Blog Archive for November of 2009

November 30, 2009

Another hiatus of sorts. We've been busy over the holiday, and I just haven't gotten to the blog. Aside from the usual eating, watching football, and enjoying the company of family and friends, I have also been busy taking care of the doe I shot.

When I got home on Tuesday, I skinned the deer and got it ready to cut up. While I was skinning it, I found the bullet from my 30/30 lodged just under the hide behind the front right shoulder. I had hit the deer just behind the left shoulder, and we saw the path of the bullet through the lungs when we gutted it. The confounding part of the whole scenario was that there was a hole just in front of the left hip. A bunch of fat was protruding from what looked like an exit wound. You can see it in this picture.

You can see what looks like an exit wound near the hip.

Rick thought that I hit it back of where I thought I had, but we both found that I hit the deer where I thought I did behind the front leg. It didn't make sense to have an exit wound on the same side. When I found the bullet under the skin opposite of where I hit it, I called Rick. Rick surmised that I had taken a doe that Ricky had shot at with his bow. Ricky told Rick that he had hit it too far back. They never found the deer. Ricky had hit the deer the Thursday before the gun opener. The type of wound it had was consistant with the scenario. It solved a riddle that was confounding Rick and I since we found the deer.

I try to hang my deer overnight after I skin it because I hose it down to get any hair from skinning off the meat. Unless the meat dries overnight, it is very slippery and makes boning it more difficult.

The next day I got the deer boned and the meat cleaned a second time. While I quartered it I found that this deer had a good deal of fat on it. In fact, I would say the layer of fat over the back of the hind quarters was thicker than I have seen on any other deer that I have cut up. I would expect to find more fat on a doe, because the bucks run a lot of their fat reserve off during the rut chasing does. The bumper crop of acorns this Fall allowed this deer to fattened up. This year's mast crop will help many more deer make it through the winter and help build the herd back up from two consecutive bad winters.

My son and his new wife arrived Wednesday night and he brought with him his meat grinder, spices, brat recipe, and sausage stuffer. We ground up the meat and mixed the spices to add to the burger to make the brats. We then soaked a "hank" I had bought.

A "hank" is what they call a quantity of hog casings, pig intestines. One Hank is enough to do about a hundred pounds of meat. It comes heavily salted, and the casings are woven together like a tangle mass of kite string. We ferreted out a casing and then hooked it up to the faucet and ran water through it. My son says this helps lubricate the inside of the casings and helps when putting it on the sausage stuffer end which they call the horn.

With the casing on the horn you begin to feed the meat into the machine, and it slowly pushes it into the casing. Stuffing the casings is easier if you have two people. One to steadily feed the auger and the other to pinch the casing just hard enough to prevent it from slipping off the horn too fast.

The sausage comes out in one long piece. When that individual casing is stuffed you then pinch and twist each brat. You twist the first one one way and then the second the other way and so on. Once they are all twisted you cut them. You might think that once cut the sausage would ooze out, but it doesn't.

We stuffed twenty five pounds worth of brats. That's about eighty good sized brats. I then used the food saver and vaccuumed sealed and froze them. By the way, if you use a vaccuum sealer the "Food Saver" brand bags are $19.99 at Meijers. They also sell a generic brand that is half that price, $9.99. I thought I'd try the cheaper bags and they seemed to work just find. I also found today that those same cheaper bags are sold at ABC Warehouse for $7.99. That's a very good price. I saw them when I stopped today to buy some jewel cases for my DVDs and CDs. You can get twenty-five jewel cases at ABC Warehouse for $3.99. That's the cheapest I've ever seen them. They also had 100 CDs or DVDs on sale today for $15.99 which is a very good price.

Here are some pictures of our sausage stuffing operation.

This is the whole "Hank" soaking in a pan. You can save the extras by salting them heavily. They say, they will last a long time that way.

Using the "Kitchen Aid" to grind and stuff.

Another shot of the brat action.

I grilled some brats, and then put them in a crock pot with two bottles of beer and onions. I let them soak for about four hours. My son learned that is how all the brat restaurants in Milwaukee cook and keep their brats. Very good gumming.

I bagged and froze some of the meat we mixed for brats. In Milwaukee, you can get brat burgers and they are very good, so I thought I would freeze some to hold in reserve for one of those cold winter days that will be coming up soon.

If you think you might want to try to make some brats or sausage my son got his info off of The Spicy Sausage Website . Clicking the link will take you to the recipe we used. The website has a lot of good information on all facets of sausage, brats, etc. making.

Stepping away from the brat line a bit, I spent some time today sorting pictures that I was given by several folks. They had taken a bunch of pictures at my son's recent wedding and recently gave them to me. I spent a couple hours today readying 200 of them to upload to the Cosco Photo Center . I get all my pictures printed at Cosco. They have very good pricing and you can do everything online. Here is a print of the wedding posse making sure my son got to the church on time. Not really, we were walking off a big lunch we had following our Lakefront Brewery tour and lunch at the Brat House Brat House. The second shot is of a couple of old Tear Drop Bass Tournament Trail anglers.

The Wedding Posse with Dandy Don packing the heat.

Myself and my ole buddy Dandy Don all wedding out.

Well, I had better get some other work done today. We are planning on running up to the cabin for a couple of nights. I have to be back in town Friday. Nick "Tejas Bajo Magistra" Vawter emailed me, and we are going to meet for breakfast on Friday morning. If you are in town and want to join us, email me for time and place.

Take care, and make sure you take some time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile of your face.

November 24, 2009

My 2009 rifle season for Michigan whitetails is pretty much over. We are heading back to town today to get ready for family time over the Thanksgiving holiday. I truly enjoy the outdoors, and I could pursue deer every day of the season and not get bored or lose the excitement that the call of the wild has. However, the older I get the more I realize how important time with friends and family is. So going home doesn't sadden me or put a damper on my outdoor enthusiasm a bit. "To everything there is a season and a time to every puprose..." And I think one does well to remember that and not get too caught up in one's passions whether it be deer hunting or fishing.

I see a lot of young guys spending probably too much time away from their families. You have to have that balance, because you don't know what you have till its gone.

Granted a good part of deer hunting is that camp camaraderie. The sharing of stories, the banter, the meals, the card playing, and carousing. The time away is invigorating, but by no means should it impede that family time at home. You simply have to work out that balance, which isn't always easy. It's been frustrating for me at times, but like I said earlier, the older one gets the more they realize the importance of family.

Speaking of family the Cementman's brother Jim had some heart surgery yesterday. The call last night was that things went well. Jim, as you recall from an earlier blog entry, is Rick's older brother, and one of the two that shot a six point opening day. He had to leave camp early for a doctor appoointment which eventuated in the surgery, but it's reassuring to know that he's going to be on the mend and will be back for many more deer camps in the future. Here's a shot of Jim with his deer he got this year opening morning.

Jim and his opening day six pointer.

You may have also remembered reading that Rick's wife had some health issues, and that she was in the hospital a short time ago. Since then, she has been seeing some specialists to determine what caused her problems. Yesterday she had an appointment to discuss the results of some recent tests with a specialist. He said that everything is looking good. Great news!

