The Michigan Sportsman Forums - Blogs http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php Michigan hunting, michigan fishing, michigan trout fishing en Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:33:25 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.michiganarchery.com/forum/images/misc/rss.jpg The Michigan Sportsman Forums - Blogs http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php Hello from Rick (Bisserk) http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=218 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:08:52 GMT [QUOTE=thebisser@hotmail.com;3258526]Hi! from sarnia Ontario
Love to hunt and fish and esp. my blackpowder. ]]> thebisser@hotmail.com http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=218 2010 Season Blog, The Summer Grind http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=217 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:21:29 GMT Welcome back! Another week has come and gone as we inch ever closer to October 1st. Another spell of hot, muggy weather has made it hard to even... Welcome back! Another week has come and gone as we inch ever closer to October 1st. Another spell of hot, muggy weather has made it hard to even remember what a crisp, cool morning feels like but they will be here soon enough. It won't be long and we'll be stepping out the cabin door into a crisp high pressure morning. Your breath visible in the dark morning air and leaves crunching beneath your boots as you head off to the stand with bow in hand. Man that sounds good!!!!

Until that day gets here we will continue to check cam's, work food plots, check and hang stands and daydream about fall.

This week I stayed at home and let my brother in-law Chris do the work!!! My wife and I had an evening of BBQ'ing and going to the Tigers game planned so Chris and his wife went north to handle the "work" up there. I certainly enjoyed my weekend but was definitely anxious to get Chris' report as well.

If you have been following the last few weeks you know we haven't been getting many images of decent bucks so far. It has been plenty of does, fawns and small bucks but nothing with any decent headgear yet. We aren't overly worried about it but it would be nice to get a decent buck somewhere along the way!! Past years have shown us our best bucks show up on the cam in early August so we are anxiously waiting to find that first good buck.

Chris' first report hit my phone and it wasn't the great news I had hoped for. Plenty of pictures as usual but still just some small bucks. Don't get me wrong, we love getting pictures and any buck is cool to see. We certainly haven't been bummed out this year but we're ready for more. We don't expect to see huge bucks or anything in our area, but a few decent 8pts would be nice!!

We had put one cam on a small trail we found last time we were up. It goes out into an area that we call The Horseshoe corner. It is the corner of a few acre opening that will eventually become the Plateau Plot. It is part of the area we fenced off earlier in the year and we were very happy to get this area fenced off and available as a potential plot.

Caught mom and baby moving through a few times but that was it.






Aside from that cam we also had the plot cam's out again as usual. Our plots haven't been as busy this year as they were last year. I am thinking it is due to the fact that there is so much browse available this year. Everything is green and lush right now so our plots aren't as needed. Hopefully that will change as we near the fall.

We did get an interesting looking buck on our Southline (clover) plot. His right side looks like a normal spike or fork but his left appears to be a large, thick tine that almost looks bladed at the top.



The Fenceline (alfalfa) plot had a frequent visitor as well. Looks like he will finish as a 6pt. Currently he is a 5pt, can't really tell in this pic but he has both brow tines, and looks like he may fork his left beam.




Our last camera was across the street watching a trail running parallel to the cornfield. If you remember from before we had gotten a buck on the cam last time that we started calling the Paddle Buck due to his thick right side beam. We were hoping to get some more pics of him so it was good to see this picture.

He is the biggest buck we have on camera this year. We both think he may be a 2.5yr old, it's hard to tell from this picture but in last weeks picture he appeared to be a bit thicker in the neck/shoulder area than most of the 1.5's we have on camera. Hopefully he sticks around and gives us a few more pictures. If he can make it through till gun season he is hanging around where my father in-law and other brother in-law hunt. Neither of them have ever taken a buck so it would be nice if they could get a look at him.




That cam also gave us a few other nice pictures. This picture here just makes my trigger finger itchy!!! Maybe she'll give me that pose again in a few months...





I have to admit, I have been pretty pleased with my Wildgame cam so far. Pic quality has been pretty good and for $69.00 I am thinking I should have gotten two!

Aside from checking the cam's, chris also went and sat a stand one night. He decided to go out to the Big Pine with his video camera in hand and see what he could find. The Big Pine is a stand we put up last year overlooking a large bedding area that butts up to the corn field, the alfalfa field, the woods and the hayfield. The stand is on the west side of the bedding area so any west wind works well. (For an aerial view of our property that shows the location of the Big Pine, you can check my "2010 Season Blog, Welcome to the Farm" from a few weeks back.)

Chris picked the right spot, and had a few visitors come through the bedding area.

YouTube- 10072510.mpg

All in all it was another good report. The deer continue to use the plots and are also moving around our stand sites. Hopefully we will find a few target bucks in the next couple of weeks but even if we don't we know they are out there.

Next week I will be venturing north to do some work in the plots. I will be trimming both plots and over seeding both with Biologic Maximum as well as spreading some fertilizer. Hopefully the Maximum will come in like it did last year. The deer devoured it and we are hoping for the same again this year.

I will be doing the work either Saturday or Sunday and the 10 day forecast is calling for rain on Monday. Hopefully that holds true and the the new seed gets off to a good start.

Check back in next week for some more trail cam pic's as well as some plot work pic's and stories.

Take care, and thanks for reading!! ]]> Mightymouse http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=217 Bow Season http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=215 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:36:37 GMT Can't wait for bow season to get here right around the corner, got a new self-climber and i am also getting a new trail cam can't wait:) ]]> HCbowhunter http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=215 <![CDATA[2010 Season Blog, Dad's Buck]]> http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=214 Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:20:31 GMT Another weekend has come and gone and once again I was at home. With a 3 month old at home it's hard to be too bummed out about staying at home, but going north is sure nice too.

I talked with my brother in law over the weekend and we laid out our game plan for the next few weeks. Hard to believe we are over half way done with July already. Pretty soon it will be the end of August, followed by the end of September and then into October!!!

