Hunting with Mike

Recently I received a special invitation to a Cabela’s “after hours” sales event.  This event is held Sunday evening after the store closes, and only invitation carrying guest (and their families) are allowed in.  It’s 10-20% off of most items in the store.  They even serve free hot dogs, pop and such.  The only way one can get invited to this special evening is by charging so much on your Cabela’s Visa card over the past year.  Not only did I receive an invite, but my wife did also!  We both have our own cards.  I don’t know if we deserve a pat on the back, or a kick in the butt!  I do know this though, I don’t think I’ll be receiving an invitation next year.

If you check out the items on the hood of my explorer you’ll see it doesn’t amount to very much.  Would you believe there is $172.00 dollars worth of items on display.  I had a $20 dollar off coupon, but still it doesn’t look like much to me.  By the way the arrows were not included, only the $39.00 dollar “rage” broadheads were in that price.  Two days after buying the big package of double A batteries I found the same thing at Walgreen’s for half price.

I love going to Cabela’s!  I love the displays, the selection, the wild game restaurant, but I’m starting to rethink my purchases.  Just because they have 50 different options to choose from doesn’t mean I should have to pay a premium price for most all of their products.  I think I’m going to have to start limiting my visits, and only shop when I have a sales flyer in my hand.  I don’t think I can afford anymore “free” hot dogs this coming year.

Mike

Gary (foreground) and Greg Baldwin working on the new camp in Marquette.  This picture was taken during our Sept. bear hunt, and I’m sure the camp has been moving along nicely since then.  The camp is surrounded by a beautiful stand of Hemlocks and there is a bout a 25 foot drop toward Big creek.  You can hear the sound of the water as it cascades downstream.  A dinner of brook and brown trout are just a few steps from the front door, and deer runways surround the place.  It’s not uncommon for bear to roam the immediate vicinity, and beavers, partridge, mink, and otter are right at home in these woods.  This new camp will be a little more “family” friendly according to Gary.  He said to the hunters it  will still be deer/bear camp, but the wives will have a few more luxuries than the old camp.

I recently got an e-mail from Nancy (Gary’s wife) and she filled me in on the deer camp success for 2009.  As far as the Baldwins go it was a pretty dismal year.  In a camp where it is not uncommon to shoot at least one trophy class swamp buck; not a one was seen!  Dick Baldwin reports that deer numbers are down, but wolf and coyote tracks are showing up everywhere.  Could there be a correlation here?  Greg did take a half rack 8 pointer, and a couple smaller bucks were harvested, just to put some meat in the freezer.  Doe sightings with fawns were rare, as Gary is still trying to fill his muzzle-loader tag.  On our bear hunt we saw several wolves in the area.  We have been hunting around this camp since 1973 and just within the last couple years have the wolves moved in.  I think they can do alot more damage to the deer population than what most of us think.

I was headed up around Petoskey this morning for a muzzle-loader hunt, but the weather man scared me off.  Wind, blowing and drifting snow, and sub-zero wind chills kept me indoors for another week-end.  Art if you or Jeff want to donate some venison I know who’ll take it!

New camp with generator/hot water tank shed.

What do you think of as you gaze upon this tree stand?  Can you see yourself getting settled in a good half hour before sunup, as you hope the sweat doesn’t now freeze to your forehead?  Do you think of your chances to nail that “trophy wall-hanger?”  Can you visualize a doe stealthily winding her way through the woods with a nice mature buck in hot pursuit?  Can you see a little six or an eight making a scrape within your “kill” zone?  Do you hope and anticipate seeing plenty of deer today, even though you haven’t seen one in three days?   Will a big fat doe get your saliva glands going with visions of back-straps in the freezer.  Do you see the wind in your face, and the temperature tolerable for several hours of silent vigil.  Do the chick-a-dees and the squirrels cause you to smile, as they do their thing, unaware of your presence?  Does the “snap” of a branch get your heart racing, as you strain to slowly turn your head in the direction of the noise?  Can you see yourself stiffly rising to a standing position, as four deer you didn’t know were there, “blow” and wave goodbye.    Does the scene flash before you of a “monster” buck staring you in the eyes, just out of range, as he stomps the ground with his front leg.  You freeze every muscle, you don’t even blink your eyes.  You hope beyond hope that your scent doesn’t drift in the deers direction.  Then “Mr. Big” plays his little head down head up game, trying to catch you drawing your bow.  Your body starts to ache, and you finally decide its now or never!  In one swift movement you draw, point, and “what the heck!”  He’s gone!   Man that was close!

