By: Tom Lounsbury. In the spring of 2015, I had achieved 7 points per applying for a fall Michigan black bear tag, and I thought it best to contact a professional guide/outfitter in the event I got lucky on the draw. I needed to know what bear management unit to apply for, and I also knew a guide/outfitter would be the best way to go per hunting black bears over bait, because knowledge of specific area bears as well as an ongoing baiting program would up the odds towards success. After some research, I contacted … Read More
Marine enforcement, and search and rescue on Tip of the Thumb waters
By: Tom Lounsbury. With Memorial weekend fast approaching, and not to mention a whole bunch of folks tired of being literally cooped up during the past year due to the pandemic restrictions, the various Huron County ports found on Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay will most likely be a bit busy soon with a lot of boaters. Without question, the Marine Division of the Huron County Sheriff’s Office will be ready, waiting and ever watchful, especially in the event of any emergencies, which it is well equipped and prepared for. Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson … Read More
Is Michigan’s Bear Season Poised For Change?
As a avid bear hunter since the 1980s (mostly over bait and a property owner of 100 acres in the Eastern upper peninsula), I strongly believe we should separate the Bait & Hound seasons. The conflict and animosity between bait hunters and houndsmen has steadily grown. Since I have been hunting I personally have felt the the aggravation and pain of spending a large amount of time, effort, and money in a bear hunt only to have it ruined by houndsmen’s dogs tracking and running bears off my bait. No matter how deep in the … Read More
The “Vampire Buck” – A rare & very unique trophy
By: Tom Lounsbury. Ken Martin of Cass City truly enjoys hunting local Thumb whitetails, something he has been doing since he was a kid. Having taken his share of deer over the years, he isn’t a trophy hunter, but like many deer hunters, he always has his eye out for the “big one”. Little did he know when he went to his hunting blind on the second morning of the 2020 Michigan Firearms deer Season, he would soon encounter a dandy buck, and actually a real trophy too, in more ways than one. Daylight was … Read More
“Just Play The Wind…?”
By: John Eberhart. Before scent reducing and eliminating products and garments hit the market “just play the wind” was the only number in town. Even today the vast majority of hunters claim there is no way to completely fool a deer’s nose and dismiss wind direction, basically meaning they believe scent control doesn’t work or doesn’t work well enough to negate the wind. To put it bluntly, that is absolutely not true. You can fool a deer’s nose and I’ve done it dozens of times each season for the past 17 years. Please allow me … Read More
Wolf Management Badly Needed In The U.P.
By: Gary Gorniak. First, let me introduce myself. I am Gary Gorniak, President of the Straits Area Sportsmen’s Club (SASC), Vice President of The Upper Peninsula Sportsmen’s Alliance (UPSA) and Vice Chairmen of the Eastern U.P. DNR Citizens Advisory Council (EUPCAC). I am not anti-wolf; a gray wolf has a place in wildlife. But like all wildlife, the gray wolf has to be managed. You can’t pick and choose to manage one without affecting the other, especially a skilled predator as the wolf. Our 2020 deer season in the U.P. was a disaster and will … Read More
Handgun Hunting Memories
By: Tom Lounsbury. Certain memories stick with you, no matter how many years pass by. It was in the winter of 1974 I thought I’d buy myself a Christmas present and travelled to Williams Gunsight in Davison. My goal was to purchase a .44 Magnum Ruger Super Blackhawk revolver, which was referred to as the “New Model”, since Ruger had upgraded all the Blackhawk models in 1973 to have a transfer bar system which allowed revolvers to be safely carried fully loaded. For safety reasons the “Old Model” required an empty chamber to be under … Read More
Foul Weather Bow Hunting – Being Prepared Is Key
By: John Eberhart. Tomorrow mornings weather forecast calls for near freezing temperatures, heavy winds and rain. You set the alarm in hopes that the forecast is wrong. It goes off and as you reach to shut it off you can hear rain hitting the roof. You look out the window to see a steady rain and the treetops swaying with the wind, and checking the outside thermometer, it shows 34 degrees. You think about the last miserable hunt on stand when it started to rain. On that hunt the temperature was in the 50’s not … Read More
Remembering Michigan’s only documented wolverine – The wonderful visitor of the Thumb
By: Tom Lounsbury. There are some theories of how Michigan became known as the “Wolverine State”, but the most plausible, in my opinion, relates to the “Great Toledo War” during 1835-36. This was regarding the boundary, called the “Toledo Strip”, entailing 468 square miles, between the State of Ohio and the Territory of Michigan, which was in the process of petitioning for statehood. Both were claiming the “strip”, and militias of both sides, were called out and even confronted each other on opposite banks of the Maumee River, near Toledo, although there fortunately was no … Read More
Wolf Shot In Self-Defense !
By: Richard P. Smith. Brian Krupla from Newberry, Michigan has a good reason for wanting wolves in the Great Lakes Region removed from the endangered species act. Last summer, he was forced to kill a wolf to protect himself and one of his dogs and he’s concerned about the safety of his daughter. Krupla could have been the state’s first instance of a wolf attacking a human in modern times on August 2, 2019, if he had not armed himself before trying to rescue his dog from a wolf about 10:00 a.m. that morning. … Read More