Since we are nearly that late July/early August time frame it is time to get our brassica's in the ground. It is looking like the last weekend in July will be the weekend we plant. We planted them last year and the deer hammered them, hopefully that will be the case again this year. Last year we went a bit to heavy on the seed and saw some stunted growth do to the crowding. This year we will hopefully correct that issue and get an even better crop for the deer to enjoy.

The brassica will be getting over seeded into our existing stands of clover and alfalfa after some prepping of the plots. We will also be fertilizing at that time as well. The current plan is to use Biologic Maximum, which we used last year and had good results with.

Since we didn't get north this weekend, its back to the 2006 story this week. This will be the final chapter of the "Season of '06" story and is probably the part that I was the most excited about. If you remember from past entries, the year has already brought me two 8pts and also saw my dad take his first bow buck in umpteen years while we were up in the UP. It's now late November and gun season is winding down.

"Season of '06" Part 3
Since back when I was in high school I have spent Thanksgiving up at our gun camp near Cadillac. Camp is an ancient farmhouse built decades and decades ago that is known as "Hawks". Thanksgiving deer camp has had a wide list of hunters but myself, my dad and my uncle Dan have been constants as long as I can remember. As my brother has gotten older he has become a fixture as well.

Hawk's sits on 480 acres of beautiful private land owned by friends and we are truly blessed to have access to this great property. Every year there is great sign and good deer taken off this land, but usually by Thanksgiving things have slowed down considerably. We see lots of deer, mostly does, and have great hunts during the Thanksgiving weekend but we don't have great success harvesting nice bucks.

I always look forward to this hunt but this year it was a bit different. Having already taken two bucks I was out of buck tags and there were no doe tag's available for the area. I wasn't going to be able to hunt Hawk's this year. I talked to my dad and we decided that I would come up and stay overnight to hang out at camp and go sit with him on a few hunts. Since I couldn't carry a gun I would carry a camera instead and see if we couldn't have some fun out in the woods.

As usual I was running a bit late on the way north and didn't get up to Hawk's till about 3pm. As I pulled up the drive my dad was walking out for his afternoon hunt so I ran in and threw on some orange so I could join him. Being short on time we decided to just have a seat up against a few trees at the corner of a food plot and see what happened.

The field we were watching is about 5-6 acres in size and was mainly planted in winter wheat. It also had some long strips of corn mixed in as well. The spot that we sat in was on a slight rise that allowed us to see out into the field as well as down two sides of the field.

We settled in and spent the first hour or so just talking and enjoying the evening. It was a beautifull afternoon and it was great to be outdoors sharing some time with my dad. At one point we realized it was about an hour or so before dark and we should probably be paying attention. I don't think we really thought there was much chance of anything happening but we sat quietly, eyes scanning the field.

I saw what I thought was a cornstalk blowing in the wind but something about it caught my eye. As I focused on it I realized it was an antler, a buck had entered the far end of the field and was walking along the far edge of the corn. I caught a quick glimpse of one side of the rack and realized we were about to have some fun. We have a 6pt or better rule on this property and from what I saw this buck was a shooter. I got my dad's attention and pointed to the buck as I grabbed the camera.

As I got ready to start recording I heard my dad saying that he couldn't see the deer. As I set the camera back down the deer walked out from behind the end of the corn and into a strip of winter wheat. The buck was now standing there broadside, in the open, and my dad was still saying he couldn't see him!!!

At this point I was getting nervous, this was a good buck and I didn't want him to slip past my dad. After what seemd like forever I got him on the buck. Once he was on the buck he started asking if it was a shooter or not. I assured him that it was indeed a shooter but by this time the buck had crossed the strip of winter wheat and was heading back into a strip of corn. If he got into that corn there was a chance he would not present another shot. Thankfully the buck paused just on the edge of the corn and, before I could even think to get the camera back up and recording, my grandpa's old 30-30 lit up the dusk. The deer dropped on the spot and we both sat there for a moment in silence. Had this all really just happened? Did the deer really drop in it's tracks?

After a second or two I caught my breath and stood up, as did my dad, and it was once again time for hugs and high fives. For the third time this season we were celebrating an amazing hunt together. We couldn't believe what had happened, my dad's buck of a lifetime just strolled out into the open. We weren't even in a blind, just sitting against a tree. As is often said, it's better to be lucky than good!!! We left most of our gear on the ground and headed across the field to the buck.

The last light of the day was fading away, as was the 2006 season, but neither of us cared at all. Often times there is a sadness when the season ends but there was no sadness to be found that day.

We walked up to the buck, by far my dad's best buck ever, and all he said was "oh, I guess that is a good one". I couldn't help but laugh. Looking back at the 2006 season I think my dad said it best "I guess that is a good one".

A few pictures of my dad's buck. We never had it scored or weighed but If I had to guess I would say it was likely a 3.5yr old deer. It if it was a 2.5yr old it was a big bodied 2.5yr old.

It was my dad's biggest buck by far and to say he was on cloud 9 for a while would be an understatement






Hopefully you enjoyed the story of my 2006 season. It was an amazing few months. It's a shame that every year can't be that way but the fact that we know it will likely never happen again just makes it that much more special.

Hopefully the next few weeks will bring some "reports from the field" as opposed to stories. We certainly have some work to do over the next few weeks so I should have plenty to talk about.

Take care, and thanks for reading!!! ]]> Mightymouse http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=214 The Many Advantages of a Biometric Handgun Safe http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=213 Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:20:31 GMT When owning a personal protection firearm serious questions need to be considered about proper storage and quick access. The golden rule for proper... When owning a personal protection firearm serious questions need to be considered about proper storage and quick access. The golden rule for proper firearm storage is to store firearms so that they are not accessible to unauthorized persons. Many people who own firearms store them in a key lock or combination lock type safe. But in an emergency situation, when having quick access to your firearm is a must, safes like this are as much of a hindrance as they are a help.
The key is to purchase a safe that gives you the best of both worlds- Secure containment when you do not need your firearm and immediate access when you do. Having these two options will allow you to effectively keep your firearms secure and at the same allow you quick access to protect your family. If this level of mental freedom is important to you, a Biometric handgun safe offers the perfect solution.

