Professional Documents
Culture Documents
01 17
01 17
01 17
$4.00
Woods-n-Water News
Wounded Buck...
ATTACKS HUNTER
Countering Northern Whitetail
KILLER WINTERS
Brian Arny
11-point
Alex
Ferguson
12-point
Icing
Michigan's...
PIKE
TROUT
PANFISH
WALLEYES
Jan2017PLAINfinalto size.indd 1
Follow us on
12/9/16 2:45 PM
SALES: 810-653-0490
CHAPMAN'S SPORTS CENTER
5605 DAVISON RD
LAPEER, MI
www.chapmanssports.com
SALES: 810-653-0490
www.chapmanssports.com
SALES: 810-653-0490
5605 Davison Rd., 4 miles east
of Downtown Davison
www.chapmanssports.com
By Tom Campbell...
Cover Bucks
SEASONS
MJC
ARCHERY
MJC
ARCHERY
MACOMB
OAKLAND
19744 15 Mile Rd
Clinton Twp. 48035
3001 Rochester Rd
Royal Oak, MI 48073
586-791-4600
248-589-2480
Cover Buck: Brian Arny hunting Southwestern Michigan the morning of Nov. 27 from
a treestand overlooking an open cornfield
took this monster 11-pt. buck with a 24 inch
spread green scoring in the 190s!
of my son and the shot he put on the biggest buck we
will probably ever see. We sat in the stand for a few
minutes continuing to cry and hug each other. We then
called some family members to report the news before
Cover Buck:
Alex
Ferguson, 15,
took this giant
buck hunting
Ingham
County with
his Dad on
November 17
2016. A trail
cam photo of
Alexs buck
was from a
fellow hunter
who had his
eyes on Alex's
Buck.
climbing down to tag the giant buck!
The 12 point green scored in the mid-170s!
Please email us your outdoor stories;
wnw@pageone-inc.com
HUNTING
Wounded deer
attacks hunter
Raccoon hunting
Boat Smart...
Boating Safety
Reviews
FISHING
Michigan Meanders:
Seasonal Memories
ICE SAFETY
Trick or Treat
10-POINT
Giving an old
gun new life
Pure Michigan
Hunt
provides
big thrills
MDNR page 36
Shark Attack
bluegills
Killer Winters
Putting a
pattern to plugs
Icing Michigan's
pike and walleyes
Down and out
WALLEYES
TROUT ON ICE
Stay Put...
Anchors and kayaks
Dave Mull page 74
FEATURE
Marquette's
ALBINO DEER
Randy Jorgensen...page 24
Michigan's Arkansas
connection
David A. Rose page 46
Brothers bag
BIG BUCKS
Thumb Area
GODZILLA
Guest Column...
My successful
Michigan elk hunt
Michigan
Winter
HOTSPOTS
JANUARY 2017
Trophy Bucks:
Brian Arny
Alex Ferguson
Bluegill:
By Kenny Darwin
ater News
Wounded Buck...
ATTACKS HUNTER
Countering Northern Whitetail
Forest Legacy
Program looks
to the future
page 79
MDNR page 86
Environmental
factors affecting
U.P. BROOK TROUT
KID BITS...
Young women's
words of
wisdom
from a deer blind
I don't agree
with the DNR's
bear numbers
GUNS/AMMO
Black Powder Hunting...
A simple ramble
through the glade
Made in Michigan
fishing lure wish list
Young bear
hunter learns
lesson
Gun Chat...
The Deerslayer
OUTDOOR NEWS
CWD UPDATE
page 10
KILLER WINTERS
Brian Arny
11-point
OPINIONS
DNR's Habitat
Improvement
Account
$4.00
PERSPECTIVE
Tournament
angler has
hunting accident
Smoky danger
winter campfires!
page 59
COVER PHOTO
By John Ozoga...page 12
Have you
seen this
bird?
"Involved in my life"
DEPARTMENTS . . .
Trophy Page. . . 72-73 Classifieds . . . . 90-91
Letters/Op-Ed . . 76-79 Real Estate . . . . 92-97
Alex
Ferguson
12-point
Follow us on
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Woods-N-Water News
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Marquettes
Twin albino bucks born to a normally colored doe that was released from the deer pen at
Presque Isle Park. These twin albino bucks dispersed from the park and spread their genes
elsewhere in the city. Richard P. Smith photos
the course of the winter that many people who were
aware of its presence became concerned about its
welfare.
They were concerned that a poacher
might kill the deer or it could be struck by
a passing vehicle. A petition was started,
requesting that the DNR capture the albino
deer, so it could be put into captivity where
it would be safe. The petition was signed
by hundreds of residents of Rapid River,
Escanaba and Bark River.
In response to the petition,
the DNR decided to do what the
public wanted. Since no tranquilizer guns were available in the
UP at the time, Steve Schmitt brought one with him
from Lansing and flew into Escanaba on April 15,
1982. Schmitt simply waited in a truck, with the
tranquilizer gun at the ready, where the albino deer
was regularly seen. When it showed up, he had to
do some maneuvering, but he eventually darted it
about 2:30 p.m.
The sedated albino was then transported to a
deer pen that was present at the time at Marquettes
Presque Isle Park. Neither the albino deer nor the
whitetails that already occupied the enclosure were
as pleased about the plan as some Delta County
residents were. As soon as the albino was able to
walk in its new home, it repeatedly bumped against
the fence of the enclosure, looking for a way out.
The formerly free ranging whitetail didnt appear to
like captivity.
The resident deer of the pen had never seen a
white whitetail before. Initially, they were scared
of the strange-looking deer, running from it when it
approached them. Before long, some of the resident
deer decided to try to get rid of what they considered a potential threat, and attacked the albino. If
park caretaker Bucky ONeil had not intervened,
the resident deer probably would have killed the
albino.
ONeil constructed a smaller enclosure for the
albino inside the larger pen to protect the white deer
from the others. After allowing the resident deer to
get used to the newcomer for a period of months,
the albino was eventually accepted as part of the
captive herd. After several years, the albino became
the dominant buck in the enclosure and he bred a
By Richard P. Smith
DNR veterinarian Dr. Steve Schmitt with the sedated button buck in a vehicle at Rapid River
ready for transpor t to Marquette deer pen.
number of does.
Several albino fawns were born in captivity,
but only one of them survived, a doe. The albino
buck from Delta County lived to be 7 years old in
captivity. When he reached that age he was seriously injured in a fight with a younger buck and
was euthanized.
To reduce overcrowding in the deer enclosure
during May of 1992, 14 of the captive deer were
released in the park. One of the normally colored
does gave birth to twin albino bucks that year. The
birth of a single albino fawn that survives is rare. It
is rarer still for twin albinos to survive and the odds
of both twins being bucks are even slimmer.
I was fortunate enough to document the lives
of those albino bucks. One of the white whitetails
grew 4-point antlers for his first set and his brother
had 5 points. As yearlings, both bucks dispersed
from Presque Isle to the west. The 5-point disappeared during the fall of 1993, but his brother
remained and grew a beautiful set of 9-point antlers
as a 2-year-old.
The 9-pointer played an active role in the rut.
At least one albino doe was born in the Trowbridge
Park portion of the city and she has produced a
number of albino offspring over the years. The normally colored offspring she has also produced carry
genetics favoring albinism, too.
The deer pen at Marquettes Presque Isle Park
was eventually eliminated during the spring of
1994. The fence was removed, allowing the remaining deer, including the albino doe, to roam free in
the park. Besides the albino doe, some of the other
whitetails that were released had genetics favoring albinism. So it was no surprise when additional
albino fawns were born at the park. For a period of
years, the odds of seeing an albino whitetail at Presque Isle were extremely high. During those years,
it was legal to feed deer at the park. That changed in
2000 when the DNR adopted regulations prohibiting the feeding of deer at the park.
Prior to 2000, Presque Isle Parks deer population was managed by live-trapping and relocating
excess whitetails to various locations outside the
city limits by volunteers and city employees. Emphasis was put on moving does and fawns. At the
The button buck in the wild near Rapid River that is responsible for
the albino genetics at Marquette. Richard P. Smith photo
from page 8
10
same time the state adopted a feeding ban in the park, they prohibited
continuation of the trap and transfer
program for managing park deer.
The reason the DNR gave for
ending the trap and transfer
program at the park is possible
disease transmission.
With the relocation of park deer
no longer an option, the city of Marquette hired sharpshooters to reduce
the parks deer population during the
first months of 2001. A total of 62
deer, many with genetics favoring
albinism, were killed then by sharpshooters at Presque Isle. All of the
dead deer were tested for disease and
none were found.
At least three albinos were part
of the park herd when the feeding
ban went into effect and sharpshooters were hired to reduce the herd. No
albinos were killed by sharpshooters,
but that winter proved to be severe.
Without supplemental food, those
three albinos perished.
Even though the albino genetics
were eliminated from Presque Isle
Park, whitetails with genetics favoring albinism remained elsewhere in
the city limits. At the present time,
there is a minimum of a half dozen
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HUNTING
SEMINARS
11
By John Ozoga
12
Given adequate shelter and a reasonably good food supply, the healthy
northern whitetail is well-equipped,
physiologically and behaviorally, to
withstand occasional spells of severe
winter weather. Sometimes, however,
excessive winter deer kill and subsequent high newborn fawn mortality
are unavoidable. The exceptionally
tough winter may claim 30 percent
or more of the wintering herd and,
later, 50 to 70 percent of the newborn
fawns may die as a result -- causing
the deer population to literally crash.
Within the whitetails range,
however, exceptionally fierce winters
occur only periodically, causing deer
numbers to plummet temporarily, but
then rebound following subsequent
easy winters. You can expect northern
deer populations to undergo repeated
patterns of boom and bust, this is a
natural phenomenon. However, the
seriousness of the population decline
and amount of bounce-back will
hinge heavily upon the amount of
good quality deer wintering habitat.
Unfortunately, many historic deer
wintering complexes, dominated by
conifer cover, no longer support deer
even through winters of only modest
severity, because they are deficient in
food and/or shelter.
It takes longer for deer population
recovery where the amount of high
quality deer wintering habitat is on
the decline, as in Michigans UP, for
example, where the deer population
lows have become lower and so have
the highs. Overtime this roller-coaster
pattern has led to steadily declining deer numbers. In fact, estimates
indicate there are fewer deer in
Michigans UP today than there were
during pre-settlement times-- despite
more than 100 years of deer popula-
13
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15
WOUNDED
DEER
ATTACKS
HUNTER!
At 80 years of age with an ar tificial hip and four
shoulder surgeries, two recent, I was not equipped for a
sustained battle with this crazed animal who was my equal
in weight! My biggest fear was that my hip would dislodge,
rendering me helpless to continue any resistance...
16
By Millard Holton
The author, with a trophy buck from a prior hunt, is truly grateful his
near death encounter didnt have a different outcome. Author photo
rodeo cowboy does to subdue a steer,
I received a surge of strength to roll
the big buck over and he fell on me.
With his nose pointed straight upward
and his G-2s and G3s on the ground,
I was able to push his points into the
ground thus helping me keep his head
from swinging around, while I pulled
my legs from underneath his hind
quarters.
As the deer quit kicking and
thrashing around, I was able to call
Hal who was at the opposite side of
our farm and request he walk to my
Honda and hurry to help me. However, as it turns out, he wasnt clear
on my exact location, therefore he
wasnt able to find me right away. He
drove by close but wasnt looking
my way. After a while he wisely shut
off the ATV allowing me to contact
him again, and provide more specific
directions.
As Hal approached the scene, the
buck went crazy again. As Hal tried
to help me hold him down, sensing
I was now about worn out, the buck
started frantically swinging his hind
legs, striking Hal several times below
the knees.
We were soon able to finally put
the deer down as I tried to regain
some of my strength. In at least 40
whitetail bucks, I have bagged, as
well as the mule deer, antelope, moose
and bear I have tagged, mostly with
archery equipment, only two were
still alive when I approached them. I
guess you can become careless and
complacent!
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17
ICE
Y
T
E
F
SA
The Basics and Beyond!
Understanding Ice
18
Electronic Aids
Lower Tahquamenon
Falls prepping for
quiet winter recreation
Improvements expected to
enhance parks winter experience
Winter camping is also available
at the Lower Falls Hemlock campground for $18-20 per night, and includes electricity at each plowed site.
The restroom buildings are closed,
but a water spigot is available in the
campground to fill drinking containA winter scene at the Lower Falls is shown from Tahquamenon Falls State Park.
ers.
Snowmobilers will continue to
have access to the winter parking
OFFERING
areas at the Lower Falls and Upper
THE BEST
SELECTION
Falls to allow riders to walk the trails
FOR THE
to the falls viewing areas.
UPCOMING
ICE FISHING
See a map of the Lower Falls
SEASON!
Day Use Area. For more information on park winter activities, contact
Tahquamenon Falls State Park at
906-492-3415.
A Recreation Passport is required
for all vehicles entering the park.
