By: Jim Kushner A lot has been written about deer rifles and cartridges. There is a lot of opinion and thought about the best or most accurate or most powerful rifle/cartridge combination for whitetails. I have thought about the subject myself a lot over the years, many times while I am sitting in the deer woods not seeing any deer. My first rifle was given to me for Christmas the year I turned 14 and I still have it, the best Christmas gift ever. It was a Marlin 336 in .35 Remington and it came … Read More
Building A Hunting Rifle
By: Jim Kushner I have been thinking about buying another rifle for a while now. I have always had an interest in the 6.5×55 Swede cartridge. It is an old military cartridge that is supposed to have a good reputation for accuracy and as good a reputation as a hunting round. It shoots bullets from 100 to 160 grains with 120 & 140 being favorites for hunting. I am not sure why this cartridge appeals to me so much, maybe just the fact that it isn’t one of the everyday calibers you hear about. One … Read More
A Celebration And You’re Invited!
Celebrate National Winter Trails Day January 7th with Hiawatha Shore-to-Shore chapter (HSS) of the North Country Trail Association or on your own if you are adventurous. The celebration is designed to introduce the public to winter trail sport activities that are available to the EUP community and visitors all day long throughout the winter season. The event is planned so that participants can enjoy one or more of the event options from early AM to well after dark! Those wishing to begin their day early in the winter woods can ski the Hiawatha National Forest … Read More
Through The Eyes Of A Taxidermist
By: Jim Kushner Mounting a good whitetail buck is a whole lot more than just skinning and “stuffing” it. There are certain steps that need to be followed and like a lot of specialty careers or in my case hobbies, there are some little tricks and procedures that help to make your trophy look great and last a lifetime. The actual supply list for mounting a deer is fairly small but the amount of labor involved is what you ultimately pay your taxidermist for. The most important thing a good taxidermist needs is knowledge of … Read More
Closure to the one that got away
By: Tom Lounsbury Most hunters these jet age days have a bucket-list of far away adventures they would like to do, and of course I have mine. On my list there is red stag and wild boar hunting in Argentina, hunting various antelope in Africa and hunting desert mule deer in old Mexico. I had a wonderful opportunity for the Africa hunt last spring, but I had to pass because Africa’s hunting season is during our spring and summer and I had a good portion of our farm going into new conservation programs that required … Read More
Will Work For Food!
Many of us have booked a wild game hunt with an outfitter…at least once. There are many reasons for trusting our hunts to someone else’s planning and handiwork, but few will admit they most need a professional to cover their ‘back side’. WGD found a handful of some of the toughest hunting guides in the Midwest. We recently sat down with them to get a feel of what drives their ambition. “Most guides are in shape, physically…it’s the mental toughness that matters most”, says Ross Chambers, a professional guide in Michigan’s remote Upper Peninsula. Imagine … Read More
Melancholy or ‘Tag Soup’ ?
By: Jim Kushner As I sat in my deer stand toward the end of the season I thought a lot about what I might be able to write about that was entertaining or at least interesting. An idea came to me after I had taken a doe one evening… My Dad offered his blind because he was not hunting anymore and had regularly been seeing deer there. As opposed to my regularly not seeing deer here. So I loaded up my open sighted 30-30 and drove over to sit for the evening. Dad’s elevated box … Read More
Family Traditions – An Invitation Awaits
By: Gary Morgan. Being a hunting guide for whitetail deer in Michigan has its challenges. Specifically, the Eastern Upper Peninsula is a pure challenge. Big timber goes as far as the eye can see, setting the stage for a way to find some of the greatest strain of trophy whitetails in the lower 48. Finding a thriving band of deer in ‘da UP’ is like finding a ball cap full of morel mushrooms – they exist in pockets but not necessarily in the same area year-after-year. “I’ve hunted trophy whitetails in a lot of areas…the … Read More
A Superior Experience In Michigan’s U.P.
By: Adrian Zarantonello The Smith family has been traveling to Michigan’s upper peninsula for the whitetail deer gun season for well over six decades. When I married into the family I became part of that tradition…a tradition I embraced and hold near to my heart. This year, 2016, ‘our opening day’ began with the first weekend of the season. Saturday and Sunday were marred by a snowstorm that had 20-30 mph winds and gusts of 45 mph. This storm dropped 2-4″ of snow on the eastern UP as well as drive temperatures down into the … Read More
Black Bear Hunting in Northern Ontario
By: Tom Lounsbury The older I get, the more choosey I am about who I go on adventures with in the “wild country” because if the chips are ever down, you need to know they will be right in there covering your “six” or enduring matters with you in a skillful manner. That is why when fellow outdoor writer Jay VanHouten of Midland wanted to know if I would be interested in going on a northern Ontario black bear hunt with him, it was a no-brainer for me to come back with an automatic “yes”. … Read More