Hand gun safes certainly keep firearms out of the reach of curious children, but they can also act as a barrier to keep your firearms away from YOU at a time when you may need them the most. The problem with regular gun safes is they use a key or complicated combinations of numbers for access codes. Some safes even employ complex locking mechanisms that require a whole memorized routine just to access them. Try opening one of those in a hurry under pressure. Needless to say, in an emergency situation this can be a major hurdle to effective action. Imagine an intruder kicking down your door at 2am as you wake up half confused. Do you think you would have the mental faculty or fine motor skills to quickly go through a complex routine to get into your safe? Probably not; you would still be working on getting it open as the intruder makes off with your possessions or worse yet attempts to harm you- thus thwarting the whole purpose of having a firearm for personal protection in the first place. Thankfully, fingerprint recognition safes allow you to open them with the push of a button. How?
Through fingerprint recognition software that is programmed specifically to you. These biometric hand gun safes also allow up to 10 fingerprints to be recorded allowing more than one person access if needed. Just press your finger on the biometric fingerprint pad and just like that, the safe opens up and allows you access to its contents. If that same intruder were kicking down your door today, you would be taking your gun out of your safe before he even reached the living room; and be on him before he could threaten your family. In these types of emergency situations, you need immediate access. And the PBS-001 Locksaf Biometric handgun safe is one of the only safes that allows you that kind of reliable rapid response. ]]> 1911guy http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=213 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Camping and Boating http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=212 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:49:59 GMT Well I'm back from a long vacation from the Michigan UP! Camped in Munising at the Tourist Park Campground with a tent site right on Lake Superior.



Combing the beach we found may treasures.



Had a rainy morning with a stiff NW wind that let up by around 1pm so we cleaned up and had some lunch in town. Then we put on our ponchos and hiked to Munising falls.



Used the Netbook and WiFi at the camp showed the rain and fog gone by 3pm so we launched the boat at 2:30 and hoped for the best. We were greeted to calm seas and an incredible afternoon on the lake. After paying the $ 5 launch fee at the Munising City Launch we were on our way.







Continued on Part 2....http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=211 ]]> STEINFISHSKI http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=212 Part 2 Pictured Rocks Trip http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=211 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:48:13 GMT After a bit the sun came out and we were treated to even more incredible views. Image:... After a bit the sun came out and we were treated to even more incredible views.





Ran the boat 30 miles up to Au Sable Lighthouse and it was enveloped in fog still.



Cruised back and let the wife and kids drive a while so I could get some pics.









Back at camp we lit a fire, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows on the beach and watched one of the most beautiful sunsets any of us had ever seen.





Thanks for checking out my trip! ]]> STEINFISHSKI http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=211 2010 Season Blog, Does and Arrows http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=208 Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:39:00 GMT I rolled up to my brother in-law's condo at 5:45am on Sunday, he loaded up and we were on the road. I don't remember exactly when we got to the cabin but it was probably a little before 9:00am when we pulled in the driveway. Easy trip up and now we had the majority of the day ahead of us.

We really only had a few things we "needed" to take care of this trip so we weren't really rushing around. The main goals were to pull the cards from the trail cam's, check the plot's and shoot our bow's. Pretty easy day!

One of our cam's was running on internal memory so we ran and grabbed that one first since it had to come up to the cabin and get hooked to the laptop. This camera was set on a trail that sits about 10-15yds inside the woods edge and runs parallel to the neighbors cornfield. It cuts through the woods running from one large bedding area to another. It also happens to pass within about 10yds of one of our favorite stands, one we call the Cornapple.

I had found some fresh tracks in the area when I set the cam a few weeks ago and when we showed up Sunday we found several tracks, including some from this guy (or girl?)



Thankfully the 'yote wasn't the only visitor, we also got a pic of our best buck so far this year. He isn't all that big but he's the best we've found so far. Looks like he will end up a 7 or an 8 pt with some decent mass for a young deer. Hopefully we will see him again and get a few more pictures as he develops.



We also had a doe and fawn visit a few times along with a few shots of some lone doe's as well. Many shots were of deer coming down the trail towards the camera. If they continue past the camera and stay on the trail they will work right into our stand location so that was good to see. Once the corn gets up taller they will start to prefer the cover of the corn over the trail through. Hopefully once the corn comes down in the fall they will go back to using the trail more often.

The other thing that I like about this trail is that trails that parallel common gathering/feeding area's (the corn field) on the downwind side (this trail is on the east edge of the field) are also used by bucks to scent check the field without going out in the open. Hopefully one of us can catch a buck cruising through here in a few months!

From there we headed over to the Fenceline plot, which is in alfalfa this year, to see how the plot was looking and pull the card from the Moultrie. We had some bad weeds in this plot until I mowed a few weeks back but it is looking a lot better now, still some weeds here and there but the alfalfa is doing good.

Thanks to the tall weeds that surround this plot we had over 2,000 pics on this cam but only about 30 with deer in them. Chris took the time to go through them all and delete the dud's, said his fingers and thumbs were cramping up!!

In the end, it looks like we have a bunch of does and these two small bucks using the plot with regularity right now. One thing we noticed right away was that most of the pictures were taken at night. That wasn't something we were hoping to find at this time of year. Have to keep an eye on that.





We debated on whether or not this was the same buck. The dates are just over a week apart so it's possible he could have grown between the two shots. The more I look at it I think its two different bucks though. Hopefully they stick around for a few years!!

Next stop was the Bushnell that I put up at the open gate. Turns out I didn't really have it postitioned/angled all that well and probably missed out on some pictures. Still had a few pictures on it and we know the deer are using this area.





We saved our "best" spot for last and we were anxiously waiting to get this card in our hands. This plot tends to see a lot of action and last summer a nice bachelor group was using it very frequently. We were hoping for some nice velvet bucks but we got mainly does, fawns and only one very small buck.

Here's Chris checking the clover. This plot was just cut a few weeks ago and is already back to flowering again. It looks way better after being mowed and in a few weeks it will be getting trimmed up again, and probably having brassica's over seeded into it. Last year the deer hammered the brassica's in our plots.



