Going into a countdown for the November 15 opening day of Michigan’s Firearms Deer season is a tradition of mine, and I was in that mode with only 4 days to go on Tuesday evening. I was in the process of tossing hay to my horses in the pasture with my female GSP shorthair, Zelda, at my side. I’m assuming she spotted a rabbit in our nearby orchard and gave chase while I was looking the other way. All I knew when I turned around, she was gone. What I call my “rabbitat” borders the … Read More
Ladies-only pheasant hunt
A saving grace for the future of hunting is the involvement of women wishing to get involved in outdoor activities. The fact is, women are the fastest growing demographic in hunting and shooting sports today, which truly pleases me to no end. The person who got me interested in hunting and taking me into the field to show how it was done many years ago, was my mother. When in the field with the other pheasant hunters on our farm, she was the only woman and could give a hoot as to what the men … Read More
Michigan celebrates 100 years of pheasant hunting
Pheasants were first released in southern Michigan in 1917. The pheasants being released were pen-reared birds of mixed blood known as “ringnecks” which owe their origins to eastern U.S. game farms, that in turn had gotten their original eggs from game farms in England. Those first birds were released into an ideal environment quite unlike what we have today and would readily adapt and propagate. The first official Michigan pheasant hunting season occurred in 1925 and it would be the beginning of a highly popular annual event. It became so popular that small game hunters … Read More
Pursuing wintertime bushytails
When winter finally rolls in, I automatically begin pondering squirrel hunting, and there is little doubt in my mind that a highly underutilized outdoor pastime is pursuing wintertime bushytails. Personally, I thoroughly enjoy every opportunity to go squirrel hunting, and I have my favorite spots on both private and public land, not only in my home Thumb area, but also elsewhere in the state. A beauty about squirrel hunting is that you don’t have to travel far to find ample opportunities anywhere in our great state of Michigan, and with plenty of public land available, … Read More
ODE TO JOE – A Faithful Companion and Friend
Anyone who has ever owned a dog can appreciate the immense sense of loyalty a canine friend provides. This bond may be intensified when dog and man spend countless hours together in the great outdoors. Perhaps there’s no better example of this than upland bird hunting, when this finely tuned duo work in tandem to tag team their winged prey. This story is about Joe, a beloved German Short-hair Pointer (GSP). His owner, Barb, cared for him, or more likely spoiled him, and graciously allowed her husband, John, to be his hunting buddy. She said, … Read More
Hunting Michigan’s Wild Roosters
The annual opening of Michigan’s pheasant season on October 20th is a revered day for me, and has been since I was a kid. My first memories of hunting are of being in the fields of our farm with visiting pheasant hunters and their bird dogs. There were the sounds of dog whistles, shouts, cackling roosters rising and gunfire followed by the pungent scent of burnt gunpowder in the crisp autumn air. Yep, folks, to say this great outdoor experience is deeply engrained into my being to this day is an understatement. I feel blessed … Read More
A Very Memorable “Coontest”.
During the first weekend in March last year, the Ubly Fox Hunter’s Club held their first annual “Coontest” in which contestants can enter raccoons they have harvested in any legal manner, such as using dogs, calling or trapping. Bringing in obvious roadkill was not allowed. Seventeen 4-person teams had entered that contest but were in for some challenging conditions when a foot of snow suddenly hit the Thumb area. Just the same, contestants managed to enter 331 raccoons, an amazing feat considering the weather. Early March is a good timeframe because raccoons are usually out … Read More
Thumbs Up Women On The Wing
Hunting, nationwide, has seen steadily decreasing hunter numbers in recent years. States have been trying to recruit new hunters and Michigan, for example, has developed a mentor hunting license for youth hunters 9 years old and under, and an apprentice hunting license for10 years old and older, which includes adults. There are also special youth-related hunts focused on getting new generations involved, all of which I fully support. I also fully support a new trend in the hunter statistics which represents women becoming more involved in hunting, as well as other shooting pastimes. The fact … Read More
The Anomaly Grouse
Sometimes hunters and fishermen have a tendency to embellish their stories, or at least the stories grow bigger as time goes by. Who knows that the passage of time may cloud the memory which causes such delusions. More often than not we add to or take away from our experiences to make the stories more entertaining than anything malicious. With this in mind I am putting to paper the story about the “Anomaly Grouse”, as best I can recall it! Wink, wink! The word, anomaly means, abnormal, peculiar, something different; you get the idea. When … Read More
Nothing beats a day spent in good “rabbitat”
Growing up on a Thumb area farm, I have a long association with the cottontail rabbit, a wild, carefree critter which I much admire, and it was the first game animal I ever harvested. This occurred when I was a kid and had just finished my morning chores at the barn and was returning to our farmhouse. When I walked past the corncrib, a cottontail flushed from near it and headed lickety-split to our orchard nearby. I went to the house and grabbed up my single-shot .410 shotgun, and a couple shells. A fresh, fluffy … Read More