ARCHERY
FISHING
Michigan residents can purchase the
FIREARMS
SUPPLIES
Recreation Passport ($11 for motor
AMMO
vehicles) by checking Yes on their
INDOOR SHOOTING RANGE
license plate renewal forms, or at any
HUNTING SUPPLIES magnumsportsllc.com
state park or recreation area. Non6227 S. Greenville Rd.
residents can purchase a Recreation
Greenville, MI 48838
Passport ($31 annual; $9 daily) at the
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19
TRICK OR TREAT
10 POINT
20
The authors 10 point will gross around 143 inches and the G-5 Striker broadhead
passed perfectly through both lungs.
point of where I last saw him. Huge
left caught my eye and there he was in
mistake and you can guess the rest.
the tall weeds not 10 yards farther than
After grid searching every inch
where I last saw him after the shot.
Ive written many recovery articles
of the swamp and the nearby standing
and have chapters in each of my books
cornfield to no avail, depression set
on recovering whitetails and in every
in. Trying to tell myself that he was
instance its spelled out very clearly
likely still alive didnt work because
to watch a deer until out of sight and
the thick coagulated blood on the arif you have to perform a grid search
row meant that it had passed through
due to a lack of blood, begin the search
a major blood pumping artery or vital
at the exact location you last saw the
organ. Also two of the blades on the
deer. It sure seems like a guy should
head were chipped up so I knew they
had hit ribs and there was no way with pay attention to his own very specific
him standing broadside that I didnt hit instructions.
While ecstatic that I found him, I
something vital.
was very disappointed that the meat on
I did the entire searching process
over again and this time grid searched a deer of this caliber had to be wasted
as I hunt just as much for the meat as I
perpendicular to the first grid search
do the challenge. After tagging the big
just in case something may have been
10 point (had stickers on both brows) I
missed. Nope, nothing and I went
caped him out and cut off his antlers.
home to sulk. As you guys know, opI had the owner of the property
portunities at good bucks in Michigan
with me and he said deer get hit on
are rarities and not to capitalize is
the road all the time and that the
extremely depressing.
On November 1 I went back to the meat never goes to waste as the small
animals will eat it. He also said that I
same tree to see if the scrapes were
could take a doe during the late bow
active, and they were not only active,
there was a third scrape opened within season if I needed the meat. He was
just trying to make me feel good, and it
four feet of the other two. Could he
worked a little.
possibly have survived and would it
The 10 point will gross around 143
be possible that he would be working
inches and by the way, the G-5 Striker
scrapes again so soon.
passed perfectly through both lungs.
There was another apple-less tree
John Eberhart is an accomplished
about 100 yards farther down the edge bow-hunter that specializes in heavily
of the standing cornfield and I have a
pressured areas with 29 bucks listed in
location set up next to it as well so I
CBMs record book from 19 different
thought I would check it out to see if
properties in 10 different counties. John
there was any new activity there as it
produced a 3 volume instructional DVD
usually has a few scrapes by it when it series titled Bowhunting Pressured
bears apples.
Whitetails and co-authored the books,
It just so happens that the buck
Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails, Prehad went in that direction and low and cision Bowhunting, and Bowhunting
Whitetails the Eberhart Way. They are
behold when I was about 25 yards
available at: www.deer-john.net.n
from the apple tree, something to my
Century Center
Admission $5 per Adult Age 12 and under FREE
120 South St. in South Bend, Indiana
Parking is $5 per vehicle in the Century Center Parking Lot
Friday Noon 8 Saturday 9 9 Sunday 9 4
Vendors
Fays Marine
La Porte, Indiana
(BaylinerBoats, Lowe Boats &
Pontoons, Crestliner Boats,
Apex Compact Pontoons,
Fourwinds, Excursion
Pontoons).
Hubers Marine
La Porte, Indiana
(Lund Boats, Sweetwater
Pontoons, Aqua patio Pontoons,
Sanpan Pontoons, Hurricane
Deck Boats).
D & R Sports Center
Kalamazoo, Michigan
(Tracker Boats, Tahoe Boats, Sun
Tracker Pontoons, Nitro Boats,
Triton Boats, Ranger Boats).
Starboard Choice Marine
Edwardsburg, Michigan
(Mirro Craft Boats, Tahoe
Pontoons, Polar Kraft Boats)
Pier 33 Marina
St. Joseph, Michigan
(Chaparral Boats, Robalo Boats
and Pre-owned Brokerage
Services)
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(Starcraft Boats and Pontoons,
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Eagle Lake Marine
Edwardsburg, Michigan
(Godfrey Hurricane Deck Boats,
Sweetwater, Aqua Patio and San
Pan Pontoons)
Lake Drive Marine
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(Lund Boats, Lowe Boats,
Phoenix Boats, Skeeter Boats,
South Bay Pontoons).
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27
7 p.m - Ice Fishing with Jake
8 p.m. - Intro to the Fishing World, Charting and Fishing Lake Erie with Julia
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28
Vendors
Erie Marine Sales, L.L.C.
Sheffield, Ohio
(Warrior Boats, Hewescraft Boats)
Krupps Power Sports
Edwardsburg, Michigan
(Can-Am ATVs, Can- Am SSV, Ski-doo
snowmobiles, Sea-doo watersports)
Gates Chevy world
Mishawaka, Indiana and
Gates Automotive Group
South Bend, Indiana
Chevy trucks and SUVs and
Toyato trucks and SUVs
Clear H2O Tackle, LLC
Edwardsburg, Michigan
Fishing Tackle, Hunting Gear
and More
www.clearh2otackle.com
2 p.m. - Mark, Jake and Julia Host Free 2-hour Walleye Fishing Seminar
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29
1 p.m. - Lake Michigan Steelhead, Coho and Salmon fishing with Mark
2 p.m. - Follow-up to Intro the Fishing World, Charting and Fishing Lake Erie with Julia
Other Topics to be discussed with additional speakers include:
Bass, Crappie and Pan fishing by local club members
IDNR will discuss Indiana regulations and have an open discuss with the general
public.
The state Biologist will discuss the topic of local water conditions and other topics
related to the outdoors.
The South Bend Power Squadron will discuss boating safety and required items
need to pass a coast guard inspection.
Dealers will discuss rigging boats and the use of electronics.
These times and schedules will be posted on the Michiana Boat & Sports Show
Facebook and Michiana Walleye Association.org website after December 1st.
ADDITIONAL SMALL VENDOR SPACE AVAILABLE, 8 X 10 $120, CONTACT DALE BRINDLEY AT 574-286-6311 OR daledbrindley@comcast.net
21
Shark
Attack
BLUEGILLS
22
By Kenny Darwin
The author displays a fine catch of large gills and crappie taken on a Michigan lake using tungsten jigs,
low stretch ice line, modern electronics and spikes for bait. Kenny Darwin photos
dangling down your success will be spotty. But if
the 3 mm size 16 hook and the 4mm size 14 hook
you select a jig that stays horizontal in the water
for gills. The 4 mm size 14 hook is 0.560 inches
and your bait or plastic is held sideways your strike long, weighs 1.0 gr. and sells for around $2.59 each
results will soar. I maintain the secret to ice fishing and is my all-time best Michigan jig, period. Make
success for big gills is the angle of the dangle. The
certain you check out the Epoxy super glow variety
more horizontal your presentation the more fish you and I recommend the style E62 Glow Spot for gills
catch. Its that simple.
and crappie. Last year I had outstanding success usPerhaps horizontal presentations best mimic
ing the Metallic finish GB81 Glow Bead and Copfood sources, maybe gills like to sneak up on prey
per Antz #AN97. My point is you need to carefully
from below and a horizontal target kicks in their
shop through the expansive selection of quality Fisstrike instinct. But if you use horizontal jigs your
kas Wolfram jigs that Your Bobbers Down offers.
strikes will quickly change from nibbles to shark
Take a good look at lures colored clown, pinky,
attacks. The transformation begins with lure choice. raspberry stripe, glow pink, metallic gold, silver
You gotta see the broad selection of jigs availcopper and more. Better take a look at their jig box,
able before you make a selection. Hand painted
Fiskas Wolfpack 2016 best-selling lures, glow charFiskas jigs are available in 7 sizes but I recommend ger light panfish toothpick and much more.
Necessary
items to
unleash
fantastic ice
fishing for
gills includes:
Got-Cha spring
bobber, Fiskas
wolfram
tungsten
jigs and high
quality 100%
fluorocarbon
ice fishing line.
First ice on local lakes and ponds draw panfish anglers in search of the early ice season hot bite.
do not leave the offering stationary for more than
a few seconds before you begin swimming the jig
upward. The idea is to get the presentation above
the fish and coax them to follow. Use a stair step
jiggle and stop jigging action. Expect strikes to
occur when you pause or stop the jiggling action.
At times gills will slam the offering the instant you
start jigging, other times they prefer to follow the
lure upward and grab the offering several feet from
where you first marked them. Working jigs at the
same depth is the kiss of death to exciting ice fishing for gills. Try jiggling one zone for 3 seconds
and pause for 2 seconds. Then jiggle and lift the jig
a few inches and repeat. The idea is to coax gills
into following the swimming presentation.
The advantages of fishing with Fiskas Wolfram
jigs are many. Most importantly the 45 degree
angle of the hook keeps your presentation constantly working for you rather than falling downward
and spooking fish. If the bait on the hook dangles
straight up and down you can kiss great fishing
goodbye. The Fiskas jig is shaped so it will fall
fast, nose first and mimic a water critter moving
down the water column head first. When you stop
the lure your presentation immediately is horizontal and the slightest wiggle of the rod tip causes
the jig to look like a water critter swimming. This
action is the essence of what effective ice fishing
is all about. The presentation is proper, precise,
always looking life-like and gills simply cannot
resist smashing the jig.
Your electronics are your eyes under the water.
By watching how fish react to different presentations you can refine your jigging tactics. Some
days they want it constantly moving, other days
you need to pause several seconds before they
23
Hunter, activist not ready to think pheasant hunting in Michigan is gone forever,
organizes Town Hall meeting to discuss programs other states have done
Some close friends have joked with him, asking if hes running for Pheasa-dent of the United
States.
Ken, I can assure you, is clearly not joking!
He has studied what other states have done, he
has talked with newspaper reporters, radio and TV
hosts. He has talked with hunting preserve hunters,
preserve owners, clubs, DNR officials, Senators,
State Representatives and anyone who will listen or
answers his questions. He has piles of news clippings and reports on the subject of pheasants and
pheasant hunting.
By Randy Jorgensen
Sparking an interest...
Ken is working hard to somehow spark an
interest once again in pheasant hunting. Like the
interest Verley Davis sparked in him as a boy.
Ken Dalton, hard working activist, looks to I saw my neighbor acting strange...he had a
Town Hall meeting on pheasant hunting for bird wing hooked to a fishing pole. And his young
dog was chasing it all over the back yard. I thought
answers January 8.
that was odd? he told me chuckling.
tireless in asking pointed questions. A man who, I
Verley, what you doin? I asked him.
suspect is being a pain in the side of some DNR of- He told me he was training his pheasant
ficials. A man who is not ready to give up.
I think I can safely say, Ken Dalton is as persistent as a badger.
Pheasants page 26
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Pheasants:
from page 24
dog. I had never seen anything like it, after all, I
was raised on concrete in downtown Pontiac, he
explained.
As the story unfolded, Verley took the 15
year-old Ken under his wing and introduced him
to pheasant hunting. The two often hunted pheasants north of Pontiac in Auburn Heights on Truman
Bollins farm. Soon Kens brothers, Terry and Jeff
became interested in the sport.
I owe Verley and Truman a great deal for
taking the time to share pheasant hunting with me.
What I learned from them I taught to my brothers and we have shared so many wonderful times
together hunting, we are grateful, Ken tells me.
Brothers, Ken,
Terry and Jeff
Dalton have
been hunting
pheasants for
many years.
They would like
nothing more
than to see the
tradition continue so other
generations of
brothers can
enjoy the spor t.
Asking Questions...
Do you know we have nearly three decades
of people who have not hunted wild pheasants in
Michigan? he asked me.
Have you thought about the conservation, retail and tourism dollars we have lost because there
are no pheasants? he went on ask me, his brow
and arms raised.
The moment Ken walked into my office you
could feel his passion, you could see it and you
could hear it in his voice. He understands why
pheasant hunting is so poor. He understands the
effect of large farms, the use of pesticides, lack of
grass lands, loss of habitat and increase in predators.
Ken wants everyone to know and understand
hes not against the DNR, he has no answers they
26
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Putting
Pattern
a
to
PLUGS
Back-Trolling
28
One of the most exciting ways to fish wobbling plugs for steelhead is by using a west coast
tactic known as back-trolling or drop-back fishing.
This popular tactic involves rowing a drift boat or
using a gasoline kicker motor to position a jet sled
or other fishing boat in the current while plugs are
trailed downstream of the boat.
Because the boat is being held in place in the
current, plugs wobble violently against the current and dive towards bottom. The typical set up
involves running four rods positioned in strategically located rod holders. One rod is positioned on
each side of the boat and running perpendicular to
the hull. A second pair of rods are positioned to run
straight out the back of the boat near the port and
starboard side gunwales.
Depending on the water depth the plugs may be
fished as close as 20 or 30 feet below the boat or as
far away as 50 to 75 feet. This style of plug fishing
is normally practiced with monofilament line and it
pays to buy the best when plugging for steelhead.