Rick, Cory, and I did hunt yesterday morning, the eighth day of the season. I sat in Rick's rifle blind, Cory sat back by the lake, and Rick sat in his son Ricky's rifle blind. We got to the sheds as usual a little after six am. You then have about thirty to forty minutes where you sit in the darkness listening to the sounds of the woods. Sometimes during that wait you check to see if the backs of your eyelids have any leaks. You don't want to let yourself nod off for too long, however, because that early morning period is when the deer like to move, and sometimes things can be over and done with fast.

Rick and I were in the blinds that the Skinners have built along a powerline. The powerline provides about a fifty yard clearing between rolling hills and several large swamps. At night, the deer are filtering out of their bedding areas in the swamps, and meandering up into the hills that are covered in oaks to look for their favorite food source, acorns. In the morning, things are reversed, and your gaze is toward the hills watching for the deer to come back toward the swamp.

The area out in front of the blind I'm in has a lot of tall grass. Grass that swallows up a deer. As they are moving through it, all you see is the tops of their heads and their ears. Rick has put in some food plots, and they are small areas where the wild grasses have been tilled under and special mixtures of seed have been sown and when sprouted provide good nutritional forage for the deer. The deer keep these greens well cropped. The deer keep the grass just inches high. Therefore as they move out of the tall grass and into the green field you get a good look at them. Most times as they move through they will slow down and browse a bit, so you get an opportunity to decide whether it's a shooter or not.

Here's the blind and the food plot.

Deer are browsers. Whenever they are moving they are constantly nibbling, whether its a leaf, a tree bud, cedar which they love, or the ends of my lilacs. I have had to put wire around anything that I want to grow at the cabin or the deer mow it down. I got in to a flower bulb planting spree a few years back and planted tulips and daffodils. They will wait for the tulips to bud, and just before they bloom, they eat just the flower. The daffodils must not be a favorite because they seem to leave them alone.

Getting back to yesterday, at about 7:30 am I saw movement in the grass and a single file line of three deer emerged heading toward the swamp. They passed through the green field, which is about twenty by forty yards long. They were in a hurry not stopping for even a fast snack. That could mean that a buck was pushing them, so I came to the ready and laid the old 30/30 on the ledge of the blind window. Sure enough another deer was trailing, but as it emerged into the green field, I could see it was a lone doe. She appeared to be by herself, no yearlings with her. She proceeded to the edge of the green field, and I thought she too was off to the swamp, however, at the edge of the tall grass she stopped and moved back into the green field.

I had been drawn for a private land doe permit, so I had been contemplating taking a mature single doe. One traveling without yearlings. One that was quite possibly not reproducing any longer.

This was an older deer, and she fit the criteria I had for harvest. I decided to take her. I started to look through the scope and wait for the proper shot opportunity. She was browsing casually. She was slowly moving away from me, so I had to wait till she turned for a broadside shot. When she turned,I put the crosshairs just behind the front shoulder and slowly squeezed the old Savage trigger. The rifle broke the silence of the morning, and I immediately saw the deer jump and wheel back around toward the swamp. It crouched and ran like the dickens for the swamp.

I watch it through the high grass, and I knew I would get a good glimpse of her as she crossed the two track on top of the grade. To tell you the truth, I got caught up in watching her to make sure I had a line on her, and never racked another shell in. I wouldn't have had much of a shot as she crossed the grade anyway because when she did cross it, she was running hard.

On the north side of the grade, it drops down hard down to a little creek and beyond that ther is more high grass that merges into cattails. Once she crossed the grade, I knew that it would be the last point that I could see to mark her line of travel. Keeping a close eye on the track of the deer after the shot is very important for the recovery of the animal.

I waited a few minutes and then called Rick. He wanted to know if I had shot the "Turdy Pointer." I told him that I had taken a doe, and he was happy to hear I had finally harvested a deer. Rick and I had been talking about how he has been using the venison from a whole deer to make brats. It just so happens that my son has just been experimenting with making brats and has some good recipes. This venison would work great for that, but first I had to recover the deer.

On the phone, Rick said to sit tight in the stand. It was still prime time and more deer may be filtering down from the hills. Sure enough, just shortly after I shot, several more deer came through. None were bucks, and at about 9:30 am I saw Rick coming down the grade. I was glad to see him because I was getting anxious to find the deer.

Rick told me he would walk out to the green field, and I could then motion to him so that he could find the spot where the deer was standing when I took the shot. He could then start to track the doe. While he did that, I reviewed the footage from my video camera.

Rick has a tripod in his blind, and I have been setting up my video camera when I got into the blind. I had turned it on when I saw deer that morning. When I rewound the tape, I saw that the deer had been further up into the field when I had taken the shot. Rick had already left the geen field and was looking for sign in the high grass, so I decided I would check out the spot where the camera showed the deer was standing when I shot. I immediately found a big patch of hair and some fat, but no blood trail.

We were able to discern the likely trail the deer had taken out of the green field and followed it to where I saw the deer cross the grade. Rick marked the spot, and then he hopped the creek and was crisscrossing the area of tall grass before the cattails. He was thinking that I had shot low because there had been a lot of white hair. Without a blood trail, I was beginning to doubt my shot, but I began to recall another time in the woods with my son that kept me looking.

The first deer my son Nate ever shot was a doe that I was watching as he pulled the trigger. I knew he made a good shot, and we watched the deer run about 75-100 yards and then fall. Knowing the deer was down and where it was, I decided to use the opportunity to teach him a little about tracking. We knew right where the deer was standing when he shot, so we moved to the exact spot and looked for sign. All we had to follow were a few tracks to give us a direction. There wasn't any blood. We made our way to where we knew the deer fell, and we never found any blood the whole way. When we inspected the deer, we found Nate had made a perfect heart shot. The lesson here that was bouncing around in my head as I looked for the doe this morning was don't give up on a deer that was shot just because there isn't a blood trail.

I knew I had a resting shot at less than 100 yards. I was confident the rifle shot straight and that I had squeezed the shot off well. I had made a good shot.

Rick had followed the main trail almost to the cattails, and then he began moving back and forth in a grid pattern looking for sign. I was doing the same, but decided to go back to the main deer run through the area and followed it a little bit further than where Rick had left the trail and there lay the doe. It hadn't dropped a single bit of blood in the hundred yards from where I shot it to where it laid.

We could see the exit hole in the side of the deer, and it was plugged with fat. After we had the deer gutted, we could easily see the entry hole just behind the front leg right where I had placed the crosshairs. The shot had entered at an angle passing through the lungs and exited on the other side of the deer right before the hip. It was a mortal wound, and the deer, despite it travelling about 75-100 yards, didn't live long.

Rick, who has seen many more deer than I, said it was a big, old doe. I was very happy to have made a clean kill shot, and I was very excited about recovering the animal. It would provide some very tasty meals. Here's a picture of my antlerless deer, but trophy whitetail nonetheless.

My Michigan whitetail harvest of 2009. It's going to be a brats deer.

It was a great week of hunting despite not seeing many bucks! I let two spikes walk, and next year they will be there roaming the ridges and swamps and exciting the hunters who hunker down and wait to see that piece of ear or that flick of a tail. Sights like that while hunting certainly start the heart racing with anticipation. It is hard to quantify the feelings you get from being outdoors and taking part in a hunt. It's one of those you got to be there kind of things to thoroughly understand.

