Spring 2019

www.michiganoutofdoors.com

MICHIGAN’S PREMIUM OUTDOOR JOURNAL SINCE 1947

Hunting a

Ghost
++PLUS++

The Economic Value of

Hunting and Angling to Michigan
A New DNR Director
Hunting without bait
Steelhead
Poor Man's Food Plots
Early- season Trout
$5.99 US | Spring 2019
Please Display Until June 1

Official Publication of Michigan United Conservation Clubs

Spring 2019.indd 1 2/8/2019 11:02:09 AM
 When you plant the
seed of conservation,
you never know what
might grow.

Find a VOLUNTEER WILDLIFE HABITAT project near you and sign up at

www.mucc.org/ontheground
Spring 2019.indd 2 2/8/2019 11:02:11 AM
Spring 2019.indd 3 2/8/2019 11:02:12 AM
 VOLUME 72, ISSUE 4
Each Michigan Out-of-Doors magazine moving
forward will feature one or two cartoons drawn
by Michigan's own Johnny Hawkins. I hope they
make you laugh as much as they did us.

contents

7 DIRECTOR'S DESK
8 ON PATROL
12 A NEW DNR DIRECTOR, A NEW DIRECTION? NICK GREEN
16 COVER STORY: HUNTING A GHOST JASON HERBERT
22 MUCC ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY CHRIS LAMPHERE
26 LIFE AFTER BAIT: PART 1, PLOT A PLAN TONY HANSEN
28 LURING SPRING STEELIES JIM BEDFORD
32 POOR MAN'S FOOD PLOT JASON HERBERT
36 WHY WAIT? HOW TO FISH EARLY MAYFLY HATCHES ANDY DUFFY
40 THE VOICE OF THE WILDERNESS LAURIE ANDERSON
44 GAYLORD: ALL OUTDOORS! NICK GREEN
46 AFTER LIFE: A TRIBUTE TO A MAN GONE TOO SOON BLAKE SHERBURNE
50 WRONG PLACE, RIGHT TIME? CALVIN MCSHANE
54 A HUMBLING SUCCESS: RGS YOUTH HUNT JOE SCHWENKE
56 CAN THE FISH FIND YOUR LURE JIM BEDFORD
60 BASIC SHED HUNTING JASON HERBERT
64 SPRING IS THE BEST TIME TO BUY A BEAGLE ANDY DUFFY
70 FULL DRAW: SHED HUNTING TOM NELSON
72 NEW GUN, OLD MEMORIES KELLEN CROW
78 PHOTO STORY: A WEEK IN DA YOOP AT GROUSE CAMP PERRY MASOTTI
84 THE ARENA: ROOSEVELT, SHARPTAILS, BADLANDS NICK GREEN
88 YOUR FEET, YOUR HUNT NICK GREEN

STAFF REPORTS & MISC.
90 THE CAMPFIRE: A NEW SEASON, A NEW FACE MAX BASS
92 CONSERVATION THROUGH EDUCATION: CHANGING FACES SHAUN MCKEON
94 THROWBACK: BLACK DRAKE HEART STOPPER C.R. "DOC" MARTIN
96 PARTING SHOT: A TRIBUTE TO DENNIS KNICKERBOCKER BOB GARNER

Spring 2019.indd 4 2/8/2019 11:02:12 AM

 bAsecamp Nick Green, Editor
WELCOME TO MICHIGAN OUT-OF-DOORS
MICHIGAN'S PREMIUM OUTDOOR JOURNAL
It is with a heavy heart that Michigan Out-of-Doors
had to say goodbye to a former editor, conservationist
and friend in January.
Dennis Knickerbocker, editor of Michigan Out-of-
Doors from 1996 until 2006, passed away with family by
his side on Jan. 9 at 12:20 p.m.
Knickerbocker was heralded as one of Michigan's
greats in outdoor writing. Kicking off many writers'
careers and helping to shape young, impressionable
journalists, Knickerbocker's editorial style surely left
its mark on this magazine and myself.
While I didn't personally know Dennis, I like to
think I was cut from a similar cloth. Knickerbocker
came from the world of print journalism. My
appreciation for him and the magazines he helmed
stems from his attention to detail, eloquent writing,
ethical standards and ability to tell a story that anyone
could relate to.
Like myself, Knickerbocker's first job out of college
was as a reporter for the Cadillac News — although I
suspect the newsroom looked a little different then.
Through his 70-plus years, Dennis' career spanned
reporting, public relations and editorial jobs.
When I received the call from Bob Garner, a dear
friend of Dennis', telling me that I had lost an idle and
that he had lost more than just a friend, I really didn't
know what to think. I can only one day hope to achieve
a sliver of what that man did in his short time at this
magazine and on this earth.
In memory of Dennis, and in lieu of One Last
Cast, this edition's conclusion to the magazine will
be Parting Shot — Dennis' own brand of closing and
reflecting on the words he left on the page. Garner
penned the column during Dennis' last month at
Michigan Out-of-Doors, and there isn't a better way to
pay homage to one of the greats.
As I sit at my desk and look at the shelf holding
archived magazines dating back to 1947, I wonder what
my mark will be on this magazine and Michigan's
conservation legacy. I can only hope that it is a tiny
portion of what Dennis did in his time here. Good bye,
friend. Keep your turkey call chalked and rifle sighted
in.
I must admit that turkey hunting is something
I have dabbled in with little success. Reading this
edition's cover story by Jason Herbert will make
anyone realize the passion and persistence that goes
into harvesting a mature tom. I would go so far as
Spring 2019.indd 5
Michigan Out-of-Doors said goodbye to former editor
Dennis Knickerbocker in January. Knickerbocker was a
conservationist, friend and leader in the outdoor writing
community.
to say that I might have to again purchase a turkey
license this year after reading Herbert's piece.
In January, Michigan United Conservation Clubs
released a first-of-its-kind study that demonstrates
the true economic impact of hunting and angling
on the state — $11.2 billion. That is more than
twice the previous estimate. Regular contributor
Chris Lamphere delves into the issue and explains
thoroughly what this study will mean for hunting- and
fishing-related issues like declining license buyers,
chronic wasting disease and PFAs.
Jan. 31 marked the end of baiting and feeding
white-tailed deer in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.
Science has clearly shown that it is a man-made factor
that contributes to the spread of chronic wasting
disease. A familiar face to the magazine, former editor
Tony Hansen, kicks off a four-part series this spring
on hunting without bait. Hansen is an avid whitetail
hunter who hunts both public and private lands. While
this first column focuses more on private land tactics,
his following columns will include what those hunting
public land can do to harvest a mature whitetail.
While the tone of this magazine may be somewhat
somber, it is important to remember the legacy by
those left behind — a legacy that shapes who we all are
as conservationists and pursuers of Michigan's great
outdoors.
Yours in conservation,
2/8/2019 11:02:12 AM
 DEAR EDITOR,

MOMENTS of MEMORY
Just finished reading my fall edition
of Michigan Out-of-Doors, and
wanted to get with you on the new
design of the magazine.

Call me old school, but I enjoyed

the magazine better the old way.
The bedrock of conservation is taking care of our natural resources so that they can be passed down to
When I normally read the mag-
future generations. The natural resources that we conserve today were conserved for us by generations of
azine its from cover to cover,
conservationists preceding us, and these generations are ever changing, ever flowing. Here we honor the passing
although my passion is mostly deer
of one generation of conservationists to the next.
hunting ,and fishing I enjoy reading
about some of the other passions
as well.
In memory of
And I liked it better with the shorter
stories that I could read in just a Dale Wolverton
few minutes in the morning before I from
head offPat
to work.
& Norma Oakes, Francis & Bonnie Hudson, Mark and Bonnie Potter & Thompson Library

I do like the larger print now that In memory of

the years have been added to my
birth date, and the eyes don't do
so well. But that could be obtained
by reducing the picture sizes. I have
been reading the magazine for
probably over 40 years now, and
hunting, and fishing the out doors
for probably 10 years more than
Marietta Ann Kusey
that, and still find them both to be
refreshing, and joyful. I also liked
the smaller paper size of the old
magazine, and soft covers for this
allowed you to fold the pages and
hold it in one had comfortably. I
know I'm only one person and like
your final story different from all
others, but I really like the old mag-
azine much better. And truly agree
to Hunt Your Own Hunt.
But do it ethically and honestly.
Sincerely, DeLoy C. Clark
Muckegon, MI
DEAR SIR,
Dean Nelson
from
Randal Tooker
In memory of
from
William Kusey S.
The MUCC family was deeply saddened to learn of the
passing of Tim Kobasic.
Tim was an MUCC Region 1 Policy Board member, a
hunter safety and ORV safety instructor, and a member of
many conservation, hunting and trail organizations. A father,
grandfather and friend to many of us, Tim lived a life of service
to others as a recently-retired EMT and in service to the cause
of conservation. A prolific MUCC resolution writer, we could
count on Tim to offer timely, important and well-researched
policy proposals — many of which were adopted by MUCC's
membership. Tim loved his family, deer camp, inspiring new
generations of outdoor enthusiasts and exploring Michigan's
Upper Peninsula on his ATV. For over 20 years, Tim was the
voice of the outdoors in the UP hosting his radio show, UP Trails
and Tails (WYKX and Kix Country) and writing his outdoors
column for the Escanaba Daily Press.
A message of condolence may be directed to the Kobasic
family by visiting crawfordfuneralhomes.net.

Having recently finished reading the

new format magazine, my first im-
If you have recently lost someone you would like to honor here,
pression in a word is "slick". Upon
please contact Sue Pride at spride@mucc.org.

Spring 2019.indd 6 2/8/2019 11:02:13 AM

 LIFE MEMBER
Thank you to the following conservationists who have made a lifetime
commitment to conserving, protecting and enhancing Michigan's
natural resources and outdoor heritage by becoming Life Members
of Michigan United Conservation Clubs:

Amy Trotter of Haslett, Michigan

Mark Pike of Comstock Park, Michigan

Robert Acker of Greenville, Michigan

If you are willing and able to make a lifetime commitment to conservation, you can become a Life Member of
Michigan United Conservation Clubs with a $500 contribution to the organization.

Life members receive a lifetime subscription to Michigan Out-of-Doors, a Life Member MUCC ballcap,
a Life Member patch and a certificate commemorating your commitment to conservation.

Contact Sue Pride at spride@mucc.org or visit www.mucc.org/join_mucc and select "Life Membership."

Spring 2019.indd 7 2/8/2019 11:02:15 AM

 PUBLISHER
AMY TROTTER

EDITOR
NICK GREEN
editor@michiganoutofdoors.com

ADVERTISING
Nick Green Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) is a 501(c)(3)
edtior@michiganoutofdoors.com nonprofit organization founded in 1937 by sportsmen clubs
from around Michigan to protect conservation from politics.
PRESIDENT Representing over 50,000 members and supporters and
GEORGE LINDQUIST
approximately 250 affiliated conservation clubs, MUCC is the
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
largest state-based conservation organization in the nation.
THOMAS HERITIER MUCC members determine its conservation policies through
a robust grassroots process, which MUCC staff works to
VICE PRESIDENT implement by working with elected officials, state and federal
GREG PETER agencies, its members and the public. MUCC has published
Michigan Out-of-Doors since 1947 and operates the Michigan
TREASURER Out-of-Doors Youth Camp in Chelsea, MI. Learn more about the
FRAN YEAGER full range of programs MUCC uses to advance conservation in
Michigan and become a member at www.mucc.org.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
MIKE TAYLOR
PATRICK HOGAN
JAY MAKI
JANE FINNERTY
CAROL ROSE
KAYLA MCKERN
MUCC Staff
CHUCK HOOVER AMY TROTTER NICK GREEN
RON BURRIS Executive Director PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER
BRUCE LEVEY atrotter@mucc.org ngreen@mucc.org
KENNY DELONG
DOUG KRIZANIC MORGAN WARDA LOGAN SCHULTZ
DAN MACUT Wildlife Co-op Coordinator Digital Media Coordinator
TERRY VUKSANOVIC mwarda@mucc.org lschultz@mucc.org

HUNTER SALISBURY SHAUN MCKEON

Outreach Specialist Education Director
Michigan Out-of-Doors (ISSN 0026-2382) is the official publication of
Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC), 2101 Wood St., Lansing hsalisbury@mucc.org smckeon@mucc.org
MI 48912, and is published quarterly. Telephone: 517.371.1041.
Receipt of this publication is through membership in MUCC. For SUE PRIDE AMBER ALBERT
membership information, call 1.800.777.6720. Single copies available Membership Relations &
to the public for $5.99 each. Periodicals postage paid at Lansing,
Membership Coordinator
Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address Tracks Coordinator aalbert@mucc.org
changes to Michigan Out-of-Doors, PO Box 30235, Lansing MI 48909. spride@mucc.org
All advertising communications should be sent to PO Box 30235. Max Bass
Views expressed by freelance writers are their own and do not nec- Autumn Chirstenson
essarily express those of Michigan Out-of-Doors or Michigan United
Camp Director, Educator
Conservation Clubs. Copyright 2017 by Michigan United Conservation AmeriCorps Volunteer mbass@mucc.org
Clubs (MUCC). The Copyright Act of 1976 prohibits the reproduction of americorps@mucc.org
Michigan Out-of-Doors without written permission from Michigan United
Conservation Clubs. MUCC members may reproduce one copy for
personal use without permission. For permission to reprint a specific
article, and for inquiries, contact the editor at editor@michiganoutof-
doors.com.

Spring 2019.indd 8 2/8/2019 11:02:15 AM

 A New Year, A New Director
Amy Trotter, MUCC Executive Director
I am humbled and honored to share in MUCC’s long
legacy since 1937 as a conservation leader in this state
and among conservation groups across the nation. Some
of you know me through my long-time involvement in
MUCC’s advocacy work, but allow me to reintroduce
myself and share a bit of my background.
Born and raised in Cheboygan, Michigan, I was
surrounded by family and friends who hunted and
fished. When I enrolled at Michigan State University’s
Lyman Briggs College, I was a chemistry major but
quickly changed to earn a degree in environmental
sciences and management, with an additional major
in resource development — environmental studies
and applications. In my later college years, I was an
intern with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation
Service and also became involved in the student chapter
of Ducks Unlimited. Upon graduation, I wanted to stay
in mid-Michigan and became a consultant for natural
resources at Public Sector Consultants, a non-partisan
public policy research firm in Lansing, working for Bill
Rustem for more than four years.
In 2007, I desired a switch to use my policy-research
skills for advocacy and landed at MUCC. Through
my almost dozen years here, I have cultivated a deep
knowledge of hunting, fishing, and trapping regulations
and conservation law in Michigan. I have also completed
the Natural Resources Leadership Project and MSAE’s
Academy of Association Management.
Through this time at MUCC, I also met and married
my husband Marc, have had two wonderful daughters
May, 6, and Clara, 1, and we have settled in Marc’s
hometown of Haslett, just 15 minutes from Lansing and
Michigan State University.
I enjoy spending time with my family in the outdoors,
camping, waterfowl hunting and I’m starting to dabble
in native plants and perennial gardening. I have
continued my longtime membership and volunteering
for Ducks Unlimited’s Red Cedar Chapter and enjoy
cheering for the MSU Spartans in every sport.
Now, I am proud to be one of MUCC’s newest Life
Members as well as the new executive director.
Armed with our new economic study on the impact
of hunting, fishing and trapping, we are set up to
continue our effectiveness in implementing our policy
priorities. A few big lifts include:
Modernization of the commercial fishing laws;
Spring 2019.indd 9
Director's Desk
Creation of a regulatory structure over commercial
hunting and fishing guides to ensure the protection
of their clients, the image and perception of hunters
and anglers, and the natural resources; And securing
general fund investment and/or new revenue streams
for wildlife disease management and research,
including CWD and Tb; Examining the impact and
extent of PFAS contamination in our fish and game,
and working to contain and remediate polluted sites;
Recruitment, retention and reactivation in hunting,
fishing, trapping and the shooting sports.
Regarding the other aspects of our organization,
growth is the keyword. We have an award-winning On
The Ground public land habitat program, a successful
Michigan Out-of-Doors Youth Camp, we are covering
the state in landowner wildlife cooperatives working
to improve habitat and hunting, and we have a diverse
stable of communications in our website, social media,
TRACKS magazine and this publication. We have an
energetic and motivated staff. We have good fundraising
efforts, but I’m looking for your help in attracting new
members, donors and growing our endowment fund to
create a more stable fiscal outlook.
I look forward to leading the organization I have
been dedicated to for the last 11 years. I am excited
about the opportunities to continue to work with DNR
Director Eichinger and the department, knowing we
are both committed to ensuring that the agency and
conservation, hunting, fishing and trapping groups are
working together to conserve our natural resources
and protect our outdoor heritage.
Yours in Conservation.
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 7
2/8/2019 11:02:16 AM
 ON
PATROL
In each issue of Michigan Out-of-Doors, we highlight some
of the recent cases our brave Michigan Deparartment of
Natural Resources conservation officers handle. You don't
want to find yourself on this list.
January 28 through February 11, 2019
Keep it Down
Conservation Officers (COs)
Brian Lasanen, Doug Hermanson,
Ethen Mapes and Sgt. Emery,
along with USFS LEO Josh Lopac,
conducted a sound meter patrol in
the Greenland area.
Officers contacted about 75
sleds. Three snowmobiles were
tested and all three were over the
legal decibel reading of 88.
Officers issued two tickets for
exceeding sound noise emission
and three tickets for failure to
display registrations.
25 warnings were issued for
failure to attach trail permit, trail
permit improper display, failure to
display registration and failure to
transfer title.
Don't hit the CO!
Sgt. Emery was working a snow-
mobile patrol in the Porcupine
Mountains State Park when he
was nearly hit by a snowmobiler
who had blown a stop sign and
shot across the trail intersection.
Upon making contact, it was
determined the driver was also
operating an unregistered snow-
mobile and had failed to obtain a
snowmobile trail permit.
Law enforcement action was
8 |www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 10
taken for these violations along
with careless operation of a
snowmobile.
You'll Never Catch Me
CO Mark Leadman and
Probationary CO Jessica Curtis
contacted a vehicle parked in the
middle of M-35 late at night.
The operator of the vehicle
attempted to drive away when CO
Leadman knocked on the driver’s
side window of the vehicle.
The operator stopped about 100
yards down the road. CO Leadman
attempted to make contact again.
The operator then pulled away
attempting to flee a second time.
The operator was arrested
and lodged in Marquette County
jail for operating a motor vehicle
while intoxicated.
I'll Just Leave these Tip-ups Here,
Overnight
CO Bobby Watson was conducting
an ice fishing patrol on Little Bay de
Noc when he contacted a fisherman
outside of his camper on the ice.
The fisherman stated there
were three others in his group. Two
had gone somewhere else to perch
fish, and one other fisherman was
sleeping in the camper.
CO Watson discovered multiple
lines had been left by the absent fish-
ermen. As CO Watson was attempting
to sort out the situation, the two
friends returned to the camper.
CO Watson addressed the fact
that the two men had left multiple
lines out and unattended while they
went elsewhere to fish.
Many of the tip-ups that had
been left out had been completely
drifted in by snow and were difficult
to find. One of the men admitted to
CO Watson that he had arrived two
days prior and once they put them
out, he had only checked and broke
the ice on one single tip-up.
Enforcement action was taken.
Fall Through or Hit His Wife's Rose
Bushes?
CO Kevin Postma and PCO Josh
Boudreaux responded to a complaint
from a homeowner who stated that
a group of snowmobilers coming off
the lake cut right through his yard
and his wife’s rose bushes.
The COs responded to the scene,
took statements, and photographed
the area. The complainant was upset
because now that there were tracks
leading into his yard he feared others
would follow them.
Unfortunately, our complainant’s
fears were confirmed a short while
later when another group rode onto
his property, “following tracks,” and
fled when he attempted to approach
2/8/2019 11:02:16 AM
 them.
The group of snowmobilers from
the initial incident contacted 911 to
report what they had done and later
explained that when the ice they
were riding on started giving way,
they quickly rode onto the shoreline
to avoid falling through the unstable
ice.
Snowmobile Trails aren't for Cars
CO William Kinney and USFS
Officer J.P. Taylor were on snowmo-
bile patrol in Wexford County.
The officers had received a
complaint from dispatch of a vehicle
that had gotten stuck on the snowmo-
bile trail. The officers responded to
the area on snowmobiles and located
the stuck vehicle.
The officers made contact with
one of the occupants in the vehicle.
The individual stated they had gotten
the car stuck the night before at 2:00
am.
The driver had left in the morning
for assistance and the passenger was
going to stay with the car until his
friend returned.
The officers discovered the
passenger was in possession of mari-
juana and also had an outstanding
warrant for his arrest.
The passenger was arrested and
the vehicle was towed from the snow-
mobile trail.
This Guy has a History of Breaking the
Law
CO Josiah Killingbeck and a
Lake County Sheriff’s deputy were
on snowmobile patrol in the Irons
area when they observed a vehicle
being operated against the flow of
traffic.
CO Killingbeck was able to
determine that the operator was not
wearing a seatbelt either.
CO Killingbeck stopped the
vehicle using his snowmobile that is
equipped with emergency lights and
DNR Law Enforcement logos.
CO Killingbeck made contact
with the driver who immediately told
CO Killingbeck that he had warrants.
CO Killingbeck smelled the odor of
intoxicants coming from the vehicle
Spring 2019.indd 11
and driver.
CO Killingbeck discovered that
the subject was over twice the legal
limit and was driving suspended, was
in possession of open intoxicants,
and had an expired license plate.
The driver also had two warrants
from Manistee County.
CO Killingbeck also discovered
that the subject had been convicted
of four OWI violations in the past.
The driver was arrested and
lodged in the Lake County Jail.
Kidnapping Dogs
CO Mark Papineau received a
complaint from area houndsmen
regarding a subject who had
“kidnapped” their hunting dogs.
According to the complain-
ants, they were running coyotes
all morning and were attempting
to retrieve their dogs before they
approached a busy highway. As they
began closing in on the coordinates
of their hunting dogs, the GPS signal
from the dog collars disappeared.
Upon arrival at the last known
location, the houndsmen quickly
located a subject attempting to flee
the area with three of the missing
dogs.
One of the houndsmen was able
to corner the subject’s vehicle at a
nearby intersection where a verbal
altercation ensued.
CO Papineau responded to the
area and was able to recover the three
GPS collars that were intentionally
removed from the dogs by the angry
property owner.
It was explained that the property
owner was upset with the hunters
continually trespassing on his land.
The landowner explained he
decided to remove the tracking
collars and take the dogs to the local
animal control shelter.
Enforcement action was taken.
Sounds like a CMU Party
COs Josh Russell, Dan Robinson
and John Byars were patrolling Duck
Lake when they noticed black smoke
coming from a nearby residence.
The COs located the smoke and a
subject who was burning a couch and
other furniture.
The wind shifted, and the fire
started going towards the house. The
fire department was called, and a
ticket was issued for the illegal burn
Don't Throw your Carcass there
CO Mark Siemen received infor-
mation about some deer carcasses
being dumped in a Sanilac County
ditch.
Information was that a deer tag
was still attached to one of the deer
carcasses.
CO Siemen responded and
located the carcasses, along with the
deer tag and multiple pairs of blue
latex gloves. CO Siemen checked
the tag and located the subject who
killed the deer in November.
He stated he donated the deer
to a subject and had no idea what
happened to the deer after that. CO
Siemen located the second subject
and stated he did get the deer and
did process the deer.
He stated he told his son to throw
the carcass out in the dumpster.
He advised that his son must have
thrown it in the ditch. Enforcement
action was taken.
Important Stuff
CO Josh Wright and PCO Cody
Smith made a trip to Tuscola Tech
Center to talk to their law enforce-
ment class.
The COs were able to talk to the
class about their job and the process
of becoming a CO.
The students were involved and
had many questions for the COs.
These reports are randomly
pulled from the Law
Enforcement Division's
bi-weekly reports.
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 9
2/8/2019 11:02:16 AM
 Subscribe, become a member and get MUCC and
Michigan Out-of-Doors gear at www.mucc.org
and www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Get Michigan Out-of-Doors

by becoming a member of
Michigan United
Conservation Clubs
Visit www.mucc.org/join_mucc
or
Call Sue Pride at 517.371.1041

Affiliate Club members: Ask the person at your club who handles
membership about subscribing to the print edition
for a discounted rate.