Maximas Ultra Green is hands down the most
popular monofilament line among avid steelhead
fishermen and 12, 15 and 18 pound test lines are the
most popular sizes.
The author is all smiles with this west Michigan steelhead caught on a Mag Lip plug that was
customized by steelhead enthusiast Josh Crabtree.
A couple things make Ultra Green the line of
choice for winter steelhead fishing. The light green
color of this line blends perfectly with winter river
waters. Secondly, Ultra Green is the most abrasion
resistant line on the market. When a raging steelhead darts into a log jam, you want Ultra Green on
your reel.
The four rod spread described here covers a
sizable amount of water and enables the angler to
experiment with different plug brands, models,
types and colors. Back-trolling is a presentation that
begins at the upstream side of holes and lazy runs.
The boat is slowly allowed to slip down with the
current and paddled or power trolled side to side to
cover as much water as possible.
Essentially back-trolling keeps four plugs wobbling near bottom and sweeping back and forth
across productive water. When a steelhead decides
to hit one of these wobbling plugs, the reaction can
only be described as a strike of anger because
the rod slams down and seconds later the fish in
airborne!
Modifying Plugs
Serious plug fishermen love their plugs and
they love to customize these lures for maximum
performance. Switching out the factory hooks for
premium after-market hooks is one of the ways
plug fishermen get the most from these lures. Ultrapremium hooks like the Eagle Claw Trokar and
Mustads Triple Grip do a great job of sticking and
keeping steelhead stuck.
Another popular plug modification is to remove
the belly hook and to upgrade the tail hook to one
size larger. The belly hook is the one that is most
likely to snag on the bottom and the belly hook is
also notorious for allowing hooked fish to get the
leverage needed to tear free.
The rule of thumb when replacing tail hooks
on plugs is to upgrade with hooks that are only one
size larger than the factory supplied hook. Running
too large a hook on a wobbling plug can cut the
lures action and increase the likelihood of snagging.
Using highlight colors is another common
A Little Scent
For Bryan Darland of Jays Spor ting Goods nothing beats the excitement of steelhead fishing
in the winter. Mark Romanack photos
is about the size of a standard envelop and does a
great job of presenting plugs from shore.
Simply cast the plug out into the current, attach
the Mini Board onto the line using both the line release on the tow arm and the release mounted at the
back of the board. Flip the board into the water and
play line off the reel allowing the board to plane
out into the current.
By simply letting out the necessary amount of
line and walking up and down the bank, its easy to
steer plugs into undercut banks, along submerged
logs and other places steelhead hide out.
The Mini-Board is designed to be reversible
so it can be easily fished from either side of the
Summing It Up
For anglers who love to fish year around, but
who would rather not venture out onto the ice,
Michigan has some of the best river steelhead fishing in the nation. Steelhead can be caught a number
of ways, but plug fishing ranks as one of the most
exciting ways to target winter chrome. Plugs work
great when fished from boats and shore fishermen
can get in on the fun as well.n
29
SMOKY DANGER...
WINTER
CAMPFIRES!
By Jonathan Schechter
30
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Icing Michigans
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Advantages of
Circle Hooks
I can think of a few advantages
right off the bat. Ever catch a small
walleye or northern pike with a treble
down its throat? Pretty bloody, eh!
And not only that, by the time you
use pliers on a pliable small, stressedout pike with all that slime on its
skin, well, good luck releasing it. I
dont like to kill fish I dont eat.
Enter the circle hook! As you
savvy Michigan anglers know, circle
hooks have the good reputation of
catching fish in the corner of the
mouth, thus allowing them to be released unharmed and swimming into
the blue.
Circle hooks with fluorocarbon
line are just plain more natural looking, thus providing better hook-ups.
Another advantage of circle hooks
under tip-ups is the fact that, at first
ice, with clear, shallow thin ice being
the norm, you can sit and wait when
the flag pops up, thus not having to
run up and spook a target fish in the
area; it also takes the worry out of
Pike are aggressive, gluttonous predators at first ice; this one struck a light rod with a small spoon attached.
This feisty Esox Lucius took a lot of line off the spool, making for a great fight.
deeply hooking your fish. Less mess!
Wide gap hooks like circle hooks
rarely miss a hookset but they arent
perfect. Experiment and have fun
with different designs and sizes too.
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Pure Michigan Hunt 2015 winner Jason Eurich of Saginaw with geese and ducks he and his group bagged.
the thrill of the Pure Michigan Hunt
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The bear came in at last light
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Twenty-one Michigan hunters
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In 2015, we had a year of great
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I purchased one ticket for the
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BROTHERS
BAG BIG
BUCKS!
he archery deer
season was big for
the Strange family of Ellsworth.
They hunt a large
parcel of land
in the Charlevoix area, a
wooded plot that they have
been managing for deer for a
number of years. The
whole family hunts,
including Gary (Dad),
brothers Jason and
Tyler and sister Abby. Bowhunting
seems to be preferred but, as with
so many other hunters, the rifle or
muzzleloader may be taken up if the
string and stick doesnt produce.
The Strange clan is really into this
By George Rowe
James Ferrari and Sons, Inc. strives for customer satisfaction and the ideal customer experience. We are
hunters and processors ourselves and we know what supplies you need so you can process your own game.
Firewood
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Contact
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Contact one
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brad@billsbylumber.com or jim@billsbylumber.com
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FIREWOOD BY T H E
SEMI-LOAD
Phone:
Tyler Strange
and the big
guy named
Moonlight.
Photos courtesy of Gary
Strange
ITS HOG
HUNTING TIME!
CHECK OUT
OUR BUTCHER
SHOP & LODGE
Call
near the stand until ten in the morning when he appeared along with
some does that he was shadowing,
announcing his arrival with grunts.
He came within eight yards of Jasons
stand and went down immediately at
the shot. The photo confirms that the
crossbow bolt was placed perfectly.
The rack on this deer was measured at
19 inches high, overall. The estimated dressed weight was 185 pounds
and the green score was guessed at
about 120. Jason said it was a pretty
good shot.
Tyler scored that same day, in the
afternoon. He was in a pop-up blind,
next to a food plot and this brother
was hunting with a compound bow.
He had four scent bombs out and had
made a scent trail, using the tarsal
glands from Jasons buck and some
doe urine. Four does came in fairly
early and hung around for perhaps
40 minutes. Around 4:30, there was
a big ruckus in the woods nearby
and seven does came into the food
plot, followed by a big buck. This
deer had been named Moonlight
by sister Abby. She was the first to
spot this buck, in an earlier firearm
season, seeing the rack by moonlight
while walking out of the woods. The
buck chased for a bit, made two rubs,
39
40
By Tom Lounsbury
41
WALLEYE
NO TIME
FOR A WEEK
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baits away from the boat. When walleyes are in shallow water, the boards
allow us to put our lures in the right
zone while the boat remains in deep
water. Another bonus is the ability
to work a gradual break, by running
some lines in shallow water and some
lines in deep water at the same time.
Finally, open water is an ideal
situation for planer boards. Open
water fish often suspend and are easily
spooked by the boat. By running several boards out each side of the boat,
not only does it reduce spooking but
also creates a wider swath of trolling
coverage.
Once we have spread our lines
out from the boat, we have to put
our lure in the right spot in the water
column. If we are fishing structure, we
will want to be on bottom. If we are
fishing an open water basin we want
to have our bait at or above where we Once you see what is working, it is just a matter of making adjustare marking the fish.
ments to outsmar t the other side.
Many times weights are needed
to help get the bait to the proper place
in the water column. So how do we
that? We like to use Off Shore Tackle
Tadpole Resettable Diving Weights
(Model OR36). We often pair these
weights with spinners, also known as
crawler harnesses.
Tadpoles not only sink, but they
are able to dive due to their unique
tadpole-like shape, which allows
us to use shorter leads. Not only is
a shorter lead more efficient when
reeling in a fish, they are less likely
to drop to bottom as a result of a boat
surge caused by waves. If the boat
pauses, the shorter leads will all help
keep Tadpoles from swinging down
do quickly, so they will be less likely
to bang bottom and get snagged.
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85 per gun
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42
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Walkiewicz Farms
1-989-683-2749
Goose Hunts
Youth Deer Hunts
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Whitetail Hunts
6900 Huron City
Port Hope, MI 48468
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877-836-6388
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Off Shore planer boards are also perfectly ballasted, so they wont flop in waves, they can be pulled really
slow for spinners, or fast with a lot of weight behind them. Their ballast makes them track in the water and
remain upright in all conditions.
Cisco rod holders. Not only are these
machined stainless steel rod holders durable, but they can be easily
adjusted with one hand and lock into
the correct position securely.
For planer boards, we use Off
Shore Planer Boards (Model OR12).
While the standard board comes with
two clips, we like to add a Snapper
Release (Model OR18) on the main
arm. The Snapper can securely lock
any line, including Berkley FireLine
so slippage is never a problem. This
clip simply will not let go, which is
great for keeping boards attached to
the line in big waves.
Off Shore planer boards are also
perfectly ballasted, so they wont flop
in waves, they can be pulled really
slow for spinners, or fast with a lot
of weight behind them. Their ballast
makes them track in the water and
remain upright in all conditions.
We run at least two boards on
each side of the boat. Multiple boards
allow us to compare how they are
running. If we dont have something
to reference against, it can be hard to
tell if we have a small fish or weed on
our lure. On the standard setup, when
a board slips back something is on
hopefully a fish!
About 90 percent of the time we
use Tattle Flags (Model OR12TF) on
our boards. These flags have a spring
system that pulls the flag down when
extra weight is on the line, such as
small fish, weeds, or a big walleye.
With the Tattle Flag system the tension can be adjusted by moving the
spring to different locations on the
board based on the pull of the bait
being used. Adjust it so the flag just
barely stays up any additional pull
will snap the flag down.
Next fishing season, there will be
a new version of the flags that will
have several positions on the flag so
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Y
V
V
SA
Captain Terry Kunnen of TKO Char ters uses a few strips of Coast Guard approved reflector tape on the flag of his Side-Planer boards when trolling for
night walleye like this giant caught on Muskegon Lake. Putting reflector tape on both sides of the boards flag makes it easy for anglers to monitor the
boards for strikes and also for other fishermen in the area to see your boards. Mark Romanack photos
Why In-Line
Boards?
44
Adding Tattle
Flags
When some years ago
Off Shore Tackle introduced
their Tattle Flag System
it was a game changer. The
Tattle Flag is an after-market spring operated linkage
system that allows the planer
board flag to fold
down when a fish
is hooked. Actually
these linkage systems are so sensitive
the flag will even fold down when an
angler has snagged on floating weeds
and other debris or hooked a nontarget species like a white perch or
small drum.
The value of the Tattle Flag
comes in the ability to detect light
strikes, especially when trolling
By Mark Romanack
In-line planer boards have become the board of choice among countless anglers who fish in Michigan and the
other states surrounding the Great Lakes. These boards are effective, affordable and versatile enough to be used
for everything from crappie to monster muskie trolling applications.
bolt and plastic nut. Vibration from
bouncing around in the boat can
cause these plastic nuts to vibrate
loose.
Tightening these plastic nuts
with a pair of vice-grip pliers helps to
insure the nuts stay tight. Another option is to replace the plastic nuts with
stainless steel Nylock bolts that once
tightened stay tight.
When storing in-line boards during the winter, its also a good idea to
place a little chunk of paper between
the rubber jaws of line releases. A
chunk from a business card is just the
right thickness. This trick keeps the
rubber jaws from fusing together and
guarantees that fishermen will have
New for 2017 Off Shore Tackle has upgraded their Tattle Flag System to
add four more spring adjustment settings on the flag stem. Also, by lowering the rear tow point of the board enables the Side-Planer to carry more
weight and also to plane fur ther out to the side of the boat.
Wrapping It Up
The popularity and growth of
the in-line planer board is indisputable. Anglers love fishing in-line
boards because these trolling aids are
functional, inexpensive and they can
be used to troll all the popular gear
Great Lakes anglers depend upon to
catch fish.
On top of all those attributes, its
a whole lot of fun watching an inline board sag in the water from the
weight of a heavy fish. Board fishing
with in-lines is fun and one of the
most productive ways yet to put all
kinds of fish in the boat.n
45
TROPHY SPECIALISTS
FISHING CHARTERS
Eries Trophy
Walleyes
Early spring on Lake Erie
serves up the best trophy
walleye fishery in the world.
From ice-out in March
through April, Lake Erie
offers outstanding trophy
walleye action.
Behemoths
In 1992, within the rippling waters
Saginaw Bay
Walleye
46
734-475-9146
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The TX-44 is the first and the only in line planer to pull the large Divers,
Lead Core, Wire or Copper Lines and Heavy Weights. The size of the TX-44
makes it harder for fish to pull the board under, however it is still easy to
retrieve. The Vise Clip comes standard with the TX-44; especially
designed for lead core & copper, makes accidental
E-Z Store
release almost impossible.
snaps off & on in seconds
the Stern Planers. Run any distance from the boat yet maintain desired depth.