I had a great time in the woods this year and feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to barge in on the Skinner Deer Camp of 09. Thanks Rick! I hope you see that "Turdy Pointer" during the last week of the season!!

I have got a bunch of work to do this morning, and I've been on the computer now for a couple hours, so I'd better get busy.

I hope your day goes well, and if your working take heart in the fact that you have an abbreviated week this week. Some of you will be using the days off to get in to the deer woods, and if you do, send me some of your pictures. Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day to do something that puts a smile on your face, at least for a few minutes.

November 22, 2009

So far the consensus on the deer hunting in Lake County has looked like this.

A big pile of bear poop from down near the lake on Rick's property.

As you know, I've been trying to keep you updated on our deer hunting thus far. The deer are just not around in any numbers. I've talked to a bunch of outdoorsmen in the area, and to a person, they have commented that their deer sightings has been way down. The local news reported that the deer coming back over the Mackinac Bridge, which they carefully count, is down forty plus percent.

Our last two tough winters have killed more deer than people realized. Also, with the MDNR's response to some penned deer getting chronic wasting disease, the number of doe permits is way up and they have outlawed baiting.

Baiting per se is a widely debated and somewhat controversial hunting strategy. However, it puts a lot of feed in the woods that the deer and other animals eat. With the mast crop way down the last couple of years you can see the browse line is about as high as it can get. The available browse has been hit hard for two years, and many young deer starved to death. Thankfully this year's acorn crop has been very good. Hopefully, we'll see a comeback with the herd.

I took the morning off today and slept in. I had been out hunting most of every day since the opener last Sunday. Rick did go out and sat in his rifle blind this morning and saw the two spikes that we saw earlier in the week. He let them walk.

After sleeping an extra three hours this morning, I got up and got on the computer. While I drank a couple cups of coffee and surfed the net three does came in to the yard. They came in from the east and walked past the hot tub and down by the lake. They munched on acorns as they browsed along. They came within about fifteen feet of the cabin before they heard me moving around trying to get to a different window to take a better picture. Here's the shots I did get albeit with the camera.

A cabin deer sneaking by while I drank my morning coffee.

Some of the resident Big Bass Lake deer herd.

Before gun season, I did see a couple of bucks by the cabin. One was a nice six pointer with long tall tines. The other was a little four pointer that I saw regularly. The family that owns a large chunk of property to the east of my property doesn't hunt much so their property ends up being a sanctuary of sorts.

I hunted this evening back over to Rick's. He had to bowl tonight, so he didn't sit this evening. Rick Jr. his son Trevor, friends Mike, Jake, and Cory hunted further back on the property so noone was going to be in the powerline blinds but me. Ricky suggested I hunt a knob that is between Rick Sr.'s blind and his. I could see much more of the power line there. Rick Sr. took me up in the mule, and we picked out a tree for me to sit by. After Rick left, the wind switched around and blew from where I was sitting toward the swamp where the deer should have been moving out of this evening. It wasn't a good thing for me. It was blowing my scent right at them. I did spray up good with a scent killer, but...

I didn't see anything all evening. I only heard two very distant gun shots. When I stood up to leave, however, a deer spooked out of the green food plot that was between the knob I was on and Rick Sr.'s blind that I had intended to sit in. If I had been in the blind I would have had a good look at it. That's the way it goes sometimes, best laid plans...

Rick and I intend on hunting in the morning and maybe our patience will pan out yet. I only have a few more sets before I have to head for home to spruce the place up for Thanksgiving company.

I got an email a couple days ago from my old neighbor and fellow GVSU alum Dave Bailey. He was wondering if I was planning on going to the GVSU NCAA DII game this coming Saturday against Minnesota-Duluth. We always have Thanksgiving with my side of the family on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. So, it doesn't look like I'll be going to the game. There is an outside possibility that if the game is at night I may go. They havenn't, as of 9:00 pm Sunday night, announced when the game would be played. I'll keep checking the GVSU Official Football Website . Grand Valley is rated #3 in the country, and it looks good for another GVSU deep run in the tournament again this year. Their first string offense and defense didn't even play the whole second half of their opening playoff game against Hillsdale.

It's getting late for me again, and even though there is Sunday night football to watch I may be hitting the sheets soon. 4:15 am comes awfully quick. By the way, how about that Lion's game today. They are now a 2-8 team! There having a great season. Way ahead of last years record.

That's it for this evening. Take care and take a few minutes out of your first work day of the week to do something that puts a smile on your face.

November 20, 2009

Since the sunshine disappeared the clouds have been full of rain, and I swear one of those little black clouds has been following me into the deer woods. I'm hunting on 2,800 acres of private, and for the past few days, I haven't seen a deer!

Last night Rick had us change spots to try and find where the deer seem to be hiding. On a ride around the lake, we found some rubs that were very fresh near a spot that Rick calls the bus. It's an area that borders a big swamp. Rick has taken some nice deer and a bear in the area. I sat on the ground and made an impromtu blind and Rick headed to a tree stand he had nearby. Here's a picture of the bus.

One of Rick's favorite spots.

I asked Rick about the bus, and he told me that a guy use to live in it. It was on a 40 acre parcel that was bought out years ago. I wondered how he had gotten that big bus way back in to that spot, and Rick said that even though the road looked impassable now, they had once spent some time grading it to get the bus in. Today, however, you would have a tough time getting a four wheeler in there.

During Rick's sit at the bus, he spotted a doe. He studied her too long, and when he looked straight out from him, a nice six or eight pointer was just starting to move away from him to take off after her. Rick had a chance if the buck stopped. He had the hammer back, but he didn't get a clear shot and let him walk.

Knowing there was a nice buck chasing what looked like an esterus doe, we went back to Rick's and got a pop up hunting tent and went back out to place it in a strategic spot. Rick thought about where to put it for quite a while and decided to put it adjacent to a bedding area along some open pines. Putting it out at night would cut down on our noise the following morning.

So, this morning, Rick headed back to the bus, and I went to the tent . Neither one of us saw anything all morning. Can't get these darn deer figured out.

There has just been Rick and I hunting these past two days. Tomorrow there will be several more hunters out on Rick's place, as well as a small army of public land hunters. We're going back to the first blind we sat in, and we are hoping that with the added pressure the deer will move a little better. We'll see.

Not everyone has been having trouble getting a deer. My son, who's down in Texas, has been out with some locals and they got an eight pointer.

A Texas Eight Pointer

Nate says that on the farm where the eight point was taken, they have been seeing quite a few deer including one nice twelve pointer that they say is a monster.

Speaking of monsters, Ron Hicks gave me a call and told me about a whitetail that he just took down on the family farm in Missouri.

Ron took a nice seven point that is on the blog already near his home in White Cloud.

Here's Ron's Missouri 09 gun season story, in his own words.

"Brent Vawter and I headed to Missouri on 11-6-09 for a little bow hunt. We were also using the early hunt as a scouting trip for the opening of gun season on 11-14-09.

We saw a lot of deer bow hunting that first week. We had several chances at smaller bucks. We also made several sightings of some very nice mature bucks that were not in bow range. We didn't take a bow deer, but had high hopes for the gun season.

