Hunting with Mike

Anyone who has ever crossed the Mackinaw Bridge appreciates the work that went into making this one of the longest expansion bridges in the world. It is without a doubt an engineering marvel! Soon many lower peninsula hunters will be traveling north, to their upper peninsula hunting grounds, and the “old timers” probably are thankful they no longer have to wait for the “ferry!”

Me, being an official old-timer, remember the days of waiting for the “ferry” to take you across the Straits of Mackinaw. I wasn’t old enough to hunt, but my mother is from Canada, and we used to visit about once a year. It was exciting for us boys, to pull in that long line of traffic, waiting to drive our car onto the next empty ferry-boat. I remember traffic lanes being about 6-lanes wide, and sometimes you would wait for hours, before you could “board!” Once you got on the boat it was about an hour trip to make it across. I remember watching the progress of the bridge pilings going into place. In the “old days” the wind could cause delays with the ferry, and even today “high wind” warnings can shut the bridge down. Now it takes about 5 minutes to get across, and the $2.50 that they charge per vehicle, is still a “real deal” as far as I’m concerned.

The picture at the top shows both the main expansion supports, in the rear-view mirror, which I thought was kind of neat. It was a calm day on the water when we made this trip in late September.

One of my brothers just got back from the U.P. and he says the deer have made a big come-back from a couple years ago. It seems two relatively mild winters has increased the deer herd in several areas of the Upper. Good hunting to all you hearty hunters venturing across”The Real Big Mac!”

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