This is the only buck we had on this cam, he is basiclly a button buck but when we zoomed in we were a bit surprised. The top of each of his buttons have like 3 knobs on top of them. Never seen a button buck like that before. Not sure what's going on but hopefully we get some better pics of it. He certainly isn't going to be much this year but maybe some whacky rack characteristics in the future? One can hope.......



Also had two big ladies working the plot as well, lots of steaks on these ladies!!






Once we got all the cards pulled we decided to move the cam that was at the open gate. We put that cam in an area that it could watch a trail that was running out into a 2 acre grass field. The field use to be pasture but is now behind the fence we built this spring. Our land owner is going to be planting the field at some point, probably next spring, but for now it is just a grass field. There was a trail forming in a "corner" of the field so we set up the Bushnell and we'll see who wanders by!!

The other cam's were left where we had them. One on each of the plots and one on the trail near the cornfield. Hopefully we'll get some more good pic's this week from those locations. We usually leave the cam's on the plots but depending on the pictures we get from the others we move them around.

I know if Chris reads this he'll be mad if I don't mention that after we finished everything we shot our bows for a while. I was having one of those days and was not shooting well at all. Chris definitely outshot me and I even managed to fling an arrow over the target and off into never-never land. In my defense it was at 30+yds, which is way farther than I normally shoot, but missing the target is pretty embarassing. Haven't done that in a while!!! Chris shot well though and he is ready to make up for last years skunking! Those deer better look out come fall!!!!!

That about does it for this week. We accidently left the ceiling fan on at the cabin so I guess I'll have to go back up this weekend to turn it off. Don't want the electric bill to go through the roof!!!! May as well check the cams and do some work while I'm up there.............

Take care, and thanks for reading!! ]]> Mightymouse http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=208 2010 Season Blog, Holiday at Home http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=206 Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:51:39 GMT Hopefully everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend and got to spend some time with family and friends. A good friend of mine is getting married this... Hopefully everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend and got to spend some time with family and friends. A good friend of mine is getting married this week so our out of state friends are all in town for the festivities. It is always nice to catch up with folks you haven't seen in way too long.

I didn't get north this weekend so I don't have much in the way of pictures or reports for this entry.

Since I don't have anything to talk about, I will provide the second installment of my "Season of '06" story. If you remember from a few weeks ago, I was able to harvest a small 8pt with my bow the second weekend of the '06 season and was riding high following my second ever bow buck. I had no idea what lay ahead....

"Season of '06" -- part 2

Twelve days had passed since I took the small 8pt and I was now 5 days into our annual UP bow camp. Deer camp for us is as much about the camaraderie of its members as it is about the hunting and it’s not unusual to stay up a little too late to make it out to the woods in the following morning.

The night of October 17th was just such a night and happened to last well into the morning of October 18th. The events of that night could be the subject of a whole separate story and I won’t go into details other than to say that when I awoke on the afternoon of the 18th it didn’t seem like a day I would remember forever. Our fun in the mud the night before had left my truck dented and my ego bruised. I was tired and mad at myself but decided that going hunting was better than sitting and sulking in camp.

I had a stand in an area that I was pretty excited about. It was the junction of some hardwoods, an old clear cut area and a large cedar bottom. I had named the stand “The Big 3” and felt it was a great area to see some buck movement. Unfortunately the first few sits had failed to produce any deer sightings whatsoever and I began to wonder if I had missed the mark with this stand.

After some debate I decided that, despite not seeing anything from that stand yet, I would head out to "The Big 3" for tonight’s hunt.

As I parked my truck and unloaded my gear it started to rain lightly. I know this can often be a good thing in terms of deer movement but at that point I was far from excited about the prospect of spending the evening sitting in the rain. The stand is tucked up into a pine tree and my hope was that the overhanging pine boughs would shield me from the light rain. I grabbed my gear and walked up the hill then slid south through the hardwoods and climbed up into the stand. As I settled in the rain continued to fall steadily.

I sat quietly, slouched forward with my hands on my chin and my elbows on my thighs, grumbling to myself about my stupidity the night before when some movement well off to my right caught my attention. My first thought after catching only a glimpse of brown through a gap in the slashings was “that’s a big bodied deer”. As I tried to relocate the mystery animal I spotted another flash of movement and realized the deer was now walking the edge of where the hardwoods and slashings came together. There was a pretty good trail running right there and if the deer stayed on that run it would come right to my tree. When the deer got to about 70yds I suddenly realized this was no doe, nor was it the usual yearling buck that we see while at camp. This was a nice, mature buck and if it stayed on its current course it was going to end up right in my lap!

As the buck continued down the run he reached the corner of the slashings and the hardwoods, only 25yds away but off to my right and not offering me a shot. If he continued straight it would give me a perfect broadside shot. If he turned right or doubled back he would be gone. Instead he turned to his left, which put him straight to my right and still offered no shot as he headed around behind my tree. I started to get the sinking feeling that he was going to go down into the cedar bottom and despite passing within 15yds of the tree, be gone without ever giving me a shot opportunity. Just as I began to fear the worst the buck stopped and stuck his nose in the air. He had gotten downwind of the three or four apples I had smashed up in front of my stand. He now stood frozen, neck stretched out and nose in the air as my heart pounded like a drum in my chest.

“Look at the body on this thing” I thought to myself as I admired the slight sway in his back and his sagging belly. He cautiously took a few small steps towards the apples. If he took another few steps he would clear the pine boughs and give me a 10yd, slightly quartering away chip shot.

Finally, after what may as well have been a decade, he began to take those last few strides. He cleared the pine boughs, then the trunk of another tree, and was now out in the open. I was ready and waiting for him. Crouched down almost kneeling on my platform I anchored my kisser in the corner of my mouth. Without thinking I felt the click of my release and saw the black and white fletching’s bury behind his shoulder. He rifled to his left and, with two giant strides, cleared the upper lip of the cedar bottom disappearing down the hill. I heard a few more strides and then all was quiet.

