The Anomaly Grouse

Jeff HornHunting Stories & Adventures

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

Frozen Waterfalls & Ice Caves

Robert WellerTake A Hike!

What comes to mind when you think of a winter getaway? Probably some place warm right? Maybe a beach somewhere just lying in the sun with a cold drink in your hand. I would have to guess that most people don’t think of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a winter destination. I mean unless you are into snowmobiling or skiing why would anyone want to go where it’s colder, right? Well, what if I told you that there are things to see and do in the U.P. during the winter months that you can’t see or … Read More

Drawing Attention To Michigan’s Grouse Woods

Jeff HornHunting Stories & Adventures

By:  Jeff Horn. Perhaps man has an innate desire to answer the most profound questions of our time. “Who killed Kennedy? “Are we alone?”  And, “How the blooming did I miss that grouse?” These questions seem to entangle us with an unending thought often leading to a conclusion:  There are questions we will never understand! Nevertheless, each year around mid-summer our hearts begin to draw attention to the fact that grouse season in MI is not far off. Being from a rural area in Eastern KY, where once grouse was plentiful but now they are … Read More

Red Black Bear Killed In U.P.

Richard P SmithBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

By:  Richard P. Smith. Ed Groom from Saline has always been lucky when it comes to hunting. One of the first turkeys he bagged was a smokey gray gobbler and he got a bull moose in Ontario with antlers that had a 58-inch spread. Then, on his first bear hunt ever in the UP during 2020, he shot a black bear with a red coat while hunting with guides Susie and Roy Little. Almost all bears in the state are black in color, but there is an occasional bruin that turns up on which the … Read More

Are You Scouting For Success?

Wild Game DynastyBucks n Bears, East Lake Buzz, Friends of ELO

By:  Gary Morgan. Much has been written about ‘scouting whitetail deer’ causing a pause before I chose to partake in ‘just one more’.  Of course, my hunting friendships offering me that phrase have rarely caused me to decline…so I shall embark.   My Peeps know where my home range is but for everyone else let’s focus on Michigan …particularly the upper peninsula.  I’ll affectionately refer to this land mass as big timber…thus, Big Timber Whitetails.  My journey for a different kind of hunt began in the late 90’s when family and work constraints had formed my…”my … Read More

Rare (Michigan) Bear Behavior

Richard P SmithBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO, Uncategorized

  By:  Richard P. Smith. After more than 50 years of bear hunting in the UP, I experienced something I’ve never seen before during the 2021 bear season. Before discussing that rare event, some background information is important. I drew a bear tag for the third hunt in the Baraga bear management unit, as did some friends from the Traverse City area who I usually hunt with out of Lac La Belle Lodge in Keweenaw County. The group included father and son Amos and Doug Esman along with father and sons Kent, Shamus and Seth … Read More

Wolf Management Badly Needed In The U.P.

Wild Game DynastyEast Lake Buzz, Friends of ELO

By:  Gary Gorniak. First, let me introduce myself. I am Gary Gorniak, President of the Straits Area Sportsmen’s Club (SASC), Vice President of The Upper Peninsula Sportsmen’s Alliance (UPSA) and Vice Chairmen of the Eastern U.P. DNR Citizens Advisory Council (EUPCAC). I am not anti-wolf; a gray wolf has a place in wildlife. But like all wildlife, the gray wolf has to be managed. You can’t pick and choose to manage one without affecting the other, especially a skilled predator as the wolf. Our 2020 deer season in the U.P. was a disaster and will … Read More

Handgun Hunting Memories

Tom LounsburyA Companion Trap line, Bucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

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

Wolf Shot In Self-Defense !

Richard P SmithFriends of ELO

  By:  Richard P. Smith. Brian Krupla from Newberry, Michigan has a good reason for wanting wolves in the Great Lakes Region removed from the endangered species act. Last summer, he was forced to kill a wolf to protect himself and one of his dogs and he’s concerned about the safety of his daughter. Krupla could have been the state’s first instance of a wolf attacking a human in modern times on August 2, 2019, if he had not armed himself before trying to rescue his dog from a wolf about 10:00 a.m. that morning. … Read More

The Colorful History Of Michigan Deer Hunting

Tom LounsburyBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

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