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 FALL 2017

VOLUME 71, ISSUE 4

contents
3 BASECAMP
7 DIRECTOR'S DESK
8 ON PATROL
12 AROUND MICHIGAN
14 CONSERVATION NATION

UPLAND AND SMALL GAME

16 WOODCOCK CENTRAL BOB GWIZDZ
20 GUNDOGS SHOULD BE PART OF THE FAMILY TIM LINTZ
22 ONE IN THE HAND, MORE IN THE BUSH ANDY DUFFY
26 DECEMBER PHEASANTS BOB GWIZDZ
30 EARLY SEASON SQUIRRELS DARIN POTTER

DEER
36 FULL DRAW: DEER RECOVERY 101 TOM NELSON
38 MEET HIM ON HIS TERMS JASON HERBERT
42 FOOL HIM ONCE... THAT'S ALL IT TAKES DARIN POTTER
44 ON THE TRAIL JACOB VANHOUTEN
48 EARLY SEASON TACTICS TOM NELSON
50 DEER MANAGEMENT: TO SHOOT OR NOT TO SHOOT ANNA MITTERLING

FISH
54 THE FALL PLUG BITE MARK ROMANACK
56 CENTERPINNING 101 NICK GREEN
60 SURF CHROME AND STOICISM CALVIN MCSHANE
64 FALL'S NOT LAST CALL FOR BROWNS DAVID A. ROSE
68 STREAM BASS BOB GWIZDZ
71 NYMPHAMANIAC: THE FISH NICK GREEN

MISC. AND STAFF REPORTS

76 THE PERFECT SHOTGUN ANDY DUFFY
80 DISABILITY JEFF LICHON
84 THE CAMPFIRE: A 2017 PHOTO STORY TYLER BUTLER AND NICK GREEN
92 THE CAMO THUMB SHAUN MCKEON
96 CONVENTION 2017 STAFF
98 THROWBACK: A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (OCTOBER 1988) RICHARD SAPP

2 |www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 4 8/28/2017 10:51:16 AM

 bAsecamp Nick Green, Editor

WELCOME TO MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS

MICHIGAN'S PREMIUM OUTDOOR JOURNAL

The invitation came in April to sit down with

Executive Director Dan Eichinger about a job position

that was opening up at Michigan United Conservation

Clubs — I was shaking in my boots. “Why don’t you
stop over to my place on Wednesday night and we can
get to know one another over a beer,” he said. Nick Green displaying a fall hen picked up centerpinning
I had done my research about the organization on the Mansistee River last fall.
and, as a 28-year-old college senior, I thought I might
just be in over my head. Immediately, Dan made me feel
My hope is that our writing will set a standard
welcomed — we talked about fly fishing, the chumming
among outdoor publications across the United States.
debate, conservation and my background as a hunter
We are fortunate enough to have a stable of consistent
and angler.
contributors like TV personality Tom Nelson and
A month later, I received another call — this
award-winning outdoor writer Bob Gwizdz. We also
time, Dan wanted me to sit down with our Education
have rookies like Calvin McShane who show promise
Director Shaun McKeon and Ed Golder from the
with a style that seems to be lost on the major outdoor
Department of Natural Resources. I pitched them my
competitors.
vision, and thankfully, someone, somewhere — namely
MOOD’s new facelift has hardly scratched the
Mr. Garner — was pulling for me. He was in my corner
surface of the possibilities that lie ahead, and I look
from day one and gave me the confidence to pursue a
forward to continually bettering our magazine.
dream job straight out of school.
In this issue, Gwizdz takes an in-depth look at
Another month passed and Dan told me that I
the timberdoodle — a bird so abundant in Michigan that
was the front-runner for the job. He asked if I would be
we lead the charge on harvests, banding and, in turn,
willing to come down and meet with staff, pitch them
supplied data for research. A new face to the magazine,
my vision and let them get to know me. By this time,
Andy Duffy, explains the undeniable relationship
the job that I thought was just a dream was slowly
between tag alders and woodcock.
becoming a reality.
What is a woodcock hunt without a dog, though?
Now, here I sit — editor of a magazine so rooted
A new MOOD writer, Tim Lintz, examines how one can
in the way I live my life that it all makes sense. I need to
raise a happy, healthy gundog in your suburban home.
first thank Bob and Dan for having faith and confidence
Bow hunting tactics, tracking a wounded deer and surf
in an overzealous college kid. Without them, and both
fishing for chrome are some of the other articles that
of their guidance, I’m not sure this plan would have
round out our fall issue.
ever made it to fruition.
I look forward to serving our readership,
Michigan Out-of-Doors will be making some
finding out what conservation issues excite you and
more changes as the months progress, and I hope that
what you are passionate about. Again, I welcome any
everyone will ride the roller coaster with us. We have a
feedback that you might have — good or bad, I want to
solid format (with our quarterly model) that is going to
know what you think
allow us to do some great things journalistically.
Check out One Last Cast as I close this fall’s
We will be getting back to the true mission
issue with a short introduction into who I am, where
of MOOD — exploring and explaining the issues and
I come from and what my plans are for the magazine.
topics that our readership cares about. As a journalist,
As always, if anyone has any comments, concerns or
I will expect our writers to produce content that is
topics they would like examined, please email me at
driven by those who read our magazine, not their own
editor@michiganoutofdoors.com.
personal agendas.
MOOD wants to know what issues matter to
you, what subjects you would like to learn about and Yours in conservation,
what information you need. After all, you are the Nick Green
reason we here at MUCC have a job.

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 3

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 5 8/28/2017 10:51:16 AM

 MOMENTS of MEMORY
DEAR EDITOR,

Just finished reading my fall edition

of Michigan Out-of-Doors, and
wanted to get with you on the new
design ofThe bedrock of conservation is taking care of our natural resources so that they can be passed
the magazine.
down to future generations. The natural resources that we conserve today were conserved for us
Call meby oldgenerations of conservationists preceding us, and these generations are ever changing, ever
school, but I enjoyed
the magazine better the old way. flowing. Here we honor the passing of one generation of
When I normally read the mag- conservationists to the next.
azine its from cover to cover,
although my passion is mostly deer
hunting ,and fishing I enjoy reading In memory of
about some of the other passions
as well.
Robert Renner
from
John, Carl and Paul
And I liked it better with the shorter
stories that I could read in just a In memory of
few minutes in the morning before I
head off to work. Jeff Pelc
from
I do like the larger print now that Brian, Roger and John
the years have been added to my
birth date, and the eyes don't do
so well. But that could be obtained In memory of
by reducing the picture sizes. I have
been reading the magazine for Marco Rea
probably over 40 years now, and from
hunting, and fishing the out doors Phyllis, Jeff, Emily Wolanin
for probably 10 years more than of Oxford, Michigan
that, and still find them both to be
refreshing, and joyful. I also liked In memory of
the smaller paper size of the old Herb Burns
magazine, and soft covers for this from
allowed you to fold the pages and
hold it in one had comfortably. I Robert Garner Anka Burns
know I'm only one person and like & Stephanie Boothroyd
Jeremy Albert & Louise Massey
your final story different from all
Robert & Sally Heins Margaret Zakrzewski
others, but I really like the old mag-
Lawrence & Joanne Witte John & Ethelen Herbstreit
azine much better. And truly agree George & Constance Stojic Jerry & Kay Thiede
to Hunt Your Own Hunt. Leopold & Doris Teufner James & JIll Fedewa
Jim & Cheryl Farhat R.A. Meyers
But do it ethically and honestly.Gina Parks Russell & Phyllis Bleich
Teresa Gloden Jeffrey Andrews
Sincerely, DeLoy C. Clark Lois Server Dennis & Denise Brabant
Muckegon, MI Ronald & Helma Robinson Milton Scales
James Davis Carol Wright
George & Jennifer Firth Lee & Paula Gotcher
Frank Opolka
DEAR SIR,

Having recently finished reading

If youthe
have recently lost someone you would like to honor here,
new format magazine, my first im- please contact Sue Pride at spride@mucc.org.
pression in a word is "slick". Upon

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 6 8/28/2017 10:51:17 AM

 LIFE MEMBER
Thank you to the following conservationists who have made a lifetime
commitment to conserving, protecting and enhancing Michigan's
natural resources and outdoor heritage by becoming Life Members
of Michigan United Conservation Clubs:

Bryce Shelton of Davison, Michigan

Troy Strieter of Sebewaing, Michigan

If you are willing and able to make a lifetime commitment to conservation, you can become a Life Member of
Michigan United Conservation Clubs with a $500 contribution to the organization.

Life members receive a lifetime subscription to Michigan Out-of-Doors, a Life Member MUCC ballcap,
a Life Member patch and a certificate commemorating your commitment to conservation.

Contact Sue Pride at spride@mucc.org or visit www.mucc.org/join_mucc and select "Life Membership."

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 7 8/28/2017 10:51:21 AM

 Since7
PUBLISHER
DAN EICHINGER MICHIGAN UNITED 193
MUCC CONSERVATION CLUBS
TM

EDITOR
Nick Green
editor@michiganoutofdoors.com 2101 Wood Street | PO Box 30235 | Lansing, MI 48909 | 517.371.1041 P | 517.371.1505 F | www.mucc.org
Uniting Citizens to Conserve, Protect and Enhance Michigan’s Natural Resources and Outdoor Heritage
ART DESIGN & TEMPLATE
SOLO 71 / DAVE BEHM Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) is a 501(c)
(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1937 by sportsmen's
ADVERTISING
clubs from around Michigan to protect conservation from
AMBER ALBERT
politics. Representing over 50,000 members and supporters
sales@mucc.org
and approximately 250 affiliated conservation clubs, MUCC
PRESIDENT is the largest state-based conservation organization in the
THOMAS HERITIER nation. MUCC members determine its conservation policies
through a robust grassroots process, which MUCC staff works
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT to implement by working with elected officials, state and federal
RON BURRIS agencies, its members and the public. MUCC has published
Michigan Out-of-Doors since 1947 and operates the Michigan
VICE PRESIDENT Out-of-Doors Youth Camp in Chelsea, MI. Learn more about the
GEORGE LINDQUIST full range of programs MUCC uses to advance conservation in
Michigan and become a member at www.mucc.org.
TREASURER

MUCC Staff
JIM DE CLERCK

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
TREVOR HODGES DAN EICHINGER AMY TROTTER
BILL MALLOCH Executive Director Deputy Director
JANE FINNERTY deichinger@mucc.org atrotter@mucc.org
CAROL ROSE
DAWN LEVEY NICK GREEN LOGAN SCHULTZ
CHUCK HOOVER Public Information Officer Digital Media Coordinator
ngreen@mucc.org lschultz@mucc.org
FRAN YEAGER
KRIS MATTHEW STEPHANIE RUSTEM SHAUN MCKEON
GREG PETER Project Manager Education Director
BRUCE LEVEY srustem@mucc.org smckeon@mucc.org
DOUG KRIZANIC
ANNA MITTERLING AMBER ALBERT
Michigan Out-of-Doors (ISSN 0026-2382) is the official publication of Wildlife Co-op Coordinator Membership Coordinator
Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), 2101 Wood St., Lansing amitterling@mucc.org aalbert@mucc.org
MI 48912, and is published quarterly. Telephone: 517.371.1041.
Receipt of this publication is through membership in MUCC. For
membership information, call 1.800.777.6720. Single copies available SARAH TOPP SUE PRIDE
to the public for $5.99 each. Periodicals postage paid at Lansing, Wildlife Volunteer Coordinator Membership Relations &
Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address stopp@mucc.org Tracks Coordinator
changes to Michigan Out-of-Doors, PO Box 30235, Lansing MI 48909.
All advertising communications should be sent to PO Box 30235.
spride@mucc.org
Views expressed by freelance writers are their own and do not nec- TYLER BUTLER
essarily express those of Michigan Out-of-Doors or Michigan United Youth Camp Director ASHLEY BUR
Conservation Clubs. Copyright 2017 by Michigan United Conservation tbutler@mucc.org Policy Assistant and Gourmet Gone
Clubs (MUCC). The Copyright Act of 1976 prohibits the reproduction of Wild Director
Michigan Out-of-Doors without written permission from Michigan United abur@mucc.org
Conservation Clubs. MUCC members may reproduce one copy for
personal use without permission. For permission to reprint a specific
article, and for inquiries, contact the editor at editor@michiganoutof-
doors.com.

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 8 8/28/2017 10:51:21 AM


PrOTEcting your investment
Dan Eichinger, Executive Director
When you buy a house with a mortgage the
bank loaning you the money secures its investment
with the house you are buying. If you default on the
loan, the bank takes your house. If you get a second
mortgage to finance repairs or remodeling that bank
also secures its investment with your house.
The interest we license buyers have in public
lands works much the same way. Monies derived from
our hunting and fishing licenses and the excise taxes
levied on the sale of sporting arms and equipment
(Pittman-Robertson funds) and tackle and fishing
gear (Dingell-Johnson funds), work much the same
way. When those fund sources are used to acquire
public land wildlife and wildlife related recreation
become the dedicated priority or use for that prop-
erty. Non-wildlife related recreation can still happen,
but the use must be secondary and insubstantial such
that is does not overtake its primary wildlife related
purpose.
Similarly, when we use Pittman-Robertson,
Dingell-Johnson or license fee dollars to manage
or improve public land, that same wildlife related
interest in baked into the landscape. So, even if the
land was not acquired with one of those fund sources,
rather improved with one of them, the wildlife dedi-
cation is there all the same. Like a bank loaning you
money to renovate a kitchen-they secure their invest-
ment with the property.
This dedication, tied to your direct invest-
ment in our public lands is one of the last, best lines
of defense against eroding our public footprint and
losing critical acreage for hunting and fishing access.
We regularly have to fend off both overt and covert
attempts to dilute sportsman funded interest in our
public lands, and that is not likely to change anytime
soon.
We also have to be wary about attempts to
co-opt other users into the funding model. Some
folks have proposed a “state land use pass that mush-
room pickers, birders, and other non-license-buying
users could purchase" to get some skin in the game.
Bringing more folks into the user-pay network is not
an altogether bad idea. However, we must consider
the use conflicts arising between duck hunters in a
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 9
Director's Desk
managed waterfowl area having to contend with a
kayaker paddling through a flooded timber on the
opening day of duck season-whose claim to be there
is more valid if they have both paid into the system?
Underlying much of this challenge is the foolhardy
idea that all parcels of public land can and should be
made to equally service all forms of outdoor recre-
ation. Many of us instinctively understand that this
is not possible, let alone practical. Yet, the pressure
exists to shoehorn all users on to the same acreage.
Some have even gone so far as to suggest that our
historic and ongoing investment in our hunting lands
should be “bought out” so that the wildlife dedication
for a property can be lifted, opening the floodgates for
every hippie with a frisbee to stake a claim to your
public hunting or fishing spot.
The rules protecting these investments were
set up generations ago by our forefathers who accu-
rately predicted that future policy makers would be
tempted to redirect hunting/angler license money
into unrelated projects or to convert hunting/angler
purchased and managed lands into something other
than a fish or game area. Many of us in the hunting
and fishing world freely season our conversations
with word like heritage, legacy and phrases like
doing things “for the kids.” The public lands debates
here in Michigan and across the country demand
from each of us that those words mean something.
The cost of relaxing on this issue is not some theoret-
ical loss. We lose real, tangible places that you can
see, touch and experience. We stand to lose the places
we have diligently invested in to acquire and manage
and where we are free to democratically exercise the
extraordinary privilege of hunting and fishing in
Michigan.
It is vital that each of us in our community
understand that our investment in these places
assures that they will be managed to benefit wildlife,
hunting and fishing for every generation that follows
us. It is our job to ensure that the hunting lineage
connecting us to our grandparents and parents not
be broken on our watch and that we demand conser-
vation action that is accountable to the future public
land hunter rather than the fortunes of present-day
politics.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 7
8/28/2017 10:51:21 AM
 ON
PATROL
In each issue of Michigan Out-of-Doors we highlight some
of the recent cases our brave Michigan Deparartment of
Natural Resources conservation officers handle. You don't
want to find yourself on this list.
May 21 - June 10, 2017
You can't be fishing at a bar.
CO Ethen Mapes was on
marine patrol on Lake Gogebic
when he spotted six unattended
fishing lines in the water.
CO Mapes tied his patrol
boat off to the dock where the poles
were located and waited for the
owners of the poles to come to the
dock.
After a while, it was clear
that the anglers were not coming
to attend to their poles. CO Mapes
walked up to the house as the
anglers pulled into the driveway.
They stated they had gone to the
bar for a couple of drinks and had
forgotten to pull their lines in.
Law enforcement action
was taken for not having immediate
control of their fishing lines.
Riding dirty
CO Ethen Mapes was
meeting with two Michigan State
troopers in the Bruce Crossingarea
when he noticed an ORV driver
operating without a helmet.
When CO Mapes tried to
stop the ORV, the driver fled and led
the CO on a pursuit for nearly a mile
down a multi-use trail.
The subject was appre-
hended and found to be intoxicated
8 |www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 10
and in possession of marijuana.
Law enforcement action was taken
for multiple violations.
What was it? Three or all day?
CO Ethen Mapes was
checking boaters and anglers at
the Bergland boat launch when he
smelled a strong aroma of intoxi-
cating liquors coming from a boat
operator.
When asked how much the
operator had to drink, the subject
stated he had three beers, later
changing his story to he had been
drinking all day.
After failing field sobriety
tests, the subject was arrested for
operating a boat with a blood alcohol
content greater than 0.08.
Car vs. moose
CO David Miller responded
to a car vs. moose accident in Baraga
County.
An immature bull moose
had been struck by a motor vehicle
along US-41 and Ohio Mine road.
The vehicle sustained severe
damage and the moose succumbed
to its injuries.
Don't carry AND fish illegally
CO Gast worked fishing
activity along the Sturgeon River
within the spawning closure.
CO Gast located a husband
and wife fishing in the closed area.
The male suspect also failed to
immediately disclose that he had a
concealed pistol license (CPL).
Enforcement action was taken.
Bear calls for trash
On Saturday, CO Andrea
Erratt received a nuisance
bear complaint. She called the
complainant and received direc-
tions to their house on a dead end
road.
CO Erratt took a wrong turn
and ended up at a neighbor’s house
discovering burning building mate-
rials but no one was home.
CO Erratt went and talked
to the nuisance bear complainants
who had their bird feeders torn
down the previous night. She
advised them to bring in all of their
bird feeders that were attracting the
bear.
CO Erratt returned to the
neighbor’s house and discovered
he had returned home and had put
more building materials on the fire.
He was ticketed for illegal disposal
of solid waste and warned for the
unattended fire.
Stop looning around
CO Andrea Erratt of
8/28/2017 10:51:21 AM
 Charlevoix County received a
complaint from CCE Central
Dispatch about a fisherman in a
kayak on Susan Lake swatting at a
loon with his paddle.
A deputy called and volun-
teered to check on the kayakers
while CO Erratt responded from
across the county.
CO Erratt arrived at Susan
Lake just as all four kayakers were
coming to shore. Three of the four
kayakers, including the suspect,
did not have life preservers in their
kayaks.
The suspect stated he was
being chased by the loon as he
unknowingly fished by its nest and
he only splashed the loon.
CO Erratt warned him that
it is illegal to harass loons at any
time. CO Erratt ticketed the three
kayakers for no PFDs.
Sounds like a Friday night?!?!
Sgt. Mark DePew came into
contact with two individuals in
Otsego County over the Memorial
Day weekend - one operating an
ORV and the other a large tractor
on a public roadway.
Upon contact with the oper-
ator of the ORV, it was determined
he was not wearing a helmet and
was not displaying an ORV license.
As the investigation continued, a
loaded rifle was located on the ORV
and the operator was intoxicated.
A short time later, the
tractor operator arrived who was
also intoxicated and started a verbal
confrontation that turned physical
with the sergeant.
As the incident escalated,
the operators of the ORV and the
tractor attempted to gain control
of the loaded gun; however, were
unsuccessful.
At the conclusion of the
investigation, both subjects were
arrested for numerous violations,
including three felonies, and five
misdemeanors. Both were lodged in
the Otsego County jail.
Not in here
While working at
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 11
Lake Sand Dunes, CO Kyle Publiski
and CO Brian Brosky drove passed
a group of individuals who were
parked and walking around their
vehicles.
CO Publiski watched as one
of the subjects walked to the cab of
the pickup truck and cracked the
door slightly and began drinking a
can of beer.
Since all alcohol is prohib-
ited in the park, the COs made
contact with the group. Two coolers
full of various alcoholic drinks were
seized and the subjects were evicted
from the park and cited for posses-
sion of alcohol.
He wanted gas and got a free ride
CO Josiah Killingbeck was
advised by Lake County Dispatch
that an intoxicated man was asking
for gas at a staging area in Lake
County.
CO Killingbeck made contact
with the callers at the staging area,
and within minutes, he located the
suspect operating in the parking lot
on an ORV without a helmet or eye
protection.
CO Killingbeck made
contact with the operator who was
not making sense when talking and
could hardly walk. It was determined
that the subject was intoxicated and
nearly three times the legal blood
alcohol limit. The subject was also
driving on a suspended license from
previous drunk driving convictions
and was arrested and lodged in the
Lake County Jail for operating while
intoxicated.
Bruce the Goose
CO Jeff Ginn responded to
a Newaygo County Campground to
address an aggressive Canada goose.
Upon arrival, CO Ginn
observed the goose, affectionately
referred to as Bruce the Goose,
hanging around a couple of parked
vehicles in the campground.
It was alleged the goose had
been seen hissing and charging at
young children trying to feed him.
Bruce was captured by CO
Silver Ginn and relocated to a remote
Newaygo County lake several miles
from the campground.
Bruce didn’t appear too
aggressive and it is believed the inter-
action with the campers allowed
Bruce to become too comfortable.
This is a reminder to simply
enjoy wildlife from a distance.
105 in a 55
CO Sam Schluckbier
observed a motorcycle operating at
extremely high speeds in Kalkaska
County.
CO Schluckbier pursued the
motorcycle, and with the help of
local law enforcement, was able to
get it stopped several miles away.
When contacting the driver,
he advised that he was operating
over 105 mph. The operator also
failed to register the bike and was
unable to provide insurance.
Enforcement action was
taken for the multiple violations
Really? With your infant?
Sergeants Ron Kimmerly
and Tony Soave were working a
marine patrol in 30 MPH winds on
the Shiawassee River in the Federal
Flats area.
The waves on the river were
close to 1 ½ feet. The sergeants then
came across two kayaks with an
adult in each.
When the sergeants got
closer, they noticed that there was
an infant between the legs of the
female kayaker.
While neither of the adults
were wearing a PFD or had one on
board, the infant was wearing one.
The male kayaker did not
know where he was and advised the
sergeants that they were trying to
get to the Center Road Bridge on the
Tittabawassee River.
Sgt. Kimmerly advised that
it was at least 10 miles away and they
would capsize in the high winds.
Due to the extremely
dangerous situation, the sergeants
put the kayaks and the three indi-
viduals in their jet boat and took
them back to their vehicle.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 9
8/28/2017 10:51:21 AM