Later that evening a fat little six pointer comes strolling right under your stand.  He doesn’t have a clue your there.  He stops at 15 yards slightly quartering away.  You silently draw, pick a spot just behind the shoulder, and zip your arrow seems to melt right through were you were aiming.  The deer races for only about 40 yards and piles up within sight.  He was dead on his feet!  Your adrenaline is pumping so much that you get warm in a hurry, even though you may be shaking like a leaf!  He might not be a new world record, but he’s your trophy, taken on his turf, done the hard way.  To a hunter these moments are priceless, and that’s what keeps us “in the stand.”

I am saving my hunting days for some cold and snow.  I know the deer will be moving more during those kind of conditions, and I have a great little stand of oak trees I’m going to hide in.  You hunters with deer in the freezer, count your blessings.  You hunters still in pursuit, don’t give up.  Its not about the destination, but about the journey.

Mike

This is how the tree we cut a few days ago looks today.  Both my wife and I are pretty fussy about our live trees, and we agree that this one is almost perfect.  Except for a few branches around the trunk I never had to trim a limb.  for those who cut their own trees you know that is highly unusual.  I strung the lights, but my wife did the rest.  Actually I was laying down, and when I got up her handiwork was complete.  She is very good at decorating the tree, and it looks beautiful.

The evergreen smell, in the house, is invigorating.  We like to turn all the lights off, in the evening, and just turn on the tree lights.  It’s very relaxing and homey.  Sure brings back memories of Christmas past.

Our tree is up a little earlier than usual, so I hope it keeps taking water like it has been.  Still have a few lights to put up outside, and will do that this weekend.  Weatherman is calling for cold temps with a high of 32 degrees Saturday.

Deer hunting has ground to a halt, and it’s looking more and more like a venison-less winter around our house.   I’ve been hunting on my brothers 13 acres, but he has a water line project going on now, and there’s going to be alot of noise and traffic in the area.  Besides I’m going to be helping him lay about 700 foot of water line, as we have to dig the trench before it gets to cold.  If it doesn’t bother the deer a whole bunch I’ll be back at it some time next week.

Mike

My wife and I cutting this years Christmas tree at the Samaria road tree farm.  Daughters Tara, Alena, and Courtney went with us, and their families, as we usually do this time of year.  We take most of the morning and afternoon, as we end up at Matthes Evergreen farm, where they have pony rides, crafts, food, animals, entertainment, and of course St. Nick.  The kids have a blast and for the most part so do the adults.

While we were walking around trying to decide which tree to harvest (notice I didn’t say kill) I was taken aback by the number of deer tracks on this property.  Not only that my little grand-daughter Addisyn found a tail feather from a Tom turkey.  This piece of land has hundreds of visitors on a daily basis, yet the deer are still roaming its boundaries, albeit at night.  No wonder they thrive where they are basically safe from hunting pressure and natural predators.

Anyway the tree is up, and even has the lights on.  I have to wait for my wife now to do her decorating before putting bulbs on it.  I love the smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree in the house.

Some of our “tree cutting crew” ready to go find the perfect tree.

When all my family gets together there are 23 of us.  Thanksgiving day only 16 were able to be there for the scrumptious meal prepared with loving hands.  It truly was a feast.  There was one thing missing from this years family celebration, and that was a venison dish, made by yours truly.  If not some sausage at least some jerky, but “no” old “Mother Hubbards” cupboard (freezer) is bare!   Probably the only ones to truly miss the “wild game” were the guys, but hey the kids like the jerky also.

