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BIG BUCKBEHAVIORTo YourADVANTAGE!September

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Deer Season?

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Fall Hot Spots Trolling Smart Squirrel Hunting Going Weedless River Fishing Newbies

WOODS-N-WATER NEWS OUTDOOR WEEKEND

Sept. 11-13 Eastern Michigan Fairgrounds Imlay Citywww.woods-n-waternews.com Like us on facebook

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By Tom Campbell ... Field Notes

Outdoor Weekend

I

ts September and that means its time forthe 29th Woods-N-Water News OutdoorWeekend, scheduled for Sept. 11-13 at theEastern Michigan State Fairgrounds in ImlayCity. The objective of the weekend is tocelebrate our outdoor heritage and we have linedup an outstanding event for showgoers startingwith great outdoor retailers, educational displaysand exhibits over 220 in alljust about everytype of product for outdoor enthusiasts. Add aboatload of entertainment from jumping dogs, towild animals, artistic chainsaw carvers, historicalcivil war encampments, a living history center withflintknapping, primitive skills, blacksmithing, a1794 traders camp, Native American storytellers/dancers, a Camp Chili Cook Off, seminars, a gunauction (Sunday), a waterfowl calling contest, akids archery range and lots of food, refreshmentsand puppieslots of puppies. There is so muchhappening at this years event theres not enoughspace to write about it all, so check out the specialinsert in the middle of this issue and atoutdoorweekend.net.

Seminars For Serious Deer Hunters

Weve put together a great event this year andare really excited about our tremendous deer hunting seminar line-up. One of the best deer huntersin the state, Fred Abbas ((A-Way Hunting will toppast seminars with this years seminar on UsingBuck Behavior To Your Advantage. They willcover almost all aspects of hunting big bucks, evenin pressured hunting areas. Check out Freds articlein this issue on page 20. If you want to improveyour deer hunting attend one of the seminars.The hottest topic in the deer hunting community is land and habitat improvement and wehave that covered at our seminars with one of thebest known Michigan experts, Tony LaPratt. Doyou want to consistently harvest trophy whitetailbucks? Is your small acreage hunting property notliving up to its full potential? Is your property in a


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Now-Dec. 31-Michigan Pure Hunt Application periodNow - Sept. 30 Crow seasonSept. 1-10 Early goose season Zone 1 and Saginaw,Tuscola, & Huron CountiesSept. 1-15 - Early goose season Zone 2 and 3Sept. 15 - Nov. 14 Ruffed grouse seasonSept. 15 - March 1 Squirrel; Fox and Gray seasonSept. 15 - Nov. 14 Fall turkey season (permit needed)Sept. 15 - March 31 Cottontail/Snowshoe seasonSept. 19-20 - Early Antlerless FirearmSept. 19-20 - Liberty Hunt (youth hunt)Sept. 19 - Nov. 2 Woodcock seasonOct. 1 - Nov. 14 Archery deer seasonOct. 15-18 - Independence HuntMJCARCHERY

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high pressure hunting area? Then you wont wantto miss Tony LaPratts seminars!Of course we couldnt have a great deer hunting seminar line-up without Mr. Food Plots, EdSpinazzola, the author of two books on the subjectand a new DVD. Ed will offer insight into improving your deer hunting land with his incredibleseminar.New to the seminar stage this year is Ed Flanagan, who will introduce new advanced bowhunting products and methods on a descriptive deerlanguage that has evolved. Ed believes his seminars will enlighten all bowhunters!

Country Smoke House Field Dressing

Continuing with incredible deer hunting seminars and a continuation of the deer hunt, what doyou do once your deer is down? Learn the properfield dressing and skinning demonstrations of biggame by Steve and Sue Francis and family, owners of Country Smoke House in Almont. Theirseminars have been so popular they will be backagain this year along with venison cooking demonstrations. The seminars have turned into sort ofan everything you need to know about what to doafter you shoot your deer! Steve and family willalso be giving butchering tips demonstrations, biggame cooking and tips on sausage making. Youwont want to miss these presentations on Saturdayand Sunday at 1 p.m.

Air Dog Championships

Milt Wilcoxs Ultimate Air Dog Championships return this year to Imlay City. You can seethe best of the best when these jumping dogs andtheir handlers compete for the championship.First-timers are welcome with open jumping takingplace Friday (Sept. 5) only from 5 7 p.m. With asmall amount of knowledge, you will be ready tomount the dock. Any breed or mix may enter. Also,there is no limit on the age of either handler ordog, as long as they can both safely compete. Formore information go to http://ultimateairdogs.net

Whats New In Ice Fishing?

Franks Great Outdoors, leaders of the popularwinter sport of ice fishing will have numerous displays at Imlay Citys event. The newest ice fishingproducts will be on display. Plus, product representatives will be on hand to give you expert advice.Whether youre a die-hard ice angler or new to thesport youll find what you need and some incredible deals!

So Much More

Back again for the fourth year is the chainsaw carving contest. Four of the best carvers willcompete for cash prizes with showgoers having theopportunity to buy the winning works. The Waterfowlers Area, sponsored by Freeway Sports Center of Fenton, will offer exhibitors with boats, blinds, calls and decoys for thewaterfowler. The Michigan Ducks Unlimited willbe hosting a waterfowl calling contest for kids andadults, check out For more information:www.ducks.org/michigan www. Attractions, seminars and demonstrations arenot the only new items; we also have a host of newvendors joining the weekend, vendors with knowledge not only in products, but also in all aspects ofhunting, fishing and the outdoors. Terry McBurney, Woods-N-Water Newsstaff writer, will answer questions and offer free