10 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 12 2/8/2019 11:02:18 AM

 TM

O T GR
U
Ound
N D
C C E G -gro
M U T H o n -the
N uO c c . org/
m
MUCC's OTG ("On the Ground") program is in its
sixth year, with multiple projects planned across
all ages and experience levels throughout the
state. Volunteers participate in "on the ground,"
public land, wildlife habitat projects and are
provided an opportunity to engage in hands-on
conservation while learning about wildlife habitat
needs. 5/201
7 9
:42:02
AM

11/1

On Saturday, March 9, 2019 from 9am-

2pm volunteers will be cutting non-native tree
species such as black locust and Scotch Pine at
Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area in Ashley,
Michigan. These trees will then be used to create
brush piles for small game habitat in the immedi-
ate area. Then, on Saturday, March 23, the OTG
program will be helping expand and promote the
Youth Rabbit Hunt hosted by the Michigan DNR at
1
Crane Pond State Game Area. Finally, on March
dd

heGro
und
(201
7).in
28, On The Ground Junior will be working with
OnT
Lenawee High School students to build brush piles
for small game at Sharonville State Game Area.

In early April we will be heading to Dansville

State Game Area to create a hunter and recre-
ation access trail on the area. The cut timber will
then be used to create small game brush piles. In
late April the program will be planting oak trees
for foraging and cover at Barry State Game Area.
Dates and times for both of these projects will be
posted on the website as soon as they become
available.

It's a busy season which means there's plenty of

opportunities to get outside and volunteer for
wildlife. For more information on event dates, de-
tails and to register, please visit www.mucc.org/
on-the-ground or email hsalisbury@mucc.org.

Spring 2019.indd 13 2/8/2019 11:02:19 AM

 Around MICHIGAN
CONSERVATION NEWS FROM TWO PENINSULAS AND FOUR GREAT LAKES

A New Director
A Different Direction?
New Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Eichinger assumed his appointment on January 1.
Many in the conservation community have asked what his priorites will be, and Michigan Out-of-Doors
Editor Nick Green sat down with Eichinger for a question-and-answer session to find out. Portions of the
original interview have been ommitted to meet space constraints.

Q: With a background in the hunting

and fishing world, and seeing first-
hand the decline in participants, how
do you plan to address the decline of
license buyers that is projected for the
foreseeable future?

A: There are some actions that

we can take short-term and some
longer-term actions that we need
to be thinking about. Recruitment,
retention and reactivation activities
are all resource-hungry and take a
lot of time.
You know as well as I do that
it takes a lot of effort to make a
new hunter — whole cloth, out of
thin air. It doesn’t mean that we
shouldn’t do those things, we just
have to recognize that the timescale
where those efforts are actually
going to bear fruit aren’t immediate.
In the short-term, we have to woodcock in Michigan than any land and what opportunities we are
flatten that decline out and then other place on the planet. We have providing for non-residents to come
reverse that trend so that we are great grouse hunting, great water- into this state.
growing. The primary way we fowling opportunities, and despite
can do that is to try and position what some folks might say, we do Q: Now that the baiting ban is in
Michigan more as a destination have some spots in the state that are effect, do you expect an even more
state for non-resident hunters and pretty darn good for deer hunting. exaggerated decline in license buyers
anglers to come here, spend their Part of what I think we need to and, more specifically, deer hunting
license dollars here, stay in motels, do is steer some of the focus that we licenses as a result of the baiting ban?
buy gas and buy meals here. have in our marketing and outreach
As a state, we haven’t histori- division beyond the borders of the A: It’s tough to say. I don’t know that
cally performed well in attracting state and start telling our story I am anticipating that. I don’t know
non-resident license buyers. Yet, we to those who aren’t in Michigan. what the causal relationship would
have world-class fisheries and we Our management actions have to be there. We have had baiting and
have world-class hunting opportuni- reflect that, too. We have to think feeding bans before in the Lower
ties. We have more North American about how we are managing public Peninsula. In 2008, we had a baiting

12 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 14 2/8/2019 11:02:21 AM

 and feeding ban that was in place
until 2010. We experienced declines
in hunters right alongside that. I
certainly think that it is something
for us to be sensitive to. We also
have to think about things long-
term. The unanimous recommenda-
tion from the science community,
our biologists and biologists across
the country is that when you’re
confronting a wildlife disease issue
like we are in Michigan, then you
have to call a timeout on baiting and
feeding.
I’m sure that as we understand
more of what the footprint of this
disease is, we will likely start to tailor
our management response based on
what we have learned. I’m sure in
the future, the Natural Resources
Commission will be compelled to
revisit the baiting and feeding ban,
don’t do a very good job of situating managed or secured for a different
and at that point in time, we will
all of those uses on the landscape. purpose. And that really falls on us
make an assessment about where
And we have seen instances where as a department to do a better job
we are with disease and how the
we’ve seen encroachment on ensuring that kind of thing doesn’t
hunting community has responded
hunting land from non-consumptive happen.
to that. All of those things will go
users, and that’s a problem.
into the decision making that the
Those are things we should be Q: What are your big-picture plans for
commission uses when they revisit
able to avoid. We have 4.6 million Michigan’s state park system?
baiting and feeding.
acres of public land, and it should
be relatively easy for us to look over A: The state park system is going to
Q: With consumptive and non-
the horizon and plan the develop- turn 100 this year. The cool thing is
consumptive users often at odds with
ment of recreational assets like we have a 100-year birthday for our
management strategies and decisions
trails. We should be able to situate state park system; the bad thing is
and contentious issues like funding,
all those uses in a compatible way. we have a 100-year-old state park
resource use and crowding becoming
The other thing we have to be system.
more common in Michigan, how do
faithful to when managing a piece We have done a really good job
you see the department bridging the
of property is what the fund source in responding to a growing need
gap between user groups? Are there
was to originally acquire that prop- and demand for additional facili-
common issues to rally everyone
erty. And whether folks like it or ties. Our objective in the short-term
together and build support and under-
not, there is a hierarchy in that. The needs to be on ensuring that all the
standing between groups?
hierarchy for license-purchased and infrastructure and parks we already

license-managed lands is for fish have are well-maintained and being
A: There is a ton of common ground
and wildlife and fish- and wildlife- taken care of. We are not in the posi-
there. Regardless of how you engage
dependent recreation. It doesn’t tion financially to both grow and
with nature or how you do outdoor
mean other things can’t happen on take care of the infrastructure we
recreation, generally speaking,
that property, but the dominant use have.
everyone believes in having abun-
has to be for fish and wildlife. My interest right now is taking
dant, well-managed wildlife species,
But there are millions of acres care of some of those legacy issues
everyone cares about clean water
of public land that don’t have that in some of our biggest state parks
and everyone cares about having
same hierarchy of use because of and at some of those state parks
good, rich, well-managed ecological
the fund source. that are hidden gems out there. The
habitat complexes.
I think in terms of managing infrastructure needs we have cut
So at that level, I don’t think
conflict, it means that within our across all types of state parks and
there’s a lot of difference between
divisions we need to do a little more all types of recreation areas. We
someone who likes to hunt and
talking together. There are goals really need to focus on that.
someone who only likes to moun-
that each division has and each may We have something like a
tain bike, hike or canoe.
at times swerve out of their lane a $273-million backlog in capital
The conflicts occur when we
little bit and get into an area that is infrastructure needs, and we don’t

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 13

Spring 2019.indd 15 2/8/2019 11:02:23 AM

 have any idea how we are going
to pay for that. We can do some of
that through the traditional capital
outlay process. But before we start
thinking about adding new state
parks or facilities onto the land-
scape, we have to really stop and
think hard about how the system we
currently have is going to viable for
the next 100 years.

Q: As CWD continues to become more

contentious, how does the department
plan to retain and, in some cases,
regain the trust of some Michigan
hunters? You know as well as I do,
from your former job, there can some-
times be a lot of distrust in the depart-
ment. As the director, how do you plan
to address that in regards to CWD?

A: One of the most important

things we can do is be as open and A: The first concern for all of us
are being done haphazardly, but
transparent about the data and the is the potential impact that PFAs
it means that every day that we
information and the analysis that is has on human health and safety.
deal with this disease our under-
informing a decision. If all anybody In priority order, human health
standing of it and the management
sees is the outcome of a decision that and safety is the primary concern
actions reflective of that under-
is made without seeing some of the as it relates to PFAs or any other
stanting deepens a little bit. That
data or working through and strug- environmental contaminant like
should change and inform what our
gling with some of the information that. Where the department plays
management is. There isn’t going to
like we do, I get that it can cause a an important role is examining the
be an easy way to deal with this.
lot of question and skepticism about different vectors like groundwater
People have very strong feelings
the quality of the decision that was and fish and wildlife that move the
about deer and deer management
made. contaminant around.
in the state, and they all have their
I’m not pollyanna enough to To the extent that our fish and
informed opinions about what is
think that if everybody can see all wildlife resources are concerned
right and what isn’t right. I think
the surveillance and can look over about PFAs, there isn’t another
people are mindful of the uncer-
Dr. Straka’s shoulder in the disease governmental agency that has that
tainty with this disease. At the end
lab, that there all of sudden just responsibility to bear. We have had
of the day, everybody, regardless
going to say, “we are going to do staff that have been leading the tech-
of how they think this disease
whatever you want DNR.” But as nical workgroups that relate to the
should be managed, is in agree-
public servants, we have a responsi- state’s response regarding fish and
ment and understands that we are
bility to show as much of that work wildlife. And I fully expect we will
all concerned about the health and
as we can. maintain that role and we will help
long-term viability of our deer herd.
I think the other thing is that inform and engage on decisions that
And if that means we have to
CWD is a disease that has been iden- directly affect our fish, wildlife and
work through these issues and
tified for the last 50 years, but there natural resources.
answer tough questions, that is
is still a lot we don’t know about the
perfectally acceptable. It demon-
disease. One of the things I struggle
strates to me that people have a Q: The managed land strategy was
with, I know our staff struggles with
real vested interest in deer and deer finally adopted after several years of
and the hunting public struggles
hunting in this state. discussion amongst the legislature.
with is that it would be really great How will the department help to
if I could write a prescription and educate new and returning lawmakers
Q: As PFAs and the issues surrounding
say, "take two of these and every- and the general public about the value
it continue to affect our natural
thing would be fine." That’s not this of public lands?
resources, how do you see the depart-
disease.
ment interacting with other state
We are learning on the fly. And A: One of the first lessons is that
and federal agencies to address the
we are managing this disease on we are never done trying to help
problem?
the fly. That isn’t to say that things educate people about the value of

14 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 16 2/8/2019 11:02:25 AM

 public lands. That is never a destina-
tion we are going to get to. We should
always feel that sense of urgency
to communicate to lawmakers and
the public about the value of public
land.
I think through the managed
land strategy, and the things we
have learned over the last number
of years, is that the department
hasn’t always been a great neighbor
with local units of government. And
I give a lot of credit to former DNR
Director Creigh for recognizing that
behavioral deficiency in the depart-
ment and that we needed to do a
better job talking to counties and
townships about land-management
decisions.
I think there has been a lot of
progress made by sitting down and
having those conversations. We have
engaged very openly about what
our objectives are and how those
fit in with county master plans and
township master planning. And we
weren’t having that conversation
for a long time.
At the end of the day, the real
questions is what are we doing
with the stuff that we have? Are we
putting absolutely the best manage-
ment on the ground that we can in
all areas?
For example, are we supporting
Spring 2019.indd 17
active timber management in areas
to support not just the economy, but
the species that thrive from that
practice? You and I both know as
grouse and woodcock hunters that
early-successional forest habitat
happens at the end of a chainsaw,
and we have to be mindful of those
types of things when we look
at management of our natural
resources as a whole.
I think what people want to see
is that we are committed to good
habitat management, that it is well-
planned, that it is facilitating the
outdoor-based economy, it’s meeting
our fish and wildlife management
objectives and is providing a play-
ground for people.
Q: What is the legacy you hope to
leave on the department and our
natural resources for your kids and
their kids?
A: I want to finish the job on Asian
carp. We are getting close to an
inflection point of whether we are
actually going to do something or
not. I want to make sure that we are
going to score the touchdown this
time. I want to make sure we are
going to get infrastructure on the
ground to stop invasive carp from
moving into our Great Lakes and
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 15
connecting waterways.
I want to be able to say that we
have tackled that infrastructural
backlog in our state park system. At
some point, we are going to reach
a point where we end up crushing
that system because we have so
much stuff that is breaking at such
a rate that we can’t sustain it. That’s
not real sexy work, but that’s some-
thing that has to get done. It has to
get done; it has to be wrestled to the
ground. If we just leave that item on
the table because it’s too hard, it’s
too complex or whatever it is, then
I am not really doing my job and we
as a department are not really doing
our job of stewarding that system
into the next 20, 30 and 50 years.
And then the third thing I would
like us to really make some strong
strides towards is trying to making
hunting and angling more open
and more welcoming to everyone in
order to help reverse this decline of
license sales. There is a lot of work
for us to do on that front. That, to
me, if you want to talk about some-
thing that is a real legacy issue, is
meaningful work. We need to make
sure that hunting and fishing are as
accessible and available to as many
of Michigan’s residents as we can.
That would be a pretty good day’s
work.
2/8/2019 11:02:27 AM
 Hunting a

Ghost
By Jason Herbert

Turkeys are hard to kill when they don't gobble

16 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 18 2/8/2019 11:02:29 AM

 I
first saw Kong on a last-minute, I did hear a couple of roost sunrise, there was still no sign of
“run-n-gun” hunt after work. gobbles coming from the river early a tom turkey — I finally did hear a
I patiently worked an old as the first sun rays of the day were couple of mature hens yelping from
two-track along the Kalamazoo starting to peak over the horizon, behind me. That's cool I thought, at
River bottom for over two hours but other than that, the morning was least there are some birds on this
with no luck, not even as much as a slow. I continued to yelp and purr, farm still. Then it happened. As I
gobble. As I hopped in my truck and occasionally cutting to throw in was frozen solid, both literally and
slowly drove back out to the main some variety. Convinced that Kong figuratively, staring at my decoys, I
road, I saw him strutting in last was just a slow riser, I believed he could see through the corner of my
year’s picked cornfield. A generous eventually would hear my calls and right eye a giant bear of a turkey
estimate would put him at about a have to come in to investigate my come lumbering out of the woods to
hundred yards from where I had decoys. Perfectly positioned for a my right. I slowly turned my head to
parked. The woods near the river lethal shot as soon as he showed up, confirm my suspicions and saw Kon,
was so thick I couldn't have seen it would be a done deal, and I'd be with his large beard flowing down
him, but I should have at least heard heading to my dad's for coffee. off his chest and dragging on the
him gobble in response to my calls. About an hour or so after ground. Confident in the camouflage
To add insult to injury, instead of Each measuring 1 1/8-inches long, Kong had a set of sharp spurs. When Herbert
running away, the old tom teased me first encountered this bird, he could tell quickly that Kong was mature by the length
by exiting the field by way of the trail and sharpness of his spurs. The weight of a turkey may vary, beards can grow
I was driving on. Heck, at one point long and break off in the frost, but the length of the spurs is always a great way to
I could have hit him with a thrown accurately estimate the age of a bird.
rock! Through my windshield, I got
a perfect look at his thick beard,
which reminded me of a horse's tail.
Sharp, dagger-like spurs coming off
the back of his legs confirmed that
this was a mature bird. His confident
demeanor and abnormally large size
made me realize he was the king of
these woods. I decided to call him
Kong, and in my mind, I committed
to either killing him or eating my tag.
Knowing that Kong liked to strut
in the cornfield and seeing which
way he exited it gave me a few clues
I could work with after our first
encounter. I made a logical plan for
the following Saturday morning, my
first morning hunt of the season.
The plan was simple: I would sneak
in early, set up a full-strut tom and
submissive hen decoy in the field
and wait for Kong to come running
in on a string. This plan has worked
several times for me in the past, and I
could almost taste the fresh-brewed,
black coffee my dad would have
waiting for me as I showed off Kong
later that Saturday morning.
Michigan’s first turkey season
that spring was cold! With the ther-
mometer reading in the low 30s
on my way to the farm Saturday
morning, I thought to myself, "Man,
I should have worn my deer hunting
clothes because it's cold." But then
hubris got the best of best of me, and
I reminded myself that it was no big
deal, it won't take long.

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 17

Spring 2019.indd 19 2/8/2019 11:02:30 AM

 of my ghillie suit, I sat still and
contemplated what to do next. The
clump of trees I was sitting in was so
thick I could not swing my gun fast
enough to get a shot, so I elected to
continue my patient vigil and wait
for Kong to walk past me towards the
decoys. There was one chink in my
armor though, my breath.
Now shivering in the frigid cold,
I couldn’t hold it any longer; I had
to exhale. As another warm breath
left my lungs, it turned a smoky
grey while making contact with the
frosty air. The old, tom turkey had
seen enough and turned to run away
just as quickly and silently as he
arrived. While scratching
my puzzled head, I
admitted to myself I
just got busted by a
turkey because
of my breath.
This
Spring 2019.indd 20
was the second encounter I had with
this bird in a week — "That's strike
two," I thought. When a turkey sees
you before you have a chance to raise
your gun at him, the chances are
pretty good that he is going to live to
tell about it, and Kong certainly did.
Remembering that each turkey
has its own unique personality, I
learned a bit more about Kong from
this second encounter. First, he
seems to roost somewhere near the
river, hesitantly gobbling if he has to.
Second, he has hens with him. Also,
he will now associate my decoys
with danger. Lastly, he prefers not to
gobble at all once he hits the ground.
Most silent birds are quiet for one
or a combination of a few reasons.
First, loud birds call in predators,
plain and simple. The y o u n g
tom who gobbles all
day is not long for
this Earth.
"I wasn't intimidated by the fact that Kong had
hens with him. Calling a tom with hens is not rocket
science, but it certainly isn't a slam dunk either."
Second, loud toms get shot at a
young age. Also, silent toms may
have been loud at one point in their
life and survived a predator attack
or an encounter with a hunter. Or,
it’s merely their personality; they
just don’t say much. Regardless,
most silent toms are old and wise.
Re-upping my commitment to killing
Kong, or no bird at all, I thought to
myself, "This is what it is like to hunt
a ghost."
I wasn't intimidated by the
fact that Kong had hens with him.
Calling a tom with hens is not rocket
science, but it certainly isn't a slam
dunk either. Here’s how I do it, and
why I elected to NOT call to Kong
and his harem of hens on my next
hunt: When a tom is “henned up,” he
really has no need to leave them for
a chance encounter with some new
girl he hears in the distance —the
chances of leading a tom away from
hens are rare. I have done it, but
only in the situation where there
are several toms following a group
of hens and one of the “satellite”
toms, who is not dominant, breaks
off in curiosity. So instead, I call to
the hens with a much greater success
percentage. Listening to the lead hen
and the calls she makes, I first start
by mimicking her but at a much
softer tone. If she says “Yelp,
Yelp, Yelp,” I reply with a softer
“yelp yelp yelp." I’m trying to
let this lead lady know that
I’m submissive to her and
that I want to join her
flock. Sometimes, she’ll
come to investigate
bringing the tom in tow,
sometimes not.
If that doesn’t work,
I match her exactly. If
she says “Yelp, Yelp, Yelp,”
I reply with exactly the same
“Yelp, Yelp, Yelp." Essentially,
I'm hoping to pique her curiosity
and let her know that we are social
equals. Once again, maybe it will
2/8/2019 11:02:31 AM
 work, perhaps not.
If the even call and response
trick doesn't work, then I go all
out. If she calls, “Yelp, Yelp, Yelp,”
I let her have it, proclaiming to the
whole woods, “YELP, YELP, YELP!"
Not only am I challenging her, but
I’m also declaring my dominance
to every bird in the county. As with
all of the other tricks, sometimes
it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
However, with Kong and his ladies,
I didn't want to take any chances.
Because of heavy hunting pressure
across the river and to the west, I
didn't want him wandering too far
and getting himself killed by some
unsuspecting hunter. I once again
elected to play it safe. Just because
I was on private land doesn’t mean
these birds are not pressured. In fact,
on small tracts of private land, I’d
argue that the turkeys are even more
pressured than on vast expanses of
public ground.
So at this point, I am running
down the current scenario of my
turkey season: One week left, I’m
after one specific bird, it’s freezing
for the next few weeks, I can't call
to him and he knows my decoys One thing Jason noticed right away about Kong is how thick his beard was.
mean trouble. So I did what any Depending on the harshness of the winter (they can freeze and become brittle), the
red-blooded Michigan turkey terrain where the turkey spends his time and how he carries himself, mature tom
hunter would do, I called a buddy beards have been known to measure between 8 and 12 inches long.
who’s smarter than me. My buddy
Chris, a doctor at Western Michigan the same time, that same strutting luck.”
University, is an absolute turkey- tom needs to know others can easily Friday morning finally came
hunting nerd. Through his travels see him. Looking at the weather fore- around, and I was excited. My new
across the nation, he’s hunted almost cast, Chris and I came up with a plan. plan was to sneak in early, wait Kong
every turkey subspecies in multiple He pointed out my food plot down by out until he got done breeding the
states. I quickly explained to Chris the river’s edge as a great place to set hens he roosted with and shoot him
what had happened and what I knew up because if Kong is roosting near when he eventually came to strut in
of Kong. He got on Google Maps to the river, he should fly down into it. overgrown food plot along the river. I
look at the property I was hunting. Along a straight two-track, a strut- snuck in quietly, with no decoy and I
Talking with Chris reminded me to ting tom could get plenty of light didn’t even bother to put a call in my
be sure to change up my call style and be seen from long distances if he mouth, and quietly sat and waited.
and sequence. Ironically enough, were to hang out in the food plot. The Not long after sunrise, the otherwise
Chris is also the hunter on the prop- following Friday morning was going silent morning changed abruptly
erty to the west of me, and we had to be perfect. Turkeys like to fly down as I noticed a coyote following my
both seen several others across the into the wind, and Friday gave me trail. I don't like the fact that he was
river. Pressured birds need to hear the west wind I needed for him to fly trailing me, and I really am not fond
a variety of calls so they don’t get down to my side of the river. Since of coyotes in general. I know all of
suspicious. turkeys like to fly down away from creation has its place, but a coyote
He also reminded me of two the sun, lighting up their landing this bold simply isn’t right in the
things any mature tom needs — strip, I had the advantage of facing head. Knowing full well that I could
sunlight and open space. For a west. “Don’t forget,” Chris reminded be ruining the day’s hunt by firing
turkey to show off, especially a silent me, “be patient... on cold mornings, a shot, I still elected to squeeze off
one, he needs to have the sun’s rays the birds wait a bit to fly down." He a round, drilling the coyote in the
illuminate his iridescent feathers. At followed it up with a simple, “good chest once it saw me at the end of the