I made it out the day before Thanksgiving, but again didn’t see a thing.  I did have someone quite close to me shoot three times, right around dusk.  They probably dropped that little 5-pointer I passed on.  Dummy!  I sure haven’t put many hours in the stand this year, as I still don’t feel 100% over this flu/cold that’s worn out it’s stay around our house.  Hopefully I’ll get some quality time in the woods come the cold wintry end of December.  Think snow!

On a more sober note I had made up an album of pictures of Joe Giarmo from over the years.  Everyone had a chance to reminisce and talk about the good times we had with this humble man.  How blessed my family was to know Joe as a true family friend and father figure.  He gave so much to those around him, and required very little in return.  Papa Joe has left a void in all our lives.Nina, Mindy, Nadia, and Ava looking at the picture album of Joe Giarmo.

This is Tom (long bow) Hedke and the mid 140 class deer he took last year in Illinois.  About a week ago I heard, through my nephew Grant, that Tom tagged another monster the nets close to 170 inches.  He also took this years deer with his long bow.  Three years in a row-three big bucks!

Tom if you read this send me some pictures and a story.  I know you won’t get very detailed about where you hunt (his wife doesn’t even know) but I would like to be enlightened about your good fortune.  Last year Tom and his two hunting partners all took Pope and Young deer during the same hunting week.  Man you talk about a “honey hole!”

Reports of hunting success are trickling in with my nephew Derek taking a 7-pointer and a doe.  Another nephew (Grant) also took a doe, and I’m still trying to put my tag on one.  Personally I would rather hunt with some snow on the ground, and I hope we get some before the end of the year.  Happy hunting.

Mike

Is this the reason your not seeing many deer this year?  At least one group of hunters has their own idea about the declining Michigan deer population.

Just this evening I talked to my brother-in-law Pat Boylan who recently returned from deer hunting around Wellston Michigan.  He stayed with his buddy Jim Chapman and five other hunters in camp.  Jim knows the area well and most years he has no trouble filling out two of his deer tags.

Those seven guys hunted several days of bow season plus 4-5 days of gun season and came home empty handed.  Jim cannot recall that ever happening in the 20 some years he’s been hunting the area.  The talk around their camp was centered on “What the heck has happened to the deer herd?”  Pat hunted the Udall Hills area, and he reported finding several deer skeletons on his travels.  There are many coyote in the area, as the guys saw and heard them on numerous occasions.  Could these little wolves be the culprits?  The consensus was a resounding “NO.”  Sure coyotes are taking some deer down, but to the degree that changes a hunting “hot-spot” into a “dead” zone, no way.

Here’s what the guys came up with, and agree with them or not, It’s what they believe.  There has been a total baiting ban for two seasons now, and according to Jim, and his hunting buddies, they noticed a decline in deer numbers during the late December deer season.  The seven hunters covered alot of ground, and to a man were sorely disappointed by the number of deer spotted.

Wellston is in one of Michigan’s snow belt areas, and gets tons of the white stuff every year.  The theory is that baiting has helped keep the deer healthy enough to make it through this areas brutal winters.  Most guys purchase several hundred pounds of bait corn, carrots, sugar beats, and apples.  The various bait piles, spread out over most of the deers range, allows the does, fawns, and bucks to fatten up for whats ahead.  It benefits the deer, and on occasion puts some venison in the freezer.  The guys agree that without this extra boast in the deers food supply, deer numbers are going to plummet.  This is not an agricultural area where the deer can visit  a corn or soy-bean field all winter.

They can’t understand how one lone deer, being raised in a fenced in area, could cause a statewide ban on baiting!   The question was asked about the effects on the overall deer herd due to this one private deer enclosure having a case of  CWD?  As it stands now, the hunters figure tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of deer died off over the last two years due to the baiting ban.

Who benefits from this scenario they ask?  Why it couldn’t be the insurance companies could it?  Pat said he’d eat his muzzle-loader if the car/deer crashes had not gone down over this two year period.  The guys in this little hunting camp firmly believe someone in the “upper echelons” of government are in “bed” with the insurance companies.  Interesting theory, and not all that crazy considering all the “sweetheart deals” that go on behind closed doors.

