It all began with a phone call from a fella in Florida’s swamp land. He identified himself as Chad, bearing that distinct southern accent that told me: “this guy ain’t from these parts”. He wanted to know if this was Wild Game Dynasty from Michigan. I quickly learned he was inquiring on a guided deer hunt that his girlfriend found while searching online. She apparently found a posting of a fundraising campaign in Michigan. This fundraiser was put on by a local charity in my home town raising funds for youth activities, which Wild Game … Read More
Where Did Your Love Of Deer Hunting Come From?
It was a long time ago but as a little kid I remember my Dad coming home from deer camp dressed in a pair of red & black wool pants, a black leather belt with a Marbles knife and a short section of rope on it. It was always a big deal to touch his week long beard, being a career firefighter this was the only time Dad was not clean shaven. Deer camp was an old camper trailer hauled to a section of State land with the family station wagon. Dad and his brothers … Read More
Making Sense Of Deer Scents.
Probably the most overlooked sense of humans as predators is the sense of smell. Yet we move through a world filled with odors, many of which can even jog the memory of past events. The odor of freshly baked pumpkin pie and roasted turkey for instance puts me in mind of Thanksgiving every time. The combined odor of Hoppe’s gun solvent and freshly brewed coffee reminds me of deer camp. Military snipers are a key example of tuning in all their senses, including that of smell, to locate their opponents. When in the field, snipers … Read More
What happened when I stopped baiting deer?
I stopped shooting 4 & 6 point bucks & started shooting 8 & 10 point bucks. I also started seeing fewer deer than when I was baiting. That was one of the hardest things I had to get used to but eventually I became convinced that I just wasn’t going to have success with bigger bucks as long as I was continually seeing and spooking the same groups of young deer. (left) Author’s impressive wall of whitetail fame of northern Michigan. I do have the advantage of having lived and hunted the same piece of … Read More
Deer Calling – “Marlene” Strikes Again.
By: Tom Lounsbury. I enjoy watching old black and white movies and one of my favorite actresses was the late Marlene Dietrich, who was born in Germany in 1904. She starred in quite a few U.S. movies during the 1930’s and usually had an opportunity to sing with her unique voice that offered a deep and sultry nature to it. With Marlene in mind, I try to imitate her inflection when I duplicate a doe call, and when it comes to calling deer, inflection I have found after over 30 years of deer calling, means … Read More
Deer season with E.L.O.
Those few days in November are truly a special time of year! Over the last 27 years, I have had the privilege of making the trip with my Dad ( his 63rd trip), my son ( his 12th trip) and for the first time this year my future son in law. Every year is special and provides memories that will last a lifetime. We desired a change for the upcoming season and after a few conversations with Gary Morgan, we decided to book with East Lake Outfitters. And we had a fantastic trip! There was … Read More
Deer season was marked by three milestone events
This season marked my 60th consecutive season hunting Michigan whitetails. When i was twelve my dad convinced my mother that I was old enough to join him and my uncle in their annual hunting trip. was I excited! camping in a tent and sleeping on a bed of straw covered with a canvas tarp. My first rifle! Dad had single shot 16 ga. shot gun with an interchangeable .30-30 rifle barrel. I wanted a lever action Winchester like his but dad insisted that the single shot was a better choice for me. Dad stressed marksmanship. … Read More
Said the deer: “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?”
In the midst of a busy lifestyle…time is of the essence. I won’t argue that point because most people don’t have time to listen anyway. But as I listened to a couple of my hunting buddies talk about driving up north a day or two before the start of their season with bait-in-hand…I must say, “really?” You see, I rode up with them a few years’ back. Every couple of miles I heard a noise come from one of their cell phones. Then the other’s cell phone must have rung a half dozen times. I … Read More
Three’s Company…if you can keep up;)
As the three of us continued our walk down the ole’ skidder run I kept wondering where in the heck we were going. I yelled ahead a similar sentiment: “Hey, Bob! You must’ve walked back in here before, huh?” There was no answer. The three of us continued back into no-man’s land with my brother Bob leading the way. Trailing about 50 yards behind was Gage and I. Gage is one of Bob’s three sons (my nephew). Some might say that Gage and I lagged behind to hide our private conversations from our “lead scout,” … Read More