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 19

Spring 2019.indd 21 2/8/2019 11:02:31 AM

 trail.
An hour or so later, with the
warm sun's rays warming my back,
I thought I heard a gobble. There it
is, then another, “Gobble… gobble..”
There are two of them, I thought
to myself. Cool. Then, the sight
every turkey hunter dreams of: two
glowing, reddish-blue orbs slowly
walking my way. As I got a better
Herbert poses with Kong; a once living legend that tested his turkey-hunting grit.
Herbert harvested Kong in 2018, and he was one of the toughest and wisest birds
the author has ever had the chance to hunt. Each encounter with an animal can
offer lessons, and Herbert wont soon forget what Kong taught him.
www.michiganoutofdoors.com
20 || www.michiganoutofdoors.com
20
Spring 2019.indd 22
look at these two dudes with their
thin stringy beards, I soon realized
neither of them, in fact, was Kong,
but it didn't matter. They were both
healthy 2-year-old toms, perfect
for next season, and I was at least
seeing birds. What happened next is
pure divine intervention. As the two
younger toms started to strut and
gobble in the food plot, I noticed a few
shadows pitching across the river
into my peripheral to my right side.
Just as he appeared out of nowhere
the first two times I saw him, Kong
was all of the sudden standing in
front of me, as tall and proud as
I remembered. In one instinctive,
fluid motion, I took a steady aim and
squeezed the trigger. Kong dropped
effortlessly, not even flopping once.
The other two toms flew off in a panic,
as well as the hens Kong was with,
all to live another day and tell the
tale. Me, I quickly clicked my safety
back on and ran out to retrieve my
trophy. And what a trophy he was!
Later, finally enjoying my coffee at
my dad’s, Kong weighed in at 25.6
pounds with a 9.5-inch beard and 1
1/18-inch spurs.
Hunting Kong reminded me of a
few things I had forgotten and taught
me a few new things as well. Enjoying
a long run of 15-minute opening day
hunts, I needed a season like "Kong's
season" to keep me fresh and remind
me that no animal should ever be
taken for granted. Kong was a wise,
old bird and a worthy adversary. It’s
important to remember that turkeys
like to fly down into the wind, they
prefer to have the sun at their backs,
as they need to be illuminated while
strutting, and they also need to be
able to be seen from long distances.
Lastly, those silent birds are prob-
ably old and wise. Don’t forget to
switch up calls often, especially
when hunting pressured birds. Oh
yeah, and two brains are better than
one, don’t be afraid to ask someone
smarter than you for advice!
Jason Herbert and his family
own a small farm in Southwest
Michigan. An organic farmer
and avid sportsman, Herbert
can always be found outdoors
doing something. From hunting
white-tailed deer, turkeys and
coyotes to training his dogs,
foraging for mushrooms or
cutting firewood, Herbert tries
to live as natural as possible.
2/8/2019 11:02:31 AM
 For more than 25 years Mike Avery has
informed and entertained hunters and
anglers across Michigan. His experience
and common sense philosophy have made
Outdoor Magazine the Number One
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Spring 2019.indd 23 2/8/2019 11:02:32 AM

 Knowledge is Power
New study reveals hunting, fishing far more important to
economy than previously thought
By Chris Lamphere throughout the state are happy the a better job of converting demand
results showed the opposite. (expenditures) … on (hunting,
Sportsmen have long known “The research results reflect fishing and trapping) to jobs in the
how vital hunting and fishing are to that the economic benefits for local total economy than its Great Lakes
the environment and the economy. communities in every region of the neighbors.”
With the recent unveiling of a state by those who hunt and fish While not No. 1 in the U.S. in this
groundbreaking report commis- are vital to continuing Michigan’s category, Michigan is no slouch: the
sioned by Michigan United prosperity now and in the future,” state ranks 11th in job creation from
Conservation Clubs, the general Trotter said. sportsmen-related expenditures by
public and elected decision-makers residents and 15th by non-residents.
should have a better understanding THE STUDY Jobs created through hunting- and
of this, as well. fishing-related activities aren’t
The study, which was conducted One of the most important find- just those directly connected to the
by the Michigan State University ings of the study is that Michigan industry.
Eli Broad College of Business with leads the Great Lakes States in the “Since hunting and fishing are
funding support from the C.S. Mott number of jobs created (19.61) for often destination type activities,
Foundation, found that hunting every $1 million spent on hunting- they tend to pull visitors from other
and fishing contribute almost three and fishing-related purchases. parts of the country,” the report
times more to the state’s economy According to the report, this states. “They also engender the
than previously estimated. “indicates that the state has done use of other facilities and services
Hunting and angling activities within the region and have natural
generate more than $11.2 billion
annually, support 171,000 jobs and
place among the top 10 percent of
job-creating industries in the state.
Past studies derived from an
extremely limited survey size and
an outdated statistical formula by
the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service put this number at only $4.7
billion annually, supporting 72,000
jobs.
Amy Trotter, MUCC execu-
tive director, said the new report
is based on 2016 spending data
and uses a new, state-of-the-art
economic modeling formula that
more accurately reflects the impact
these activities have on Michigan
businesses and families.
Trotter said when they decided
to commission the report, they
were taking a bit of a risk, consid-
ering it could have come back with
results showing hunting and fishing
contribute less to the economy than
previously believed.
Trotter and outdoor enthusiasts

22 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 24 2/8/2019 11:02:32 AM

 synergies with other high job-cre-
ating industries in the (state) such
as Transit and Ground Passenger
Transportation; Other Amusement
and Recreation; Full-service
Restaurants; and Limited-service.”
Given that out-of-state visitors
contribute so much to the hunting
and fishing industry, the report
affirms marketing efforts such as
the Pure Michigan campaign will be
especially valuable in the future.
“It’s clear that small businesses
throughout the Great Lakes State
rely on hunters and fishermen to
keep their cash registers ringing
all year long,” said Jeff Poet,
president and co-owner of Jay’s
Sporting Goods and a member of
the Michigan Wildlife Council.
The region with the largest
amount of money spent on hunting
and fishing — $3.7 billion — along
with the highest job conversion rate
per $1 million spent was the South
East region, which includes the
thumb and Detroit.
The report mentions that part A recent demographic anal- about how to address it will be
of the reason this area generates so ysis conducted by Michigan crucial, Eichinger said, not just for
much hunting- and fishing-related Technological University shows the the economy but general conserva-
expenditures is because it’s the number of firearm deer-hunting tion efforts, as well.
population center of Michigan. licenses sold in Michigan has All told, hunting and fishing
State Rep. Leslie Love, D-Detroit, dropped nearly 21 percent over licenses generate about $62 million
who serves as co-chair of the two decades — from a 1998 high of annually for wildlife and natural
Michigan Legislative Sportsmen’s 785,000 deer hunters to 621,000 in resources conservation projects
Caucus, said there are a “boatload” 2017. By 2035, projections are that in Michigan, with more than $40
of opportunities in the South East the late-’90s rate will be cut by more million coming from hunting license
region to further capitalize on the than half. sales. By law, that money is entirely
state’s abundant natural resources. With hunting contributing to dedicated to wildlife management
For many years, Love said she’s the lion’s share of spending in the and conservation activities.
heard a narrative about hunters state by sportsmen and sports- “Hunters and anglers foot
and anglers as people that don't care women — $8.9 billion — advocates virtually the entire bill for conser-
about the environment. say it cannot be understated how vation in Michigan and across
As she’s learned more about vital it is to figure out a way to bring the nation,” said Dennis Eade,
the industry and the critical role these numbers back up. executive director of the Michigan
conservationists play, Love said it Michigan Department of Steelhead and Salmon Fishermen’s
became clear that this narrative Natural Resources Director Dan Association and a member of the
was false. Eichinger said hunter participation Tourism Industry Coalition of
“They absolutely care about has been on the decline for some Michigan. “A continued decline in
wildlife and our waterways,” Love time as a result of older generations that base has huge implications for
said. “That narrative has changed not being replaced by their younger how we manage the conservation of
through exposure.” counterparts. our forests and fields, wildlife, our
Eichinger said they have tried lakes, rivers and streams today and
A CALL TO ACTION various strategies over the years in the future.”
to attract more youth hunters, but Eade said women are a poten-
While the report illuminated the none have seemed to work very well. tially huge segment of the popula-
importance of hunting and fishing Obtaining a better under- tion that could be engaged with to
in Michigan, it also underlined the standing of what is contributing to bolster hunting and fishing partici-
challenges faced by the industry. this decline and thinking differently pation throughout the state.

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 23

Spring 2019.indd 25 2/8/2019 11:02:32 AM

 “We just have to be careful not
to be lulled into doing it the same
way as we have been,” Eade said.
MUCC Director Trotter agreed,
adding that one of the tradi-
tional marketing philosophies to
improving female participation —
to “shrink it and pink it” — isn’t
effective anymore if it ever was.
Rep. Love, D-Detroit, said
another untapped demographic
is “city slickers” like her.
“There is a great diversity of popu-
lation here,” Love said, adding that
in many cases, folks may become
interested in hunting and fishing by
merely being invited.
“We must work together to
better promote the joys and oppor-
tunities of hunting and fishing in
the Great Lakes State to younger
and more diverse audiences if we
want to grow participation and
ensure these sports remain a key
cog in Michigan’s economy,” Love
said.
To that end, Rep. Gary Howell,
R-North Branch, chair of the House
Natural Resources Committee, said
improving efforts to market outdoor
activities in urban areas is a must.
An example of this are pheasant
hunts that have been growing
in popularity in locations many
associate with urban sprawl.
“It’s a challenge, but one that I think
can easily be met (through engage-
ment),” Howell said.
state’s game, fish and waterfowl
populations remain healthy and
safe for human consumption, and
• Increase the number of people
who hunt and fish in Michigan
by promoting the sports’ benefits
and by appealing to more diverse
audiences.
Some have questioned whether
the discovery of CWD and PFAs
have already hurt Michigan’s repu-
tation for offering top-notch outdoor
recreation.
Trotter said it’s too early to
tell at this point if the discovery of
PFAS has led to decreased fishing
activities in the state.
Eichinger, with the DNR, said
CWD is starting to affect hunter
participation, but he’s unsure to
what extent and won’t know for
sure until they collect additional
information.
Rep. Howell said he believes the
Legislature will begin discussing
bills on the above topics in the next
month or two.
Armed with the new informa-
tion about the economic impact
of hunting and fishing, Howell
predicts lawmakers will be better
equipped to convince those on the
fence that these activities are vital
to Michigan’s future and must be
preserved and expanded.
“Because of the MUCC anal-
ysis, people who never hunt or fish
should have a new appreciation for
the economic power Michigan’s
sportsmen and sportswomen
deliver, and that helps make our
state a great place to live, work and
recreate,” Howell said.
A copy of the MUCC-MSU
report is available at mucc.org.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

Based on the study findings,

members of Michigan’s conserva-
tion, small business, tourism and
legislative sectors called for state
government leaders to launch
a bipartisan push in 2019 that
prioritizes more funding for three
initiatives:

• Prevent chronic wasting

disease from spreading
among Michigan’s deer herd
• Contain and remediate per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances —
contaminants known collectively
as PFAs that have worked their
way into Michigan’s lakes, rivers
and groundwater — to ensure the

24 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 26 2/8/2019 11:02:33 AM

 Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 25

Spring 2019.indd 27 2/8/2019 11:02:34 AM

 Life After Bait
Part 1: Plot a Plan
By Tony Hansen
S
tarting with the 2019 deer
season, baiting will become
little more than two gallons
of memories scattered over a
10-foot by 10-foot area. For some, it's
a case of good riddance. For others,
it's a case of panic.
If you've never hunted without
the use of bait, the thought of
hunting without it can seem
daunting. And even for those who
haven't hunted with bait, knowing
the amount of bait available to deer
could have an impact on deer move-
ment and the way you hunt as well.
The bottom line is this: The baiting
days are over, and it's time to adjust.
In this four-part series, we'll tackle
the task, and I promise you'll have
some fun along the way. And, who
knows, you might even kill a deer or
two.
STEP 1: ASSESS
To start your post-bait journey,
you need to assess the situation that
you'll be facing, particularly the
area(s) that you have to hunt. Now,
if you hunt exclusively on public
Steps 1 & 2
26 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 28
lands this part of the post-bait
system will be a bit more difficult to
achieve. But it can be done to some
degree, and you'll want to rely more
on Parts 2, 3 and 4.
No matter what kind of project
you're about to begin, the first
step should always be assessment
and evaluation. So do that now.
Think about the places that you
hunt. Are they wholly covered in
woods? Are you looking at a mix of
farmland and timber? Do you have
natural openings to work with?
The goal is simple: We're going to
install some food, and we're going
to do it the old-fashioned way. We're
going to grow it.
STEP 2: BE HONEST
It would seem that anyone and
everyone who has ever been on
a hayride, mowed their lawn or
planted a tomato plant feels they are
a closet farmer and can produce a
bumper crop of just about anything.
Well, here's a reality check. Farmers
aren't dumb. And they do things to
the soil that most folks just can not
Tony Hansen is a lifelong
Michigan resident who has
hunted whitetails all over
the country. And he's even
managed to kill one or two of
them while doing so. Hansen's
four-part series will detail
tactics for harvesting mature
whitetails on private and public
lands without bait
understand. But it is this hidden
“magic” that makes for bountiful
harvests, with weed-free results.
I'm not saying you have to own a
combine and have logged hundreds
of hours on a big John Deere to
plant a food plot, but you do need to
acknowledge the fact that agronomy
is a college degree for a reason. And
if you'll admit that there's more to
Step 3
2/8/2019 11:02:35 AM
 growing plants than raking up an
area and tossing out a bag of throw-
and-grow, you'll be well on your way
to becoming a food-plotter.
And while we're being honest,
let's nip this falsehood in the bud
right now: Food plots are NOT the
same thing as baiting. Not even close.
Sure, a food plot will draw deer to
an area in a fashion that's somewhat
similar to a bait pile. But that's about
where the similarities end. Unless
you're planning to plant a 10-foot by
10-foot plot, the amount of contact
and concentrated focus isn't even in
the same realm.
STEP 3: PICK A SPOT, NOT A
CROP
A big mistake first-time
food-plotters make is deciding what
they're going to plant before they
plant it. Your soil test will deter-
mine what you plant. What's a soil
test? Well, it's the very first thing
you'll do after you've chosen your
site location.
Plants won't grow without
sunlight. You can establish a good
plot in the middle of a woods, but
it's tough to do. You'll need an
opening, and you'll likely need to
tip over trees along the edge of
that opening to ensure enough
sunlight is hitting the ground.
Natural openings are ideal because
they'll require minimal clearing.
And try to pick a location that's
a bit lower in elevation than the
surrounding land. This will help to
ensure that you've got an area that's
Spring 2019.indd 29
going to receive ample moisture
Then grab a shovel, a paper bag
and dig some soil samples in various
areas of the plot. Then take that to a
local elevator or extension office and
have it tested. You're likely going to
need to correct the soil PH (this is
done with applications of lime), and
you'll need fertilizer. When picking
up the soil test, ask them what kind
of plants will do best in that type of
soil. Sure, you can mention what
you were hoping to plant but don't
have your heart set on anything.
Some plants thrive in certain types
of soils – and that's what you should
plant.
STEP 4: PLANT CLOVER
No matter what you opt to plant,
here's some advice that I wish I'd
had when I first started to establish
food plots:
First, do not waste your time,
effort or resources planting in the
spring. Unless you're planting a
substantial area (more than 10
acres), you will be disappointed.
While it may seem like a great idea
to plant a few acres of corn or beans,
it is not. For starters, growing corn
and beans isn't as easy as you might
think. Second, any corn or soybean
plants that do pop up are likely to
be nipped off pretty fast in a smaller
plot. There is very little chance any
of that food will be left come October
or November.
Instead, plant in late summer.
Just about anything you'd ever
want to plant in a food plot will
Step 4
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 27
perform better with a late-summer
planting. From brassicas to oats to
wheat (and, yes, even soybeans), a
summer/early-fall planting is better
all around.
And whatever you plant, mix
in clover with it. I prefer a blend of
whites, reds and ladino clover. This
clover will provide almost no value
in the first fall. But the following
spring and summer, you'll have a
plot full of luscious clover. This
gives you options. You can plow it
under for the next planting, giving
the ground a great boost of nitrogen
and organic matter, or you can
simply mow and maintain the clover
and have one of the best all-around
deer plots available.
STEP 5: HUNT IT
With your perfect plot establish,
it's time to hunt it. Trail cameras
will help you understand how (and
when) deer are utilizing the plot.
But here's a bit of advice: Don't
overdo it. Most plots are fairly
small in size, and that's okay. But
if you try to hunt right over the
edge of that plot like the big-time
TV stars do, you may be in for a
disappointing season. Michigan
deer see plenty of hunting pressure.
They aren't going to tolerate much
activity, scent and disturbance near
a food plot. I don't hunt the edges
of my plots. Instead, I hunt travel
routes to and from them. I monitor
the plots with trail cameras and
take note of the direction of travel.
Step 5
2/8/2019 11:02:35 AM
 Luring
Spring Steelies By Jim Bedford

T
here was still ice in my streamers effective, their use also the current. While they cannot
guides, but the rising March eliminates the hassle of preparing be retrieved directly against the
sun was already making the bait or keeping it fresh and alive. current as they will rise to the
the morning feel warmer. Artificial lures for steelhead can surface, you can still back them
My silver spinner swept across the be grouped into three categories down by giving line at a rate slower
current, and just as it arrived in based on the way they are usually than the current to keep them deep
front of the submerged boulder, presented. High action plugs or and spinning. Spinners attract
something tried to wrench the rod crankbaits are usually held against steelies both visibly and sonically
from my hand. The hefty fish surged the current; spinners and spoons from a considerable distance, so
downstream, and I followed as best I are cast and retrieved; and relatively they allow you to cover water fairly
could. Several times, the red-sided weightless lures or flies are drifted quickly. This is especially helpful
fish rolled on the surface, but it with the current. Of course, these in late winter and early spring
never did leap clear of the river. offerings can also be presented in when the fish are likely to be quite
Gradually, the steelhead’s runs more than one way.
shortened and I was able to get
below the fish. I lifted the fish with TOSSING METAL
my rod and allowed the current
to carry the 11-pounder into my Casting weighted spinners is
net. Now it was excitement and my favorite steelhead technique.
adrenaline, rather than the rising They are a very versatile lure and
sun, which warmed my bones. can be presented at all angles with
This was the first of several
dark steelhead that attacked my
spinner as I waded about a mile
of Michigan’s upper Grand River.
Steelhead rarely feed actively during
their river migration and seem espe-
cially uninterested in eating in late
winter and spring. I believe spawn
bags, single eggs and insect larva
continue to catch steelies because
they strike them out of irritation
and then hang on to the natural-
ly-feeling and tasting offering long
enough for anglers to set the hook.
It is this same invading their space
irritation factor that causes spring
steelhead to grab flashy spinners,
minnow plugs and other lures. Not
only are plugs, spinners and bright

28 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 30 2/8/2019 11:02:36 AM

 scattered. Take advantage and
cover lots of water until you find
fish.
While spinners work exception-
ally well in moving water, spoons
are also good cast-and-retrieve
lures. Both of these offerings are
easy to get down to the correct
depth, and their flash really turns
on the migratory rainbows. Silver
is my first choice of finishes when
the steelhead are holding deep
because it reflects light best. Brass
and copper are also effective, and
I frequently switch to them when
the water is low and clear and the
day is bright. Adding fluorescent
orange, red or chartreuse tape to
the back of the spinner blade or
spoon will make your lure even
more irritating and thus irre-
sistible to migrating steelhead.
These lures should be retrieved
as slowly as possible — but just
fast enough to keep them spinning
or wobbling. If you are casting
upstream, you’ll have to crank a
little faster to keep the lures working
properly. Conversely, if you are
sweeping spinners or spoons across
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 29
Spring 2019.indd 31
the current, you might not have to
turn the reel handle at all. Spinners
with broad, flat, French-type blades
are best because they spin well
on slow retrieves. Likewise, high-
ly-curved spoons like the Little
Cleo and BC Steel will wobble
at fairly slow retrieve speeds.
Spinners and, to a somewhat
lesser extent, spoons have a resis-
tance that you feel when they are
retrieved. That means the lure is
working properly. A sensitive rod
and smooth running reel enhance
your ability to feel the lure working.
If you don’t sense resistance, the
lure could be fouled or functioning
improperly. Or, more often than
you might think, the reason could
also be that a steelhead has softly
inhaled the lure. When in doubt, set
the hook.
PLUGGING AWAY
High-action, compact plugs or
crankbaits are traditionally backed
downstream at a rate slower than
the current speed. This can be
accomplished from an anchored
2/8/2019 11:02:37 AM