Opening morning we didn't see a hair. That night we saw seven deer, but no shooter bucks. Then the rain came in about 4:00 am Sunday morning, so we went back to sleep.

Brent had to leave that morning. The rain didn't let up for another two days. So Tuesday afternoon, with drizzle still coming down, I headed to my now favorite farm to hunt. I drove in from the north end of the property noticing an eight point with about an 18 inch spread standing on the pond bank. I quickly went into stealth mode. I eased my way in to my parking spot, grabbed my gear and gun. I proceeded to sneak up the fence row back to the pond. Once I got to my spot where I thought I could get a good look at the eight point, I glanced across the 40 acre pasture.

The west side of the meadow is covered in briar's and waist deep grass. The east side of it is covered in tall dense grass and taller pines. I noticed that the eight pointer I first saw was now in the middle of the pasture. Another deer, a nice young five pointer, was walking from east to west in the center of the field. Turns out, he was heading toward another shooter eight point standing on the west fence row. That's when I saw the flicker of two more deer walking quickly towards the northeast. My breath stopped! One buck had his whole left antler broken at the browtine. Even at that, he was still huge. Then I saw the one that I wanted. He was walking dead away from me, so I whistled. He stopped, and I ranged it at 380 yards. I raised my browning 7mm mag and rested on a fence post. Gently I squeezed the trigger, and down he went.

There had been seven bucks total in the field when I made it to the fence, six of which were shooter's in my book.

I wondered over to my buck after about thirty minutes, to find a big beautiful 9 point that later green scored 179.5 inches. My best buck to date. The G2s are 13.5 and 12.5 inches long. The main beams are 24 and 25 inches. He carries his mass all the way to the tips. I have never had a hunt that ended even close to this one. It all happened in a few minutes, but oh what a day!

Wow Ron, that's quite a story and the pictures that follow really complete the tale. Congratulations!

I Think Ron Looks Happy, Don't You?

Wow!

Coming or going that's a nice deer!

Look at that tine length!

Yup, no trick camera angles there. That's a legit monster!

Wow! Another wow! And a string more wows! That's the biggest deer I've seen in a while. Maybe we should move to Missouri and make friends with the farmers there.

Ron's still down in Missouri, and I forgot to ask him if he had another license. If so, I would think it would be hard to best that brute.

Well, I am again pushing the limits of my endurance staying up getting the blog done. I need to get to bed so I can get up at 4:15 am so I can get ready to go back over to Rick's. We haven't been having much luck seeing deer, but I have been having a blast. What an opportunity Rick is giving me to harvest a deer. I really appreciate it. He and I have had some really great experiences this year starting with our Alabama trip, to KVD coming to Rick's house to fish his lake, catching some monster smallmouth this summer, and being able to hunt together during this 09 Michigan gun season. A year to remember to be sure.

Take care, and have a great weekend!

November 18, 2009

Well, I'm back at the cabin and out of the shower after Day 4 of the firearm deer season. We've been having a pretty nice stretch of weather. More like September should be than November. People will be realling this season for many years to come, as that season when it got in the 60s opening week.

I don't know if this weather has the deer off their feet or what, but we haven't been seeing many whitetails. People I have talked to, have echoed the same thing. Noone is seeing any deer.

The winter deer kill was a large one this past winter. Many younger deer simply succumbed to the elements. When the winter gets hard the larger deer will literally kick the younger deer off the available feed until they have had their fill. The young ones just don't make it during the tough times. That may be why I haven't seen many spikes on cars. I've been seeing more of the bigger 2 and 3 year old deer, those that had an easier time making through the last winter.

This unseasonably warm spell has to have some affect on deer movement. We have had 5-8 hunters out and noone is hearing many bucks. There are a few chasing, but it appears the rut, which should be at its peak, has taken a short hiatus. These are just suppositions, but man we're just not seeing the numbers of deer we should be, and we're hunting 2,800 acres of private land that usually holds a bunch of deer.

Another thing everyone is noticing is that there aren't many hunters out. Places where cars were parked in lines along public land are empty. Without the hunters the deer don't move as much either. The Sunday opener kept hunter numbers down. This weekend, I would bet, there should be quite a few orange clad venison getters out.

Yesterday, I was too tired to attempt a blog and just crashed and watched Biggest Loser and went to bed. I did hunt almost all day. In the morning we saw seven does and during the evening hunt we let a little spike walk.

This morning I saw six does and I think I saw the same spike that I saw last evening. I was trying to put a few more points on him, but I'm still holding out for something bigger.

After the morning hunt, the Skinner boys, Jim and Dan, left for the Clio area. Here's a picture of the three Skinners and their long time friend Dan.

The three Skinner brothers and their buddy Dan.

Rick took some time off around lunch time to work on Ryan's boat. Ryan (Ryan was a newby on the Tear Drop Tournament Trail this season, and lives by me in Hudsoville.) is having Rick put bearings and brakes on his Bass Cat trailer. Rick had just recently done mine, and I talked about it on the blog. Ryan has a Cat the same year as mine that needed the same repairs. Ryan got in touch with Rick and Rick agreed to fix it for him.

I watched Rick remove the bearings and check the replacement parts that Ryan had purchased. Good news is most of the parts matched, bad news the seal wasn't even close to fitting. Rick has to order them, and we'll probably run in to Baldwin to pick them up tomorrow after the morning hunt.

Once we had the boat issues solved, we headed out to the deer woods. Rick decided to sit in his son's blind, and I sat in Rick's blind.

The weather tonight was, as they say in the south, fixin' to come up a cloud.

I like hunting on cloudy days. I was quite sure we would see some deer tonight, but despite a couple of shots close by, Rick, Dan, and I didn't see a deer. Oh well, there's always tomorrow, and we'll be out well before dawn to try again.

I think that tomorrow, I will be thankful that Rick has some nice hunting sheds. The rain began tonight just as I pulled into the cabin, and the forecast for tomorrow calls for it to continue. Heck, what's a little rain. Maybe that will finally get things going.

Not everyone has been locked out of this deer season. Lucky Jeff Brauneck scored again with a big nine point buck. It should have been a perfect ten, but one of his G4s was broken off flush with the main beam.

Jeff said his buddy took him to this sleeper spot near Manistee. Jeff was rattling and grunting and soon saw the bruiser coming near his stand on an old deadfall. He hung up in a little thicket, and Jeff only had a small window to shoot. The deer looked like it was going to head for the hills so Jeff took his opportunity and shot. He wasn't sure how the shot went, and didn't want to loose his line on the deer so he stayed put until his buddy arrived. Jeff directed him to where the deer was standing and he looked for blood. Once he found the trail Jeff joined him. He was worried that it was getting late and recovery of the deer might have to wait. It was the biggest deer Jeff has had a chance to harvest, but it was to be a quick find. The deer hadn't gone more than 20 yards into a nearby thicket. Here's a picture of Jeff and his trophy.

Jeff's wife is getting the deer mounted for him as a Christmas present.

