In order of importance, once on foot focus your attention on the following sign for stand locations: primary scrape areas, fruit and mast trees, within bedding areas, funnels between bedding areas and terrain feature funnels, areas offering security cover that protrude out into crop or weed fields, scrape lined runways, narrow draws offering transition security cover that protrude into crop or weed fields, funnels between bedding and feeding areas, clusters of rubs and rub lines, convergence points of several runways, and water in areas with minimal water sources. Primary scrape areas A primary scrape area … Read More
The Bedded Buck
By: Robert Weller. I was having a busy October. Busier than I had wanted it to be that’s for sure. I had intended on taking every weekend off in October and November so that I could get some quality time in the woods, especially during the early archery season here in Michigan. I think I made it out a total of five or six times to sit in the tree stand the entire month of October. To say I was getting frustrated with how my 2023 archery deer season was going would be an understatement. The … Read More
The blind-siding way for savvy whitetails – Made in Michigan Lucky Hunting Blinds pave the way
By: Tom Lounsbury. There is no question that the whitetail deer is the most popular big game animal in North America with a big following of avid hunters. Michigan itself has more than 500,000 deer hunters in the woods by daybreak on November 15, a day I personally believe should be a state holiday. Until the 15th arrives however, I start being real serious about pursuing bucks from Halloween on, with archery tackle, due to the whitetail rut which is kicking in and peaking over that early to mid-November timeframe which I quite literally live … Read More
The Hunter, The Dreamer
By: Bob Morgan. There is movement. Rich bronze against a maze of greens The muscled neck swings gracefully upward and intelligent eyes search the difference. Nose raised to the air, a search for unfamiliar scents. A slight snort, sharp hooves paw the earth and the whitetail moves back into the maze of green, completely obscured. I, too, am obscured. From my stand high in a tall oak, I have watched the buck reveal himself, then once again hide. His wariness, his wiliness impress me. I did not move, I could not have been seen or … Read More
Freelance Hunting – with a plan in hand
By: John Eberhart. Grabbing my bow, backpack and freelance pack I set off through the public land timber to a patch of white oaks I’d hunted the previous season. To my disappointment none of the oaks had acorns, the two scrapes from the previous season were inactive, there were no nearby rubs and the heavily used runways from the previous season were barely noticeable. It was late October and the mature bucks were beginning to break their nocturnal habits in search of early estrus does which I term as the pre-rut and because of that … 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
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
Natural Destination Areas
By: John Eberhart. As bowhunters we oftentimes tend to make things much more difficult than they need be. For instance from the late 60’s through the mid 80’s the amount of hours I spent on stand per kill was much higher than what it’s been since. In fact, since the late 80’s the amount of time I’ve spent on stand has steadily decreased whereas my success rate has significantly increased. How did I hunt differently back then compared to now? I used to hunt the standard short crop field edges, perimeters of marshes and swamps … Read More
The Colorful History Of Michigan Deer Hunting
By: Tom Lounsbury. Humankind certainly has a way of changing the face of the world, especially in the name of progress, and Michigan is a prime example. When Europeans first made their appearance in the Great Lakes State, the southern Lower Peninsula featured more open areas, including prairies and bogs, which was ideal habitat for whitetail deer and elk. The northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula entailed a very dense, unending old growth forest which allowed very little sunlight to penetrate through. This was ideal habitat for woodland caribou and moose, and detrimental to whitetail … Read More