While still crouched down on my platform I felt the adrenaline release start and my knees are went to a jello-like state. I got myself back on the seat of my stand and with a shaking hand, hung up my bow and took of my facemask. The scene replayed in my head. The shot felt good, fletching’s buried right where I wanted them, he has to be down right? I mentally marked the last place I saw him and started to gather up my stuff.

The stand my dad was in that night was only about 500yds away so I climbed down and headed over there. At this point it was only about 5:30pm so when I walked up to my dad’s stand he knew something was up.

As I approached my dad asked “Did you see that big buck?” All I could do was smile and say “I saw him……..and I shot him!!!!” After some hooping and hollering my dad explained that the buck came out of the clear cut he was hunting the edge of but never came closer to him than 80yds or so. My dad had tried grunting and bleating at him but the buck just kept on moving. As he passed my dad said “you can keep on going as long as you go see my son”. Apparently the buck listened!!

The rain was still falling and since my hit was good my dad and I decided to go after the buck right away. We got on blood pretty quick and it wasn’t long until I saw him laying on the hill side about ¾ of the way down into the cedar bottom.

As my dad and I stood together in those cedars, hugging and high fiving while admiring my best buck ever, I knew it as a once in a lifetime moment.

My dad was a single dad which usually meant when he went hunting, I went with. We first shared a blind when I was maybe 5yrs old and have hunted together every year since. My dad is the one who got me into the woods and the one who instilled in me my great love for the outdoors. To get to share this moment with him was beyond special. The fact that it was just he and I, father and son, mentor and student experiencing the ultimate high together, you couldn’t write a better story. Hunting has always been about family and friends for us and that moment was truly amazing. No matter what happens in my life, or his, from here on out neither of us will ever forget that day.

I was now out of buck tags for the '06 season and decided to take the following night off. As I was sitting in camp I saw my dad's truck pull in about 45mins before dark. I knew something was up and as I walked towards his truck I saw his mile wide smile . My dad had harvested his first buck up at camp in about 15yrs! I hoped in the truck and we got to replay the scene from the night before all over again. Just he and I, together sharing a once in a lifetime moment yet again.

His buck was only a small fork but he hasn't taken many bucks with his bow and to him it was plenty big enough. I had my camcorder with me and I love watching the video of him as we follow the blood trail and walk up on the buck. The joy in his voice and the look on his face are priceless.

The season of 2006, now only 18 days old, was putting a stranglehold on the title of “My best season ever” but it wasn't done yet!!

My buck ended up weighing just over 190lbs dressed and scored 113 inches. I would say he was at least 3.5, maybe 4.5 yrs old.






Check back in next week for some updates from our property. I was talking to my brother in law the other day and we will be heading north on Sunday. The plan is to check the cams and the plots, do a little scouting and tend to the tree stands. I want to re-set the straps and check on the stands to make sure things are good to go. A few spots could use a little trimming so we may as well take care of that now instead of in season.

Take care and thanks for reading!! ]]> Mightymouse http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=206 2010 Season Blog, Camera Action http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=205 Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:29:35 GMT Usually the only time I would talk about the weather impacting my work around the property is when the weather is bad. This weekend the nice weather... Usually the only time I would talk about the weather impacting my work around the property is when the weather is bad. This weekend the nice weather played as big of a role in what I was able to get done as the bad weather did.

My wife and I were joined at the cabin my her brother Ryan and his girlfriend. This was a weekend set aside to be mainly a "hangin out" weekend instead of a work weekend, but my wife knows that if we are up there I am going to sneak off at some point and hit the woods. I knew she had some plans for the day Saturday so I agreed to do more hanging out than working, which can sometimes be tough for me :)

There was some chance of rainy, cloudy weather this weekend but Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day and we spent a big chunk of the day over at the gravel pit. It was my son's first trip to the pit and also his first time in water other than the bathtub. We did our "excited, new, first time parent" bit and broke out the camera to video tape the big event. My wife was so excited to get him into the little swimming outfit that she bought for him and see his reaction. It was a great time and one of the many "firsts" that will be happening soon for us.

Since the weather was nice, we spent much of the day at the gravel pit. I would have liked to be out on the property exploring and taking care of some business but lounging in the water, hanging with the family and enjoying a few "adult pop's" was hard to pass up. Unfortunately Sunday was quite the opposite and the bad weather we got Sunday morning had us packing up and heading home a little earlier than planned, not leaving me with much time to get out in the woods.

The main hunting oriented accomplishments this weekend focused around the trail cam's. There were 3 cam's out that I set last weekend and I had two more that I wanted to get put out as well. I was able to pull the cards on the three that were already out and then find new spots to put the other two as well. I also checked both the plots after last weekends mowing to see how they had responded.

Both of the plots were looking pretty good and it was nice to see them pretty much weed free again. Some of the weeds that I had mowed down last week were now completely wilted and withered which was nice to see. The clover and alfalfa was looking strong as well and everything was quite green. I would say that last weeks mowing was a success. I imagine that in a few weeks I will be mowing again, which will hopefully work to further control the weed issues I was having.

I didn't take any pictures specifically of the plots but when I get to the trail cam pictures you will be able to see the condition of the two plots.

Speaking of the trail cam's, it was the first chance to see some pictures from our newly acquired Bushnell Trophy Cam's. I have read good reviews on them and assumed they would be pretty good pictures but was still anxious to see how they did. After getting quite a few pics on the two cam's I can say that I am happy with them. Pic quality is fine, trigger speed appears to be good, infrared is ok (they increased the number of IR's on the 2010 models so I'm not surprised that our 2009's are just ok).

The other thing I wanted to see was if the smaller cam size resulted in us getting less pictures of deer staring right at the camera. So far none of the deer in the daylight pics were staring at the cam. I think there was one possible picture with a deer looking at the cam in an infrared shot but it's hard to tell.

A few pics from the Bushnell on our clover plot. The small fork in the first picture was in several pictures. I like him being around alot, just wish he was bigger. (I should add that he isn't looking at the cam, he is looking past the cam to the corner of the plot where a trail enters the plot):



Had several momma and fawn pictures this week.