There was an article on Bassfan that I read in a check of the fishing websites tonight. It caught my eye because it featured Ray Scott. Ray has been active with a legislature and has been instrumental in getting some legislation introduced that will help people get tax credits for digging ponds. Here's the article link: "New House Fishing Bill A Potential Catalyst."

Well, that's going to be if for tonight. Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day tomorrow to do something that puts a smile on your face.

November 16, 2009

This old man is tired tonight. I'm on fumes so this blog entry is going to be pretty basic and brief.

I got up again this morning at 4:15 am, and got ready to head on over to Skinner's. We had coffee until about 6:00 am and then headed out to the hunting shed. Our spot is quite close to the main compound. Here's a picture of the pond we hunt behind. You can see the power line we're hunting. It runs due west of our spot. Where we hunt is a funnel of sorts where the dike from the pond creates a little valley. The hunting shed is right up against the back side of the dyke.

Rick's upper pond with the power line we're hunting in the background.

A zoomed shot over the pond.

This morning we saw seven deer. All of them were does. The last one we saw was running, and Ricky's son Alex said he saw it run by him, and it was a little spike. When we glassed it, we didn't see any horns, but it was moving fast.

During the afternoon sit we saw a legal spike at 4:55 pm. I decided to let it walk, and I'm hoping for something bigger. If not, I still have a doe permit that I can fill, and the December archery season.

The weather, as you know, has been unseasonably warm. I can't remember when the middle of November has given up 60 degree temperatures.

The wind has been almost nil the last two days. It has been very still and quiet in the woods. In the mornings, on our walk to the blind, the stars are brilliant. There hasn't been a cloud in the sky, and with very few lights around the night sky is spectacular. Here is a shot of the sunset tonight.

November 16th's sunset over the deer woods.

None of the Skinner bunch that hunted today saw many deer. Rick and I saw the most, and Alex, Rick and I were the only ones that saw any horns. The number of shots that we heard were probably 80% less than we heard on the opener. It appeared to be slow for a lot of hunters.

On my way home from Rick's on opening day, I saw that John Baldiga had a nice buck hanging in front of his garage. It was still there tonight, so I stopped to take a picture. Here are a couple pictures of the brute.

A nice Lake County buck.

A nice set of horns and some good winter eating ahead.

I know there are a lot of you out there that were in the woods for the opener, and many of you are still there and won't be reading this until you get home. When you do, email me your stories and pictures, and I'll try and get them on the blog.

Well it's time for a shower and then it's bedtime for me. No parting shot tonight. My brain and body are too tired. Take care and make sure you take some time out of your work day tomorrow to do something that puts a smile on your face.

November 15, 2009

It's the opening day of firearms deer season in Michigan. A big day in the state and especially here in the north country. Opening day is always on the fifteenth, even though Lansing has talked about having it always open on a weekend to help the retail industry.

Before I retired, I could only hunt the opener if it fell on a weekend, because the school district for whom I worked wouldn't allow you to use a sick day or a personal day for hunting. Up north, there are many districts that give the students the day off if opening day falls during the week. In any case, the woods come alive with orange clad hunters hoping for an opportunity to take a big buck each November on the 15th.

This year, I came up on the 12th and did some final leaf blowing at the cabin. I was planning on having some other preparatory work to do because my Alabama brother-in-law Charles, and his buddy Hector from Texas, were going to come up. Their plans fell through, and they couldn't make it. Maybe next year, they'll be able to come.

My brother and nephew came up Friday night. My brother-in-law Neal, his son Spud, and his two buddies Tim B. and Rob came over Friday night from their deer camp on Pine Lake. We played poker until about 1:00 am. It was a lot of fun and it's what deer camp is all about. The comaraderie, and the memories from the field, build bonds that truely last a lifetime. A case in point was a trip, my brother, nephew and I made over to the "Branch Ranch." The Ranch is my dad's old deer hunting cabin that is still frequented by the remaining members of his deer hunting brotherhood. We stopped and talked to my dad's old buddies Doc, Morrey, and Bill. Morrey's son and son-in-law were there as well, and we reminisced for probably an hour going back over deer camps from the past 45 years. It was great.

Saturday afternoon we headed over to Lake City to visit our buddy Clair's deer camp. Clair and his partner Pat own and operate Spectators in Saugatuck. It's a great place to eat! They have a great menu and the food is well worth the trip. (If you go to restaurants.com you can get a $25 off coupon for Spectators. If you check restaurant.com frequently they have sales where they sell the coupons for $2. Wait them out then buy in quantity. You do have to spend $35 with the coupon, but you get $25 off. We have been buying these coupons for a year now and have used them for restaurants all over the country.) Any way, we went over to a cabin that Clair, his dad, and uncle built. They actually fell the logs, stripped them, and built the entire cabin to its showcase state today. It's beautiful. It's way back in the woods, and sits next to a beaver pond, a beautiful setting. Here's some pictures we took.

A beautiful north country deer camp.

Looking out the back door at the beaver pond.

My brother and Clare

A full poker table and a left over euchre table

Clare, his dad, and his uncle host a dinner the night before the opener. They made 50 lbs. of homemade french fries, green beans, delicious squash, mushrooms in a cream sauce, garlic bread, salad, prime rib and beef tenderloin. Wow!! What a spread and it was delicious. We didn't stay real late because I had to get up for the opener at 4:25 am. We did have time to walk the property, enjoy the meal and fellowship, and play five games of euchre.

Sunday, opening day, I got up early and headed over to Rick "The Cement Man" Skinners. Rick was going to provide a hunting spot for Charlie and Hector before they cancelled, and when they did, I fell in to a hunting spot.

Rick and his family have a great deer camp, and it's been going on since before Rick was born, and Rick is old, old, old. Rick's brothers, his kids, and some other old friends get together for the annual event. I felt very honored and am much appreciative to have been invited to share in the hunt.

I sat with Rick in his blind. He basically gave up his hunting to give me a crack at a deer. He manned the video camera, and was the backup gun. Rick hunts only with a pistol these days, and has a wall of trophy's in his house that he's taken with it. The wall is anchored by a 50+ inch moose that he got two years ago in Maine. One of my favorites on his trophy wall though is a hog that he has a shoulder mount of. It's the coolest mount. I'll have to try and get a picture of it.

Rick and I didn't see a deer all day. I think I jinxed the spot. This spot has been a top producing blind over the years. Rick couldn't remember when he had sat in it and not seen at least one deer. You know though, despite not seeing one whitetail, I had a great time. Spending the day with a good friend and swapping deer stories and outdoor tales is one of those experiences that you remember for a lifetime. Sure I would have like to have shot a big deer, but I wouldn't have traded the opportunity for too many things.

Rick's brother Jim, and friend Dan, took six points Sunday morning within minutes of each other. There were three bucks running together and Dan and Jim got two of the three. Our ole buddies from the Tear Drop, Dan Warner Sr, and Jr. and brother Dave took two deer Sunday morning as well. Here's some pictures from the Skinner's opener.

The view from the 2009 Opening Day deer blind.

Grampa Skinner manning the video camera opening day.

Dan the Man with his 2009 Opening Day six pointer.

Not to be outdone, here's brother Jim's six pointer.

Dan Warner Jr. and brother Dave with one of their opening day deer.

Dan, Dave and Rick who was called to bring in the mule to haul out deer.