With over 220 retail vendor exhibit spaces, showgoers are bound to find something they need!appraisals about sporting collectibles, especiallyvintage fishing tackle. Bring your old stuff to theweekend and let Terry give you an idea of what itsworth. He is also interested in purchasing items forhis own collection. Commemorative Bucks of Michigan-the official scorers for record-book big game-will havescorers in Imlay City. Patrons can bring their deer,bear, elk or turkey mounts to the show and havethem professionally measured. Many successfulhunters will have their trophies on display at theCBM booth under the big tent. Living history; Reg Pettibone and his family will teach Native American culture throughinterpretive dances and artifact displays of the HoChunk nation on Saturday and Sunday. Outdoor writer and author Dennis Neely willbe on hand answering your black powder shootingand black powder hunting questions. He will havehis 1794 River Raisin traders camp set up andwill be your guide to learn the value of wildernessnecessities, price beaver pelts and compare todayshunting gear with the trade guns, linen and leatherclothing and shelters used long ago. Learn theunique mix of fair-chase hunting, old-style muzzleloaders and American history. The Outdoor Weekend encampment will alsofeature Pat and Joe Schnur, naturalist and primitiveskills instructor, who has lined up a great group todemonstrate primitive skills and will have a specialfocus for kids. The 8th Arkansas - 22nd Michigan Civil Warreenactors authentic encampment was a big hitwhen introduced a few years ago and will be backin Imlay City, offering an opportunity to visit living history. The Outdoor Weekend Puppy Area will againhave hundreds of puppies to pet, photograph andbuy. Most major hunting breeds will be represented. If youre interested in selling quality, healthyhunting breed pups call 810-724-0254 or check outwww.outdoorweekend.net for the rules and regulations and registration forms. The Camp Chili Cook-off on Saturday, September 12, features teams competing for $750 cashwith judging at 3:00 p.m.We look forward to a great show, welcomingback old friends and making new ones!Show hours are Friday, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.;Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5p.m. Imlay City is located between Flint and PortHuron; the Eastern Michigan State Fairgrounds ison M-53, a half-mile north of I-69 off Exit #168.Admission is $8 per person and kids 12 and underfree and free parking. For more information checkour website www.outdoorweekend.net or call810-724-0254.n


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Award Winning Authorspart of 29th AnnualOutdoor Weekendpage 39 and page 110

Using buckbehavior to youradvantageFred Abbas ...page 22

HUNTING


DECLININGDEER NUMBERS!Call for newmanagement strategiesJohn Ozoga page 8DNR reports2014 deer huntingdown across statepage 12Monty Browning...Bowhunting a passionDarryl Quidort page 26Enrolled in bowhuntingschool of hard knocksRandy Jorgensen page 32"A Fall of Woodcock"Jerry Dennis page 34Bow Season FEVERTom Lounsbury page 46Camouflage paintingKenny Darwin page 48Are you ready forDEER SEASONKenny Darwin page 54The new MichiganZone 3 deer rifleJoe Delaney page 80Decoy spreads for earlygoose season successRyan Walker page 84

6

Four shotgun type of guy!Rick Fowler page 86Fall seeding foodplotsEd Spinazzola page 95Turkey Hunting...A fall firstJoe Bednar page 97Walk, Stalk and CallBushytailsKenny Darwin page 98Never give up - never quitJacob VanHouten page 102Is your dog ready forthe hunting season?Charlie Linblade page 105Black Powder Hunting...Beneath dusty,buffalo-hide moccasinsDennis Neely page 106A dog trainingassistant is helpfulLen Jenkins page 114

FEATUREANR teaches teachers howto bring Michigan's outdoors into the classroompage 16SEPTEMBER 2015

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Woods-N-Water NewsMichigans Premier Outdoor Publication

Lake Huron's Gem...Port Austin MarinaCapt. Fred Davis page 40Keeler Society honorsAnson Morganpage 65Outdoor AdventureCenter open forbusiness and funMDNR page 68OUTDOOR WEEKENDSpecial Pull-Out Sectionpage 73-76K9-Field First AidBandage applicationand bleedingJeff LaHuis DVM page 92Four osprey chickshave GPS backpackspage 104Sporting Collectibles...The Greatest AntiqueTackle Show on EarthTerry McBurney page 124

FISHINGSEPTEMBER SALMONMike Gnatkowski page 14Start boat maintenancebefore the season endsMark Martin page 20Another state record...quillback carpsuckerpage 28THE PLUG BITEMark Romanack page 36Hooking new anglers onRIVER FISHINGJim Bedford page 44Late summer Bass SkippingBuck Mallory page 51Next Bite...Size does matterto walleyesGary Parsons/Keith Kavajeczpage 56Great Lakes runBROWN TROUTBill Ziegler page 60"Trolling Smart"Electric motorsMark Romanack page 70

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By Robert Peltz

To Your

This might be the lastboat I ever own!Dave Mull page 88Fall hot spotsMark Sak page 96Over 20 million fishMDNR page 100Weedlessness in theWolverine StateRobert Dock Stupp page 122

OUTDOOR NEWSSecond case of CWDpage 10Help prevent thespread of oak wiltpage 29Prevent bear problemspage 87BOW offersfly-fishing workshoppage 101Four arrested related tobuying and selling blackbear body partspage 108DNR mourns loss ofF/LT Arthur Greenpage 114Exercise provides DNRtraining on Asian Carppage 114U.P. antlerless deer huntingregulations for archerspage 118

GUNS/AMMOGun Chat:Custom RevolverLee Arten page 64

OPINIONSSaginaw Bay walleyeregulations changesMichael Veine page 116Are the alewives coveredunder the Public Trust?Tom Matych page 116Gun Control...Just one questionTom Carney page 117Wildlife Cooperatives:We need communityAnna Mitterling page 117Protecting doesfrom hunters...terrible managementRichard P. Smith page 120

PERSPECTIVEMichigan Meanders...CIRCLINGTom Huggler page 18DNR highlightsaccessible recreation for25th anniversary ofDisabilities Actpage 30FIND AN ADVENTUREPaddling the urban wildsJonathan Schechter page 62DEAR FISH DIARY...BUG WARS!Mental meltdownsnot acceptableRon St. Germain page 66"Wilderness Warriors"Tricia Croney page 72Inventive 13-year-oldconstructs fish cartBetty Sodders page 90Outdoors in theGolden YearsGeorge Rowe page 94

DEPARTMENTS . . .Trophy Page.. . . . . . 112 Classifieds. .. . 128-129Letters-Op-Ed . . . 117-120 Real Estate . . . . . 130-145

River Fishing Newbies

WOODS-N-WATER NEWS OUTDOOR WEEKEND

Sept. 11-13 Eastern Michigan Fairgrounds Imlay Citywww.woods-n-waternews.com Like us on facebook

Perhaps the bestfishing of the yearJack Payne page 82

BLACK POWDERSHOOTING SPORTSIt might make a '10'Dennis Neely page 77

September

Deer Season?

