By Tom Lounsbury. The various sucker fish species in Michigan get a bit of a bum rap from some folks who consider them to be a trash fish on the order of carp, which is a very incorrect attitude to have. Suckers get their name from their fleshy lipped mouths located on the underside of their heads and they are for a fact, bottom feeders. However, they are what I call “clean bottom feeders” in that they feed only on aquatic insects, crustaceans, snails, worms and in some cases, algae too. Suckers have also been … Read More
Operation Injured Soldier – Disabled veterans healing through hunting
by: Tom Lounsbury Listening to 20 beagles howling at various places in the surrounding woods, accompanied by a crescendo of (shotgun) shots here and there on a brisk winter morning is certainly a very unique sound that was quite frankly, music to my ears. I was observing a recent rabbit hunt for disabled veterans through a program called “Operation Injured Soldier” (OIS) on 400 acres of excellent wildlife habitat owned by Dr. Richard Horsch of Mayville. Personally, I’ve been on a lot of rabbit hunts with beagles in my day (which is quite a few … Read More
The Sweet Flavor Of Spring
I always look forward to my annual spring pilgrimage to the Battel sugarbush located just a few miles northeast of Cass City (on Ritter Road – a couple miles west of M-53), to stock up on freshly made maple syrup, a very sweet flavor of spring I always yearn for. This usually occurs not long after the first day of spring, because the typical timeframe for gathering sap from tapped maple trees in the Thumb runs from March 1 to April 1. (I thoroughly enjoy the annual Battel Maple Syrup Open House the third … Read More
Ode to the Dependable Remington 870
The Remington Model 870 pump-action shotgun first hit the market in 1950, and quickly became a favorite of American hunters (several million have been manufactured and sold). I can remember pump 870’s being in the hands of quite a few visiting pheasant hunters on our farm when I was a kid. I handled and shot an 870 for the first time about 40 years ago. I had stopped to visit a friend, and he and his brothers were just getting ready to do a pigeon harvest at a neighbors barn. This entailed flushing the birds … Read More
“Our Friend Maggie” (w/podcast)
Each year mid-winter brings a batch of new excitement. For me, it’s the time for some tweener stuff. My fall hunts for clients are behind me, but the turkey hunts are calling off in the distance. So, with that in mind, I reconnect with cross country skiing and most anything with my family…especially, my wife. Well, when I was invited to spend a day bobcat and coyote hunting not far from home I couldn’t hold back. I don’t think my wife had the same response…but, it was only ‘a day’, eh. Besides, it was time … Read More
Where Did Your Love Of Deer Hunting Come From?
It was a long time ago but as a little kid I remember my Dad coming home from deer camp dressed in a pair of red & black wool pants, a black leather belt with a Marbles knife and a short section of rope on it. It was always a big deal to touch his week long beard, being a career firefighter this was the only time Dad was not clean shaven. Deer camp was an old camper trailer hauled to a section of State land with the family station wagon. Dad and his brothers … Read More
Roosters And A Good Cup Of Coffee (w/Video)
Forty some years ago I remember waiting at the front window for my Dad to pull into the driveway, for I knew we were going pheasant hunting until dark. As soon as the ’68 Tempest drove in I could see my Dad making eye contact with me. He knew I had all my chores done and all that was left was getting ‘Dusty’, our setter, into the trunk of the car. With a slip knot leaving a small vent, we’d take off. As usual, I’d watch my Dad move the column shifter around as we … Read More
Michigan Pheasant Phacts
Opening morning last year dawned into a beautiful sunrise and as my group of hunters and dogs spread out in the tall prairie grass, shotguns began popping away in some distant fields, flooding me with some very fond memories. Pheasant season in the Thumb had finally arrived, and it is a very special timeframe for me. I can remember October 20th as being a date when all the local schools in the Thumb closed, because the vast majority of residents as well as countless visiting hunters would be out for the pheasant hunting opener that … Read More
Bow hunting at a fever pitch.
By: Tom Lounsbury. When August arrives I can feel an annual bout of bow season fever coming on, because with summer winding down, I know the Michigan archery deer season which opens October 1 isn’t all that far away (and the older I get, the faster time seems to fly). It is the key preseason time frame to get all of my archery equipment checked over and start doing some dedicated shooting practice. I’ve been avidly bowhunting local whitetails for quite some time now, mostly with traditional archery tackle involving recurve bows and longbows, and … Read More
Deer Calling – “Marlene” Strikes Again.
By: Tom Lounsbury. I enjoy watching old black and white movies and one of my favorite actresses was the late Marlene Dietrich, who was born in Germany in 1904. She starred in quite a few U.S. movies during the 1930’s and usually had an opportunity to sing with her unique voice that offered a deep and sultry nature to it. With Marlene in mind, I try to imitate her inflection when I duplicate a doe call, and when it comes to calling deer, inflection I have found after over 30 years of deer calling, means … Read More