ON PATROL Cont.
The adults were issued cita-
tions for no PFDs and the sergeants
took some extra time discussing the
possible ramifications of the situ-
ation they put themselves and the
infant into.
Hard to drive with a beer in your hand
While conducting ORV
patrol in Sanilac County, CO Mark
Siemen stopped two ORVs with
female operators, one of which had
a small child riding on the back of
the ORV.
CO Siemen observed the
subjects riding on the road with no
helmets and the minor child on the
back holding onto the operator.
As CO Siemen got closer and
prepared to stop the ORV, he saw
one of the females throw a beer can
into the ditch. She stopped once the
overhead lights were activated on
the patrol truck.
The second operator had
trouble stopping her ORV because
of the beer can in her hand. Once
both subjects were stopped, enforce-
ment action was taken. Multiple
citations were issued and one of the
female subjects will be appearing
in court for operating an ORV on
the road with a denied and revoked
license.
Listen to your COs
While conducting a marine
safety patrol on Lake Huron, CO
Mark Siemen had contact with a
subject in a kayak about a half mile
out from the Lexington break wall
that did not have a PFD with him.
During a conversa-
tion, and while issuing him a
citation, the kayaker stated he
knew how to swim. CO Siemen
advised that due to the cold and
rough waters, making it to shore
would be pretty difficult and that
even if he can swim he still needs a
life jacket while in a kayak.
10 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 12
After issuing the citation,
CO Siemen motored about a half
mile away and was watching other
boaters. After a period of time, CO
Siemen saw the kayaker in the water
waving his arms and struggling to
swim.
CO Siemen quickly motored
over to the subject. As he arrived,
he saw the kayak upside down and
sinking. CO Siemen grabbed the
subject and assisted him into the
patrol boat.
Once in the boat, the subject
advised that the CO was right about
trying to swim — that it was too cold
and rough. The subject stated his
kayak took on water and tipped, and
he could not get back to it because it
was sinking in the water.
After gathering the subject’s
items, he was transported to the
harbor and thanked CO Siemen
multiple times for helping him.
That's one way to get lines in the water
While on marine patrol
over the Memorial Day weekend
COs Greg Patten, Chris Simpson
and Sgt. Jeff Rabbers made contact
with numerous anglers trolling for
salmon.
One subject had set up his
passenger seat to look like an angler,
outfitting it with a coat and hat to
justify running too many lines.
A second boat check revealed
that the subjects were operating an
unlicensed charter boat where one
of the subjects did not have a valid
fishing license.
A marine safety inspection
also revealed a supply of marijuana
aboard the vessel. Enforcement
action was taken for the fishing
violations and a warrant is being
sought for the drug violations.
June 18 - July 1, 2017
It sounds logical
CO Jeremy Sergey and CO Jeff
Dell noticed a large pile of debris
burning on an individual’s prop-
erty. There was also a house cut in
half on the property.
Upon investigation, it was
revealed that the owner had cut his
house in half and burned it in his
backyard.
The owner claimed there
was black mold growing in the
house and he
didn’t want it becoming a health
hazard so he burned the house.
Law enforcement action was
taken.
'I don't bruise like a peach'
CO Mark Zitnik along
with Michigan State Police were
dispatched to a domestic in progress.
Upon arrival, the boyfriend
was complaining that his girlfriend
was beating on him.
Further investigation
revealed that the boyfriend had
been striking his girlfriend.
When the CO and trooper
put the individual under arrest he
stated, “Look at all the marks on my
body from her.” The trooper said
to the boyfriend, “I do not see any
marks on you.” The boyfriend said,
“I don’t bruise like a peach for God
sake.”
The jackpot of no-nos
After completing marine
patrol on Torch Lake in Antrim
County, Sgt. DePew observed a
vehicle approaching him traveling
southbound in the northbound lane.
Within seconds, Sgt. DePew
had to make an evasive maneuver
to avoid a head-on collision. He then
made a U-turn and began pursuing
the vehicle into the Village of Alden.
He briefly lost sight of
the vehicle due to the operator
attempting to elude the officer.
8/28/2017 10:51:21 AM
 As he entered the village with his
emergency lights and siren on, citi-
zens began pointing and yelling in
the direction the vehicle had gone.
Thanks to the citizens, the
vehicle and operator were located a
short distance away.
Upon contact, the driver
attempted to flee on foot, but Sgt.
DePew was able to apprehend
the subject after a brief physical
encounter.
The driver was arrested for
operating under the influence of a
motor vehicle, fleeing and eluding
a police officer, resisting arrest,
possession of marijuana and having
a loaded handgun.
Kalkaska and Antrim
County Sheriff’s Departments along
with the Michigan State Police
assisted. Charges are pending at the
Antrim County Prosecutor’s Office.
Some like dogs, others like deer
CO William Kinney received
an anonymous complaint of an
individual who was rehabilitating a
whitetail fawn without a permit.
CO Kinney went to the home
to question the homeowner about
the complaint. The homeowner
initially denied having a fawn in
her possession. She did, however,
lead the CO to believe the deer was
currently in the home.
She stated several times, she
knew how to raise a deer and if she
did have one it would be well taken
care of. Eventually, after several
minutes of questioning, the home-
owner admitted to CO Kinney she
did in fact have a fawn and allowed
the CO to come inside.
The homeowner stated she
had rescued the fawn after finding
the adult doe hit along the road. She
knew she wasn’t supposed to have it
and apologized for lying to the CO.
The fawn was seized from
the homeowner and taken to a
wildlife
rehabilitator.
CO hero saves young child
CO Josiah Killingbeck was
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 13
directly involved with a young child
who had a near-drowning experi-
ence on the Pere Marquette River.
CO Killingbeck responded
to a 911 call of two subjects
clinging to an overturned canoe.
CO Killingbeck’s knowledge of the
river allowed him to quickly find the
victims.
With the help of the Lake
County Sheriff’s Department, CO
Killingbeck was able to crawl out
on a log in a very high and fast
moving current and grab onto the
young child who was reported to
have been trapped under water
and under a canoe for four to five
minutes.
CO Killingbeck also assisted
an adult out of the river. The child
was taken to a local hospital and
later transferred to a down state
hospital, but is expected to survive.
How fast is a woodchuck?
While conducting an ORV
patrol in Sanilac County, CO Mark
Siemen made contact with a large
number of subjects and gave
multiple warnings for a number of
ORV violations.
During the patrol, CO
Siemen observed a side-by-side ORV
pull to the side of the road and the
operator leave the ORV and walk
into a field.
As CO Siemen
drove closer to the
side-by-side he observed an uncased
rifle in the front area of the
side-by-side.
The operator then walked
back to the side-by-side and advised
CO Siemen that he was hunting
woodchucks in the field.
CO Siemen asked the subject
if the uncased rifle was loaded,
to which the subject stated it was
loaded with a round in the chamber.
The subject stated he keeps it loaded
because the woodchucks are very
fast and he does not have time to
shoot them if he has to uncase and
load the rifle.
CO Siemen educated
the subject on the laws of trans-
porting a loaded/uncased firearm.
Enforcement action was taken.
Fixing the wing
After coming off shift, CO
Joseph Deppen received a phone
call from dispatch involving an
injured juvenile bald eagle that fell
out of its nest after a storm knocked
a large tree to the ground.
The caller reported the juve-
nile bald eagle may have a broken
wing and the mother eagle may
also be trapped beneath the fallen
debris.
CO Deppen contacted CO
Brad Silorey and both COs launched
their patrol boat on Lake St. Clair
and proceeded to the callers loca-
tion on a nearby island.
With the male bald eagle-
circling and watching, the juvenile
bald eagle was located and rescued
from the fallen tree.
Using chainsaws, the COs
cut their way through the rest of the
tree but were not able to locate the
mother eagle.
The juvenile eagle was taken
to a local rehabilitation facility. The
following day, the juvenile eagle was
sent to Michigan State University
for surgery on its wing.
Veterinarians hope to use
pins, screws, and plates to stabilize
the wing for the juvenile eagle and
nurse it back to health.
Please stop and thank our brave
COs if you happen to see them
in the field. More often than not,
they are only trying to inform the
public of regulations or safety
standards, not issue tickets.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 11
8/28/2017 10:51:22 AM
 Around MICHIGAN
CONSERVATION NEWS FROM TWO PENINSULAS AND FOUR GREAT LAKES
DNR meeting discussed
dredging work
The Michigan Department
of Natural Resources hosted a
meeting to tell the public about a
proposed dredging project designed
to restore the Grand Traverse
Harbor channel and help protect
Buffalo Reef.
A U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers map shows the stamp
sands area in Houghton County.
Public input from this meeting will
be considered before the project
application is finalized.
Representatives of several
agencies cooperating with the DNR
on the proposed project will attend
the session, including the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
and the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality.
Tailings, or waste rock from
mining, known locally as “stamp
sands,” were dumped into Lake
Superior near the community of
Gay more than 100 years ago. These
sands have moved, with the action
of the lake, about 5 miles south
along the coast and in nearshore
areas.
The stamps sands are now
filling in Grand Traverse Harbor
and threaten Buffalo Reef, an
important spawning area for lake
trout and whitefish.
The DNR is applying for a
permit from the DEQ, under the
12 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 14
Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act,
to allow the Army Corps to remove
some of the stamp sands from the
lake. Doing this will reestablish the
Grand Traverse Harbor channel
and provide 5-7 years of protection
for Buffalo Reef.
Michigan Arctic Grayling
Initiative announces action plan
mapping out future efforts
The Michigan Arctic
Grayling Initiative – a statewide
partnership effort focused on
restoring self-sustaining popula-
tions of this native fish – unveiled its
official action plan at July's Natural
Resources Commission meeting in
Lansing. The plan details the initia-
tive’s goals and various activities it
plans to accomplish over the next
several years. it possible for residents and visitors
This initiative, founded to once again find this slate-blue
by the Michigan Department of beauty with the distinctive dorsal
Natural Resources and the Little fin in Michigan waters.”
River Band of Ottawa Indians, was This initiative is looking
announced in June 2016 and consists for resources from a variety of
of 32 organizations. sources to help reach its goals, like
The action plan is the result the Consumers Energy Foundation
of multiple meetings of the part- grant the DNR, the Little River Band
ners where ideas, questions and of Ottawa Indians and Michigan
information gaps were identified Technological University received
and then condensed into four main in February 2017. These funds are
focus areas: research, management, being used to collect habitat and
fish production and outreach and fish community data in the upper
education. Big Manistee River and create an
“Large populations of outreach plan.
Arctic grayling were once found “Contributions by organi-
throughout Michigan’s Lower zations like the Consumers Energy
Peninsula and even in an Upper Foundation are invaluable as this
Peninsula stream. In fact, this initiative works toward making a
iconic, cold-water fish species dream a reality,” said Frank Beaver,
was native only to Michigan and director of the Little River Band of
Montana in the lower 48 states,” said Ottawa Indians' Natural Resources
DNR Fisheries Chief Jim Dexter. Department. “It’s so exciting to see
“With the launch of the Arctic so many partners working to try and
grayling action plan, we’re moving bring back this significant species.”
an important step closer to making
8/28/2017 10:51:22 AM
 DNR seeks public's help with Annual
Canada geese case in Muskegon DNR Fisheries Division's 2016
County accomplishments and activities
The Michigan Department
of Natural Resources is asking
for the public’s assistance as it
investigates a July 10 incident on
Muskegon County’s Mona Lake in
which personal watercraft riders
killed and injured several Canada
geese on Mona Lake.
Witnesses report seeing
two personal watercraft operators
running over the geese shortly
before 2 p.m. The riders drove in
circles around the flock before
plowing through it, injuring about
three geese. A citizen’s video
provided to conservation officers
shows injured geese swimming
away. Witnesses later found one of
the geese that died.
The riders are described as
Caucasian, one of whom has long
hair. One watercraft is purple and
the other is white and yellow.
“The DNR takes any abuse
of Michigan’s natural resources
seriously,” said Lt. Gerald Thayer,
District 7 supervisor for the DNR’s
Law Enforcement Division. “It’s
important we identify the suspects
involved in this incident so justice
is served. We appreciate any infor-
mation citizens can provide that
helps us resolve this case.”
Illegally taking waterfowl is
a misdemeanor punishable by up to
90 days in jail and fines.
An individual offering infor-
mation that leads to a successful
conviction may be eligible for a
reward through the Report All
Poaching (RAP) program.
Anyone with information is
encouraged to call or text the RAP
line at 800-292-7800. While citizens
can remain anonymous, they must
provide their names if they wish to
be eligible for a reward. The RAP
line is a convenient, effective way
for citizens to report the illegal
taking of fish or game, or damage
to our natural resources. The line
is open 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 15
report highlights
The Michigan Department
of Natural Resources anounced
in July that the DNR Fisheries
Division’s report highlighting
various management efforts
accomplished during Fiscal Year
2016 is available online at michigan.
gov/fishing.
Again this year there are
two components to the report: a
13-page document with full details
of DNR fisheries management work
completed in the past year and a
9-inch-by-12-inch printed trifold
brochure (available as a PDF) that
visually summarizes the content.
The 2016 Fisheries Division
Annual Report focuses on the
programs and work completed in
the past fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2015,
through Sept. 30, 2016) by division
staff in an effort to maintain and
improve Michigan’s fisheries. The
report categorizes work within
the goals developed as part of the
division's five-year strategic plan,
published in March 2013.
Highlights of the report
include dam removal efforts,
habitat restoration work, preven-
tion of aquatic invasive species,
state-record fish, fisheries popu-
lation changes, education and
outreach efforts, partnerships,
research, fish stocking, energy
efficiencies and much more.
“We’re always pleased to
present our annual report to provide
a regular snapshot of the critical
work Fisheries Division is doing
to manage Michigan’s world-class
aquatic resources,” said Fisheries
Division Chief Jim Dexter. “These
reports help us track our progress
as we work toward completing our
strategic plan and we are proud to
share them with the public.”
The Fisheries Division
welcomes input from readers of the
2016 annual report. Comments may
be shared via email to DNR-Fish-
Accomplishments@michigan.gov.
DNR Conservation Officers
Mike Evink, Ben Shively cited
for lifesaving actions
Two Michigan Department
of Natural Resources conservation
officers were recognized for saving
the lives of accident victims in
the Upper Peninsula and Oceana
County earlier this year.
Conservation Officers Mike
Evink and Ben Shively received
the DNR’s Lifesaving Award for
their respective actions in two
separate incidents. The awards
were presented during the regular
meeting of the Michigan Natural
Resources Commission in Lansing.
“Conservation Officers
Evink and Shively are perfect exam-
ples of the type of law enforcement
professionals we train our officers
to be,” said Gary Hagler, DNR Law
Enforcement Division Chief, who
presented the awards. “Because of
their rigorous training and profes-
sional demeanors, both officers
immediately responded to their
respective situations and were able
to save lives. The DNR is proud to
have Mike Evink and Ben Shively
in its ranks.”
If you see topics in the media that are of
interest to you and that you think might be of
interest to our readers, please send an email
to Nick Green at editor@michiganoutof-
doors.com so they can be included in the
next issue of Michigan Out-of-Doors.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 13
8/28/2017 10:51:22 AM
 Conservation Nation
CONSERVATION NEWS FROM THE REST OF THE COUNTRY
Ducks Unlimited testifies in
Senate on behalf of sportsmen
WASHINGTON, D.C. – July
19, 2017 – Ducks Unlimited CEO
Dale Hall testified in front of the
Environment and Public Works
(EPW) Committee in the Senate
on behalf of S. 1514; The Hunting
Heritage and Environmental
Legacy Preservation (HELP) for
Wildlife Act.
The HELP Act includes
reauthorization of the North
American Wetlands Conservation
Act (NAWCA) — one of Ducks
Unlimited’s top priorities, along
with several other important
provisions designed to improve the
management of fish and wildlife
habitat as well as outdoor recreation
including hunting and fishing. Hall
was one of five panelists to testify
before the EPW committee led by
Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY)
and Ranking Member Tom Carper
(D-DE).
"NAWCA has conserved
valuable wetlands across the
continent, but we are still in need
of additional work," said DU CEO
Dale Hall. "Wetlands are still under
threat across the continent. NAWCA
14 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 16
is a non-regulatory approach,
working with the landowners to get
the job done, which we believe is the
most effective way to conserve these
wetlands. The HELP for Wildlife
Act is a good bill, it is a bipartisan
bill and it is a bill that is very much
needed."
The HELP for Wildlife Act
will:
• reauthorize NAWCA until 2023.
• reauthorize the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation Act until
2023.
• reauthorize the Neotropical
Migratory Bird Conservation Act
untill 2023 .
• reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay
Program until 2023.
• clarify what constitutes baiting
migratory birds to protect agricul-
ture produces and hunters alike.
Since its inception in 1989, grants
from NAWCA have totaled more
than $1.4 billion and leveraged $2.9
billion in non-federal contributions
from partners, impacting more than
33.4 million acres. Contributions
have far exceeded match require-
ments, allowing for the implementa-
tion of wetland habitat conservation
projects across North America.
License fee increase requested
by Ohio sportsmen
According to the Columbus-
based Sportsmen’s Alliance, Ohio’s
hunters, anglers and trappers are
doing something most citizens never
do: asking Ohio’s governor, state
representatives and state senators
to raise the license fees for these
activities in Ohio. Concerned about
counties with no law enforcement
presence, decreased fish stocking,
decreases in wildlife habitat
management and a growing list of
projects that need to be done, some
of Ohio’s top conservation groups
are uniting to ask the legislature to
allow sportsmen to continue to pay
their own way as they have done for
decades.
The Ohio Department of
Natural Resources Division of
Wildlife (ODOW) is funded almost
entirely (96%) by sportsmen’s
dollars. These funds pay for law
enforcement, wildlife habitat
enhancements, endangered species
programs, fish stocking, boating
access, shooting ranges and much
more. However, many of these
programs have increasingly fallen
on hard times because the fees paid
by hunters, anglers and trappers
have not been updated for 14 years.
“In 2003, Ohio sportsmen
and women promised then-Gov-
ernor Bob Taft that if he raised
license fees that the funds would
last for at least ten years,” said Luke
Houghton, associate director of
state services for the Sportsmen’s
Alliance. “We’ve gone well past
that mark now, and it’s time to take
action. Rising healthcare costs and
other increases over the past 14
years have taken their toll on the
services sportsmen and women, and
all Ohioans, have come to rely upon.
8/28/2017 10:51:22 AM
 We’re asking Governor Kasich and
the legislature to address this need
by raising license fees.”
Unlike many government
agencies that use general taxpayer
dollars, Ohio sportsmen and women
gladly pay their own way to ensure
quality habitat, great fisheries, and
diligent law enforcement. These
things have made hunting a $1.4
billion per year economic driver in
Ohio, and fishing more than double
that at $2.9 billion per year.
“Without an increase
however, customer satisfaction will
continue to drop, and the hunting
and fishing economies with it,”
Houghton said. “Fortunately, this
is all preventable because Ohio’s
outdoor community is willing to pay
for the needed improvements.”
The Sportsmen’s Alliance,
along with 22 other conservation
organizations are asking the legisla-
ture to address the issue by taking
two steps. First, according to the
Alliance, by addressing the cost of
non-resident deer hunting in Ohio,
which is the lowest of any quality
white-tailed deer hunting state in
the country at $149 for a license
and tag. The average for other high-
quality deer states is $393, with the
lowest cost states around $250. By
raising the cost of non-resident deer
hunting to $250, Ohio will remain
attractive to the current 40,000
non-residents who hun there, while
decreasing the burden faced by resi-
dent hunters and anglers.
Second, the Sportsmen’s
Alliance said that by addressing
the inequity on non-resident costs,
the increase on resident hunting
and fishing fees could be a modest
$3. The two user fee increases are
fair to non-residents and modest
on Ohioans. More importantly, the
group contends, they will provide
the funds to solve the issues that
concern Ohio’s sportsmen. For
more information, visit sportsmen-
salliance.com.
Ruffed Grouse Society: National
Monument Review
Coraopolis, PA – The Ruffed
Grouse Society and American
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 17
Woodcock Society (RGS/AWS)
recently provided public comment
urging the Secretary of the Interior
to commit to providing young
forest habitat when setting expec-
tations for national monument
management. The input empha-
sized the need for even-age forest
management to sustain abundant
game and non-game wildlife,
provide high quality hunting, and
benefit local timber and outdoor
recreation economies.
“Our comments provide
advice for specific steps Secretary
Zinke could take and offer our
support to help establish the
Katahdin Woods and Waters
National Monument as a prece-
dent-setting model of sustainable
forest and wildlife management,”
said RGS/AWS President and CEO
John Eichinger.
National monuments may
be designated or expanded by the
President of the United States
under authority of the Antiquities
Act of 1906. The Katahdin Woods
and Waters National Monument
(Katahdin Woods) in Maine was
designated by President Barack
Obama on August 24, 2016.
An Executive Order issued by
President Donald Trump in April
directed the Department of the
Interior to review the designa-
tions of 27 national monuments
established since 1996. Other
than Katahdin Woods, all monu-
ments to be reviewed are located
in western states or are marine
national monuments. The review
has triggered considerable public
response, with more than 1.4
million comments submitted.
“We are among the
most passionate organizations
defending the overall benefits of
public lands,” noted Dr. Brent
Rudolph, director of conservation
policy for RGS/AWS, “but we are
one of the few voices working to
raise awareness and prompt action
regarding the poor conservation
performance on federal properties
with respect to providing young
forest habitat.”
The original Katahdin
Woods designation did commit to
maintaining public hunting access
on more than half of the approx-
imately 87,500 total acres within
the monument. No provision was
made to engage in commercial
forest management. The comments
submitted by RGS/AWS conveyed
appreciation and support for the
original commitment to allow
hunting on much of Katahdin
Woods, but noted “protecting
hunting access to these areas and
to public lands in general will
prove a hollow gesture without
ensuring they provide high quality
habitat.”
Within the eastern United
States and Canada, Dr. Rudolph
indicated 53 percent of the bird
species that breed in shrub-dom-
inated or young forest habitats
have declined since 1980, compared
to decline among just 34 percent
of the bird species that breed in
mature forests.
“Beyond simply the oppor-
tunity for benefitting local popu-
lations of young forest species,”
said Dr. Rudolph, “appropriate
management of Katahdin Woods
could serve as a precedent-setting
model to demonstrate that active
forest management is compat-
ible with multiple local values
and necessary to sustain healthy
forest habitat, abundant wildlife,
and future opportunities to enjoy
our public lands in pursuit of our
national sporting heritage.”
Dr. Brent Rudolph is the new director
of conservation policy for RGS and
AWS.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 15
8/28/2017 10:51:22 AM
 Woodcock
by Mark Romanack

S Central
ummertime is walleye time all across the Great Lakes region. The dog days of summer have a rep-
utation for delivering poor fishing, but in Great Lakes waters some of the best walleye fishing of the
year heats up as spring rolls into summer. Places like Saginaw Bay, Lake Erie, Little Bay de Noc and
Munuscong Bay produce limit catches of eating sized walleyes on a daily basis.

Fishermen have lots of options when it comes to catching summer walleye, but the tried and true
nightcrawler harness, aka “spinner rig”, is hands down the go to choice of walleye anglers in the know. Spin-
ner rigs flat out catch walleye and these rigs can be fished in a multitude of ways. The versatility of the spinner

by BobGwizdz
rig makes them not only deadly, but a lure and live bait combination that can be depended upon to consistently
catch fish.

16 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 18 8/28/2017 10:51:23 AM

 W hen it comes to naming favorite game animals in
Michigan, you will go through a bunch of species
before you ever get to woodcock.
Deer, ducks, grouse, geese — heck, I
suspect rabbits and squirrels are more likely
to be named before woodcock, which seem to
be added as an afterthought to ruffed grouse.
That’s not right. Personally, I’d just as
soon we ditch the robins — which we share
with two other states as official birds — and
replace it with the American woodcock.
The woodcock is an unusual critter — a member
of the shorebird family that has adapted to live in the
uplands. It is an important game bird in the Eastern
United States and though it is a migratory species,
wintering largely along the Gulf Coast, no state has more
of claim to woodcock than Michigan. Michigan produces
more woodcock than any other state. Hunters kill more
woodcock in Michigan than any other state. More
woodcock are banded in Michigan than any other state.
Most closely resembling Wilson’s snipe in
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 19
appearance, though, they are of a different genus —
woodcock are rounder than snipe with shorter legs.
They have large eyes set in the middle of their heads
that give them near 360-degree vision. Uniquely, the
upper mandible of the bird’s long, straight bill is flex-
ible, allowing them to probe the ground for inverte-
brates. Earthworms make up the vast bulk of their diet.
Unlike snipe, which are associated with
marshes and wet meadows, woodcock are forest birds,
living in areas of early succession. They are often
associated with ruffed grouse, as they prefer similar
habitats, and it isn’t unusual to find them in the same
proximity, though woodcock appear to be significantly
more widespread. Grouse are generally associated with
aspen stands, as aspen is an important part of their diet.
Woodcock are often found in aspens because of their
preference for high stem density, but they don’t require
it. In fact, in places where aspen grow in sandy soil,
woodcock may be absent; there are not a lot of earth-
worms in the sand. Soft, moist, rich soils are the key.
8/28/2017 10:51:24 AM
 Chuck Riley takes a woodcock from his German shorthaired pointer, Gena. Riley's woodcock hunting success has come
all over the state, with a fair amount of it in Southern Michigan.
Because of their linkage to grouse among
hunters, woodcock are generally thought of as
Northern Michigan birds, where the bulk of Michigan’s
aspen stands occur. But there are plenty of woodcock
in Southern Michigan, where they prosper in any
thick, young woodlots. Any multi-stemmed shrubs or
brush – autumn olive, honeysuckle, even young maple
stands – give them the cover they need to escape avian
predators.
In recent years, I’ve taken to hunting wood-
cock significantly more in southern Michigan, often in
young woodlots on state game areas. One of my hunting
partners, Chuck Riley, does the bulk of his woodcock
hunting (and woodcock banding in the spring) within
easy driving distance of his Lansing home.
“Why would I drive 150 miles to hunt woodcock
when I can find a limit of birds within 50 miles of my
home?” Riley asked.
I hunt with Riley a day or two each fall, and it’s
rare that we don’t kill our six woodcock. Sometimes
we’re done in short order. And often when we aren’t, it’s
because one of us (and that would be me) isn’t shooting
as well as he should. It isn’t often for a lack of birds.
Most importantly, we usually hunt in late
September/early October, well before the birds have
begun migrating south. Usually, woodcock numbers in
Southern Michigan seem to only increase as the season
stretches into mid- to late October/early November.
18 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 20
Still, it is not unusual to find woodcock – presumably
migrants – along the woody edges of pheasant hunting
fields right up until the opening of rifle season.
“I started out hunting in Southern Michigan
with Andy Amman back in the mid-1970s,” said Riley,
a retiree who owns German shorthaired pointers
and is determined to exercise them nearly every day.
“Actually, we found quite a few grouse down here back
then, too, and I’ve talked to a lot of guys who said there
were a lot more in the ‘60s and early ‘70s.”
These days, grouse in Southern Michigan are
more rare than Detroit Lions championships. But not
woodcock, which can be found all-season long.
“I shoot very few woodcock in aspen,” said Riley,
who is increasingly chasing the needle-nosed birds
south of M-57. “I find them in young oaks, willows, and
alders down around the edge of swamps. You find them
in autumn olives and those doggone raspberries that
the dogs don’t want to go in after them. And I find them
in that low stuff in that mud – how would I describe it?
Swamp brush.”
Riley, who participates with the federal wood-
cock survey by sending in wings, says 75 percent of the
birds he kills come from south of Clare, despite making
occasional forays into the North county. Riley also
bands woodcock, and though he usually makes a week-
long pilgrimage to the Houghton Lake area to band, the
bulk of the chicks he finds are in Southern Michigan.
8/28/2017 10:51:25 AM
 Riley’s chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society is like just as often I hear guys tell me that they can’t seem
active in funding woodcock habitat management proj- to hit woodcock. They do have an unusual flight pattern
ects in Southern game areas — most notably Rose Lake – unlike grouse which tend to fly straight away – but
and Gratiot-Saginaw. He’s banded birds at Rose Lake I think I do better on woodcock simply because they
(though he doesn’t hunt there) and says he’s seeing the often flush much closer than grouse. Woodcock depend
habitat manipulation pay off. on their natural camouflage as part of their survival
“There are a lot of birds in Southern Michigan, strategy, and it isn’t unusual to see them on the ground
but they’re doing a lot more management now,” he said. mere feet ahead of your dog’s nose. Woodcock hold well
“Very few people who you tell about hunting grouse for a point — they are excellent quarry when training a
and woodcock will believe you if you tell them you hunt young dog.
down here. If you’re really serious about grouse, you I prefer to hunt them with a 20-gauge light
have to go to Gladwin or Roscommon County, but there shotgun that I can shoulder and point quickly with an
are a lot more birds around here than people think.” open choke. I like size seven and a half or eight shot,
“One year, I really got into them around the 10th though I have some buddies who prefer size nine. But
of October,” he continued. “They were thick. I’ve seen I like to have a little more oomph behind my load in
places where you put them up three at a time — 30 birds case I have to reach out to get them. That’s not often
in a half hour on 10 acres — and they weren’t there two the case, though, generally you have a narrow window
days earlier. But I’ve seen when you go out and shoot when shooting woodcock as you are often in stuff so
your limit, then flush 20 more birds on the way back to thick you have to fight your way through it — though as
the truck, then go back the next day and not find a bird. the season progresses and the leaves fall, longer shots
They’re gone.” are possible.
“In 2014, I moved 18 to 20 birds on the last day of Woodcock will never replace grouse as table
the season,” Riley said. fare, though they are, depending on your palate, quite
Ah, the season. It used to run concurrent with flavorful. They are dark-breasted (oddly enough, their
the early grouse season — Sept. 15 to Nov. 14. But legs are light meat) and if you don’t like waterfowl for
woodcock had been in a long-term decline since the the table, you would probably hate woodcock. There
mid-1960s and about a dozen years ago, the feds decided are certainly those who hunt grouse and ignore wood-
to shorten the system and delay the opener. Under the cock. I’m not one of them. I figure if the dog does its
current federal framework, woodcock season can open job and points a woodcock, it deserves an opportunity
the Saturday closest to Sept. 20 and run for 45 days. to retrieve it, too.
Michigan has opted for the earliest possible opener
(anywhere from Sept. 17 to Sept. 23, depending on the
Chuck Riley exam-
calendar) and runs a continuous 45-day season. Captain Jake Ro- manack of Fish-
ines a woodcock
The woodcock population decline seems to have ing 411 TV holds a typical "eater"
he harvested at a
tapered off somewhat, but Al Stewart, the Department of Great Lakes wall- eye taken troll-
Southern Michigan
Natural Resources upland game bird specialist, ing spinner rigs in the Mich-
state game
warns hunters from assuming there’s a cause- igan waters of Lake Erie near
area.
and-effect relationship between the more Bolles Harbor
restricted season and the change in popula-
tion trends. For one thing, there are far fewer
woodcock hunters now – it’s all deer, all the
time, right? – and the DNR has made early
succession forest management a priority.
“In Michigan, we continue to work
hard to create early successional forest
habitat,” Stewart said. “We’re aggressively
harvesting aspen and providing habitat for
woodcock. Other states have helped priori-
tize young forests, too.”
An example is Michigan’s GEMS –
Grouse Enhanced Management System – areas
that are harvested in a manner to continuously
provide young habitat on any given area. Woodcock
hunting at most of the GEMS is top-notch.
Although I would characterize myself as a
“grouse and woodcock” hunter when I go afield with
my dog, I’ve got to confess that I shoot many
more woodcock than I do grouse. Some other
hunters will admit as much, too, but it seems

