Hunting with Mike

Just arrived home from our little jaunt to Marquette, and am quite beat.  It was cold and rather rainy most of the time, but the clouds did break every now and then.  We only put out two baits, as we found one spot that we are confident will pay off.  I’m so glad we had my Polaris 4-wheeler.  It really is a work horse.  Mr. Baldwin is going to keep an eye on them for us, and re-bait when needed.  This cold weather should really work in our favor and get the bear looking to increase their fat reserves.  We say several deer, and two eagles on our stay which was rather neat.

As you should know by reading this blog my family is very important to me.  I have six brothers with the first three Randy, Myself, and Darryl, followed seven years later, by Brett, Brad, and Dean.  Dean was 14 years old when my father (Norm) passed away, so the three younger brothers missed out on many of the great times we older ones shared with dad.  In my last blog I (tongue-in-cheek) made a joke about a “do it yourself hunt” insinuating that my younger brothers are “slackers.”  Of all my brothers I probably “think” I’m the funniest.  I was set straight on that, awhile back, when I called a friend of mine and his 13 year old daughter answered the phone.  She yelled to her dad “Hey dad the phones for you”, and he said “Who is it?”  She responded by saying “Its that white haired guy from church that thinks he’s funny!”

I say all that because, even as a joke, it was inappropriate to remotely suggest my “little” brothers were hunting dead beats.  I never meant that in any way, shape, or form.  They have always done more than their fare share of any trip we’ve ever taken, and because they are younger (stronger) they usually end up with the less-than-desirerable tasks.  Lifting, hauling, climbing, hanging, cleaning, etc they’ve done it all, and we older brothers are grateful for what you guys bring to the table on our hunts.  I truly wish all of us could of shared more times with “Papa Bear” doing what he liked best-being with his boys in the great outdoors.

Mike

This is the part about bear hunting that is bitter-sweet.  In just a few minutes my brother Darryl and myself will be heading to Marquette to bait for bear.  This is not a pleasure trip-strictly business,  We’ll do the approx. 8 hour drive, catch a few winks, then start setting out baits.  Because Darryl is the only one with a permit we will limit it to 3 baits.  This will take most of the day, and as soon as we are done we head for home.  This 1000 mile drive will take place in less than two days (Lord Willing) and our wives will hardly know we were gone.  It is a hump to say the least, but it has to be done.

Once we get the baits set Mr. Dick Baldwin (the toughest 80 year old you’ll ever meet) will run them for us for the next two weeks.  Hopefully we will have at least one hot bait going when we return.  This hunt is not for sissy’s or the faint of heart!  There is not a whole lot of time to relax when you are responsible for everything.  This is a true do-it-yourself hunt.  By that I mean whenever I ask one of my younger brothers to give me a hand with something they say “Do it yourself!”

Anyway it will be a couple days before I blog again, but will have a report when I get back.  I plan on taking some pictures of our camp and bait set-up.

Mike

Just recently I read an article that focused on the Yellow Dog river in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This little gem of a stream is about a 20 mile drive from our bear hunting cabin, and we try to get a least one day of fishing in during our bear hunt.  There is absolutely nothing better than a batch of pan fried “brookies”, baked potatoes, and a vegetable for dinner.  When you catch em and cook em yourself they are delectable to say the least.  Not only are brook trout great dinner fare, they are great fighters on your line.  Land a 16-18 inch Yellow Dog trout and you’ve got a memory that will last a lifetime.

I’ve  two friends that have fished this river on numerous occasions, and they would probably shoot me if they knew I was telling others about their “hot spot!” Hopefully they don’t read this blog.  Both of these friends have mounted specimens of Yellow Dog brook trout hanging on their family room walls.  The colors of the male “brookie” are some of the most colorful of any fish anywhere.

We have a little beaver pond not far the the camp that we fish for a “quick trout fix,” but they are nothing like the lunkers of Big Bay!  The only thing unpleasant about this little excursion is the mosquitoes.  Bring plenty of the best spray, gel, or oil that money can buy, and a good head net wouldn’t hurt either.  If those pesky mosquitoes are as bad up there as they are around here you might opt for your shotgun.  I don’t remember them being this bothersome ever!  Oh well “no pain no gain!”

The picture at the top is of me doing my best to bring dinner back to camp.  Of course Darryl caught the biggest one, but we again had our limit of “mouth watering, butter fried, lemon soaked Yellow Dog brook trout!”  I think I just made myself hungry.

Mike

  I just had to show those of you who read this blog what a truly big bear looks like.  This is not a “puny itsee-bitsee little girly baby bear” like my brother Darryl shot.  This is the “real deal!”  The certified dressed weight of this bruiser was 450 pounds-making its live weight over 500 pounds.  It was aged at 13-1/2 years, and had battle scars all over its head.  It took 5 of us to drag him from the swamp I was hunting in.