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The Mini Lock-Jaw fits The Walleye Board, TX-44, TX-22, TX-12 & TX-6 1 7/8 Long
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keeps line from making
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The Mini Lock-Jaw is designed to fit other side planers, drop weights and
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Michigan fly-fishing guide Alex Lafkas, seen here with a huge White River
brown, is just one of many of Michigans connection with the state of Arkansas.
plain ol catches fish of all species.
feed an army. You might even catch
Bar none.
a cutbow (the cross between a
rainbow and cutthroat) for a triple of
species landed.
#40305 unpainted
#40306 chartreuse
Please check with your local tackle shop first, if they dont carry our products visit us at www.churchtackle.com to view all
of our great American made fishing gear, or call us at 269-934-8528 to request a catalog.
47
Four fabulous hunters and their conquests: (Top: Lt-Rt) Sophie Cranny and her hefty Harbor Springs 8-pointer; Petoskeys Emileigh Schlappi displays the first deer of her career, a 5-point buck; (Bottom: Lt-Rt) Kaylee Drake is proud of
her 5-point buck downed near Cheboygan; Ten-year old, Molly Arthur, shot her first buck during the Youth Hunt.
be supportive of others you are hunting with. We
and owner of Archer Full Throttle on-line hunting
store (www.archerfullthrottle.com). Sophie is a stu- definitely like to show new people how much fun
dent of the art and science of hunting and-because deer hunting is!
Sophie continued, My earliest memory of
shes so petite-has mastered the use of a crossbow.
hunting is when I was three years old. The hunterShe said, I have a pink and purple Barnett
safety people made a special harness for me to
crossbow and have taken three bucks with it. My
largest buck was last year when I got an 8-point in wear to be safe in the blind. I was really excited
when I spotted a blood trail and that I could actuthe Harbor Springs area.
ally help! She hunted much less this year because
Tapping into her expertise I asked what are
her time has been allocated to training a Deutsch
two golden nuggets she has learned that have
Drahthaar puppy named Sammy to help with deer
led to her success as a hunter. Grinning, Sophie
tracking and retrieving.
responded, Definitely patience and good sportsThese four young ladies certainly reinforce
manship. As a hunter you have to learn how to be
that deer hunting is far from being only a goodvery patient because many times you can sit out
old boys undertaking. We can all learn from them,
there for hours and not see any deer. I also love to
and their countless kindred-sisters, who frequent
take others hunting and give them the sort of opportunities Ive had to be a successful hunter! The deer blinds from Houghton to Harsens Island and
ninth grader continued, Always stay positive and Sault Ste. Marie to South Haven.n
ZonA iS
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By Bill Ziegler
Log drives of pine logs down trout tributary streams were a widespread occurrence in the UP. Dickinson County Soil Conservation District photo
Menominee Watershed.
The first human development
to significantly affect watersheds and
trout habitat was the logging activities
entirely aimed at pine stands across
the UP. The initial logging activity
in most UP watersheds occurred post
civil war in the 1870s. Pine logs were
the desired tree to provide building
materials for the saw mills and it was
the only wood that could be floated
down the rivers to the mills. This was
important since there was no developed transportation system present in
the UP.
Pine logs were driven down most
mainstream rivers along with many of
the tributaries in the UP. For example,
in the Menominee Watershed (largest in the UP), log drives occurred
on at least 30 of the named Michigan
streams in the watershed. It is important to remember that the pine logging
was spotty across the landscape
since pine dominated tracts were only
present on a portion of any watershed.
Although pine harvest and log
drives undoubtedly had an affect on
trout rivers, George Premo (noted UP
outdoorsman and conservationist)
wrote that many Iron County streams,
such as the Fence River, remained as
good trout streams after pine logging
and drives had run their course. He
indicated that significant decline in
the brook trout fishery followed the
extreme clear cutting of hardwoods
(maple, etc) and lowland conifers
adjacent to streams that occurred after
the pine logging period was over.
Generally this follow up clear-cut
logging ran from about 1900 till the
53
1940s.
It is interesting to note that the
Fence River Watershed had a historical reputation for outstanding trout
fishery but still has not recovered
based on DNR trout surveys. The
Fence River watershed has remained
an aggressively logged industrial
and State Forest since it was initially
logged over in the early 1900s. Our
DNR trout population surveys on the
East Fence and Fence Rivers reveal
that although those rivers have excellent trout habitat, the trout population
is relatively low. This is in large part
due to warmer mainstream average
summer water temperatures (above
levels brook trout can tolerate) and
limited access by trout to critical trout
tributaries that provide cold water
summer refuge and spawning habitat.
Although it is not an exact comparison DNR trout population surveys in Western Iron County on trout
streams that largely run through the
Ottawa National Forest (NF) reveal
some of the highest trout densities
in the State of Michigan. Although
forest management practices on the
Ottawa National Forest have not been
perfect, overall the logging in the
watersheds of those trout streams has
been much less aggressive subsequent
to the initial cutover in the early
1900s. Relatively speaking many of
the trout stream watersheds in the Ottawa NF have reasonably recovered.
Mining started about the 1870s
and had an affect on UP trout streams.
Although since mining did not occur
across all watersheds due to spo-
54
First narrow gauge railroad utilized in UP was used to transpor t logs in the
Southwest UP, when floating the logs was not an option. This method was
used to transpor t hardwood and stream riparian conifer that was extensively
logged off in UP watersheds. (Barnhardt photo).
largely wiped out in 1963 when a
mine pond failed in one of the Iron
River area mines. Although trout
populations in the lower Iron River
have recovered somewhat, remaining acid mine water input still likely
limits trout populations from reaching
their full potential.
Nonnative fish species were widely introduced in the UP during the
late 1800s through the early 1900s.
Although that had an impact on some
lakes and non trout streams it was not
a major problem for UP brook trout
streams.
Some trout enthusiasts really
believe that the non native brown
trout will always displace native
brook trout. Although some of this
occurred in the Lower Peninsula this
did not occur in many streams in the
UP. Brown trout were widely introduced in UP streams. For reasons
not entirely understood by fisheries
researchers brown trout only estab-
Extensive clear cut logging of climax forest hardwood (maple etc.) and riparian conifer had a very detrimental affect on
UP trout watersheds. Many of the cut over slashings subsequently burned fur ther degrading those watersheds. U.S.
Forest Service - USFS photo
Whats
all the
hub, bub?
By Mark Sak
$499. That compares with many twoman shanties in the $800 to $1000
price range.
I know these hubs are much
tougher than any pop-up blind Ive
ever owned and I have several popups that are approaching ten years old
so there is no reason a hub ice shelter
cant last a lifetime. The biggest issue
always is storing these units away
from where varmints can get to them,
obviously storing them dry and not
allowing them to drag from a sled in
transport.
From all indications we are going
to have a fantastic ice season. Remember safety is imperative. Bring a
life jacket and a rope. Dont venture
out on your own and always let someone know where you will be fishing.
Have a great first ice and Ill see you
on the ice.n
55
o, there I am minding my
own business killing the last
few hours of the 2015 Outdoorama sport show in Novi.
I was talking with Melanie
from Hearst Air about all the
cool places that she and her brother
take people each year. I mentioned
that I had never been on a fly-in
trip to northern Ontario and wondered
what it was really like. I thought the
line you simply must experience
it was just a great sales pitch. Well
needless to say after talking with
my brother and his wife, we decided
to take the plunge and do what we
always thought about doing but never
seemed to get off the fence and do.
We were going on the trip of a lifetime; we were going to Pym Island!
Pym Island is a bucket list
destination. This is truly the Canadian
wilderness as I have always imagined
in my dreams. The trip to Hearst was
easy enough. The scenery along the
drive from Sault Ste. Marie, Michi-
a
m
s
g
r
e
B
n
Joh
56
The author experienced first-hand that Pym Islands nor thern pike
fishing is second to none!
Hearst deep in northern Ontario. We
crossed many lakes and rivers in our
90-minute flight. As we circled the
small cabin that was nestled on the
shore of the Attawapiskat river all I
could do was be in awe of the remoteness and the amazing sites. Now Pym
is unique in that the cabin is very
modern, complete with a shower
house and full generator power! You
are in the middle of nowhere but by
no means are you roughing it This
is world class fishing with a touch of
class!
Norman, the camps native
American guide, met us with a smile
that was genuine and an attitude that
made us know that this trip was going
to be special. The camp comes with a
guide! I love this place, no wondering
where or how to fish.no sir, Norman new that river like the back of his
hand. Fifteen minutes later we were
in the boats. Our first stop was just a
little warm up to the trip.
Pym Islands northern pike fishing
Contact at 810-378-5632
DAILY 7 AM - 10 PM
TOTAL FOver
IR2,000EAGunsRinMStock
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WWW.MIDTHUMBGAMERANCH.NET
NO LICENSE
REQUIRED
Hog Hunts
80 ACRES, MOSTLY
WOODED-HEAVY COVER
The authors best walleye of the trip was a 30 inch, 10 pounder that
slammed a pink jig tipped with a white Strike King Rage Craw.
Port Huron
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57
By Betty Sodders
58
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www.theringneckranch.com
here in Michigan, Nick DeShano of Off- getting stronger each day and while still
Shore Tackle says Skarlis is out of the
in a lot of pain he is making progress
hospital and in rehab continuing physi- in the right direction. His new favorommy Skarlis, the larger-than- cal therapy sessions. Hes got a long
ite food is orange Jell-O & ice cream
life walleye and crappie tour- road ahead of him but it sounds like hes mixed together. He says its, simply
nament angler was involved
doing really well, DeShano said. He
incredible. The baby lullaby played
in a serious hunting accident
got lucky.
every time a new baby is born in the
recently. Skarlis, from Denver,
Throughout his treatment Skarlis
hospital is delightful and hes acceptIowa, was hunting with fellow has remained upbeat despite the pain he ing visitors but wanted me to forewarn
crappie angler Kyle Steinfeldt. (In 2013 has been in. His positive attitude toward everyone his catheter is rather unsightthe pair was crappie tournament cham- full recovery no doubt accounts for the
ly. Tommy has been overjoyed with all
pions.) The two friends were hunting
progress hes made so far. Steinfeldt,
of the love and support you have all
from treestands in Iowa.
Skarlis, hunting partner the day of the
shown and cant thank you enough for
I had dropped Tommy off at his
accident and his fishing partner have
the messages and prayers. His message
treestand, Steinfeldt said.
been in the hospital throughout Skarlis to everyone today is Be kind to one
We both had been in the woods
Angling pro Tommy Skarlis.
ordeal. Steinfeldt writes that, Hes
another!n
for a while. Tommy used the tree steps
to climb up and onto the stand, about
25 feet off the ground. He got into the
stand and had his feet on the platform
trying to get his safety strap around
the tree when the stands ratchet strap
broke, Steinfeldt said.
I was hunting in a tree about two
hundred yards from him. I heard him
fall. The sound was like a large deer
crashing through the woods. Anyway, it
didnt sound good.
When he heard the sound, Steinfeldt
started for Skarlis.
I could hear him yelling as I was
heading toward him, he said. I got
up to him and could see right away I
couldnt move him. There was no cell
service so I had to go to a neighbors to
call 911. Eventually we got him on a
four wheeler out to an ambulance that
took him to the nearest town and a life
support flight to the hospital in LaCrosse, he said.
The happy-go-lucky Skarlis, the
guy with the big smile and even bigger
stories had broken his neck. While not
common, treestand accidents do happen.
Many people end up being paralyzed
from their injuries. Some people have
died due to a treestand fall. Hypothermia is one contributor. Falling on hunting equipment like arrows is another.
When Skarlis arrived at the hospital
he had feeling in his arms and legs and
some movement. Surgery was scheduled that turned out to be very successful. Two people in his unit are going
Enjoy the freedom of owning a slice of the
to be paralyzed for life with similar
great outdoors. GreenStone can finance the
injuries, Steinfeldt said.
right property for you. Whether it is 10, 20 or
How good is Skarlis feeling? When
even 100 acres, we have the experts to help.
he woke up from surgery he told everyone nearby that he had a dream thinking
To learn more, contact a lending expert
he won a tournament, Steinfeldt said.
Currently its thought Skarlis will
at one of our 36 offices today!
be discharged from the hospital in about
a week. Hell have three months of
800-444-3276
absolutely no moving or lifting anything heavier than ten pounds. Then he
should be good to go, Steinfeldt said.
He was extremely lucky. They put
enough hardware in his neck that no
halo was required for him to hold his
head up, Steinfeldt said.
Ive been there the whole week
but came back to Iowa to vote, Steinfeldt said. I just got my appetite back.
www.greenstonefcs.com
We went to the cabin for a weekend to
hunt. We should have gone fishing. This
wasnt easy and its one of those deals
you cant prepare yourself for or ever
want to be involved in, he added.
Just after the firearms deer opener
61
A simple ramble
through the glade
62
ool-clad fingers
pushed an autumn
olive branch aside.
Buffalo-hide, centerseamed moccasins
took two slow paces, each placed in
the mix of short grass and green moss
that bordered the curving, earthen
thoroughfare, each done with the intent of leaving no perceptible trace.
All about an abundance of fishshaped autumn olive leaves clung to
wispy branchesan oddity for the
twenty-seventh day of November,
in the Year of our Lord, 1796. The
fortuitous cover shrouded the whitetailed deers comings and goings, but
more so the stealth of a returned white
captive bent on fresh venison for his
family.