Make A Wish!Superior trout fishingRichard P. Smith page 81

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7

Declining deer numbers call fornew management strategiesDeer populations in North America are declining, probablymost noticeably in the Upper Great Lakes region, Northeastand Southeast. Many factors are involved, but the primaryreason is steadily decreasing newborn fawn survival ratesand resultant lower annual deer recruitment...contributing to a decrease in deer harvest rates.

N

eedless to say, this is insharp contrast to circumstances only a few decadesago when wildlife managers were struggling to find asolution to the widespreadproblem of too many deer.My how fast things can change-- especially when dealing with adaptable critters such as white-tailed deerand coyotes.In the eastern UnitedStates, predation by coyotes (especially of newbornfawns) has clearly beenidentified as being one of themost important reasons forreduced recruitment of deer.Also, some studies haveshown that a reduction incoyote numbers improvesfawn survival rates -hence recruitment -- butthat continued coyotecontrol over large areas is difficult, ifnot impossible.Likewise, habitat modification,such as providing better fawn hidingcover and/or more alternate prey forcoyotes, designed to improve newborn fawn survival rates, have not

produced encouraging results. To myknowledge, there have been no studiesto investigate the value of improvingnutrition for pregnant does, especiallyduring late-term gestation.

Management ControversyThis current problem is magnified by the fact that deer managementstrategies have not kept pace withchanging times.South Carolina researcher John Kilgo points out thefollowing: Antlerless harvest programs in many stateswere designed during the1980s and 1990s to controldeer populations that wereincreasingly overabundant atthe time. These liberal harvest limits were largelyset prior to the widespread establishment ofcoyotes in the region and prior to theknowledge that coyotes could substantially affect recruitment.The decline in deer numbers hasfueled controversy among membersof the public, as well as politicians,wildlife managers, and even deer

By John Ozoga


One study found thatcoyote predation ofadult female deer canrepresent a greaterpercentage of mortalitythan hunter-harvest orvehicle collisions. RickBaetsen photo

8

Currently, the UP deer population is as low as its been in the past 50 years,and undoubtedly will continue to decline during the next decade, even in theabsence of antlerless deer harvest, and even following winters of only moderate severity. Rick Baetsen photoresearchers. Most arguments revolvearound the merits of coyote control(some even advocate bounties) andreducing antlerless deer harvest ratesas a means of increasing annual deerrecruitment for hunting purposes. Others suggest that coyotes in residentialareas benefit management, becausethey help control deer numbers whenother methods such as hunter harvestfail.

coyote predation of white-taileddeer? Thats a question recently addressed by researchers in New Yorkand Pennsylvania.Investigators involved in the studyspeculated that predator control wasnot necessary, in order to curb declining deer populations caused bylow newborn survival rates. Instead,they offered the following: Declining recruitment, regardless of thecause, simply needs to be offset byincreased adult survival of the breeding population, which potentially canbe addressed via reduced antlerlessTwo recently published studies,harvest rates. Second, reproductiveone conducted in the lower Northrates and adult female survival rateseast, the other in the Southeast, used(excluding mortalities from huntingpopulation modeling data for theirrespective regions to generate various or winter weather conditions in theNorthern range) are relatively stabledeer population scenarios to investigate the interaction effects associated across space and time. Therefore, theeffects of management actions shouldwith declining deer numbers, coyotebe relatively predictable when tryingcontrol, and reductions in antlerlessto offset reduced recruitment with indeer harvest.Its not particularly surprising that creased adult female survival throughreduced antlerless harvest.these researchers reached somewhatSpecifically, the researchersdifferent conclusions and managementimplications, as is often the case when used population simulation modelsdealing with a behaviorally plastic to evaluate combinations of lowspecies such as the white-tailed deer -- newborn fawn survival rates, severewinters and low adult deer survivalnot to mention the clever coyote.rates to determine the effectiveness ofaltering antlerless deer harvest rates to

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stabilize deer populations.These investigators concludedthe following: Our results suggestincreased deer mortality from coyotescan be addressed through reducedhunting harvest of adult female deerin most circumstances throughouteastern North America. However,specific knowledge of adult femalesurvival rates is important for makingmanagement decisions in areas whereboth neonate and adult survival maybe affected by predation and othermortality factors.The authors also suggest thatincreasing the proportion of pregnantfemales will result in more fawns anda swamping effect, overwhelming coyotes with potential prey andresulting in increased fawn survivalrates.These researchers acknowledgedthat their deer population modelsare not valid in the extreme Northern range. Certainly, in those areas,winter deer mortality could limit theability of reduced antlerless harvestto compensate for increased newbornfawn mortality due to any cause.Its important to note, for example, that the Northeast model will notapply to the Upper Peninsula (UP) ofMichigan, where prolonged wintersof deteriorated deer wintering habitathave not only contributed to heavywinter deer kill but also to excessivenewborn fawn mortality. During thepast 20 years, UP deer populationshave declined from an average ofmore than 40 deer per square mile toaround 10 deer per square mile, eventhough antlerless deer harvest rateshave been extremely low.In this northern Michigan region,forest and wildlife managers havefinally recognized the need for serious management of deer winteringcomplexes in order to curb this downward spiral in regional deer numbers.Currently, the UP deer populationis as low as its been in the past 50years, and undoubtedly will continueto decline during the next decade,even in the absence of antlerless deerharvest, and even following wintersof only moderate severity.


The Southeast Study

10

In contrast to the Northeast report,studies conducted under the directionof Michael Chitwood in central NorthCarolina indicate the following: Ourresults indicate that for low-densitydeer populations with heavy predation pressure on neonates, protectingadult females from harvest may notbe a magic bullet.Chitwood and his cohorts conducted their study at Fort Bragg