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 21 8/28/2017 10:51:27 AM

Gundogs should be part of the family
Shotgun Kennel owners Tim and Debbie Lintz sometimes have to get creative when they approach training their German short-
haired pointers. The couple uses an elementary school near their home to work their GSP, Eva , during some "woah" work.
Urban sprawl has had
its effect not only on wildlife but
keeping, raising and training a
hunting dog has become increas-
ingly more challenging.
It seems that everyone from
local units of government to home-
owner associations are making
rules which make it more difficult to
own dogs. The rules range from how
many dogs you can have and how
big they can be to whether or not
you are allowed to have an outdoor
kennel or even a fenced-in yard.
In addition to the regula-
tions which present challenges
for keeping a gundog in suburbia,
are the myths or perceptions
which persist about hunting dogs
in general. Some of these include
hunting dogs being too hyper to
have in the house, not making great
pets and that they are not good with
kids.
One of my favorite myths,
though, is you shouldn’t let your
hunting dog live in the house
because it will make them soft. As
I mentioned, there are challenges
raising a high-energy hunting breed
20 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 22
in suburbia. However, these chal-
lenges can often have great benefits
to both you and your hunting buddy.
I often bristle at the notion
hunting dogs, and especially my
German shorthaired pointers, are
hyper. I will admit, the hunting
breeds can be high-energy, prey-
driven, intelligent dogs which
require exercise for both their
mental and physical wellbeing —
but hyper they are not. They are
intense in the field and are able to
switch it off in the home when given
the proper amount of attention and
exercise. Keeping a high-energy dog
inside during the day while you are
at work and keeping the dog happy
can be done and is done by many.
Crate training is the key. A
roomy crate will become the dog’s
nest where it will learn to feel safe
and secure and you will have the
peace of mind your buddy is not
home eating the couch or chewing
the drywall down to the studs.
Our dogs are always crated when
they are home alone for extended
periods of time. It is what you do
with your dog when you are home
by Tim Lintz
that determines whether or not
your pooch with make a successful
hunting/family dog.
When you or the kids get
home from work or school, the first
thing that needs to be done is the
dog should be let out to take care of
business and get a bit of exercise.
How is this a benefit of having an
inside dog versus an outside dog?
It requires interaction between
the dog and its human family. An
outside dog can be ignored while
you unwind from the daily grind
or until you get around to feeding
it. Immediately taking care of the
dog’s needs will help you and the
dog unwind together. It is great
therapy for you both.
After letting the dog take
a much needed potty break, take a
few minutes to give it some affection
or play a little game of fetch to help
it burn off a bit of energy. No matter
the day I have had, a mutual loving
enthusiastic greeting between me
and my dogs makes all things good
with the world. That does not always
happen if the dog is kenneled and
you get to it when you feel like it.
8/28/2017 10:51:27 AM
 I am fortunate to live on
enough acreage where I can have
several dogs — I currently have
four GSPs, all of which have lots
of energy, and although I do have a
separate kennel building, our dogs
ly
live in our home the vast majority of
the time. They are all able to spend
as much time out-of-doors as they
want when we are home.
Although I do not have a
physical fenced yard, I have an
underground electric fence. The
dogs wear a collar and as they get
close to the boundary they get a
warning “beep.” If they get too
close to the boundary they will get
a mild electric shock. The shock is
uncomfortable, but it will not injure
the dogs. Where physical fences are
not allowed, underground electric
fences are worth their weight in
gold. My GSPs will not pursue birds
or other animals beyond our under-
ground fence line. A good-quality
fence is a must. Not having the dog
kenneled outside 24/7 allows the dog
to roam the yard and explore a bit,
which is good for its mental state.
It will not be prone to idle barking,
raising the ire of the neighbors.
I still hear comments, espe-
cially when guiding for clients, inti-
mating that hunting dogs are not
really pets, and they are not good
with kids. If a dog spends its life in a
The Lintzs' female, Eva, displays her
intensity in the field despite being a
lap dog at home.
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 23
kennel, rarely being around people
enough to interact, understanding
what is permissible and what is not
isn’t clear — they haven’t gained
that knowledge.
It is called socialization
and training. Dogs want to be part
of your family pack. They want to
know where they rank in that pack
and understand the limits of what is
acceptable. You must establish the
rules, or the dog will. Although my
dogs don’t make the rules, I admit, I
have had to come to a compromise
with a couple of my more persistent
dogs. I hunt my dogs as much or
more than most because I guide at
a pheasant hunting preserve and
hunting for them is what they love
and are bred to do. However, an
overwhelming amount of their lives Tim Lintz's GSPs live by the motto, "if I
is spent as members of our family. fits, I sits." Lintz said it is important for
Their bad habits or what others gun dogs' health and hunting ability
perceive as bad habits in the house, to make them part of the family.
are habits I have allowed to creep be easily controlled and should be.
into our daily lives. I no longer Today, there is little reason
even consider my dogs as pets, I am why our four-legged hunting part-
sharing my life with them. ners can’t live in the house with us.
A dog being soft has nothing In addition, most of the best high-en-
to do with it living in the house any ergy dogs I have had the pleasure of
more than it does with people either hunting behind are also much-loved
being in shape for outdoor activi- family companions, which share
ties or not. It has everything to do their lives indoors with families. I
with diet and exercise. A dog living believe one of the biggest reasons
outdoors or in a kennel building will some of these great dogs perform
be in no better condition or be any so well in the field is because of the
tougher than a hunting dog raised bonding they get from living in the
in the home if the effort is not made home. It takes a great deal of dedi-
to keep it in condition. cation to the dog but they might just
Mankind domesticated dogs repay you with a grouse or pheasant
thousands of years ago, and it is meal and by giving unconditional
perhaps the single most successful love if you share your home with
relationship between man and your K-9 hunting buddy.
beast. Perhaps, in the past, keeping
a hunting dog
outside was more
of a necessary
situation because
of the limited Your e-collar Specialist Since 1988
ability we had Shop Local!
to control pests
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which dogs may
have brought into
the house such
as fleas and ticks.
However, with the 800-430-2010
advances in veter-
inary science, pest
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management can Traverse City MI 49696 Buy-Sell-Trade & Repair
MOOD.indd 1
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6/28/2017 11:58:06 AM
21
8/28/2017 10:51:28 AM
 One
in the hand
by Andy Duffy
Those aware of the tag alder-woodcock relationship find more birds
T
he woodcock took off on one of
the species' patented, twisting
flights through the brush.
Matt, my son-in-law, shot, but the
bird escaped unscathed. We'd seen
evidence enough to know we were
in timberdoodle country, though.
Neither of us had ever
hunted birds there before. We were
on the grounds of a summer camp.
The campers and staff had been gone
for weeks, however, and the organi-
zation's wintertime weekend retreat
season was still on the horizon.
Only a handful of permanent staff
members remained at work there,
and the two of us were far from any
buildings. My son-in-law is one of
the camp's permanent employees,
and he had permission to hunt
there.
Once October arrives,
daylight hours are much fewer than
during those halcyon days of June,
and work takes up far too much of
22 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 24
our lives. Hunting time is in short
supply. The two of us were trying
to seize the time and slip at least a
little hunting into the evening.
We had already exhausted
one covert. Shadows were length-
ening rapidly, and we had to get
somewhere else fast. We stood at the
truck talking things over.
"We can hunt at camp," Matt
said.
I didn't want to go. He'd taken
me rabbit hunting there before, and
I'd never seen any habitat I liked –
for rabbits or for birds. When he said
he knew of some tag alders there,
though, he piqued my interest. I still
wanted to go somewhere else, but
the camp was right down the road,
and those shadows kept getting
longer as we talked.
Matt drove onto the camp
grounds and steered his truck
toward a brace of ponds. Before us,
the tags rose up in a tangled mass of
More
in the
Bush
green. The two of us, followed by my
English springer, Lily, hopped from
the pickup and began uncasing and
loading our shotguns.
I didn't pay any attention to
Lily's actions. She'd worn her edge
off a little in the last covert we'd
hunted, and I figured she wouldn't
wander too far before we were
loaded up and ready to go. Besides,
she went the wrong direction along
the edge of the pond where we'd
parked. Instead of heading into the
thick stand of tag alders to our west,
she'd gone east where just a thin line
of the raggedy trees stood alongside
cattails and lily pads.
Then, the woodcock went
whistling across the pond. Lily must
have caught a faint whiff of bird
scent as soon as she exited the truck
and gone searching for whatever
made it.
I wasn't yet ready to shoot.
Reacting quickly, Matt snapped off
8/28/2017 10:51:29 AM
 a shot. The bird escaped his hail
of shotgun pellets. Still, the bird's
unexpected appearance was a good
omen even if it was bad luck.
The tag alders stretched out
in a broad expanse far larger than
I'd anticipated. Matt and I went
deeper and deeper into it while my
springer, Lily, flushed one woodcock
after another. Some birds we only
heard. Some we saw after a fashion.
They were the sightings a hunter
lists on his grouse and woodcock
cooperator log but birds he never
has a chance to fire a shot at. And
then, of course, were the
birds we did try to shoot.
We didn't finish with "The truth is that grouse and woodcock,
many birds. I think we got a
couple, though. I know we although they both are primarily ground-
both got some shooting in.
But darkness was falling dwelling birds, are entirely different crea-
quickly, and after 20 minutes
or so, we returned to the tures with entirely different habitat niches."
truck. The hunt just proved
once again, though, that tag
alders are woodcock magnets.
Probably every serious bird
hunter found in the Midwestern
and Eastern tiers of states – and
even some who aren't so serious –
knows a little about woodcock and
their preferred habitat. The long-
billed meat eaters probe around
in soft ground for worms, grubs,
insects and other fare consisting
of God knows what. Naturally, the
birds need damp soil. Many of their
preferred food items disappear as
soils dry out. The low-lying areas
in creek bottoms and around some
ponds, lakes and swamps, though,
remain moist much of the year.
Those areas harbor both tag alders
and the soil types preferred by
woodcock.
Time after time, I've proven
to myself that tags and woodcock
go together like, well, shotguns and
shotgun shells.
A lot of hunters may have
no idea what tag alders are. They're
found all over, though. They grow
across a broad swath of the conti-
nent from the Pacific Northwest
clear into Virginia. They typically
grow in clusters of trees, maybe
five or six to a group. Perhaps
that is where the name "tag" came
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 25
from. Cluster upon cluster of trees
follow the serpentine windings of
creeks across the countryside. And,
of course, as they do at the camp
where Matt works, they also grow
in and around wetlands.
Even under ideal conditions,
the trees never grow tall. They
reach a height of 30 feet, perhaps.
In the shade of the tall tags, though,
many forms of vegetation appar-
ently lack the sunlight to thrive.
Perhaps that is why woodcock can
find bare patches of soil to probe
with their bills.
The tags also offer protec-
tion for woodcock. As I mentioned,
the tags grow in clusters. All
the trees in a group seem to lean
outward as if a group of school
kids held hands to form a circle
and all leaned backwards. The tags,
though, have crooked branches
reaching back behind them. They
form a dense canopy, but they also
reach out with enough branches to
make walking difficult. A person
can find woodcock in the tags. When
a hunter flushes one, though, he
often will not get a shot off.
I've often pondered the diffi-
culty an earthbound predator would
have trying to catch a woodcock.
Woodcock are notorious
for sitting tight and only taking
off when a hunter
nearly steps on
them. Among
the low-lying
branches of the
tags a bird can
rise quickly
into a tangle of
branches nearly
impenetrable to
anything of size.
And once a wood-
cock reaches
the tangled tag alder limbs, it has
gotten away scot free.
Airborne predators must
have a similarly difficult time
trying to catch a woodcock. It would
take an amazingly talented hawk or
owl to swoop through the tangled
branches of tags to catch a timber-
doodle sitting on the ground. So tag
alder groves offer the two things a
woodcock needs – a food-rich buffet
and protection from predators. Find
the tags, and a person will almost
certainly find birds. If he doesn't
now, he will when the flights come
through.
I don't know how
long it took me to get wise
to the woodcock-tag alder
connection. Once I did,
though, I've always been
able to find birds. That
wasn't always the case.
Bird hunters hear
all the time that woodcock
and grouse have overlap-
ping habitat. Hunt grouse thickets,
we're told, and we'll stumble across
woodcock. Find woodcock and a
person will find grouse.
As all generalizations do,
that one has some truth to it. Just
often enough to tantalize a hunter,
grouse and woodcock cover seem
indistinguishable from each other.
All too often, though, the general-
ization will lead a person astray.
This is especially true during the
early bird season, a hunter can
pound classic grouse coverts and
seldom see a woodcock. During the
best years of the grouse cycle, that
may not be a problem. When grouse
numbers are low, though, a hunter
will find far fewer birds by focusing
just on grouse.
Mesick, MI
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 23
8/28/2017 10:51:29 AM

A hunter may find woodcock in the uplands, especially once the autumnal flights begin. For day in, day out success, though,
a person should look for them in the lowlands. When a hunter finds tag alders, he's found prime woodcock habitat.
The truth is that grouse and
woodcock, although they both are
primarily ground-dwelling birds,
are entirely different creatures with
entirely different habitat niches.
Sure, put them in a Venn diagram
and there's some overlap. Grouse,
though, eat a lot of berries, greenery
and buds. They like their salad just
fine, thank you. And because they're
usually content with their salads,
they will thrive in a lot of places
woodcock can't.
Woodcock are meat eaters.
They order off of a different menu
than grouse do. If grouse like eating
at the Candle Cafe, woodcock much
prefer the Mongolian Grill. One bird
has Neanderthal tendencies; the
other is more genteel. So the wood-
cock need to live in the damp, dark
places — the places where people
feel comfortable wearing boots and
ball caps. They need to muck around
in soft, worm-infested dirt.
Simply put, grouse are often
24 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 26
found in the uplands; woodcock are
almost always found in the lowlands.
To find birds regularly, a person
darned well better know the differ-
ence between grouse and woodcock
habitat, and he should hunt them
both. If a person isn't willing to get
his feet damp, he should just hunt
grouse. But woodcock hunting has
often saved the day for me when I
couldn't find grouse. I'd have been a
sad hunter if I wouldn't have found
woodcock.
Still, I'm never entirely
surprised when I flush a woodcock
from grouse cover. Birds are always
going to be where we find them, and
those locations may not be where
we expect them. That's one of the
things that makes hunting so fasci-
nating. A weed may be a plant out
of place, but a game bird is a game
bird wherever we find it. When we
find one where we don't expect it to
be, it's a bonus. Plus, we get to try
to understand why it's there. A large
Roger Sellnow
part of hunting is learning. And
an experienced woodcock hunter
will have learned this: Late in bird
season, after autumnal rains have
fallen and and the flights are on and
the ground is typically moist every-
where, woodcock can be anywhere.
And, of course, grouse can
be anywhere, too. I'm never really
surprised to flush one when I'm
clawing my way through a dense
growth of tag alders. The tags offer
grouse the same protection from
predators that they offer woodcock.
Where a person finds tags, he will
find water, too. Everyone knows
grouse seek the lowlands when
things are dry in the uplands.
Grouse and tag alders just
don't go hand-in-hand the way
woodcock and tags do, though. If a
person is searching for a sure thing,
one of the surest things I know is
that woodcock will be found in the
tags.
Tags are pretty common in
8/28/2017 10:51:30 AM
 the Lower Peninsula. Almost any
creek is likely to have some some-
where along its course. They're a
forest species with no commercial
value, so loggers leave them alone.
One of their major habitat niches is
along creeks, so farmers leave them
alone. Farmers can hardly drain the
land tags are on to make an arable
field: The creek is already draining
the area.
I hunt one farm that has a
pretty brook trout stream flowing
across it. Most years, corn grows
on either side of the creek. Steep
slopes slant down toward the creek,
though, and the creek bottom is
too boggy to till. Tags grow in
the bottom in wild profusion. A
person can occasionally flush a
grouse there. If he spends enough
time busting through the thickest,
nastiest tangles of tags, he can
almost always flush some woodcock
there, too. And on those magical
days, whether because a flock of
migrants moved in overnight or
because a person's biorhythms are
right, a person can flush woodcock
after woodcock along the entire
reach of the creek as it flows across
the farm. Such places are common.
In the Upper Peninsula,
though, a person can really
encounter the tags. There, tags
lead the way in terms of the total
amount of biomass produced by an
understory shrub. Anyone who has
ever fished the Fox River and other
Upper Peninsula trout streams can
attest to the acres of tag alders that
line their banks.
But a hunter looking for
woodcock should do more than look
for creeks and assume tag alders
– and woodcock – are there. He
should make certain he can identify
the things.
My hunting property has a
stream flowing across it. A profu-
sion of willows and other plants
and shrubs that demand moist soil
grows there. There's not a tag alder
anywhere on the place, though.
I can occasionally find wood-
cock in the willows along the creek.
Every spring, at least one pair of
woodcock will take up residence
there and try to raise a brood. When
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 27
the flights are coming through, I
might even flush five or six wood-
cock during an evening's hunt. The
place is never a consistent producer
of birds, though. Among the tags
is the place to look. A person can't
hunt in them if he doesn't know
what he's looking for.
I suppose no article about
woodcock hunting is entirely
complete without a word about
dogs.
Nobody needs a bird dog to
hunt woodcock. Find the habitat
and the birds will be there. Hunters
who bust the brush will will flush
them.
The bottom line is this: I
hunt with a dog because I like dogs
and enjoy their companionship.
Their presence adds an additional
enjoyable dimension to a hunt.
Does the presence of a dog
increase my number of flushes? I
don't know.
I'm also not much for
claiming a pointing dog is better
than a flushing dog for hunting
woodcock. I hunted with a superb
German shorthair for years, and I
currently have my springer. Both
types are fun to hunt with.
A hunter who plans to hunt
woodcock without a dog, though,
should consider how he will find the
Dan Kleeves and Hal Hutchinson, both of Evart, know where to find birds.
Understanding the habitat needs of a quarry is important to finding success
birds he shoots.
That can and should be a
serious consideration.
If a bird falls with any shrub-
bery between itself and the shooter,
it can be devilishly hard to find.
Woodcock wear better camouflage
than anything ever made by Realtree.
I never would have found the
first woodcock I ever shot if it hadn't
been for the German shorthair I had
along with me.
I thought I knew exactly
where the bird fell. It was in a
little knot of brush, though, and I
couldn't keep my eye right on the
spot. I searched and searched before
noticing my dog was on point several
yards away. I wasn't sure if it was a
second bird or the one I shot. I walked
up prepared to shoot. There on the
ground, though, was an already-
dead woodcock. The dog would
retrieve grouse and pheasants, but
she never did care about bringing me
my timberdoodles. Because I nearly
always have a dog along, though, I
seldom fail to recover one.
A hunter doesn't need to
worry about finding a dead bird,
though, until he has found a live
one. If he finds and hunts the tag
alders, he's almost certain to find
woodcock. It's about the surest bet I
know.
8/28/2017 10:51:31 AM
 December pheasants by Bob Gwizdz

The author holds a December pheasant that he shot out of one of his favorite grass fields in Central Michigan. To him, the
opening of pheasant season was just as important as deer or turkey opener growning up.

T he ground was covered with about eight inches had. Pheasant season was a big time thing in
of dry, recently fallen snow and the weatherman Southern Michigan. Back when there weren’t many
was predicting a whole bunch more in short order, (if any) deer around. There was plenty of bird habitat
so, I figured, it was now or never. I loaded up my scattered around the countryside, and just about
English setter, grabbed the Remington and headed everybody I knew who hunted, hunted pheasants.
out to one of my favorite Mid-Michigan grass fields. But if I were forced to make a choice –
About 10 minutes into it I had one of those and I try mightily to be in the field every Oct.
what-was-I-thinking moments. I was gasping, like 20 – I would give up October pheasant hunting
a fish out of water, as I fought my way across the as long as I could keep the December season.
plain. But about the time I was beginning to think Those of you who grew up in Southern
better of it, I noticed Rub locked on point, nearly Michigan and are a bit gray about the muzzle
50 yards ahead, near a stand of sumac. Had he remember that pheasant season was short and over too
found the last ruffed grouse in Southern Michigan? quickly running a mere 22 days, from Oct. 20 through
It took me longer than I would have liked to Nov. 10 for almost ever, then lengthened by one day in
catch up to my dog, but he stood frozen on point. I 1981, at which time I was living in South America (i.e.
surveyed the landscape to decide which was the best Mississippi). I returned to Michigan in 1989 (after a
approach to the thicket and two steps into it, a long- stint in Texas) anxious to return to pheasant hunting
tailed bird towered out the sumacs. About the time on a regular basis. Though I did get some pheasant
he was leveling off to get out of Dodge, I slapped the hunting in while in Texas – the Texas Panhandle is
trigger and dropped a gorgeous rooster into the snow. more like Nebraska than Dallas or Houston – it was
It was one of six pheasants I shot in Michigan a whole day’s drive from where I lived and there was
last season. Five of them were in December. virtually no public land. Pheasant hunting was a chore.
As a youngster, I thought Oct. 20 – opening day But I was perplexed that Michigan still ended
of pheasant season in Southern Michigan –was about the season before the firearms deer opener. Pheasant
as close to a holy day of obligation as a sportsman season in Texas didn’t even open until December, and

26 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 28 8/28/2017 10:51:39 AM

 pheasant country was the High Plains where winter
was cold and snowy. Why couldn’t we hunt pheasants in
Michigan in December? They did in the Dakotas, where
winter is no picnic. Was Michigan really that different?
If you remember the times, pheasant popula-
tions were strong (not ‘50s and ‘60s strong) enough in
the late '80s and '90s to allow a longer season, and the
Department of Natural Resources was banging the
drum about maximizing recreational opportunity.
Expanding pheasant hunting opportunity seemed
like a no brainer and, as a newspaper columnist, I
picked up the megaphone and shouted: Let’s do it.
I was armed with some simple facts; Minnesota
had run experimental extended seasons in select
parts of the state and surveys the following year
showed that there was no difference in subsequent
pheasant populations in areas with late closings as in
those areas with short seasons. There was, simply, no
biological reason not to have
a longer season and, in fact,
one of the biologists I talked
"I slapped the trigger and dropped a
gorgeous rooster into the snow. It was
s
to in Minnesota suggested
that reducing the number of
roosters might even HELP
pheasant populations as food
one of six pheasants I shot in Michigan
is limited in the winter and
roosters are able to out-com-
last season. Five of them were in
pete the hens for rations.
Meanwhile, I found
December."
it increasingly difficult to
gain access to private pheasant-hunting ground
because bow hunting was all the rage and a lot of
guys didn’t want you frogging around the property
they deer hunted. A December season just made sense.
My campaign picked up steam quickly. Al Stewart,
the current upland gamebird specialist, was on my side.
“We’re only hosting males,” he noted. “And for
breeding purposes, a male mates with multiple females.”
How many? No one knows for certain,
but private game breeders typically main-
tain 10 to 12 hens per rooster in their flocks.
Stewart had also heard the theory about
roosters outcompeting hens and agreed with me
that many of America’s best pheasant hunting
states held season that ran much longer than ours
— well into, and sometimes beyond, December.
“Most states with pheasant popu-
lations have December seasons,” Stewart
said. “It’s the norm, not the exception.”
In 1992, the Natural Resources Commission
extended pheasant season to Nov. 14. The next year,
it added Dec. 1-5 in a small southcentral area of the
state – between US-23 and US-131, south of M-57.
In 1994, the NRC, in response to hunters’
requests, extended the season to Dec. 11 and moved
the Northern boundary to M-46. In 1995 – again in
response to hunters’ requests — the NRC lengthened the
season to Dec. 15 and opened up much of Southeastern
Michigan, though the Thumb, some of Michigan’s
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 29
best pheasant country, remained closed in December.
There appeared to be no down-
side to the December season that I could tell.
“On private lands, people don’t have to open
their lands to pheasant hunting if they don’t want
to and the majority of the birds are taken on private
lands,” Stewart said. “The December season helps
reward people who have good habitat for pheasants.”
In 2004, the NRC approved pheasant hunting
until Jan. 1 and moved the Northern boundary to
M-20. In 2005 – after much, sometimes heated, debate
among sportsmen – the NRC opened the Thumb, too.
Tom Lounsbury, a Thumb landowner
and frequent pheasant hunting compadre of
mine, campaigned vigorously for the change for
years. He was tickled when the NRC acquiesced.
“I love the late season with a passion,” Lounsbury
said. “It has taught me more about pheasants than I’ve
ever known and I’ve been
hunting them since I was
three years old. I just love
following their tracks in the
snow. Not that it leads me to
birds — it doesn’t — but it’s
showed me how they were
making a fool out of me."
“You don’t kill many,”
he continued. “There are no
dumb ones. They’re smart.
The only birds you ever
shoot are the ones you corner. But I’ve got a kennel
full of dogs, so I get to utilize my dogs for a longer
season. December is my favorite season. I don’t kill
as many pheasants as I do during probably the first
two days of the early season, but I love the spice of it.
We’re certainly not hurting the population any.”
DNR hunter surveys bear that out. In the
immediate research after the December season ,
surveys showed that December pheasant hunting
accounted for roughly 10 percent of the annual
effort and about 10 percent of the annual harvest
despite the fact that there are more open days in
December than in October and November combined.
“A lot of people were concerned we’d shoot
all the pheasants and there are some people who
maintain we shouldn’t have a December season,
but there’s really no science behind it that says a
December season causes an impact,” Stewart said.
December pheasant season is certainly different.
By then, almost all of the crops have been harvested,
so the birds are limited to areas with the best habitat.
Stewart will tell you the biggest factor to having better
pheasant populations in Michigan is limited winter
cover. Much of the marginal habitat that will support
the birds earlier in the season is no longer suitable.
Lounsbury, who manages his prop-
erty for wildlife – especially pheasants – agrees.
“They really like the switch grass,” he said.
“It’s nasty stuff, but it’s the number one cover from
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 27
8/28/2017 10:51:40 AM
 stand up to anything the weatherman delivers, though
it takes particular weather to make hunting them prac-
tical. If it isn’t cold enough, you’ll run into open water
or ice so thin that you’ll break through as you trudge
through it and, in either case, the birds will hear you
coming a mile away. It’s the same in grass country;
once the weather has warmed enough to melt the
snow some and it refreezes, it’s as crunchy as potato
chips. The birds know the game and are on high alert.
There are some years when the weather is so
tough you don’t even want to go pheasant hunting.
A couple of winters ago, when the snow arrived at
Thanksgiving and it just kept coming and coming, I
barely got out at all. But there are other Decembers
when the weather is so mild that you can enjoy many
days afield. Last December it was mild enough often
that I got out about a handful of times. Twice over the
years I shot a bird on Jan. 1. That’s icing on the cake.

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Top: Jeff Wysocki and Sugar examine a New Year's Day rooster. The author harvested five of his six pheasants in 2016
in December. Bottom: Al Stewart stuffs a pheasant into Bill Parker's game vest during a December pheasant hunt.

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 30 8/28/2017 10:51:43 AM

 GIVE INVASIVE
SPECIES
THE BRUSH OFF.
Clean Your Gear Before Entering
And Before Leaving The Recreation Site.

Help Prevent The Spread

Of Invasive Plants And Animals.
• REMOVE plants, animals & mud from boots, gear, pets &
vehicle.
• CLEAN your gear before entering & leaving the recreation
site. STOP INVASIVE
INVA
V
VASIVE SPECIES
• STAY on designated roads & trails. IN YOUR TRACKS.
• USE CERTIFIED or local firewood & hay.

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 31 8/28/2017 10:51:46 AM

 Early-season
squirrels
q
T he rustling of leaves high
above us quickly caught our
attention as my buddy and I sat on
an old log inside of the Pinckney
Recreation Area.
As we waited patiently
for a squirrel to make an appear-
ance, my thoughts drifted back to
my teenage years when my dad,
brother and I would hunt squir-
rels on my grandparents' prop-
erty in Northern Michigan. There
was a particular area nestled in
the heart of the property where
fox squirrels could be found, and
that’s usually where we spent
most of our time hunting them.
Like many other young-
sters, squirrel hunting was my
first taste of hunting after I
completed a hunter safety course.
It taught me the foundation of
hunting —sit still, stay quiet,
30 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 32
patience and safe and respon-
sible gun handling. Today, these
important skills can continue
to be taught by taking someone
young or old into the squirrel
woods for the first time. The
simplicity of squirrel hunting is
a great introduction for those who
are new to hunting.
Methods
Most squirrel hunters
either find a location in the woods
and sit and wait for squirrels to
appear (stand hunting) or still
hunt and then stalk squirrels that
are spotted. All of these methods
have proven to be successful. I’ve
had the most success with sitting
in one spot and
allowing the woods to settle for
about 20 minutes before moving
by Darin Potter
on to another setup.
During one particular
hunt, I shot a gray squirrel in less
than one minute after finding a
log to sit on. If you deer hunt then
you’ve probably seen numerous
squirrels running around your
treestand or blind. It doesn’t take
long for them to come out from
their hiding places after getting
settled in
to hunt.
When still hunting and
stalking, be on the lookout for
moving branches and leaves — as
squirrels hop from limb to limb.
Eventually, the squirrel will stop,
giving you a shot opportunity
if you haven’t yet been spotted.
Instead of looking for the entire
body of a squirrel, try picking out
just their bushy tail. Sometimes,
the tail is the only thing that is
8/28/2017 10:51:48 AM
 visible, especially when they are
hiding in the crotch of a tree.
Oftentimes, the tail will be
wrapped around their back side
as they feed. After spotting a tail,
you should quietly get into a posi-
tion where you have a clear shot.
A good place to find a squirrel is
close to a tree trunk where they
feel safer while they are feeding.
Also, listen for the sound of squir-
rels as they are feeding. When they
are chewing small debris from
nut hulls will fall to the ground
forming piles called cuttings. This
will allow you to pinpoint their
location.
If you’re hunting solo, try
tossing a large stick or a rock to
the opposite of a tree where you
saw a squirrel escape. The motion
will likely cause them to move to
your side for a shot.
The best places to hunt
squirrels are woods that are filled
with hickory, walnut, beech, and
oak trees. Squirrels will begin
feeding heavily throughout the
fall as they prepare for the winter
months. Throughout the woods
that I squirrel hunt, white and red
er oak are the major food source for
the squirrels — so these are the
areas that I concentrate my efforts
on. Some pre-season scouting will
allow you to find where the best
locations are to hunt squirrels.
Squirrels are also drawn
to cornfields throughout agricul-
tural areas. You can often find
bare corncobs several hundred
yards away from the fields that
they came from. Once during
firearm deer season, I witnessed
a determined fox squirrel drag-
ging an entire ear of corn across
the opening that I was hunting.
Therefore, setting up near a
fencerow by a picked cornfield
could prove to be very productive.
I’ve found that the best
time to hunt squirrels is during
the early morning hours just after
the sun starts to appear and a few
hours before dusk. This causes
squirrels to become more active
as they scurry about looking to
fill their bellies and stock up for
the winter.
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 33
If you have a hunting
buddy join you on a squirrel
hunt, then the best way to hunt
is to have one person slowly walk
ahead of the other scanning the
trees and branches for squirrels
and then coming to a stop once
they are around fifty yards or so.
The hunter that stayed behind
then moves forward while the
hunter in front stands in one spot
watching for any squirrels.
Squirrels like to conceal
themselves by moving to the
opposite side of the tree from the
approaching hunter. The hunter
in front will be in a better position
to pull a shot off on a squirrel
trying to elude the moving hunter.
Calls
There are a variety of
squirrel calls on the market
today that will help you locate a
squirrel in the woods. These come
in the form of a bellow call that
you rapidly tap with your hand
to create a bark and a blow style
call that produces a distress call.
Using a squirrel call will entice a
nearby squirrel to respond thus
giving up its location. Hearing the
squirrels response will allow you
Most hunters use a .22 rifle to hunt squirrels; however, .410, 12 and 20 gauge
shotguns are also popular guns in the squirrel woods. How good is your aim?
to begin a stalk in the direction of
the squirrel.
A simple way to call in
squirrels is by rubbing two quar-
ters together. This produces a
sound that imitates a scolding
squirrel. Simply place one quarter
beneath the other and then rapidly
rub them back and forth.
Guns
Both shotguns and a .22
rifle are what most hunters use to
hunt squirrels. A 12- or 20-gauge
shotgun shooting number six- or
seven-shot works best for longer
ranges. These will allow you to
shoot squirrels in the twenty-
to twenty-five-yard range with
accuracy. I mostly use a 20-gauge
with a modified choke shooting
number six shot.
A .22 rifle mounted with
a 2X to 4X scope is also a great
gun to use for squirrel hunting.
The .22 rifle is not nearly as loud
as the shotgun and won’t scare
off nearby squirrels as much.
A .22 will accurately shoot up to
fifty yards, allowing you to shoot
squirrels that are higher in a tree.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 31
8/28/2017 10:51:49 AM
 Feral swine: Out of sight
Are feral swine still an issue
in Michigan? I’ve never seen one.
These are common phrases
heard around the state these days,
but nonetheless they still persist,
continuing to be the elusive crea-
ture that disappears into the depths
of Michigan forests, seemingly
impossible to find.
More than 500 years ago,
there wasn’t a wild pig or Russian
boar to be seen in the United States.
It wasn't until Spanish explorer
Hernando DeSoto brought hogs
to Southwest Florida in 1539. Fast
forward some 470 years and there
still isn't any signs or evidence of
feral pigs in Michigan. But that
didn’t stop the successful reproduc-
tion of these creatures, and their
spread to a number of other states.
Feral swine have the capability of
having two litters a year of four to six
piglets. It’s now estimated that there
are roughly 4-6 million feral swine
nationwide, causing hundreds of
millions of dollars in damage each
year to farms, residential areas,
forests and the environment.
In 2014, more than 473
feral pigs had been spotted in 76
of Michigan’s 83 counties, and 449
had been reported killed. In 2017,
32 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 34
the US Department of Agriculture
Wildlife Services (USDA-WS) have
only had 22 feral pigs reported and
only three have been removed.
Though it’s nearly impossible to get
an accurate estimate of wild pigs
residing in Michigan, this number
could currently range anywhere
from 1,000 to 3,000 pigs. Even though
numbers have drastically decreased,
feral hogs continue to thrive in the
deep swamps of Michigan.
Where’d they go?
In 2010, the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources
(MDNR) declared Sus scrofa
Linnaeus (Russian boar) and their
hybrids an invasive species, and
prohibited their possession. This
resulted in elimination of a primary
source of feral swine — escapees
from privately owned facilities
where they were maintained for
breeding and/or shooting purposes.
Reports and harvests of feral swine
by the pubic have declined state-
wide since the Invasive Species
Order was finalized; however,
removal of feral pigs by USDA-WS
increased from 2014-2016 in rela-
tion to using GPS-collared swine as
“Judas Pigs.” The Judas pig is typi-
cally a young sow because they’re
the most social of the group, and it
makes it easier to find other feral
swine that join her sounder. Despite
the declining reports of feral swine
from the public and decreasing
evidence of swine activity from
agency personnel, high numbers of
feral swine still remain in several
areas.
Areas around the state that
are still suffering from the most
recent feral pig activity include
counties in the Lower Peninsula
(LP): Arenac, Bay, Gladwin,
Midland and Iosco. As well as
Marquette and Delta counties in
the Upper Peninsula (UP). In these
areas, the USDA WS has continued
to monitor bait sites, even though
the LP counties haven’t had any
recent evidence of activity, other
than Iosco County in the Alabaster
Swamp. Currently in the UP,
USDA-WS has continued to monitor
bait sites, and is tracking three
small groups of feral swine.
Since October 1, 2014, six feral pigs
have been removed from Marquette
County alone. In a greater attempt
to track movements of feral swine,
the USDA-WS, on February 2, 2017,
8/28/2017 10:51:53 AM

ght but still top of mind
collared a sow, better known as the
“Judas Pig,” in Delta County and
have continued to track her move-
ment since.
Threats to Michigan
These remaining feral
swine still pose threats to Michigan
for two main reasons: they can
host many parasites and diseases
that threaten humans, domestic
livestock and wildlife; and they can
cause extensive damage to forests,
agricultural lands and Michigan’s
water resources.
Feral swine have been
known to carry at least 30 diseases
and nearly 40 parasites including,
hog cholera (classic swine fever),
pseudorabies, brucellosis, tubercu-
losis, salmonellosis, anthrax, ticks,
fleas, lice and various worms —
some of which can infect humans.
However, it doesn’t stop
there Swine compete for natural
foods with wildlife such as turkeys,
deer and small game. Acorns are a
preferred food for feral swine, just
as they are for Michigan’s native
white-tailed deer population. With
their diets overlapping with native
wildlife, this creates competition
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 35
resources and foods. Wild pig
behaviors such as eating, rooting,
soil compactions and wallowing all
damage native plants and resources.
Feral hogs will eat almost anything
including dead animals and many
forms of vegetation and tree
seedlings. Their preference for
wet environments can also cause
competition with native species for
water during dry seasons.
When there is a shortage of
natural foods for them to consume,
feral swine will forage on most
agricultural crops and livestock
feed. Feral pigs can damage crops
through rooting, trampling and
wallowing behaviors and can
transmit diseases to local livestock
and pets — they have been known to
kill livestock, primarily calves and
lambs. They’ve also been known to
eat small ground-nesting mammals
and birds.
Feral swine have been
reported for destroying land-
scaping, damaging fences and other
structures — therefore reducing
the aesthetic value of private
properties, public parks and recre-
ational areas.
The damage caused each
year by swine nationwide rings to
by Ashley Bur
Policy Assistant, Feral
Swine Working Group
the fine tune of $1.5 billion. Yep,
you read that right, $1.5 billion
annually. That kind of damage is
devastating to the different indus-
tries affected.
Know the signs: Detecting wild hogs
Feral pigs routinely engage
in two types of behavior that are
damaging to soils, crops and water
— rooting and wallowing. Their
rooting behavior, during which
they dig for food below the soil
surface, causes erosion, damages
lawns, golf courses and farmlands
and weakens plants and native
vegetation.
Wallowing behavior, during
which feral swine seek out areas
of shallow water to roll in mud,
destroys small ponds and stream
banks, which impacts water
quality.
Rubbing on trees often
occurs after wallowing, leaving
behind mud, hair and scent. Other
signs of feral swine can include
tunnels and trails leading through
thick vegetation, and tracks can
easily be found in the mud near
springs, ponds and streams.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 33
8/28/2017 10:51:59 AM

