I have hunted & harvested bear (with a bow)in Nothern lower Michigan.....In the 90's it was almost a sure bet for us......draw a tag & have afair chance at a 18" bear. Well them days are long gone!!!!!! Lots of hounds & ( I have no problems with guys that hunt hounds...they can be hard on the bait hunters though)the country is getting smaller.....the DNR says that the bear numbers are up, but in our area they are down......They seem much smaller also. The last tag I drew, I had a nice bear working a bait saw him once but never offered me a good shot with a bow. With the price of gas now I will probably not hunt bear agin for awhile.
I would think about going to MN if you had the chance......Good luck