Military Installation, where monitored deer density and deer huntingsuccess declined sharply commensurate with coyote density increase.Given the lack of data for the region,one of their primary objectives was todetermine the importance of naturalof natural mortality factors of adultfemales, They employed populationmodeling, using deer reproductive/survival statistics for the area, toevaluate various management options(i.e., what if scenarios) that includepredator removal strategies.These researchers concluded,given that hunter-harvest at FortBragg is now minimal, adult femalesurvival should be at its maximum -but it is not. Instead, they found thatcoyote predation of adult female deercan represent a greater percentage ofmortality than either hunter-harvestor vehicle collisions. Likewise, eventhough adult female harvest was low,newborn fawn mortality remainedhigh.In fact, quite by accident, theyverified the killing of four radio-collared adult females by coyotes duringa study of newborn fawn survival. Allfour does were pregnant and carriedvaginal implant transmitters, designedto signal birth of fawns. Instead,when checking the anticipated fawning sites, they found that all four doeshad been killed by coyotes within lessthan four hours prior. These observations indicated that coyotes could bea significant source of mortality foradult female deer in the areas, butthey could not determine if any of thedoes were killed while in the processof giving birth.They also determined that estimates of newborn fawn predation bycoyotes might be inflated due to otherfactors. For example, abandonment.This type of behavior, and resultant mortality, has been observed inother studies of nutritionally stressedpregnant does. As a result, Chitwoodbelieves that estimates of newbornfawn predation could be inflated because of abandonment -- which in myview is often the result of nutritionalshortage.In areas with greater deer densityand heavier female harvest quotas,Chitwood and his co-workers suggest it is more likely that reduction infemale harvest could have a greaterimpact on adult female survival ratesand might contribute to deer population stabilization or even growth.However, their findings clearlydemonstrate that population modelingdata in any given region might notapply equally to all areas even withinthat region.Authors of the Southeast studyconclude the following: Coyote

Michigans second case of CWD

The Michigan departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Agricultureand Rural Development (MDARD) have confirmed a second free-rangingdeer in Meridian Township (Ingham County) has tested positive for chronicwasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects whitetaileddeer, mule deer, elk and moose. This second case is a 2-year-old male foundless than a mile from the initial positive female deer, confirmed this pastMay. Genetic testing is being conducted to see if the two deer are related.Finding this second positive deer is disappointing, however, not unexpected, said DNR Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason. We will continuewith our aggressive surveillance throughout the summer and fall. With theassistance of hunters, we hope to determine the distribution of this disease.To date, 304 deer have been tested in the Core CWD Area. Only twohave tested positive for CWD.Upon the finding of the initial CWD positive deer, the DNR establishedthe CWD Management Zone consisting of Clinton, Ingham and Shiawasseecounties.Additionally, the Core CWD Area consisting of Lansing, Meridian, Williamstown, Delhi, Alaiedon and Wheatfield townships in Ingham County;DeWitt and Bath townships in Clinton County; and Woodhull Townshipin Shiawassee County, was created. Feeding and baiting of deer and elk areprohibited in the CWD Management Zone. Mandatory checking of deer willbe required in the Core CWD Area during hunting seasons and restrictionswill apply to the movement of carcasses and parts of deer taken in this area.Michigan has a long tradition of hunter support and conservation ethics. Now, with these CWD findings, that support is needed more than ever,said Steve Schmitt, veterinarian-in-charge at the DNR Wildlife Disease Lab.Because hunters are often familiar with the deer herd locally, one of the bestthings they can do to help manage this disease is to continue hunting andbring their deer to check stations this season.In the Core CWD Area, there is an unlimited antlerless deer licensequota and the deer license or deer combo licenses may be used to harvestantlerless or any antlered deer during firearm and muzzleloading seasons.Additional deer-check stations will be established in the Core CWD Areaand the CWD Management Zone to accommodate hunters.To date, there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease presents anyrisk to non-cervids, including humans, either through contact with aninfected animal or from handling contaminated venison. However, as a precaution, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend that infected animals not be consumed as food by eitherhumans or domestic animals.The DNR asks that the public and hunters continue to report deer thatare unusually thin and exhibiting unusual behavior (for example, actingtame around humans and allowing someone to approach).To report a suspicious-looking deer, call the DNR Wildlife Disease Lab at517-336-5030 or fill out and submit the online observation report, found onthe DNR website.DNR staff will continue with road-kill collection in the Core CWD Area.To report road-kills found in the Core CWD Area call the Wildlife DiseaseHotline at 517-614-9602. Leave a voicemail with location information andstaff will attempt to pick up carcasses on the next open business day.Editors Note: At press time the DNR announced a third deer tested positive for CWD. DNA tests show its from the same deer family as the otherCWD deer. More information on CWD, including Michigans CWD surveillance and response plan and weekly testing updates, are available atwww.michigan.gov/cwd.removal may need to be implementedin conjunction with the protection ofadult females because of the possibility of increasing fawn survival, whichappears to be the most important vitalrate in the Fort Bragg deer population. Because of the trade-off betweencost and effectiveness of coyotetrapping, reducing female harvest isthe most cost-efficient and logicalstrategy for managers to implement.

ConclusionsIts important to recognize thatthose involved in the studies voice thesame associated concerns:management will need to considerthe possibility that some deer populations might be so sensitive to hunter

antlerless harvest that antlerlessseasons should be suspended, whichcould have important implicationson hunter satisfaction, retention andrecruitment.This problem of declining deerdensity must be more intensivelystudied. And as is usually the case,further study will likely yield a hostof differing proposed solutionsgeared to meet specific effects andconcerns that vary from one area tothe next.Meanwhile, in Michigans UP,winter weather and quality of deerwintering habitat govern deer welfareand abundance reducing or eliminating the antlerless deer harvest willhave minimal impact on deer population size.n

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DNR reports 2014deer hunting harvestdown across state!Several factors added to decline...wildlife managers working on improvements

D

NR reports 2014 deer huntingharvest down across MichiganSeveral factors added to decline; wildlife managers working on improvementsThe Michigan Department ofNatural Resources recently issued aMichigan Deer Harvest Survey Reporton the 2014 hunting seasons indicatingthat roughly 615,000 hunters statewideharvested a total of roughly 329,000deer. The harvest represents a drop of15 percent from 2013.Wildlife managers report thatregional declines in deer harvest weregreatest in the Upper Peninsula, wherethe overall harvest was down by nearly36 percent.The DNR said several factors including back-to-back years of severewinter weather that depleted the deerpopulation in some parts of the state contributed to the decline.