Here's a doe that looks to be no stranger to browsing in the food plot. Looks like a nice big doe, hopefully she shows up in a few months!!




The alfalfa plot didn't have the same amount of action on it this week as the clover did. Way fewer pic's over there this week. The alfalfa is looking good, and the weed issue is not a problem since the mowing so I figured the deer would be in there quite a bit. Not sure why it was slower over here.

This small buck appears to have a lopsided rack with more on his right side than his left. Not much on either side yet but the difference should make him easier to keep tabs on. I would like to get a closer shot to see what's going on up top for him.





This cam was set up watching a faint trail in the newly fenced off area. The trail was working through an open area full of tall grass. It was easy to see the trail, but it wasn't a major run. Was happy to see it being used somewhat regularly judging by the pics. I was worried about getting a bunch of false triggers thanks to the grass, but it actually wasn't bad at all.






We leave the cam's on the plots for most of the summer so I just popped the cards out of those cams and left them as they were. The other cam, watching the grassy trail, was moved to a spot we are calling the "Open Gate". It is an area that use to be gated off to keep cows out but with the new fence installed we can leave that gate open. The fence is in an area that deer already use frequently so being able to go through the open gate instead of jumping the fence will make a bit of a funnel there we hope.

Here is that cam, all set up on a fence post and ready to rock!



We have another area that is a bit of a natural funnel and after a little work I will have a cam set there as well. A tree dropped across the 25yd area so I am going to cut a section of the tree out to try and get the deer walking through the opening instead of jumping the tree. Should help to tighten up that funnel even more. I like using the funnel area's as cam sites because it should give you a good sampling of all the deer using the area.


The last camera went just inside the cornfield on the other side of the property. This area doesn't usually see heavy useage until the corn is taller but there were some fresh tracks in the area so I decided to set the cam up and see who's visiting.

I was talking with Chris on Sunday and we both agreed that in terms of decent bucks, it has been a slow season so far. I saw a few nice ones in fields while driving around Friday night and Saturday glassing fields in the area which gave me a barometer in terms of where the antler growth is at. We have seen several bucks on our cams but they have all been small so far. Last year we didn't really get nice bucks on our cams until late July/August so I'm not ready to panic or anything but it would be nice to catch something other than a 4pt here pretty soon!!!!

That about does it for this week. The next few weeks are going to be tough in terms of spending time up at the cabin thanks to a bachelor party and a wedding that are upcoming. I will try to sneak away but it may be tough.

They started cutting the alfalfa field this weekend so I would like to spend an evening out in the shanty blind the next time I'm there. That will hopefully allow me to see some of our deer in person and get a few pictures as well. Hopefully that can be part of one of the next few blogs.

Take care and, as always, thanks for reading!! ]]> Mightymouse http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=205 2010 Season Blog, The Good, The Bad and The Weedy http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=203 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:16:51 GMT Sorry this is a bit delayed in being posted. I try to do them on Monday but I was sick yesterday and wasn't able to get to it.

Another weekend has come and gone and we are slowly but steadily gettting closer and closer to October 1st!!! It still seems like a long ways off but trust me, we're getting closer!!!

Last weekend I was only able to sneak away Saturday to do some work up at our property. This weekend coming up we will be up north all weekend long so that will be a good chance to take care of some odds and ends that I put on the back burner when I only have a day to spend up there.

The main goal of this weekends short trip was to evaluate my weed killing efforts from 2 weeks ago and to trim up both the plots. Aside from taking care of the food plots I also wanted to review the trail cam's and do a little more exploring in our newly fenced off area. The new area is our big mystery for this year and we are trying to get as much of an understanding of the area as we can before October rolls around.

After a late night on Friday, 4 am seemed like a terrible time to get up on Saturday. When the alarm went off I wasn't exactly happy to be out of bed but I was up and in short order I was out the door and on the road. There was a nice sunrise to watch on the way up and the drive went by quickly and uneventfully. My brother in-law Chris is a truck driver and he happened to be on the road Saturday morning while I was driving so we chatted back and forth to help pass the time.

As a bonus I got to see my first fawns of the year while driving, spying 3 small fawns along with several other deer and a few turkey's along the way as well. The first fawns I saw were a set of twins w/ momma and right as I drove past one of the fawns began suckling on mom. Cool way to see your first fawns of the year!!

As I got up to our place the first thing I noticed was the Canola field to the south of our property had grown a ton since the last time I was up here.

Here it is just two weeks ago:


Here it is now:


That is a 40ac field that our landowner also owns. Prior to this year it was just a pasture. Needless to say, we like it better as a agricultural field than we did as a pasture. During the course of the day I walked that fenceline and found a few runs starting to develop and also found sign of the deer grazing the canola. It's already more useful to us in terms of deer useage than it ever was as a pasture.

After checking on the cabin and then getting changed it was off to the food plots to get started. As I said above, I had sprayed the plots with Arrest and Slay two weeks prior and was hoping to find all the weeds dead and gone with just a beautiful green food plot remaining. As I neared the Fenceline Plot I could tell my hopes were not going to be coming true.

The dose of herbicide had killed many of the smaller weeds, but had also left plenty behind. Most upsetting was that the ones that I really wanted to kill, the large picker bush looking weeds, were still there (as you can see in the picture down below). These weeds are in both of our plots and I was really hoping that the herbicides would wipe them out. I gave them all a very healthy dose of herbicide but apparently they were too tough. Some were showing signs of wilting a bit so maybe I just didn't give them enough time to fully die.

I set to work mowing the plot and after a little while I had it mowed down and looking way better than it did when I got there. This plot (Fenceline Plot) is having some serious weed issues and we have discussed giving it a few doses of glyo next summer and re-seeding it. We'll see how it is doing after a few more mowings this summer and make our decision then.

Once I was done mowing the plot I grabbed the SD card out of the camera and reviewed the pic's. We did have a few small bucks on the cam along with some doe's and even our first fawns of the year as well. Nothing to exciting in terms of the bucks but oh well, the bigger ones are around we just have to find them!!

