As an outfitter and guide, Gary Morgan rarely gets the opportunity to hunt. It’s been about 10 years since his last Great Whitetail quest. Living vicariously through the adventures of his clients and friends, that is enough. However, when a surprise invite came to him for a deer hunt in what some may describe as a modern day garden of eden for Michigan Whitetail, how could he refuse? The invitation was extended by Greg Compeau, who was once a “friend of a friend,” that friend being Rodd Little, a Michigan renowned master turkey hunter. It … Read More
An Unforgettable Archery Season
Folks, I don’t know about you but, I have always appreciated when hunting shows or writers include failures among their stories. I have always felt that those tales of failure make the stories and those telling them more real, and it makes me remember that mishaps can and will happen to all of us at one time or another. Thus is the case for this year’s archery deer season, well at least in my case. The season was not without a victory in the woods, but it came at a cost. My 2024 archery season … Read More
A Coastie turned Huntress
By: Nicole Foguth. It was October 1, opening day of bow season in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Unseasonably hot, I sat in my tree stand, bow in hand, batting away the gnats that were flying around my face. I had never dealt with bugs before while hunting, and let me tell you, I was annoyed. I should state now that I didn’t grow up hunting. Born and raised in small-town Colorado, mucking horse stalls and playing with chickens was what I knew. I had shot a gun a few times, but only every few years when … Read More
It’s Always An Adventure In Michigan’s U.P.
By: Ryan Foguth. Being born and raised in Michigan, I grew up hunting, fishing and trapping and was blessed with my dad building a cabin in the eastern Upper Peninsula In 1999. I spent large chunks of my childhood at that cabin, hunting and trapping until I joined the Coast Guard in 2011. When I met my wife Nicole, who was also active duty Coast Guard, while stationed at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, she had never hunted before. With it being one of my life’s greatest passions, she didn’t have much of a … Read More
“The Rut” changes all the rules
Mid-October days are some of the hardest days to be at work when you’re a bowhunter. The leaves are changing color, and the temps are dropping but, duty calls and you can’t afford to hunt if you don’t go to work. Yet those vacation days that you have saved up for deer hunting are calling to you saying, “take a day off and go to the woods.” It takes so much willpower to get up and go to work when your mind keeps telling you “There’s just bound to be a big buck on the … Read More
Hunting Michigan’s Wild Roosters
The annual opening of Michigan’s pheasant season on October 20th is a revered day for me, and has been since I was a kid. My first memories of hunting are of being in the fields of our farm with visiting pheasant hunters and their bird dogs. There were the sounds of dog whistles, shouts, cackling roosters rising and gunfire followed by the pungent scent of burnt gunpowder in the crisp autumn air. Yep, folks, to say this great outdoor experience is deeply engrained into my being to this day is an understatement. I feel blessed … Read More
Bow Season! …it is finally here.
The first day of October represents the start of Michigan’s archery deer season, and it is a long-awaited timeframe for a lot of avid bowhunters, me included. Often referred to as being “bow season”, it is an outdoor pastime I have enjoyed for over 60 years, and I have a lot of fine memories, as well as I’ve been able to witness an evolution of sorts, especially regarding gear and employed hunting techniques. My first bow and arrows were something I crafted when I was a farm kid, using a green limb from our orchard … Read More
A Rainy-Day Disaster
When I walked outside early this morning, I closed my eyes and smiled as I drew that first breath of the cool morning air. When I opened my eyes and looked up at the dark night sky, I saw my old friend Orion just above the horizon. The site of that group of stars always gets me excited for the approach of Autumn and all that comes with it. It’s by far my favorite season, and these days fall means high school football games, and of course Archery Deer season. Like many of you, I … Read More
Grunt Calls, are they worth using?
If I had to pick just one item to carry to my deer stand besides my bow or my gun, it would be my grunt call. Like many of you, I’ve watched my share of monster buck videos. One thing you’ll notice in just about every video, the hunter is using a grunt call. Folks, let me tell you, it’s not just for show and it’s not just to sell products. Those things really work! It was the year 2000 and I had just gotten permission to hunt a small section of property across the … Read More