Feral swine wallow in small creeks and ponds, which can destroy habitat. After
wallowing, swine rub on trees and leave the mud and their scent behind.
Feral swine within the State
are a combination of Russian boars
and escaped or neglected domestic
pigs.
Feral hogs vary in appear-
ance,depending upon ancestral
lineage and cross-breeding between
different breeds. With practice, it’s
evenJonpossible to distinguish
Bondy with a nice muskiewild
hog from deer tracks, which are
34 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 36
fairly easy to spot near wallows
in the mud. Hog tracks tend to be
rounder and a hog’s dew claws are
set wider than the hooves. However,
on many surfaces, deer and hog
tracks look very similar. It’s easiest
to identify wild pig activity if one
focuses on more distinguishable
signs such as rooting, wallows, tree
rubs
and beds.
Despite declining reports of
feral swine, the current population
status of feral pigs in Michigan pres-
ents an opportunity to control, if
not eradicate, this invasive species.
One of the first steps in controlling
wild hogs is early detection. Usually
active only at night, few are spotted
during the day, even where deer
hunting pressure is heavy and hogs
are fairly abundant. So, most land-
owners have wild pigs around long
before they ever see one. Two cost
effective ways to detect feral swine
are using trail cameras over bait and
searching for the signs mentioned
above. Some of the most effective
baits are corn, various mashes and
gobs of used cooking grease. But
let’s be honest, a pig eats just about
anything, so coming up with a bait
pile shouldn’t be difficult.
What can you do?
The best thing that we as citi-
zens, hunters, anglers and trappers
can do is to be vigilant in reporting
any sightings, signs or damage of
feral swine. Reporting is as easy as
calling USDA-WS at 517-336- 1928 or
online at www.michigan.gov/
feralswine. Under Michigan law,
any hunter with any valid Michigan
hunting license can shoot feral
swine on sight while hunting.
Private property owners may also
shoot feral swine on their property
and do not need to be in possession
of a hunting license. If a hunter
harvests swine, he or she is encour-
aged to provide samples for disease
testing by contacting the above
USDA-WS number.
The rapid expansion of feral
swine across the country, along with
the varied types of damage they
cause, continue to create problems.
Help manage the damage today by
reporting, and imagine Michigan,
completely free of this invasive
species. This can only be achieved if
we all put the effort into this
control/eradication program.
If you would like more infor-
mation about feral swine, contact
Ashley Bur at abur@mucc.org.
8/28/2017 10:52:00 AM
 Educators:
Get your KIDS tuned into nature Mi
ch
iga
nU
An official publication of the
Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

TRACKS is published
Marc
from October
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 37 8/28/2017 10:54:44 AM

 Full Draw:
Deer recovery 101
T he buck kept prodding the doe
forward, urging her to leave the
thick protective cover and enter the
grassy field that bordered the bean
stubble field.
It was early November and
the buck was more interested in the
doe than my wife Beth perched in a
tree some 20 yards away. As the doe
entered the waist-high grass field, the
buck hesitated with just his head and
front shoulders exposed. Then, as the
doe broke into a trot, anxious to reach
the bean field, the buck began to move
forward. In ultra-slow motion, Beth
drew her bow and upon reaching full
draw, mimicked her best bleat with her
voice stopping the buck in his tracks.
Taking careful aim, Beth shot
and watched the arrow hit the exact
spot she was aiming for. The hard-hit
buck blindly crashed ahead running
in a half circle before she watched him
go down about 50 yards away. The only
visible sign of him was the tall grass
violently moving as the buck made his
last powerful kicks.
Just a short distance away, Beth
stood in her treestand thinking about
just how lethal a correctly placed arrow
can be. The buck was quartering away
and Beth’s broadhead-tipped arrow
entered at the back of the buck’s rib
cage angling forward. Both lungs were
penetrated causing massive hemor-
rhaging and a quick, clean kill.
There was no tracking involved,
just a short recovery and photo session.
That evening’s bowhunt was the perfect
hunt — deer seen, shot taken and quick
recovery. However, things do not always
36 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 38
by Tom Nelson
turn out like this. Recovering deer takes
patience and tracking skill. When you
are fortunate to get an arrow into a
white-tailed deer, here is what you need
to know:
1. First and foremost, don’t panic.
Visibly mark the spot where you last
saw the deer before it disappeared from
your sight. Burn that spot into your
memory banks. Next, look to the place
the deer was standing when you took
your shot. Again, memorize it. Look to
see if you can spot your arrow — very
often your tipped arrow will be laying
or sticking in the ground near or where
your deer was standing when you shot.
Pass through shots are often the norm
with today’s modern arrows and razor-
sharp broadheads. Lighted nocks make
locating your arrows after the shot a
much easier task, and I highly suggest
using them. Once you get out of your
blind or stand, mark the two spots with
some sort of marker. I always carry
toilet paper with me for such a task.
2. Second, if I can find my arrow, I care-
fully examine it for blood, tallow or gut
material — anything to give me an indi-
cation of exactly where I hit the deer
and what organs I may have damaged.
This tells me how long to wait before
taking up the blood trail. In my opinion,
time is an ally and unless I witnessed
the deer falling to the forest floor, I wait
at least a half hour. If the arrow tells
me I may have a liver hit, I wait two to
three hours.
A greenish arrow tells me it
was a gut shot, and I suggest leaving
8/28/2017 10:54:49 AM
 the tracking until the following morning
or at least 8 hours. If available, I seek
out some extra help. The more eyes the
better, and when you recover the deer,
the extra muscle comes in handy for the
extraction.

3. Take it slow. Do not rush ahead. Check

every leaf, rock and blade of grass.
Oftentimes, arrow-shot deer do not bleed
for some distance, so do not be disap-
pointed if it takes a bit to locate the first
sign of blood. Look ahead and imagine
you are the deer and where would you
go. Hard-hit deer often run through
deadfalls, brush piles, etc.

4. If you lose the blood trail, try gridding

the area — make small circles and slowly
increase them. Wounded deer generally
take the path of least resistance, prefer-
ring to run downhill if possible. I would
guess that 90 percent of my bow-killed
deer have died within the first 100 to 200
yards. After that, your recovery chances
start to diminish. However, never give
up until you have exhausted every
possibility. Search any water sources.
Wounded deer tend to go to water if it
is available. I have pulled more than
my share of recovered deer from ponds,
rivers and even a lake.
After 45 years of bowhunting
and hundreds of tracking jobs, I can
honestly state that most of the unrecov-
ered deer that I have helped track were
not shot while broadside or quartering
away. Any shot that is not going to place
your arrow into the chest cavity should
never be taken. A double-lung hit will
kill a deer every single time. Lastly, stay
within your effective range and forego
shots that are too far. Pay heed to these
last two comments and your blood trails
will be short and successful.

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 37

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 39 8/28/2017 10:54:52 AM

 Meet HIM
by Jason Herbert
“Y ou're doing what,” she
responded in a tone that was
a mix of irritation and anger.
I guess if I looked at things
from her point of view I could see
why she wasn't impressed. We had
literally just spent the first night in
our brand new house — a house that
my family and I had worked tire-
lessly to build for ourselves during
the last five months.
She didn't understand that it
was November 11th, the last chance
to bow hunt before rifle season, and
I could only think about one thing —
killing this buck.
“Yeah, I really think I can
kill him tonight” I said. After all, it
was the rut, with a northwest wind,
dropping temperature and rising
barometer — the conditions were
perfect for this buck to make his one
final move.
My wife and I have been
together for most of our lives, and
she knows me well enough to know
that I will be miserable to be around
if I have my eyes set on a buck and
don't get a chance at him.
38 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 40
on HIS terms
“Go ahead… Good luck.
I love you. The kids and I will be
unpacking at the house,” she said.
Gambling my entire season
and the next few months of my
happiness on this one hunt, I went
for it. Later that evening, the pride
in my heart and the satisfaction
I felt was incredible. My wife was
the first one to wander down to the
barn with a cold beer in her hand to
congratulate me, I was smiling ear
to ear.
Regardless of your situ-
ation, whether you're building a
new house for a family of six like
me or just super busy, we all need
to hunt with a specific intent and
purpose. Most people hunt selfishly
— thinking about what wind and
weather conditions work well for
them. It's time to start hunting with
the buck's needs in mind, exploit his
natural survival instincts and meet
him on his terms.
The first order of business
when trying to kill a mature buck is
to find one. Next, understand their
basic behaviors. Every animal on
this planet is here to do one thing
— propagate their species. That
means that every animal, including
a mature white-tailed buck, is trying
to survive and breed. Locating a
mature buck is, in and of itself,
a whole other topic — so here's a
CliffsNotes version. Be sure to post-
season scout, shed hunt and run
trail cameras.
Mature bucks are really
pretty lazy and reclusive. They
live a lot like stereotypical college
fraternity guys. They don't want to
hang out with the ladies. They don't
want to help raise the kids. They
just want to hang out with their
buddies and be left alone until it's
time to breed. For the most part, the
feeling is mutual — does are pretty
mean to bucks until they come
into heat. Before the early stages
of the rut, let’s say the first two
weeks in October, most bucks will
live somewhere well away from the
high-traffic doe feeding and bedding
areas. Then, once the earliest doe
has come into heat, the bucks will
start to show up more and more
8/28/2017 10:54:56 AM
 around the doe hangouts. Last fall, located, it's time to start learning buck is the fact that you could also
the first doe went into heat about how he likes to behave. Like people, alert him that he is being hunted.
October 18th in the area I hunt. deer have individual personalities, The key to any hunt is remaining
The bucks will also start to and the only way to learn about invisible. A good rule of thumb is
bed in different places, often between buck behavior is to physically watch to gauge your invisibility by your
the preferred food source and doe him or analyze trail camera data. hunts. If your hunting is improving
bedding areas. By bedding in stra- If a buck is showing up on a trail throughout the season, good. If it
tegic locations, bucks can simply lay camera during shooting light, the isn’t, the deer are on to you. I person-
in wait, scent checking every doe as chances are good that he's bedding ally like to set up safe, easy to access
she walks back from the food to her nearby. If he shows up at all hours and exit, observation stands on food
bed in the morning. This is why a lot of the day, you're probably really sources. This way, I can see where
of hardcore big buck hunters don't close to his bed. If he is occasionally a buck is entering and exiting the
bother with morning hunts until showing up in the middle of the field, what time he shows up, and
late-October. Often the bucks worth night, he's probably not bedding also look for other habits of his that
shooting are already in their beds, close. If he is always coming by your may help me harvest him.
waiting for oblivious does to walk by camera heading in the same direc- When you do get a good trail
well before sunrise. tion at a certain time, that's a clue as camera picture or a visual on a big
I observed this behavior to his behavior habits. Maybe your buck, take notes of every possible
firsthand last fall. I was in one of camera is located along a preferred data point. What I mean by this
my stands very early in the morning travel route that he likes to use each is pay attention to the details like
when a deer came in and bedded on day. preferred food source, predominant
a ridge nearby. As light continued to As far as physically wind direction, the moon phase,
gather, I could see he was a decent observing the deer, that is a little the humidity, the temperature,
buck. All morning, every time a doe bit easier said than done. The only barometric pressure, etc. From my
walked through the valley, he would way to really watch a big buck is by observations, and several others
raise his head from his bed and sitting out and either glassing fields that I've spoken to and interviewed,
grunt at her. He would also stick his or actually hunting. One major a mature buck prefers to travel while
nose up in the air, hoping to catch problem with physically scouting a quartering into the wind.
the rising thermals of her scent. He When hanging a treestand, make sure it is intended for a specific hunt in certain
must not have smelled anything that conditions. Always try to get into a buck's head before getting out of the truck.
he liked because he literally laid
there all morning long until I snuck
out of my stand at about 11 a.m.
Then, of course during the
rut, which is really the phase of the
year when the majority of the does
are in heat, all bets are off. Bucks
can be seen anywhere, but really
spend most of their time cruising
doe bedding areas and food sources.
During the rut, hunting these doe
hangouts is probably your best bet.
Taking an inventory of
mature bucks can really be done at
any time, but most big buck slayers
don't get serious about it until the
deer shed their antler velvet in
September. Once the bucks shed
their velvet, they tend to also find
a territory and establish a domi-
nance-ranking order. When you are
seeing hard-horned bucks on your
trail cameras in mid-September and
watching them feed in the evening
hayfields, the chances are good
these are the bucks that you're going
to have a chance to kill during the
season.
Once a buck has been

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 39

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 41 8/28/2017 10:54:56 AM

 I've personally noticed
increased activity when the baro-
metric pressure is rising. Many
hunters swear by the moon phase.
It also makes sense that when the
temperatures are warm and the
humidity is high, the deer are not
as apt to move during the warmer
shooting hours. Moving a lot
during daylight on a warm, humid
day would be a lot like us humans
running a marathon while wearing
our Carhartts.
Specific to the buck I killed
at the beginning of this article, here
are the details that I noted which led
me to believe I could kill him on that
fateful night:
During late-October and
early-November, when we had a
steady NW wind, I saw this buck
five different times. I was hunting
from a very safe observation stand,
and actually almost killed him on
two separate occasions before I did
finally connect with him. I learned
that he was bedding in a swamp
If the buck you’re after likes to check each individual doe, try using a decoy near your stand. Herbert recommends
placing decoys passed a stand so when the deer approaches to investigate a quartering-away shot is offered.
40 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 42
pond along a cornfield. He would bed
further back than any of the other
deer, almost to the point where he
was wet. Near dark, I could hear the
buck get out of his bed, slog through
the cattail marsh and make his way
toward the cornfield.
Quartering into the NW
wind, he would scent check the doe
bedding areas closer to the cornfield
as he made his way out to feed each
night. When the buck approached
the cornfield while the corn was
still standing, he would continue
quartering into that NW wind going
deep into the standing corn.
I noticed the colder the
temperature the earlier the buck
would show up to the cornfield.
I also noticed that adversely, on
warmer or more humid days, he
wouldn't show up very early, if at
all.
As the outer rows of the
corn began to get picked, the buck's
behavior would change slightly. He
would still bed in the same area and
scent check the doe bedding areas
on the way to the field. However,
once he came to the edge of the
field, he would stop and visually
scan everything before entering. If
there were does feeding in the field,
he would approach them, hoping to
scent check them for estrus.
The majority of the time,
the does felt harassed by him, and
they would run away. Knowing this
behavior, I set out decoys one night
and thought for sure he was a dead
deer walking. As luck would have
it, the decoys got his attention, but
he stopped about 40 yards shy of
them, behind some brush. The buck
gave them a good look over and then
turned and walked back to investi-
gate another live doe grazing in the
field.
I believe there is something
learned from every encounter. Next
time I use decoys I will put them
passed me so the deer have to walk
by me to investigate closer. This
decoy setup should theoretically
"Most people hunt
selfishly, thinking about
what wind and weather
conditions work well for
them. It's time to start
hunting with the buck's
needs in mind — exploit
his natural survival
instincts and meet him
on his terms."
8/28/2017 10:54:59 AM
 give me a quartering-away shot.
When the corn was
completely picked and a Northwest
wind still prevailing, the buck's
behavior didn't change much. He
would still bed in the same area,
walk through the doe bedding area
just like he always would, approach
the cornfield once again and then
freeze. At this point, he would
continue to scan the entire field
selecting doe groups to harass.
I knew that my time was
limited, and I better kill him before
he started cruising around looking
for other does that were not in his
regular social network.
So, during my lunch break
on November 11th, when I prob-
ably should have been catching up
on some sleep or helping my wife
unpack, I was checking all of the
possible weather information on the
internet, and I made a plan.
The conditions were perfect.
I had the NW wind I needed for the
buck to move into the cornfield. The
temperature was dropping off the
table. Ther was low humidity, while
the barometer was shooting up —
all good indicators that the buck
will be on his feet moving early.
t One problem I neglected to mention
is that where the buck entered the

out field there were no suitable trees for

a safely-hung tree stand. If there
The author and his wife posing for a picture of Jason’s buck in the barn.
were, I would have tried to kill him
her much earlier.
Taking a huge gamble, I put
Thankfully, this hunt worked out — or Mrs. Herbert may have felt differently.
textbook hunt. I had time and plenty behaviors, hunters' success rates

for on my ghillie suit and grabbed my

crossbow, my last chance “Ace in
the Hole” set up. I snuck in and sat
art on the ground at the edge of the field
near where the buck liked to make
of encounters to gather a lot of
research on this particular animal.
would increase. There should be
no random hunts where we just
Ironically enough, I don't have a hope to get lucky. Every time you
single trail camera picture of this
buck. During the season, I generally
hunt you should have a good logical
reason to sit in a specific stand. This

ck's his entrance. I'm confident in my

scent control, but took no chances
and made sure that my wind would
loit not be drifting back toward where
he was bedded. As luck would have
run my cameras on travel corridors
near bedding areas. Since this buck
is nowhere near my biggest buck,
but I'm probably more proud of him
was so apt to show up in this corn- than any other. The fact that with
field, and I only have a handful of
cameras, I never felt the need to put
limited hunting time I was able to
keep detailed data on his behavior

al it, near dark, I killed him on the

ground at 7 yards.
On a side note: I am an abso-
him lute huge fan of ghillie suits. I didn't
really have good cover, and the buck
looked right at me before turning
and quartering away from me at a
slow walking pace. I could not have
asked him to give me a better shot.
In my opinion, this was a
up one to observe his behavior.
I also have no clue what the
moon phase was on the evening of
that hunt. Moon phase data is some-
thing I haven't paid a ton of atten-
tion to, but I'm hoping to start this
year.
I think if everyone were to
start to pay more attention to the
animal's needs and their habitual
and formulate a plan to kill him
makes me proud. Thankfully, I
put my tag on that buck that night
and lived to tell the tale. I'd hate to
think what would have happened
if I hadn't killed him and wasn’t
home helping my wife unpack. I
can venture to guess that I would
have probably spent several nights
sleeping in the dog house.

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 41

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 43 8/28/2017 10:55:01 AM

 Fool him once...
I
admit, at first I was skeptical on using a deer decoy
until I heard first-hand from a friend how a fake doe
had caused an eight-point buck to waltz into shooting
range offering him with a shot opportunity.
For years I had seen them work for hunting
celebrities on television, but I never had the opportunity
to speak with someone in person about their experience
with using one of these "deer dekes." Soon it became
official — the deer decoy had found a permanent place
in my deer hunting arsenal.
Why Use a Decoy?
If you have ever used decoys to hunt turkeys
or waterfowl, then you have probably already experi-
enced how magical they can be when it comes to being
successful. Oftentimes, they can mean the difference
between going home empty-handed or filling your freezer
with game. Deer hunting using a decoy is no different.
Like other animals, deer are especially curious
creatures. A decoy helps put this response into motion
and also causes them to feel more relaxed. Keep in mind
that this can all change depending on the personality of
each deer and the timing of their use. By using a deer
decoy, you increase your chances of drawing in a distant
deer to within shooting range. This could offer you a shot
opportunity that would otherwise walk on by.
There were times when I kicked myself for
not using a decoy while I was on stand, especially
while hunting along large fields or natural openings.
Obviously, the sound of my grunt call couldn’t reach
42 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 44
THAT'S ALL
it takes by Darin Potter
them, but if I had a decoy staked out in front of me I am
positive they would have come in to investigate.
Decoy Options
With the popularity of decoys increasing, deer
hunters can choose from a wide variety of both buck and
doe dekes from various hunting manufacturers. Poses
include: alert, feeding and breeding positions for a doe,
and for a buck an alert stance. Some decoys even have
the ability to move their heads and tails in a natural
motion when there is a slight breeze.
The cost of a deer decoy can range anywhere
from $50 to $200. It is always good to have several different
types in your deer hunting arsenal, especially during the
rut when pairing a buck and doe together can cause a
passing buck to charge in.
Decoys are no longer as cumbersome as they once
were. The majority of 3-D dekes include removable parts
that can be stored inside of its body cavity for easy trans-
portation. This type usually includes a blaze orange bag
for carrying it to and from your stand. However, if you
plan on being more mobile or hunting in remote areas a
silhouette 3-D decoy could be a better fit.
Last fall, I had several stand locations on public
land where I had to carry my hang-on stand in one hand
and my bow in the other. This afforded me no extra room
for a bulkier 3-D decoy, so I opted to purchase a silhou-
ette style instead, which I could easily fold up and tuck in
my backpack.
Timing
8/28/2017 10:55:02 AM

The best time to start setting up a decoy is during
the pre-rut when bucks begin chasing does and when the
rut is in full swing. These timeframes can vary from year
to year depending upon various factors such as weather,
hunting pressure and the moon phase, so pay attention
to deer behavior while on stand. Typically, throughout
most of the country, this period occurs around mid-Oc-
tober to the end of November. Decoys can also be used
during the entire season — however, setting out decoys
too early could be detrimental if you only have a few
places to hunt. The last thing you want to do is risk
educating deer before primetime hunting. If you have
the ability to hunt on several different pieces of property
scent-free regimen. So why ruin it? Therefore, it is crit-
ical that you don a pair of rubber gloves before handling
your decoy and spray it down with a scent eliminating
spray to remove human odor. If you fail to do these two
things, the alternative could be a white flag waiving in
the distance and a bowl of tag soup when you arrive back
home. Lastly, when the hunt is over, store the decoy in
a scent-free bag or container. This will help keep your
decoy as uncontaminated as possible and ready for use.
Final Ingredients
Careful thought has gone into the location and
positioning of your decoy, now what? After you have

L
and numerous options for stands or ground blinds are staked your fake deer into the ground, consider adding
available, then using a decoy early on won’t be as much some doe and estrus scent to make it appear more real-
of a problem. istic. Some decoys have a specific spot where you can
attach scent-pads, which you can dip into doe-in estrus
Positioning scent, thus enhancing your decoy's attractiveness to
mature bucks in the area. If your decoy does not include
Before you drive the decoy stakes into some prime this feature, use wire to attach scent pads or a ball of
real estate near your stand location, it is essential that cotton.
great care is taken to set it up in the best possible location Your decoy alone does not ensure that your
for a shot opportunity. There are several different factors hunt is a slam dunk. Other bowhunting tools in your
to keep in mind — wind direction, type of decoy (doe or arsenal should be utilized such as antlers and deer calls.
buck), available shooting lanes or openings and distance. Although the decoy acts as a visual coupling, this along
First off, choose an area where your decoy is going to get with a doe bleat, rattling or a grunt call can perk up a
some attention such as a field or food plot. If you decide buck’s ears and can be the final ingredient that puts a
to use one inside timber, select a higher spot where it will shooter in front of you.
get noticed. Second, always set your deer decoys upwind
from your stand location no matter which sex your decoy
is. Oftentimes, a buck will circle downwind and approach
the decoy from downwind. Therefore, it is extremely
important to place it in an opening which will provide
you with a clear shot opportunity.
When it comes to distance, place your doe decoy
15 to 30 yards away from your stand. This will help lure
a buck to within shooting range. While using a doe
decoy, place it at a slight angle quartering away from
you — bucks will typically work their way from behind
checking to see if the doe is in estrus. If your choice of
decoy is a buck in the alert position, then it should be
slightly angling toward your stand — chances are he will
meet head to head with the deke much like a boxer in a
ring. If you find that bucks are approaching the decoy
from behind, then consider quartering it slightly away
from your stand.

Scent Elimination

Before putting your new decoy into action, it is

crucial that you wash it with either an unscented deter-
gent or baking soda to remove the new smell from it.
After it air dries outside, place it in a scent-proof bag
and it is ready for the hunt.
Scent elimination should not take a back seat
when it comes to deer decoys. After all, if you are like
me, you have taken great lengths to be as totally scent
free as possible up to this point by implementing a

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 43

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 On the trail:
Dogs can be
invaluable
on cold tracks
by Jacob VanHouten

Retired university history professor,

John Jeanneney, is a hunter, tracker,
dog trainer/breeder of wirehaired
dachshunds and author.

44 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 46 8/28/2017 10:55:04 AM

 “I
can’t believe I lost that buck during my 2016 deer season. should be required reading by all
buck. With a good shot Thus my journey began to acquire state and provincial commissions
and strong blood trail… I my own tracking hound. and administrators who are also
just don’t get it,” was the responsible for setting regulations
depressing thought swirling around Background regarding the recovery of white-
my mind. tails with dogs."
If you are a deer hunter, the The aforementioned book A retired university history
loss of a deer may either happen to was written by the man that professor, John Jeanneney, is
you or someone you know during may be considered the father of a hunter, tracker, dog trainer/
your hunting life. An underutilized on-leash tracking dogs in the U.S., breeder of wirehaired dachshunds
method to increase your odds of John Jeanneney of Berne, New and author. John began tracking
recovery may include the use of a York. First of its kind and in its deer in 1976 after being granted a
tracking dog. 2nd edition, his book provides research license from New York
The first time I observed everything needed to start using State’s Dept. of Environmental
a blood-tracking dog was while tracking dogs to recover wounded Conservation.
volunteering as a wounded deer deer. Richard P. Smith considers He was investigating the
tracker for limited-mobility this book a “ground breaking idea of using leashed tracking dogs
hunters participating in a NWTF volume…” and also said, “this book to recover wounded deer.
Wheelin’ Sportsmen Shiawassee
Handler John Jeanneney and Tommy, sire of the author's puppy, work a track.
National Wildlife Refuge deer hunt.
Held during the first three days of
the rifle season, the hunt allowed
hunters to have a chance at bagging
a buck or doe with the assistance
of staff and volunteers. One of
the volunteers brought along his
dog, Gus. Several volunteers and
hunters were watching Gus, the
“different looking” dog, wander
around the meeting site greeting
people as they arrived.
“What kind of dog is that,”
people would ask. Gus was a
standard wirehaired dachshund.
To the untrained eye, this hand-
some hound did not appear to be
a “wiener dog,” which is what
most people think of when they
hear dachshund (and don’t say
“dash hound”), in either size or
appearance.
After a group of master
tracker volunteers could not locate
a participant’s wounded deer, Gus
came in and found the deer, with
absolutely no visible blood, in less
than 30 minutes. This was a serious
"wow" moment for me. The owner
told me he bought the dog in New
York. I kept the memory of that
experience tucked away. Fast
forward 10 years, after sharing the
experience with my brother-in-law
and loaning him the book Tracking
Dogs for finding Wounded Deer by
John Jeanneney, he purchased a
dachshund. He had great success
with his dog, which convinced me,
especially after I lost a wounded

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 45

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 47 8/28/2017 10:55:05 AM

 "With their innate
hunting sense, training
of a newly-purchased
dachshund puppy can
lead to an excellent
chance of developing
a usable tracking
hound."