These pictures from the Fenceline Plot camera really show how out of control the weeds are/were in this plot. You can see the alfalfa and how good it looks, but you can also see the weeds in it as well. It looks way better now, but we'll see how many of those weeds come right back again.








From the Fenceline plot I moved on to the Southline plot and did my best to whip that plot into shape as I had done with the Fenceline. The Southline plot had its fair share of weeds as well, but wasn't as bad as the Fenceline plot was. The part of the Southline that was planted last year had very few weeds in it and the clover was looking great. The part of the plot that was planted a few years ago was much weedier and had some big thorn/picker weeds as well as some big eggplant looking weeds. Again, the clover is thick and plentiful but there are more weeds than I would like to see.

This is about a 10x5 ft area that was really weeded up. Apparently a batch of those picker bushes decided to grow here for some reason.



After some mowing and cleaning the plot was looking like this:



Both plots were left anywhere from about 8-12 inches in height this time. I cleaned up any big stuff that was left laying on the clover/alfalfa but didn't get to crazy about raking them clean or anything. I will be anxious to check them this weekend and see how they are responding to the mowing.

Before I left the plot I set up one of our new Bushnell Trophy Cam's to keep an eye on things while I was gone. This is about the time of year that we started to get good pics of a bachelor group on this plot last year. Hopefully we will have the same luck this year as well.

I set up the other new Bushnell camera up in the new area watching a faint trail that is developing through an opening where a gas line cuts through the woods. That cam is on an apple tree so hopefully as some apples develop the deer will continue to use that trail.

This is the view that cam has... I think I'll have a few false triggers in there....



It's hard to see the trail but it basiclly runs right in at the camera, coming right into the camera in the center of the picture. It was easy to see that it had been used, but it certainly wasn't looking like a cattle run or anything.

Once that cam was set up I retrieved my other cam which, if you remember from the previous blog, had been set by a former bedding area that we hoped the deer would start using again.

As I made my way towards the camera I bumped a deer out so that's a good sign. There were only 11 pics on the camera and I was figuring it was mostly blanks. After getting the cam hooked up to the computer I was pleasantly surprised. There were several deer pics including this small buck



As well as a few pic's like this that look as though the deer has just emerged from the bedding area.



Hopefully the deer have started to use that bedding area as they did a few years back. That would be awesome and make it well worth the effort of fencing off that section of woods. I am pretty sure the deer will start bedding in there again, it's just a matter of when I think right now.

To wrap up the fun stuff for the day I went and checked on a few stands and took a drive to the north end of our property to check that area out. I was happy to find some tracks going through the funnel area by the river but was bummed out to find the fence down again over there. It's currently just a single strand of smooth wire that the loggers put up a few years ago to keep the cows out. We have patched it up a couple times but with just that single strand of smooth wire the cow's eventually just go right through it and tear it down again. I guess we will have to put our fencing skills to the test again and fix it up right sooner or later. Keeping the cows out of that area will get us a few more good stand spots and some good bedding area's as well. It will be a lot of work, but like our other fence, it willl be well worth it in the end.

After that I spent some time on the lawn tractor making the yard look pretty. That went quickly so I grabbed my bow and did some shooting. It was the first time I had grabbed the bow since December and after about 30 shots I could feel myself getting tired. My shooting was ok, about what I would expect for the first shots of the year. A few more sessions and things will be back up to snuff.

Once I was done shooting I packed up and hit the road. I left at a good time so I treated myself to some backroad cruising and took the "long" way home when I left. Was a nice relaxing way to wrap up the trip.

As I said above, we will be up for the whole weekend this weekend so I will be able to get some more stuff done and should have some updates next week for the blog.

Take care, and thanks for reading!! ]]> Mightymouse http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=203 <![CDATA[Chief Okemos Sportsman's Club,Open House]]> http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=202 Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:53:31 GMT COSC Open House
Chief Okemos Sportsman's Club will hold an Open House on Saturday, July 10th, 2010.
The club will be open from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Watch or participate in the various shooting sports COSC offers. All ages are welcome, and free hot dogs and beverages will be available.

http://www.chiefokemos.org/ ]]> cosc10rings http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=202 2010 Season Blog, Looking Ahead and Looking Back http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=201 Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:13:56 GMT I had plans to head up this weekend to check the results of my weed killing efforts from last weekend, and to check the trail cams, but my plans and... I had plans to head up this weekend to check the results of my weed killing efforts from last weekend, and to check the trail cams, but my plans and reality didn't see eye to eye. I found myself in the city all weekend and wasn't able to get up to the property.

Did some yard work Friday, visited and BBQ'd on Saturday and played some golf on Sunday. It was a good weekend, but it didn't provide much in the way of ammo for the blog.

One thing that I did do this weekend that pertains to the 2010 season, and others to follow, is buy a new trail cam. Actually my brother in-law and I both got new cam's thanks to a post here on Michigan Sportsman in the "trail cam" forum. We had been checking out the Bushnell Trophy Cam for a while and last week somebody posted up a link to the cam at a nice low price compared to anywhere else we had seen it. Chris put in the order last night so in a few days we will have two new camera's in the arsenal.


Pretty excited to get this camera, saw it at Bass Pro last week and it is tiny!! The dimensions are 6"x4" if I remember right and when they say it fits in the palm of your hand they aren't kidding. It will be interesting to see if we get less pictures of deer staring at the cam with the smaller, easier to conceal, Bushnell's.

(these pic's are from bowhunting.com and trailcampro.com respectively)






I have read several good reviews on the cam's and hopefully in a week or two I'll have some pictures from it to post up.

Last year we were sort of laughing at ourselves for having so many tree stands between the two of us. Yesterday I realized that we are getting close to having as many cam's as we do treestands. I think it's fair to say that the last few years have really shown our "unhealthy" addiction to this sport!!!!

Well, now I will switch from looking ahead to the fun of a new camera to looking back at the fun of a past hunt. With not much in the way of hunting info to share from this past week(end) I decided to share a write up of a past hunt with you.