When the number of hunters is reduced in a given year, the deer harvestpotential naturally is reduced, too,Frawley said.Across all hunting seasons, 84,099people hunted deer in the U.P. in 2014,down about 19 percent from 2013.

deer hunters who did get to their campsand blinds found the snowy conditions had put many deer on southwardDNR Director Keith Creagh saidseasonal migration paths early. Huntersthat like Michigans deer population,who altered their strategies to followthe states deer harvest numbers haverisen and fallen in an ebb-and-flow pat- those paths fared better.Despite the challenging conditern since the early 1960s.tions,firearm deer hunters in the U.P.The number of deer harvestedharvested14,734 antlered bucks, withhit a low in the early 1970s at below41,415takenin the northern Lower100,000 statewide, Creagh said.Peninsulaand49,110 in the southernWith mild winters and changing forestLowerPeninsula.conditions, deer populations then roseAcross all 2014 deer huntingand hunter harvest climbed to moreseasons,nearly a fourth of hunters inthan 400,000 by the late 1980s.thewesternU.P., and 14.6 percent inAfter tough back-to-back winterstheeasternU.P.,harvested at least onein the mid-1990s, the harvest followedantleredbuck.Statewide,the percentthe population steeply downhill, butagejumpedto26.9percent.rebounded again to nearly 600,000 bythe end of the decade. Since then, deerIn the Upper Peninsula, winterharvest has remained below 500,000started early with more than 3 feetsince the early 2000s.of snow on the ground in some areasbefore the Nov. 15 opening of fireStatewide, 41 percent of huntersarm deer season, said DNR wildlifeharvested a deer in 2014, compared toDNR deer program biologist Ash- 43 percent in 2013. Roughly 11 percentbiologist Brian Frawley. Though notley Autenrieth said U.P. deer-vehicleas severe as the previous season, thisof deer hunters harvested two or morecollisions tallied 2,961, down 22 permarked the third consecutive roughdeer of any type. Less than 4 percent ofcent from 2013. Crop damage permitwinter for the deer population in thehunters took two antlered bucks.kills were down to 1,664 in 2014 fromU.P.About 20 percent of deer hunters1,745 the previous year.Frawley said that much of theharvested an antlerless deer and 27These two factors indicate a drop percent took an antlered buck.regions drop in deer harvest can be explained by those conditions. The heavy in the overall deer population, AutenAcross Michigan, 39 percent ofrieth said.U.P. snowfall, for example, made ithunters said they were satisfied withThe winter severity index, cropchallenging sometimes impossibletheir overall hunting experience, withdamage permits and deer-vehicle ac for some firearm deer hunters to getthe highest satisfaction in the Lowercidents also were down in the northern Peninsula, Frawley said. Those areto their camps. Given the conditions,many decided not to hunt; others, after Lower Peninsula.numbers we want to build on as weexperiencing the effects of the twowork to provide a positive experienceprevious winters, decided not to buyfor hunters in every part of the state.In northern parts of the U.P., firearmlicenses.Other population, harvest factorsMichigan deer hunters spent 8.8 million days afield last year. DNR effortsto improve the deer population affectedA Michiganthe harvest numbers as well. Those acDeparttions include:ment of To protect more does in the U.P.,Naturalthe Michigan Natural Resources ComResourcesmission restricted the number of deeremployeemanagement units open to antlerinspects aless deer hunting to three areas in thedeer at asouthern part of the region.check sta Recently, at the urging of hunters,tion duringthe NRC decided to remove for thisthe 2014fall the ability of hunters in the U.P. totag antlerless deer during the archeryseason.season with a single or combinationMDNRdeer license.photosFor the long-term, DNR and hunter ef-

Natural Cyclical Movement

Snow, Snow And More Snow

Other Population Indicators


Pockets Of Success

12

Several factors contributed to a lower deer hunting harvest in 2014.

Overall Deer Harvest,Hunter Satisfaction

forts continue to improve deer habitat: A U.P. Habitat Workgroup reconvened in January, focused on improving and conserving critical winter deerhabitat, offering technical assistanceand incentives to private landowners. A Mississippi State Universitymultiyear study on the role of predators, winter weather and habitat onwhitetailed deer fawn survival in theU.P. is continuing, aided by the DNRand Safari Club International.

Reasons For Optimism

Although the overall number oflicense buyers was down from 10 yearsago, an increased number of peopleyounger than 14 years old and peopleolder than 50 bought a hunting licenselast year. Overall, 12 percent of licensebuyers were younger than 17 years old.The DNR continues efforts to meetchanging hunter demographics bypromoting hunting to younger huntersand female hunters, whose numbersare rising.Across Michigan, about 57 percent of hunters supported antler pointrestrictions on buck harvest that wereimplemented for the U.P. and about 63percent of the hunters who preferredto hunt in the U.P. supported the antlerpoint restrictions.The DNR offered all deer hunters the option to voluntarily reportinformation about their deer hunt viathe Internet. More than 4,200 hunters responded. Next, a questionnairewas sent to 58,857 randomly selectedindividuals who had bought a huntinglicense, but had not reported harvestinformation online. Respondents whopromptly responded became eligible towin a firearm or a bow.Questionnaires were returned by29,035 hunters (a 51-percent responserate), providing additional valuableharvest and experience data.Moving forward, the DNR andthe NRC will continue to talk with thepublic regarding their ideas on moremeasures that potentially could betaken to further improve deer huntingin Michigan.For more information on the 2014deer harvest report, visitwww.michigan.gov/deer.n

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September SalmonJust about the time the maples andaspens are beginning to show a hint ofcolor King salmon will begin nosing upMichigan streams and rivers. In somestreams, Chinooks begin showing up inearly August, but the main run in mostrivers begins right around Labor Day.

W

hile just about every Michigan streamor river gets at least a token run ofsalmon, West Michigan rivers getan inordinate number of the salmonbecause thats where many of themare hatched. Rivers like the Betsie,Platte, Big and Little Manistee, Pere Marquetteand Muskegon produce hundreds of thousands, ifnot millions, of smolts. West Michigan rivers andstreams offer ideal spawning habitat for salmon.Biologists are realizing that from 50 to 80 percentof the salmon found in Lake Michigan may nowbe the result of natural reproduction. These are fishthat have been spawned and nurtured in a specificriver that will return to that river to spawn two tofour years later.The naturally reproduced population of salmonhas been steadily climbing, especially over the lastdecade or so. It was more than a decade ago whenthe last dam relicensing contacts were renegotiatedon rivers like the Muskegon and Big Manistee. Oneof the good things that resultedfrom that was an agreed uponflow from the dams would bedischarged at run-of-the-river