Two steps and a pause to survey
two steps and a pause With great
care the winter moccasins descended
the hill. A hint of wood smoke from
the settlement perfumed the dusty,
dry air. A bushy red cedar tree that
grew near a little clearing demanded
a longer hesitation. Thirty-five paces
upwind an unsuspecting does foreleg
moved. An ear flipped. Behind that
deer a shiny black nose sniffed. Mskowaagosh, the Red Fox, remained
motionless.
The pair browsed out of sight.
The woodsman dropped to his knees,
adjusted the crimson trade blanket that
wrapped about his body and eased
back into a hollow within the cedars
branches. The musty aroma of disturbed, rotting duff engulfed the pitiful fortress. The smooth-bored Northwest gun settled across the hunters
dark-blue wool leggins just before
the yearling and her dam walked into
the prairie grass. They looked about,
flicked their ears and twitched their
tails as they journeyed on into the
cedar groves shadowy sanctuary.
Msko-waagosh watched the little
knob on the far side of the clearing
as he waited for the pair to move
well away. Ears and a snout appeared
among the autumn olives and scrub
cedars. A small spotless fawn bounded
forth, drawing a leering gaze, then
an admonition administered by the
mothers half-raised white tail. The
youngster ignored the warning and
frolicked into the clearing. The doe
stamped her left foreleg once. The
fawn looked back, then stood rigid
until mother browsed closer.
Before those two made the cedar
grove, another deer plodded between
two tall cedar trees. This full-bodied
doe walked with her ears back. Her
head bobbed with each hoof-fall. Set
Muzzle Loading
State Events
Dec. 31, 2016 - Last Blast of the Year:
Blue Water Sportsman Assn.: 586-7396499
Jan. 7-8 - Frosted Paw: Columbiaville
Sportsman Club: 810-793-7799
Jan. 14 - Winter Woods Walk: Laingsburg:
517-393-2772
For a complete 2017 shoot schedule, send a
SASE or e-mail to: Ron Fernwalt, 16808 Peach
Ridge, Kent City, MI, 49330, rbfern@triton.net
SPORTMAN'S AUCTION
Saturday, December 31st, 2016 10AM
COLDWATER, MICHIGAN
63
the Savage 99 lever rifle. Early Savage bolt actions were also chambered
in it. Savage loaded it with an 87 grain
bullet so it would make 3,000 feet per
second (FPS). It was the first commercial cartridge to reach that velocity.
Savage made the most of the unheard
of speed in advertising the .250. Later,
the most common bullet was a 100
grainer. Velocity was reduced
to 2,820 FPS, but the slightly
heavier bullet worked better
on deer. The .250 has since
been eclipsed by the .257 Roberts, the .25-06 and even the
Winchester .243. It remains an
accurate and easy to shoot cartridge. Id like to see it make a
comeback.
In years of hunting the
bullet Ive used has been
the same. Its the Remington 100 grain Pointed Soft Point
Core Lokt in factory ammo and .250
Savage reloads. Soon after starting to
reload for the rifle I found a bargain on
Core Lokts and bought enough to last
a while. The bullet works very well
on deer. Most Ive shot with it have
dropped where they stood. The farthest
one has gone after the shot was 100
By Lee Arten
BLACK BEARS
64
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Address
City
Phone #
Quantity Cost
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____ Deer Tales Set - 2 for $28; 3 for $40; 4 for $50; 5 for $60; 6 for $72 _______
State
Zip
Signature
519-636-3697
www.foxsdenlodge.ca
foxsdenlodge@gmail.com
By Fred Davis
y
ilitart
M
%
n
10 scou
Di
FULLY GUIDED ELK & ANTELOPE HUNTS CENTENNIAL WYOMING PRIVATE GROUND
FULLY FURNISHED LODGE W/ WIFI + MEALS
www.millcreekoutfitting.com
s a long-time member of
Boating Writers International (BWI) and contributor for many publications
over a span of twenty-seven
years, I earned the title of
Boating Safety Advocate.
During my years of writing I always encouraged readers to recognize
the benefits of adopting boating safety
practices particularly the use of
PFDs which are critical safety products. With advancement in designs,
they have become more comfortable
to wear. It is not unusual to see an entire family displayed, including their
pets, wearing life jackets in magazine
layouts.
I have tested the newstyle, inflatable PFDs and
worked with UL and various
manufacturers to encourage current design revisions.
They have improved the
comfort of wearing them
while underway on your boat
or floating in the water. One
of the most innovative and
user friendly is Survitecgroups Crewfit 35 Sport.
It is a USCG Type V/III
approved lifejacket that provides 35
pounds of buoyancy when inflated and
a center buckle adjuster.
Another critical safety product
required on all but the smallest vessels
are flares. Pyrotechnic flares must be
carried on all seagoing commercial
or pleasure vessels of 13.7 metres in
length and over. A non-pyrotechnic
device package is currently offered as
an alternative to pyrotechnic flares. It
is described as an Electronic Visual
Distress Signal (EVDS).
The package contains an orange
distress flag measuring 3 X 3 foot
with a black square and ball that bears
USCG approval #46CFR160-072 as
a day marker. The electric S-O-S
Distress Light with an intensity of at
least 500 candelas that last at least 2
minutes has met USCG certification
65
By Mike Gnatkowski
M i c h i g a n Wi n t e r H o t s p o t s :
I
66
Saginaw Bay
Hamlin Lake
Mason Countys Hamlin Lake
is known for its hot first-ice bluegill
bite. But last year you had to wait,
and wait and wait some more. The
traditional time to get on the ice is
around Christmas. The ice wasnt
very thick by the holidays last year.
Last year you had to be careful,
shared Pat Barcelli of Ludington.
The year before we were on the ice
on Dec 8. It was at least a month later
last year.
Ice usually forms first on upper Hamlin Lake between Wilson
Park and Victory Parks. Schools of
slab gills move into the 6 to 8-foot
depths. Limits of 7 to 9-inch slabs are
the norm as soon as you can get on
the ice.
Bluegill fishing slows as the winter progresses and you need to resort
to finesse techniques to continue to
catch fish. Light line, sensitive graphs
or flashers and delicates spring bobbers are necessary.
A hot crappie bite on Hamlin
starts about midwinter. The area
off Lincoln and Grace roads in the
traditional crappy grounds was good
last year, offered Dave Ellis. The
specs were in 34 to 36 feet of water
and they were suspended 90 percent
of the time 6 or 8 feet off bottom. You
really needed some good electronics and you needed to move around
to find them. Once you did, plastics
were the ticket. The crappies werent
huge, but you could fill a bucket with
10 to 13 inchers. Little Atom (http://
www.little-atom.com) Nuggies and
Wedgies were the ticket. Hotspots for
specks are off Indian Pete Bayou to
the east and to the north in 20 to 22
feet of water. The crappie fishing on
Hamlin gets hot in February and lasts
through March most years.
To learn how to catch suspended
crappies on Hamlin Lake contact
West Michigan Ice Guides at 269377-1313 or on-line at www.michiganiceguides.com.
Lake Missaukee
I didnt get to fish Lake Missaukee a lot last winter, said Central
Lake Michigan Management Unit
Fisheries Biologist Mark Tonello,
but I heard the fishing was good.
Youll find a mix of bluegills and
sunfish, not trophies, but good numbers in the 7 to 8-inch range. Tonello
suggested trying the south end of the
lake off Green Road, off the access
on the northeast corner of the 1,985acre lake and off M-55/M-66 right in
town.
While bluegills and sunfish are
the main quarry, there are some good
crappies and perch in the lake, too,
said Tonello. Try anywhere between
6 and 17 feet, with 9 to 14 feet being
Crystal Lake
Ice anglers who target lake trout
on Crystal Lake would welcome
another brutal winter with open arms.
The 9,711-acre Benzie County lake
is slow to freeze so it takes some
sustained cold for ice to form, especially over the lake trout grounds in
the middle and west ends.
Fishing has been very good
for lake trout on Crystal the last
couple of winters, offered Tonello.
We surveyed the lake a while
back and found a lot of trout up
to 32 inches. Tonello said that
smelt numbers in Crystal are high
right now so theres plenty for the
trout to eat. When smelt numbers
are low, you can catch trout on
blue or gray shiners. But when
smelt numbers are high, like they are
right now, youd better have
SUCCESSFUL HUNTERS
GET YOUR
DEER & TURKEY
OFFICIALLY SCORED!
Go To:
www.buckfax.com
Commemorative Bucks of Michigan P.O. Box 615 Grand Ledge, Michigan 48837 Phone (517) 679-6226
Commemorative Bucks of Michigan is a non-profit organization that measures and maintains records on trophy class Whitetail Deer,
Black Bear, Elk and Turkeys, taken by fair chase in the state of Michigan. We use the Boone and Crockett method to score all three
big game species. Visit our web site to learn more and get connected to the latest in Michigan hunting. www.Buckfax.com
67
Michigan Meanders:
By Tom Huggler
Winter
The neighboring farmers pitched in to plant and har vest the farm of
the authors neighbor who unexpectedly passed away last spring.
that threatens to knock out the local
electrical grid if a storm topples it into
the powerline that services our home.
Accompanying them is Bob Flessner,
an area farmer I dont know but who
knows how to perform the tricky job.
When logging chains and a tow strap
are finally hooked to Flessners 4WD
pickup, I cut into the big tree right
where he tells me to. Bob guns his
truck at the precise moment, and the
ash crashes safely to earth.
Armed with more chainsaws, we
swarm over it like excited beavers
when I notice Bob is limping. Bad
hip, he explains. Got to get it replaced before planting time.
Despite the pain I know he suffers,
Flessner works all afternoon, helping
Spring
68
Guns Galore
1414 N. Leroy Street
Fenton, MI48430
We Buy
Guns!
810.629.5325
& More!
GunsGalore@outlook.com
Summer
I guess Ill never be a farmer
in spite of having dabbled in this
risky business over the years. If
you read this column, you know we
raise chickens, have a big vegetable
garden and make haphazard efforts at
self-sufficiency. Now we have added
hogs, thanks to 4-H. The three feeder
pigs we bought for Daniel and his
sister in March are fast approaching
market weight, just in time for (surprise!) the county fair.
Nothing runs like a Deere the
saying goes. Well, nothing eats like
a hog. In only three months, the little
crossbred oinkers have chowed down
more than one ton of food, specially
Fall
As I write this, the most beautiful
autumn I can recall is slowly winding
down. Grouse were relatively abundant in the U.P. and northern lower,
and woodcock lingered later than
usual.
Another joy was the decision my
wife and I made to install a wood-
69
TROUT ON ICE
Ice fishing for the big ones...
By George Rowe
New Subscription
Renewal
(Please attach mailing label)
One year $29
Two years $55
70
NAME
ADDRESS
CITYSTATEZIP
Check/Money Order Visa/Mastercard - Card #Exp. Date
Send to: Woods-N-Water News
P.O. Box 278 Imlay City, MI 48444
Or Call (810) 724-0254
This pretty brown trout came from Lake Charlevoix, with coloration
showing that it lived in the Jordan River very recently.
with a chunk of smelt or perhaps a
strip of belly meat off a sucker. Lakers are meat eaters. The big jig should
be banged right on the bottom, to
The very best winter lure for
attract attention with the little puffs of
catching trout is generally a jigging
spoon. The big metallic-finish spoons sand that are produced by that action
and then jigged just off the bottom.
are often the first choice of the ice
Lakers will hit it hard and fight well,
angler and they are usually tipped
with the head half of a medium-sized unencumbered with all that hardware
we use to catch them in the summer.
minnow. Brown trout are often susOn the Lake Michigan bays, lakers
pended, especially over deep water.
They may be close to the bottom in 15 are often found in the same water that
produces whitefish, in the winter, and
feet of water but they are apt to be in
the top 20 feet of water if the depth is they often come in close to the river
mouths late in the winter, along with
over 30 feet.
the steelhead.
Unlike walleyes and perch, trout
When a trout is hooked, it is a
generally like a lively jigging acgood
idea to make some noise (fish
tion. While those after walleye are
on)
and
try to get all nearby lines out
apt to leave their jig motionless for
of
the
water.
