Dave Bruce of Bath has a cabin close by, and he loves to chase bucks in the region. "One of my best spots is off River Road, close to a series of several small islands bordered by thick cattail marshlands -- too thick for a person to wade, but mega-bucks use the habitat for cover," Bruce said. "Duck hunters tend to motor along the main river and push the deer to the cattail outskirts, where I'm waiting for a clear shot. The state-owned land is bordered by the expansive Manistee National Forest that is open to hunting. I literally have hundreds of miles of open land to chase bucks. By pre-season scouting the hardwood forests, I can generally find an oak ridge covered with acorns. Not just any acorns, but big white oak varieties that draw big bucks like a magnet. If my marsh is flooded, I'll stick to the acorn ridges."

GRATIOT/SAGINAW SGA
"With over 20 square miles of state-owned land found in the Gratiot/Saginaw State Game Area, you can expect to find some excellent hunting," explained Jim Wilson, a well-known local archer. "The habitat is a mixture of prime whitetail deer country highlighted by wetlands, small lakes (and) cattail swamps mixed with acorn-rich hardwoods and bordered by agricultural crops.

"I like to concentrate on the edges of corn fields in the early bow season or close to apple trees or where deer tend to concentrate near food. As the season progresses, I'll slip into the big woods found off Woodbridge Road, where bucks like to visit oak trees that are loaded with acorns. Come prime rut in late October through November, the big bucks are chasing does, moving during broad daylight, and I hunt several stands set up along Buchanan Road. Big bucks tend to be very difficult to locate until rut time, and then they vacate area hideouts and search for receptive does. That's when I'll spend all day in the woods, and I cover plenty of ground, sneaking through the underbrush making tending grunts to draw the attention of lovesick bucks.

"On opening day of duck season, I'll set up away from local ponds, lakes, waterways and the hundreds of potholes in the SGA that hold wood ducks and tend to draw a multitude of wader-clad hunters in search of ducks for the grill. Most hit the marshlands long before daylight, and they will chase the bucks to surrounding wood lots that have no duck ponds. Duck opener is like opening day of gun season, and when the boys get shooting at woodies, the deer run to adjoining woods that offer cover. Last year on (the duck) opener, I saw seven bucks. Two were shooters."

MAPLE RIVER SGA
This huge area open to public hunting borders the meandering Maple River from Gratiot and Clinton counties to Ionia County. It consists of nearly 10,000 acres of prime deer land bordered by private farms. The properties are in a hodgepodge of shapes and sizes along the river for a distance over 20 miles long. If you plan to hunt deer here, you better get a state map that lays out the land open to public hunting.