Black bear hunting in da U.P…..eh. On September 15th, 2016 my dream of bagging a Michigan Black bear came true. My name is Nick Grillo and I am an avid Outdoorsman. I have always been around hunting but I started out deer hunting when I was 14. Deer Hunting has always been one of my main passions in life, that is until I sat 7 yards from a black bear, face to face at ground level. Man….now that was a rush. I still love deer hunting, but definitely gained a huge respect and passion for … Read More
My First Michigan Bear
“This was my first Michigan black bear hunt and it was everything I hoped it would be. Wild Game Dynasty was exceptional! My hunting partner and I arrived at camp a day early to an excellent dinner after a long road trip. Prepared food was exceptional each morning & night.. The area is beautiful. There is a reason why the U.P. is called “God’s Country”. I could not believe how hard our guides worked for all of the guys at camp. I did shoot a nice Michigan black bear! The bear came in exactly how … Read More
Guided Spring Turkey Hunt
“As one of the extremely fortunate winners of the 2015 Pure Michigan hunt, I looked forward with great anticipation, to my guided Spring Turkey hunt. Despite pending, unseasonably foul weather in the forecast, Gary immediately put me on a great Tom, allowing me to fill my tag before the snows flew once more. A great hunt, put on by a great guide!!” – Mike DiLorenzo, Clinton Twp., MI
Nice Buck First Day Out
Whether this is your first time hunting a certain species or a veteran in the wild, ELO has an experience awaiting you.
Life And Times Of Michigan’s Wild Pheasant
Featured Pic (above): Dr. Kelly Straka is the new MDNR Wildlife Division Veterinarian and is proof positive ladies love to hunt wild pheasants too. Her favorite shotgun for wild Thumb roosters this past December is a semi-automatic 12 ga. The MDNR places a strong focus on pheasant (and small game) hunting in Michigan. By: Tom Lounsbury. The pheasant’s history in Michigan is relatively short when you figure overall events in century form. I’m always amazed by the amount of folks today who believe the pheasant is an indigenous (native) wild bird species to North America. The … Read More
So You Want To Train A Bird Dog?
By: Amy Gauthier So you want to train a bird dog. Congratulations! You are interested in an activity that will teach you more about yourself than almost any other hobby. As I sat down, attempting to produce my first dog training article, my head began to spin. So many questions are asked by hopeful new puppy owners: Where do I start? What do I need? What do I DO? Ah, the articles that could be written to answer these questions…and they have been written, in magazines, and books galore. Who am I to add to … Read More
Where Are The Brakes On Skiis !!?
By: Tom Lounsbury. This certainly has been an unusual winter here in the Thumb. The atmosphere mostly represented spring-like weather, and a lack of snow, which in turn may have prevented me from getting a few “lumps”. Then just recently over a foot of snow (my 14 inch rubber chore boots are topped out in the white-stuff) dropped down on our farm, almost overnight. Old Man Winter seems to be making up for lost time, which has me pondering taking advantage of it. I must admit I’m not much of a skier. I tried downhill … Read More
Listen! …for the Call Of The Wild.
By: Jim Kushner. I recently received an e-mail from my friend Gary Morgan. When I opened it I saw a picture of his place at ELO (East Lake Outfitters). There was snow up around the front door and no sign that anyone had been around recently. His message was that he had an urge to go up there and get a fire going in the stove and maybe start a small trap line…asking that I drop what I’m doing and join him. The image took me back to my own cabin in Ontario. I have … Read More
The DNR Has Michigan’s Bear Count All Wrong?
By: Richard P. Smith. If 116 Michigan residents, many of whom were bear hunters, either saw or had trail camera photos of 1,000 black bears in the state during 2015, how many bears do you think were seen and photographed by the thousands of other hunters and nonhunters last year? If I had to make an educated guess, it would be more than 50,000. Some of those bear would have been seen and/or photographed by more than one person, of course, but certainly not all of them. So how many bears were there in Michigan … Read More
A Classic Winchester Lever Action
By: Jim Kushner. I wanted to start this off with something old and work my way up to more modern rifles but will limit it to guns I can get my hands on or at least some good photos. Thank you to everyone kind enough to loan me their classics and not yet classics. Please e-mail me if you have a gun you would considering featured and WGD or myself would be happy to consider; attaching quality pictures are all that’s necessary. The rifle featured today is in fact a very old classic. Its a … Read More