By Mike Gnatkowski

14

levels instead of wildly fluctuating peaking and lowering. Whenlevels were quickly raised orlowered, salmon smolts that could be found in thecalm water along the edge of the river would oftenbe left high and dry. With run-of-the-river and moreconsistent flows, more salmon smolts survived andthe population has flourished. Just the Big Manistee and the Muskegon rivers alone are thought tobe contributing more than a million salmon to thefishery annually.Habitat improvements on many west Michiganstreams have exposed more gravel to spawningsalmon. Dam removal has also made more spawning habitat accessible on several streams.Chinook salmon have been the real benefactorsfrom natural reproduction because the fingerlingsand smolts only spend six month or so in the river.Coho salmon, like steelhead, remain in the riverfor a year and a half before heading to the big lake.Even marginal streams can produce good numbersof chinook salmon. The only problem tiny salmonhave in rivers like the Grand and Kalamazoo is thegauntlet of predators they have to evade while making their way to the lake.Mature kings begin converging on natal rivermouths in August. Pier anglers and small-boatfishermen can capitalize on the schooling kingsbefore they enter the rivers. Pier anglers can catchpre-spawn kings on bait and spoons from the break

Dick Pulse of Fort Wayne. With a bronze King from the Big Manistee River. Mike Gnatkowski photoswalls. The most consistent fishing is during lowlight hours or after dark. Kings will inhale alewives,night crawlers and spawn and will smash glow-in-the-dark spoons.Anglers in small boats have a field day whenkings begin schooling in the drowned river mouthlakes that exemplify West Michigan. Manistee, PereMarquette and Muskegon lakes host flotillas ofboats when the kings are staging in the drown rivermouth lakes. Standard lures are J-Plugs and SilverHorde cut-plugs trolled slowly on long leads ondownriggers. Platte Bay is famous for producing aphenomenal for Coho in late September and October. Red dodgers and flies are proven combinationsfor the silvers.

Salmon bite best when they first enter the rivers. The longer theyre in the rivers, the more theirdigestive systems shut down and the less inclinedthey are to eat and the more intent they are onprocreation. But that doesnt mean they wont strikea lure or well-presented bait. The instinct to feed isstill strong and lures can invoke reactionary bites ifpresented properly.

Platte River

The Platte River near Honor is one of the fewrivers that gets a substantial run of coho salmon.The reason is the MDNR makes huge plants ofcohos in the Platte to insure that there are enoughreturning salmon to supply eggs for the states

hatchery program. Portions of the river are closedduring the fall and there are lure restrictions so besure to check the fishing regulations.Cohos seem to be more aggressive than chinooks on their spawning runs. Pre-spawn cohoswill chase down in-line spinners and crunch them.Gaudy streamer flies will draw the wrath of surlycohos, too. Look for cohos to fill the deeper poolsand use in-stream cover while on their journeyupstream. Check the Michigan Fishing Guide forspecial regulations and closures on the Platte.

Betsie River

Little Manistee

The Little Manistee is one of Michigans mostprolific rivers for natural reproduction. The riverhas exceptional habitat, excellent water quality andproduces exceptional numbers of chinook salmon,steelhead and even coho salmon. The coho population is really taken off in the Little Manistee,claimed Central Lake Michigan Management UnitFisheries Biologist Mark Tonello. Coho salmonneed consistent water temperatures and levels tospawn successfully. Unlike chinook salmon, whichonly spend six months in the river, young cohosspend 18 months in the river before heading out tothe big lake. Therefore, its critical that river temperatures remain cool during the summer months inorder for coho smolts to survive.The Little Manistee River has such goodnatural reproduction that the MDNR relies on it asone of its main sources for chinook salmon spawn.A weir near Six-Mile Bridge blocks the upstreammovement of salmon and egg harvesting operationstake spawn from mature Kings and Coho in earlyOctober. Steelhead and brown trout are passedabove the weir to provide a fishery upstream. Someearly-run chinooks that run during the summermake it past the weir before it is closed aroundAugust 15. The river downstream of the weir toManistee Lake is closed to fishing from September1 to November 14 each year.In 2012, the MDNR harvest 12,327 chinooks atthe Little Manistee weir. In 2013, 6,427 Chinookswere harvested, which mirrored the trend seen in

Anglers try their luck near the mouth of the Sable River north of Ludington in September.Lake Michigan of fewer, but bigger fish. Othersalmon harvest weirs in Michigan are located onMedusa Creek near Charlevoix, on the BoardmanRiver in Traverse City, on the Platte River nearHonor (upper and lower weirs), and on Swan Creeknear Rogers City. Coho salmon eggs are taken atthe upper Platte River weir, and Chinook salmoneggs are taken at the Swan Creek weir.Anglers will find good numbers of earlyrunKings in the lower Little Manistee River beforethe weir closes on September 1, but landing themin such confined quarters is another story. With thepopulation of naturally reproduced cohos building,anglers will find good fishing for silvers and steelhead above the weir after November 14. Excitingaction can be had off the mouth of the Little Manistee near Stronach in Manistee Lake, but the areahas been prone to closures in years past so makesure the area is open to fishing.

Big Manistee River

The Big Manistee River, from the town ofManistee upstream to Wellston, is one of Michigans premier salmon streams. Thousands of kingand coho salmon make their way upstream eachfall to waiting anglers. kings begin their journey inlate August through September. Cohos begin entering the system in late September through October.The Manistee River changes dramatically fromits confluence with Manistee Lake upstream to Tippy Dam. In its lower reaches, the bottom is largelysand with little substrate for spawning. Still, this isone of the best areas to intercept salmon on theirupstream migration. Anglers will find good accessjust above Manistee Lake at Insta-Launch Campground and Bridge Street. There is a long stretchof river between the City of Manistee and the nextupstream public access at Rainbow Bend. Schoolsof bronze-colored kings pack into holes and runs inthis section of river in early September. A preferredmethod is to back-bounce with spawn or roe eitherbehind a weight or under a bobber. Even though itscommon knowledge that salmon quit feeding oncethey enter the river, salmon will inhale a chunk ofskein spawn. Kings will also slam a wiggling plugthat blocks their path upstream and casting in-linespinner and stick baits excels when salmon arepacked into undercut banks and woody structureduring midday hours.Anglers will find additional access at BearCreek, Horseshoe Bend, Blacksmith Bayou andHigh Bridge. Gravel and spawning salmon aremore common here, but there are plenty of deepruns and undercuts that will hold fresh-run salmon.