The author's puppy, Jager, becomes accustomed to the world around him while getting to chew on a deer antler in the
yard of his breeder's home. Exposing the puppy to many different things is an important part of development.
Since that time, he has
personally recorded over 1,000 deer
calls for deer tracking/recovery.
Being an American hunter,
he researched and read European
literature on blood tracking since
this is where it all began. His
book was the first in English that
explained how a trained dog can be
used to locate wounded deer which
could not be recovered by other
means. His second book, Dead on!
(2010), covers deer anatomy, shot
placement and wounded white-
tailed deer tracking techniques.
The use of tracking dogs
has been legal in many Southern
states and parts of Texas but
has been illegal for more than a
century in most Northern states
(for any activity connected to
deer hunting). This
has resulted in each state having
to specifically legalize it. Thanks
to efforts from John Jeanneney
starting in the 1970s, New York
legalized the regulated use of
tracking dogs in 1986, and since
then, 24 other states have allowed
the regulated use of tracking dogs
to find wounded big game. It is
currently legal in Michigan as well.
If you're interested in
finding out more, the group
United Blood Trackers provides a
good starting point. They are “…
dedicated to promoting resource
conservation through the use of
trained tracking dogs in the ethical
recovery of big game.” The term
“blood tracking” is most often used,
even though it can be misleading,
in that usually when called into
action, the dog will be on a track
where there is little or no blood
present. With experience and
training, dogs can track individual
wounded animals by other scents
(such as interdigital gland). Also,
although primarily used to recover
white-tailed deer, tracking dogs are
used for many big game animals
such as bear, moose, elk and hogs.
The puppy
After the decision to
purchase was made, the appli-
cation and other paperwork was
completed and accepted (yes, this
is serious business), my wife and I
made the trip to New York to meet
John and his wife Jolanta, to pick
up our new puppy. Jolanta and
John are an incredible couple that
truly care about who will purchase
one of their puppies and will spend
at least half a day with the new
owners demonstrating training
techniques and other priceless
information. The Jeanneneys only
offer one or two litters of puppies
per year so it is not cheap and not
easy to acquire so we were very
happy to get one on June 3rd of this
year.
Seeing our pup for the first
time in his pen with five other
puppies, we fell in love with Jager
— pronounced “Yager” (the “a” has
an umlaut in German) which trans-
lates to "hunter." It was chosen due
to his lineage being direct from
Germany. The breed was developed
there to hunt badgers and foxes.
Dachshund translates into English

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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 48 8/28/2017 10:55:05 AM

 as "badger hound."
Tommy, the sire Dachshund
for Jager, is a proven deer tracker
and came directly from Germany.
John and Jolanta spent time
showing us how to use a liver and a
blood drag line to train our young
puppy on tracking a scent line. At
only nine weeks old, Jager readily
followed a one-hour-old line, which
included three 90 degree turns.
My wife and I were simply
wowed by the demonstration. Jager
is a born tracker and is now a very
happy member of our family. He
has made several drag-line tracks
since and is currently 14 weeks old
and will be ready for his first real
test this fall. My family jokes that I
got this dog only for “poor shooting
relatives." Not true, but if needed,
I am confident that six-month-old
(by November) Jager will be ready
to try his first recovery.

Training and use of tracking dogs

There are many breeds of dogs that

can be used for tracking deer. These
include the scent hounds such as
dachshunds, beagles, bloodhounds, At nine-weeks-old, the author's puppy, Jager, chews on his reward, a piece of
coonhound; pointers/retrievers liver, at the end of a long drag.
like labs, golden retrievers,
the hunter is important to deter- other, behaviors that will result in
Chesapeake’s; curs/border collies
mine perceived shot location or the positive outcome of a wounded
(“Cow dogs" and "Cur dogs”); Old
wound. That will help towards the game animal tracking event which
breeds like terriers, Jack Russell,
successful conclusion of any track. is of course what the hunter is
and German shepherds. All have
Young dogs can be started on a drag hoping for — either in the location
their own advantages and disad-
line of liver and blood and even the of the wounded game, or the deter-
vantages, of course.
preferred German technique of mination that the shot/wound was
The dachshund has shown
using “Fahrtenshuhe” (Tracking not lethal.
to be a formidable and versatile
Shoes) which uses an actual deer leg
breed for tracking wounded deer
attached to a boot or shoe. The leg Learning more
and other big game. With their
from an individual deer must always
innate hunting sense, training of a
be used as dogs recognize individual A few good books include: Tom
newly purchased dachshund puppy
deer through the interdigital gland Brown’s The Science and Art of
can lead to an excellent chance
found between the hooves of the Tracking (Berkley, 1999); Richard
of developing a usable tracking
deer. A 30-foot lead that does not P. Smith’s Tracking Wounded Deer,
hound. By reinforcing natural
easily catch on brush can be used. How to Find and Tag Deer Shot with
instincts, basic obedience training
Typical rewards at the end of a drag Bow and Gun (Stackpole Books
and motivating and encouraging
line include nibbles on the liver or a 1988); and Niels Sonergaard’s Scent
a young pup, a hunter can have a
deer hide/skin or leg. and the Scenting Dog (Denmark,
fine tracking dog in no time. Keep
Tracking equipment may 2006).
in mind, though, that deer tracking
include collars, harnesses and As previously mentioned,
in Michigan must be done on-lead,
leashes, GPS tracking collars, the group United Blood Trackers
meaning that the dog can not run
marking tape, lights and other is also a good place to inquire and
off and track on its own.
essentials for working a track. Like gain further information, including
The owner/handler must
any other dog/handler team, it is “Find-a-Tracker” listing and regu-
work in tandem as a team with the
essential that they work together lations for each state that allows
tracking dog. Communication with
closely. Each can recognize in the the use of tracking dogs.

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN

Fall OUT-OF-DOORS
2017 | Michigan 47
Out-of-Doors 47

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 49 8/28/2017 10:55:05 AM


M
uster together a group
of whitetail fanatics and
ask them when is their
preferred time to bow hunt white-
tailed deer is — chances are the
November rut will be their first
choice.
More articles, Outdoor T.V,
shows, videos, etc. are aimed at
hunting elusive whitetails during
this period of time. Rut-crazed
bucks are running about in a frenzy,
almost asking to be shot at by
archers savvy enough to exploit this
weakness in the whitetails' armor.
But in this author's opinion, there
is another period of bow season that
draws far less attention but can and
is just as deadly a time to tag your
whitetail. The time period I am
referring to is the first week to 10
days of bow season.
As September wanes,
whitetails are still in their summer
patterns. It is a lazy and good time
of year to be a deer. Food is abun-
dant, winter is still months away
and for the most part, the fields and
forests of Michigan are relatively
undisturbed by humans. A white-
tail's day is basically comprised of
eating and sleeping. White-tailed
bucks have shed their velvet and
48 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 50
Early
season
tactics
testosterone levels are beginning to
slowly increase. Core living areas
for both bucks and does are still
relatively small, perhaps no more
than 2-300 acres.
Whitetails are creatures of
habit, and it is never more apparent
than in the late-summer and early-
fall. Find an appealing food source
such as a bean or cornfield and most
likely you will find deer feeding in
them at dusk and dawn. However,
do not overlook mast crops such as
beechnuts, oaks and fruit-bearing
trees. I specifically target these food
sources above any crop fields or food
plots planted by humans. Natural
food sources are a whitetails favorite
early season food source. Mature
whitetails, both bucks and does, that
normally only enter a crop field just
at or before dark, commonly show
up under acorn laden red and white
oaks just about any time of the day.
Falling acorns are a dinner bell for
hungry whitetails seeking to put a
layer of fat on before winter.
Take the time before season
to seek out the trees that contain
these mast crops. Locate the trees
that have mast crops growing from
their branches and stow that knowl-
edge away until bow season. There
by Tom Nelson
is a narrow window that you can
take advantage of this food source.
Normally, acorns and beechnuts
begin to fall in late September. White
oaks tend to drop their fruit first,
followed by red oaks. When acorns
are abundant they may drop their
nuts right up until November. Other
years when acorns are lean, the
acorns may be completely dropped
and eaten by mid-October. Keep
in mind that besides whitetails,
turkeys, squirrels and other critters
seek out and consume acorns, other
nuts and fruits.
Last year, I was perched
some 20 feet up a giant white oak
on a sunny, too-warm early-October
day. I was clad in a camo t-shirt and
lightweight camo pants. I had taken
my time walking to my stand that
afternoon as to not get overheated.
This particular oak was the only
tree dropping any amount of acorns
that I had been able to find. The
acorns that were falling were but a
meager amount. However, the deer
sign littering the ground below me
was encouraging to say the least.
It appeared as if a family of hogs
had been under me rooting about.
Within the first half hour, whitetails
began to show up under my stand
8/28/2017 10:55:08 AM
 crunching on the fallen acorns. weather is warm, which it is much of their patterns and core living areas.
For a better part of an hour, the time in early October. Secluded Bucks begin to expand their core
a button buck and his sister enter- watering holes are a great place area, sometimes doubling the size
tained me with their squabbling as to hang your stand or place your of their living areas. Bucks will also
they kicked and head butted each ground blind. Creeks, rivers, ponds venture out two or three miles on
other as both vied for the best acorn and even lakes can be good spots excursions well beyond their normal
area. It was still some time before to wait out a thirsty whitetail. Deer core area. Mature does take notice
sunset when the sound of footfalls tend to water shortly after they rise of the influx of small and big game
on leaves grabbed my attention. from the daytime bed; normally hunters that are now intruding into
Turning my head slowly in the before beginning to feed, then again their living spaces. Daytime move-
direction of the approaching sound, in the morning before the retire to ment ceases and summer patterns
I was delighted to spot a nice buck their daytime bedding area. Look are disrupted and abandoned. Some
approaching. As he walked under my for runways and tracks around call this approaching period the
stand, I came to full draw and sent water sources. The more secluded October lull.
a carbon arrow through his boiler the watering hole the better chance Take advantage of the first
room. I watched as he crashed to the of having daytime activity. Hang or couple weeks of the season. Spend as
forest floor after a mere 50-yard run. place your stand or blind downwind much time as you can locating mast
I had the deer dressed and in the bed of a trail leading to and from the crops and water sources and hunting
of my pickup before dark. As I sat in water source and you have an excel- near them. This is the best part of
my pickup with the air conditioner lent spot to bag your early-season October to fill your tag. Bow hunt
running, I was once again reminded whitetail. mostly undisturbed and uneducated
of the drawing power of acorns. I have always stated that deer while you can.
Hunting over a water source Michigan has the most hunter-savvy Be proactive and do not let
is another often overlooked but very whitetails of any state I have bow the warm weather and mosquitoes
productive bowhunting method hunted. With this said, it is no small deter you from filling your deer tag
to utilize during the early season. wonder that after the first week or and freezer early. Pay heed to the
White-tailed deer must drink every two of the season, most mature deer above mentioned techniques and
day. Oftentimes, twice when the are beginning to change as far as enjoy some early season success.
Tom Nelson is the host of Cabela's American Archer. He has traveled all over the world in pursuit of big game but
always finds his way back to Michigan to hunt early season white-tailed deer.

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 51 8/28/2017 10:55:10 AM

 To SHOOT or not to SHOOT
may not be the question...
D
eer season is almost upon us.
We have waited for months —
planting food plots, checking
trail camera cards, perfecting arrow
groupings, setting up tree stands
and clearing shooting lanes. We do
all of this work, wishing, praying,
dreaming of the big buck we hope
to put on the wall. But what if I told
you that big buck is found in the
harvest of does? That the high deer
densities we have become accus-
tomed to decrease the likelihood of
harvesting a booner? What if our
deer are eating themselves to a state
of declining antler potential and
increased predation?
I work with deer hunters all
over Michigan, and I know that they
care about our deer. They spend
hours upon hours planting food
and managing habitat. They spend
thousands of dollars on equipment
— both for hunting and the afore-
mentioned habitat and food plot
projects. While hard work is being
done to provide deer with food, I also
see drastic treelines on field edges,
indicating deer are over-browsing
their habitat. This degradation
impacts forest regeneration and
50 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 52
habitat for a whole slew of animals,
including white-tailed deer.
While a lot of good is being
done for deer, I am concerned about
our deer. I understand there are
areas where deer numbers are low.
Epizootic hemorrhagic disease swept
through and hit some areas incred-
ibly hard in 2012. There are areas
where deer numbers are lower due
to targeted chronic wasting disease
surveillance. In much of the Lower
Peninsula however, there is room for
a significant increase in doe harvest.
Decreased deer density has
several benefits to deer. A primary
value is that it decreases the browse
pressure on the native vegetation
and allows for continued regrowth.
When forest areas are over-browsed,
it prevents the forest from regen-
erating. The regeneration is what
provides food to deer and other wild-
life, along with cover that provides
security during the hunting season
and protection from predators. When
does are not able to get the food they
need over the winter and into spring
(where woody browse is the primary
food source) they start losing their
ability to care for their fawns. Bucks
enter into the spring behind on their
energy reserves, resulting in less
antler development.
Some other factors related
to deer density include additional
ruts. This can lead to fawns dropping
over a longer period of time, which
increases fawn vulnerability to
predation and bucks going into the
winter more worn out. Combining
these two issues with high compe-
tition for food creates a very poor
scenario.
Over time, high deer densi-
ties lead to bad outcomes, but how
do we know if our deer densities
are too high? By evaluating deer
numbers and the impacts they have
on local habitats, we can gather the
information we need to determine
a target harvest range for our doe
populations. The four tools I recom-
mend using to become informed
about target doe harvest ranges
include trail camera surveys, hunter
observation data, harvest data, and
browse-impact surveys. The combi-
nation of this data will equip you and
your local deer hunters with a good
idea of how many does you should
target in a given season. Tracking
8/28/2017 10:55:11 AM
 INSTEAD,
let's ask how many we should SHOOT
by Anna Mitterling
MUCC Wildlife Cooperative Coordinator
this information over time will show
you the impact you are having on the
deer herd in your neighborhood and
help you modify your harvest plans
over time.
Trail Camera Surveys
One trail camera can be a
very effective way to estimate deer
numbers over a 100-acre area, but
can also accurately measure the buck
to doe ratio. To set up for a camera
survey, you will need to establish a
bait pile for seven to 10 days. August
works well for the survey because
bucks have antlers developing and
fawns still have obvious spots. You
will want to run a camera on your
bait pile to make sure it is attracting
deer to the location.
Make sure your camera is
pointing to the north to avoid the
sun backlighting your images and
that it is about 15 feet away from
the bait pile. You want to have the
bait pile in the middle of your image
so you can capture as many deer as
possible. You also want to make sure
the camera is only taking pictures
every five minutes to avoid too many
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 53
images to sort through. Once the
seven- to 10-day period has passed
and the deer are using the pile, start
your 14-day survey. Once the 14-day
survey begins, you should disrupt
the site as little as possible. Only
replace the memory card, place new
batteries or refresh the bait pile if
needed.
Once you have collected 14
days worth of images, you should
look through all of them and tally up
the number of unique bucks, total
number of does and the total number
of fawns. There is a data collection
form at www.qdma.org that helps
translate the number of deer into
buck to doe ratios and estimates the
total population of deer per square
mile. You will want to repeat this
survey each year to compare these
numbers over time to identfy trends
in population estimates. For more
details on how to conduct a trail
camera survey, check out the QDMA
book “Deer Cameras: The Science of
Scouting.”
Please note that the survey
is based on cameras set up at a bait
pile. Please be sure to check the
regulations on baiting in your area
before using this method.
Hunter Observation Data
If you hunt any number of
days in a given deer season, this data
is the easiest to collect. You simply
need to tally up the number of bucks,
does and fawns you see, along with
the number of hours you hunted.
This “deer per hour” data is great to
compare deer populations over the
years and can help you determine if
you are seeing more, less or similar
numbers of deer.
Now, it is important to note
that other factors play a role in how
many deer you see — so you want
to make sure you are comparing
apples to apples. If you only track
your observations in early-October
one year and early-November the
next year, you can’t really compare
those numbers. However, if you
compare several days throughout
multiple October hunts or opening
gun weekend each year with data
from previous years, your numbers
will have more significance.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 51
8/28/2017 10:55:11 AM
 Harvest Data checked. the area. As with other data collec-
tion methods discussed in this article,
Harvest data is quite easy to Browse-Impact Surveys the deer population estimates are
collect. Working with your neigh- best used as comparisons over time.
bors, local QDMA branches and Evaluating browse does not More information about deer browse
your local DNR biologist can really have to be a complicated process. impact surveys can be found at www.
add value to your data, as the more Simply going into the woods before mucc.org/cooperatives.
data you collect the better. The the leaves come out and assessing Another quick and easy way
basic information to collect is the deer browse for severity will provide to evaluate the impacts deer have on
number of deer (bucks, does, fawns) valuable information. However, plant growth, whether it be food plots
harvested around you, deer bones so there is a standardized approach or forests, is to install deer exclosure
you can determine age distribution that has been created to evaluate pens. These are used to keep deer
and dressed weights, which provide browse impacts by deer that may be out of particular areas so the browse
some insight on the health of the a little more complicated but can be impact can be compared to the
deer. Noting if the does harvested conducted with little training. surrounding non-fenced areas.
were lactating or not will provide To conduct a browse survey,
an indication of recruitment levels. you should esablish walking lines A Cooperative Approach
If they were lactating, you know and set distances along those lines
they had at least one fawn. Finally, to stop and evaluate browse impacts. Remember, each of these
measuring antlers for beam diame- Typically, within a mile line, there methods is just one part of the data
ters, antler points and score can tell will be fifty stops to collect data. At puzzle and should not be used as
you information about their trends each stop, the severity of browse a stand-alone indicators of deer
by age group (if getting jaw aged as should be evaluated, canopy cover numbers. In addition, it may prove
well) over time. Most of this infor- estimated and regeneration rates helpful to talk to your local DNR biol-
mation is collected at a DNR check assessed. While walking the lines, ogist to find out what deer densities
station. At the very least, consider deer scat can be tallied and converted they think are in your area and to talk
taking your deer in to the DNR to get into an estimate of deer numbers in to your neighbors as well. For more
QDMA members survey the landscape for deer sign during a cooperative event details on these evaluation methods,
facilitated by MUCC and QDMA. Population data was gathered for future visit www.mucc.org/cooperatives.
managment efforts. Good deer management goes
far beyond passing on shooting young
bucks. If you hope to see mature
bucks on your landscape, you must
invest time and energy into under-
standing the population of deer in
your woods and the impacts they
are making on the habitat. Simply
planting food plots is not enough.
Doing habitat work while evalu-
ating deer densities and impacts on
your property isn’t enough either
since deer use many square miles
of habitat. To truly have an impact
on the deer in your woods, you must
work with local hunters to evaluate
deer numbers and impacts.
Once you have some data in
front of you, you will be equipped
to develop an action plan. For assis-
tance starting a deer cooperative,
please contact the author at amitter-
ling@mucc.org. I would love to help
you put together a plan to create
a cooperative, and then evaluate
the condition of your deer and the
impact they are making on your
local landscape. Together we can
make Michigan deer hunting great,
but we must work together.

52 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 54 8/28/2017 10:55:11 AM

 MUCC's OTG ("On the Ground") program is in
its fifth year, with multiple projects planned across
the state this summer. Projects allow volunteers
of all ages and experience levels to participate
in "on the ground" public land wildlife habitat
projects and provide an opportunity to engage
in hands-on conservation while learning about
wildlife habitat needs.

In early June 2017, OTG partnered with the Rocky

Mountain Elk Foundation for a project in the Pi-
geon River Country State Forest, the fourth year
of the partnership.

On June 16, OTG hosted a "rabbitat" project at

the Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area to kick
off the 2017 MUCC Annual Convention. Gra-
tiot-Saginaw SGA was the location of the very
first OTG project in 2013, which is appropriate
since this year's Annual Convention was held in
Owosso, with activities at the Shiawassee Con-
servation Association, where Michigan United
Conservation Clubs was founded in 1937!

You can sign up for projects like these at www.

mucc.org/ontheground.

MUCC's On the Ground program is a partner-

ship with the Michgian Department of Natural
Resources Wildlife Division funded in part by
conservation revenue generated from the sale of
hunting and fishing license fees.

For more information, email Sarah Topp, Wildlife

Volunteer Coordinator, at stopp@mucc.org.

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 55 8/28/2017 10:55:14 AM

 The fall
A
bout the time ice starts to
form around the edges of
lakes, ponds, rivers and
creeks, one group of Michigan
anglers winterizes their boats and
a different collection of anglers
respond by taking their boats out of
storage.
The phenomenon of the
fall steelhead run lures count-
less anglers to Michigan’s top
streams, but few of these fish-
ermen completely understand the
dynamics of fall fishing.
Why do steelhead that live
in the Great Lakes all year long
head to flowing water in the fall?
The most popular theory suggests
these fish are capitalizing on a
seasonal food source in the form
of eggs produced by fall-spawning
salmon, brown trout and lake trout.
Unfortunately, the seasonal food
source theory doesn’t hold much
water.
Biologists remind us that
when steelhead are in the spawning
streams food is not their motiva-
tion. Most certainly steelhead will
“strike” a variety of lures and
baits, but this strike response is
more stimulated by their territo-
rial attitude than desire to feed.
54 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 56
plug bite
The other common theory
among avid anglers suggests that
steelhead that run the streams
in fall are experiencing a natural
pre-spawn urge. It’s true that some
steelhead will spend months in the
river before spawning early in the
spring. It’s also true that not all the
steelhead enter the river in the fall
or spawn at the same time. We do
know that bursts of rain and the
resulting runoff tend to trigger the
movement of steelhead into rivers.
Some years, more fish enter rivers
in the fall, and other years, the big
push of fish doesn’t happen until
winter or even well into spring.
All of this suggests that
it’s unlikely steelhead running in
rivers in fall are motivated by an
early urge to spawn. Steelhead are
an interesting species and there is
much we don’t understand about
their seasonal movements and
wander-lust attitude.
In the fall of 2016 and the
winter of 2017, anglers across
Michigan experienced one of the
most exceptional runs of steel-
head in recent history — and plug
pullers took advantage.
by Mark Romanack
Understanding Plugs
For those who believe that
steelhead do not feed in the rivers,
fishing with artificial lures that
generate a lot of action is the logical
plan of attack. Diving fishing lures,
or what most steelhead enthusi-
asts simply call “plugs,” are one of
the best choices for trigger-savage
strikes from territorial steelhead.
Most of the plugs designed
for steelhead fishing are short,
compact models that feature a wide
wobble and lots of fish-attracting
rattles. A few of the classic plugs
used by steelhead fishermen in the
fall include the Heddon Tadpoly,
the Luhr Jensen Hot Shot, Storm’s
Wiggle Wart and the Worden’s Flat
Fish. All of these lures feature that
wide wobble that works wonders
on triggering strikes from stream
steelhead.
In recent years, some manu-
facturers have added a second gener-
ation of high-performance steelhead
plugs. Baits such as the Yakima Bait
Mag Lip series up the ante consider-
ably by functioning in a wider range
of current speeds than traditional
8/28/2017 10:55:14 AM
 plugs. They are also popular with
steelhead anglers because these baits
can be rigged with a wide variety of
hook options without damaging the
trademark “skip beat” action these
plugs deliver.
In slow moving current or
what steelhead anglers refer to as
“frog water,” the Mag Lip has excel-
lent action and are versatile enough
that they won’t blow out even in
fast water. To make the Mag Lip an
even better fish trap, many anglers
customize their baits with after-
market hook selections.
Josh Crabtree is one of
Michigan’s most enthusiastic plug
fishing specialists.
“I remove the belly hook from
my 3.0 and 3.5 size Mag Lip baits,”
Crabtree said. “Next, I remove the
tail hook and add a second split ring
to the back of the lure. To finish the
job, I replace the factory-supplied
tail treble hook with a larger wide
bend hook such as the Eagle Claw
Trokar or the Mustad Triple Grip.”
Rigged in this manner, plugs
become more snag resistant and
when a fish is hooked, they rarely
escape. Steelhead are one of the
most difficult species to hook and
land because they are exceptionally
powerful, roll violently when hooked
and also are known for displaying
aerial acrobatics.
Establishing a Scent
Stream
Anyone who
has studied trout
and salmon
biology knows
that salmonids,
like steelhead, have
a highly acute sense of
smell. Science has proven that
these fish use scent to not only find
natal spawning waters, but also to
identify and capture forage. Because
steelhead can smell odors diluted as
much as a few parts per billion, it’s
vitally important to remove foreign
odors from lures when fishing and
to also add natural scent products to
entice these fish to strike.
Unnatural odors might
include, but are not limited to,
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 57
Listerine, tobacco smells, insect
repellant, sunscreen, fish blood or
fuel odors. The best way to remove
these odors is to wash baits with a
non-bleach dishwashing detergent
like lemon-scented Joy. Pro Cure, the
industry-leading scent producing
manufacturer, recently introduced a
new cleaning agent that can be used
without adding water and is designed
to remove foreign odors while leaving
no residual scent behind. Once a
lure is cleaned, the next step is to
add a favorite fish scent to create an
enticing scent stream in the water.
Paste or jelly-style scents are
favored by most anglers because they
stick to lures nicely and last longer
than water-soluble liquid scents.
“I like Pro Cure Predator
formula,” said Bob Ison, owner of
Another Limit Charter Service.
“Pro Cure Super Gel is made by
grinding up natural bait fish species
and mixing it with a sticky paste
that applies easily to fishing plugs.
The shelf life on these products is
five years and they don’t need to be
refrigerated.”
Catch and Release
Steelhead anglers are among
the most conservation-minded
people in the Great Lakes State.
Because steelhead do not die after
spawning, they are a valuable
resource that can spawn and help
perpetuate the species many times
during their six- to 10-year-long life
cycle.
The best way to release a
steelhead is to unhook the fish while
it is still in the water. First, immobi-
lize the fish using a Bogo Grip, and
then release the fish with a pair of
needle nose pliers.
If the fish is to be netted,
rubber landing nets are easier on the
fish than mesh versions that tangle
among hooks and make it more diffi-
cult to unhook and release the fish.
If steelhead are to be handled
for a picture, grasp the fish firmly
just above the tail or caudal fin with
one hand and cradle the fish under
the jaw with the other. This grip
secures the fish nicely but doesn’t
harm it.
Make your fishing pictures
brief and get the fish back into
the water as quickly as possible.
Remember, a fish can only live out of
water for about the same time period
a human can hold his or her breath.
Steelhead are amazing fish
and one of the most unique fishing
resources found in the Great Lakes
Basin. Anyone who has hooked and
landed one will testify to the power,
agility and pure beauty
of this
8/28/2017 10:55:16 AM
 species.

Centerpinning
101 by Nick Green

Thane Herbert hooks into an eight-pound female on the Manistee River while
centerpinning. Herbert spends about 200 days each year fishing Northern
Michigan rivers with a centerpin reel and bobbers.

Bobber fishing with a centerpin has anglers hooked

I
t happens quicker than you can
blink – one minute your bobber
is floating serenely across the
water, the next minute it’s gone.
There is something that
bites you, feeds the itch and awakens
your inner angler when you fish
for steelhead with bobbers. Maybe
it's the dream-provoking sight of
watching that piece of balsa disap-
pear into the blackness or the bend
a rod makes as it pulsates from the
head shakes, who knows?
One thing is for certain,
though, bobber fishing for steelhead
has come a long way in Michigan
over the last 10 years, and I’m
willing to bet the most productive
bobber anglers use a centerpin.
Gear
Centerpin reels have been
around for decades. They resemble
a fly reel in looks, with the line
spooling off the bottom of the reel
parallel to the rod.
The biggest, and most
important, difference of a centerpin
reel is its free-spool capability. The
line will pull from the reel only as
fast as the current pulls the bobber
downstream.
These reels can range in
price from $100 to $2,000 — some of
that gouge relates to the smooth-
ness at which the reel turns to let
line out, but most of it has to do with
brand recognition.
An angler can pick up a
good centerpin reel for $150 from
eBay. Look for used reels or buy
discontinued models. I picked up
a discontinued Raven, which is a
major player in the centerpin world,
for less than $200.
Anglers use 12- to 15-foot
rods with centerpin reels to keep
their line off the water, helping to
create a drag-free presentation.
However, the length that is optimal
for every river could be different
depending on its size.
I have found that a
12-foot-6-inch rod has served me well
on every river I have encountered in
Michigan. I have used it wading on
the Betsie, the Pere Marquette and
out of a boat on the Manistee. Many
of my fishing buddies prefer longer
rods, as they say it gives them more
line control. It is personal prefer-
ence, but I recommend starting with
something around that 12- to 13-foot
mark.
A centerpinning rod should
be soft, as with any other bobber
rod. The rod should soak up some
of the energy of the hookset. If we
used fast, responsive rods, the fish
would spit the hook before we ever
got a hookset or we would jerk the
bait right from the fish’s mouth.
Rods can be purchased
at a variety of prices, much like
centerpin reels. I would recommend
a mid-prized rod from Okuma or
Shimano to get started. I use a
Shimano Convergence that was less
than $100.
Any monofilament line will

56 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 58 8/28/2017 10:55:23 AM

 work for mainline. I prefer Siglon F
line in 12-pound test because it lasts
a long time, floats well and doesn’t
seem to have as much of a problem
with line memory as other types
of monofilament. Fluorocarbon
or monofilament can be used for
leaders depending on water condi-
tions and preference — fluoro tends
to be a little less visible to fish and
requires a special knot to use it
properly. I use the Palomar knot.
Any kind of tackle can be
fixed to the end of your line, with
hooks and jigs being the most
common. Anglers tip these hooks
or jigs with spawn, wax worms or
minnows for steelhead, usually. I
prefer a wide-gap circle hook in size
eight for steelhead fishing because
they don’t bend out and almost
never get spit by a fish.
I prefer an 8-gram float from
Raven Tackle Co. However, anglers
can use any number of bobbers
meant for river fishing.
Split shot is the last piece
Herbert displays an eight-pound hen caught on a centerpin rig on the Manistee River. The author uses a centerpin and
bobbers almost exclusively for steelhead. The biggest benefit of centerpinning is the drag-free, natural presentation.
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 59
of equipment an angler will need
to start centerpin fishing, and shot
will range in sizes depending on the
river. I use mostly No. 7 shot every-
where I fish.
Technique
Split shot should be evenly
distributed from the bobber down
to about 18 inches above the hook.
How many split shot are placed on
the leader and main line will depend
on how deep an angler is fishing. I
try to space my split shot about 12 to
16 inches apart.
Spacing shot like this allows
the bait to be presented first to
the fish. This is the most natural
presentation.
Advanced centerpinners
will all have their own opinion on
how to cast. Several methods have
been proven to eliminate line twist
and can take some practice to learn.
For these methods, a quick view of
a YouTube video or blog online will
SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 57
explain much more eloquently than
me the proper method.
For me, it has worked best to
just stop the line from spooling with
my reel hand, bring the rod back,
move it all forward in one motion
and let it fly. When the bobber
hits the water, I stop the reel from
spinning with my reel hand. This
method has not caused me many
problems with line twist.
It will take a day or two of
frustration on the water to figure out
how to cast a centerpin rig — that
is normal. Once an angler figures it
out, though, they won’t forget.
Once my tackle hits the
water, I then pull the bobber off the
water and move it upstream while
leaving the hook and split shot
submerged. This ensures that my
bait is being presented to the steel-
head first and not being dragged
down the river by the bobber.
From there, it is all about
depth. Reading a bobber is a some-
thing every float angler learns.
8/28/2017 10:55:26 AM
 Evenly spacing split shot about 12 to 16 inches apart from the bobber down to
18 inches above the hook allows for the bait to be presented to a steelhead first.
Oftentimes, traditional bobber fishing presents a bait that is being drug down
river by the bobber. This is why shot placement and mending is so important.