Trout will run like crazy
long periods of time, trout anglers
when first hooked and the runs are
like to keep that jig active, giving it a
apt to be very long in shallow water,
few strong upward bumps from time
meaning that the fish could engage
to time and many small motions in
any other line in the area if they are
between. I can remember at least a
not cleared. Experienced anglers
couple of times when I brought the
will often stick the rod right down in
jig to the surface to check the bait and the hole in the ice, to prevent the line
had a trout zoom right under the lure
from chafing on the edge of the hole.
as it came up through the ice. Each
After a couple of nice runs, the fish
time, the jig was dropped right back
can usually be subdued and slid up on
down there some six or eight feet,
the ice with the help of a gaff hook.
jigged a couple of times and wham, a
Winter trout are a joy to catch, of
trout hit it hard. While walleyes often course, and they are good table fare
take a jig rather softly and may not
as well. They are usually the largest
send much of a strike message, other
fish that one might catch, in the winter
than a little tap, up the rod, most trout and it is nice to remember that these
will hit that jig hard, leaving no doubt fish are often just not accessible in
that you have a trout on the line.
the summer, when they retreat to the
For lakers, the jig should be tipped depths.n
Jigging
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See Honda.com for517-536-4256
full warranty details. *The Honda Power Equipment Visa credit
card is issued by Wells Fargo Financial National Bank. Special
terms apply to purchases
Kalamazoo
Portland
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charged with approved
credit at participating merchants. Regular minimum monthly
payments are required during the promotional period. Interest
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the regular APR if the purchase balance is not
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The APR may vary. The APR is given
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If you are
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interest charge will
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be $1.00. If you use 269-375-6476
the card for cash advances, the cash advance fee is 5% of the517-647-4164
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Please read the owners manual before operating your Honda Power Equipment and never use in a closed or partly enclosed area where you could be exposed to carbon monoxide. 2016 American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
71
Rick
Thompson
of Marlette
took this
trophy
Sanilac
Co. 10-pt.
buck with
webbed
main beams
hunting
opening
day of gun
season.
TROPHY PAGE
Dave
DeVlaminck
took this
wide Sanilac
Co. 9-pt. on
Nov. 26.
Marianne
Porter
took this
beautiful 20
lb., 8-pt.
buck
on state
land in
Holly on
Oct. 24
with a
crossbow.
Amy
Sulenski
of Holly
took her
first deer,
during
early gun
season.
Cassidy Fritz, age 11 of Elkton took this beautiful 8-pt.
buck opening day of firearm
season in Huron Co.
72
Teresa
Renfer of
Jackson
took her
very first
buck
opening
day in
Hillsdale
Co., a
200 lb.
10-pt.
Mike
Woodworth
took this
200 lb.
8-pt. hunting the
evening
of Nov. 12
in Lapeer
Co. with a
crossbow.
Hayden Holton, 11 of
Houghton Lake took
his first deer on Nov. 12
with a crossbow while
hunting with his Grandfather in Barry Co.
Brenden Kozal,
7 patiently
hunted in
Papas stand
all October
without a bow
of his own.
After proving
himself with
Papas crossbow by putting every shot
into the vitals
on a target, his
father acquired
a mentor hunting license and
on Nov. 12 he
took this doe!
Gordon
Crane of
Manitou
Beach
took this
dandy
10-pt.
buck on
Nov. 15
during
a late
morning
hunt in
Lenawee
Co.
Vivian
Bailey, 8
took this
spike at
her grandfather's
property
in Clare
Co., her
first deer
with a
crossbow.
Second
deer of
her hunting career!
TROPHY PAGE
Joe
Sacco
took
this
8-pt.
bow
hunting late
Oct. in
Iosco
Co.
Mother/Daughter Success: Hanna Adamczak, 14, took her first deer, a 5-pt.
buck the evening of Nov. 4 with her
crossbow. On Nov. 14 Mary Adamczak
took a nice 8-pt. with her crossbow.
Konner
Vedrode,
17 took
this 8-pt.
with a
17 inch
spread on
Nov. 29 in
Midland
Co.
Rob Gillette took
73
Deploying an anchor off the stern of your kayak lets you always face downwind, get longer casts and use
the wind to move you along pieces of structure.
itemif you drive by one and see an
exercise bike out in the yard, chances
are good youll find some dumbbells,
too.
An anchor trolley works better
than installing a pulley at the stern.
This is basically a length of rope
looped through pulleys at each end of
your yak, with a ring through which
you put your anchor line.
By pulling the trolley
rope, you can move the
ringand anchor line
fore or aft, or even just
leave it right at the middle
of the boat. The trolley
lets you easily bring the
anchor to where you can
lift it in the boat, clear
weeds off and have it
ready to drop at your
next spot. Again, the
plastic dumbbell is my
favorite anchor as I dont have to be
super careful when bringing it over
the boat to stow.
For your anchor line, you dont
need thick ropeparacord works
great. I just came across this www.
paracordplanet.com website, which
has some good prices. A hundred feet
costs almost $20, but it will last a long
time. On most lakes, youll be fine
with just 50 feet.
Now, heres a question: What do
you do with 50 feet or more of anchor
line so coils dont lay around in your
kayak, just waiting for a sharp hook to
snag it? At the very least you need a
By Dave Mull
74
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75
By Richard P. Smith
The Survey
76
One of the bears photographed with a trail camera at one of the authors UP baits.
up seeing during their hunt because
many of them only feed under the
cover of darkness.
Two friends and I who bear
hunted together during 2015 maintained six baits in Keweenaw County,
for example. We only had cameras
that functioned properly on four of
those baits. The best bait was being
visited by 12 different bears, including an adult female with three cubs.
The family of four and six individual
bears were seen while that bait was
being hunted. One male was killed at
that bait.
Another 10 bears, including a sow
and two cubs, were photographed at
different bait that was not hunted as
often. Only one bear was seen while
that spot was being hunted and no
bears were shot there.
Six bears frequented bait number
three and a male was taken there.
Photos of five bears were recorded
at bait number four where an adult
female was harvested. Multiple bears
were present at two additional baits,
based on the bait that was eaten and
tracks, but scouting cameras placed
at those baits malfunctioned and no
bears were seen while those spots
were hunted. Due to the lack of good
information on those two baits, they
were not considered in the survey.
I also hunted deer over bait in
Keweenaw County during 2015,
miles from the bear baits and cameras
at those spots recorded photos of four
more bear. I got to thinking, If one
small party of hunters has photos of
33 different bruins, the total number
By Tom Carney
In Michigan, qualifying for and obtaining a license to carry a concealed pistol is the easy part.
First you have to determine if you are ready to accept the responsibility for carrying and
potentially using one. Tailfeather Communications, LLC photo.
are not going to be there when you
need them to be there. Things happen
quickly and are over most of the time
before you have a chance to call. If
youre going to depend on the police
to be there, its impossible. In other
words, law enforcement officers cannot be every place where and at every
time when violence might break out.
2) People have to be their own
advocates in situations like that, he
added. But dont start a gun fight
where there is none. Most of the
time the bad guys just want money
and to leave.
I think its the responsible thing to
do, being your own and your familys
advocate. Things probably arent going to go south, but you need to take
care of yourself.
3) We practice fire drills. We
practice tornado drills. Mostly likely
situations where youd need a gun are
not going to happen, but we practice
in the event they do.
4) The best thing is the gun is
there and you hope you never need to
use it.
The second officer flat out asked
me, Why dont you have your CPL
yet?
He continued, Here are my personal
feelings on concealed carry. I am 100
percent on board with law-abiding
citizens owning and carrying weapons, as long as they take the time to
train with the weapon and are well
versed on the consequences of using
that firearm no matter what it was
used for.
The average violent assault is
done and over in less than a minute.
he thought might have approached you from any number of different directions: a
close call either your own
or that of a friend, socialmedia driven fear, political
rhetoric, news reports of too many
attacks on people just like you, a
sense of responsibility to your family,
or just because you can. But
it sits out there, a Concealed
Pistol License (CPL), available to just about any clean
living adult citizen of the
State of Michigan.
The overriding question
resulting from that notion is
quite simple: Should I get
one?
Last year, one of
our neighbors was
awakened with the
sound of two men
fighting in her yard and tossing each
other against her house. Home alone
at the time, she was naturally fearful.
Several minutes after she called 911,
the sheriffs deputy arrived but then
remained in his car for several more
minutes until another car arrived. After the situation de-escalated, she says
he advised her to get some kind of
firearm for protection because, well,
look how long it took him to get there
and spring into action.
She and I discussed this, and she
told me instead of a handgun she
would be getting a pump shotgun for
home protection because the sound of
her racking a shell should be enough
to frighten the bejeebers out of any
future intruders. A pump sounds
about right for in-home defense. But
what about when you are away from
the house, I wondered.
Should I get one?
The State of Michigan offers
CPLs to its citizens, not CCW (Carry
Concealed Weapon) permits. The online PDF version of Firearms Laws
of Michigan is 242 pages long. One
significant spot for this discussion
seems to be Section 28.421a from
July 1, 2001, which states in part, It
is the intent of the legislature to create a standardized system for issuing
concealed pistol licenses.
Other sections mention that starting Dec. 1, 2015, county secretaries
shall issue such licenses or a notice of statutory disqualification. So,
Michigan is a shall issue state.
Most of the reasons for statutory disqualification apply to people
convicted of felonies or certain mis-
77
The Results
Trophy Elk,
Trophy Red Stag &
Trophy Fallow Deer
78
(906) 238-4482
(906) 630-1617
2016 Survey
I plan on conducting a similar
survey of the number of bears seen
and/or photographed in Michigan
for 2016. If you would like to share
information about the number of
bears you saw or captured photos of,
please let me know. I would like to
know the number of sows with cubs,
including the number of cubs each
had along with the number of single
bears that were at least a year old and
the county they were in.
This information can be emailed
to mibearcount@yahoo.com. For
those who do not have computers,
information about bears that were
photographed and seen can be sent to
Bear Count, 814 Clark St., Marquette,
MI 49855.n
Call
or
Male or Female
Cleaning, Degrease, Whiten
Prepared by You
Small Rodents & Mustilids
$30
Coyote, Fox, Lynx, Bobcat, Badger, Wolverine
$50
Deer, Javelina, Goat, Antelope
$100
Wolf, Mtn. Lion, Black Bear <13 length, Boar <13
$110
Elk, Sheep, Bl. Bear >13, Grizzly Bear, Caribou, Boar >13 $140
j.ohmer@yahoo.com
and devotees!
And further that none of us advocate a "pitchfork and axe" mentality against one of the game animal
species just because it doesn't happen
to be at the top of our own personal
favorite list.
As a suggestion, if Mr. Darwin
wants to energize the base against
a true menace to Michigan deer, he
might first start with the wolf in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I personally
hunted on the Seney National Wildlife
Refuge this (2016) season where wolf
tracks and scat (filled with deer hair
and bones) outnumbered deer tracks
on the order of 10 to 1.
Regards,
Dave Smith
Beaverton, MI
n
e
J
k
i
n
n
e
s
L
HUNT CLUB
Custom Gun Dog Training English Setters
HARD-FLYING PHEASANTS
In Good Cover
(Including Blues)
QUALITY ENGLISH
SETTERS
From 47 Years Of Selective Breeding
(Lunch Provided)
79
Visit our website (www.woods-n-waternews.com) to vote for your favorite trail cam photo each
month. The photo with the most votes will receive a Woods-N-Water News mock Cover
from pagefeaturing
??
their photo. Once we have twelve monthly winners from our website, well ask you to choose the
Grand Prize winner which will get a new Stealth Cam.
Send your photos to: wnw@pageone-inc.com (please submit in jpeg format)
www.woods-n-waternews.com
80
Earl Tappenden got this great buck on trail cam. Look at the neck
on this fella, wonder what hes looking for?
Marianne Porter of Holly captured this young bull moose walking up the
driveway of their hunting cabin in the U.P. It appears tjos fella walked
right up to our cabin, too bad we werent home, but our camera was!
Gary Borse captured
this 4-pointer watching
two 8-pointers fighting
on his trail cam.
Kraig Staples has these two bucks in full combat on his hunting
property near Millerburg on his trail cam.
Marianne
Porter sent us
nice U.P. trail
cam photo of a
young buck on
their hunting
property.
81
Involved in my life
out My first!
What a joy it is to watch a child
shine. Elis supreme firearm handling
was a real testimony to his fathers
care and proper instruction. At all
times, he kept his weapon pointed in a
safe direction.
I join up with Eli and Jeff and
they commence with the much expected hunt story. A buck appeared
at the far end of the cut cornfield and
was walking towards them. Eli asked
if it was a spike because they had
seen several spikes on their other sits
but never could get a shot off due to
the deer either being too far
away or the animal simply
moved too fast scurrying
for thicker cover. This time
Jeff responded, No, its an
8-point.
The 8-point buck ran
into the thick cover before
ever getting into shooting
range. Fortunately, a few
minutes later a spike
entered the field and
Eli set up for the
shot. While they waited for the little
buck to come closer a doe ran into
the field followed by the 8-point. The
8-point was only seventy yards out
and broadside. Jeff grunted causing
the buck to stop. He told Eli to take
the shot but the buck started moving away so Jeff grunted again and
received the same results, the buck
stopped for a second time. This time
Eli triggered his .357 rifle and after
firing, the buck sprinted across the
field favoring his right front leg.
Eli exclaimed, Is that a good
shot? I think I hit him in the shoulder.
Jeff agreed with the assessment
and actually expected the buck to tip
over before leaving the field but that
was not the case.
Jeff is color-blind so it was up to
me and Eli to find a blood trail. We
first searched the field and found nothing. We then went to the far edge of
the field and found the exit trail. Initially we failed to find any sign on the
trail but while re-checking it, I found
a single drop of blood on a blade of
green grass. We now had confirmation
of a hit.
Eli found another small drop of
blood on a faint trail that veered off of
the one that we were one. The blood
was very sporadic. We then found a
large area covered in crimson. This
blood had air bubbles, which I stated
out loud and Eli asked what that
meant. I told him that it indicated that
he shot the deer in the lungs and there
was a very good chance that the deer
was dead.