"My silver spinner swept across the current, and just as
it arrived in front of the submerged boulder, something
tried to wrench the rod from my hand."
boat or a drift boat
that is rowed to keep the
craft moving slower than the
current. Wading anglers can also
drop back plugs when
they can wade in
above the holding water.
Hotshots, Wiggleworts,
Kwickfish, Flatfish, Hot-n-Tots and
Brad’s Wigglers are longtime favor-
ites for plug-pullers with the Mag
Lip a more recent hot choice. Many
other high-action bass or walleye
crankbaits can also be useful, but
be sure that the hooks and split
rings on them are strong enough.
Choose light and bright colors to
get the steelhead’s attention as you
invade their territory. Fluorescent
chartreuse, orange, pink and red
are all excellent hues. Metallic
finishes and contrasting colors are
also great at getting the attention
of a big ironhead. Copper has been
hot in recent years, and rattling
plugs help the steelhead zero in
when the water is stained or turbid.
You can also cast and retrieve these
plugs for steelhead. Upstream casts
are not very effective because of
the difficulty of getting the floating
lures down with the current, but
quartering downstream and then
sweeping against the current can
be very effective. Casting the
plugs can help you get them into
tight spots in the cover that would
be difficult to reach with a boat.
In recent years, minnow plugs or
stick baits have been very successful
in catching steelhead. They are also
best fished against or quartering
against the current. They may be
appealing to the feeding instincts of
the steelhead, but I am guessing the
30 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 32
rain-
bows don’t
like other
fish, even small
ones in their space.
These plugs seem to
become especially effec-
tive as spawning time
approaches, perhaps
because steelhead don’t
want other fish to be around
when they start laying eggs.
DRIFTING ALONG
Drifted lures such as flies, jigs,
beads and light, often buoyant,
drift “lures” also work well for
spring steelhead. With this group,
we are using the river’s current to
deliver our offering. While some
anglers still stick with traditional
bottom bouncing techniques,
the vast majority of Great Lakes
anglers are now using floats.
Except for jigs, most drift lures
are either buoyant or have little
weight of their own. Therefore,
Bedford utilizes many different tactics when chasing spring steelhead. His favorite
method is to cast and retrieve weighted spinners, hoping to elicit a strike from an
aggressive steelhead.
some weight must be added.
For bottom-bouncing, anglers
usually employ a two-way
swivel and attach their main-
line to one loop and a leader
of two to four pound lighter
material in test to the other
loop. Leaving a long tag
end to the leader now
enables you to attach split
shot or hollow pencil lead
to it. The weight needs
to be heavy enough to
keep your offering near
the bottom but not so
heavy as to drag and snag
frequently. You are much
better off to be a little high
in the water column than to
be snagging up all the time.
Float anglers also need to
add weight unless using a jig.
Small split shot spread out in a
pattern on the leader are usually
employed. Keeping your offering
suspended a foot or two above the
bottom will be most effective as
steelhead look forward and up. If
the surface current is not riffled
or choppy you can enhance the
effectiveness of your offering,
especially marabou dressed jigs, by
jiggling your bobber with your rod.
2/8/2019 11:02:38 AM
 There are large numbers of
commercial drift lures avail-
able. You can also tie your own
flies, jigs, and yarn balls. Bright
colors continue to be best and two
contrasting colors are even better.
Don’t forget you can also cast flies
and other weightless drift lures
with conventional fly tackle. Cast
your fly a bit upstream from where
you suspect the steelhead to lie and
allow it to sink. Twitch the fly to
make it appear alive as it sweeps
through the holding water.
TO SUM IT UP
Utilizing a small, black duo-lock
snap on the end of your line
will allow you to quickly change
lures to match the holding water.
Cutting and retying takes time
and is a bother and you probably
won’t bother even though you
know a different spinner or plug
would be better for the situation at
hand. If you pre-tie some leaders
and floats you can even switch
from casting lures to drift fishing.
Remember that steelhead need
cover on their river migrations,
and while they orient to current,
they also need to be able to rest.
You can think of cover as anything
that keeps the fish hidden from
Spring 2019.indd 33
view. The simplest cover is water
depth. The clearer the water, the
deeper the hole must be to provide
protection. A riffled surface
helps hide the fish and allows
them to lie in shallower water.
Boulders, submerged logs, and clay
or rock shelves or ledges provide
both cover and serve to break the
current for migrating steelhead.
Steelies will usually lie quite close
to these obstacles. A billed cap and
polarized sunglasses are essential
for success, both to see the cover
structure and possibly the fish.
If you are not ready to trade in
your spawn sacs for something
artificial, you can still employ hard-
ware as an aid. Casting spinners
or pulling plugs will help you find
scattered fish, and once a concen-
tration is located, you can drift the
holes with eggs. Conversely, if you
are drifting a run with bait that you
know holds steelhead but they are
not taking, you can use hardware
as a change of pace. The flashing
lure might also agitate them into
changing position and becoming
more receptive to your egg. Finally,
adding yarn or a bright drift lure
above your hook will make your
spawn bag more visible to the fish
and may excite them into taking it.
To Bead
or not to
Bead?
T
he drifting of beads has
taken the steelhead world by
storm. Many anglers have
told me that they have better luck
with them than real salmon and
steelhead eggs. Switching allows
them to eliminate the messy chores
of preserving eggs and tying spawn
bags. An additional huge benefit is
that wild, female salmon and steel-
head don’t have to be killed for their
eggs.
Most anglers think that the
beads are imitating salmon eggs,
and matching the color of the
natural eggs is important. It is
also thought that the beads should
be neutrally buoyant to match the
eggs. However, natural eggs are
NOT neutrally buoyant but rather
slightly denser than the water. This
is by design so the fertilized eggs will
sink into the cracks and crevices of
the gravel to safely incubate where
egg-eating fish and invertebrates
can’t get at them.
The most popular and effective
beads are also usually much larger
than natural eggs. Most salmon
and steelhead eggs are in the 5-7mm
range, while the beads employed
are usually 8-12mm and seem to be
getting larger. You also don’t see
too many chartreuse eggs drifting
downstream. Actually, you rarely
see any eggs drifting downstream
except just below a spawning redd.
So this old steelheader thinks that
beads act like lures that invade the
steelhead’s space and excite them
into striking.
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 31
2/8/2019 11:02:38 AM
 Poor Man's
Food Plots
“S
ure honey.” I
wasn't going to
bite. I've been
married long enough to
detect the slight tone of
sarcasm in her voice. “Go
ahead. Take as
much money as you want to plant
food plots for the deer. While you're
at it, do you want to buy them some
Christmas presents, too?” Ouch, I
thought; she didn't have to go that
far.
Being a public school teacher
blessed with four children means
that I've got all sorts of fun memo-
ries and adventures but generally
an empty wallet. I wouldn't have it
any other way, though. However,
my lack of finances doesn't
mean I love deer hunting any
less. With six hungry mouths
to feed at home, I need to hunt
now more
32 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 34
than ever. The lack of free time
for hunting, compounded with the
price of meat at the store, means
that I need to be a highly-efficient
killer each fall to keep everyone
happy at home.
Food plots are a fantastic way
to attract and hold deer
on any hunting prop-
erty. If you believe
everything you
read and see on
TV, you'll almost
be convinced
that you need to
have large food
plots requiring
expensive farm
machinery to kill
deer consistently. That's
just not the case.
A large percentage of the
deer's diet consists of native, woody
browse and vegetation, but food
plots are still a wonderful treat for
them. I believe the smaller, more
secluded and gnarly the food plots
are the better. Here are a variety
of different tricks to try this year
for effective food plots that won’t
require you to take a second mort-
gage out on the house.
The easiest poor man's food
plot idea that I know of is simply
throwing turnip seed down in a
cornfield right around August 1. I
like to get a pound or two of turnip
seed at the local garden supply store
for about $4 per pound on average.
Then I'll head out to
By Jason Herbert
the cornfield, hunch down low and
spread these tiny little seeds back
and forth between the cornrows.
This is a perfect setup because as
the corn matures and dries, the
late summer leaves will start to
wither away allowing more sunlight
to come in. Generally, cornfields
are also irrigated, watering your
fantastic little buddies that are
growing down below the corn.
Come August, the field will have
been hit with Round-Up a few times,
and there should be virtually no
weed competition. Once the farmer
harvests the corn in October or
November, you'll have a wonderful
2 to 3 ft tall turnip food plot in its
place.
I've also experimented with
variations on this whereas we have
planted turnips in soybeans with
good luck as well. Lately, we've also
been mixing in a daikon radish,
which the deer love. Also known as
“groundhog radishes,” these things
grow deep, pulling all sorts of nutri-
ents up from below the soil surface.
In fact, several farmers are planting
daikon radishes in fields as cover
crops for over winter because they
break up the ground so well and
bring nutrients from down deep up
to the surface of the soil.
Another version of my poor
man's food plot requires some basic
equipment. I like to take an old,
push lawn mower way back in near
my treestand locations and mow out
small, twisty, curvy food plots or
trails. Generally, I'm mowing weeds,
2/8/2019 11:02:40 AM
 thorns, brambles, garlic mustard
and whatever else grows in the area.
Sometimes, if necessary, I'll even
bring a small chainsaw and knock
down some competing trees.
Once I'm done mowing the
plots and trails, I will leave for a
cold drink and return in about two
weeks. After the two weeks, I come
back with a backpack sprayer full
of Round-Up and go nuts spraying
everything that I don't want to
compete with my food plot. Then
I'll wait at least two weeks (longer if
there is no predicted rain) before I
seed.
I cannot stress enough the
importance of mowing and main-
taining decent entrance and exit
trails. First, sneaking in and out
quietly is essential. Second, by
planting clover on these trails,
I have maximized the space and
created a pretty low maintenance
travel route for myself. Clover needs
to be mowed a few times each year
unless the deer keep it at bay. I also
like to manicure several game trails
to steer the deer by my stands and
cameras.
Seeding these small micro-plots
is really simple. I just walk back
with a handheld broadcast seeder
or a bucket and spread the seed by
Herbert utilizes several different methods to achieve "poor man's food plots" on his property ranging from simple, throw-
and-go methods to ones that take a little more effort and some machinery. Overall, Herbert finds that deer are going to feed
mainly on woody browse and vegetation, but food plots do offer a "treat" to deer who use them.
Spring 2019.indd 35
"I believe the smaller, more
secluded and gnarly the food
plots are the better."
hand. I usually throw a mixture of
clover and something else on my
new plots and trails. I like adding
clover in these plots because once
it establishes it will choke out all of
the weeds leaving me with a pretty
low-maintenance food plot for years
to come. I also add oats, wheat,
cereal rye, turnips, daikon radishes,
soybeans, leftover corn seed and
really anything else I can throw
down that the deer will eat. I never
till these type of plots because when
you do till the ground, you're also
creating a seedbed for countless
years of dormant seed waiting for
their chance to grow. I prefer to just
throw my seed really heavy, about
twice the recommended rate, down
on the dead vegetation that I hit
with Round-Up. The rain will force
the seed down to the ground, and
the vegetation will act as a mulch.
Of course, not all of the seeds will
get soil contact, but by seeding extra
heavy, I’ve always been happy with
the results.
This past winter and leading
into spring, I set a goal of reclaiming
Spring
Spring 2019
a giant patch of multiflora rose. My
goal was much easier said than
done, but regardless, I stuck with it.
While I was at it, I set my sights on a
stand of autumn olive as well. I took
our old push brush hog and after
much blood and sweat (no tears, but
a lot of screams in pain), I had the
multiflora rose beat back to stubble.
I also went with my chainsaw to the
autumn olive bushes and knocked
those back to the ground as well.
Then I let everything green up
around these areas for a couple
weeks before I came back with
Round-Up. I ended up creating a
beautiful clover and turnip plot in
a once impenetrable stand of multi-
flora rose. This new plot is directly
behind my house, so I get to watch
deer wandering around in it at all
hours. The autumn olive plot that I
overtook isn't visible from my home,
but it is right by my dad's Redneck
blind, and he sees all sorts of deer
in there eating turnips all day long.
There is too much of a good thing,
and thick cover such as multiflora
rose and autumn olive can eventu-
ally become so thick that they are
useless to deer because they can't
even navigate it. So when things on
our property get that thick, I like to
open them back up and create some
2019 || Michigan Out-of-Doors 33
Michigan Out-of-Doors 33
2/8/2019 11:02:41 AM
 food plots and trails.
Another inexpensive trick I like
to employ now and then is simply
fertilizing the native weeds nearby
my tree stands. Like I mentioned
earlier, a huge percentage of a
deer's diet is woody browse and
native vegetation, regardless of
how beautiful your food plots look.
The deer need these other materials
in their gut to keep up the chemical
balance that is required for proper
digestion. So I just play it simple
and take the cheap way out by fertil-
izing the native growth around my
tree stand. I think it is crazy how the
deer will quickly notice where the
most nourishing foods are and will
soon devour these weeds that have
been fertilized.
A tactic called “release cutting”
is also a great card to keep up your
sleeve. Each winter or spring, I go
out in my woods and find the best nut
or fruit trees to designate as lucky
survivors. Then, with my chainsaw,
I cut out everything that could be
any competition for sunlight and
nutrients under that tree's canopy.
By eliminating all the competition,
34 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 36
very similar to what you would do
in a garden with a tomato plant,
you're allowing all the water, nutri-
ents and sunlight to go to that one
specific tree. On a side note, save
the mulberries! A mulberry tree is
a landscaper's worst nightmare, and
I would argue a deer hunter's best
friend. The deer love to eat their
leaves, eat the berries and scrape all
over their low-hanging branches.
When the budget does allow,
taking the large fertilizer “spikes”
and jamming a few of them in the
ground at the edge of the canopy on
these release cut trees will also help
feed that tree for years to come.
Something new that I'm going to
plant this year is simply wild bird
seed. Yes, wild bird seed. Containing
sunflowers, milo, millet, sorghum
and all sorts of other goodies, this
stuff is as cheap as cheap can get.
We did some experimenting this fall
at a friend's house, and these bird
seed food plots grew incredibly tall,
offering edible cover for the deer
throughout the summer and early
fall. I will say once the snow and
bitter winds came in late fall, the
sorghum and milo laid right down
like anything else and didn't offer a
lot of cover. But for a specific period,
it was a deer paradise and certainly
cheap to put in.
Those are just a few ideas I
have for poor man's food plots.
Regardless of what you're doing to
improve your property, one thing
remains the same: It's incredibly
rewarding. I love watching animals
bed, live and eat on my property
knowing that they are choosing to
spend time there because of what I
have created. It has made hunting
much more rewarding and, yet, also
ruined it a little bit for me. Because
now when I'm watching deer living
on my property, I almost have to
talk myself into shooting them. It is
a bittersweet feeling because I look
at these animals like they're my pets
and although I know they're not,
I do want to see them continue to
survive and thrive.
Here’s a challenge to you! Get
out this winter and spring, plan out
a poor man’s food plot or two, save
yourself a bunch of money and
stress at home and have fun.
2/8/2019 11:02:41 AM
 CALL THE
HOTLINE

REPORT
FERAL
SWINE
TO REPORT FERAL SWINE OR
FOR
MORE INFORMATION PLEASE
CALL: USDA WILDLIFE
SERVICES AT
517.336.1928
OR
WWW.MICHIGAN.GOV/
FERALSWINE

FERAL SWINE
DAMAGE AGRICULTURE,
NATURAL RESOURCES,
PROPERTY, PEOPLE AND
CULTURAL SITES

This project was funded by the Michigan Invasive Species

Grant Program (www.michigan.gov/invasives).

Spring 2019.indd 37 2/8/2019 11:02:43 AM

 Why Wait?
By fishing these hatches and using these tactics,
anglers can catch trout long before the last
Saturday of April arrives
A
balmy breeze sent
mayflies skittering across
the stream. The sun, high
in the sky, shone down
upon the glittering water. Trout
were dimpling the river’s surface.
It was spring, the snow was gone,
I was trout fishing, and once again
the world was a cheerful place. It
didn't matter that trout season still
wouldn’t open for a couple of weeks.
Fly anglers probably realize at
some level of consciousness that flies
begin emerging before Michigan’s
last-Saturday-of-April trout opener
arrives. They probably know, too,
that Michigan has a multitude of
trout streams that remain open all
year. Not many anglers, though,
bother hitting the water before the
season opens. That’s a shame. They
could be spending time in a river,
casting to rising trout and shaking
off winter’s doldrums.
I happened to be fishing a
Hendrickson hatch. There’s nothing
unusual about that. Hendricksons
draw a lot of anglers to the water
36 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 38
By Andy Duffy
each year. The hatch typically
begins, though, about the time trout
season officially opens, much as
deer firearm season is timed to coin-
cide with the rut. That year, though,
spring had come early. In fact, by
the time the last Saturday of April
arrived, the Hendricksons were
finished. Those who waited for trout
season’s official opening day missed
them. The moral of the story is that
when the weather turns pleasant,
anglers should begin paying atten-
tion to the things happening on
the water. With everyone, it seems,
having Internet access these days,
it is easier than ever to know what
bugs are emerging.
And anglers have lots of open
rivers to choose from for their
early-season forays to the water.
Some famed stretches of water
remain open all year. Regulations
vary dramatically from stream
to stream and even on different
portions of streams, so anglers
should check their fishing regula-
tions. But Michigan anglers have
a smorgasbord of opportunities
available. Streams open in at least
some of their sections include the
Muskegon, Antrim County’s Jordan
River, Arenac County’s Rifle River
and Benzie County’s Betsie and
Platte rivers. All those and many
more are worth a person’s time.
There’s no guarantee early-
season anglers will find success.
Streams can be finicky even until
Memorial Day arrives and later.
And as long as snow remains on
the ground, the warmest days may
not be the best days. Melting snow
pouring into streams can drive the
water temperature down and put
the fish off the feed. When the air
temperature is just a few degrees
above freezing, though, on streams
that receive a good groundwater
influx, fish often respond better.
They also respond on warmer days
after the snow is gone.
A person can hardly speak
of finicky trout streams without
mentioning water levels. Sometimes
during the spring, rivers are swollen
2/8/2019 11:02:43 AM

and out of shape. Fish them with
care.
I remember one early spring
day when I was on the Au Sable
near Louie’s Landing. In the main
current, wading was dangerous. A
couple of buddies who’d accompa-
nied me to the river waded down
from Burton’s Landing to join
me at Louie’s. They arrived with
harrowing tales. Near the landing
where I’d fished, though, was a quiet
eddy where a few trout were rising.
I drifted a wet fly through the rising
pod and caught fish. We all learned
something that day.
Anyway, the Hendricksons are
just one of several aquatic insects
that sometimes emerge before
the end of April. Some hatches,
in fact, always begin earlier than
that. Several offer decent fishing.
Three kinds of stoneflies and two
kinds of mayflies will precede the
Hendricksons each spring.
The earliest flies to appear each
year are the tiny black stoneflies.
I often start seeing them when we
Spring 2019.indd 39
"Fly anglers probably realize at some level
of consciousness that flies begin emerging
before Michigan’s last-Saturday-of-
April trout opener arrives."
have a couple of back-to-back warm
days in February or even toward
the end of January. I’ll notice one
clambering around on someone’s
front door or clinging to the window
of my car. I don’t know if they’re
coming off little creeks or the large
river that flows near my home. The
river in my area doesn’t have much
good stonefly habitat, so I can only
guess. The flies certainly get me
thinking about fishing, though.
The tiny black stones don’t seem
to elicit much interest from trout.
Early black stoneflies follow the tiny
black stoneflies, though, and trout
will feed on them. The early blacks
are about a size 14. The stoneflies
will emerge on warmer days right
in the dead of winter. On sunny
afternoons, nymphs will take trout
if dry flies don’t. And by the middle
of March, the early brown stoneflies
are starting.
And then there’s the brace of
mayfly hatches that precede the
Hendricksons – the little mahoga-
nies and the blue-winged olives. The
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 37
mahoganies are size 16 to 18. The
blue-winged olives that come off
during the early spring range in size
from 16 to 20. And, if spring arrives
early, an assortment of other flies
may be present by opening day. It’s
not unusual to find a few caddis
already flitting around by the end of
April.
Josh Greenberg, proprietor
of Gates Au Sable Lodge, knows
the river, its moods and its trout
as well as anyone. Greenberg says
that although the river isn’t a great
early-season, dry-fly fishery, it has
its moments. He believes anglers
should hunt the type of water they
want to fish as much as they hunt
the bugs.
Greenberg says the tiny black
stones are of little importance.
“Black stones will pour out of the
riffles," Greenberg said, “but the
fish won’t eat the adults in the fast,
cold water.” Instead of bothering
with them, he looks for slow-water
stretches of river and finds fish
rising to both blue-winged olives
2/8/2019 11:02:44 AM
 and the later stoneflies. He finds a lot more pleasure, utility of having a spinner handy
And, Greenberg says, not all though, in stripping streamers. at any time of the early season,”
hatches are created equal. The early He said he catches fewer fish that Konvalinka said.
olives are more important in some way, but he catches bigger ones. So, He began noticing that often
stretches of river than the larger until bugs start popping, he usually when conditions seem ripe for
black stones. fishes a small, black wooly bugger “a really promising Hendrickson
Greenberg doesn’t wait for flies weighted with a tungsten cone head spinner fall - when the bugs are
to emerge, though, before he hits that he fishes quartering his casts thick overhead and seem ready to
the water. When the water begins downstream. He swings them and mate and fall,” the sun will set, the
warming up in the spring, he gener- strips them back. air will cool and the mating activity
ally uses nymphs and streamers As much as Konvalinka enjoys stops. “But [the flies] gotta mate or
until around 2 p.m. Then, when he fishing dry flies, he knows that fish die soon anyway. So, on occasion, a
sees a few bugs hatching, he heads aren’t very cooperative until the spinner fall may happen in the mid-
to some slow water and watches it water temperatures hit 55 degrees. morning of the next day or pretty
for rise forms. When the bugs start popping, much whenever the air temps allow
Greenberg has had some very things change. He’s noticed it,” he said. “So even if you expect
good days on size-18 BWOs. They that an olive emerger is usually a hatch during the daylight hours
typically start hatching about 10 the first fly to work well. Later, with emergers or duns, it may be the
days before the Hendricksons. Hendrickson emergers work “until case that the spinner is the pattern
They’ll come off in about any kind an actual hatch brings the fish to to try. Not often, but it happens.”
of weather. They love crappy, the surface with regularity.” When And Konvalinka hasn’t
cloudy spring days, and big fish will that happens, he may switch to a just noticed that anomaly with
eat them, Greenberg said. dun although trout are likely to Hendricksons. Olives also spin at
Another angler who is out continue to take the emergers. He unusual times.
fishing when others are still home likes a Klinkhammer-style emerger, Everyone, of course, likes to fish
putting marshmallows in their a hackle stacker or a comparadun. hatches, and they’re in full swing by
hot chocolate is Keith Konvalinka. “One thing I've learned, which the end of April. Even then, though,
Konvalinka, a Kalamazoo resident, took me ages to catch on to, is the preseason conditions may prevail
has been fishing the Au Sable for 30 Among the flies anglers will find emerging before Michigan's last-Saturday-of-
years or so. From March through April trout opener are the blue-winged olives, flies anglers affectionately refer to
October, he spends as much of his as BWOs. Keith Konvalinka captured this image of a male BWO dun.
free time as he can catching the
river’s trout and taking stunning
photographs of his expeditions.
Konvalinka says that during
the early season, anglers should
run and gun. “Hit your spots, and
leave if they aren’t productive,”
he advises. Later in the season, he
might be on the river for eight or
10 hours at a time. During the early
season, though, being on the water
that long “is just masochism.”
“I'm pretty much a wimp in the
winter. I've fished in cold condi-
tions, but it's too much like work for
me. I'd rather sit inside, tie up some
flies and fantasize about the coming
warmup,” he said.
Come April, though, things
change. Konvalinka begins to really
succumb to the river’s charms.
Although he has grown away from
nymphing, he said swinging black
stonefly nymphs, a prince nymph or
a hare’s ear with a bead head would
be his first early-season choices if
he were inclined to take fish that
way.

38 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 40 2/8/2019 11:02:44 AM

 for a while.
Nearly every spring during late
April or May, a low-pressure system
will hover over the state. The sun
will disappear for weeks – or at least
it seems that long to eager anglers.
Rain falls. Streams rise. Hatches
disappear. And by that time of the
season, anglers have hatches on
their minds. Nobody is happy.
Those dismal days, though,
offer an ideal time to break out of
the dry-fly mindset and go back
to streamers. In fact, I live for
streamer fishing in the spring. The
weather doesn’t matter – except that
the worse it is, the better the fishing
might be.
Big brown trout love low-
light conditions. They’re often
out marauding on the gloomiest
days. They attack streamers.
And plenty of streamer patterns
exist. Just as Konvalinka does,
though, I like to use black wooly
buggers.
I’ve always believed that wooly
buggers are excellent hellgram-
mite imitations. Hellgrammites
take up to three seasons to emerge
as adult dobsonflies, so they are Above: Starting as early as the weather is tolerable, Kalamazoo's Keith
always present in streams. They Konvalinka fishes the Au Sable River and takes stunning photographs of his
crawl around among the rocks on expeditions and the river's fish and insects. It was he who captured this image of
a river’s bottom looking for smaller an early stonefly. Courtesy photo by Keith Konvalinka.
things – often stonefly and mayfly
nymphs and caddis larva – to feed
on. Spring’s freshets can easily
sweep hellgrammites out of their
rocky niches and past hungry trout.
And the hellgrammites are a nice-
sized morsel for trout, too. If trout
mistake a wooly bugger for a hell-
grammite, it is no wonder they work
so well. But no matter what trout
believe a wooly bugger is, they often
strike one avidly. I’ve caught some
of my largest fish while using wooly
buggers in May on swollen rivers.
The thing to remember, though,
is this: Michigan offers fantastic
trout fishing well before the last
Saturday of April comes around.
Anglers who pick their days, times
of day and stream portions can have
a ball while others are still at home
bellyaching about the weather.