The best presentation is on the fish. Fall fishing usually gets

about 6 to 8 inches above the bottom
for steelhead. To find this, move
your bobber up your line until you
are ticking bottom — by carefully
watching your bobber you will be
able to tell when this happens.
If a bobber is tipping down-
stream, it is likely dragging on the
bottom. If it is tipping upstream, the
current is pulling your gear down-
stream too fast and more split shot
is needed. Experimenting with a
bobber through each hole if strikes
aren’t occurring is key — steelhead
won’t move much in the winter to
take a bait and hitting them in the
face is crucial.
Another technique that
guides and beginners like to use,
though never one I have favored,
is parking above a hole and letting
bobbers drift back from the boat.
This method is the easiest center-
pinning method if a boat is available.
If your bobber drops, stop
the spool with your reel hand and
hang on. Centerpin reels don’t have
drag, so having some knowledge of
how to fight a strong steelhead will
help an angler understand when to
give the fish some line, when to turn
its head and when to put pressure
Where to fish
Steelhead lies will vary
throughout the year. In fall, when
fish are starting to move into the
system and are amped up, they tend
to sit in the intermediate holes or
what spring anglers call the transi-
tion holes. These will vary river to
river but tend to be holes that are
in between the river’s deepest point
and the spawning gravel.
Fall is one of the best times
to get out on the river. Anglers don’t
have to sharpen their elbows, as most
of the other like-minded people are
chasing white-tailed deer or grouse.
It is easy to get into holes, and if you
see other anglers, they are usually
willing to chat about the day’s
happenings — unlike spring when
the pyramid-sinker-totting warriors
come out from hibernation.
Fish hooked in the fall
tend to be more aggressive than
those hooked in the spring. They
will display awesome shows of
acrobatics as they leap out of the
water, snap your line and throw up
a certain fin symbol that resembles
our middle finger.
started as the salmon run is closing.
These fish move up and gorge them-
selves on steelhead spawn, often-
times sitting in holes right behind
where salmon can be seen spawning.
Spawn tends to work best this time of
year under a bobber for that reason.
As the leaves make their
annual concession to gravity and
fall fades to winter, fish start to move
to the slow, deep holes. Again, this
is dependent on what size river you
fish. If you fish below Tippy Dam on
the Manistee, some of these holes
can be 12- to 15-feet deep. On the
Betsie River, 5- to 8-feet is a pretty
deep hole.
Winter fishing is thankless.
Anglers spend more time removing
ice from their eyelets than they do
with their rod in the water. Hundreds
of eventless casts can almost put an
angler to sleep. But, be ready — that
bobber will eventually drop and on
the other end will be a fish worth the
hours spent.
December through February
is my favorite time to float fish for
steelhead. Usually, I still have a bow
tag left in my pocket, the dogs are
tired from an eventful fall chasing
birds and I am ready for the quiet

58 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 60 8/28/2017 10:55:30 AM

 Look for seams in the river — this will likely be where fish hold. An old, but
true, saying is, "foam is home." Anywhere that the current breaks will provide
fish an area of less resistance to feed and rest.

that only a river can afford me. are fishing and how they are doing about that entail that bobber disap-
Once spring rolls around, I it, ask questions and, most impor- pearing? You’ll have them soon
get away from the river and switch to tantly, keep casting. enough if you stick with it.
fly gear for big trout. Remember those dreams I talked
However, spring can provide
good bobber fishing opportunities
if anglers can stand the crowds or
know a spot they have kept close to
their vest through the years.
So often we focus on those
spawning fish we can see. I get it, we
can see them — our brain tells us
they are there and we make those
casts. The fish just dodge the tackle,
I’ve done it too. Instead, focus efforts
on the holes behind these fish — the
staging areas.
They usually can’t see you
and are much more willing to eat
than the fish that are on gravel —
after all, those fish have one thing on
their mind, and it’s usually the same
thing as a 16-year-old boy.

Trial and error

No good steelhead angler,

let alone a float angler, became
good at catching fish the minute
they stepped into the water — years
of practice and gained knowledge
help them to be successful. Don’t
get discouraged, watch others who

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 59

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 61 8/28/2017 10:55:33 AM

 Surf chrome and stoicism
"The frost-laden mornings
of an Upper Peninsula
autumn are for few men and
even fewer pursuits..."
W
inter typically arrives
unannounced, usually
before all of the firewood
can be cut and just in time for the
most important day of the year
— opening day of firearm season.
As most hunters are heading to
tree stands and deer blinds tucked
deep in cedar swamps and alder
bogs, I am hitting the beaches of
Lake Superior. My backdrop is the
sound of rolling waves and distant
gunshots harmonizing over the
whistle of an incessant northern
wind.
The reasons for my sleep-
ness nights and subsequent 6:30
a.m. alarm find themselves swim-
ming the shorelines this time of the
year, concentrated near the swelling
streams given by rare fall down-
pours — they are hungry, chrome
60 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 62
by Calvin McShane
and silver steelhead. I am their
overly enthused admirer. The leaves
change unbeknownst to me because
on the beach my eyes remain fixated
on moving water and the cleansing
that only it and its counterparts can
provide.
My first run-ins with fall
steelhead were in college, when I
was sporting a Dick Swan-esque
noodle rod and float fished the deep
pools that lay behind the rapids of
the Sixth Street Dam. Since then,
I have traded the concrete jungle
for the rocky shoals of Gitchee
Gumee — a cathartic absolution of
all that is metropolitan. Now, my
techniques are unconventional in
comparison to my friends who still
hang around the Grand River, as
I have had to adapt to an entirely
different fishery.
The streams that flow west
into Lake Michigan in Michigan’s
Lower Peninsula are much larger
than their Lake Superior counter-
parts. Besides the obvious differ-
ences, one rarely noted by those in
the Lower Peninsula is that with a
smaller watershed comes a smaller,
nearly nonexistent, run of fall
steelhead.
Many streams lack the
water level to sustain large migra-
tions of the fall steelhead that will
eventually hold in the system over
winter. There are a few rivers that
host noteworthy and productive fall
runs but I will leave them for other
fisherman to popularize. The creeks
that happen to be plentiful and
devoid of hordes of people are the
places I frequent.
The majority of Lake
8/28/2017 10:55:34 AM
 Superior steelhead cruise the
shallow shorelines, chasing smelt,
shiners and spawning salmon.
About 400 miles from where I first
encountered them they seem to
remain the same — difficult to hook
m
and even more difficult to land.
To catch Lake Superior
steelhead in the fall means taking to
the beach. It requires patience and
persistence, and like all fall steel-
head fishing around the state, it has
its fantastic days surrounded but
mostly uneventful ones.
The strategies are best
understood in two categories: the
slingers and the sitters. Each group
can be found alongside each other,
wrestling for the prime spots in the
stained waters entering the big lake
after a warming autumn rain.
The slingers are a more
active breed. They employ long,
stiff poles from 8 to 10 feet that are
paired with large spinning reels and
heavy 10-pound test line. They are
slinging spoons and wobblers as far
as the northern swells allow them.
Their goal is to imitate the frantic
shiner or panicked smelt unhappily
intercepted by a darting steelhead
making its way in and out of scum
lines.
The ratio of casts to hookups
puts these anglers in the same cate-
gory as devout musky hunters —
determined but a little deranged.
The sitters are those who
like to watch the slingers from
the comfort of their five-gallon
pail. They are usually modeling a
patched pair of neoprene waders
with a purchase date somewhere in
the 1990s. Their wool and cotton base
layers are so thick that their bodies
remain stiff scarecrows even as they
doze off during a slow bite. They, too,
use long rods, a bit lighter in action,
that are fastened in the sand with
custom PVC rod holders. For bait,
they tie large spawn sacs cured in
as many recipes as there are human
languages, each with enough of its
own idiosyncrasies and oddities it
makes it almost painful to discern.
The bait is fished on leaders
ranging from one foot to three feet
depending on water depth and are
kept in place by a sliding pyramid
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 63
sinker attached via a swivel above deer blind for a beach day spent in
the leader. November snow.
Wading waist deep, or chest The November weather
deep for the valiant and stupid, on Lake Superior lives in infamy.
anglers take short breaths in Shipwrecks bleed through the sands
between gulps of water long enough along the coast, reminders of the
to cast their offering far enough harshness a November storm can
they pretend to worry about hitting bring.
the passing ore boats. Once their Unfortunately for the surf
bait is presented, they sit and wait, fisherman, with inclement weather
anxious for the next steelhead that comes exceptional fishing. A riled
may unexpectedly scoop up their shoreline can be a steelhead's
spawn bag as they cruise east and paradise and a fisherman’s too, as
west along Lake Superior’s south long as they can find an effective
shore. way to keep their bait from being
I fall somewhere between swept away by the waves and their
both groups of anglers. There are bodies warm enough to stave off the
mornings I like to hop from river impending hypothermia.
mouth to river mouth donned in a These days are some of
plethora of overly expensive rain my favorite days. Most anglers
gear and a single St. Croix casting are either home or at deer camp
rod with a collection of Acme KO keeping their coffee and woodstoves
Wobblers. Then there are other hot. I am usually standing stiff in
mornings where I stand shoulder to the wind with a lofty idea that the
shoulder with Yoopers and visiting worst weather brings not only the
down-staters alike, debating on best fishing, but acts as a testament
whether or not the east or west side to my virtue.
of the stream is a better spot to fish. Those who brave this
Both tactics have their days weather are unmoved by worldly
where multiple hook-ups are not discomfort. They have an innate
just a fantasy, but a
fantastic reality.
The fish
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8/28/2017 10:55:34 AM
 It is arduous suffering for few
incidents of reward, a true
testament to all that is stoic and all
that is steelhead.
knowledge that in the pull of fresh
steelhead comes a knowledge
understood only by powers outside
of ourselves — its existence is as
impermanent as the waves nipping
at the boot of our waders.
Surf fishing steelhead is
nothing new. It is a tactic steeped in
tradition that draws roots from all
over the state. However, its popu-
larity is minimal when compared
to the time of year when grouse and
deer hunters dominate the woods.
I guess this is why people like me
would rather trade the rifle for a few
Fenwick glass surf rods and keep
their hands warm only by the stern
wrapping of neoprene waders and
the occasional battle over rod and
reel.
We prefer to leave the woods
62 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 64
to the woodsmen, finding true soli- Surf fishing can act as a
tude in the desolation of unending synonym for insanity. It is arduous
shorelines. The beaches that begin suffering for few incidents of
just west of the Porkies and end at reward, a true testament to all that
the headwaters of the St. Mary’s is stoic and all that is steelhead.
River are crowded only with sand
and ice. They are broken up by
hundreds of streams, small to big,
each with a flow begging the atten-
tion of steelhead.
Accessibility is beyond
bountiful and the technique is
fishing in its simplest form. Fishing
the surf requires only hardiness
and the madness of obsession.
In the analects of sports-
manship regarding the U.P., hung
on the wall along with rifles, red
plaid, dog whistles, and double
barrel shotguns, there must be surf
rods and scale-encrusted stringers.
8/28/2017 10:55:34 AM
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 65 8/28/2017 10:55:35 AM

 Fall's not last call f

by David A. Rose

64 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 66 8/28/2017 10:55:36 AM

l for browns:
How to up your chances of
landing a lunker

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 65

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I
f there was a time of year I could
take a month-long stretch off of
work to enjoy fishing in Michigan
it would unquestionably be during
the fall season. Like the majority of
us, however, being able to take that
much time off would require the
windfall of a winning lottery ticket
for it to come to fruition.
One sure thing I have going
for me that doesn’t require the luck
of matching numbers, however, is
the odds of landing a brute-sized
brown trout from one of the many
rivers where these marauders reside
year-round.
And as blessing may have
it, I live within many short drives of
some of the most paramount rivers
in the United States for catching these
brute fish — in the heart of Northern
Lower Michigan. And fortunately for
all trout anglers in the state, there
are several river systems throughout
both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas
that are open for catching Salmo
trutta (for you Latin buffs) well after
the regular season comes to a close;
many even open year-round for
fishing.
The best part about fishing
the state’s pristine rivers well above
any dam that keeps migratory Great
Lakes trout and salmon at bay?
There’s a good chance you may not
see another angler for miles. And if
you do, you at least know they are
there for the same reason you are:
to up the ante of landing the largest
brown of your life.
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 68
Bodybaits like this Rapala Original Minnow casted slightly
upstream and reeled in so the lure wobbles wildly are too much
for a brown to let pass by.
Location, location, location
Brown trout spawn mid- to
late-fall, which is another unique
aspect about fishing for them this
time of year. The very fish that
rarely leave the comforts of deep,
log-infested pools in the mid to lower
sections of a river for nine months
of the year start making their move
upstream to head for water perfect
for procreation.
They migrate here because
it’s in-between the tiny rocks where
water is shallow and flows fast over
beds of gravel that is the perfect place
for newly-hatched trout to start out its
life. Here, too, the water temperature
is more consistent throughout the
winter period, thus these youngest
of young-of-the-year fish stand the
greatest chance of survival.
Although browns are working
their way upstream to spawn, don’t
expect to see huge pods of fish on top
the gravel runs like you would where
Great Lakes salmon and trout spawn.
You may see a freshly-fanned redd
here and there, created sometime
between the low-light periods of dusk
and dawn, but rarely browns in the
mood for love. And if you do happen
upon a hen fanning and males in
fighting motion behind her, it may
be in your best interest to let them
do their thing without harassment.
Natural reproduction occurs in many
rivers and stocks the waterways well
beyond what the Michigan DNR may
be adding.
Overall, you’ll catch more
fish if you cast into the pools and
runs adjacent to shallow gravel runs,
especially those with deep, undercut
banks. These areas are where the
highest concentrations of big fish will
be during this time of year as they
wait for the perfect spawning condi-
tions. Look for them. Cast. You’ll be
pleasantly pleased with the results.
Offering plate
The methods of fishing
madness this time of year are endless,
and the trick to hooking huge browns
during the fall months isn’t really
a trick at all. You just need to forgo
what many anglers consider stan-
dard trout fare — that is to use tiny
flies and small lures — and instead,
be bold and use stout streamers and
big baits.
Casting large flies and lures
will require a little heavier equip-
ment than what most anglers are
accustomed to. Some of it may even
be considered more bass-fishing-like
than trout fishing. But whatever you
do, be prepared for an attack with
every cast or you could miss that fish
of a lifetime.
“I love the bite of a big brown;
it’s like a shark attack,” said Russ
Maddin, river guide and guru of
creating audacious streamers from
feathers and fur. “They just seem
to come up out of nowhere, and it
happens so fast it feels as if your
8/28/2017 10:55:37 AM
 heart skips a beat. It’s an adrenaline bodybait wobbles wildly and spinner for a surprise swim. Take a wading
rush, for sure.” barely starts spinning is perfect in the staff with you, and use it. If wearing
The Traverse City, Michigan cooling water. boot-foot waders, wear a set of cleats
resident has been chasing big browns As with fishing with or install spikes into the lugs of your
all his life, and guiding has been his streamers, you’ll need to beef up your boots. A quick search on the internet
only job. Ever. spinning or casting gear when using and you’ll find an overwhelming
Maddin has his clients casting this hefty hardware as the hooks amount of videos on how to do it
large streamers — up to seven inches are robust, as well, and even a razor- yourself.
in length — this time of year as they sharp point will need a swift set into Another thing many forget
imitate large minnows and young fish. a brown’s hard mouth. A 7- to 7.5-foot this time of year is to have an extra
“Big trout don’t eat often, but when medium-power rod with a reel filled set of clothes in your vehicle, just
they do they target huge prey,” he with 10-pound test monofilament or in case you do slip and take a dip.
said. fluorocarbon is often just the right Also overlooked this time of year is
Besides casting bigger flies rig. A rod any longer and you reduce making sure you’re drinking plenty
than the average angler, another the accuracy of your cast. Precise of water. A couple bottles worth or a
secret to Maddin’s trout-catching placement of a lure is not only crucial jug from home will suffice.
success is covering as much water as for getting a bite, but aiding in you
possible. When guiding, he employs not landing your lure in a snag. Any Paging Mr. Brown
a drift boat, floating several miles of shorter and you lose casting distance.
river in a single trip. Although using Looking to up your odds of
a boat will definitely have an angler Slip sliding away landing the largest brown trout of
jacketing the most water, it’s not a your life? Forgo playing the lottery
necessity this time of year. “Just be Fall weather can be a mix of and use the cash to buy gas for a
willing to walk… a lot; giving a hole a little of everything Mother Nature drive to one of the many rivers open
just a few casts and then moving on,” has to offer. Air temperatures can be for fishing after the regular season’s
he says. anywhere from 7 degrees to 70, and over.
As for flinging these giant it can turn from sunny to rainy and Grab a state fishing regula-
flies, the big streamer ploy has snowing in mere minutes. And all that tion booklet and find a river open
become popular enough that rod change makes avoiding slips and falls to extended fishing near you. Head
manufacturers are now producing fly into the water more vital than ever. higher in the system and cast stout
rods in 8.5- to 9.5-foot, 7- to 8-weight While I mentioned it’s streamers, large spinners or big body-
models designed just for casting these important to cover as much water baits into the holes, runs and cuts
heavyweights on serious tippets. And as possible when wading, it’s just as near spawning gravel. And hang onto
fluorocarbon tippets — fluoro being imperative to take your time with that rod tight. The strike from these
denser than monofilament — helps a every step you make so as not to go brute fish is vicious and quick.
streamer stay in the strike zone better.
Size 2X (approximately 11.5-pound
test) are the lightest Maddin uses.
After all, these flies are tied on heavy-
gauge hooks, and it takes some oomph
to set the point and pull a fish from a
log jam. Don’t be afraid to give it your
all on the strike.
Streamers should be fished
slightly upstream and worked down-
stream at a 45-degree angle back to the
angler. Give your fishy fly imitation a
stop-and-flee retrieve, and be prepared
to do battle at a moment’s notice.
Lures, too, should be on the
larger side of life. Bodybaits 4 to 7
inches in length and in-line spinners
with bulky blades in the number 5 to 6
range are not only easy for big browns
to bull’s-eye, but emulate the size of
the forage to a tee. Because freshwater
fish are cold-blooded and their bodies
the same temperature as the water,
a retrieve just fast enough so the

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 Stream bass
M
ichigan is blessed with
abundant rivers. The
fisheries folks at the
Department of Natural Resources
like to boast that of Michigan’s
36,000 miles of streams, 12,000 of
them are trout water. And the other
2/3rds? They are full of fish, too.
And many of those fish are bass.
Bass fishing has evolved
into a largely big-lake sport, where
guys in $50,000-plus metal flake-fin-
ished boats blast across the surface
as they race from hot spot to honey
hole seeking ol’ Micropterus. But
there is plenty of opportunity to
find bass — mostly smallmouths,
but some largemouths, too – in
Michigan’s inland waterways.
It’s a different kind of
fishing — usually slower and more
intimate. But it’s every bit as fun –
maybe even more – and can be just
as exciting and productive.
Stream fishing certainly
offers variety in how you can
approach it. You can put on your
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 70
waders or, if the water’s warm
enough, just jump in in your tennis
shoes. You can take a canoe or kayak
or johnboat and just meander down-
stream. Or you can go by motor boat
– provided the river is large enough
and you can find adequate access –
and fish it the same way you would
on Lake St. Clair.
One of my favorite trips
— one that I take annually and
always look forward to — is on the
Kalamazoo River just outside the
city limits, where I fish with Scott
Markham, an electrician/fishing
guide. We put in Markham’s boat, a
large johnboat with a jet-drive and a
trolling motor, at a small park that
gives us access to many more miles
of river than we could possibly
fish in a day. In recent years, we’ve
taken to fishing evenings, getting
started around 5 p.m. and fishing
until darkness encroaches. And the
fishing is always good and some-
times very good. We usually catch 20
to 40 smallmouths between us with
by Bob Gwizdz
an occasional largemouth thrown
in and there’s always a variety of
non-target species (crappie, pike,
rock bass) to keep things interesting.
A lot of the bass that we catch are
small (in that 10- to 12-inch range)
but we never fail to catch a handful
of keeper-sized bass, which we
always return to the water. We also
catch plenty of good ones, including
a fair number of four-pounders and
some fives. The best I remember
was a 5-pound, 9-ounce smallmouth,
which we weighed on a hand-held
scale, though Markham tells me
he’s beaten that mark a number of
times.
Typically, Markham runs
upstream as far as he wants to fish.
Then he gets on the trolling motor
and we gradually drift downstream,
dropping an anchor if needed, in
areas where the current is strong
and the fish are active. We’ve caught
them on all manner of lures; a basic
tube is probably the go-to bait,
but there are days when the fish
8/28/2017 10:55:39 AM
 seem to be all over crankbaits. Jigs pounds a piece, and I missed that well before sunset – I went back to
with trailers, Texas-rigged plastic many more. the fly rod and put on a popper and
worms, drop-shot rigs – everything However, the heavy rod, caught a handful of bass over the
produces at one time or another. sink-tip line combination was giving course of the last hour. Fath, who
For many years I fished my problematic shoulder some had been alternating fishing and
the Grand River, downstream issues. So I picked up the spinning rowing with Lessway, kept at it with
of Lansing, out of a canoe with rod and started tossing the floating the streamer. He caught fish, too.
now-retired DNR fisheries biologist Rapala. The bigger bait drew larger I’d caught 23 and I imagine
Ned Fogle. We always caught plenty average-sized fish and I put 10 of Fath and Lessway did that many, if
of smallmouths, many keeper-sized them in the boat in short order. not more. Not bad for a lazy after-
fish and often had a handful of other “I’ve had guys down here noon, eh?
species including pike or an occa- with soft plastics do very well, I’ve had similar results on
sional walleye, the most notable of but usually we fish streamers or other streams — often on rivers that
which was a rainbow I caught one popping bugs,” said Lessway, with you wouldn’t immediately associate
year that must have been confused whom I’d fished a half dozen times with bass fishing. I spent a half day
about where it was living. previously, always for trout. “We on the Au Sable below Alcona Dam
One of the more interesting have a lot of 50- to 60-fish days. Some with retired DNR fisheries biologist
river trips I’ve taken in recent years days more. There are days when it’s Steve Sendek one late summer day
was with Chris Lessway, a noted slow, too, of course, but I’ve never when we caught about 30 bass and
trout fishing guide on the Au Sable had a day when I’ve been skunked. one trout. Sendek did most of his
River, who puts up the trout gear And I’ve had clients out there who damage with a curly tail grub on a
in late summer and switches over could barely cast a steamer and jig head, while I caught most of mine
to bass below Foote Dam once the they caught fish.” (including the trout) on a crankbait
water gets too warm to make catch- As the sun sunk below the and a Tiny Torpedo surface lure.
and-release trout fishing advisable. trees – there are large pines and Similarly, I used to fish the
It was an afternoon trip, out of a cedars lining both banks for much Manistee below Tippy Dam, down-
drift boat, and we were largely fly of this stretch, shading the river stream from High Bridge, with
fishing, though when I was getting
my gear out of the truck, Lessway Scott Markham shows off a Kalamazoo River smallmouth. Markham spends
noticed I had a spinning rod with much of his time fly fishing rivers like the Kalamazoo in search of bass.
a No. 11 Rapala tied on and he
suggested I bring it.
Lessway had invited Chad
Fath, a wooden net maker and
sometimes fishing guide himself,
and we headed downstream
throwing streamers on sink-tip
lines. Fath, who was fishing with
an olive-colored fly, scored almost
immediately with a small smallie
and put a handful more into the
boat in short order. I was using a
large, flashy, white streamer, which
Lessway described as his “go-to”
fly. The bass were chasing it – I saw
fish on almost every cast come take
a look – but I wasn’t connecting.
Lessway likes the white streamer
because “it’s easy to see and a lot of
the baitfish kind of have that shine
to them,” he said.
After about 45 minutes of
seeing, but not catching, fish, I
switched to a dark-colored fly and
I immediately started hooking fish.
(Were the bass keying in on craw-
fish, not minnows? Who knows?)
Over the next 90 minutes, I put six
in the boat, sizing up to about two

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 Chris Lessway with a smallmouth from the Au Sable River below Foote Dam. Popping bugs across the water's surface
can be a great way to draw out the carnivourous tendencies in bass. It is also an exciting way to fish.
Doug Samsel, who now spends the
warmer weather months on Lake
St. Clair. We would fish in the same
places we’d steelhead fish in the
winter. We had 30- and 40-fish days,
mostly swimming curly tails on jig
heads, though a floating/diving
Rapala produced well, too.
I’ve had good bass fishing
on the Flat, Flint, Shiawassee
and Thornapple. rivers. And did I
mention the Huron? That’s where
I first discovered the joys of stream
bass fishing back when I was a
college kid and the sum total of
my fishing gear was a cheap rod,
an old Mitchell 300 reel and a pair
of (leaky) waders. I usually fished
the water below Dexter (before it
becomes impounded by Barton
Dam) where it was easily wade-able.
I caught mostly smallmouths, but
a fair number of largemouths as
I approached Ann Arbor. In later
years, when my father was getting
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 72
too fragile to take the pounding of
the big lake, I’d put in my boat at the
park off Huron Parkway and we'd
catch lots of both species of bass,
some of which were in the five-
pound class.
In recent years, I’ve taken
to fishing with Dirk Fischbach
who runs a fly shop in Dexter. A
hard-core fly fisherman, Fischbach
thinks plenty of bass anglers are
missing the boat by ignoring the
rivers.
“Lakes are easier to access
for a lot of people,” he said. “And
the perception is that fish in lakes
are going to be bigger, but we know
that big fish live in rivers, too.”
Fischbach, who wrote “The
Fly Fisher’s Huron: A Practical
Guide to Michigan’s Blue Ribbon
Smallmouth River” – wades half the
time and floats the rest. We’ve done
both together and have had success
with both approaches.
Fischbach fishes a number
of other rivers, too. “The Grand,
Raisin, Shiawassee, Tittabawassee,
Chippewa – they’re all good and
they’re sort of different environ-
ments, which I like because is sort
of makes you dig into your bag of
tricks.”
Fischbach says he likes to
fish from immediately post-spawn
until it’s too cold to fish.
“Fall fishing is fantastic,”
he said. “The streamer bite is pretty
darn strong.”
And though he’s married to
fly fishing, he readily admits that
hardware fishermen can often do
better.
“I think soft plastics and jigs
are best,” he said. “I wouldn’t want
to go head-to-head with a good spin
fisherman on an average day. But
then, all of a sudden, there’s a big
hatch of mayflies and the fly guy’s
going to have his way.”
8/28/2017 10:55:43 AM
 Nymphamaniac:
The Fish
by Nick Green
Blake Sherburne hopper-dropper fishes a section of the Pere Marquette River near
Baldwin in late-July. The trip yielded a fair amount of small trout, but the day was a
perfect one to be on the river.
T
here are certain things in the
outdoor world that I am medi-
ocre at — while most others I
am just plain poor at. Nymphing for
trout is one of my mediocrities.
Throwing nymphs for trout
doesn’t involve the picturesque
casting Brad Pitt displays in A River
Runs Through It. In fact, casting
nymphs is quite the opposite — there
isn’t much finesse involved when
you are roll casting an indicator and
two weighted nymphs across a river.
I was still pretty green,
forgive the pun, when I ventured
into the world of nymphing. Despite
reading a multitude of John Gierach
books, Hatch magazines and Jim
Bedford articles, I couldn’t find
much on the sport. Those who did
write about it had an uncanny way
of leaving the reader knowing that
there was more to it than what they
were telling.
We know that trout spend
all of their lives underwater.
Presumably, they spend most of
their time eating underwater as
well. In Michigan, the Big Five
hatches last from mid-April through
the beginning of July, depending on
what stream you call home.
What do trout eat the rest
of the year? Minnows? Of course.
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 73
Nymphs? You bet. Throwing
streamers for big browns is still
something I am learning — to
me, it is just about as thankless as
steelhead fishing in February. I still
prefer to tie on size-14 nymphs if I’m
not dry-fly fishing.
The Fish — May 25, 2014
I had just lit a cigarette, and
the late-spring sun was starting to
get hot. My fishing buddy Blake was
leading the way through a nice run
on the Pere Marquette that we could
usually count on for a trout.
I was busy watching Blake’s
indicator at the bottom of the run
when I felt the tug. I hadn’t seen
my indicator go under, I just felt
the weight of something at the end.
I could see my indicator under-
water as it darted towards a pretty
substantial log that paralleled the
run.
Immediately, I put pressure
on the fish. It didn’t feel that big —
knowing what I knew then. Now, I
have fought these fish, I know what
they do, I know how they react. He
went right to the bottom of the river
and sat, as most big browns do.
Blake yelled upstream
asking if I needed the net. I waved
him off. I thought I had hooked
into another one of the 12- to
14-inch browns that bless the Pere
Marquette. About 30 seconds into
the fight, I caught a glimpse of what
would be known as The Fish to me
for the next few years.
It was decided, despite my
stubborn ways, that Blake would net
The Fish. It hardly fit into his net —
the tail and cape hung out over the
ends. It was 24 inches long, or 22, as
Blake saw it. We never did put a tape
on The Fish, but my friend’s 25-plus
years of fly fishing experience prob-
ably helped him guess its size better
than I could.
Nonetheless, I was excited
about nymphing.
I lit another cigarette, a
celebratory one, as I rubbed it in
that Blake had just fished through
that run in front of me. Three casts
later, I hooked another fish. It ended
up being another brown about 18
inches long.
We both closed that day
having caught fish. None were as
nice as the first two fish, but they
were still respectable. Since then, I
have learned a thing or two about
nymphing, and although I haven’t
caught a brown as big as The Fish
again on a nymph, I have caught a
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 71
8/28/2017 10:55:47 AM
 plethora of upper-teens and 20-inch
browns on nymphs during the
middle of the day.
Strategy
Nymphing can be done
several different ways — with an
indicator, such as a Thingamabobber
or grasshopper pattern, Czech-style
or even tight-lining holes with spin-
ning gear.
I prefer to use an indicator.
Early in the year, when it is too
cold for mayfly hatches or they are
just getting started, I usually use a
Thingamabobber. They are the fly
fishing version of a bobber. When
I use this method, I usually tie two
nymphs on — the second being tied
on at the bend of the first’s hook.
The author with The Fish. Nymphing has come to be one of the author's favorite ways to fly fish and The Fish helped to
solidify that. This picture was taken on the bank of Pere Marquette River in May 2014.
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 74
July through September, I
like to use grasshopper patterns for
my indicator. This tends to be the
most relaxing kind of fly fishing for
me — I have usually caught a nice
trout or two during the hatches, I
am rested after countless fishless
nights staying up until 1 a.m. waiting
for mayflies to hatch and the bikini
hatch provides some OK scenery.
We usually get on the river
about mid-morning and fish out the
section we had planned for the day.
An angler could probably get there
at daybreak or just before dark but
most die-hard fly guys have had
enough of that in May and June.
Focusing on runs or holes
that have held fish for an angler before
is a good way to start nymphing. If
a river is new to an angler, look for
current breaks (seams), foam and
deep holes with some sort of struc-
ture nearby — these will likely hold
fish.
Roll casting is a necessity
when nymphing. Remember the
Brad Pitt reference? I have yet to see
someone perform casts like that and
not wind up with a rat’s nest at the
end of their line. In fact, roll casting
is by far the most useful cast for a
fly angler in Michigan — it keeps
everything in front of you and out
of the bushes. I use the cast in every
kind of fly fishing I do — chucking
streamers, mousing and dry-fly
fishing.
I prefer to cast directly across
the river, perform a mend that gets
my indicator above my nymph and
then walk the dog with my line to get
8/28/2017 10:55:47 AM
 as long of a drift as possible. Walking
the dog is when you wiggle the tip of
your rod up and down to let excess
line out without affecting your drift
or presentation.

