurance company pay offs. L'anse has more deer downtown than the forest.

FMDNR Social carrying capacity is long gone.

I agree 100 percent. have camp in the northland area since the early 40's. last 5 yrs. wolves are around every 2 to 3 days have a pack of 6 that are on my cameras all year. i have great habitat with food plots and everything large and small game need. And what about the land values they have been level for years i didn't want a wolve camp it's a deer camp . spend a lot of money on tractors and attachments. i will never stop going to camp and working the land but 260 acres of wolve hunting grounds is not what i signed up for DNR YOUR SCREWING THE UPPER UP GO TO WASHINGTON AND DO YOUR JOB AND HAVE A HUNT BEFORE I DIE. THERE IS NO WAY 630 WOLVES I AGREE WITH GENTLEMAN MORE LIKE 2000 OR MORE U NEED TO TAKE TWO THIRDS OUT AND STILL PROBABLY TO MANY. SO MANY CAMPS FOR SALE AND NOBODY WANTS THEM THEY GO OUT OF STATE IF THEY HAVE ANY MONEY

Just wait till Chad Stewart ends baiting up there

Wolf and coyote numbers are up not to mention cats . One of the biggest things they have to do is get rid of the two buck tags and move the youth hunt to deer season. The DNR regulate the deer Hurd by the amout of revenue the dnr needs. I started deer hunting when I was 12 . We hunted two years before we seen a track and we are not far from that now

If the wolf count between the DNR and the public is so different, why is it so difficult to do a count and figure it out? What is DNR’s reasoning for saying the wolf count is so low? If the public says there’s 2000, prove it. Both sides need to justify their numbers or quit talking about it until you do.

Russ Mason started this problem

Dnr and government doesn't understand who pays for things.

It is cheaper to go out of state and enjoy quality deer hunting. Quit hunting in michigan. Financially starve the dnr. Mark Biesecker Paradise. No deer here!

Deer hunters should all boycott next year and don't buy a license. I'm not buying one anyway cause we never see jack for deer !

Hunting is more than killing a buck.

Today's Modern Gray Wolves are much different than the old fashioned Wolves of a hundred years ago. They browse and eat forbes and grass much like Sheep and only eat carrion they find on the road. Today's Modern Wolves would never eat pregnant or nursing Ungulates, Dogs, Children picking berries or fishing. Modern Wolves enjoy a good night's sleep and never spend it stalking Dairy herds nor Shepherds flocks. People afraid of Modern Wolves are paranoid, they are just as friendly as a Maltese lap dog. Wolves do not have a history of killing and eating people. Snark We need Congress to restore Tribal Treaty Hunting and Trapping Rights in Yellowstone Park. Mankind is part of the Natural Wildlife on Planet Earth and the Apex Predator. Men with Hunting Tags can control Ungulate populations without help from dangerous Wolves. Reintroduction of Wolves is a multi-billion dollar Livestock Insurance scam.

Does this guy seriously think because hes got 65 pictures of wolves on his trail cameras that must mean theres 65 wolves!?? Its probably the same 4 or 5 wolves time and time again, like it is for everyone in the U.P exaggerating the wolf numbers. 2000 wolves? People are still taking him serious 🤦‍♂ Average pack size in the UP is 3-5, remember they do have pups so that number rises and falls when some pups dont make it or other wolves leave the pack, it happens every year. His memories of UP towns with a "thousand deer" or "deer all over" are prime examples of an overpopulation of a species, probably wreaking havoc on the environment, but all he cares about is wanting more deer and blaming the wolves. This guy is completely unreliable in what hes telling, you cant ride down a rode and predict the number of animals off of tracks either. Wolves run 2 tracks and back roads alot more than deer do, the deer stick to the tight trails in the woods, wolves are back and forth all day and night. Even 2 wolves running back and forth are gonna leave multiple tracks, cmon man.. Had to turn it off after rolling my eyes for the 30th time.

The real problem in Michigan is 58,984 deer-involved crashes in Michigan in 2022. Wolf kills don’t even come close to any of this in any particular manner. You’re barking up the wrong tree. Literally. Hunters you want more deer tell your friends and neighbors to quit driving. I’m sure you know somebody that’s had one this year.