Debriefing after the morning hunt.

I had a great day and have thoroughly enjoy the weekend thus far and am looking forward to a few more days of hunting. I'm sitting with the Cement Man again tomorrow morning. That mean's getting out of bed at 4:15 to get ready so I have time to drive over for the prehunt coffee. I'm a tad bit tired so this blog is coming to an end quickly. It's rain locker time. The final shot of the day has to be a modified line from Da Yoopers . You all know it. "It's opening day of deer camp and all the guys are here. We drink, play cards, shoot the guns, but never shoot no deer. The only time we leave the camp is when we go for beer. It's the opening day of deer camp the greatest time of year!" You're right I did substitute second week for opening day, but it fit. Take care and if you have to work tomorrow, I'm sorry about your luck. I'll be looking out the blind window looking for that "Turdy point buck." More deer camp news tomorrow.

November 10, 2009

Thanks for all the cards and emails yesterday on my 29th birthday. For a 29 year old, I sure seem to wake up with more than my share of aches and pains. Must be because of all the jobs that my wife has for me to do each day.

Sure has been a nice stretch of unseasonably warm weather. The boys from Texas, that are suppose to come up for rifle season, were looking for snow. They may be hunting in their shirt sleeves.

My buddy John Baker's season is going to be curtailed a bit. As you know, my wife broke her ankle stepping off a curb into one of the Michigan rest area pot holes. John and his wife brought over a wheelchair for us that night, so we could head out for my son's wedding that coming weekend. Well, we returned the wheelchair just before we went up north last week. We jokingly told him to be careful so he wouldn't have to use it, and lo and behold he calls me while we were up north to tell me he was up on a ladder and missed a stepped and fell dislocating and breaking his ankle! Youch! Not a good thing. He's still planning on going up to his hunting property though. Can't let a little ankle injury deter you from your appointed hunting rounds.

I got an email from Dandy Don Fowler, and he's getting ready for deer camp up on his property near Fremont. Don has a choice piece of rolling hills that seems to harbor a strain of big bucks. I saw the biggest deer that I've ever seen in the woods on his property. His brother Dave saw one of its descendants during archery season this year and claims it's the biggest he's seen up there. It should be a good rifle season for the Fowler Clan.

Speaking of the Fowler bunch, Don sent me an email of his son. Here's the picture he sent.

Matt Fowler at 13,000 Ft.

I don't know if they could ever push me out of a perfectly good plane! My dad was a paratrooper and made many jumps. I remember, as a boy, being very interested in his stories. I remember asking him what happened if the chute didn't open. He would always just say, "We take them back and get another one."

As a dad, my middle son is always talking about trying skydiving, and it makes me a little uncomfortable to think that he would put himself at risk for the thrill of it. I'm sure it's a rush but... In any case, it certainly is a great picture, and I'm sure it will be a talking point for Matt for many years. One of those things Matty can cross off his bucket list.

I got another email yesterday from my son's new mother-in-law informing us that their eldest son and daughter-in-law had their baby. Henry James will share a birthdate with me. He's a cute little bugger with a head full of hair. Our congratulations goes out to the whole family. That's two grandsons within the space of just a few months for them. With the wedding just a couple of weeks ago lots has been happening in their family. I can't remember if I posted a wedding picture. If not here's one that was taken by a friend. It's not the wedding photographer's shot, so I can post it without permission.

The Wedding of the Century

It truely was a spectacular event. There were several outstanding prewedding activities and the reception was a blast. The ceremony was very moving. I am a bit partial, but it had to be the "Wedding of the Century."

I had better not forget to put up the shots of Luke Vander Wal's nice ten pointer that he shot down in Illinois. Matt Hoogerhyde sent me the pictures. I didn't get any specifics from Hoogie concerning the hunt. Maybe Matt can fill me in later, or I'll run in to Luke or his dad during rifle season up north. It's a nice buck though, story or not here's some pics.

Luke Vander Wal's Illinois Buck

A nice looking Illinois Ten Pointer

I have a ton of things to get done today, so I don't have a lot of time to post some of the things happening in the fishing world. I have some new baits from Kopper's Live Target that I want to talk about, and there are some good articles that I've read over the last few days that I would like to link you to. Hopefully I'll get my jobs done and can get a blog entry up tomorrow with that info.

To make sure you have some fishing stuff to read here's a link to the article that talks about Mark Rose's recent win down on Pickwick. As I have said before, and will allude to many more times before next April I'm sure, Rick and I are heading down to Marshall two events in Alabama. One of them is on Lake Pickwick where the last Central Open was held recently. Rose fished Pickwick each day for a limit, but then ran 80 miles each way to another lake connected to Pickwick to cull with some big spots. It's a quick but good read. Here's the link to Pickwick Winning Pattern .

The final cast or maybe it would be better said if I used shot today, comes from Frank Allen. It's a piece of deer hunting advice. "Lunar phase is another factor that can't be ignored. Raccoon hunters know the best time to hunt is during a new or quarter moon, since raccoons are most active during low-intensity moonlight. Deer hunters often miss really good hunting opportunities during the mid-day hours of a full-moon period. Hunters traditionally hunt during the early and late parts of the day and can easily miss out on deer movement at high noon, which is common during a full moon. Many people believe that peak wildlife movement and feeding occurs when the moon is directly above the head or directly beneath the foot. Test this theory the next time you're outdoors." Reading this I can relate. Last week when we were up north the moon was just waning out of its full moon stage. My wife called me on Thursday right at noon, while I was off supervising a Skinner cement job, to tell me she watched a four point meander along the lake for a full 15 minutes just yards from the cabin. Those lunar stages are important pieces to consider during your hunting and fishing hours.

Take care and make sure you take time out of your day today to do something that you enjoy, even if it's only for a few minutes.

November 5, 2009

We didn't have a great evening last night. Gramma, who's 86 and lives with us, has been having problems with a medication and has been, well, off her rocker. She's seeing things and talking to people who aren't there. She has a very arthritic shoulder and it's quite painful and the doctor has been trying to prescribe something that will ease her discomfort. The medicine he gave her makes her loopy. She doesn't tolerate narcotics well any more. We quit giving her the darvocet, and hopefully she gets on top of things better today. If not we will probably head for home.

Despite a long night last night I decided to get up before dawn and sit in a tree stand that I have near the cabin. I have been seeing deer activity, and I thought maybe I could get lucky and lose a muzzy.

It had rained much of the night, however this morning dawn was fairly sunny. With the moon full, I always feel that the deer lay down earlier than they do if it stays cloudy. That kept working in my mind and when I didn't see anything by 8:30 am, I decided to get down and go make coffee.

I ate a donut and drank a cup of joe and then remembered I had left a scent bottle out. I walked out to my stand and before I got to it I heard hooves and saw a deer bound away. It had been almost directly under my stand. Drats! Should have stayed out a half hour longer.

I walked back to the cabin and got on the computer and while I was surfing I kept a look out for deer activity. I saw a group of deer running parallel to the cabin way back in the woods, but nothing I could see well have shown up since I have been typing the blog.