The nymph

I tie my own nymphs. I don’t

do it for fun, either — I do it because
I can’t buy the kind of nymphs I
want. I am not sure pattern matters
as much as size. Of course there
are tried and true patterns like the
Pheasant Tail, Hare’s Ear and Prince
nymphs, though.
More importantly, and the
reason I tie all of my own nymphs,
is how much weight is tied into each
fly. In order to effectively nymph, the
fly has to get down to fish that are
sitting on or near the bottom. Sure, a
fish will move a little, but it has to see
your nymph first.
When I tie my nymphs, I use at
least two wraps of whatever diameter
lead matches the hook size I am tying
it on and put a tungsten head on them.
Above: Jeff Harnish displays a beautifully-colored brown trout he caught his
This will ensure that my nymph will
first day nymphing. Harnish ended his first day with three browns and a lost
get to the bottom.
skamania. Below: The author displays a brown caught on the Pere Marquette.
Because of the weight I
include in my nymphs, I tend to get When I am fishing rivers I know, I try changing the depth of your fly is easy.
snagged up. This is just part of the to keep my leader length 1.5 times
trade-off. When I fish new rivers, I the depth I am fishing. The benefit Fish it out
might keep my leader a little shorter. of using a Thingamabobber is that
Aside from learning how to
roll cast, not fishing out the drift is
one of the biggest mistakes people
learning to nymph commit.
Oftentimes, even with
weighted nymphs, a fly won’t get to
the bottom until it is at your 10 o’clock.
Keep the fly in the water until it is
almost directly downstream from you
if possible. Most trout will hit it when
you are more than three-quarters of
the way through your drift. I have
even hooked quite a few trout directly
below me when I am pulling my
nymph out of the water for another
cast.
I am not sure if I will ever
catch a brown like The Fish during
the day on a nymph again, but I
am hopeful. Lots of anglers scoff at
throwing nymphs during the day for
trout. They say that big trout can’t be
caught doing it. I beg to differ — The
Fish reminds me.

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 Give yourself a pat on the back
Michigan hunters and anglers have helped Michigan wildlife thrive in three ways
A sponsored report by the
Michigan Wildlife Council
Michigan’s dramatic strides
in wildlife conservation are due
in large part to the contributions
of sportsmen and sportswomen.
However, many folks – including
even hunters and anglers them-
selves – are unaware of their
important role.
The Michigan Wildlife
Council was created three years
ago to raise awareness about the
importance of wildlife conservation
and to educate the public about how
Michigan’s wildlife and natural
resources are managed and funded.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to
sportsmen and sportswomen for
all they do – whether they realize
it or not – to help make Michigan
the great state it is today,” said
Matt Pedigo, chair of the Michigan
Wildlife Council.
Here are three ways
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 76
Michigan sportsmen are helping
preserve our outdoor heritage for
future generations:
1. Building on a long history of safe-
guarding wildlife populations
We can thank forward-
thinking early conservationists – led
by hunters and fishermen – that the
goal of preserving wild animals and
their habitats through sound science
and active management is encoded
into Michigan law.
Today’s sportsmen and
sportswomen are stewards of
that heritage, based on the North
American Wildlife Conservation
Model, developed in the mid-1800s
when sportsmen realized they
needed to assume responsibility
for managing wild habitats and
protecting rapidly disappearing
wildlife.
The movement gave rise to
the system that is widely supported
and serves us so well today: regulated
hunting and fishing and public lands
that government agencies manage
using scientifically based practices.
And hunters and fishermen
do far more than support conser-
vation philosophically – they also
back it financially. It is a widely held
misnomer (even among 66 percent
of sportsmen, data compiled by the
Michigan Wildlife Council show) that
everyone in Michigan pays to protect
our natural resources through taxes.
In fact, sportsmen, through
the purchase of hunting and fishing
licenses, fund the bulk of the state’s
conservation and wildlife manage-
ment activities. So every time a
hunter or angler purchases a license,
8/28/2017 10:55:47 AM
 tag or permit, that money is funneled
to the Michigan Department of
Natural Resources for activities
such as habitat improvements and
invasive species control. The sale of
hunting and fishing licenses gener-
ated an estimated $63.2 million in
fiscal year 2015-16, according to DNR
records.
In addition, sportsmen contribute to
our economy through the purchase
of sporting arms, ammunition,
archery equipment and handguns. In
2016, Michigan received a combined
total of nearly $34 million from the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife service for
wildlife conservation through the
Pittman-Robertson and the Dingell-
Johnson Acts.
In 1937, a national coalition
of conservationists – virtually all of
them hunters – persuaded Congress
to direct the revenue from an excise
tax on hunting arms and ammu-
nition into a special fund to be
distributed to the states for wildlife
restoration. The legislation became
known as the Pittman-Robertson
Act. A similar piece of legislation,
the Dingell-Johnson Act, was passed
in 1950. This act placed a excise tax
on fishing-related equipment such
as fishing rods and tackle boxes.
So the next time your neigh-
bors bend your ear about their bird-
watching hobby, feel free to let them
know that hunters – the original
conservationists – helped make it
possible.
2. Helping maintain healthy
ecosystems
It’s impossible for conser-
vation to exist without wildlife
management, which is why federal
and state fish and wildlife agencies,
in partnership with nongovern-
mental organizations such as the
Michigan United Conservation
Clubs and the hunters and fish-
ermen who belong to them, play
such key roles in preserving our
state’s species and habitat.
By carefully establishing
hunting and fishing regulations, we
can ensure that wildlife populations
are in proper balance with their
ecosystems. These regulations have
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 77
been set to maintain game popula- of hunting, 34 percent moderately
tions at an appropriate ecological approve and 12 percent are neutral.
level, which in turn promotes The research further discovered
healthy wildlife populations but that support is even higherwhen
also minimizes resulting conflicts. people personally know a hunter.
Therefore, hunting and fishing It was also found that there
continue to be valuable wildlife is a widespread appreciation for
management tools. Michigan’s hunting heritage. It
In Michigan, fish and is also evident that Michiganders
wildlife management programs value our vast natural resources.
have conserved millions of acres (We haven’t dubbed ourselves the
of habitat and restored many Great Lakes State for nothing.)
species, including wild turkey, elk, But what’s not always clear
the Kirtland’s warbler and lake – even to many hunters and fish-
sturgeon. ermen – is the role that sportsmen
and sportswomen have tradition-
3. Building strong communities ally played and continue to play
in enhancing our quality of life by
Hunting and fishing posi- protecting public lands, promoting
tively impact everyday life in policies that safeguard the outdoors,
Michigan in myriad ways. Set and helping to reconnect people
aside the $2.3 billion that hunting with the land.
contributes annually to the state’s “Michigan has a strong
economy. The activity also helps foundation for accepting hunting
stimulate growth in communities and fishing," Pedigo said. "But we
and appreciation for the outdoors need to do a better job explaining to
in other, less tangible but equally non-hunters our love of nature and
important ways. the importance of preserving our
For example, hunting and outdoor heritage."
fishing put food on the table not only
for residents who
participate in the
activities but also –
through programs
such as Michigan
S p o r t s m e n
Against Hunger –
for needy families.
In fact, Michigan
Wildlife Council
research shows
that of those that
support hunting,
many do so
because it puts
food on the table.
While a
vocal anti-hunting
faction exists,
acceptance of
hunting among
the general public
is actually high
in Michigan. The
same research
indicated that
47 percent of
state residents
strongly approve
8/28/2017 10:55:48 AM
 The
perfect
shotgun
"Two paths exist
for finding the
perfect upland bird
gun: The logical
way and the path
less traveled"

by Andy Duffy
76 MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 78 8/28/2017 10:55:49 AM

 A
s epiphanies go, mine wasn't much. It was just
the realization that someone must be smiling
down on me. And besides that higher power, I'm
guessing, I had the heirs of one F.J.L. to thank. It was
probably they, perfidious souls who didn't recognize a
treasure when they had one, who let the gun get out of
the family. Ah, well – it was their loss and my gain. I
can't make myself believe F.J.L. sold off the gun..
The fowling piece in question is an Ithaca Model
37 Featherlight Upland Shotgun in 16 gauge. I found
it several years ago now while I was strolling past the
used gun rack at my local sporting goods store. From
the engravings on the receiver to its distinguished
graying to the way it swung to my shoulder, I knew I
had the gun of my dreams. Giving a clue that might
answer why the gun was even there, the initials F.J.L.
1979 were scratched into the tubular magazine where
they would only be visible when the slide was retracted.
Of course I took
the shotgun home with
me. The only problem was "I'm not dogmatic about buying used guns.
that the gun of my dreams
was already sitting in my Several of the weapons inhabiting my gun
gun cabinet. Such are the
conundrums that befall the safe were brand spanking new when they
seeker of the ultimate bird-
taking machine. We see too came home with me. But the older I get, the
many lovely guns, have too
little money in our wallets more reasons I find for buying, as they say,
and have wives who watch
expenses with an eagle's eye. gently used items. That includes guns."
Still, some things go home
with a person even if they're
bound to draw the ire of the amazing person who shares
our sheets with us.
That find, though, put me further along the
path in my search for the holy grail of firearms. It also
affirmed my growing fondness for used guns.
I'm not dogmatic about buying used guns.
Several of the weapons inhabiting my gun safe were
brand spanking new when they came home with me.
But the older I get, the more reasons I find for buying,
as they say, gently used items. That includes guns.
I like used guns because when a person buys a
pre-owned firearm, he's not paying for depreciation. A
well-cared-for gun should last forever, and a person will
always be able to get his money back out of one. (But, of
course, a person should never sell a gun, not unless his
gun safe is overflowing and he wants to do a swap.)
I like used guns because many of the best are
not made anymore – or if they are, they're not the real
McCoy. Try buying a real Parker Brothers shotgun or
a Fox or a L.C. Smith. The only real way you can is by
finding a used one.
I like used guns because of their history. Show
me a gun without a history, and I'll show you one that
was never taken out of the closet it probably resided in.
And even that might be a story. The only other way for
a gun to have no history is if it is new.
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 79
And while on the topic of history, I should
mention this: a little wear and tear on a shotgun just
makes it look more distinguished.
The Ithaca I bought is a little gray around the
temples. It has a few wrinkles. The dings on its stock are
nothing more than age spots. Certainly the gun was less
beautiful when it was new than it is now. It's a pity we
can't say that about everything.
Notice I haven't written a thing about buying a
shotgun that fits or going to a gun fitter and using a try
gun.
Of course fit is important. But people's dimen-
sions change over time. They also wear different styles
of clothing during different seasons. We can have a gun
that fits us perfectly today, but a week or a couple of
years from now, it might not. Plus, the human mind
compensates for a lot of less-than-ideal situations. We've
all heard the expression "beware the man with one gun."
The mind of the one-gun
man has learned to work
with what it has. So a gun
that fits is good, but if we
find one that fits nominally
well, we are probably OK.
I'm just saying there's more
than one thing to consider
when buying a gun. Some
people worry about fit, and
nothing is wrong with that.
Some people are concerned
about price and aesthetics.
I'm in that camp. I like old
things.
A person can get burned, of course, when
buying a used gun. I have once.
I may have been too eager to buy.
I'd seen a beautiful Model 12 Winchester on the
rack at the store. I didn't have the cash to buy it, but
the store has a great layaway plan. I could have put 10
percent down on the gun and picked it up later. I resisted
buying on impulse, though.
It was nearly closing time when I left the store.
All the way home, I fretted about not buying the gun.
The next morning, I figured the gun would no
longer be an impulse purchase. I called the store to ask
someone to save it for me. The thing had already been
sold.
That set the stage for the only bad used gun
purchase I've made. I was in a different store and saw
another Model 12. I bought it without looking it over
carefully enough.
I got the gun home and discovered the gun took
only two-and-a-half inch shells. I got the gun appraised
and was told it was nearly worthless. The appraiser
wouldn't even make me an offer for it. So a person needs
to be careful.
Still, used guns are near to my heart. I tend to have a
mystical attraction to them.
I look at things like this: Two ways for choosing
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 77
8/28/2017 10:55:49 AM
 a shotgun exist. One way I call the Consumer Reports
way. Using that system, a person learns all the minutiae
regarding a number of guns. He studies their locking
mechanisms, the advantages and disadvantages of
stacked barrels and those fitted side-by-side. He reads
reviews. Once he's done, he discovers he knows a lot
of facts about the guns he's studied, but he has no
emotional connection. Hell, he might as well buy a
mail-order bride.
I'm a sucker for physical attractiveness. If a
shotgun isn't pretty, why would I want to hunt with it?
So I peruse the gun racks and look for some-
thing that meets my concept of beauty. It has the right
lines, the right physique, the right sparkle. After I like
a gun, then I can look closer to discover if I love it or
not. On the surface, that may seem like a shallow way
to pick a gun. Admit it, though: Isn't that how guys (and
gals, too), pick a spouse?
Once a person chooses a shotgun, he can always
have a little plastic surgery performed on it, too. He can
get the stock altered. He can have choke tubes added.
Modifications may hurt the resale value of a shotgun,
but if the match is good, who cares? Let somebody else
worry about resale value later.
The bottom line is, I favor a Zen-like approach
to buying shotguns. Something mystical needs to be
Evart's Matt Hildebrand found this made-in-Belgium on a used gun rack for a reasonable price. It has become a gun he
grabs frequently when he's heading for the bird thickets.
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 80
involved in the process. And the smiles of the fates can
manifest themselves in unusual ways.
I know a guy who had a shotgun literally drop in
his lap.
He knew a gal who had an abusive husband.
During one of his sporadic bouts of being nice, the
husband bought his long-suffering wife a fine side-by-
side shotgun. One day the jerk left. The wind hardly had
time to erase the guy's bootprints from the sand outside
the front door when the gal brought the shotgun to
my friend and offered it to him at a price too good to
turn down. Karma bites, and karma kisses. If it tosses
a person a kiss, the person should be wise enough to
respond.
So we have two ways of shopping for shotguns:
The Consumer Reports way and the way guided by
forces we don't understand. Robert Frost had an under-
standing of the two methods and wrote about them in a
poem.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," Frost
wrote. One road bore evidence of having a greater
number of travelers traverse its route. That would the
the Consumer Reports way of buying guns. The other
road saw less wear. That is the mystical way of shop-
ping. Frost took the road less traveled, and so should
you.
8/28/2017 10:55:50 AM
 MSUFCU
Michigan State Federal Credit Union's Financial Educator Ian Oberg talks to Michigan Out-of-Doors Youth Camp partici-
pants about the importance of financial planning. The MSUFCU and MUCC partnership is in its fifth year.
For five years, Michigan
State University Federal Credit
Union has partnered with Michigan
United Conservation Clubs to help
prepare our youth for what lies
ahead of them financially.
Each summer, during the
Michigan Out-of-Doors Youth Camp
that takes place from the end of
June through July, MSUFCU has
helped educate campers about the
financial hurdles they could face
and how they can overcome those
by being prepared.
Financial educators from
MSUFCU make the hour drive down
to the Cedar Lake Outdoor Center
in Chelsea every week to meet with
new campers.
“Our camp focuses on
getting kids engaged in the world
around them and financial literacy
is a key component in navigating
the modern world,” said MUCC
Education Coordinator Shaun
McKeon, who formerly served as the
camp director. “This partnership
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 81
is giving back
works well because MSUFCU has
done a good job incorporating their
financial education program with
the program focus of our camp.
It helps to connect the kids to tips
and ideas that they can use to save
money to buy equipment for things
they are learning about at camp.
Like saving money to buy a new
fishing pole or tent.”
Financial Educator Ian
Oberg incorporated financial
literacy games such as a price
guessing game (much like “The
Price is Right”) that has campers
competing in teams to guess the
correct price of camping, hunting,
and fishing equipment. Other games
include budgeting simulations, with
many campers playing the “Bean
Game” this year.
McKeon said the activities
that MSUFCU has brought to camp
are not only fun for the campers,
they are impactful.
“Our campers have enjoyed
the games you guys play with them.
The ‘Price is Right’ game was a big
hit in the past and the ‘Bean Game’
seems to hold their attention well
over all,” he said. “After [Paul and
Ian] leave, the conversation has
been started about the kids planning
for their future. Many of them have
their eyes opened a bit more to what
their parents have to pay for. There
is also usually a bit of talk about
saving some money from their camp
store account to take home and put
in the bank from time to time.”
Michigan Out-of-Doors and
Michigan United Conservation
Clubs would like to thank MSUFCU
for all that it does to help our
campers enjoy their time during the
summer.
Without the credit union's
overwhelming support, certain
events would not be able to take place
at the camp and, again, we would
like to extend our deepest thanks to
those at MSUFCU who have made
this partnership a possibility.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 79
8/28/2017 10:55:53 AM
 disABILITY:
How to accomodate disabled hunters and anglers
Y
ou could probably ask any of
my friends or family members
and they would all tell you
that I’m not one to allow much to
get in my way of going hunting or
fishing – I will get to where I want
to go regardless of what I have to
overcome to get there.
However, I’m also one who
can appreciate the things that can
make my life easier, and save a little
bit of energy and a lot of physical
wear and tear which, over the
course of a lifetime of someone who
uses their arms as their legs to push
a manual wheelchair, can cause
severe problems later in life. In the
end, it is all about balancing the
drive to get where you want to go
with the use and availability of the
various adaptive equipment on the
market (and its continuous advance-
ment to make it even better). It's also
all of the folks you meet along the
way who graciously provide their
ingenuity, problem-solving skills
and just plain ol’ muscle to help
make every adventure happen.
So begs the question: When
you or someone you know has a
disability and you wish to employ
an outfitter for a hunting or fishing
80 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 82
trip, how do you know if they are
able to accommodate said person so
that they have a meaningful experi-
ence? The answer is to call and talk
to the prospective guide, or better
yet even talk to multiple guides.
While it may sound all too elemen-
tary, speaking from experience, it
makes all the difference to open up
a two-way dialogue so that you can
see if a) they understand the needs
of a person with a disability (PWD),
and b) if they willing and able to
accommodate the needs of a person
with a disability. In my experience,
not many guides will turn you
down, but you can easily eliminate
an outfitter if they simply do not
have the equipment necessary to
safely and comfortably accommo-
date a PWD.
Captain Jeff Godi, owner of
The Michigan Experience (www.
t h e m i c h i g a n e x p e r i e n c e. c o m )
hunting and fishing guide service
on Saginaw Bay, said, “The first
thing that pops in my mind is safety.
I need to be able to keep that person
safe with whatever might happen.
Depending on the limitations, such
as someone who had a stroke and
uses a cane or walker, to someone
by Jeff Lichon
who uses a wheelchair, if things
really go sideways, how can I really
take care of that person and keep
them safe?”
Godi, a former employee
of Amigo Mobility Center in
Bridgeport, MI, already has the
mindset for accommodation. He
says the second thing he thinks
about is not only how they can get
in and out of the boat while on a
hunting or fishing trip, but also
how to ensure that the individual
can shoot from his boat. Godi has
gone the extra mile for his clients,
as experienced by this writer, by
building a wheelchair platform as a
shooting platform and ensuring the
doors on his open-water pontoon
blind are wide enough to accommo-
date a wheelchair.
“I’m not shy – I ask ques-
tions,” Godi said. “Does the person
need the chair on the boat? I’m on a
floating dock with a ramp, and the
beauty of a floating dock is that it’s
always at the same level as the boat.
Is there a transfer board for sliding
onto the boat? Can the person walk
short distances? What about sun
protection? If someone wants to go
fishing or hunting, I’m going to do
8/28/2017 10:55:58 AM
 everything in my power to get the
person out to have a good time, as
long as it’s safe.”
There are many hunting
and fishing guides who, like Godi,
are doing the right things. The
following are a few key items to
listen and watch for when booking a
hunting or fishing trip with a guide:
Willingness
Willingness is the first, but
certainly not the last, thing you
should look for. Put simply, if a
guide is – or sounds – unwilling
to accommodate a PWD, are they
worth it? With the costs that can
be associated with a trip, especially
one that requires long travel and
lodging accommodations, would
you want to book with them if you
were unsure they would help make
it a good experience?
Enthusiasm/prior experience
Also listen for
enthusiastic they are and/or how
much experience the guide has with
PWDs. The reason these two factors
are in the same category is that you
should not rule out a guide who is
enthusiastic about accommodating
a PWD with limited experience. If
you choose to book with them, you
will help further educate another
person in more ways than you
might realize, thus opening them up
to accommodating other sportsmen
and women down the road, and you
may miss out on a tremendous expe-
rience if you pass them up.
You may think that the first
point about being the one to educate
a willing guide makes you the
‘guinea pig’, which may be true, but
some of the best hunting and fishing
trips I have experienced were those
where I had been the first PWD that
the guide had ever accommodated.
You should always incorporate your
comfort level with doing this and
err on the side of caution if you feel
less than confident in the guide's
how ability to do their best to make any
necessary accommodations. Which
leads us to the next item.
Asking questions
Here is a list of questions that, if
your prospective guide does not ask,
you should:
What type of disability does the individual
have and in what ways does it limit them?
Different disabilities require
different accommodations. Is the
person blind, either partially or
completely? Are they deaf/hard
of hearing? Do they have mobility
considerations such as use of a
walker or wheelchair? Or do they
have an invisible disability such as
epilepsy or sensitivity to the sun?
What accommodation(s) does the PWD
absolutely need to make them comfortable?
A few examples of accommo-
dations include elevated shooting
platforms, use of a popup blind vs.

"You may think that the first point about being the one to
educate a willing guide makes you the ‘guinea pig’, which
may be true, but some of the best hunting and fishing
trips I have experienced were ones where I had been the
first PWD that the guide had ever accommodated. "

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 81

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 83 8/28/2017 10:55:59 AM

 elevated stand, ramping of build- Are there any other considerations I should It is not the case in all instances.
ings or the appropriate number of be aware of about the PWD? The outdoors is not natu-
people to help lift a person up and rally accessible. It is unforgiving,
down any steps, wider doors for This should be a prompt for which is part of its beauty. But
access through a lodge and appro- you or the person for whom you accomodations can be made so that
priate transportation at a ranch. On are booking a trip to let the guide it can be enjoyed and experienced
a 2016 trip to South Africa, Ken and know anything else that they, or by anyone. I have been in areas by
Elma Whiley of Gamka Safaris built you, might not have thought to ask. myself where I was comfortable
a shooting platform in the back of I cannot stress enough the impor- going alone. I have also been places
their vehicle we used for the hunt. tance of it being a two-way street where I would not have been able
They used simple ratchet tie-down for both the PWD and the guide. A to get to without the help of one
straps to secure my wheelchair to it guide is unable to help you without or sometimes many, people. I am
— I was not going anywhere unless knowing how to help make your equally thankful for both opportuni-
the vehicle was taking me there! On experience a good one. ties. In the end, in many situations it
other trips, I have also been lifted This list of questions is is better to overdo asking questions
into the bed of a utility-terrain not exhaustive, but rather it is a to make sure you are completely
vehicle (UTV) such as a Polaris starting point from which to begin comfortable with your guide, and
RANGER or Honda Pioneer. Many a dialogue, as well as the process for that they are comfortable with you.
of the side-by-sides (SxS) can be finding the right guide to choose. I I said it before and I will say it one
boarded by transferring to the seat would go as far to say that, in my more time: It is a two-way street – or
in the case of a wheelchair user. case, if a guide is willing and able to in this case, marsh, ridge, field or
try, then that is good enough for me. two-track.
The author and his dad embarked on a South African Plains game hunt in June 2016, which was the trip of a lifetime,
the author said. Over nearly two weeks, Lichon successfully hunted six game animals including: a Kudu, Gemsbuck,
Springbuck, Impala, Blue wildebeest and an African porcupine. The outfitters, Ken and Elma Whiley, of Gamka Safaris,
made Lichon feel right at home with their accommodations. Ken Whiley constructed an elevated platform that Lichon
used to shoot from out of the back of a small pickup truck. Whiley and Lichon worked closely together in advance of the
trip to ensure everything would work seamlessly upon his arrival.

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 84 8/28/2017 10:56:02 AM

 SUMMER 2017Fall
| MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS
2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 83
83

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 85 8/28/2017 10:56:04 AM

 The CAMPFIRe
A photostory of the 2017 camp season
photos by Tyler Butler and Nick Green

A camper tries her hand at fishing. Campers were successful this

year in catching bass and bluegill on Cedar Lake.

The boys from Elk Cabin pose for a picture during their first day of
camp.

84 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 86 8/28/2017 10:56:11 AM

 Campers in the Wetland Wonders
program examine macroinverterbrates
that they gathered from Cedar Lake.
Campers spent the week studying
acquatic ecology.

Orienteering teaches campers land navigation and compass work.

They particpated in a scavenger hunt to help hone their skills.

SUMMER 2017 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS 85

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 87 8/28/2017 10:56:18 AM

 In one of the more difficult camp activities, campers try to start a
fire using only flint and steel.

Day campers pose for picture before a trail hike to the bog.
Day camp runs week one every year and is availble for five- to
eight-year-old campers.

www.michiganoutofdoors.com
86 | MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS | SUMMER 2017

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 88 8/28/2017 10:56:23 AM

 Returning camper Joey Elliott partic-
ipates in the new Invasive Species
camp curriculum. This year, campers
removed autumn olive from the camp
property.

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 87

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 89 8/28/2017 10:56:28 AM

 Campers search for macroinverterbrates on the shore of Cedar
Lake during the Wetland Wonders program.

Assistant Director Cameron Kniffen and camper pla

habitat match up game while waiting for dinner.

Campers learn how to

properly handle a bow on
the archery range. Every
camp spends at least one
full day on the range.

88 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 90 8/28/2017 10:56:36 AM

 Two campers look for crayfish and minnows to use as
bait during fishing camp.

nd camper play a
for dinner.
A camper earns her hunter
safety certificate after taking
the exam. All campers have
the opportunity to become
hunter safety certified.

