Enjoying the great outdoors is so beneficial to our emotional and physical health. But how might those feel who’ve fallen victim to the effects of Lyme disease? We’re going to take a deep dive into this important topic. It seems the occurrence is on the rise, though that may well be due to better diagnostics. For many years, diagnosing this disease would prove to be quite difficult leading to missed or delayed treatment, leaving many victims suffering with the long-term effects of what can be a devastating disease. We would later learn that Lyme disease … Read More
Michigan’s Sweet Flavor Of Spring
The typical timeframe for gathering sap from tapped maple trees, at least in my neck of the woods, is March 1 to April 1. This year, however, folks I know in the maple syrup world were tapping their trees by mid-February. I’ve also seen times when maple sap hardly ran at all, so it is pretty much up to fickle weather conditions. Last year, the early sap-flow in February caught many folks by surprise, and due to the ensuing balmy weather, which caused maple trees to start budding out sooner than expected, sap-gathering ended in … Read More
Murphy Lake’s 16 th Annual “Pike Pull” ice fishing contest
Located near Millington in southwestern Tuscola County, (manmade) 209-acre Murphy Lake has long offered some bountiful fishing opportunities. It was created during the 1850’s by lumbermen to be able to float logs down Goodings Creek to the Cass River near Vassar. Small creeks were vital during the lumber era to readily access the forest and more easily remove winter-harvested logs. Damming the creeks was a common practice to build up enough water depth to send a flotilla of large logs in a controlled downstream rush when the dam was opened in the spring. Goodings Creek … Read More
MI Shed Hunter Kills Black Bear in Self Defense
Twenty-three-year-old Kyle Nelson from Norway, Michigan killed a black bear in self defense while looking for shed antlers on April 12, 2024. He shot the bear with a CPX2 9 mm handgun made by SCCY that he has with him every time he goes in the woods. “I was walking along a swamp bottom where I got a buck last fall to try to find antlers from bucks that made it through hunting season,” Nelson said. “At one point I heard a noise by a big pine tree. When I looked toward the sound, a … Read More
Archery deer hunting using both arrows and bolts (aka quarrels)
Thanks to the new accurate system of requiring hunters to register (online or by phone) their deer harvested in Michigan on a regular basis during the various deer hunting seasons, the DNR can keep daily and accurate tabs on matters. When I talked to a Wildlife Biologist at the Bay City DNR Office on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 10:30 am to check on matters, a total of 295, 054 deer had thus far been harvested. Due to the ongoing January 2-31 extended late archery deer season, the total number of the deer being harvested … Read More
WGD Podcasts 2.0!
About ten years ago I decided to take Wild Game Dynasty on a journey to explore the world of Podcasting. The beginnings were certainly exploratory…at least from a technical point of view. I have been blessed to converse with so many interesting and knowledgeable people as a result of this adventure. With nearly 250 episodes from such a variety of hunting, fishing & outdoor enthusiasts…much was learned and new friendships were established. Over the past year, I have taken what might be described as a bit of a sabbatical from podcasting. After much thought, I’ve … Read More
Fickle weather during December deer hunting adventures
December, in my mind, is the ficklest month of the year when it comes to weather. There are times the transition of fall into winter can get a bit confusing, while the weather makes up its mind to go one way or another. As a kid, I can remember when winter arrived, it usually brought lots of snow, and stayed until spring, but it seems like that predictability is all in the past these days. Being outdoors a lot, I’ve seen a steady transition, at least in my neck of the woods, of matters tending … Read More
The Mobile Hunting Movement
Time and technology have a way of changing the way we do things. Well, at least for those willing to embrace change and learn something new that is. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with sticking with the tried and true, but what if you’re missing out? It seems that more and more deer hunters are going mobile these days and are migrating away from traditional methods like tree stands and blinds. In recent years, tree saddles have become very popular among a new generation of hunters, calling themselves “Mobile Hunters”. Now mobile hunting isn’t really … Read More
Michigan’s most popular opening day – November 15th
The truth be known, I never bought a Michigan hunting license of any kind until just before the firearms deer season in November 1963. Being a Thumb farm kid back then, a hunting license wasn’t required for hunting small game on your family’s land where you resided, and I had started hunting pheasants, squirrels and cottontails with my granddad’s single-shot .410 at an early age. Yep, folks, I was a bit annoyed when I had to wait until I was 14 years old to go deer hunting. I bought my deer license at the Albee … Read More
Sometimes You Need A Little Help
Anyone that has hunted for any amount of time knows the heartache that comes when you hit a deer and it runs off leaving signs that say you make a poor shot. It’s happened to me and it’s happened to just about every hunter I know at one time or another. Yes sir, even those guys on TV have to let them lay overnight once in a while. On October 23, 2025, my hunting partner, Steve and I were out for an evening bow hunt. We were both running late and I only beat Steve … Read More