Treestands: Pros & Cons of Climbing Systems

John EberhartBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

Courtesy of John Eberhart & Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine. The right tree climbing steps are key for staying light and mobile when hunting pressured and public land. With all of the treestands available to hunters, John explains the pros and cons of several climbing systems. Public & Pressured Land Deer Hunter with John Eberhart. Season 1. Episode 7. 8 VITAL SAFETY TIPS FOR SETTING UP AND CLIMBING TREESTANDS 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 … Read More

Good v. Bad Public Land Deer Habitat

John EberhartBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO

Courtesy of John Eberhart & Deer and Deer Hunting Magazine. It’s easy to get excited by all of the buck sign in open timber deer habitat. Don’t make that extremely common mistake. John explains what to really look for. 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 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 … Read More

Gun Clubs Are A Great Way To Share The American Pastime.

Tom LounsburyBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO, Youth Hunts

By:  Tom Lounsbury. Shooting for fun or competitively (which is still a lot of fun) is truly an American pastime shared by a whole lot of people of all ages today. When folks have a shared interest, they often get together and form a group to organize and enhance matters, and in the case of firearms these groups become known as shooting clubs, or in my vernacular, gun clubs. One can only imagine how many gun clubs exist from coast to coast across America. I know my Thumb area of Michigan has quite a few, … Read More

Anticipation For Hunting Season

Wild Game DynastyBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO, Youth Hunts

By:  David Derusha. It is commonly called ‘fall’…but its really ‘hunting season’.  The leaves are changing colors, dropping from the trees and forming a blanket to cover the green grass.  I live for that moment. I love raking leaves, because I know in the back of my head that it is my favorite time of the year. It is the time I work so hard for year around, the time to go to those tree stands for the first time and hunt that buck you have on trail camera, or shoot that first Ruffed Grouse … Read More

The Future Of ‘Paying It Forward’

Tom LounsburyBucks n Bears, Friends of ELO, Youth Hunts

By:  Tom Lounsbury. Twelve year old Zack Burnette of Cass City sure appreciates the Mentor Hunting License for Michigan which allows kids 9 and under to go hunting with an adult. This allowed him to start sharing quality time at age six with his dad, Don Burnette hunting cottontails with a petite “Cricket” .22 rifle (a great firearm for little kids), and rabbit hunting remains to be a favorite winter pastime. Father and son would continue to share adventures in the outdoors together. Thanks to crossbows being legal for archery deer hunting, Zack was able … Read More

Family Traditions – An Invitation Awaits

Wild Game DynastyBucks n Bears

family traditions

By:  Gary Morgan. Being a hunting guide for whitetail deer in Michigan has its challenges.  Specifically, the Eastern Upper Peninsula is a pure challenge.  Big timber goes as far as the eye can see, setting the stage for a way to find some of the greatest strain of trophy whitetails in the lower 48.  Finding a thriving band of deer in ‘da UP’ is like finding a ball cap full of morel mushrooms – they exist in pockets but not necessarily in the same area year-after-year.  “I’ve hunted trophy whitetails in a lot of areas…the … Read More

A Way To Jump Start Kids Into Hunting!

Tom LounsburyYouth Hunts

By:  Tom Lounsbury. The recruitment of young hunters into hunting is definitely quite important in regards to the future of hunting, especially in today’s high-tech society where kids can easily be drawn to multiple interests other than the outdoors. This is why I had strongly supported lowering the age to allow kids to go hunting, and then finally (after much debate) having a certain age requirement being dropped entirely was a definite no-brainer for me.   I fully support the “Mentor” hunting license which allows kids of any age to be able to hunt with adult … Read More

Simple Stick and String Fishing

Tom LounsburyFriends of ELO

“The ever dependable cane pole” – By Tom Lounsbury Primitive humans probably first began fishing with spears and nets. Somewhere along the way, someone figured out a convenient way to catch fish, especially in deeper waters, was to use a baited hook and line. This was in the form of hand lining (just plain hanging on the line with bare hands – a method actually still used today). No doubt it was learned that attaching the line to a tree limb hanging out over the water took a better, shock absorbing beating than bare hands. When … Read More

“Rabbitat” -yesterday, today & tomorrow!

Tom LounsburyYouth Hunts

Someone recently told me that he was upset with the fact that the “Base License” in Michigan’s hunting license process now forces him in reality to purchase a small game license when his only real outdoor interest is deer hunting. He clearly felt he was being forced, in a manner of speaking, to purchase something entirely useless in his regard. My response to him was to go small game hunting and get his money’s worth because he didn’t know what he was missing. Personally I don’t have a problem with the Base License issue and … Read More

Youth Hunting At Its Best!

Tom LounsburyYouth Hunts

By:  Tom Lounsbury. When summer winds down and begins to transcend into autumn, I automatically think of squirrel hunting, and you can’t beat Michigan for pursuing this unique outdoor pastime. It doesn’t require much traveling anywhere in this state to discover great squirrel hunting opportunities. The problem is, small game hunting on a whole in Michigan, which includes squirrel hunting, is at an all time low these days in regards to hunter participation. This is a fact that utterly amazes me, because I thoroughly enjoy the wonderful essence of early autumn squirrel hunting, and it … Read More