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 89

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 91 8/28/2017 10:56:43 AM

 Conservation Through Education
Shaun McKeon, Education Director
My first summer away from camp was an inter-
esting and exciting transition. The pace at Headquarters
during the summer is much different from chasing 400
campers around Cedar Lake. That is not to say I was
sitting in a nice air-conditioned desk with my feet up,
though.
I kept busy by taking our conservation educa-
tion mission on the road and building my personal
toolbox of skills to be ready for major programming
when school starts.
In June, MUCC held its annual Convention
which I attended for the first time despite being on
staff or four years. This is where our grassroots policy
is created by our members and sets the course for our
organization each year. This was also a special conven-
tion because 2017 is the 80th anniversary of our organi-
zation. To celebrate this milestone, we returned to the
Shiawassee Conservation Association where we were
founded 80 years prior.
The Conservation Awards Dinner was also
a chance for us to recognize some of the volunteers
and leaders in the conservation community. I had the
opportunity to present our Camp Facility Committee
with the 2017 Special Conservation Award — individual
Shaun McKeon talks a group of students about the importance of Michigan fisheries and, in particluar, the Clinton River
fishery that is near them. The kids then got to get a line wet and try their hand at bluegill fishing.
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 92
awards in recognition of their tireless dedication and
their decade of service in maintaining and improving
the camp facilities. As I've said before, we would not
have our great camp facilities without this group of
volunteers, and it was nice to be able to recognize them
in front of our members. A bronze plaque will be hung
in The Lodge in their honor.
At the end of June, MUCC held its annual
Michigan Out-of-Doors Youth Camp Charity Shoot at
Multi-Lakes Conservation Association. This sporting
clays event had 90 shooters from across the state attend.
The winning team of shooters was from Oakland County
Sportsman’s Club, and everyone had a good time. This
event raises money to support the camp and we really
appreciate everyone who came out and all of the spon-
sors of the event.
On the outreach side of things, summertime
is for fishing. I have been traveling around the mid-
Michigan and metro-Detroit areas teaching kids about
the importance of Michigan’s fisheries and getting them
out on the water chasing bluegills. I worked with the
Waterford Township Parks and Recreation Day Camp to
teach their campers about the fisheries near them and
took them fishing on the Clinton River.
Many of the kids who attended had never fished
before. When I arrived, we took them right to the water.
8/28/2017 10:56:44 AM
 Top: McKeon poses with the recipients of the 2017 Special Conservation Award. These men were recognized because of
their volunteer efforts at the camp facility over the last decade. Bottom: McKeon talks with a camper who is collecting
acquatic insects.
First, the kids learned about macroinvertebrates and
the health of the stream. Next, we got them dunking
worms and fishing. For several of the campers, it was
their first time fishing. We only managed to catch a few
fish during the day, but all of the kids went home with
smiles on their faces.
Taking a bit of a break from fishing in late-July,
I spent a week at the RAM Center with other volunteer
hunter safety instructors for a training session hosted
by the DNR Law Division. This annual event is an oppor-
tunity for instructors from all over the state to come
together and learn about the best practices to help them
teach hunter safety. As an all-volunteer program, it is
great to see so many people willing to share their knowl-
edge to get more people into hunting and trapping.
I have also been laying the groundwork for a
busy fall. I have been working with new stakeholder
groups to get more classrooms outside and involved in
habitat improvement through the OTG Jr. Program.
After successfully running three programs last spring,
we are hoping to reach double-digit projects during the
2017-2018 school year.
My first summer at Headquarters was a
successful one and with the fall upon us, there will be
many youth events to attend around the state. Every
weekend in September has something going on along
with most weekends in October. In addition, small game
season kicks off and early goose season runs the entire
month of September in most places of the state.
If you are going to spend some time in the woods
or on the water, invite a child or someone to mentor
along with you. It is a great time to pass on your passion.
Remember, no one takes pictures of their kids
playing video games!

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 The Camo Thumb: Grindstone - Port Hope Sportsmen’s Club Youth Day
by Shaun McKeon
On the last Saturday in July,
I spent my day in the Northeast tip
of Michigan’s thumb. When you tell
people you are heading to the thumb
they immediately think of all of the
agriculture in the region. Many of
the sugar beet, soybean and corn
growers would be happy to agree
and tell you about how their green
thumbs keep people fed. However,
on this Saturday, the residents were
bragging about their "camo" thumbs.
This is because the Grindstone-Port
Hope Sportsmen’s Club was hosting
its first Youth Outdoors Day. The
day was designed to get local kids
and their families outside during
the summer and to introduce them
to hunting and conservation.
The Grindstone Sportsmen’s
Club was formed in 1948, and they
later merged with the Port Hope
Sportsmen’s Group. The club was
fully incorporated in 1959 and has
been going strong for the last 50-plus
years. The club boasts roughly
360 members and is known for its
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 94
Hunters Ball, steak dinners and
sponsorship of the local FFA where
they help kids raise pheasants.
Thanks to a generous sponsorship
from Whitetails Unlimited, the
club decided to add the new Youth
Outdoors event to their calender in
2017.
The club could not have
asked for a better day weatherwise
— 80 degrees and sunny with a
slight breeze. When I pulled into
the parking lot, there was already
an army of roughly 30 volun-
teers putting the final touches on
preparation for the day’s events.
Led by President Roy Morley and
event coordinator Bob Hurren, the
volunteers were quick, efficient
and excited for the kids to show up
around 10AM.
The event was held from
10AM-4PM with bucket drawings
and door prizes for all of the kids.
The coordinators were expecting
about 80 kids who had pre-reg-
istered to attend, but they were
hoping to get 100. By the end of the
day they had reached their goal with
nearly 110 kids attending the event.
Adding parents and other visitors to
the mix, the count was much closer
to 200 total participants.
Once the kids arrived and
dropped their tickets in the prize
bucket of choice (bikes, fishing gear,
water sports equipment, a drone
and even an air rifle), they were free
to check out the different booths
and educational tents provided by
a small, but very engaged, group of
exhibitors. The kids had the oppor-
tunity to shoot archery and BB guns
at a booth sponsored by Pheasants
Forever. The local chapter of QDMA
was there talking about food plots
and a representative from Hotshot
Outfitters was giving kids free hats
and shirts. The fire department
brought their smoke house, the
Sheriff's Department brought its
airboat, and the Coastguard came
with one of their big rescue boats
— letting the kids climb inside and
learn about safety out on Lake
Huron.
The Department of Natural
Resources Wildlife Division from
8/28/2017 10:56:47 AM
 discussed mammal pelts and tracks,
and I was there representing MUCC
by handing out TRACKS Magazine
and teaching the kids about
Michigan waterfowl. In addition, a
wildlife rehabilitator gave a great
presentation on birds of prey. The
kids loved seeing owls up close and
they even had a chance to see a
turkey vulture.
The kids seemed to have a
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 95
great time at the event and many
of the families who arrived at the
beginning stayed the whole day
through the prize drawing at 3 p.m.
Many kids went home with impres-
sive prizes, and even the ones who
did not win a bucket, still had door
prizes and other giveaways from the
booths.
From my perspective as an
exhibitor, I am always a bit leery
when clubs ask me to come out to
an event that is a first time opera-
tion. — especially if I am going to be
driving over 300 miles in a day. The
first year is always the hardest and
sometimes turnout does not meet
expectations. However, this event
was a great first year operation,
and I would like to commend the
club members and volunteers from
Grindstone-Port Hope Sportsmen's
Club on a successful event. I am
looking forward to watching them
grow in the years to come.
Overall, it was a great event
with good community turnout and
educational programming. The
club should be proud of the job they
did! They represented their organi-
zation and the people of the Thumb
well! Getting over 100 kids involved
on a Saturday in the middle of
summer is no small feat. I wish them
the best of luck with year two and as
they continue to grow the program.
Shaun McKeon travels
throughout the state helping to
plant the seed of conservation
in our youth. He uses educa-
tional, hands-on methods to
get students involved with
the outdoors and help them
understand why it is important
they carry on the legacy of
conservation. If your group
or organization is interested
in having Shaun visit, email
smckeon@mucc.org.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 93
8/28/2017 10:56:48 AM
 Update: on The ground
The 2017 Manistee River Clean-Up was a success again this year. More than 30 volunteers showed up on Saturday,
July 8 to help remove trash from the river. Items removed included fishing line, a tire, traffic cones and shoes.
MUCC's On the Ground
program (OTG) focuses on proj-
ects that improve habitat for game
species and sport fish on lands
and waterways open to the public
for hunting and fishing. Through
this program, hunters, anglers,
and trappers have the opportu-
nity to donate their time for the
benefit of the species they pursue,
showing the general public that
we’re true conservationists while
seeing firsthand how their license
dollars are put to use. At the same
time, non-hunters and new hunters
learn about wildlife habitat and the
contributions made by hunters,
anglers and trappers to conserva-
tion. Several volunteers dedicated
a day in July to clean up two of
Michigans prime rivers for angling
brown trout, steelhead, and coho
salmon; the Manistee and Clinton
Rivers.
Over two Saturdays in July,
OTG volunteers traded out chain-
saws and shovels for trash bags and
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 96
by Sarah Topp, Wildlife Volunteer
Coordinator
waders to clean up the rivers they
enjoy or fish. On July 8th, a total
of 63 volunteers participated in the
Manistee River Clean-Up to improve
fish habitat and spawning areas by
removing more than 400l pounds
of trash and debris between Tippy
Dam to Rainbow Bend. On July 15th,
a total of 20 volunteers partnered
with the Metro-West Steelheaders
to clean up a popular stretch of the
Clinton River. More than 200 pounds
of trash and debris was removed
from the river and its banks along
Yates Park and the surrounding
area! Collectively, volunteers have
removed over 2,200lbs of trash and
debris from both the Manistee and
the Clinton Rivers through these
clean-up events.
MUCC partnered with Roger
Hinchcliff of Steelhead Manifesto
and the Metro-West Steelheaders
for the 3rd Annual Manistee River
Clean-Up event. Many of the volun-
teers were local to the area and enjoy
fishing the Manistee River or just
floating the steady current to enjoy
the scenery. This year, staff members
from the district's US Forest Service
participated in the event including
District Ranger Matt McQueen
and his family. MUCC’s Project
Manager, Stephanie Rustem, volun-
teered to help clean up the river and
attended her first OTG event. Each
of the dedicated volunteers earned
some very generous prizes as dona-
tions from local companies like
Lamigals Rods, Smith Optics, Hank
& Son's Tackle, D-Loop Outfitters,
Auto Value, Voodoo, Raven Tackle,
Lick'em Lures, and much more!
MUCC partnered with
Adam Trenz of the Metro-West
Steelheaders and Matt Einheuser
with the Clinton River Watershed
Council for the fourth consecutive
year to clean up a section of the
Clinton River at Yates Park. Many
of the volunteers were local to the
region and members of the MWS
including Phil and Karen Bustos,
Jeffrey Bustos, Jordan Pontoni,
8/28/2017 10:56:50 AM
 Henry and Nancy Nabors and others
looking to clean up the river they If you or an organiza-
enjoy. The group was also joined tion you belong to is
by Johann and Marianne Krenzer,
members of the MUCC affiliate
interested in part-
German-American Marksmanship cipating in an
Club. Don Scher and his family On the Ground
made the most of their Saturday by
volunteering together at the event event,
as well. Next year, the event may contact
be hosted at a different access point
within the Clinton River Watershed.
Sarah Topp at
Items pulled from the rivers stopp@mucc.org
include the expected wads of fishing
line, lures, cans and bottles, styro- Karen Bustos proudly displays a bag
foam coolers, shoes, plastic bags of trash and her picker that she was
and wrappers. However, several using during the Clinton River Clean-up day
unexpected items were removed on July 15. More than 200 pounds of trash and
as well including toilet seats, tires, debris were pulled from the river.
planting pots, a basketball, chairs,
cable and traffic cones. Many of
the volunteers that participated in
the clean ups frequently visit these
rivers for fishing or other recre-
ational purposes with their family
and friends. Thanks to their efforts,
others will enjoy paddling a stretch
of the river with the solace of the
long fin of a steelhead grazing the
surface to catch their eye rather
than the glare of a grocery bag or
chunk of styrofoam floating by.
Perhaps, a few less fish or turtles
will have the unfortunate experi-
ence of encountering carelessly
placed fishing line. These events
have proven to be essential as it
appears that a comparable amount
of trash is removed from these
popular stretches of river each year.
These two river clean up
events are small parts of a much
larger effort to improve our public
lands and water. Although OTG
focuses primarily on wildlife
habitat events in State Game Areas,
it is important to assist with these
events as well. There are many ways
to get involved and look for oppor-
tunities with your local conserva-
tion club or watershed council to
volunteer. You can get involved and
volunteer with OTG at any of the 25
events hosted throughout the state
each year by keeping up to date with
current events at www.mucc.org/
ontheground. Thank you for your
contribution to conservation!

Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 95

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 Convention 2017
More than 100 Michigan
United Conservation Clubs
members showed up on June 16-18
in Owosso for the organization’s
most important annual event
— Convention.
Friday night kicked off
with a dinner and gathering at
the Shiawassee Conservation
Association — fitting because 80
years ago MUCC was founded at the
club and has maintained a healthy
relationship with it ever since.
Members threw horseshoes,
shot trap, talked shop and caught up
on a year’s worth of their lives with
fellow members. Pulled pork sand-
wiches and potato salad rounded out
the simple evening.
Saturday morning was
all business. After breakfast, the
resolution process started, and
despite some minor disagreements,
everyone kept a level head and
stayed true to MUCC’s mission —
representing our members as a
whole.
Saturday closed with a
formal dinner at the SCA. Unlike the
night before, members donned ties
and suits in the lodge and enjoyed
a scrumptious prime rib dinner.
Members mingled as they partook
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Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 98
in a silent auction before the night’s
main event started — the presen-
tation of the 2017 Conservation
Awards.
We recognized conserva-
tionists from around the state for
their contributions to our natural
resources and outdoor heritage
during the past year.
This year's awards included:
• Metro West Steelheaders, Affiliate
of the Year Award
• Kris and Jody Matthew, Past
Presidents’ Award
• Matt Lefler, Conservation Educator
of the Year Award
• Ervin Industries, Corporate
Conservationist of the Year Award
• Representative Andrea LaFontaine,
Legislator of the Year Award
• John Kriewall, President’s Award
• Robert Borchak, Gary Moore,
William Furtaw, Gerald Chie, Paul
Sand, and Paul Farrell, Special
Conservation Awards
Convention wrapped up on
Sunday morning with the announce-
ment of election results. The 2017-18
Executive Board:
• Tom Heritier, Saginaw Field
& Stream Conservation Club,
President
• George Lindquist, U.P. Whitetails
of Marquette County, Vice President
• Jim De Clerck, Saginaw Field
& Stream Conservation Club,
Treasurer
• Ron Burris, Individual Member,
Immediate Past President
• Trevor Hodges, Calumet-Keweenaw
Sportsmen’s Club, Region 1 Director
• Bill Malloch, Individual Member,
Region 2 Director
• Jane Finnerty, Cadillac
Sportsmen’s Club, Region 3 Director
• Carol Rose, Montmorency County
Conservation Club, Region 4
Director
• Dawn Levey, Past President, Region
5 Director
• Chuck Hoover, Saginaw Field &
Stream Conservation Club, Region 6
Director
• Fran Yeager, Past President, Region
7 Director
• Kris Matthew, Huron Valley
Conservation Association, Region 8
Director
• Bruce Levey, Michigan Bow
Hunters, Region 9 Director
• Greg Peter, Chelsea Rod & Gun
Club, Region 8 At-Large Director
8/28/2017 10:56:54 AM

The 2017-2018 Conservation
Policy Board:
• Region 1: Joe Hudson, Keith Lynch,
Bryan Reynolds
• Region 2: Gary Gorniak, Don
Canfield, Jay Maki
• Region 3: Bruce Finnerty, Jim
Maturen, Greg Nicolaou
• Region 4: Pete Demos, Jim Chaskey,
David Markle
• Region 5: Kevin Eldred, Jack
VanRhee, Kayla McKern
• Region 6: Ted Schulz, Dan
McMaster
• Region 7: Roberta Reed, Dave Van
Lopik, Furmer Reed
• Region 8: Eric Braden, Roger
Calhoun, Jim Pryce
• Region 9: Rob Miller, Sam Morello,
Gary Summers
2017 Adopted Conservation Policies
• Support for the use of bait
barrels on public land for
bear hunting (Mike Thorman,
Michigan Hunting Dog
Federation)
• Support to allow hunters to
possess and use both a crossbow
and legal firearm, simultane-
ously, while hunting deer during
the December muzzleloader and
late antlerless seasons (except
the Upper Peninsula December
deer seasons) (Millard Holton,
Individual Member)
• Support creation of a sandhill
crane hunting season in the
state of Michigan (Saginaw
Field and Stream)
• Support to designate mourning
doves as a gamebird (Jim Pryce,
Region 8 Policy Board)
• Support the development of a
short term (7 day) non-resident
waterfowl license system (Ducks
Unlimited, Inc.)
• Support for Michigan pheasant
release for hunter recruit-
ment (Ken Dalton, Individual
Member)
• Support educating hunters
about the risks of hunting from
a treestand without a full body
harness/fall arrest system (Tim
Kobasic and Fred Truschke,
Policy Board and the Tomahawk
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 99
The MUCC Annual
Convention is a true grassroots
process. Any member of MUCC or
affiliated club can propose a policy
resolution. Every full affiliate club
can send a delegate to vote on its
behalf or send its votes by proxy
with another club. Individual
members are polled electronically
on the proposed resolutions and
the answers of those who respond
are provided to regional individual
member representatives to advise
their votes. Policy resolutions are
debated extensively before votes are
taken, and only when adopted by the
member delegation do these resolu-
tions become the official policy of
MUCC, which requires a super-ma-
jority to change a law or regulation.
Archers)
• Support reintroduction of Lake
Herring (Cisco) in Saginaw
Bay (Saginaw Field and Stream
Club)
• Oppose the use of resistance
board weirs in terms of research
impacting fisheries and angler
experience (Cedar Rod and Gun
Club)
• Oppose the sale or exchange
of State of Michigan-owned or
managed lands greater than
80 acres, or parcels which
would restrict public riparian
access without having been
previously designated “excess”
or “surplus” through a trans-
parent process (Paul Rose, Past
President)
• Oppose or seek to amend any
legislation which requires the
expenditure of the DNR funds
for tasks or functions which may
result in a diversion of hunting
and fishing license revenue or
funding whose use may other-
wise be restricted (Paul Rose,
Past President)
• Support Michigan adopting a
stance that any cervid carcass
brought into Michigan (whether
taken from a wild or captive
population) be in the form of
deboned meat, clean skullcap,
This process assures that
when we take a position on an issue,
it isn't the spur-of-the-moment
opinion of one person — it is the
result of a deliberate democratic,
grassroots process that carries the
weight of Michigan's conservation
clubs, the largest group of hunters,
anglers and trappers in the state,
and the will of Michigan's hunter,
angler and trapper conservationists.
MUCC isn't just an organization,
it's a process by which an indi-
vidual can take and idea and turn
it into reality only by vetting it with
and convincing his or her peers
in Michigan's out-of-doors. This
process is the reason why MUCC
has been successfully conserving
Michigan's natural resources and
outdoor heritage for 80 years.
finished taxidermy, and/or
other parts not anticipated to
carry CWD prions, and work
to increase fines and penalties
for violations of this whole
carcass prohibition, and work to
make this a federal regulation
(U.P. Whitetails of Marquette
County)
• Support captive cervid regu-
lation reform (Michigan State
Chapter of the Quality Deer
Management Association)
• Support the removal of regu-
lations for suppressors from
the National Firearms Act of
1934 and work with the legisla-
ture to allow the purchase of a
suppressor to follow the same
guidelines currently in place
to purchase firearms through
the NICS (National Instant
Criminal Background Check
System) program (South Kent
Sportsman’s Club)
• Support the acquisition of
severed minerals where the
State owns the surface only to
protect and control the commer-
cial use of public land, and
highest priority should be given
to minerals in State Parks and
lands purchased with PR and
Game and Fish Funds (Michigan
Resource Stewards)
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 97
8/28/2017 10:56:55 AM
 Throwback: october 1988
In each issue of Michigan Out-of-Doors we will be hand-
picking an article from our archives that we think is a good fit
for the season. We hope you enjoy reading these throwbacks
as much as we do.

by Richard Sapp

On a night as crisp as
a Washington State apple, we stood
in the harvested corn field waiting,
quiet, stamping our feet to keep
the frost out of our toes. We were
waiting, for the sound of the dog,
hunting, waiting under half a moon
as hard as a heavenly strob, the night
as clear as spring water.
We were waiting, the four
of us on that frosty November
night, for Tom’s hound to bay treed.
Old Gauntlet is a silent tracker,
leggy, muscular. We would have to
wait until it chip bayed under the
tree. It is mostly white with large
irregular patches of brown, and
we were waiting for it, four grown
men standing around outside and
freezing under a cold moon.
It was coon hunting straight
out of Faulkner, but a thousand
miles north. Drinking black tea from
a thermos and waiting, just hanging
around in the dark.
Night hunting.
Tom, a part-time carpenter,
trapper, and building contractor, is
a full-time coon hunter — or would
be if the law allowed it. At least, he
is thinking coon hunting all the time.
When I met him and his brothers
before the hunt, they fed me raccoon
stroganoff. (Whenever anyone asks
you, in the middle of taking a second
helping, just what it is you think
you’re eating, you know you’re in for
a surprise.)
These men hunt coons for
profits, they say — skinning the
carcasses, stretching the pelts over
heavy wire frames, drying them,

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 and selling them at auctions. Coon
hunting is an important part of their
annual incomes, they say.
“They say…” They say they
do it for profit, but it is more matter
of the heart, I think. I imagine if they
balanced their costs against their
income, they’d give it up, but they
wouldn’t want to do that.
Because successful coon
hunting is important to them, I was
a bit surprised when they urged me
to bring my bow. Tom, who carries
the .22 rifle, normally dispatches
treed raccoons quickly, efficiently,
humanely.
Still, as the moon climbed
higher in the sky, we waited patiently,
moving from field to field, allowing
Gauntlet to work the edges, the
treelines, the creek bottoms, the
patches of standing corn the farmers
had missed or left intentionally for
raccoons and deer. We waited and
there was nothing but cold and a sky
full ofintense moonlight.
Suddenly, a hoarse baying
rang out far down the field. It was as
if the brothers had been turned to
pillars of salt. They froze, analyzing
Gauntlet’s baying, only their fingers
moving, groping for the switches to
their torches. “Treed!” And just as
suddenly we were off through the
corn slapping crisp against our arms.
Climbing the fence, leaping the brook,
through the briars, half running, half
tripping to keep up with the light.
Many people wonder that
raccoon hunting is a popular and prof-
itable activity in space-age America.
They wonder because unless they
were country dwellers (and most of
us are not), they never
encounter the nocturnal coon hunter.
Unless they know breeds of hunting
dogs (and most of us do not), they do
not recognize or know the difference
between a redbone or a Walker or a
Plott.
It isn’t necessary to use dogs
to hunt raccoon, but it is rare when
you don’t. Raccoons can be stalked
and called, but people who love coon
hunting invariably love the “sound
of hounds”—night music, they call
it. They love the shuffling from one
foot to another, maybe smoking
quietly or savoring a chew of tobacco
Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 101
"It was silent in the country, beautiful, I would say,
except that it is cliche. Then we heard it again. The
hoarse, coughing chop of Gauntlet on a treed coon."
or a thermos cup of coffee while they
wait for a strike bark to tell them a
hound’s on a hot trail.
Tom knew his hound was
striking a hot trail, one over which
a raccoon had recently waddled.
How he knew or understood this I
couldn’t discern, because his treeing
Walker only bayed treed, barked
with a strong, hoarse coughing that
would make your grand-mother send
you to bed and turn the vaporizer on
you after she greased your chest and
back.
Working one dog only, there
was none of the sociable competition
or ribbing that usually occurs when
raccoon hunters run their dogs in
packs. Now that all the states regulate
raccoon hunting, many dog lovers
only run the “little bear” for the
sport. Once they tree a raccoon and
compare notes on their dog’s perfor-
mance, the fun is over. An excited
bluetick leaping three feet in the air
at the bae of a tree, resting its front
feet as high up as it can reach, and
then reaching down to the bottom
of its chest to haul up a hoarse and
mournful howl is a pleasure to hear
and behold.
On our first strike, Tom
sensed the result in advance: “Den
tree,” he muttered. “ Bet this is a
den tree.” We scanned the trunk and
its neighbors in the woodlot while
Gauntlet continued to to bay beside
us. Nothing. Some hollow branch
served this coon as home, and Tom
pulled the dog off. Den trees are 'never
molested. It’s a rule of the chase and,
besides, coon hunters hope these
trees will host raccoons year after
year.
In the next field we waited
again, hoping no game warden
mistook us for deer poachers. It was
silent in the country, beautiful, I
would say, except that it is cliche.
Then we heard it again. The
hoarse, coughing chop of Gauntlet on
a treed coon. This time, Tom took off
at a trot more sure than before, as if
again he sensed something, uncon-
sciously, something he couldn’t have
explained perhaps except to another
coon hunter. Something called him
and his brothers in the hound’s chop-
ping bay. They had bought this hound
when most of the rest of the civilized
world was peacefully snug in a bed.
This time a ringtail locked
down on us through his masked face
high up in a basswood. “Okay,” Tom
nodded, watching the coon climb
higher and higher.
“Let’s see what that bow can
do.”
I unlimbered at his invita-
tion, glad for the chance to pull and
stretch after hours of cold stiffened
my back, arms and hands. It was
a difficult shot, at least 20 yards
straight up at a spot no larger than a
silver dollar, but that was what I was
there for.
Raccoons are tough. They
are survivors. Like white-tailed deer,
their numbers seem to be increasing
as they adapt to man and his alter-
ation of the environment. Raccoons
tend to mate midwinter and bear
their young a couple months later.
By the fall, the kittens are on their
own and in less than a year are
bearing their own litters.
There are raccoon hunters
in every state of the nation. You
may locate them through your local
chapter of the American Kennel
Club, the United Kennel Club, the
American Coon Hunters Association,
or the Professional Coon Hunters
Association. Another way to learn
about modern raccoon hunting is
through special-interest magazines
which cater to participants. Full Cry
and the American Cooner’s Magazine
are the two principal publications in
the field. Should these possibilities
fail you, a local conservation officer,
sporting goods store manager, or
animal shelter should be excellent
sources for contacts.
Fall 2017 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 99
8/28/2017 10:56:55 AM
 One Last Cast
In future issues this will be a place where I
will provide some closing thoughts on the magazine's
content and/or what is happening in the outdoor world.
For this issue, I thought this might be a good space to
introduce myself to those who haven't met me.
I am originally from Mesick, Michigan — the
mushroom capital of the world and home of the
Bulldogs. Mesick is blessed with a plethora of natural
resources surrounding it — my love for the outdoors
came easy.
From an early age, I was in hunting blinds with
my grandpa, dad and stepdad. About six years ago,
my friend Blake helped me get into fly fishing, and I
haven't looked back. In fact, my fiance might say that it
consumes me.
I immersed myself into the sport instantly. I
asked questions, watched others, read everything I could
about trout and fly fishing and consumed any piece of
information I could about fooling a wary trout on a fly.
Tying flies was the next logical step and that took
over my life during the winter months when not much
else was happening on stream banks. Before I went back
to college at 24, I worked in the Christmas trees — I had
a lot of spare time in the winter.
Naturally, fly fishing led me to bowhunting and
then to bird hunting. Once I surrounded myself with from all of our journalists. We will not publish any
like-minded people, the hobbies started to pile up. stories in our magazine that don't carry some weight,
I met my fiance, Emily, a little over two years ago meaning or significance to the outdoor world.
during our junior year of college at Central Michigan Great care has gone into editing this season's
University. She is the perfect balance to me. I tend to be magazine. I hope it shows. Despite only having about
impulsive and emotional, she isn't. I knew early on that a month to put this together, I feel like we at Michigan
she was going to be the one. Out-of-Doors have put together a solid product that will
We currently live in Mason with our two dogs, provide enjoyment to thousands of anglers, hunters and
Calvin and Summit. trappers statewide.
My journalism degree made me feel right Page design may differ some more as we move
at home at Cadillac News during my senior year of forward — I would like to start utilizing infographics
college. I reported on natural resources, court cases and in an attempt to convey less-than-exciting information
anything outdoor-related. better.
At Cadillac News I had the opportunity to learn Our newly-designed website went online in
from some great writers under the tutelage of editor August. We will be continually updating and working
Matt Seward. I have gained a deep respect for him, as I on it in order to bring you timely news about the state's
now share the same chair at Michigan Out-of-Doors. natural resources.
The paper allowed me to gain design experience My goal is to update the website periodically with
as well. I hope some of that is evident in this first issue content that isn't a good fit for our magazine or that has a
and as we move forward with trying to continually timely nature to it — because of being a quarterly maga-
better the magazine. zine, some things would be better served by posting them
You have likely noticed that we switched to one online. I will also be working to create and implement
consistent body font throughout the entire magazine. video into the website and our social media platforms.
This gives the reader some continuity, as well as being Lastly, if you or someone you know would like
an easy-to-read font. to buy a copy of the magazine, feel free to contact me
I have tried to do some different things with or look for it at your local Barnes and Noble. We are
artwork and typography. If you have any questions or also hoping to come to a Meijer store near you in the
comments about the magazine's layout or content, I future.
encourage you to reach out to me at editor@michiga- Tight lines,
noutofdoors.com. Nick Green
I will expect great artwork and stories

100 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Fall 2017 MOOD DRAFT.indd 102 8/28/2017 10:56:55 AM

 Subscribe, become a member and get MUCC and
Michigan Out-of-Doors gear at www.mucc.org
and www.michiganoutofdoors.com

2016 FALL EDITION

JOURNAL SINCE 1947

MICHIGAN’S PREMIUM OUTDOOR

Deer
Michigan
TOM NELSON
| Rule the rut
ToNY HANSEN
BEAST OF THE EAST:
| be a better Michigan’s own Ray Bickel
won the first Train To Hunt

bowhunter Challenge held east of the

Mississippi River.

Train to hunt
A NEW GENERATION OF HUNTERS
IS TAKING PREPARATION
TO THE NEXT LEVEL

MUCC
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