The early morning sun is giving way to a pretty thick batch of clouds that are moving in from the southwest. The wind is out of the west and quite brisk. I may use that to my favor and rake some leaves off the lawn. It's always much easier if I have a wind assist to move the leaves back into the woods. I also have to fill my lower unit this morning. I drained it last night. I'll go out in a few and pump some fresh gear lube in. I sprayed the cylinders already, so I'm pretty well done with the motor for the winter. I'll take the batteries out and all my gear out of the compartments and store it at home. I then put dryer fabric softener sheets throughout the boat. I'm a believer that those sheets keep mice out of things.

I need to give ole Rick "The Cement Man" Skinner a call this morning and get a number that I can call to get some firewood delivered. I'm going to need a load for deer camp. I have some stacked and some on the ground to cut, but I don't think I'll get the wood cut so that we can use it this year. It's always a tough call, cut wood or fish, cut wood or hunt. Cutting wood never seems to win.

I got an email from Nick "South Texas" Vawter yesterday, and he informed me that he is feeling better and has pretty much recovered from being down with H1N1. He tells me he's going to be doing some hunting down on a ranch north of San Antonio. He also said one or two or more of his sons are heading to Missouri with Ron Hicks to do some deer hunting. Ron "The White Cloud Whackmaster" shot a nice buck on his buddy Jimmy's place. Here's a picture.

Nice deer! Some tine length on that brute!

Congratulations Ronnie! Ron has had a lease down in Pike County, Illinois the last two years and they have taken some nice deer there. Ron decided not to keep the lease for this year. With nice bucks like the one he took above running around near his house, I guess making that long gas eating drive to southern Illinois is uneccesary. Hopefully, he'll send us some pictures from the family farm in Missouri of the deer they get down there.

How about those Yankee's last night. There is certainly a storied history associated with that franchise. I really wasn't rooting for one team or the other. My wife and son were hoping the Phillies repeated, and they came close.

While I was sitting in the tree stand this morning, I was thinking about those players waking up today and how they might feel. I wasn't thinking so much of the Yankees, but the Phillies. It's tough to get to the pinnacle and then just quite not be able to grab the silver ring. It's hard to find solace in thinking that making it to the finals and to be playing for a world championship is accomplishment enough. Often times you learn more from a loss than from a win. I've seen many very successful athletes that simply can't match their sport's accomplishment in the work world while those who may have not experienced all the trophies have that drive and zeal that propel them to greater things.

Moving from baseball to fishing I found that our president signed some very important legislation for the Great Lakes Region. Here is the link to the article entitled "President Obama quietly signs landmark Great Lakes Clean Up Bill" . Political pundants are hailing it as landmark legislation. I don't intend on getting into the Republican/Democrat thing. Never argue politics or religion with friends is a good credo. You should be sure to read the article. It's important to us as sportsmen to be as knowledgeable as possible.

If you have been following the blog you may have been watching the "In the House" videos featuring Mike Iaconelli. Here is the third video in that series. It's only about 3-5 minutes so it won't take much of your time. Here's the Iaconelli "In the House" link.

It's going to be a short blog entry today. I am going to jump in the car and go over and supervise a cement job. Then, I have jobs to do around the cabin. Therefore it's time for the final cast. It's a quote today from the great tennis player Arthur Ashe. He once said, "You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing." A quote that is a propo with the end of the World Series. Take care and make sure you take time out of your day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

November 4, 2009

I woke up this morning intending to head over to Tiny's Bait Shop to have coffee with the regulars there. As I was standing at the sink getting the coffee going, I looked out and saw movement. I got into my hunter's stare that you develope from hours in a bow stand, and I started to pick out a few deer on the edge of the yard. One was lying down just off the grass. There were some deer that had already started moving back into the woods. While I was looking for more movement I saw a deer working a small pine and started looking more intently for horns. Sure enough, it was a young buck, maybe a four point. He came right over to the doe that was bedded down and chased her to her feet. He checked out her bed and followed her for a bit. I watched him as he walked down toward my garage on a trail that took him toward Little Bass Lake. My property sits between Little Bass Lake and Big Bass Lake. It's a natural funnel for critters.

Hold the phone, it just started snowing. I just got up to get the camera, and I tried to take a picture but the flakes are difficult to see in the picture. Here's a shot of the hot tub with a some of the first snow of the season sitting on the cover. I'm including a picture of the beach area as well. I was hoping that you could see the flakes against the darkness of the water, but the snow just causes the shot to look a bit blurry. You can see in the picture all the oak leaves in the water that blow in from across the lake. The leaves sink, and I have to spend hours raking them out in the Spring.

The first snow flakes of 2009!

A look at the lake in November during the first snow.

Hold the phone again, it's getting busy here at the lake. As I'm messing around trying to get a picture of the snowflakes, out walks a fox. He's walking down the edge of the lake. I tried to get the camera focussed quickly but I only was able to get a blur of a shot. As I was pishawing, here comes another one. Trying to take a picture through the window glass creates focus issues, but I think you'll get the picture of this one.

A red fox getting his winter gray coat.

Who knows what's going to walk by the cabin next. Beats sitting around home and watching the TV that's for sure. I would like to see that bobcat again that was hanging around through the summer and early fall. I haven't been able to be in the right spot at the right time to get a picture of him.

While I'm posting pictures, I'll put up a couple pictures of a beautiful buck that Don Fowler's buddy Ben Weber shot. I emailed Don last night to see if you knew any of the particulars, but he said he didn't. Here's Ben and the ten point.

Ben Weber and his nice 10 pointer.

That certainly is a great Michigan whitetail.

Cruising the net today I didn't find too much going on. There is the final B.A.S.S. Open about to start down in Morgan City, LA. This will be the last of the qualifiers and will finalize the list of anglers that will be fishing the Bassmaster Classic. Here's the link to the "Final Classic Hopes Rest in Louisiana" article.

If you were reading the blog you may have watched the "In the House" with Iaconelli video. It's always surprising to see what Ike has to say or what he might do. Click the preceding link and check out the second part of his tackle video.

Yesterday Skinner came over and pulled my boat out of the garage with his new Chevy truck. We hooked the muffs up to the motor, and I stabilized the gas in the tank and ran some through the engine. Today I'll drain the lower unit and spray some fogging oil in the cylinders. I also have to take a trip to see if I can find some broadheads. My spares are in my old bow case down in Texas. Number three son took my old bow with him down to Texas. He's been seeing a big twelve pointer down there that he would like a shot at.

Speaking of Texas, I talked to my brother-in-law Charle's buddy Hector last night . Hector is coming up from the Lone Star State to hunt the rifle season here. He's hoping to hunt in the snow. I told him there could be snow or 50 degree weather. It's hard to predict the weather here in the beautiful northwest corner. I'm looking forward to meeting Hector and his buddy Adam who's driving up with him.

With Game 6 of the series slated for tonight, I am sticking with baseball quotes for the parting cast of the day. Here is a quote from a guy by the name of Denis Norden, a TV host by trade. He once said "It's a funny kind of month, October. For the really keen baseball fan it's when you discover that your wife left you in May." Take care, and make sure you take time out of your day to do something that puts a smile on your face.