Yes, responded the excited
hunter.
Unbelievably, this large pool
of blood completely circled a small
By Jerry Lambert
82
September 12, 2015 after a massive heart attack. Before leaving this
world, he left behind a legacy through
his love and devotion to his family.
From a brother-in-laws perspective he
taught his son one of the greatest lessons in life, he taught Eli how to love
and respect a woman. In addition,
Elis disciplined knowledge of proper
firearm handling is engrained in him
through countless hours spent with his
dad.
Ten year-old Eli wrote this comment on his dads obituary: Mike
was my dad. He was very involved in
my life, he was my den leader, and he
worked the book fair with me and my
mom. I miss him but it makes me feel
better knowing that he is in a much
better place now, and I am happy for
him.
When we got the deer to the
corn field I told Eli that it was time to
say a prayer to God. Out loud I said,
Thank you Lord for blessing Eli with
this buck and thank you for blessing
us with Eli!
I wanted to add, and please tell
Mike about Eli getting his first deer,
but I knew that I couldnt do it without choking up and kept the comment
to myself. You done good Mike real
good!
Eli has now entered the fraternity
of successful deer hunters. I am
thankful that my brothers and I have
had the opportunity of sharing our
passion with our nephew: the marksman. If you get the opportunity to
take a youngster hunting or fishing,
seize the day. The memories you make
will last a lifetime, for you
and them!n
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83
My made in Michigan
fishing lures wish list
PART I
been found with several different styles of propellers and hook hangers. Some came with L-rigged
hook hardware and others were rigged with longy now many of my Woods-N-Water
shanked stand off hook hangers that were deNews readers know I collect Made in
signed to hold the hooks away from the lures body.
Michigan fishing tackle of all kinds,
especially fishing lures from the medium- They also have been found in a variety of colors
ranging from simple two-tone color schemes to
sized and smaller manufacturers. Our
state was important in helping to develop speckled finishes to one with a tree bark finish.
His third manufactured bait was the Kingfisher
the fledgling fishing tackle industry, which began
Bait,
Game Fish Lure Mfg., Grand Rapids. The 3
over one hundred years ago. Michigan was the
-inch wood bait had L-Rig hardware, and
home to such famous lure manufacturers
its shape reminded me of the Rush Tango
as Heddon, Shakespeare, Paw Paw, the
Minnow made in New York about the
Helin Flatfish and the world famous Epsame time. I have also seen others made in
pinger Dardevle spoons.
a jointed, two-piece style. Franklin Algers
Dardevles and other Eppinger lures are
fourth manufactured lure, The Michigan
still being produced in its Dearborn factory
Trout Spinner, had a brass spinner blade
where upwards of two million fishing lures
that he also used on many of his wood
are made each year. These were certainly
baits. The metal spinner measured one
the most famous, but there were over six
inch across the blade and was stamped out
hundred other Michigan lure
on a small homemade, handmanufacturers. A few were only
operated press.
in business a short time, but a
The Bon-Net lure made by
number of medium-sized tackle
the
Arnold
Tackle
Companys
from Paw Paw is
companies survived and prospered over the years.
another
lure
on
my
wish
list.
This
6-treble hook
Here are three different Made in Michigan manumusky
lure
really
started
out
in
Eau
Claire, Wisfacturers and their lures that I am still looking to
consin
where
Birdell
Peterson,
who
was
the sportadd to my collection. I hope the information I have
ing
goods
manager
at
the
Hobbs
Supply
Company,
provided will be of interest to my readers.
came up with the idea. Hobbs was a wholesale
Franklin Alger produced the first wood fishing
lures made in Grand Rapids. City directories listed distributor selling to hardware stores in northwest
him as clerk, carver, broker, contractor and carpen- Wisconsin who specialized in plumbing, heating,
hardware, as well as sporting goods including fishter over a twenty-five year period starting in 1887.
ing tackle. Sometime during 1949, Peterson made
He was an innovative woodworker-craftsman who
created at least fifty different lure designs including a sales call on his close friend, Orin Stanwick, the
baits with special diving lips, propellers and blades, owner of Henrys Sports Shop in Eau Claire. During their conversation, Stanwick complained about
a lure that would rattle upon retrieve, as well as an
the demise of one of his favorite musky baits, the
L-shaped hook hanger, much like the one that
Heddon #300 Musky Minnow. This wood bait, first
Heddon developed several years later.
introduced in 1905, originally came with just two
Alger commercially produced four different
treble hooks. Heddon began offering it with six
lures including the Getsem Weedless Bait, patented in 1916, a 2-inch chunk style bait with two treble hooks as a special order around 1916, and in
1925, the lure was changed to 3 -inches in length
mechanical hooks mounted on its belly. The Getalong with a fatter shape. The Heddon #300 6-hook
sem was apparently popular because shortly after
Musky Minnow was dropped from their lineup after
he began marketing it himself, Alger sold it to the
the 1941season.
Hastings Sporting Goods Works of Hastings. The
With the support of Orin Stanwick and other
only production color for either the Algers Getsem
northern
Wisconsin fishing tackle customers, Peor the Hastings version was white with five red
dots painted on the back of the lure, although Alger
painted different colored Getsems for his own use.
He also sold a 3 -inch surface bait with a great
name, the Algers Tantalizer. The Tantalizer has
By Terry McBurney
84
The Bon-Net 6-hook muskie lure was promoted as a proven killer for muskies and nor thern pike. The Arnold Tackle Company of Paw
Paw, Michigan originally made it for the W. H.
Hobbs Supply Company of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Photo cour tesy of Langs Auctions
The largest of the three solid aluminum saltwater Babbitt Automatic Weedless Fish Lures
measured 6-inches in length. Craig and Deb
Emery collection
85
86
About 3.5 miles of the Pilgrim River, a cold-water trout stream, flow
through the Pilgrim River Forest proper ty. A conser vation easement is
in the process of being acquired here. MDNR photo
the development rights below the
appraised value, so the landowner
essentially donated the match, Ratliff
said. Once people understand what
a working forest is from a land
perspective and a wildlife perspective,
and how important it is to the local
economy this program is compelling. This is what Michigan is about:
woods and water and recreation.
Crisp Point, located in the northeastern part of the Upper Peninsula, is
an example of where the DNR acquired land as part of the Forest Legacy Program. Here, the DNR acquired
3,810 acres in Luce and Chippewa
counties, including an inland lake and
more than 2.5 miles of Lake Superior
shoreline. The grant provided nearly
$6 million, 75 percent of the purchase
price. A private individual donated the
remaining 25 percent.
Its a highly visible site because
the Crisp Point Lighthouse, which
is county-owned, is adjacent to the
property and draws a lot of visitors,
Wieber said, So it draws a lot of visitors to the state land. Its open to any
use any other state forest land is open
to. Theres snowmobile trails and numerous two-tracks used by ORVs.
The way the program works is
the DNR requests project nominations from the public, which are
usually submitted by landowners or
conservancies. The Forest Legacy
Subcommittee of the Michigan Forest
Stewardship Advisory Committee
reviews the nominations and makes
a recommendation to the committee,
which decides which projects to seek
funding for and the amount requested.
Following state forester approval,
proposals are submitted to the U.S.
Forest Service. Grant applications are
reviewed by a national panel, where
they are prioritized and included in
the presidents budget.
87
88
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tiny rustic cabins built inside and out with superior-quality WoodHaven log siding, knotty pine paneling and barn wood products.
Tiny Cabins are available in sizes of 12x12 up to 12x30 and come with an open floor plan or you may choose from
five of our turn key floor plans. Cabins are fully insulated, wired to code with generator hookup, LP hookup
and finished off with WoodHavens log siding and interior paneling. FINANCING IS AVAILABLE.
For more information call or visit our website to view our brochure:
1.888.988.PINE (7463)
FINANCING AVAILABLE
www.woodhavenlog.com
Phone: 989.826.8300
Dealer in Howell, MI. To view Tiny Cabins, Contact Steve (810) 599-5147
WoodHavens handcrafted log siding, knotty pine paneling and accessories can help
your dreams come true with your existing home, cabin or new project.
89
FOR SALE
A TEMPUR-PEDIC MEMORY
FOAM MATTRESS SET.
Clean. Never used. As seen on TV.
Cost $1700. Sell for $695. 989-8322401. M-4-14-TFN
................................................
AN
AMISH
LOG
HEADBOARD AND QUEEN
pillowtop mattress set. New. Sell all
for $275. 989-923-1278.
M-4-14-TFN
................................................
AMISH LOG BEDS, ANY
SIZE $199. 5 drawer log chest
$199. Good quality. Lowest prices in
Michigan. 989-839-4846. M-4-14TFN
................................................
LOG BUNK BEDS. $495. Amish
lodge furniture. Call Dan 989-8321866. M-4-14-TFN
................................................
BOATS
2010 LUND 18.5 ANGLER 115
Mercury FourStroke, Minn Cota,
hummingbird. Travel cover, top and
all canvas, matching trailer as new
$22,000. 419-541-6628.
B-12-2
................................................
WANTED
TIMBER: Buying all types of timber, 5 acres or more, top price paid.
Cash in advance. Improve wildlife
habitat. Patco Forest Products, 989539-7588 after 6 p.m. W-9-12/16
................................................
GUNS
BUYING AND SELLING shotguns and rifles, new and used. All in
excellent condition. 517-740-2195.
G-1-1
................................................
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T = Taxidermy
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W = Wanted
FISHING
HUNTING LEASE
REAL ESTATE
CANADIAN
FISHING
TRIP. Want to go fishing?
Book early and save. One of
Ontarios best multiple fish
lakes, fish for Walleye, Northern, Small Mouth, Lake Trout,
Perch and other fish. Well
spaced out log & framed cabins, all boats have electric start
motors, fish finders and swivel
seats. Upgrade boats and motors available. 6 days/nights
$445.00 U.S. funds per person
with a group of 4 or more (2
people per boat) www.northernwalleyelodge.com or toll free
1-877-434-2440. F-1-TFN
GOOD HUNTING/FISHING! 200+ gated acres available for yearly lease. Boat
docks with power and boat
ramp. mile canal with 2
dredged channels to the
Saginaw Bay, casino within 1
mile. Perfect for hunt clubs!
References needed. Email
DJRMVP@gmail.com
by
appointment only. HL-1-4
HUNTING
RAY'S U.P. HUNTING Over
25 years experience guiding for deer
and bear. Baited stands in Amasa,
Baraga, and Bergland Units. Lodging
Available. Call Ray at 906-265-9420
or cell (906) 284-2216. Licensed and
Insured. H-1-12
................................................
ROCKY MOUNTAIN ELK
HUNTS AVAILABLE
IN
LUPTON, MI! Valhalla Lodge is
offering a limited number of bull elk
hunts on our 880 acre private hunting
preserve. Your hunt will be 3.5 days
for you and a guest, all inclusive, 1 on
1 guided for a bull scoring between
280 SCI and 320 SCI. Hunts are
available December - January for
$5750 w/ no additional fees.
Discounts available for multiple hunters! Contact Anthony 810-223-4587.
H-12-3
................................................
BEAR GUIDE Merv 5 day
hunt in 98 sq miles. Room and
board $1500 US mervrinta@
gmail.com See website www.
bearguidemerv.com H-8-8
REAL ESTATE
139 MATURE WOODS, Pine
River Flows thru the Center, 3 Acre
Pond, Rolling, Big Oaks, Maples
90% Wooded, West of Pt. Huron,
Wales Township. Dead end road. St
Clair
County.
$278,000.
JUSTLANDSALES.COM to see pictures or 596-419-6716.
RE-1-1
................................................
BUSINESS FOR SALE:
Party store on Black River in
Tower, MI. The only store in
town. Liquor, wine, lotto, DNR
licenses, live bait. Village Post
Office rents a room in the building. Located in the heart of
Pigeon River State Forest.
Excellent hunting and fishing in
area. Store has been in operation for 30 years on high traffic
M-68/33 Hwy. Over 600K gross
in 2015. Asking 250K plus
inventory. Owners are retiring.
989-733-2480. RE-11-3
NAME
ADDRESS
CITYSTATEZIP
DAYTIME PHONE NO.
VISA/MASTERCARD#EXP:
RESORTS/RENT
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18)
90
(19)
(20)
$30.00
$30.25
$30.50
$30.75
$31.00
$31.25
$31.50
$31.75
$32.00
$32.25
$32.50
$32.75
$33.00
$33.25
$33.50
$33.75
$34.00
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$34.50
$34.75
$35.00
$35.25
$35.50
$35.75
$36.00
$36.25
$36.50
$36.75
Enclosed is $for
words to runmonths.
NORTHERN
ONTARIO
BEAR HUNTS: Booking now for
Spring and Fall of 2017. Includes
comfortable cabin, boat and motor,
baited stands. Very experienced
guides. High success rate. 3 hours
from the Soo. References on request.
$960 U.S. 705-869-3272 www.texasandsons.com H-10-12-16
................................................
UPPER
PENINSULA,
REXTON, MI 2 bedroom, 2 bath
mobile home for rent. 3 night/4 day
minimum occupancy, no smokers.
mile to trails. 906-430-2269. RR-1-2
................................................