Winter
Spring 2018
2019 | Michigan
| Michigan Out-of-Doors39 57
Out-of-Doors

Spring 2019.indd 41 2/8/2019 11:02:46 AM

 The Voice of the Wilderness
I
t was an unusually quiet and
still morning. All you could
hear was the distant haunting
trill of the loons echoing
across the lake. At times, I could
hardly decipher the echo from the
response. I let my eyes follow the
calls and spotted a common loon
and her chick across the lake from
our dock. I couldn’t resist grabbing
my camera with a telephoto zoom
lens and setting off in my kayak.
Softly and slowly paddling out in
their direction, yet keeping at a
safe and respectable distance, I was
careful not to disrupt them.
On this morning, I pretty much
had the lake to myself — a some-
what rare occurrence on a summer
day. I guessed that everyone was
on “lake time” and slow to rise,
even the fishermen that particular
morning. This proved to be a great
advantage to me as I was able to
quietly follow this loon and her
chick for quite some time. Although
they didn’t seem to mind my kayak,
I respectfully gave them their space
and let my telephoto lens draw
40 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 42
them in close. I could hear her mate
calling from a distance, getting
closer, as she would respond back
to his frequent calls. I imagined she
was letting him know where she
and her little chick were. Nothing is
more special than an early morning
paddle watching and experiencing
this incredible, untamed wildlife as
the sun was rising to greet the day!
Nature doesn’t disappoint and is
truly amazing.
I have vacationed in
Traverse City on the same lake my
entire life — that’s 58 summers to be
exact. The common loon was not so
common on the lakes in Northern
Michigan as I was growing up. I
believe the first time I ever saw or
heard a common loon was in the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area in the
Lake Superior National Forest in the
mid-1970s. Ironically, I was on a trip
from a Girl Scout Camp in Traverse
City, Michigan. We paddled out from
Duluth, Minnesota, for a two-week
canoe trip, and it wasn’t long before
I heard their mysterious call in the
distance. Designated as Minnesota’s
By Laurie Anderson
Photos by Laurie Anderson
state bird in 1961, the loon is a true
symbol of the lake wilderness. I
was fascinated with them from the
moment I heard their somewhat
lonely cry and how it echoed in
the wilderness. Their hauntingly
beautiful calls do more to create the
indescribable feeling of being apart
from civilization and close to nature
than any other phenomenon in the
north country. Their calls truly
echo “the voice of the wilderness”
and always brings to my mind a
northern summer.
Several years ago, the common
loon started making specific lakes
in Northern Michigan their home,
and they are now known to breed in
the Upper Peninsula and the very
northern portions of the Lower
Peninsula. In 1986, the Michigan
Loon Registry program began, and
in 1987, the common loon was listed
as a threatened species in Michigan.
In 1990, the name was changed to
Michigan LoonWatch, to reflect its
growing emphasis on the protec-
tion and management of loons and
also to match the Wisconsin and
2/8/2019 11:02:47 AM
 Minnesota LoonWatch programs.
The statewide coordinator of
the Michigan Loon Preservation
Association (MLPA) selects and
supervises area coordinators. The
area coordinators recruit, train,
advise and assist their volunteer
loon rangers in three areas of the
Upper Peninsula and four areas of
the Lower Peninsula.
Only 50 percent of the high-
ly-suitable breeding lakes are
currently being used in the northern
two-thirds of Michigan. Breeding
lakes have an appointed loon ranger
who protects and monitors loons
and their habitat on specific lakes.
There are over 300 volunteer loon
rangers in Michigan who observe
loon activities on their lakes from
early spring to late summer and
report the number of pairs, nests,
chicks hatched and chicks mature
enough to fly.
The loon rangers act to protect
loons and loon nesting areas, and
they also work closely with the
MLPA, Land Conservancy and DNR
"It was an unusually quiet and still morning. All you could
hear was the distant, haunting trill of the loons echoing
across the lake. "
biologists. They also must gain
approval for DNR buoy permits and
for placing Artificial Loon Nesting
Islands (ANI), when needed, in
various locations on the lakes.
Artificial Nest Islands (ANI)
are sometimes used on lakes where
human influence has changed the
loons' habitat or where loons have
had difficulty nesting because of
changing water levels and other
factors environmentally and by
humans. The ANI’s are placed in
protected areas on the lake to give
the loon the best opportunity for a
successful nesting season.
The loon ranger researches and
maps the lake to determine the best
location for an ANI. Most often, the
loons take to the ANI’s right away,
but sometimes locations prove to be
poor choices, due to wind, weather
and other various reasons so the
loon ranger must seek out new
locations for the ANI. Anytime
an ANI is relocated, they must
first get approval from the Land
Conservancy and obtain a new DNR
buoy permit.
The loon rangers work with
LoonWatch volunteers on different
locations around the lake where
the loons are being observed. The
LoonWatch volunteers help to
monitor the loon population and
nesting areas. Together, with the
loon ranger, they help to educate
other lake residents and visitors
about the need to leave the loons
alone.
Breeding lakes are clearly
marked with “Loon Alert” signs

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 41

Spring 2019.indd 43 2/8/2019 11:02:48 AM

 to help protect and foster the loon
populations and to make people
aware of their presence in the area.
Human inference has changed the
loons’ habitat, and the use of water-
craft has affected the loon nests.
Easily disturbed and stressed, adult
common loons may desert their nest
if approached too closely by people,
boats or other watercraft or even
from the wake of a boat. This is why
it is imperative to give loons their
space. Everyone should treat wild-
life with proper caution and respect.
The conservation and preservation
of the loon depends on everyone
using good judgment and following
simple guidelines. In general, if
they react to your presence, you are
too close. Don’t follow them closely
with a boat, give them their space
and watch from a distance. Use
binoculars or a zoom lens and move
back if a loon approaches you. Let
wildlife be wild and always observe
from a respectable distance.
I was so very blessed to be on
one of the Northern Michigan
lakes that has the most nesting
42 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 44
loon pairs of any lake in the Lower protection of current and potential
Peninsula (per the Michigan Loon breeding lakes, reduction of the
Preservation Association). They causes of death and provides public
are unique and interesting birds educational programs. Everyone in
to observe and learn about. Many Michigan can help to protect and
of my photos were obtained from foster our common loon population
the shore and a dock as the loons by remembering to give them the
were passing by. With the hard solitude they need and letting others
work of the loon ranger and loon know if there is a nest nearby so
watchers, there are now a total of that it can be avoided.
six nesting sites on this particular Loon advocates can support
lake consisting of one natural nest the loon rangers and loon watchers
and five ANIs. They have worked by joining and contributing to
hard at their goal to keep the lake the Michigan Loon Preservation
clean and pristine, as they help Association or by volunteering in
keep the loon population thriving in the Lake Association Loon preser-
Traverse City, Michigan. vation groups in their local area.
The common loon has become For more information about
one of the best-studied birds in Michigan LoonWatch, please visit
North America. The Michigan www.michiganloons.com.
Loon Association supports the
"Several years ago, the common loon started making specific
lakes in Northern Michigan their home, and they are now
known to breed in the Upper Peninsula and the very northern
portions of the Lower Peninsula."
2/8/2019 11:02:49 AM
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 Gaylord & the
Pigeon River Country
H
emmingway was a camping, hiking, cycling, kayaking,
Michigander at heart;
one doesn’t have to dive
very deep in his writing
to imagine sitting on a brook trout
stream trying to match the hatch
or sleeping under a giant white
pine in Michigan’s Northern Lower
Peninsula.
Although there isn’t much
written history detailing
Hemmingway’s endeavors in what
is collectively known as Pigeon
River Country — more than 100,000
acres of public land in and around
Otsego County— he did write about
the piece of landscape calling it the
“pine barrens east of Vanderbilt.”
Like any resourceful outdoors
person, I would like to believe
Hemmingway stopped in for a
cast on the Pigeon River, camped
alongside it on the banks, listened
to elk bugle and walked along the
hundreds of miles of natural and
man-made trails that exist.
With its great expanse and
bountiful offerings, there isn’t
another area in Michigan’s Lower
Peninsula that encompasses all
that PRC has to offer: fly fishing,
44 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 46
hunting and the opportunity to see
one of Michigan’s greatest conser-
vation success stories — a sizeable
elk herd numbering more than 1,000
and thriving for the past 100 years.
In spring, the Gaylord area and
PRC, hosts thousands of anglers
because nearby are the headwaters
of five blue ribbon trout streams —
an angler doesn’t have to venture
far to find that first hendrickson
or Mother’s Day caddis hatch. The
northern boundary of the PRC is
carved out by three large lakes:
Black, Mullet and Burt lakes. All of
these lakes offer excellent fishing
opportunities for crappie, bluegill,
pike, bass and walleye. Finding
‘gills or bass on their beds is an easy
prospect as the water and weather
warms.
Otsego County is home to
over 90 inland lakes, with Otsego
Lake being the largest. Fishing
opportunities include many of the
aforementioned species, as well as
one unique species — sturgeon,
one of Michigan’s scarcest fish.
Otsego Lake is known for producing
sturgeon and is very popular for
By Nick Green
ice fishing. In fact, regulations are
stringent on sturgeon harvest and
harvesting one on Otsego Lake is on
many anglers’ bucket list.
Littered throughout the vast
country, there are numerous other,
smaller lakes, some considered
sinkhole lakes, that offer ample
fishing opportunities, too. Situated
on many of the shorelines of these
smaller lakes, rustic campsites
provide the opportunity to get the
family out and breathe in the fresh
air so lost in many other areas of
Michigan.
PRC is home to one of the state’s
most famous white pine stands —
towering more than 100-feet high
and aging at more than 100 years as
well, stepping into this 100-acre plot
shows just how truly small we are
on the scale of history.
Known for excellent hiking and
biking opportunities, Gaylord has
worked with the state and stake-
holders to add an extension to the
popular North Central Trail, which
now connects the village of Waters
all the way to Mackinaw City, with
a convenient trailhead coming to
downtown Gaylord by fall 2019.
2/8/2019 11:02:50 AM
 The crushed-limestone trail accom-
modates the most experienced to
the novice. Numerous other trails
can be found throughout the area,
ranging from paved in Aspen Park to
rutted and rustic along the Shingle
Mill Pathway.
Rafting along Sturgeon River
just north of Gaylord has become
an activity for all ages to enjoy. With
the chance to see Bald Eagles, elk,
white-tailed deer, woodcock, grouse,
trout and many other critters, a
long, relaxing float might be just
what your family needs to recharge
the batteries and connect to the long
history of species that call Michigan
home.
With the heart of PRC situated
some 20 miles northeast of Gaylord,
the city gives outdoors people the
opportunity to seamlessly move
from civilization to remoteness.
Gaylord offers countless hotels,
motels, resorts, restaurants, shop-
ping and other businesses. With
its tagline “all outdoors,” Gaylord
truly represents a town centered
around the pursuit of your outdoor
adventure.

Spring 2019.indd 47 2/8/2019 11:02:52 AM

 After Life
By Blake Sherburne

"We call that person who has lost his father an orphan; and a widower that man
who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of
losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and
holds its peace in impotence." — Joseph Roux

I
lost a friend this past September.
I say ‘friend’ because this is
the word I have. English fails
me here. He was more than a
friend, more than a buddy, class-
mate, compatriot, partner, comrade,
familiar, ally or a companion, not a
brother or an intimate or an alter
ego. Joel was my Friend.
I have an incomparable group
of men that I am lucky enough to
call my friends. There was eight
of us. Four of us have been friends
since preschool: Kenny, who I have
mentioned before in this column,
Ben and Joel. And I do not mean
that we were friends in elementary
school and then we grew apart in
high school or in college. Mesick
is small, only 54 in our graduating
class. Joel could not have gotten
away from me if he had wanted to.
We stayed friends through college
even though we went to different
universities. After college, we all
(plus another great friend that Joel
added to the group at Ferris State)
46 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
drifted back to the Mesick area,
maybe not wanting to wander apart.
Joel and I were together so much
through elementary, junior high and
high school that teachers, admin-
istrators and all parents but our
own often called us by each other’s
name. It became so common that we
would just answer and continue the
conversation as if nothing had ever
happened. In the hallways in high
school, I often heard our principal
say, “Joel, what are you doing out
of class?” “Just going to the bath-
room,” I would reply.
Joel was not much of an
outdoorsman, however. Early in
high school, he fell in with the
"A heart attack is not supposed to claim your
best friend less than three weeks after his
37th birthday."
wrong crowd in our group of eight
and became a golfer. But for me
criticizing him for never becoming
the truly excellent football player he
could have been, I never really held
it against him.
I only have a few hunting and
fishing stories that include Joel.
Our outdoor careers started with
sleepovers at my house. Behind my
house and up the hill a ways, some
Northern Michigan pioneer had
filled a washout with household
trash. It was mostly a pit filled with
tetanus-covered, rusted-metal punji
stakes. However, it also contained
what could be more valuable than
gold to BB-gun-toting adolescent

Spring 2019.indd 48 2/8/2019 11:02:52 AM

 boys. It held a seemingly limitless
number of old glass Mountain Dew
bottles. We would pick one bottle
out at a time and hang it over the
dump on a limb. It didn’t really
matter who shot the bottle first.
The neck of the bottle that often
remained on the limb after the bottle
was broken was what mattered. We
were smooth-bore-BB-gun sharp-
shooters. I do not recall now how
we tallied or kept score or who won.
I do remember that we reduced
that pile of pop bottles to shards of
pretty, green glass. That dump is
also the place where I saw Joel take
his first game animal. With one shot
from his Crosman .177, he made a
bumble bee simply disappear. I saw
it with my own eyes.
Joel took up bowhunting Left: The original four friends, among other peers, stand against a fence during
with the rest of us at age 12. On preschool. Ken Mlcek is second from the left, Ben Ream is fourth from the left,
opening day, he climbed into his Sherburne is on the right and the late Joel Raymond is second from the right.
tree stand, hauled up his bow and Above: Mlcek, bottom left, Raymond, top left, and Sherburne pose with their BB
untied it from his hoist rope. He guns after target practice near Sherburne's family home in Mesick, Michigan.
promptly dropped it from his stand,
the woods near the Manistee River leaf duff and slid down the bank into
and it hit a limb on the way down,
and drop us off for a night or some- the creek while Joel laughed until
bending his entire quiver of brand
times two. As a father now, I cannot tears ran down his cheeks. Lesson
new aluminum arrows into perfect
imagine the faith it would take to learned; thank you, Joel. Bragging
90-degree angles. He climbed down
drop my children off in the middle would only end embarrassingly for
from his tree, gathered up his stuff
of nowhere these days, let alone in me.
and never went hunting again.
that pre-cellphone era. But, I am so Those early camping trips
I do have Joel and his father to
thankful they had it. We swam and morphed into what we have now, a
thank for my undying love of the
fished and ran and explored. We single camping trip a year, we oh-so-
Pine River, however. My dad and I
slept through torrential downpours originally call the Big Camping
had fished it before, after hearing
and howling coyotes. I would trade Trip. Its genesis was our eagerness
rumors of a giant brown being taken.
those days now only to have Joel to get out of college.
We explored the famous tubing and
back. The Big Camping Trip started
canoeing river on a Saturday in the
One morning in the middle our freshman year. Most of our
middle of summer. The casting had
of one of our two-night camping group was at CMU. Ben and I were
to be quick to find a piece of water to
adventures along the Manistee, we at Grand Valley State, and Joel was
fish in between the passing canoes.
got up (relatively) early and fished at Albion playing baseball. Finals
After that experience, the Pine was
a creek that dumped into the river for all of us were finished by early
kind of put on our back burner, that
near our campsite. I learned a Thursday afternoon. We packed,
is until Joel and his dad took me.
lesson that day. Joel and I were raced home, dropped our college
They showed me a new spot, and we
navigating the steep banks along the gear off at our parents’ houses and
went in the evening after the canoe
creek. I was fishing, and he was just beat it out into the Pinery. It was
hatch was over. I only remember
following along. I took his watching not really a camping trip. It was a
the trout that I caught, a brown of
as a chance to extoll my expertise at party. From the very first year, we
about 16 inches. That brown trout
such endeavors. He stumbled on a convinced college friends to delay
ignited a love for the Pine River that
steep bank that we had to traverse going home for one more weekend
still burns today, and now I cannot
to get around a deadfall along the to come up north with us and spend
fish that river without at least some
creek. I told him how I must be part a weekend out in the woods. The
degree of sorrow.
mountain goat because I had been Big Camping Trip kind of became
We started camping together on
scrambling along such banks since a thing of its own. Before we
state land, that I grew up calling The
I was big enough to follow after my decided to back off on it, we would
Pinery, near my house outside of
dad. The fishing gods must have have people show up that none of
Mesick when we were 13. Somehow
heard me and instantly delivered us knew. One year we had friends
our parents saw fit to take us out in
my comeuppance. I slipped in the show up who had gleaned the date

Spring 2019.indd 49 2/8/2019 11:02:53 AM

 Above: The original four friends prepare for their first camping trip alone at 13 years old. Right top: The author, left, poses
with the late Joel Raymond during one of the Big Camping Trip weekends. Right bottom: Matt Stankey, left, a new addition to
the core group of friends through an introduction by Raymond, poses with the late Joel Raymond during the day at one of the
Big Camping Trip weekends.
and location off of their police
scanner. Yes, the police did show
up that year. How they found it, I’ll
never know. Yes, we were all of age.
And yes, the police were invited to
play a friendly game of beer pong,
which they politely declined.
We finally decided we had to
start pretending to be adults. The
Facebook invites stopped going out,
and the randoms stopped showing
up. The date moved later into the
summer as we started to have our
own children and May and June
filled up with sports events and
wedding invites. The Big Camping
Trip finally became what we wanted
it to be.
This past Big Camping Trip was
the 19th annual. It took place the
first weekend in August. When Joel
arrived, he came hustling up to me
with his Joker-sized grin. A mutual
friend’s son had called him Blake at
the gas station. He had stopped for
last minute camping supplies (beer),
and the young man had called out to
him, “What’s up, Blake.” Joel was
laughing. He replied, “Not much,
man. How are you?” As he grabbed
his beer out of the cooler, the kid
48 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 50
appeared next to him to apologize
for calling him by the wrong name.
Joel said, “No problem. It happens
all the time.”
Until September 8, 2018, I had
been very lucky in my life where
loss is concerned. At that point, I
had lost only three grandparents,
since then I have lost the fourth, but
those are losses one expects. You
are supposed to lose your grandpar-
ents. A heart attack is not supposed
to claim your best friend less than
three weeks after his 37th birthday.
Sitting around those campfires,
late at night, full of beer and vodka
lemonade, we would often recount
the times we should have died. One
time we should have died altogether,
all eight of us in a friend’s Toyota
Camry. Statistically, we would say,
at least one of a group of eight guys
should be gone by now. We would
laugh and shake our heads at our
blind stupidity and our outright
luck. Dozens of times, we have
had that conversation. I dare say
we will never have that one again.
The Big Camping Trip will be
held again. The Facebook invites
will not go out. The randoms will
not show up. We are too old for
that. And our party will be short
by one. I do not claim to know how
that fact will manifest itself. I just
know that we will give it the old
college try, as my dad would say.
I apologize for making this column
Joel’s eulogy. I did not have it in
me to stand up and give a eulogy
when it was appropriate. My grief
is very visible, to say the least, so
thank you for bearing with me. In
“What a Wonderful World” Louis
Armstrong emotes one of the most
beautiful and profound ideas I have
ever heard. He sings, “I see friends
shaking hands, saying, ‘How do you
do?’/They’re really saying, ‘I love
you.’” It is a great assessment of
what most, at least male, platonic
relationships are, I think. My group
is not necessarily afraid of dropping
“the l-word.” It happens on occa-
sion, definitely aided by libations,
and definitely more common since
September 8th. I want to say it
again, though. Joel David Raymond,
I love you and I miss you more
than I know how to put into words.
Nothing will ever be the same. I do
not know where to go from here.
2/8/2019 11:02:53 AM
 SUMMERSpring
201720
2019 Out-of-Doors 49 47
19 | MichiganOUT-OF-DOORS
| MICHIGAN

Spring 2019.indd 51 2/8/2019 11:02:55 AM

 Wrong Place,Right Time?
Are we devaluing the steelhead in Michigan's fisheries? Is a lake-run rainbow
truly a steelhead if it never touches the salt? These are questions the most
inquisitive of anglers ask.
By Calvin McShane
T
he history of Great
Lakes steelhead can
probably be found in any
of the regional how-to
fishing books on your bookshelf,
but a small recap never hurt.
Onchorhynchus mykiss were first
introduced to the region in 1876 in
the Au Sable river. Several strains
were subsequently planted in rivers
across the state forming a robust,
adaptable and popular fishery.
Currently, we have many strains
of anadromous rainbow trout
that make up our Great Lakes
fisheries, and in a relatively
short period of time,
the steelhead has won
angler’s hearts across
the state. Regardless
of the steelhead
fanaticism, native
fish take precedent
in Michigan’s
fisheries
management,
and rightfully so, but what
does this mean for the fish
that has etched itself in the
stone tablet of our state’s
most prized fish and game?
Spring 2019.indd 52
Sportsmanship is the intersection
of ecology and sociology, and when
it comes to the future of steelhead,
it may be more helpful to consider
their cultural significance above all
else.
Recently, I have heard and read
the sentiment that Great Lakes
steelhead aren’t actual steelhead.
The argument is that unless the fish
touches saltwater, it cannot be a
steelhead. Which means the fish we
know in Michigan are just some kind
of souped-up rainbow trout, which
apparently hasn’t bothered many of
us over the last 100 or so years. How
many of us have caught a steelhead
and said, ‘‘if only you could have
swam in saltwater.’’ What about
the steelhead — do they mind being
considered some weird cousin to
the real thing? They probably care
as much about their name as much
as a fish cares about anything. And
to Michiganders, you can call them
whatever you want, steelhead or
not, language has little
to do with our interac-
tion and appre-
ciation for
wild-
l i f e.
Around these parts, they’re referred
to as steelhead, lake-run rainbows,
chromers and trout. It’s even likely
to hear many of these names within
2/8/2019 11:02:55 AM
 the same sentence. Ask a group of dramatic list. All of this considered, for us to debate in between bouts of
anglers gearing up at the trailhead the fisheries currently established regret and insecurity.
along any of our Michigan streams are an incredible feat. Putting the Michiganders are shaped by
and you’re going to hear adjectives pieces of the puzzle back together water, whether they know it or not.
like powerful, beautiful and illusive, and restoring what once was is not The customs and foods of cultures
rather than some treatise about the feasible, and it may never be. The feel permanent to the practitioners,
fishes’ true existence. result is working with what we have and the assumption is, this is the
The good days are behind us; — a nexus of species, foreign and way it has always been. In some
we’ve all heard that, right? But is domestic, that are equally valuable areas, thou shalt not kill a trout is
it really true? Michigan has rivers in their own way. the 11th commandment, while in
in nearly every corner of the state It is a shame humans have others, a creel full of fish is what it
that host steelhead, and on the altered the landscape in the ways we means to be an angler. There is no
right day, an astute angler can find have, but it is foolish to act like this right or wrong way to be, as long as
that tangling with multiple steel- is something outside of our normal the health of the resource is para-
head is no astronomical feat. Sure, behavior. We do not deem an apple mount. When it comes to Michigan
times have changed and, in places, bad because of its domestication; steelhead, we’re talking about a
numbers have fallen; but, it is not as instead, we make apple pie. The fishery with as much history and
if we are in a full-blown steelhead same goes for steelhead. Steelhead meaning as any in the country.
crisis. More work can be done, and didn’t ask to be shipped across the We brought steelhead here, and
the current fishery should be furi- country on train cars, but on the currently, they have no plans to
ously protected, but it is also true same thought, a steelhead doesn’t change their mailing address, but
the need for conservation does not care if it swims in Lake Superior we cannot stop caring about them.
preclude something is in immediate instead of the Pacific Ocean. As far The greatest thing we can do at the
danger. Any steelhead angler with as a steelhead can tell, it’s wild and present moment is to reflect deeply
an epic day of fishing still leaves untamed, thriving in the watershed on how we want to understand
the river with the hope things will it finds itself in. Regardless of its them in our state. When salmon and
improve — a sort of everlasting place or name — an apple will be steelhead were put into the Great
yearning for more fish. It is the an apple, a steelhead will be a steel- Lakes, there was a problem to solve
curse of all anglers to want more, a head — any idea of good and bad is and a fishery to build. Little thought
sentiment that will leave us no time
in the near future; however, it does
not mean we should under-sell the
magnificent fishery that is Michigan
steelhead.
Modern conservation suggests if
we could just undo our wrongdoings
and turn back the clock hundreds of
years, both human and game would
benefit, and what a great ideology
this is. While out West many of these
restoration projects are viable, for
people east of the Mississippi, the
reality looks much different. When
you think about the Great Lakes, for
instance, you need to think about
more than just five of the largest
lakes in the world. You need to
think of the interests of Michigan,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota,
Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
New York and Ontario. This is not
mentioning the unlimited number
of organizations, both private and
public, that care about both fish and
commerce. The Great Lakes are not
just a few mistakes away from their
pre-European contact status either.
I could name all of the invasive
species, but I’ll spare you another

Fall 2018 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 51

Spring 2019.indd 53 2/8/2019 11:02:55 AM

 was given to the deep attachment
Michiganders would develop for the
fish. But now, that attachment needs
to be at the core of our discussions
on steelhead, ensuring the tradi-
tions live as long as the resource
allows it.
Fighting and landing a steel-
head leaves an angler overwhelmed
with a sort of anxious energy. If not
speechless, the person is usually left
repeating a short phrase containing
a few choice swear words, exhausted
with gratitude. In moments like
these, if steelhead don’t belong,
many a Michigan sportsmen and
women must not belong either. The
silver, incandescent flash of a spring
steelhead darting around in tannin
stained water is as fitting as anglers
walking up and down the banks of
the same water in search of some-
thing greater than themselves.
Steelhead fishing seems impor-
tant, which means it is important.
Surely, steelhead and their signifi-
cance have been romanticized, but
those sentiments are what it means
to be an angler. In many ways, Great
Lakes steelhead are the result of
human’s doing too much in our
insatiable appetite to domesticate all
things wild. But, at the same time,
when you ask an old timer why they
steelhead fish, the answer you’ll get
is a spiritual one rooted in some-
thing beyond words. Few of these
answers will talk about the manipu-
lation of man and the destruction
of the Great Lakes, and it is not for
lack of respect, but immense love
for something significant. John
Gierach says if non-native trout
“lack any romance at all, it’s our
fault, not theirs," but the fact is
steelhead in Michigan do not lack
any of the romance. Generations
of people have been raised chasing
steelhead. Priceless memories have
been formed with steelhead at the
core, and for as long as they’ve been
here, it feels so true they are right
where they are supposed to be. So
what if they aren’t the real thing.
So what if they weren’t supposed
to be here. Some can argue steel-
head have been misplaced, but
no one can dispute that the joy
of an angler is never misplaced.