November 3, 2009

What a view this morning! I'm back up at the cabin typing the blog from the corner desk that faces the lake. Windows wrap around three sides of the cabin, so the view doesn't get too much better than this! I went up to the Na-Tah-Ka for coffee, but it was ladies day. None of the guys were up for coffee, probably all out hunting. I know they don't work too much this close to the rut.

I talked with the Cementman yesterday, and he's got the flu or a bad upper respiratory infection, so I didn't expect to see him up socializing this morning. I also talked to Dandy Don yesterday. He's not a Na-Tah-Ka regular, but he's a Cadillac coffee regular. He was down at his property near Fremont getting some blinds ready for the rifle season. He's got some of the best deer hunting land around. I saw my biggest deer ever on his property a few years back. They take some brutes off his land every year. His brother Dave has been seeing a huge deer down there that he says will eclipse any they have taken there before.

I am in the process of putting some film on a DVD for Don that he sent me a while back. It has some footage of some turkeys running off a young deer. Some funny stuff. He also has some pics of some of the deer they shot that year. He's got an eight point being shot on film that young Hunter Hall took out of Don's blind.

Speaking of footage or film, Jeff Brauneck sent me some pictures of a nice bow deer he took recently. He said he had taken out his tree stand to a spot he hunts in southern Michigan (He didn't get too specific. Must be a really good spot!). He put his stand up and then started his evening sit. He started seeing some does moving in his direction, and then he saw a buck stand up not more than forty yards from him. That deer had been bedded down near his tree and stayed right there during all the commotion that putting up a new stand makes. He must have been a sound sleeper. Anyway, the deer started to walk away and didn't look like it would present itself for a shot. At about fifty yards, he turned and Jeffrey put the hammer down with a shot right to the vitals. The deer didn't go very far and expired in the corn next to where he was sitting.

Jeff said he had been practicing a lot with his Hoyt. He regularly practices the longer shots whenever he shoots. Fifty yards is really reaching for a bow shot, and you have to practice for that distance. The new bows and sights , however, make it much easier to put a good group together at that range. Congratulations Jeff! You beat the Vawter Boys to the punch this year. I haven't heard anything from them this year. They're probably sulking because they didn't fill their bear tag this year. Here's a couple of pictures of Jeff's deer.

Jeff Brauneck's 2009 Eight Point Taken With His Bow

Looks like a big bodied deer!

I tried to enhance the first picture, but obviously it's a little fuzzy. The second picture is much better, and it gives you a good look at the big eight pointer. Congratulations again Jeff, and good luck during the firearms season.

My brother-in-law Charles from Alabama was planning to come up for deer camp this year, but called last night and said his work was such that he wasn't going to be able to come. His two hunting buddies from Texas are still planning on making the trip. They're hoping to see some Michigan snow. They better be careful for what they wish for.

As you probably noticed, I split the blog for November. Like last month, I included the last entry from October. If you read the last October entry, you'll notice the thread about the troubles the FLW Tour is having financially. Their troubles are fueled in part by the bankruptcy proceedings at Genmar. The Genmar Corporation owns a number of boat lines, two of which are 4 Winns and Ranger. Irwin Jacobs is the CEO there at Genmar and is a principle in FLW as well. The talk is that they have a "stalking horse," a buyer, that is considering purchasing Ranger. A company like Evinrude, Brunswick, and maybe Forest Woods and the Ranger employees may make a bid for it. In any case, the economy is taking its toll across the board. How it will all shake out and affect fishing opportunities with the higher end tournaments remains to be seen. Here is an editorial from Bassfan on a piece entitled "Bursting the Bubble: What The Ranger Sale Really Means" .

They have up some articles on the web talking about the winner of the recent Federation Nation B.A.S.S. Championship that Randy Phillips, the Maine Champion won. Bass Fan as usual, probably has the best and most condensed version. Here is the link to the Fed Nation Winning Pattern piece. It's worth the time to read.

Well, I'm not going to spend too much time typing today. I'm going to get the chain saw out and cut some firewood. I need to increase my winter stockpile to make sure I have enough wood to keep the Texas boys warm at deer camp. Their blood's a little thin for our Michigan weather.

The final cast of the day has to be another baseball quote in honor of the World Series. The last quote was from Jim Bunning and lo and behold he threw out the first pitch the other night. Today's quote is from another Hall of Famer, Bob Feller. He once said, "Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is." Take care and make sure you take time out today, if for only a few minutes, to do something that puts a smile on your face.

October 30/31, 2009

It has been rain, rain, raining! I was about to go out earlier and couldn't find a life jacket to put in the truck so I decided to wait and bang out a blog entry.

I tossed about the idea of jumping in the truck to go up to the cabin to try and fish today, but when I saw the forecast last night I decided I'd wait a few days. It is warm today though. I'd guess it has to be in the low 70s. I checked the radar and it shows another big batch of rain headed north that should be here directly. It's just been spittin' for the last couple hours.

There has been a lot of chatter on the net about the FLW. The FLW Tour Events will be four day cumulative weight events with only the top five pros fishing the last day. The overall purse will be reduced, but first place will still be $100,000, and they will continue to pay $10K through fiftieth place. All 150 anglers and coanglers will fish Wednesday through Friday with the top five pros fishing on Saturday. They save money by only have five cameramen in the boats rather that the ten that they have been using.

When this first announcement concerning 2010 FLW was made they cancelled the Eastern Strens. However, just today they changed their minds and have reinstituted the Eastern Stren Series events. If you're interested in reading the rest of the announcement from FLW click this FLW Slashes Offerings link.

The B.A.S.S. Federation Nation Championships concluded yesterday down on the Harris Chain in Florida. You may recall Dandy Don Fowler was Michigan's Champion two years ago and he fished the Championship on Toho in Florida. Jeff Freeman was the overall champion that year from the Mid Atlantic Division. Jeff was the only angler I recognized on this year's roster that was a repeater. He ended on top of his division again this year, and so he will be heading to the Bassmaster Classic again. If I'm not mistaken it's his third time at the Classic. Maybe it will be the charm he needs to win won.

Brandon Rose, a GLB member, was the top Michigan angler this year and did his darndest down in Florida, but came up short. I have been there as an observer and noted the frustration and disappointment is almost crushing. To get that maybe once in a lifetime shot, and to come up short, is disheartening. However, to make it there once is a dream for many. Great job Brandon and take heart in Jeff Freeman's repeat performances. Lightning can strike twice. Here's a link to the B.A.S.S. Federation page spotlighting The 2009 Federation Nation Championship . Also, here is the link to the Day 3 Results for the Fed Nation Championship .

My man Mike Iaconelli is "In The House" at Bass Zone. Here's the first video segment that has Ike going through his tackle in his garage. The opening is all Ikey.

I started this blog piece on Friday and am just now getting around to finishing it up while I wait for the World Series to start. It looks like the rain is letting up some in Philadelphia, and they're talking of getting it going soon. I'm also manning the front door for trick or treaters. We haven't had all that many, maybe 70 or so.

Time for the parting shot, final cast of the day. It's going to have to be a baseball quote. Jim Bouton in 1988 made the statement that "Baseball players are smarter than football players. How often do you see a baseball team penalized for too many men on the field?" You got a point there Jim. However, don't be on the football field when you make that comment. Take care and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Trick or Treat.