Buckshot has a long history of being a useful and efficient element in the American deer woods which dates from the flintlock era until now. It turns smoothbore firearms typically used for firing birdshot at small game, wild turkeys and waterfowl into useful hunting pieces for bagging larger game, such deer and wild hogs. It remains to be a favorite round for hunting in southern states per swampy and thick areas where even seeing the quarry is a close-up, fast-moving encounter in dense cover, an atmosphere for which buckshot is ideally suited. Single projectiles are … 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
Arrowheads – A Steady Evolution
Being able to create fire was, without question, the main element for helping prehistoric humans to begin climbing up the food chain. Creating fire may have led to another advancement, the creation of the bow and arrow. I can easily see a “Firestarter” using the bow and stick used for drilling into a piece of wood to create friction and thus fire, playing around with matters once a fire was created. It would be discovered the bow could cast the starter- stick quite a way, and the lights came on to create a larger version … Read More
Venison – which is an annual fall harvest for a lot of folks
November 15th is a revered day for Michigan deer hunters, and it is when the majority of deer are harvested statewide each year. It also represents a very busy timeframe for meat processors and good venison has a very succulent nature which is a primary meat source for my family that we all enjoy. I was a state meat inspector for almost 12 years, working on various “kill-floors” in slaughterhouses, where I did ante-mortem (making sure animals to be slaughtered were in a healthy state) and post-mortem (performing an autopsy of sorts) inspections to assure … 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
Southern Michigan’s Limited Firearms Zone is celebrating its 10th anniversary
By the early 20th Century, there were very few whitetail deer found in southern Michigan, which resulted in closing the annual deer season in that region for quite a few years to allow the deer population to rebound. The first reestablished deer season for southern Michigan occurred in 1948 when, due to possible safety concerns, only shotguns would be allowed creating what would be known as the “Shotgun Zone”. During the first couple years, deer hunters could only use buckshot, but shotgun slugs were eventually allowed as well as .22 rimfire rifles, which … 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
Summertime plinking while dealing with the “red menacing horde “
Spring and summer this year have proven to be a tad interesting, not to mention challenging, due to an ongoing invasion by very prolific red squirrels around our home and outbuildings. Of course, our living in the woods, so to speak, tends to quantify matters. We had quite a number of both gray and fox squirrels around our home, which we always enjoyed watching, and then the little red squirrels began appearing, just a few at first, but recently had become epidemic in numbers with them everywhere. At first, I had a “live and let … Read More
Bow Hunting On A Budget
Are you considering bow hunting but aren’t sure if you can afford all of the equipment that everyone says you “need”? I’m here to tell you that you can get started bow hunting for far less money than most people will tell you. Before we get started, there is one piece of equipment that I will say is an absolute must. As I am a certified Bow Hunter Safety instructor, it would be wrong of me not to stress how important a good quality safety harness and life line are. Don’t leave the ground until … Read More
Foul Weather Gobblers Can Be A Challenge
Walking into the Cass City DNR Field Office at 4:30 am just prior to going turkey hunting is always a delight for me, because ladies all clad in camouflage, will be having donuts and coffee while excitedly anticipating heading out with their mentors during the annual 2-day Becoming an Outdoors Woman (BOW) Turkey Hunting Workshop. I greeted the 2 ladies who I was going to mentor, Anna Bucholtz, and her 10-year-old daughter, Delilah and we were soon headed out in my Jeep to some private property I had permission to take them hunting on and … Read More