52 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 54 2/8/2019 11:02:56 AM

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Spring 2019.indd 55 2/8/2019 11:02:56 AM

 A Humbling Success
"M
r. Schwenke, would
you take me out
with your dog?"
Colton asked.
"Of course I will," I answered.
Lunch had passed and the
Grand Rapids Chapter of the Ruffed
Grouse Society Youth Day was
coming to a close. About 20 young
people had been out that morning
in three flights following dogs and
enjoying a mild winter day afield.
Now, scratch birds ran into every
likely cover of the preserve, and he
wanted a chance at some of them.
Colton is 12 years old and shot his
first pheasant, a big rooster, the
year before at this same RGS event
while his mother watched and took
photos. I had been his coach at that
time, directing him into the point
and keeping an eye on his gun
handling.
He shoots a neat little Browning
20-gauge auto, a model B2000, and
I'll add, he shoots it as well as many
men much older.
That is not, however, where the
story starts. This dog he wanted me
to get out had earlier in the day put
me through a rather embarrassing
Spring 2019.indd 56
By Joe Schwenke
40 minutes. A pointing dog should more cautious 5-year-old shorthair
point; he hadn't. As facts go, he that sleeps by my fireplace each
produced many birds, more than evening.
had been planted. He also had, in I didn't want to ruin any more of
a bird frenzy, flushed most of them this sunny day than I had already,
just inside a modest rifle's range. but I couldn't tell a kid "no" to going
In a little bit of disgrace, he was hunting.
returned to his kennel in the car We neared the field. "Should
and retired for the day. I load a shell now or wait until he
Better behaving dogs would find points?" Colton asked. "Better load
birds for the hunters at our youth two now," I replied.
day. I take it harder than I should, Our first bird was a rooster flown
but I wanted the kids to see the to us by a distant group. He landed
best that the uplands have to offer. softly 80 yards in front of us in low
Drummond was far from his best. cover, and we watched as his head
Now, just a few hours later, I slipped below the grasses. Colton
headed for the car shaking my head and I moved in for a flush amid a
while Colton uncased his shotgun. series of vocal protests from
I didn't know which dog would Drummond, who I had left behind
come out of the crate as I released us. We neared where we were sure
Drummond from the car — the to find the bird and realized two
carefree, bird-chasing, biscuit-eater things: Even low cover will hide a
from earlier in the morning or the bird, and we can't smell birds.
"I didn't know which dog would come out of the crate as I released
Drummond from the car — the carefree, bird-chasing, biscuit-eater
from earlier in the morning or the more cautious 5-year-old shorthair
that sleeps by my fireplace each evening."
2/8/2019 11:02:58 AM
 A quick yell of "heel" and my Photos by Andrea Sutton Bogard
eager bird-finder streaked across
the distance to us. A quick cast to our
right and, within a dozen bounds,
he stopped, frozen by what aroma
a bird gives to the passing breeze.
A few steps forward prompted a
cackling flush, and a sharp report
brought the flight to an end. With
a small amount of my confidence
restored, we turned into the heart
of the property.
It was my fireplace dog that
joined us then, not always staunch
or steady, but birds were found and
pointed. Smiles, cheers and photo-
graphs placed small pauses in our
walk around the grounds as we
collected birds and erased most of
the morning's indignity.
A huge thanks to the Grand
Rapids Chapter of RGS and Pine Hill
Sportsmen's Club for such a great
day showcasing our passions and
heritage. And thanks to Drummond
for finally showing up, albeit a few
hours late.

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 55

Spring 2019.indd 57 2/8/2019 11:03:01 AM

 Can the
Fish Find Your
By Jim Bedford Lure?
T
he trout, salmon, bass,
walleyes, pike, muskies and
other predators we seek in
Michigan depend mainly on
their sight for feeding. The sense of
smell and the feeling of vibrations
also come into play, but we are going
to concentrate on the visual in this
article.
There are lots of factors that
affect how well fish can see. For
sure, clarity of the water is critical.
Turbidity in the form of suspended
sediment particles or algae
(plankton) can severely diminish
the ability of the fish to see. Stained
water from the presence of tannins
can also reduce visibility.
The amount of light penetrating
the water is significant in deter-
mining how well the fish can see your
lure. Light penetration is greatest
when the sun is high overhead and
its rays are perpendicular to the
water surface. The lower the sun is
in the sky, the more of its light will
56 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 58
be reflected rather than absorbed. like docks, piers, road bridges, and,
Wave action also decreases light in urban areas, even tall buildings
penetration by causing more light also shade the water.
to be reflected. In rivers, riffled As we all learned in school,
surfaces decrease the amount of sunlight is made up of many
water reaching the depths. colors which represent different
There are also many things that wavelengths. It is evident that lure
affect the light before it reaches manufacturers are well aware of
the water surface. Clouds and this with the plethora of finishes
fog are among the most common available on our favorite offerings.
atmospheric conditions that can The wavelengths of light that are
decrease the available light. In absorbed versus those that are
rivers and the shoals of the Great reflected determine the color of an
Lakes and shallow areas of inland object. White reflects all light while
lakes, submerged plant growth can black absorbs all wavelengths. A
darken the water. Also on streams, red lure reflects the red wavelengths
shade from trees, other plants and and absorbs enough of the others so
high banks can diminish the light. that it appears red.
Of course, humanmade structures The fact that different
"The fact that different wavelengths of light penetrate water to
different depths is usually not important when fishing most rivers
and shallow lakes but can become critical when fishing in deep
inland lakes and in the Great Lakes."
2/8/2019 11:03:02 AM
 wavelengths of light penetrate water
to different depths is usually not
important when fishing most rivers
and shallow lakes but can become
critical when fishing in deep inland
lakes and in the Great Lakes. In the
visible range, red light penetrates
the water to the shallowest depth,
about 15 feet on average. Going
through the rest of the spectrum,
average penetration depths are as
follows: orange, 20 feet; yellow, 45
feet; green, 65 feet; blue, 110 feet;
and violet, 70 feet. Infra-red light
doesn’t penetrate into the water at
all and, surprisingly and contradic-
tory to many advertised claims, the
average depth of penetration of UV
light is only about 10 feet. However,
near UV light, that which is just out
of the visible range can penetrate
up to 60 feet.
What this means is that if you
run a red lure at a depth of 30 feet,
it will appear black or dark brown
because no red light can penetrate
to that depth. A blue lure remains
blue to the greatest depth and that
explains why it is a very popular
color for Great Lakes lures. This
also explains why deep, clear lakes
appear blue in color.
Fluorescent pigments
brighter than regular colors, and
they make it possible for a red lure
to still be bright red at 30 feet down.
Fluorescence is defined as the
emission of light by a substance/
finish that has absorbed light or
other electromagnetic radiation of
a different wavelength. The most
striking examples occur when the
absorbed radiation is in the UV
region and thus invisible and the
emitted light is in the visible region
of the spectrum. It is important to
note that blue light can activate a
fluorescent orange pigment because
of its shorter wavelength.
There will be situations when
reflective light is severely limited
and your lure needs to generate its
own light. Luminescent or glow-in-
the-dark finishes have been around
for a long time. The luminescence is
usually achieved through phospho-
rescent paint or plastic lure tape.
The finish must be activated with the
sun or artificial light. In the past, the
Spring 2019.indd 59
g l o w
w o u l d
only last ten
minutes or so, are
but some of the espe-
newer finishes cially helpful
glow significantly when trolling
longer before they at night or other low
must be recharged light periods, very deep or
by exposure to light in murky water.
again. Chinook salmon
There are also lures and walleyes are prime
that accommodate chemilu- examples of game fish we chase that
minescent light sticks that glow for are primarily active during low-
many hours when activated. You light periods; so, having lures that
can also purchase lures that contain they can see fills a big need.
battery operated lights. Both types Recently, there has been a lot
of interest in ultraviolet (UV) light
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2/8/2019 11:03:03 AM
 and fishing lures. UV light is, by
definition, invisible to humans,
but some wavelengths may be seen
by animals and fish. Normally,
we think of UV light as something
to avoid. We protect our eyes by
wearing sunglasses and long-billed
caps. Likewise, we keep our skin
covered and wear sunscreen to
prevent sunburn and decrease the
risk of skin cancer. Sunscreens
may contain organic compounds
that absorb the UV radiation or
inorganic compounds that block or
reflect back the UV rays.
Obviously, if we want our lures
to reflect UV light, we need to use
blockers. Compounds with these
properties have been incorporated
into both clear coats for lures and
scent solutions. There is propor-
tionately more UV light than visible
light during the low-light periods
— dawn and dusk and when there is
heavy overcast. So these times are
prime ones for using lures with UV
reflective coatings. Low-light times
are also good ones for using lures
with fluorescent finishes since UV
rays are prime activators of these
special pigments.
It should also be remembered
that it is important not to use
UV-reflecting clear coats over fluo-
rescent finishes on lures. Since you
are bouncing back UV light, you
might diminish the activation of
the fluorescent colors. Since recent
research has cast some doubt on
how well adult fish see UV, I think
the activation of fluorescent colors
is a lot more critical in getting the
fish’s attention than reflecting UV
light.
Another caution is the fact that
UV light, contrary to some of the
advertising hype, is quickly extin-
guished by turbidity or muddiness.
So don’t expect UV coating to work
as well when runoff, silt, plankton
blooms or something else turns the
water almost opaque.
Surprisingly, red light tends
to penetrate best when the water
is muddy. Black is another good
finish to try when visibility is down
to a foot or less. When the water is
really dirty it is probably time to
rely more on scent and vibration
and a nearly stationary offering for
the fish to find.
There is also quite a differ-
ence in the visibility of the various
metals and metallic finishes used on
lures. Real silver plate stands out
when it comes to getting the fish’s
attention. Silver reflects the most
light of all metals, something over
90 percent, and it gives off a white
flash since it is reflecting most of
the wavelengths of light that strike
it. Real gold is next, reflecting a
percentage of light in the mid-80s.
It reflects the yellow wave-
lengths best, giving it the color flash
that it has. Copper and brass, which
is a copper and zinc alloy, generally
reflect between 70 and 80 percent of

"What this means is that if you run a red lure at a

depth of 30 feet, it will appear black or dark brown
because no red light can penetrate to that depth.
A blue lure remains blue to the greatest depth and
that explains why it is a very popular color for Great
Lakes lures."

58 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 60 2/8/2019 11:03:04 AM

 the light that strikes their surfaces.
Nickel and chromium are at the
bottom of the list in their ability to
reflect light, generally around 60
percent or less. Their flash is rather
dark as well since they are bouncing
back a lesser amount of light.
It has been interesting to watch the
metallic finish on spoons trolled
deep in the Great Lakes evolve
over the years. Initially, most were
nickel-plated, but now the vast
majority of those in use are real
silver. There is no doubt that silver
spoons are much more visible where
available light is at a premium.
Usually, we are striving to make
sure our lures are visible to the fish,
but it is possible for them to be too
flashy for the conditions. We want
the fish to notice our offerings so
they can’t be too small and incon-
spicuous. But if we are trolling
shallow in the spring or fall on the
big lakes or the stream is ultra clear
and the sun is bright, a large, fluo-
rescent and silver lure is probably
not the best choice. It is possible to
Spring 2019.indd 61
spook or turn off the fish by using
a lure that is too large or visible
for the conditions. As an example,
when I am fishing for trout in a
small stream with spinners, I will
purposely use a small, tarnished
brass bladed spinner when the
creek is low and clear and the sun is
bright. Conversely, if rain roils the
stream, I will switch to a steelhead-
sized spinner with a silver blade so
that the browns can find my lure.
A final tip for making your
lures more visible is to use lures
with contrasting finishes. If your
favorite lure doesn’t come in
contrasting colors, you can easily
customize your offerings using lure
tape. Most of the time I modify my
silver steelhead and salmon spin-
ners by using two colors of fluores-
cent tape. Most commonly, I will
apply both fluorescent yellow and
orange tape to the back of the blade.
I will also use two different colors of
tubing on the treble hook. The tape
itself, even if just one color, will also
contrast with the metal blade. As
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 59
the spinner approaches the fish, the
steelhead or trout will mostly notice
the flash of the blade. Then as the
lure sweeps in front of the fish, it
will change from a flashy one to a
glowing fluorescent spinner when
the predator sees it from behind.
It is very possible to customize
big lake spoons and plugs with
lure tape. I remember when black
“ladder backs” were the rage on
J-Plugs. The contrast made them
more visible, but some of us decided
they were on the wrong side of
the plug. Since salmon usually
attack their prey from below, we
switched our lures to ones with
“ladder bellies” and did well.
As you select lures to use in our
lakes and streams, keep in mind the
need to make sure they are visible
to your quarry. And, remember it
is possible that lures that are too
bright or large for the conditions
may turn off or spook the salmon,
trout, steelhead, walleyes and
smallies you are trying to catch.
2/8/2019 11:03:05 AM

Shed Hunting
“G
o o d
b o y ,
Benson; good boy!” As
my golden retriever was
racing towards me with
a fresh shed antler in his
mouth, I was beaming with
pride. My younger choco-
late lab Molly was close on
his tail trying to steal the
shiny prize. When they both
raced by me, I had a slight
change of heart. “Wait! Give!
Come! Where are you going?
Get back here!...” I tried
every command, but none
of them worked. Regardless,
I was still really proud that
my dogs had finally learned
shed hunting is fun. Now I
just have to train them how to
stop trying to play keep-away once
they get one.
Shed antler hunting is an abso-
lutely addictive sport. There's some-
thing primal about knowing you're
the first human ever to lay your
hands on that antler. Hunting with
dogs also comes very natural for
man. So, combine the two and teach
your dog how to hunt for antlers.
I am by no means an expert;
but, I've had so much fun working
with my dog's the last couple years
60 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com
Spring 2019.indd 62
Basic
By Jason Herbert
and have learned a lot. Last year we eventually, we took that outside.
found seven shed antlers and made Here is where my older dog, Benson,
amazing memories together. Here's our golden retriever, comes in. (On
how I got my dogs started on the a side note, we will never again be a
sport. one-dog family. I truly believe that
When I got my chocolate it's really important to have an older,
Labrador puppy, Molly, the first well-trained dog around to show
thing I gave her to chew on was an the puppy how things at the house
old antler. Anybody that's ever had are supposed to work). True to his
a puppy knows you're not going retriever breed, Bensen is a master
to prevent them from chewing. at fetching. In fact, playing fetch is
Instead, why not give them a sacrifi- all he wants to do. Ask anyone who
cial antler to chew on. A deer antler has come to my house — it gets
is good for a puppy, and it'll help annoying sometimes. When we are
satisfy the urge to chew on shoes, playing outside, we use the Chuck-It
remote controls and the wood trim tennis ball thrower and let it rip. No
around your door. Right out of the matter what, the dogs will find it.
gates, Molly knew that antlers were Now the training became new
fun. for all of us. Neither dog had ever
The next step was to start
working with her on fetch. While
in the house, I would get balled up
socks and begin to play with them
with her. I let Molly chew on the sock
balls, and we would play a little bit
of tug-of-war. Then I would throw
them a few feet away. Eventually,
she would grab it and bring it back
because she wanted to play more.
I would praise her and continue to
make this a fun game fetching these
balled-up socks where I would throw
them further and further each time.
Next, we transitioned to a
tennis ball for our fetching toy, and
2/8/2019 11:03:07 AM

At a young age Molly learned that antlers were a good thing. Herbert found this
antler on his own, but certainly made a big deal about it when he brought it home
to Molly and she found it interesting.”
hunted antlers, and I had only found
them on my own. I learned a lot
from Jeremy Moore, the owner of
Dog Bone canine training products.
His videos and live Facebook feeds
were incredibly helpful. I started
to coat the tennis ball with antlers
scent. By introducing the antler
scent to the tennis ball, we were
not only retrieving visual objects
but also starting to depend on the
dogs' master sense of smell. I like to
throw the antler scented tennis ball
upwind into really thick brush and
grass so that I know my dogs have to
smell for it not just look for it.
Once the dogs have caught on
to fetching with their nose, I transi-
tion into putting the antler scent
on actual antlers. There is also an
antler-scented wax that goes on real
antlers well. Fresh shed antlers have
a unique odor, but since they can't
always be fresh, I like to touch them
up with the antler scent. Then I start
Spring 2019.indd 63
throwing the scent-enhanced antler
for the dogs to help them realize that
now we're hunting for bone. Then I
once again start throwing it upwind
in brush and grass for them to smell
it. After that, I'll hide the shed in the
"When I got my chocolate Labrador puppy, Molly, the first thing I gave her to
chew on was an old antler. Anybody that's ever had a puppy knows you're not
going to prevent them from chewing."
yard or the field somewhere and let
the dogs find it that way. Now, we're
ready to start shed hunting
With our training antler in tow
and a bottle of antler scent just in
case the action is slow, the dogs and
I will head out to a property and
get downwind of where I think the
antlers might be. I usually start to
hunt sheds around the beginning of
March. Good places to find antlers
are any late-winter food source,
trails leading to bedding areas, in
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 61
between bedding areas and food
sources, bedding areas, waterholes,
fence jumps and really wherever
there are lots of deer, you should
find antlers. Last year I found for
antlers around a giant mud hole.
When I sat and did the math, I
remember that here in Michigan we
had a warm spell in January and
the ice thawed. I think the bucks
were in there drinking while they
were also shedding antlers. Once
the dogs start working, I'll let their
natural instinct take over. Basic dog
obedience should have you and your
dog knowing each other's comfort
level about how far away they can
get. I try to make it a point to not
let my dogs get out of sight. If the
action is slow, I'll plant our dummy
antler somewhere and really build
the dogs spirits up when they find
it. Make finding any antler, be it
the training one or a new shed, a
real celebration — remember this is
supposed to be fun.
It got to the point last year where
the dogs had developed quite a sense
of competition between the two of
them, and they did not want to share
credit with the other for any antlers
they found. So they would grab the
bone and come racing back to me as
quickly as possible, which made me
even happier. At one point, Benson
even had a better idea. He grabbed
an antler and tore off back to the
truck determined not to let Molly
share any of his success. That made
me a little nervous thinking that
I'd probably never see that antler
again before I even got my hands
on it. But lo and behold, old Benson
was laying by the truck with antler
right next to him when Molly and I
finally caught up. If you have a dog
like Benson with the natural drive
to hunt and fetch, then taking them
out hunting alone would be fine. If
you're trying to train a puppy like I
am with Molly, I think you should
take them with a more experienced
shed dog who knows what they're
2/8/2019 11:03:09 AM
 doing to try to imprint and model to
them the sport. If you have two dogs
that are both generally pretty lazy,
I would bring them both and try
to instill the sense of competition
in them to see if that will get them
excited about shed hunting.
This has really just been a
scratch on the surface of how to
train dogs to find deer antlers.
As I said, I'm no professional dog
trainer, but this is what's worked
for me. As with any skill taught to
a dog, plan on reinforcing it often.
I can't believe how much I need to
strengthen simple commands like
“come” and “sit," and I certainly
plan on reinforcing technical skills
like shed hunting. In closing, teach
your dogs that antlers are good and
fetching is fun. Combine the two
of them, and you've got yourself in
addicted shed hunting partner.
Like any good dog-training regimen,
getting ready for the season is
supposed to be fun. Herbert's dogs
Benson and Molly have developed
quite a sense of competition between
the town of them to see who can bring
the antler back to Herbert first.

62 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 64 2/8/2019 11:03:12 AM

Spring 2019.indd 65 2/8/2019 11:03:14 AM
 Spring
is the best time to
Buy a Beagle
By Andy Duffy

64 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Spring 2019.indd 66 2/8/2019 11:03:15 AM

 Man's best friend can be his best hunting buddy this fall
“H
ow fragile is the
chariot that bears
the human soul,”
wrote Emily
Dickinson. How fragile, too, I
suppose, is the chariot that bears
public opinion. How else do we
explain the pummeling the popu-
larity of beagles has taken across
the past 60 years or so? From 1954
through 1959, beagles were in
the number one position on the
American Kennel Club’s rankings
of the most popular breeds. The
beagle’s ascendancy to number one
followed 14 years at the number two
spot on the list. Then its popularity
began to slip. It still comes in at
number six. I suspect, though, that
the ranking hardly means one out
of every six dog-owning families
has a beagle. It is probably because
of the families (and bachelors and
widows and widowers and spin-
sters) who own a pack of beagles.
The AKC rankings are based on the
number of new registrations each
year. Those who own a beagle are
likely to own a passel of them.
Beagles have a varied lot of char-
acteristics – most good, but some
that by themselves would drive a
person crazy. They are loving,
eager to please, stubborn as all get
out, independent, rascally, sneaky
and maddening. All those charac-
teristics and some I’ve neglected to
mention come wrapped up in one
small package. Put them together,
and they simply meld into some-
thing charming. They’re almost like
Pandora’s Box; a person just needs
to open a beagle’s heart to see what
pops out next
I’ve owned several beagles, and
each one was an amalgam of those
traits I’ve mentioned. Each one,
though, was also an individual, its
personality marked by the relative
proportions of those characteristics.
Beagles make wonderful pets.
I wouldn’t recommend one for
just anyone, though. Those who
are going to confine a beagle to
just a house and fenced yard (or
worse yet, a chain) shouldn’t own
Spring 2019.indd 67
one. How would those dog owners willing to let someone else do the
feel were they restrained to such dirty work for him. In the old days,
narrow confines? Neither should people tried to solve the deer-chasing
a non-hunter own a beagle. And problem in other ways. Some would
it isn’t enough to get a beagle out put their dog in a barrel with some
rabbit hunting once or twice a rocks and a fresh deerskin and roll
winter, either. A person who doesn’t the barrel down a hill. Others would
get his dog out regularly is guilty run their dog down (something not
of cruelty. I don’t know how to put easily done) when it was on a deer
that any more kindly. Don’t tell me, trail and whale the tar out of it. I
either, that the hunting urge has personally think that done right,
been bred out of your beagle. If it the shock collar method is the most
has, you don’t have a beagle; you effective and most humane method
have some strange shell of one – like of trash breaking.
an empty snakeskin or the exoskele- I shocked my current beagle,
tons stoneflies leave behind them on Scout, when she was still young and
rocks along a stream. A beagle with on her first deer trail. I was fortunate
no urge to hunt? I can more easily that everything worked out so well.
imagine a Tinkerbelle with no pixie With fear and trepidation, I’d put
dust and no urge to fly. her on some
Beagles possess one over- r a b b i t
arching characteristic: They trails
want to follow scent trails. while
They don’t really care what
trails they follow. They
will follow the trail of a
skunk or a porcupine
as wantonly as they
will that of a rabbit
– at least the first
time. It is humans
who feel compelled
to impose limits
on beagles. That
means, at least
in most parts of
the country, that
we absolutely
cannot allow
them to chase
deer. We have
to somehow let
the dogs know
that deer
chasing is
taboo. Some
people claim
that some lines of beagles
just naturally don’t run deer.
Perhaps. That certainly isn’t
true of most beagles.
So, a person needs to be
just mean enough to ensure
his dog leaves deer alone. That
commonly means a person
must use a shock collar or be
2/8/2019 11:03:16 AM
 to evade a goat, and just the threat
of violence should do the trick.
Before I leave the topic, I should
mention this. Beagles will learn to
leave deer alone. Given the right
conditions, deer will also learn to
trust beagles.
At one time, we had a couple
of goats – not billies, but gentle
nannies. We had a beagle named
Rosie, too. When my wife and I or
the kids would go out to milk them,
Rosie would often tag along. Once
the dog training season had begun,
we would let her wander down the
slope from our goat barn and run
rabbits.
I was listening to Rosie run a
rabbit one morning. I knew how she
was progressing the track from her
baying. While I was watching over
the back of the goat I was milking, I
saw a deer stood up within 30 feet of
the dog. Probably a fawn was bedded
nearby making the doe more reluc-
tant to run. Whatever her motiva-
tion, though, she held her ground.
Rosie ran right by the deer on the
trail of the rabbit. When Rosie had
passed her, she lay down again. She
was no doubt very accustomed to
my dog’s presence there and wasn’t
very bothered by her.
Remember that I wrote that
beagles are maddening? This is an
example: They are particular about
where they pee.
My wife and I have never found
it very difficult to housebreak one of
the diminutive hounds. Once one is
trained to go outside, though, it will
try a person’s patience. At least it
Erin Hildebrand snuggles with a beagle pup. Beagles make great pets and great
will if the person has an unfenced
rabbit dogs.
yard and needs to stand at the door
desperately hoping she wouldn’t break their dog from running deer,
watching while his dog does its
stray off on a deer. Nobody wants though, also shouldn’t get a beagle.
business. The dog will go into what
to shock a dog on its first trail and While I’m on the topic, I should
my wife endearingly calls a pee
make it think nothing is safe to mention this: I knew an old guy who
walk. It will walk slowly across the
pursue. Then, when she knew that kept a billy goat around. A billy goat
yard with its nose not quite to the
no harm accompanied trailing will beat a beagle up; at least, that
ground while it looks for the perfect
rabbits, I found where a herd of deer was his claim. He said that goats
place to relieve itself. The females,
had crossed a road. The deer were and deer are similar enough that
of course, don’t need any kind of
still out in a nearby field munching once his billy beat up one of his
post. Sometimes the males want
on some alfalfa sprouts. I put Scout beagles, the dog would no longer
one; sometimes they don’t care. But
down on the tracks and nailed her run deer. I don’t know how effective
every beagle we’ve owned might
as soon as she put her nose down the method is, but the guy never had
look as if it finally found its spot.
on a track and started into the field. many issues with his dogs chasing
It will pause and, if it’s a female,
That was a lesson she never forgot. deer. If I had 100 percent confidence
go into a slight squat. If it’s a male
As far as I know, she has never run in the method, I would heartily
and not using a post, it will just
a deer since. Those not willing to endorse it. A beagle should be able

