When my wife Ginny and I put most of our farm into grassland programs, our focus was providing proper habitat for wild pheasants, and in so doing it worked to the benefit of all wildlife, including deer, wild turkeys, songbirds, and even butterflies and other insects. Our ground entails a mixture of warm season prairie grasses and wildflowers, with evergreen windbreaks all around the outer perimeters, and it didn’t take long for us to realize the very adaptable local whitetails absolutely love prairie grass fields which are tall enough for absolute concealment. Yep, folks, if … Read More
The First Annual Free Cass River Rough Fish Derby was a great day for all
The Dead Waters of the Cass River has a lot of local history associated with it. Its name has nothing to do with being stagnant but is in reference to the fact that it lacks very little current caused by a pair of river-wide limestone shelves located over a mile apart creating a natural basin possessing a unique limestone-associated river bottom topography. In essence, it is a long and narrow lake. In 1900, a wooden bridge spanned where M-53 is now located, and where Pinney Lodge catered to visiting anglers, and even … Read More
A Springtime Family Affair
The multiple sucker fish species in Michigan get a bit of a bum rap from some folks who consider them to be trash fish on the order of carp, which is very incorrect. Suckers get their name from their fleshy lipped mouths located on the underside of their heads and are for a fact, bottom feeders. However, they are what I consider clean bottom feeders in that they feed only on aquatic insects, crustaceans, snails, worms and algae. Suckers have also been accused of eating the spawn of other game fish species and competing with … Read More
The Greatest Adventure In The Woods
Mentoring our youth can be one of the most rewarding things you can do as a hunter. Investing time in our young people is not only what a responsible hunter should do but it’s a way to continue your own legacy as well. Young people today seem to have a lack of good role models, so I consider it a real privilege to get the opportunity to have an impact in the life of a young person. I mentored my first youth before my own son was old enough to start hunting. I was searching … Read More
Ode to the magnificent rimfire “Double Deuce”
There is little doubt that the most popular rifle and handgun cartridge in this country is the .22 rimfire round. Annual ammunition sales also state that it is the most fired round in America, and it is extremely versatile for being used from target shooting and simple plinking, to small game hunting and even personal defense. The fact that it isn’t overly loud with its report and lacks any noticeable recoil causes the .22 rimfire to be the perfect round to introduce new and young beginners into the shooting pastimes. Having shot the .22 rimfire … Read More
Reflections in The December Woods
There’s just nothing like deer hunting with snow on the ground. For those of us in Michigan, that seems to be a rare occurrence these days and your best chance of getting to hunt in some snow (while there is still no guarantee) is during the month of December. Well, my friends, if you are hunting in December and are still looking for a big buck, that means you’re either pulling your archery equipment back out of the closet or you’re grabbing the old muzzleloader. Well, at least it used to. In recent years in … Read More
Michigan’s Liberty Hunt offers a wonderful opportunity to introduce kids to the wonderful world of deer hunting.
Michigan’s first Liberty Hunt was held in 2001, which would allow kids aged 16 and younger as well as adults with qualifying disabilities, to participate in the special two-day deer season, which usually occurs during the second weekend in September. My youngest son Joe, at age 15, was able to participate in that first Liberty Hunt, as well as the following Liberty Hunt in 2002. After that I would make a point of “adopting” a kid for that special hunt each year, and yep, folks, there are a lot of kids out there wishing for … Read More
Getting prepared for Michigan’s annual spring turkey season
…”Hearing that early morning gobble is a big reason I choose to turkey hunt each year”… By: Tom Lounsbury. With April finally arriving, I’m in the preparation mode for the impending spring turkey season, which includes getting reacquainted with my preferred shotguns. The title “Turkey Gun” conjures up a variety images in the minds of turkey hunters today. What seems popular is a compact and camouflaged shotgun which is equipped with a very tight-patterning screw-in choke tube. It will often be a 3-inch or 3 and half inch 12 ga “Magnum”, or even a behemoth … Read More
Michigan offers excellent opportunities to enjoy “beagling” in the wintertime outdoors.
By: Tom Lounsbury. The barks and howls of beagles in hot pursuit were soon punctuated by a series of gunshots, and as the chase continued, more shots erupted from various locations. I had placed several kids and their adult mentors at certain key spots in the “rabbitat” on my farm for a good old fashioned rabbit hunt. This was part of the Pheasants Forever (PF) Outreach Program which introduces youths to various shooting pastimes in the outdoors (the hunt was sponsored by the Saginaw County PF Chapter). None of the kids had ever been rabbit … Read More
Popular deer rifles and calibers in southern Michigan’s Limited Firearms Zone
By: Tom Lounsbury. November 15th is definitely a very special and popular day for a whole lot of Michigan deer hunters. It is a day that I have been enjoying for nearly 60 deer seasons, and my annual anticipation is such, that I usually have a sleepless night before the long-awaited opening morning. It was that way when I was a kid, and six decades later, it remains to be the same. There is no question that deer hunting is a distinct passion of mine, especially local, close to my home deer hunting in Michigan’s … Read More