From High Bridge to Tippy Dam the Big Manisteeis almost solid gravel and is the final destination forthe majority of the salmon. Once the spawn is overin November, dead carcasses stacked 10-fish thickcan be seen in calm pools. The dead and decayingsalmon provide vital nutrients to the river and foodfor the next generation of smolts.Coho salmon can be hit or miss in the BigManistee, but when its good, it can be very good.Cohos seem to cluster in the area near High Bridge.On certain days they can be extremely receptive togold/orange spinners. When active, its not uncommon to have several Silvers chasing your spinnerwith the most aggressive fish grabbing it and shaking it like a dog with a bone. But like most spawning salmon, the Cohos can have a Dr. Jeckle/Mr.Hyde mentality.

Pere Marquette River

The P.M. River might be the most prolificsalmon producer in the state. The upper reachesnear Baldwin and its tributaries offer miles andmiles of prime spawning gravel that is coveredwith salmon during the spawn. The flies-onlysection is very popular with fly fishermen, but thedark salmon there are largely disinterested by thetime they reach the upper river. Catch them thenrequires lining the salmon, where a long leader allows the fly to swing into the salmons open mouth,and is common practice.Kings are much more receptive to strikingwhen entering the lower Pere Marquette up toIndian Bridge. The river here is largely sand withdeeper holes and runs that loads up with kingsheaded upstream in September. There is a longstretch of river between US-31 and Scottville thatis difficult to access. There are numerous longundercuts and in-stream structure that salmon relateto. Floating spawn under a bobber or casting spinners can be dynamite for pre-spawn Kings. TheCuster Bridge offers good access for bank anglers.

Muskegon River

Long, deep runs and pools characterize theMuskegon River between Old Womens Bend andMaple Island all the way to Mill Iron Bridge. Itsperfect water for dropping back plugs or backbouncing spawn from a boat. Silvery kings beginfilling pools and runs beginning in mid-Augustand runs are strong in early September. Salmonnumbers have been improving in recent years withincreased natural reproduction. The lower Muskegon River might be one of the best-kept salmonsecrets in the state.n


Anglers will find schools of king salmon in thelower river in late August in the area known as theMeadows just upstream from Betsie Lake. Inpast years, low water levels have prevented salmonfrom moving up the river, but now that Great Lakeslevels are up the Betsie should see more salmon.The slow, deep bends there are the perfect locationto drift a chunk of skein spawn under a bobber.Kings will inhale spawn even though their stomachatrophies and they are physically unable to swallowonce they enter the river. Casting with crankbaits,stick baits or big wobbling plugs can draw joltingstrikes here and where the river enters Betsie.Another focal point is downstream of the oldHomestead Dam site to US-131. The river hereis fairly easy to wade in this stretch and salmoncongregate in the deeper holes and under the cedarsweepers. Chucking spinners near the cover candraw arm-wrenching strikes from ornery kings.Look for fall rains to trigger runs of fresh fish thatare more willing to bite.For information on bait shops, amenities andlodging in the area contact the Benzie County CVBat http://www.visitbenzie.com or call 800-8825801.

15

ANR teaches teachers how tobring Michigans woods, waterand wildlife into the classroom

O

ne might think, afternine months in theclassroom, the lastplace a teacher wouldwant to be in the summer is in school. Butfor the last eight years, the MichiganDepartment of Natural Resources hasbeen luring school teachers back toclass for a week not as teachers, butas students.The Academy of Natural Resources(ANR), the DNRs conservation education program for educators, bringsteachers to the Ralph A. MacMullanConference Center at Higgins Lake fora crash course on natural resources.The program is designed to help teachers incorporate the concepts of resource management into their lessons.There is a long tradition of naturalresources and environmental educationin Michigan, which began its teachereducation back in the 1940s with a program run by the Conservation Department the forerunner to the modern

DNR in conjunction with six stateuniversities. But the universities begandropping out, and when the DNR wassplit into two agencies in the 1990s, theprogram went over to the Departmentof Environmental Quality.Kevin Frailey, education servicesmanager for the DNR, created theacademy in 2008. Sixteen teachersattended. Since then, the ANR has expanded and broadened its curriculum.Our goal now is somewherebetween 55 and 60 teachers a year,Frailey said.The program features seven different tracks, three of which are offeredin any given year. This year, the ANRoffered Nature Quest; Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)from Nature; and Forests, Fields andFins (FFF).Nature Quest is an introduction tothe flora and fauna of Michigan, withsessions on amphibians, insects, birds,trees and geology.The STEM session looks at incor-

Teachers, armed with dip nets, help collect specimens during an electrofishing demonstration on the Au Sable River. MDNR photosporating its components into naturalresources management.STEM is the big push nationally,Frailey said. Kids need to have thosefour components for the jobs of the future. So we brought in a lot of outsideinstructors to make those connections like robotics.Teachers attending STEM sessionsare challenged with using those disciplines to solve natural resource-management problems, such as designingroad crossings for wildlife or creatingremote sensing devices to detect invasive species.Engineering is laced all throughnatural resources, Frailey said.Forests, Fields and Fins, which isthe core class of the academy, shows

teachers how the DNR, as an agency,manages Michigans resources, Fraileysaid. It is among the most popular ofthe seven tracks, in part, because itoffers teachers hands-on experienceswith natural resources. Instructors fromvarious DNR divisions Law Enforcement, Wildlife, Fisheries and ForestResources take teachers into the fieldto show the workings of resource management. FFF participants will helpnet fish, trap small mammals and visitlogging sites.Individuals in all tracks work on afinal project with roughly five teachers to a group and make presentationson the final day of the academy.Karen Shineldecker, who teachesscience at Baldwin Community School,


