Hunting with Mike

I’m quite sure most of you successful deer hunters still have some venison burger in the freezer. I still have about 20 pounds left, so yesterday I decided to make a meatloaf. Some of the “normal” ingredients I use could not be found, so I had to improvise. What came out of that was one of the best venison dishes I’ve ever had. So here is that recipe for those willing to take a chance.

3 pounds of venison burger- 2 eggs- Salt to your liking- Pepper about a tablespoon -1/2 cup of crushed crackers- 1/8 cup of cornmeal- 1-2 broken up pc. of bread -1/3 cup of catsup- Dash of chili powder- A tablespoon of oregano leaves -3 tablespoons of honey {secret ingredient}

Mix everything together and form, or shape, your meatloaf. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the roasting pan, and put your meatloaf in. Let it cook for about 2 hours. Of course you can put some potatoes or carrots around the meat. Just keep an eye on them so they don’t over cook. “Necessity is the mother of invention” - eat and enjoy.

Mike

This , I promise will be the last blog I do for awhile on turkeys. My season is over and I failed to put meat in the freezer. Now its not that I couldn’t have! Opening morning I had 4 Jakes within 10 feet of my position. Of coarse who wants to shoot a Jake on the first day of the hunt? Well guess who would of liked to see a Jake on the last day of the hunt? I hunted hard this year and must of burnt up $250 dollars in gas driving back and forth to Hillsdale. I tried every trick in the book with half a dozen different calls, multiple decoys, ambush set-ups, even getting into the woods an hour before daylight. The one and only good oportunity I had - I blew! Have you ever felt something may be watching you, but you can’t see who or what it is? Well I had a sense that something was out my left blind window, so I turned my head ever-so-slightly to the left, and sure enough “there he was!” “Busted!” Those “ole” turkey eyes are like a telescope. I’m sure glad they don’t have a deers sense of smell. Why us hunters wouldn’t stand a chance. Looks like I’m going to have to wait till next year to fill my turkey tag. Unless I get a little smarter by this falls season.

Mike

A 10 year old can now buy a hunting license in Michigan. There are some restrictions that go along with the privileges and responsibilities of holding that license. A hunter still must be at least 12 years olds to hunt deer, bear, and elk with a firearm. 12-14 year olds can only hunt deer, bear, and elk on private land. A 10 year old can buy a archery deer license, small game license, or a junior fur harvestor license. Of course a hunter safety certificate, along with a parent or guardian, must accompany them when purchasing a license.

When in the field 10 year olds (anyone under the age of 18) must have an adult with them. The adult (parent or approved guardian) must stay within hearing and visual distance during the hunt. It is my understanding that a young hunter can legally hunt his family’s own property unsupervised. If anyone has a different take on that please let me know.

I’ve got a couple grandkids getting close to 10 years old myself, and I can’t wait to get them in the field. “Take a kid hunting and you won’t have to hunt for your kid.”

Mike

My brother Darryl and his boy Derek just got back from a turkey hunt in southern Ohio. Darryl shot a rather unusual Tom that has us gessing as to It’s age.  The bird had a full fan and a 10-1/2 inch beard.  One spur was sharp but short (about 1/2 inch.)  The other was dull and rounded like a Jake.  He took the turkey to an Ohio DNR check point  where it wieghed in at 14-1/2 pounds.  That is not a mature bird, but then Jakes don’t have a full even set of tail feathers and a 10-1/2 inch beard either.  My thoughts are that it is a real old bird on its way “out.”  Readers give me some help-what do you think?

Mike