MODERN CABIN FOR RENT
ON BEAR CREEK, sleeps 5. Full
kitchen, AC, Satellite TV, BBQ, 10
Minutes from Manistee River and
supplies. 231-590-1136. RR-9-6
................................................
................................................
DOGS
DOGS
DOGS
DOGS
AKC
REGISTERED
BEAGLE PUPS and starter
dogs for sale. Red Pine Kennels 989-736-3486 or 989-2542777. D-1-1
GERMAN SHORTHAIR
POINTER PUPS: Males
and females available. Excellent hunting dogs and superb
family pets. Close working dogs
with strong point and retrieve
instincts. Reasonably priced for
the sporting family. Money back
guarantee. Eulenhof Kennels,
Gladwin, MI.
http://www.eulenhof.com
989-426-4884 D-12-2
Classifieds work!
(810) 724-0254
GUNDOG TRAINING AT
ITS BEST! by Paul
Rheaume. Over 30 years
experience with pointing and
flushing breeds. All inclusive 4
week class that is customized
to meet your dog's needs.
Excellent for young dogs starting out, for experienced dogs
tuning up, or for dogs with
issues. $600. Find us on
Facebook or online http://gundogtraining.webs.com.
Rheaume's Kennel. (989) 8648606. D-11-6
................................................
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92
92-97
231-652-7000
- or -
231-250-8200
1,250,000
Antrim County, 52+/- Acres
$499,000
359+/- ACRES,
TUSCOLA &
GENESEE
COUNTIES
30 Acre Private Lake, 3,400
sq ft Custom Lodge,
70x70 Pole Barn, 60x120
Pole Barn, 2 Rental
Houses, 26 Ladder Stands,
5 Elevated Box Blinds
1,950,000
$129,000
$1,650,000
NG
I
ND
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P
Kalkaska County, 40 Acres, Cabin, Barn, Mason County, 35+/- Acres, Farm Land
on 2 Sides, Heavy Bedding Cover
Trout Pond, Excellent Hunting
$115,000
$52,500
LD
NG
NG
I
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WildLifeRealty.com
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93
MLS 16008512 - N French Bay Rd - Beaver Island: Beautiful acreage on majestic Beaver Island!
Imagine building your dream home nestled on your own private oasis or maybe having your own
deer hunting compound. This diverse wooded habitat boasts approx. 120 acres atop the West side
bluff which then splits down to a multi level bluff to the lower area on the Western border. The NE
corner features a Cedar swamp & the road to French Bay goes thru the SW corner. The N & W sides
of this 160 acre parcel is bordered by over 240 acres of State land. Access to a trail to Lake Michigan
with views that are second to none. Hold as an investment, clear the timber & farm or build your
future - opportunity is endless. This is your chance to own a large chunk of Michigan's Emerald Isle.
MLS 16050659 - S Kings Hwy. - Welcome nature lovers! This quaint, secluded cottage is nestled on 170
acres of Pure Michigan forest with 900' frontage on the pristine Pere Marquette River. Whether you love to hunt,
fish or enjoy wildlife this wooded property has it all. The cabin is steps from the rustling water & features an
open floor plan w/ the focal point being a custom stone fireplace complete w/ a swing arm to cook an amazing
meal over the open fire. The 1st bedroom is river side to soothe you to sleep & plenty of extra sleeping in 2nd
bedroom w/ 2 sets of bunks & twin size bed. Also includes pull out couch & trundle bed to accommodate up to
11 people great for a big get together. The large bath features storage & walk-in shower. The fully applianced
kitchen has plenty of counter space & storage. Also includes 24 x 32 pole barn, 6 deer blinds, fire pit, shed w/
wood shelter & wood stove. Mother Nature at her best. Own your own private paradise today!
Chain OLakes,
3 Bed 1 Bath
MLS 16058302 $22,900
9 Acre Mobile,
2 Bed 2 Bath
MLS 16044803 $46,900
11 Acres,
3 Bed 2 Bath
MLS 16046586 $79,900
25 Acre Cabin,
1 Bed 1 Bath
MLS 16057584 $69,900
94
Parcel B - Lovely acreage and excellent location, it is really a great place to get away! Build a
cabin or simply use it for camping- it is close to the ORV trails and San Born Creek is just down
the street. Its a must see! MLS 16057600 $9,900
Parcel 13 - Beautifully wooded, square 9.65 acre parcel with Hundreds of Acres of State Land
on 2 sides. Level with a mix of hard and soft woods. Trail Head is located just down the road.
Additional acreage available. MLS 16056091 $27,900
Great location for this 10 acre parcel! Hundreds of acres of State land across the street and
close to the trails! This piece is priced to sell! Come walk this property before its gone.
MLS 16057544 $21,900
Parcel 1 - Beautifully wooded 5 Acre parcel, level- with a mix of hard and soft wood. Excellent
for hunting and outdoor pursuits as it is adjacent to State Land, right in the heart of ORV
country. Additional acreage available. Taxes based on a larger parcel. MLS 16056907 $17,900
Parcel A - Great location for this 5 acre parcel! Hundreds of acres of State land across the street
and close to the trails! This piece has been cut and is priced to sell! Come walk this property
before its gone. MLS 16057529 $13,900
Parcel 4 - 5 Acre parcel, level - liberally wooded with a mix of hard and soft wood. Excellent
for hunting and outdoor pursuits as it is close to State Land, right in the heart of ORV country.
Additional acreage available. Taxes based on a larger parcel. MLS 16056896 $17,900
Located in the heart of the Manistee National Forest this 58 M/L Acres is perfectly situated
between 2 county maintained roads. Property has small creek running through it. Nicely
wooded, with Michigans best mixture of Hardwoods, Walking distance to State Land.
MLS 16020982 $69,900
Parcel 6 - Square 9.71 Acre property, level- liberally wooded with a mix of hard and soft wood.
Excellent for hunting and outdoor pursuits as it adjoins State Land, right in the heart of ORV
country. Additional acreage available. Taxes based on a larger parcel. Property access through
easement. MLS 16056880 $26,900
Parcel 11 - Beautifully wooded, square 9.67 acre parcel with State Land on across the street
and down the road. Level with a mix of hard and soft woods. Trail Head is located just down the
road. Additional acreage available. Taxes based on larger parcel. MLS 16056290 $26,900
Parcel B - 5.26 Acre parcel level- with a mix of hard and soft wood. Excellent for hunting and
outdoor pursuits as it is across the street from Federal Land, right in the heart of ORV country.
Additional acreage available. Taxes have not yet been assessed. MLS 16058075 $17,900
www.TrophyClassRealEstate.com
THINKING OF SELLING OR BUYING?
CALL US FIRST!!
877-843-0910
THE LAND
EXPERTS
YOU CAN
TRUST
ALLEGAN COUNTY
#16051578
$775,000
LAKE COUNTY
#16041271
$575,000
160 Acres with impeccable
log style home!
2100sf, 3 bed/3 bath built with
unmatched quality. Hunters
dream property! Hardwoods,
cedar swamp & creek, ridges,
trails, blinds, adjoins public
land, pole building.
IOSCO COUNTY
#1822401
$499,900
OCEANA COUNTY
#16034042
$164,900
295 Acres off Grid
with Cabin!
Great hunting camp near
Tahquamenon Falls. Trail
system, hardwoods, hemlock,
aspen & cedar surround cabin
(2 bed/1 bath, well/septic/
propane/space heater).
CHIPPEWA COUNTY
#1818994
$349,000
160 Acres, Small Lake,
Ponds & Cottage
Property is wooded with
established blinds, versatile
terrain, rolling hills, creek
beds, 2-tracks and approx. 55
acres of quality AG land.
MONTCALM COUNTY
#16014410
$569,000
SCHOOLCRAFT COUNTY
#1818121
$89,500
OCEANA COUNTY
#16055249
$339,900
GRAND HAVEN
TRAVERSE CITY
4249 US 31 S
TRAVERSE CITY, MI 49685
(231) 233-3575
Pristine 80 of Lake
Michigan frontage with
Log Home!
The views are incredible
and the 3 bed/2 bath
home is cozy and inviting.
Nestled on private wooded
lot!
95
Lewiston 69 Acres
ONLY
an ONLINE
15 for
Subscription!
$229,000
Sandi Ahlers
Office 989-366-5522
Cell 989-538-0131
PER YEAR
www.woods-n-waternews.com
St. Louis
Paved road, 5 minutes from town, 3 bedroom, outdoor kitchen,
forced air heat, wood stove in living room, 3 out buildings. 30x40
fenced dog kennel with heated dog house. Laundry room, partial
wrap around front porch, lots of custom features, St. Louis school
district (bus stop in front of the house), 5.6 acres. Appliances
included: dishwasher, stove, fridge, washer, and dryer.
River frontage, bon fire area, paved drive, old growth trees, lots
of wildlife, great deer and turkey hunting, eagles and otters seen
on regular basis. Ladder stand and shooting lanes with trails
throughout the woods.
$
John Baker
96
PROPERTIES
Heritage
House
RealtyPC
IG RIVER
Fully
furnished
4
bedrooms, 2 bath bi-level
just outside East Tawas.
Enjoy all the area has to offer
while still feeling like youre
getting away from it all!
REDUCED to sell fast at
$109,000
WEST BRANCH
M-33/M-55 OFFICE
1953 S. M-33
West Branch, MI 48661
HALE
OFFICE
ALE
S
R
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Local: 989-345-2662
Toll Free: 800-535-6520
WEST BRANCH
LOOP OFFICE
ALE
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www.CAHANES.com
Local: 989-728-2540
Toll Free: 800-495-2540
www.CAHANES.com
Local: 989-345-0315
Toll Free: 866-345-0315
1823244
1823342
1818996
1821492
WATERFRONT!!
KAYAK
& FISH!!
SPACIOUS 4
BEDROOMS!!
BREATHTAKING
VIEWS!!
WEEKEND
GETAWAY!!
$160,000
$89,000
$84,900
$164,900
$20,000
FINISH TO
YOUR LIKING!!
1798555
FISHING
AT YOUR
DOOR!!
1823032
1804694
COZY
GETAWAY!!
40 ACRE
HORSE
FARM!!
1823747
OVER 19
ACRES!!
$145,000
$82,000
$154,900
$67,000
$250,000
1805656
1820402
1817896
1816928
1808082
SECLUDED
HUNTING
CABIN!!
1872 SQUARE
FEET!!
76+ ACRES!!
MOVE-IN READY!!
Beautiful setting on 1.37 ACRES w/3-bdrm BiLevel home, garage, blacktop drive, open floor
plan, cathedral ceilings, patio, shed, deck, fenced
area & gorgeous countryside views!!
$64,900
$104,900
$149,900
$249,900
$119,900
1803058
1822183
MOSTLY
FURNISHED!!
ALL SPORTS
LAKE!
1823766
1824110
CUTE
AND
COZY!!
STUNNING
RIVERFRONT!!
1825235
SEMISECLUDED!!
LAKE OGEMAW
WATERFRONT!
$54,900
$45,900
$169,900
$29,900
$225,000
1810533
1818044
1820282
STUNNING
RIVER
SETTING!!
BEAUTIFUL
ROLLING
PROPERTY!!
1822179
1808352
ON CHANNEL
TO LAKE!!
WALK TO
POPULAR
LAKE!!
$162,500
$59,000
$162,000
$129,900
$117,000
1811740
21.9 ACRES!
1816105
1820337
1798150
1799930
POSSIBLE
4 BEDROOM!!
EXCELLENT
LOCATION!!
2.78
ACRES!!
BEAUTIFUL
CAPE COD!!
BEAUTIFUL
VIEWS!!!
$54,900
$142,900
$44,900
$285,000
$116,000
WWW.CAHANES.COM
1819756
97
DAN DAN
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2017 Polar Kraft 179 WT 2017 Polar Kraft 166 WT 2017 Polar Kraft 165SC
115 hp
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(810) 629-2291
Exit 84 on US-23
FLINT
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FENTON
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IN
STOCK
G42
The new GLOCK 42, in .380 AUTO, is a slimline subcompact pistol engineered
with the GLOCK Perfection promise and able to withstand the rigors of
routine training. Made in the USA, the G42 is the smallest pistol GLOCK has
ever introduced, making it ideal for pocket carry and shooters with smaller
hands. Years of requests across market groups for a super-concealable,
reliable single-stack .380 GLOCK pistol prompted extensive research and
development to bring the GLOCK customer the G42.
IN K
C
O
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S
The G43 is our new single stack, 9mm pistol. The G43 is the most highly desired
and anticipated release in GLOCKs history. The G43 is the answer to your
everyday concealed carry needs. It's ultra-concealable, accurate and fantastic
for all shooters regardless of hand size. The grip has a built in beaver tail design
which allows the shooter to acquire a high and tight grip. The aggressive texture
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catch allows for easy removal of the six round magazine. Engineered to the same
standards, the G43 can withstand the same tortures as other GLOCK pistols.
31516 Harper Avenue
St. Clair Shores, MI 48082
STORE HOURS:
Mon. - Fri: 10am-7pm;
Sat: 10am-4pm; Closed Sunday
Available at:
G43
Layaways Welcome
Michi-GUN
www.michigunandtackle.com