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 hunch down a bit. Then it will take
a dislike to that urinal and wander
off looking for another place. They
behave similarly when they take
their poop walks.
Of course, nobody cares about
a beagle’s bathroom habits except
as a further delineation of the dog’s
personality. We already know that
dogs are excellent companions and
pets. What we really want to know
is how to train one to hunt.
All a person usually needs to do
to get a beagle started on rabbits is
put the dog down in good cover. The
dog will figure out the rest. Then
a world of opportunity is open for
Duffy took former MUCC Executive Director and current DNR Director Dan
Eichinger, center, Michigan Out-of-Doors Editor Nick Green, right, and Mike Leahy
of the National Wildlife Federation on a rabbit hunt in March 2018. Pictured with
the trio is Blaze, a beagle belonging to Duffy's friend Rick Aube.
Spring 2019.indd 69
"Are beagles intelligent? Yeah, I think they are. Some genius, though, ranked
them at number 72 on the doggie intelligence scale. That puts them behind
such ignoble creatures as Pomeranians, Chihuahuas and Shih Tzus. Personally,
I think the guy was nuts."
the dog and its owner. The dog will
run rabbits or hares every chance it
gets. When getting the dog started,
though, make certain it is on rabbits
and not deer. The two creatures
like the same habitats. That’s why
the owner of a pup might want to
start in at the edges of his yard, in
junk yards or in tiny pieces of cover
where he knows no deer have been.
I like to start dogs where snow has
bent shrubbery over. Those areas
are sometimes large enough to hold
many rabbits, and deer won’t fit
under the shrubs. A person knows
his dog is on a rabbit when it’s
running in that type of cover.
Let’s talk about a beagle’s
single-minded purpose in life.
Sure, they like people. They don’t
live for people, though. They live
to hunt. And they’re persistent in
the endeavor. Beagles don’t give up
easily when they’re on a rabbit trail.
It’s good to know how persistent
they are.
Across the road from my house
is a farm pond. It covers, probably,
two or three acres of what was once
swampland. An earthen dam made
it into a pond.
One summer morning years
ago, my daughter Erin was out
watching Rosie run rabbits. She ran
in the house with exciting news. The
dog had just swum across the pond
chasing a rabbit. Erin had watched
Rosie trail the rabbit to the water’s
edge. For some reason, the rabbit
decided to swim across the pond
rather than run along its edge. Rosie
followed the rabbit. My daughter
could see the rabbit swimming far
out in front of Rosie. Once they were
both across the pond Rosie picked
the track back up, and the land
chase resumed.
Are beagles intelligent?
Yeah, I think they are. Some
genius, though, ranked them at
number 72 on the doggie intelligence
scale. That puts them behind such
ignoble creatures as Pomeranians,
Chihuahuas and Shih Tzus.
Personally, I think the guy was nuts.
Beagles know a lot of things.
They know the people who love
them. They will sit and stay and
speak on command. If they wander
away from home, they can often find
their way back. Plus, they know
where to go for help.
I’d driven 80 miles from home
2/8/2019 11:03:18 AM
 faded, and she dawdles more than
ever. She still loves to hunt rabbits.
The day after a hunt, though,
she takes it easy. When I’m at the
computer, she will lie on the couch
all day instead of badgering me to
let her out. (Yes, she has couch privi-
leges. She has earned them with her
years of faithful service.)
And I like that her rabbit-
chasing appetite gets sated now.
That gives me great satisfaction; I
know I’ve given her the opportuni-
ties she deserves. But to the point: I
know her chasing appetite is sated
because she doesn’t use every occa-
sion to run a rabbit.
A couple of summers ago, I was
busy putting shingles on my roof.
From my perch on the roof one
evening, I watched a cottontail hop
into the edge of the yard. I could
clearly see Scout lying on the back
deck. I watched her to see how she
would react to the rabbit. She just
lay there and watched it. She had
been running so many rabbits that
summer that she didn’t need to
chase that one. Even a glutton gets
filled up occasionally, I guess.
I wrote all the foregoing just to
make these points: Beagles are great
dogs, and spring is a great time to
buy a puppy. When a person gets
a spring pup, he has all summer to
give it some house and yard training.
He can even get it started on rabbits.
Then, when fall comes, he will have
one of the greatest hunting partners
God ever created.
In Michigan, hunters can’t buy
just a deer license anymore. They
buy a base license and add on from
there. A person can hunt rabbits
Erin and Koleen Hildebrand play with a litter of beagle pups. Beagles are great with just the base license.
family pets. Members of Michigan United
once to hunt hares. It was getting hunting into someone’s garage. Conservation Clubs are working
dark, and I couldn’t call in my dog. In the garage, he scratched on the on great habitat projects that will
Remember, I said they’re persistent. house door, went inside when the enhance rabbit hunting opportuni-
They hate to leave a track. I had no homeowner opened it, and stretched ties on public land, too. Mmm, let’s
tracking collar on him, and I had out on the floor in front of the fire- think about that for a minute. People
no idea where he was. Reluctantly, place. I’d like to see the Pomeranian will have a license in their wallet
I went home. that has the sense enough to do that. that is begging to get used. They
I went to church the next Beagles start out great and just can also have one of the greatest
morning intending to go look for get better with age. They become hunting companions, and it will do
the dog in the afternoon. Before more content to just lie around and yeoman’s labor as an adorable pet.
I hit the road, though, I received a relax. Scout is at that age now. I can think of no reason a family of
phone call. My dog had wandered Scout is growing old. Her face hunters wouldn’t buy a beagle.
out of the state forest where I’d been has turned gray, her brown has

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Spring 2019.indd 70 2/8/2019 11:03:18 AM

 Subscribe, become a member and get MUCC and
Michigan Out-of-Doors gear at www.mucc.org
and www.michiganoutofdoors.com

Get Michigan Out-of-Doors

by becoming a member of
Michigan United
Conservation Clubs
Visit www.mucc.org/join_mucc
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Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 69

Spring 2019.indd 71 2/8/2019 11:03:20 AM

 Full Draw:
Shed Hunting By Tom Nelson
The still-frozen ground crunched beneath my feet
as I walked yet another heavily-used deer trail beat
down with hoofed tracks. The early March weather was
typical for Michigan with the mercury hovering in the
low 40s and overcast. The cedar swamp I was traversing
with its dense canopy insulating the ground kept most
everything frozen solid. For my wife and I, it was perfect
conditions for shed hunting.
I still recall the first shed I ever stumbled upon. It
was early spring, and I was doing a bit of turkey scouting
in mid-April. It had been a late spring and patches of
snow still lingered in the nearby woodlots and ditches. I
was strolling along the edge of a grass field looking for
a place to cross the fence that separated the grass field
from a small woodlot. Spotting a low spot in the fence, I
went to cross it there. As I started to swing my leg over
the fence, I spied an antler laying just on the other side
of the fence. I hurried across the fence and grabbed
onto the forked antler. I was elated with my prize and
could not wait to show my bowhunting friends my find.
Finding that dropped, forked-horn antler some
30-plus years ago turned me into a fanatical spring-
time shed hunter. While I still love to hunt turkeys
each spring, I must confess I get just as excited over
the prospect of going out shed hunting as I do about
Michigan’s bearded birds. Over the years, I have intro-
duced my wife Beth into the art of shed hunting, and
she has embraced the activity fully. After a long winter,
there is no better cure for cabin fever than to get out
and spend a day in the woods and fields searching for
cast-off antlers.
The majority of whitetail bucks cast or shed their
antlers during the months of January and February.
Whitetail bucks in poor health tend to cast their antlers time for shed hunting. The landscape is easy to navi-
early, while healthy bucks will hold onto theirs longer. gate, and deer trails are highly visible. We look for
The severity of Michigan’s winters tend to have an telltale signs of deer activity, such as well-traveled deer
impact on when bucks shed also. During mild winters trails and trails that lead from bedding to feeding areas.
you may see bucks carrying their antlers well into We slowly walk these trails scanning the sides as well
late-March or on rare occasions early-April. During as the path in front of us when searching. Crossings
the spring of 2016, while shed hunting, Beth and I such as a fence, ditch or creek are hot spots for locating
both observed an antlered buck on the 7th of April. He cast-off antlers. As a buck jumps over an obstacle, the
still was holding onto both sides of his three by three jolt of his landing often is all that is needed to cause an
rack. On the other side of the coin, I have personally antler to fall off. Crossings where we have found sheds
witnessed bucks in late-December that had lost one or in the past are often places we will find them again.
both sides of their antlers. Bedding areas are another excellent place to search
The month of March and early-April is my favorite for shed antlers. Bedded bucks tend to do a good bit of

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Spring 2019.indd 72 2/8/2019 11:03:21 AM

 also well worth the time spent doing so. We concentrate
on smaller food plots and the trails leading to and from
them. In doing so, we have had success finding sheds.
Trust me when I tell you that any farmer will be pleased

g
to find out you picked up a potential tire flattener when
you relocate a shed antler from his field. This is a good
time to note that it is far easier to gain permission to
shed hunt than it is to get permission to hunt. Keep in
mind that this is a great way to get your foot in the door
and start a relationship with the landowner.
For my wife and I, shed hunting is a great way to
enjoy the outdoors and also to get a little post-season
scouting done. After the winter snow is gone or nearly
gone, the landscape pretty much looks exactly as it did
last fall. Scrapes, rubs and deer travel routes are still
highly visible. Areas that I would not normally venture
into for fear of spooking whitetails are now fair game.
Shed antlers that are found give us a good idea as to who
and what survived the previous hunting season
and possibly the winter. Our greatest pleasure
is the time spent in the woods and fields in our
quest to find shed antlers.

A lifelong resident of Grand Ledge,

Mich., Tom has been shooting a bow
and arrow for almost 40 years. He
was also recognized by the Michigan
Bowhunters Association as a
Master Bowhunter — only the 12th
head shaking and rubbing in their bedding areas. These bowhunter to be honored with
areas are generally thick, nasty areas where whitetails this award in more than 60
feel secure. Getting in and out of these bedding areas
can prove difficult at times for shed hunters, but the years.
rewards can be well worth the effort.
Beth and I always make our shed hunting a little
competitive. We definitely keep track of who finds the
most sheds and who finds the largest. One particular
day this past March, Beth put me to shame as she found
four nice sheds. I was skunked, and she reminded me
of the fact all the way home that late afternoon.
Winter food sources that deer frequented
during the winter months are another key
location for shed hunting. Grain fields that
wintering deer visit on a regular basis
are spots that bucks tend to leave
cast-off antlers. Big fields can be
tough to search but

Spring 2019.indd 73 2/8/2019 11:03:23 AM

 New Gun,
Old Memories By Kellen Crow

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Spring 2019.indd 74 2/8/2019 11:03:24 AM


G
rouse hunters are a special breed of hunters,
even within the upland hunting community.
We’re often a bit older at heart, with pure
love and complete respect for the bird, right-
fully demanded by the ruffed grouse as the king of the
uplands. We have an affinity for nice dogs, guns and
admire the romantics of an October afternoon in the
grouse woods. At times we can also be superstitious
when it comes to the gear, guns and even the routine of
grouse hunting.
Although I am still relatively new to upland and
grouse hunting, growing up in a deer hunting family,
I think I have always had the soul of a grouse hunter.
After a number of seasons with a starter over-and-
under gun, I realized a couple of things: I was actually
missing more grouse than I was hitting because I am
left eye dominate as a right-handed shooter, and accord-
ingly, it was time to look into a nicer shotgun that fit me
properly and also looked nice, too.
Spring 2019.indd 75
"If I could shoot a game bird
and still not hurt it, the way I
can take a trout on a fly and
release it, I doubt if I would
kill another one. This is a
strange statement coming from
a man whose life is dedicated to
shooting and gun dogs. For me,
there is almost no moment more
sublime than when I pull the
trigger and see a grouse fall.
Yet, as the bird is retrieved,
I feel a sense of remorse for
taking a courageous life." -
George "Bird" Evans
After a number of fittings and getting things to
feel just right, I settled on a 20 gauge side-by-side with
double triggers. It is a perfect little grouse gun, and one
worthy of becoming more than just another shotgun in
the safe. After much admiration of the guns case-color
hardening while cleaning and polishing the gun after
each trip afield, I decided it was time to create something
more — a family heirloom — one that can be shared and
passed down from my kids to theirs and beyond.
However, to make this heirloom more unique and
special, I plan to write all the stories about the trips I
take with it in a journal and pass the stories down with
the gun.
While many "tried and true" grouse hunters marvel
at the sight and feel of an old double gun — namely a
Parker or Fox or any classic gun for that matter — these
old guns hold untold history and stories of previous
hunts and old owner’s past. While there’s something fun
about things left to the imagination, I’ve found when a
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 73
2/8/2019 11:03:25 AM
 new gun is part of your hunt for generations, it is a little
more special. Knowing the history, stories and all the
birds shot (and missed) is something remarkable and a
gift not many folks can pass down for many generations
to come, as I intend to do with mine.
Determined to create this extraordinary dynamic
for my own family, I chose to purchase a new gun and to
begin chronicling its history from day one. After some
thought, I decided to make this gun an “inheritance”
encompassing not only the gun, but the stories, photo-
graphs and the memories to pass down from genera-
tion to generation. This new project has launched my
already deep passion for grouse hunting, bird dogs and
shotguns to yet another level.
As I sit and stare at the gun and journal, I can only
imagine how my children, grandchildren and even their
children will one day marvel at the shotgun that I used
for many years in the grouse woods. I also wonder what
they will think seeing the pictures,reading the stories
and getting to know my two long-past bird dogs who
really helped shape this tradition.
In an early entry, I’ve encouraged each owner of the
gun to add their own stories, photographs and memories
to continue the living history of that special shotgun
and to read them while around the fire of grouse camps.
And so, my journey — and my journal — begins. I
want to pass this hunting heirloom down as many gener-
ations as possible; but in the meantime, I will diligently

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 write my stories as frequently as possible, leaving little
tips and tricks of ways to be more successful in the
grouse woods, as I learn them myself, for each person
to discover as they dive into the journal.
I also hope that my passion for grouse hunting is
something that I can pass down as an intangible inheri-
tance to future generations. This journal — along with
the gun — is to ensure all the great hunting stories are
told even after I am no longer able to sit around a fire
and tell them myself.
I’ve never had the opportunity to carry an old,
family shotgun, passed down to me, in the woods while
hunting. This is a legacy I want to be able to pass along
to my grandkids and beyond. In addition, I’ll add photo-
graphs, stories and cherished memories. If my shotgun
could talk, these are the stories it would tell.
My first season with this gun was a success in my
book. I harvested three Michigan species including
ruffed grouse, American woodcock and my first, wild
Michigan rooster pheasant. While I anticipate many
more memorable seasons in the uplands, this past year
really set the bar high for seasons to come.
Keeping journals of hunts is certainly nothing
new; hunters have been jotting down details of the
hunt — successes, shots, stats, miles walked and dogs
2:19 PM Spring 2019.indd 77
hunted behind — for centuries. But my journal will
be unique in the way I preserve my stories, my feel-
ings and my passion while passing down the tradition
that I am creating within my own family. I’ve included
photographs of my harvests and do my best to describe
what happened with each specific hunt, including cover
names, dogs hunted and times had, both good and bad.
I’ll include photographs and some details about each
dog’s personality, strengths and weaknesses. I want my
kids and grandkids and their kids to feel like they know
more about each of my dogs than just their names; these
dogs are such an integral part of the hunting experi-
ence that I’ll be sure future generations know about
their personalities and how they contributed to each
hunt. Sometimes the best or funniest hunting stories
occur before you even get into the truck or on the way
home, and those are stories that will told.
As I write my stories of days afield, I will do my best
to explain why I have such a passion for grouse, wood-
cock, bird dogs and my favorite shotgun. Though I am
not sure I can adequately convey my passion on a few
pages in a journal, I hope the stories encourage many
future generations of grouse hunters.
There’s a lot of discussion about R3 (retention,
recruitment and reactivation) of hunters today. As
2/8/2019 11:03:27 AM
 upland hunters, it’s our responsibility to discover and
develop new ways to ensure we are getting anyone and
everyone involved in the outdoors. It’s our responsi-
bility to do that so the next generation of hunters can
enjoy the sights and sounds of the grouse woods and can
carry a shotgun through the woods behind nice dogs,
chasing the king. Accordingly, another key component
that I will include in my journal is my love for the land
and the necessity for conservation. By illustrating
simple, everyday ways to be respectful to the land and
the prey, and to routinely adhere to R3 ideals, this will
become second nature to my kids and grandkids. I
want to show how important this aspect is to the entire
hunting experience. This particular dynamic may be
the most important thing that I impress upon my future
generations — because without a healthy dedication to
R3 from all upland hunters, our beloved pastime and
connection to nature will be lost.

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Spring 2019.indd 78 2/8/2019 11:03:29 AM

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Spring 2019.indd 79 2/8/2019 11:03:30 AM


A week in
Da
Yoop at
Grouse Camp
L
ast early October, I made my annual trek to the
beautiful and wild Upper Peninsula. I slogged
through dark swamps and waded through seas
of beaked hazel with Kyle Warren and his
talented Paint River Llewellin setters. Then I joined
UP resident, Dennis Stachewicz, and his Aspen Thicket
German Shorthairs. The hunts with both friends were
marked, though not marred, by nearly daily rain and
even snow. The dogs pointed many grouse and wood-
cock, some of which were hit, more of which escaped.
A high point of the trip was photographing 7-year-old
Evan Stachewicz as he participated in Michigan’s
Mentored Youth program. His dad, Dennis, guided
him. Through a thick overcast, I watched father and
son weave through grey-green trunks above which
floated luminescent yellow aspen leaves. The eagerness
on Evan’s face was balanced by muzzle caution as he
stalked into the point.
On rocky and grassy cover interrupted by copses
of twisted oaks, I meandered an easy course with Rick
Affuso and David Kuritzky. Our open guns were carried
over our shoulders as we joked and chatted. Rick’s
Brittany, Spruce, pointed woodcock after woodcock.
Companionship trumped the weight of the game bag.
On another day, Rick and I clambered over deadfalls
in a gnarly, old-forest creek bottom with Michigander
buddy, Dan Canedo. We followed his Brittany, Chestnut,
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Spring 2019.indd 80
Photos by Perry Masotti
who locked up on a drummer in a dark and wet tangle.
Fortune was with us for that bird. One morning in a new
covert Elk presented me with two chances for ruffs, and
I was blessed to bag a grey and a red.
Elk and I walked a large cut one morning when the
woodcock had come in. I navigated doghair popple with
a video camera and recorded point after point. Elk and
I flew over 50 birds in less than an hour. On another day
of sleet and wind alternating with fleeting sunshine,
Rick and Dan and I moved over 60 of the russet chaps.
As I readied Elk on my tailgate, the sleet bounced off of
his head and I pondered whether we’d hunt in the stuff.
We did. We each took a limit.
There was a scary five-minute stretch of time on a
state forest road. Elk sniffed what I believe was a wolf’s
marking on a sapling on a berm. I watched as Elk walked
stiffly with hackles up for 30 yards before raising his
head high as he sampled the air. Suddenly, he dropped
both head and tail and tried to bolt back to the truck. I
had aired my new puppy Loki there two hours earlier
without incident.
In a clearing rimmed with shimmering young aspen,
I shared a hot field lunch reunion with friends, local
and from far away. For me, no trip to the UP would be
complete without two or three visits to the many pastie
shops that advertise on bright and unique signs along
the main highways. Beef and gravy for me, please.
2/8/2019 11:03:36 AM
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 The Arena: Roosevelt,
By Nick Green

“B
ully!” he said — sharply breaking the 6 a.m. silence. Who is this yahoo and why
have I committed to four hours in the car with him, I thought to myself.
Headed west from Bismarck, playing hooky from the conference’s scheduled
activities like two mischievous high school kids in search of cigarettes and beer,
I was on a mission with a man I barely knew: We were to harvest a sharp-tailed grouse, or two,
and follow in Teddy Roosevelt’s footsteps.
The task didn’t come easy. We spent the first day birdless, pulled over and contemplating
the utilization of some unorthodox hunting techniques. Well north of the country that Teddy
roamed, we felt empty — empty because the dogs hadn’t found a bird and because we didn’t
place ourselves in the mix of storied history.
It all came together on the next day, though, September 11, to be specific. With five birds
down from two coveys and some excellent dog work, we were set on fulfilling that second part
of our goal.
I met Brandon Butler, the former executive director of the Conservation Federation of
Missouri, the day I picked him up from the airport in Bismarck for the annual Association of
Great Lakes Outdoor Writers Conference. As these meetings often go, it didn’t take us long to
find the nearest hunting store, buy licenses and discuss things not fit for a magazine.
Butler is an interesting character. It was obvious he knew people in far higher places than
me, and he was never at a lack of words on a topic. We covered the gamut: politics, podcasts,
advertising for our respective publications and, of course, hunting.