I hope you know I’m only teasing my little brother about his bear-its a brother thing!  I just had to let you see these two great trophies on back to back blogs.  Both of us underestand how blessed we were to be able to harvest such wonderful black bear specimens.  Neither one of us will probably ever encounter another bear of this size, but that doesn’t mean we quit trying.  I’ll keep ya posted as to how our hunt goes toward the end of the month. 

Mike

How would you like to come face to face with this “bruiser” in a Upper Peninsula swamp? No I’m not talking about the bear! I’m talking about that scary looking thing in the blue shirt. That poor old 450 pound bear didn’t have a chance-one look at Darryl and he dropped dead on the spot. He knew anybody hunting big, mean, black bear wouldn’t venture into the woods with a 55 pound Bear Kodiak recurve and cedar arrows, unless it was Darryl Ansel himself. Guess he just figured there’s no sense fighting-might as well turn myself into a bear rug!

Seriously when it comes to hunting my little brother has more “moxie” than any one man has a right to have. In 1989 I shot a 500 pound bear that scored 19-6/16th. Pope and Young inches. If ever there was a record I figured none of my 5 brothers would break it was that one. Never say never when “Dink’s” (our nickname for him) in the woods. My record stood for only a few years before Darryl dropped this “big headed” boar. My bear was almost 14 years old-he should of been big! Darryl’s was only 5 years old and had almost a 21 inch skull! At the time it was the second largest black bear ever taken with a recurve in Michigan. (The record book goes by skull size and not the bears weight for entry) Not many hunters that I know would have the skill, and gazoopa’s, to perfectly put a wooden arrow, from a garage sale bow, squarely in the vitals of such a trophy. Was my brother just “lucky?” No way! The rest of us have seen him do this over and over again to the point that we fully expect it! We realize that if you want to be where the action is-stay in Darryl’s hip pocket.

In a few weeks that is right where I am going to be. Darryl drew another bear permit, and I get to film the hunt. It doesn’t get any better than that. Dick Baldwin is baiting for us, and we will be making that long drive in 2 short weeks. I can’t wait! Hope to be able to share some pictures on this blog from the hunt.

When this picture of Darryl and his bear was taken, a film crew from a local sportsmen program, was doing a show on Mr. Wonderful. I bet he scared a lot of viewers!!!!1

Mike

Valeria (Ria) Rogers does a blog called “Our World”, and she has e-mailed me several times in the last few weeks. Her focus and concerns lies within the environmentalist movement, and what man is doing to this precious gift that God created for our pleasure. He (God) asked us to be stewards over this lush garden, and we have failed miserably! The blatant pollution of our air and waterways should be of utmost importance to us all. The food system is so suspect you can’t trust anyone it seems.

What does this have to do with hunters, fishermen, and outdoors people in general? I made the mistake of tooting my horn concerning the healthy venison and other game I eat. Ria pointed out the fact that most corn, soybeans, ect. are treated with pesticides and other chemicals eaten by the deer and other critters. She’s right! That venison burger might not be a healthy as I thought it was. Of course we have all heard the warnings about eating fish caught in the great lakes. Why? Because of mercury contamination along with a chemical list thats staggering. We have a whole section of our state under a bovine tuberculosis alert, and now we are on the lookout for CWD. (Chronic Wasting Disease)

There may be some issues I have a different point of view on, than those in the environmentalist movement, but I think the hunting community can see the need for respecting and caring for the forest, air, and water, where so much of our time is spent. Do as much as you possibly can to bring healing and restoration to the environment God gave us. We may only get one “shot” at this beast! Lets make it a good one.

Mike

This weekend is my wife’s side of the family, semi-annual Boylan reunion. My brother-in-law Pat lives just a few doors down from me. He owns 8 acres that butts up to a creek and wood line. This evening several out-of-town relatives met at Pats lovely place. At the back of his property he has a small wildlife pond, and has it planted for pheasant habitat around its border.

As we are sitting around one of the tables small talking Pat says “You’ll never believe whats been coming into my back yard for about two weeks!” A buck, similar to the one in this picture, has been coming around his pond on a regular basis, and guess who’s going to get a “crack” at it? In the words of an old Sonny and Cher song “It ain’t me babe!” Thats right; my used to be favorite brother-in-law has decided he ’s going to get back into hunting. I guess a buck of this size will tempt the retired hunter in all of us. I hope he can pull it off, but the odds are stacked in favor of the big old buck. He didn’t get big by being stupid, and if it weren’t for the rut we probably wouldn’t know most of these “big boys” even existed.

Its nice to know that southern Michigan deer have learned to adapt very well, thank you, to this part of the state. I think this is going to be a good year for the deer hunters in Michigan-especially during the rut.

Mike