How To Judge A Black Bear

Richard P SmithBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

By:  Richard P Smith. After more than 50 years of hunting, photographing and studying black bears, I’ve learned a number of reliable methods for judging the size and sex of the animals that rely on the differences in body length and height as well as the proportions and positions of the ears on the head and front foot size. Obvious sex organs are important, too, of course. If you see a penis sheath hanging down in front of the hind legs on a side view or testicles from a rear view of a bruin, you … Read More

Michigan elk hunting today – winning the draw represents the ultimate adventure

Tom LounsburyFriends of ELO

By:  Tom Lounsbury. This year marks the 102nd anniversary of elk returning to Michigan. This all began with 7 Rocky Mountain elk (from Yellowstone National Park) being released in 1918 near Wolverine in northern Michigan. Elk are native to Michigan, but they had become extinct around 1875 due to unregulated hunting and a major loss of habitat. The subspecies found here was known as the eastern elk and was once abundantly found from the East Coast all the way to the Mississippi River. It was also bigger than its Rocky Mountain cousin, with mature bulls … Read More

Ontario Wolf Hunting In -40 Degrees (f)

Wild Game DynastyFriends of ELO

By:  Nick Grillo. Not many people can say that they have seen a wolf in person while in the wild and many more people have not been lucky enough to have a chance to harvest a wolf.  Well last year in January of 2019, I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to go on my first wolf hunt. Where can you wolf hunt? Well obviously for the time being, my home state of Michigan is not an option, so Ontario is the closest, next best option for a chance at a big wolf.  I … Read More

This Should Be My 46th Deer Season!

Jim KushnerBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

By:  Jim Kushner.  This should be my 46th deer season.  I started hunting with my Dad & older brother on State land. We stayed for the first week of the firearm deer season in the family camper. It was a tradition to hunt there that started before I was born, that particular spot was always where they set up camp & even though it was on state land & a fairly well traveled dirt road I do not remember there ever being anyone else camping there. Maybe it wasn’t the great spot that we always … Read More

Preseason Readiness – Deer Season is fast approaching

Tom LounsburyBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

By:  Tom Lounsbury.             Ever since my wife Ginny and I became the 4th generation to own the family farm 20 years ago, we’ve put a lot of effort since then into creating our own little wildlife paradise, thanks to various conservation programs our farm is enrolled in. My main focus is providing proper habitat for wild pheasants, and in so doing it has worked to the benefit of all wildlife, including deer. The majority of the farm entails prairie grass fields, which have evergreen windbreaks all around the outer perimeter, and it didn’t take … Read More

A look back at the christening of Wild Game Dynasty (ELO)

Jim KushnerBucks n Bears, East Lake Buzz, Friends of ELO

By:  Jim Kushner. The summer after Gary first purchased his place at East Lake I helped him out with some demo & remodel.   The “priority project” was removing a really old tub & toilet and replacing with new plumbing and shower stall.   The old pipe was black metal and came apart (more or less) in our hands. Seriously, it was as old as it was ugly! My friend, Matt,  also helped out with the project.   When fall rolled around we planned a 4 day hunt with Gary. I believe we were the first to actually … Read More

A Crossroads In The Balance

Wild Game DynastyBucks n Bears

The beginning of each hunting season is in-and-of-itself a fresh start.  I look at “this time of year” as a chance to change up my success ratio.  A number of years ago I began a quest to do what, perhaps, most hunters do each year…establish a better method for my madness.  Before I began my quest I decided to do what every sophomore philosopher would do … look in the rear view mirror to get a better handle on my journey ahead… In the mid eighties I re-ignited my deer hunting with a new bow … Read More

Entry, Exit Tactics to Defeat Deer Hunting Pressure

John EberhartBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

Courtesy of John Eberhart & Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine. The best entry and exit routes can get you away from deer hunting pressure, and put you right in the middle of daylight buck activity. Watch as John shows the tactics that he uses to access heavily pressured land and find big bucks. Public & Pressured Land Deer Hunter with John Eberhart Deer & Deer Hunting presents an online hunting show for real-world hunters who chase whitetails on public hunting land and highly pressured private parcels. This series features one of America’s top public-land hunters — … Read More

Deer Hunting Stands: Find the Best Funnels

John EberhartBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

Courtesy of John Eberhart & Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine. Deer & Deer Hunting presents an online hunting show for real-world hunters who chase whitetails on public land and highly pressured private parcels. This series features one of America’s top public-land hunters — John Eberhart of central Michigan. Eberhart is a master bowhunter who has taken dozens of trophy whitetails over the years while hunting highly pressured lands throughout his home state and other locales. Public & Pressured Land Deer Hunter with John Eberhart will air a new episode every Tuesday for 26 weeks on deeranddeerhunting.com, the DDH Facebook … Read More