The 2006 season was an amazing season for me and I doubt it will ever be topped in the future. The way things worked out that year and the timing of everything was just amazing. I'm not sure what I ever did to deserve a season like that but I'm sure glad it happened.

I originally wrote the events of the whole season as a single story, but for the purpose's of this blog I will break it down into "chapters" that I will share over the course of the year when I am low on other stuff to discuss. Below you find the first part of my 2006 season.

“Season of ‘06” part 1
My 2006 season didn’t start off like I had hoped. I had bought a new bow that summer but despite practicing more that summer than ever before, I still managed to blow an 18yd chip shot on a doe the evening of October 1st. The doe had worked in perfectly and offered me a standing still, perfectly broadside shot and I still blew it. I went back home dejected and lacking confidence but after a few good days of shooting in the backyard I was confident that the errors of opening day would not repeat themselves.

The following weekend found me back up at the property ready to prove that the errors of opening day were just a fluke. The morning of October 6th I got up early and headed out to “The River Stand”, arriving well before daybreak. This stand is in a natural funnel area where the corner of two sections of woods are separated by about 50yds of open pasture with the river running only 20yds to the south of the stand and bordering the small opening. We see many deer in this area and 90% of the time they work right through this funnel putting them well within bow range.

As daylight broke a beautiful fall day came to life around me and it was hard not to be filled with anticipation and excitement. After the beautiful fall sunrise, the first hour of daylight went by uneventfully until I spotted movement off to my left. It was two deer working their way towards me, heading right into the funnel. At first glance I thought it was two doe’s but as they got closer to the stand I saw that the first deer was actually a buck with long curling spikes. As the second deer came into sight it lifted its head I could see a small rack sporting 4 points on one side. I quickly realized my two does were actually two bucks.

At this point in my hunting career I had harvested several does with my bow but had only one bow buck to my credit. I quickly decided that, if things went like I planned, the basket racked 8pt would be the second bow buck of my career.

Slowly but steadily the spike worked right through my funnel, passing in front of me at about 15yds while quartering slightly away. I watched the second buck work his way through the thick stuff and I hoped he would take a similar route, offering the same shot opportunity. He did just that and entered my shooting lane at about 17yds quartering away slightly. I quickly came to full draw as he entered the lane and when he paused for a second to check his surroundings I settled my pin and let the shot go. The arrow found its mark with a reassuring “thwack”, and the deer mule kicked before doubling back in the direction he had come from. After a 30yd sprint he turned and headed straight across the pasture, crashing through the far side fence and dropping just beyond it. I couldn’t believe it, the second buck of my bow hunting career was down within sight of the stand!!

After slowly gathering my gear, and getting my heart rate back down to an acceptable level, I climbed down from my stand. I headed over to the spot the deer was standing when I shot and started picking up the blood trail. After just a few minutes the excitement of knowing where he was laying became too much for me. I abandoned the tracking effort and cut quickly across the pasture finding my buck right where I had seen him drop. After a few minutes of looking at my buck and thanking the hunting gods for the wonderful morning, I started the hike back to the cabin.

On the walk back to the cabin I was feeling great. I had only hunted two days so far this season and already had two great hunts. The successful harvest of my second bow buck had made my poor shot at the doe on opening day a distant memory. The 2006 deer season was only 6 days old and I was already considering it a good one, little did I know that the excitement of the 2006 season was just beginning.

My small 8pt from October of 2006, my stand is just inside the tree line behind me in the picture. Probably in the tree in the upper left hand corner with the bright leaves now that I think about it.... The buck was coming down that tree line and the shot was taken as he steppped into that opening right in front of the bright tree. Never really noticed that before!!




Stay tuned for more of the "Season of '06" story as well as more from the 2010 season as well.

This weekend I will be up at the property doing some food plot work and moving camera's around. Check back next week to see how that went.

Take care, and thanks for reading! ]]> Mightymouse http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=201 Wow! Damage! http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=200 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 06:25:37 GMT ---Quote (Originally by walleyesteve2)--- We took a ride down thru Estral Beach and saw the damage 1st hand. Pretty amazing nobody was injured. Many...
Quote:
Originally Posted by walleyesteve2 View Post
We took a ride down thru Estral Beach and saw the damage 1st hand. Pretty amazing nobody was injured. Many large tree's were broken off 20ft up. A few garages were lifted off the foundations and tossed into the lake Over home's! ripping the roof off the houses on the way! A 40 foot Trojan was shoved on-shore and about half way beached!!!
I will try to post pictures when I get them downloaded from my cell phone.

The Trojan was stored right where you seen it. It makes for a great story... that is if it was true, though it never got shoved on-shore.

I lived threw all of it 1st hand. Are you glad you seen the damage first hand? Gawkers only slow the process down for help and recovery.

The house posted with the garage and roof missing.... is where two adults and three children were. Can you imagine waking up to a tornado while on the 2nd story, the roof being taking away, glass flying all threw the house and it happens so fast that by the time you make it to the room your children are in.... its over. Seeing the end result, you know that if it would of hit from the lake side.... your children would be badly hurt or worse, because of the wall of windows and no protection from anything else.

Have you ever lost a child? I hope you never have and never will. I have already buried a child.... and it is a gut wrenching feeling knowing children could have died that night.

Families are out of homes! And there is still a lot of work to be done! The families at the beach did not appreciate all the gawkers. Gawkers need to show some sympathy, be more considerate and stay out of these areas.

I apologize if I come off as an a** hole, though you don't understand how frustrating and aggravating it is trying to get things done when people are coming around acting as if it is disaster show. Times like these are hard on people.... and trolling the streets for the hell of it.... doesn't help matters at all.

Thank you! ]]> tmckenzie http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=200 going fishing?? http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=199 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 12:29:03 GMT hi my name is james and i am looking to go out on a boat and go fishing. i only have done this twice and i would love to do it again i have every... hi my name is james and i am looking to go out on a boat and go fishing. i only have done this twice and i would love to do it again i have every thing i need and you can make a new fishing buddy lol please let me know thanks ]]> jlucas201 http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/blog.php?b=199