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 Sharptails & Badlands
Communications with Butler before the conference
consisted of airport pickups and drop offs, hunting
expectations and gear. But after I picked him up, it was
like I was riding with an old friend that I hadn’t seen
since high school.
Breakfast on the 11th was what one would expect
for a conference — eggs with a consistency my pallet
didn’t quite agree with, decent sausage and a glass of
apple juice. As Drew YoungeDyke from the National
Wildlife Federation finished his pitch on partnerships,
Butler and I slowly implemented our disappearing act.
The two-hour drive west to the Badlands and
Theodore Roosevelt National Park was fueled by opti-
mism and a greater understanding of expectations,
which we had learned from the day before.
Dirt roads dotted with the occasional oil well were
broken up by the steep terrain and rock that only years
of erosion and nutrient-stripped soil could create. It’s
amazing how the hallowed ground of the Badlands
hadn’t chewed up and spit everyone out that stepped
Spring 2019.indd 87
on it. Cattle and bison roamed throughout what little
vegetation there was, and an occasional mule deer
showed us some semblance of life as it bounded away.
As we crested a hill looking for sharptail habitat,
we came upon a man and his wife letting their wire-
haired pointing griffon out for a run. The couple, from
Montana, were in the area for work and talked about a
successful hunt the day before.
The man told us to find water. “The birds will be
within a mile of water,” he said. Knowing little about
the country or sharptails, we meandered down the road
another mile or two and spotted two water holes several
hundred yards off the road.
With anticipation building and the unknown
gnawing at us, we pulled over, put on our vests and
loaded our shotguns. The walking was easy — calf-high,
at most, grass and what the locals called “buck brush”
was all that the eye could see.
It’s amazing to think that birds would hide in this
cover. Being a somewhat seasoned ruffed grouse and
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 85
2/8/2019 11:04:05 AM
 woodcock hunter, birds that require heavy cover, I
thought to myself that there was no way a self-respecting
bird would hang out in this grass — vulnerable to avian
predators and anything else fast enough to chase them
down.
My research dictated the contrary, though — sharp-
tails prefer short grasses that give them good sightlines
and the leeward side of hills.
Off we walked. About two miles into our journey, I
was ready to turn around and try another rolling hill
on our way back to the truck. Butler spotted big tracts
of highbush cranberry in the distance and insisted that
we continue on around those to see if the birds were
hunkered down and feeding.
As we made our turn westward at an old fencerow,
Calvin, my oldest dog and a small Munsterlander,
locked up on one of those cranberry bushes. Before
Butler could get the word “point” out of his mouth, a
covey of about a dozen sharptails took flight. Butler
made quick work of two with his semiautomatic, and I
dropped one, missing on the second shot from my over
under.
My German shorthaired pointer Summit made the
first retrieve as Calvin searched for one of the birds
Butler had knocked down. As I turned towards Butler
to express a sign of relief, four birds from the original
dozen made a wide swing several hundred yards out
Brandon Butler poses for a quick photo opportunity before
and headed back for us.
hunting sharptails in North Dakota's Badlands.
Was I in a duck blind? There was no way these birds
were going to buzz us in shooting distance after we had still wondering if by some small chance Roosevelt had
dropped their friends. But, they did. Butler made a stepped where we stepped, put his hand where we put
beautiful 35-yard passing shot on one of the birds to fill ours and breathed the same North Dakota air.
his limit. I was able to take another out of the covey and Roosevelt said, “I would have not been president
had two in the bag. had it not been for my experience in North Dakota.”
And just like that, all within three minutes’ time, we Like Roosevelt, I wondered what mark this experience
had harvested five sharptails. would leave on me. Surely it would be greater than a
Being only six miles from Roosevelt’s Elkhorn great day’s harvest or great company — there had to be
Ranch, I couldn’t help but wonder if Teddy had stepped something deeper.
on that ground, taken a sharptail or shot a mule deer It really didn’t hit me until I laid down that night.
there. I have never felt like I was a part of history more With the dogs by my side, I relived the experience. In
than that moment. a place so untouched by civilization, I had harvested
We made our way back to the truck, birds in tow, some of the west’s most elusive birds, I walked where
and settled on the rest of the morning’s plans: We would Roosevelt walked and I understood what it means to
head south to the hub of Theodore Roosevelt National be the “Man in the Arena" — one of Roosevelt's most
Park and visit Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Cabin. famous speeches.
When we arrived, families and tourists dotted the The most prominent line from that speech that
streets of Medora. We made our way into the park, and sticks with me is, “The credit belongs to the man who is
skipping the interactive history the center had to offer, actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and
we headed straight for the cabin. sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who
Any conservationist would be at a loss for words comes short again and again, because there is no effort
knowing they are stepping where Roosevelt did. Butler without error and shortcoming…”
and I never said a word to each other — we each chose a Roosevelt realized theoretically, politically and in
side to start on of the cabin and examined the artifacts, regards to conservation, that one must be in the arena

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat
and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort
without error and shortcoming…” — Theodore Roosevelt
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 to have a voice. We can all throw stones from outside
the arena, but a true mark of character is being in that
arena, falling down, being beaten and rising up.
Will I someday be a man in that arena? In the arena
of conservation, love or outdoor writing, will I be a man
in those arenas? Time will tell. The Badlands surely
gripped me that day, and at that moment, I was some
semblance of a man in that specific arena.
Above: Green and his dogs, Summit and Calvin, stop for a
picture next to a sign declaring the area National Grasslands.
Below: The namesake of Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin is
thought to have been beaten in by Roosevelt and his peers.
Right: Butler displays his first sharptail, harvested in the
Badlands of North Dakota.

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 Your Feet
Your Hunt
Y
our feet are important. Most
of us rely on them to get us
to hunting blinds, carry us
the miles it takes to hunt
upland birds and to trek out onto the
ice in the frigid February weather.
Anyone who has done a
substantial amount of hunting
knows the damper wet, aching
feet can put on a hunt. Quickly,
your feet start to hurt, blisters
form and your day turns to misery.
Last fall, I was provided a pair of
Lowa Camino GTX hunting boots to
test on a week-long grouse hunting
trip in Northern Michigan.
Out of the box, the craftsman-
ship was the first thing to catch
my eye. The stitching was perfect,
the sole thick, the laces perfectly
measured and the lugs sturdy.
GORE-TEX is standard on most Lowa
boots and should be the first thing
someone looks for when purchasing a
pair of hunting boots. This specialized
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Spring 2019.indd 90
lining is waterproof and also allows
your feet to breathe.
Many boots I have owned in the
past have also utilized GORE-TEX
technology but didn’t really live up
to the harsh conditions I put them
through. The Camino GTXs stayed
bone-dry. I walked across creeks,
through a small river, traversed the
morning aspen stands covered in dew
and hunted a few days in a downpour.
My feet never became wet.
There was no break-in period
with the Camino GTXs either. As
someone who has owned more than
10 pairs of what others would call
“quality hunting boots,” I expected
to have to switch halfway through the
week-long trip to a broken-in pair of
boots. I didn’t, though. The Lowa’s
were just as comfortable then as they
are now after six months of rigorous
outdoor activity.
While Lowa offers more than
50 pairs of boots, each with its own
By Nick Green
niche activity in mind, one couldn’t
go wrong with any of their boots.
What makes the Caminos, and many
of Lowa’s other offerings, so comfort-
able is their Flex lacing system which
allows the laces to easily pull through
the ball bearing lace loops that are
set on free-moving tabs, effectively
reducing the overall pressure that is
placed on the foot.
Achieving a tight, but comfort-
able, fit is something that many boots
struggle to accomplish. Most hunters
know that support stems from a prop-
erly laced boot. Lowa achieved that
with this system.
There is also a unique, metal tab
on the middle of the boot’s tongue
that allows the wearer to customize
the pressure placed on the lower and
upper part of the foot simultaneously
— genius.
The biggest selling point for me
regarding Lowa boots is the ability to
have them resoled by the company.
2/8/2019 11:04:10 AM
 While no one hopes to have their
soles wear out on boots, it is an inev-
itable process that happens when
you walk countless miles through
rugged terrain and expose the boots
to extreme, ever-changing weather
conditions.
As I said, during my week-
long grouse camp, we hunted in
70-degree weather one afternoon
followed by a deluge in 38-degree
weather the next morning. The boots
never missed a step during the trip.
All Lowa boots are handcrafted in
Europe and undergo rigorous simu-
lated and human inspections. At a
moderate cost compared to other
boots, a person buying a Lowa can
rest assured that they are getting the
best possible bang for their buck.
All told, I put more than 40 miles
on the boots during my grouse camp.
During previous grouse camps, I
would usually bring four or five
pairs of boots with me to switch out
when one pair got wet or to match
the weather conditions. That was
not needed with the Caminos — they
shined through every situation I put
them through.
To learn more about Lowa boots
or to order your pair today, check out
www.lowaboots.com. Treat your feet
right during your hunting endeavors,
and they will carry you wherever
your outdoor pursuits take you for *Courtesy of Dakota 283
years to come.

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 89

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 The CAMPFIRe
A New Season, A New Face
By Max Bass
MUCC Lead Educator

M
oving from New York to Michigan has been
quite the adjustment, but after five months
as a Michigander, I can say I love it here and
cannot wait for this summer. I grew up in New York
and have lived all over the state. I grew up in the woods
and spent my time looking for frogs around the pond
in my backyard. It is really no surprise that I am now
running a camp focused on connecting children with
the outdoors. Camp life is nothing new to me — I have
been a part of camp programs in New York since I was
13 and worked my way all the way up to camp director. I
am excited to take all that I have learned over the years
through different programs and bring it with me to the
Michigan Out-of-Doors Youth Camp.
With summer sneaking up on us here at MUCC, we
are getting ready to create another awesome summer
experience for the 400 campers that will be spending a
week with us at the Michigan Out-of-Doors Youth Camp.
We are excited to be back at the beautiful, 250-acre Cedar
Lake Outdoor Center in the Waterloo Recreation Area.
This past season, with the help of our volunteers,
we have been able to make some great improvements to
the property: Our art building had a ton of work done to
it — we replaced the foundation, replaced the windows
and diverted rain water away from the building in order
to keep the foundation from having issues in the future.
We also had a waterline run to both the art building and
the health office which is going to make life much easier the summer of 2020.
for our summer staff. We had two large, dead trees Our program will not be changing too much this
taken down for the safety of our campers and staff and summer. We will be running the same programs we
that also means we will not run out of firewood anytime have offered for the last two summers with a few minor
soon either. Other work included a brand new sink changes here and there, but that is to be expected with
and drain in the kitchen and continued improvements a new director. I will be bringing some new games and
to our range facility. We would like to extend a huge activities to share with the staff and campers. Some of
thank you to all of our volunteers that spend their time my absolute favorite programs are night time activities
helping us improve the Cedar Lake Outdoor Center for focused on getting campers more comfortable with the
generations to come. dark, learning about some of our nocturnal animals
Our staff in the Education Department is also and having fun.
working hard with our volunteers to create a low ropes There were big plans last year to get online regis-
course on property. A low ropes course is an obstacle tration up and running. But, due to some unforeseen
course filled with various team-building challenges issues, we were unable to make it happen before the
that force campers to stop thinking as individuals and summer was upon us. This year, we have worked hard
to start thinking as a team. This course will make a to make sure that online registration through CampDoc
fantastic addition to our camp program and allow is a reality. This process will make things much easier
for some amazing team-building opportunities for for our staff at MUCC headquarters, our summer camp
campers. Hopefully the course will be ready to go for staff and, most importantly, the parents and guardians
this summer; but if not, it will be up and ready to go for

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 of our campers. If you have a child or know of a child
that might be interested in coming to camp for a week,
please go to www.mucccamp.org for more information
about our camp program and follow the registration
links to sign them up online. Registration is currently
open.
On top of registering campers, we are also looking
to hire our summer staff. Do you have a passion for
introducing youth to the natural world around them
or do you know someone who does? If so, the Michigan
Out-of-Doors Youth camp is the place to work this
summer. Our program hires 24 young adults to create
an amazing camp program for our campers. We are
currently on the hunt for an assistant director, health
director, waterfront director, two range officers, conser-
vation educators/counselors, lead chef, food service
assistant, facilities manager and program assistants.
For most positions, you must be at least 18 years of age
and have a passion for the outdoors and working with
children. The program assistant and food service assis-
tant positions require a minimum age of 16. Head to
www.mucccamp.org and fill out our online application
and send your resume to MOOD Youth Camp Director
Max Bass at mbass@mucc.org.
If you have any questions about registration, hiring
or camp, please feel free to reach out me at (517) 346-6462
or mbass@mucc.org. We cannot wait to see you all this
summer.

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 91

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 Conservation Through Education

Changing Faces
By Shaun McKeon
MUCC Education Director

One thing that is certain about living is that change

is a part of the journey through life. Whether it is the
changing of the seasons or it is switching over from
salmon fishing to the duck blind. Each year is full of
change. As the years go by, time seems to speed up and
the changes come faster and faster. One minute you are
17 and catching salmon with your dad, a few blinks of
an eye later you are 30 with a new house and lab pup.
Besides time and seasons, another thing that is
changing is the face of the hunting and fishing commu-
nity. Over the last couple of decades, the hunting
community has been shrinking and aging. In Michigan,
we have lost more than 100,000 hunters in the last 10
years. Throughout the country, hunting participant
demographics have stagnated. The demographic is
mostly white men from the Baby Boomer Generation.
Other outdoor recreation activities, like fishing,
have seen recent increases in participation among
multiple demographics, but these increases are small.
According to a recent Michigan Tech study, participa-
tion in fishing by women has increased. The research
found that in the younger angler community (those
born after 1980), males are less likely to fish than their
predecessors were and females are more likely to fish
than prior generations. the R3 bug in my personal life. The group that I spend
Women are also the fastest growing demographic most of my time in the duck marsh each fall/winter
in the hunting and shooting sports. However, at the seems to grow by a few new hunters each year.
current rate, new women joining the ranks in the field The group I spend time with is a mix of hunters who
and on the water are not joining at a rate that will be grew up learning from their families and had hunting
sufficient to turn the tide of people who are leaving heritage passed on to them and a group, like myself,
hunting and fishing. who started as adults and learned things through trial
Our state and the country need to engage more and error. Finally, there are the new people who are
people in the outdoors. We need to tap into women learning from our group. This group lives in several
who are currently participating and encourage them to parts of the Lower Peninsula and have a wide range of
bring their friends with them. We also need to connect backgrounds.
with the millennial generation — those born from 1982 First, we have my cousin Clint Savage, Clint is the
to 2004. This generation is the largest since the baby first person I started duck hunting with back in 2014.
boomers. He is a 33-year-old foreman for an underground pipe
In my role here at MUCC, I work on R3 issues. R3 company and lives in Grand Rapids. His new wife,
stands for recruitment of new hunters, retention of Jonna Savage, has joined us on several trips over the
current hunters and reactivating hunters who may last few years. Next, we have Clint’s best friend Bill. Bill
have taken a few years off. I also seem to have picked up Hielscher is a 32-year-old job developer for a non-profit

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 in the Metro-Detroit area. Bill has five kids under the
age of 10 but still manages to find time to get out into the
marsh, and he is looking forward to getting his kids out
with him. The third friend from this group is Andrew
Fabian. Andy is a recently-married, 34-year-old tattoo
artist who lives in Hazel Park. He also has property
on the Rifle River, and we spend several days a year
hunting Saginaw Bay using his cabin as a base camp.
When I am not hunting with that group, there is
another group closer to the Lansing area. John Krohn
is a program coordinator for the Ingham County Land
Bank. He is also the father of four kids under the age of
four. John and I met through a mutual friend and have
attended several Ducks Unlimited banquets together as
well as spending time on the Maple River and various
farm fields. John has a friend named Dave Jones who is
a 33-year-old professional musician living in Ypsilanti.
Davey plays a mean banjo and is just as good on his goose
flute. A new face to the group as of last year is Gabe
Grodzicki, a 31-year-old lab manager and micro farmer.
Gabe is a seasoned goose hunter and travels over two
hours from his home near the Ohio border to hunt in
Lansing with us. We also added Michigan Out-of-Doors
Editor Nick Green to the group during 2017, and after
his second season, Nick has a bank account that reflects
his addiction.
During the 2018 season, we added a couple more
faces that are new. Freshly-married Adam Duncan, a
previous deer and turkey hunter but new to the water- Finally, Christian Spinillo, a 39-year-old married
fowl world, has joined the group. With apologies to his farmer/advertising executive and father of one, waded
wife, their new joint bank account is about to get a lot into the murky marsh waters for the first time with us
smaller as he starts buying blinds, waders and decoys. to chase ducks all over the state.
As I continue to expand my group of hunting
friends, I encourage you to add a new face or two to
your deer camp or duck blind. Although my friends all
live in different parts of the state and some are farmers
while others have desk jobs, the draw for the outdoors
and a passion for the resource is a connection we all
share. That connection, combined with the willingness
to wake up at 3 a.m. and drive two hours to another part
of the state to stand in freezing water for hours while
zero ducks fly by and laugh about it, keeps us coming
back together.
Maybe your hunting party looks something like
mine or maybe it looks very different. Whatever your
circle looks like, the time is now to start or continue
to get new hunters and anglers out into the field. The
future of conservation funding and the heritage that we
share depend on it. If not you, then who?

Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 93

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 Throwback:
Black Drake Heart Stopper
By C.R. "Doc" Martin
It was one of those rise forms
that make your heart pound… no
splash, but lots of bulge! Something
big was down there and displaced a
whole lot of water. The black drake
duns, like a regatta of miniature
sailboats, were being swept into
his feeding lane about five seconds
apart. Not one escaped.
A few knotty, little problems
had to be overcome. His lair was up
under some low-hanging tag alders
in about three feet of water over a
black silt bottom. It was
almost like
Spring 2019.indd 96
This article was originally published in April 2000
fishing in a pond — flat water with
a gentle current. This is typical of
black-drake streams. Any move-
ment of a wader-clad foot sent
ripples scooting upstream that
might spook the big fish. It had
taken 20 minutes for me to stalk the
last few yards to a casting position.
The stream necked down at this
point to only 15 feet wide, and head-
high cattails lined the left bank. It
was late afternoon of an
overcast May
d ay.
The little mayfly duns bobbed and
weaved like thistledown on the
heavy air.
I had two choices (actually,
three, if you count a bow-and-arrow
cast, which I didn’t think would
reach him): A long “dump” cast
upstream with loose coils,
or a short, snap-
curve
2/8/2019 11:04:15 AM
 cast into a break in the alders six
feet above his position.
The latter was much more diffi-
cult, but if executed perfectly, held
a greater chance of hooking him.
A size-14 pheasant tail dry on 5X
tippet was not the kind of rig that
landed huge trout, especially not
in a stream full of woody debris.
Success would be measured by a
take, not by bringing him to net. I
knew I would only get one chance.
God occasionally smiles
on fools and fly fish-
ermen. The
Spring 2019.indd 97
cast was perfect, and the little fly
disappeared in the vortex of a huge
boil. The little Hardy reel screamed
in protest as my fly line and 100
yards of backing shot upstream.
“Geez,” I thought, “what is this,
a bonefish?” He had to be turned.
Another second and he would be
in a logjam, which was probably
his home hole. I squeezed the line
against the cork with my finger and
into the air catapulted two feet of
golden brown.
The hook held. Now, I began
to entertain notions of actually
landing the fish. He had unwit-
tingly bolted into the most open
and clearest stretch on the whole
river. The give-and-take went on for
what seemed like forever. Each run
became a little weaker as the great
trout tired. Finally, there he was —
lying on his side, spent and magnifi-
cent. The rod went up and back as I
reached with the net and then, pop,
the hook simply came out.
He lolled there for a moment
and then lazily swam across the
river to disappear under some
cover. Stunned and mesmer-
ized, i stood there for a long
moment and then sat in the
cattails. One part of me
wished I could have put him
on the wall; the other half
was glad he was still in the
river, alive and well.
Okay, I know what
you’re thinking. You’ve
heard of brown drakes,
gray drakes and green
drakes, but what in the
hell is a black drake?
That’s a good ques-
tions, and I’m not sure
I have the answer.
It’s definitely not a
Hendrickson. Black
drakes hatch out of
sandy, silt-bottom
streams with slug-
gish to moderate
current anytime
from late April
to late May.
These same
stretches of
water usually
host an excellent
Spring 2019 | Michigan Out-of-Doors 95
hex hatch later in the summer. An
added bonus in some stretches of
black drake water is the chance of
hooking a large brook trout.
Hatches can come off anytime
from mid morning on but are most
common at dusk. Spinner falls are
sporadic and duns are frequently
what the trout key on. They run in
size from 16 to 10. More than one
genus is involved, and according to
Schwieberts’ Matching the Hatch,
one of them is Leptophlebia cupida.
The larger bugs have only two tails
and a buff-colored head. They’re all
very dark with wings that are solid
slate-gray, mottle gray or black.
The dark oxblood-colored flies have
prominent transverse wings that,
when the sun catches them, look
very much like the gold ribs on my
artificials. The very black species
have less prominent body rings.
In the early spring, the hatches
are usually very light. Occasionally,
the air will fill with duns, but there
will be none on the water. I used to
think they were spinners coming
out of the streamside bushes until I
observed large numbers of nymphal
shucks floating downstream. At
these times, I’ve had absolutely
fantastic fishing casting a No. 10
weighted prince nymph upstream.
The technique is the same that we
used years ago for beaver-pond
brookies. Let the fly sink for one or
two seconds, then twitch it towards
the surface with the rod tip. Strikes
are savage and result in a very high
percentage of hookups.
My favorite dries for black
drakes are pheasant tails tied
parachute-style in sizes 16 to 10,
with size 14 the most commonly
used in daylight hatches and 10 or
12 at dusk. Something incredibly
buggy looking about pheasant tail
bodies makes them more appealing
to trout than any other material I
know of. The bland band on the end
of the fibers produces a dark collar
that closely matches the naturals.
A fine, gold-wire rib makes the fly
more durable, imparts a segmented
look and gives just enough flash to
attract the trout’s attention.
This article has been shortened
to fit space constraints.
2/8/2019 11:04:15 AM
 Parting Shot
Bob Garner
This column was originally published in June 2006

For almost the last 10 years, those of us who read

this column have been reading the thoughts and notions,
along with a little bit of humor, written by Michigan
Out-of-Doors Editor Dennis Knickerbocker. It’s been
my favorite column for a long time and the first thing I
read every month.
So, when Dennis called me in January of this year
and said that he was going to retire the first of May,
there were mixed emotions, but I felt good for him. He
was upbeat. He was going to take Hunt No. 234 in the
turkey draw so he could hunt turkeys almost the entire
month if he wanted to.
He was looking forward to fall already and to
pheasant and grouse hunts with Libby, his black
Labrador retriever. And he was planning to have his
100-year-old-plus muzzleloader fine-tuned to strike
a 75-yard bullseye with an old-fashioned round ball
before deer season starts. He was excited!
Dennis is a very good hunter and hunts public land
much of the time. He follows tracks and studies the
landscape, knows habitat and is always learning when
he is hunting. Michigan’s largest conservation publication was a
He’s not a whiner. Give him a day outdoors and it tough job, but Dennis did it and never missed a beat. The
will matter not whether the stringer is full or whether circumstances were even tougher when his wife Connie
the buck pole is empty or sagging; he will be better for passed away after a long illness. How he continued to do
having spent the day in fresh air. his job as well as he did I will never know.
Dressed in 1940s- and ‘50s-style wool with only And while conducting the editorial business of the
the requisite bright orange to distinguish him as a magazine with a steady hand, it was also done with
modern-day hunter, Dennis is a joy to deer hunt with. the highest of integrity. You could almost always buy
When Dennis came to edit MOOD in 1996, Proposals an advertisement in the magazine, but you could never
D and G were hot ballot issues. Bear hunting was in buy an editorial!
jeopardy and longtime editor Ken Lowe had unexpect- I don’t know who will write the next Parting Shot
edly passed away. or whether the next editor will keep the column. But
To step up to the task of being in charge of I do hope the next editor and those who follow will
understand, as Dennis does, hunting and fishing and
the environmental principles, the quest for cleaner air
and water, that make up our conservation heritage.
I am sure they will have the writing skills to do the
job.
But more important traits will be those of wisdom
and integrity. Dennis Knickerbocker had those traits in
spades.
That’s something I have been grateful for, both as
his friend and as a reader.

In memory of
Dennis Clare Knickerbocker
Oct. 15, 1942 - Jan. 9, 2019

96 | www.michiganoutofdoors.com

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