A secondary effect of the baiting ban is how it has brutalized the Mom and Pop stores bottom line.  Many of these little places of business depended on the extra income (from bait sales) to get them through the slow winter months.  Just like the deer many of them are now gone also.  Economically the little peons in Michigan took a huge hit, but I bet the Insurance Industries bottom line more than offsets what the small business owners lost.  But that’s just a bunch of deer camp talk, by a few of the guys that pay the salaries of our duly elected officials.  I’m thinking those seven guys got a better idea whats going on in the woods than some “desk jockey” making life changing decisions for the rest of us.  What do you think?

Mike

This turkey, from last Spring, sure tasted good to me!

I recently read an article titled “Is hunting good or bad for the environment?”  It came from the editors of The Environmental Magazine.  I’m sure that you already surmised that the article does not favor the “barbaric” sport of hunting.    The first paragraph talks about prey and predator, as a means of culling the overpopulation of some species.  This overpopulation is a direct result of “man” killing off the natural prey animals, leaving the herd animals to reproduce beyond the environments carrying capacity.

It goes on to suggest, in the next three lengthy paragraphs why hunting is barbaric, and causes immense suffering to individual wild animals.  Glenn Kirk of the California based “The Animals Voice” says that the killing of any animal is morally wrong.  Before I go on I would just like to interject that if I was a betting man Mr. Kirk is “Pro Abortion.”  Strange as it may seem, these protectors of innocent animal life, don’t bat an eye when it comes to the death of human babies due to abortion.  Something is radically wrong with this picture.  The article goes on to state that hunting is not practical, and that many species, such as waterfowl, upland birds, mourning doves, squirrels, and raccoons do not require population control.  Obviously they have never stepped in goose crap at the beach, chased 12 squirrels from the bird feeder, or been bitten by a rabid raccoon.  They also state that agencies like the DNR manipulate target (deer) game populations, in order to bring in money for the state!  Well the Michigan DNR better get with the program then, as I’ve only seen one deer so far this season.  What a bunch of lousy manipulators.

My brother Randy just got back from two weeks of hunting in the Upper Peninsula with his son Justin and one of Justin’s buddies.  The DNR is also failing to manipulate the herd very well around Marquette, as they brought home one 5-pointer and that’s it!  Randy said he only saw 6 doe’s in the whole time he hunted.  He also thought the “rut” was running behind schedule, as scrapes were just starting to appear a few days ago.  We need some cold and snow to get things moving!

Mike

Since my friend Joe died I can’t get my “heart” into writing, but I know I have to get moving soon, so here we go.

It’s been a little over a week since my first foray into the deer hunting woods.  Hunting in the middle of suburbia is “way” different than what this country boy is used to.  There were dogs barking, horns honking, tires screeching, gunshots going off, lawnmowers running, and kids yelling just to name a few of the distractions around me.  I felt this was the biggest waste of time I had ever put in a blind.  The guy target practicing a few hundred yards away didn’t quit till just before 5:30 p.m.

At 20 minutes before six o’clock I stood up to give a series of grunt calls, and looked out the blind window at a buck about 25 yards away.  I was in a stand of old oaks, with tons of acorns on the ground.  He was a 5-pointer with three on one side and a spike, with a kicker, on the other.  He meandered as close as 15 yards, and I could of shot him on numerous occasions.  The television show Versus, and in particular “The Bucks of Tecomate” kept playing in my mind.  David Morris or Jeff Foxworthy wouldn’t dream of shooting this little itty, bitty, girly, baby, buck.  Why if those boys found out I shot such a small buck they’d never speak to me again!  So like an idiot I passed him up.

In hindsight I still don’t know if I would shoot that deer, but I’ve been out twice since and haven’t seen a thing.  I have no meat in the freezer, and I’m second guessing myself now.  Who am I fooling, I’m no trophy hunter.  I’m not a quad-zillionaire like David Morris, with several thousand acres, tons of huge bucks, and a wildlife manager at my disposal.  Bottom line is I’ve been watching to many big bucks get killed on T.V. and forgot the reality of hunting here in Michigan.  I like venison way to much to be turning down an almost sure thing.  If someone else don’t tag that little bugger, he better not tempt me again, cause I’m laying off Versus, or at least until I get a deer.

Mike