16

took the STEM track at ANR last year,but came back for Forests, Fields andFins this year. She said the outdoorrecreation/natural resources track iswhat her students are all about.My biggest obstacle in Baldwinwith my kids is, Why is education going to help me? she said. They lovethe outdoors, but they dont see theeducational connection to outdoors. Ifthey realize there are job opportunitiesin this later in life, they can connect.I think this program with theDNR is phenomenal. If you comeaway from this with just one thing youcan introduce to your students, its agreat thing.Torrey Wenger, a high schooland middle school science teacherin Bloomingdale who described theacademy as summer camp for teachers, said the program will help herintegrate what she knows into theclassroom. She said she chose FFFbecause she wanted to see more ofhow the DNR operates, and shelldefinitely attend the ANR again inthe future.Most academy students are scienceinstructors, but Elisabeth Sochacki,who attended Forests, Fields andFins, teaches middle school Englishat Assumption of the Blessed VirginMary School in Belmont. She said herinvolvement with students in Salmonin the Classroom and in a localwalleye-rearing pond project haspaid dividends in language arts aswell.Their writing scores went up bya significant percentage, she said.I had kids that checked out in sixthgrade. They came alive. They reconnected with the whole purpose ofeducation and school.Kids need a reason to write, areal-life experience, she said.Most academy instructors are DNRstaffers. Craig Kasmer, the interpreterat Hartwick Pines State Park, taughtclasses in all three curricula. Kasmertaught forest biometry measuringforests in terms of trees per acre, or byheight and diameter, for instance forthe STEM curriculum. He taught treeidentification to Nature Quest students.And he offered a basic introduction toforestry, including visits to a harvestsite and a saw mill and a lesson aboutforestry tools, to those on the FFF

track.The tree ID class was especiallywell received, he said.Its needed, Kasmer said. Evena lot of biology teachers said theynever really got tree ID.The DNR regularly enlists the aidof outsiders to help at the Academy ofNatural Resources, too.Jon Gray, an eighth-grade scienceteacher, served as facilitator for theFFF curriculum. As the chairman ofthe education committee for the SafariClub International chapter in Novi which contributes $10,000 annually tohelp underwrite the cost of the academy Gray says the program dovetailswith both his goals as a teacher and asa conservationist.A former National Wild TurkeyFederation Educator of the Year whoalso devised the DNRs program allowing students to design the annualturkey hunting patch, Gray said hismission is to help teachers understandhow they can take the knowledgetheyve gained back to the classroom.Gray enlisted the aid of Tom Daleto teach a session on aquatic invertebrates this year. A retired scienceinstructor at Kirtland CommunityCollege and former education director at the Marguerite Gahagan NaturePreserve in Roscommon, Dale volunteered to help teachers net and identifyinsects on the Au Sable River.Dale said he attended a similarnatural-resources class back in the70s and it was a turning point in mycareer.I made up my mind I was goingto find a way to repay the favor, Dalesaid. This will carry over into theirclassrooms. Im still talking about itafter 40 years.Evaluations of the academy byparticipants are phenomenal, Fraileysaid. We have a lot of repeat customers. The teachers love it.As a bonus, Frailey said participation in the ANR satisfies teachersrequirements for continuing education.They can enhance their professionaldevelopment while spending a week inMichigans north woods.Applications for next yearsAcademy of Natural Resources willbe posted on the DNR website in earlyOctober. For more information, visitwww.michigan.gov/anr.n


Zakia Jackson, left, and Karen Shineldecker help remove fish from a gill netat the Academy of Natural Resources on Higgins Lake.

17

Michigan Meanders ... By Tom Huggler

B


efore we owned bird dogs,we hunted slowly. Wehunted deliberately. You mayremember the drill: Walk afew steps and then stop, hoping to unnerve a grouse intoflushing. Maybe you, too, zigged andzagged through the cornfields of youryouth, while peeking down the rowsfor a sneaking ringneck.After we bought the dogs, we letthem figure it out, more or less. Thebetter ones hunted by objective andseemed to have a plan. One exceptional setter I owned actually surveyed cover for a long moment, like abasketball coach plotting Xs and Os,before committing to the game. The

18

connected us to them. My friendsoften accused me of leading them ondeath marches. Surely, we walkedpast grouse and woodcock, quail andpheasants. Doubtless, we contributedto range problems with some of thosedogs, especially the pointing breeds.Now that were older, we huntmore slowly again. We no longerrun through covers, chasing dogs thatchase birds. Once again, we havea plan, and the plan involves keeping the Brittany in close and huntinga spot thoroughly before leaving it.It has taken many years, but wevefinally learned to conserve our energyand that of our dogs, too. In a sense,were back to where we started.

Having a second pointing partner helps the hunter come full circle.

How what was suddenly is once more.Circling.Nowhere is this realization truerthan with our beloved dogs. In thefall of 1993, I bought Sherlock, a setter puppy. We were filming a grousehunting video that year, and Sherlockwent everywhere with me. I waslooking at the footage the other dayand theres Sherlockall puppy legs,chasing after me, hanging onto meand muddying the back of my trousersas I pushed through a swamp somewhere in northern Michigan.A couple of months later, he madehis first point, stick-pinning a coveyof quail in Kansas. It was a clumsystance, if you can call it a stance atall. When Sherlock ran into that wallof bobwhite scent, he slammed to ahaltthose long, puppy-wonderfullegs wrapped around each other likea barbershop poletrembling, eyeswide-open, wondering what this wasall about and what to do next.Fifteen Octobers later, Sherlockmade another awkward point. Hisonce-high tail drooped and his oldlegs quivered, and he lay down whileI stepped ahead and flushed the pair ofwoodcock. I killed the first bird andin my own clumsy attempt to recover,missed the second. It was a slow-motion hunt, the truck still in view overmy shoulder. Sherlock huntedso close to me that I didnt use abell.In spite of hearing that was all butgone and eyes that were going, my oldpartner had given me yet another gift.Yes, I keep getting puppies andkeep starting over, but I no longerhard-charge like in the old days. Circling.Circling takes many forms and theBird dogs help us to fully enjoy the bird-hunting life. Tom Huggler photoslonger we hunt birds the more evidence of it we see. Weve all experinose knows. And so we trusted ourThis evolution I call circling. Id say enced dj vuthat been there, donedogs and we followed them and wefull circle except thats an oxymoron. that sense that creeps into consciousness when we score a rare double orshot plenty of birds over the years.Besides, were not ready to retire theBut all too often, we hunted tooguns and the boots. Not yet. But we witness a remarkable retrieve. Buthard, too fast. We raced throughare coming around the big, wide bend, circling, to my mind anyway, goesbeyond dj vu.grouse woods and pushed our dogs,and isnt it odd how certain thingsstretching the invisible elastic thatrepeat themselves along the way?Circling occurs when you visit a

certain aspen grove that was recentlycut and the new growth is explodingand the flight woodcock have foundit. You hunted this same bird factoryforty years ago when it was clearcutthe first time. Over the years youhave watched it grow in and out ofproductivity; once again, the good olddays are back.My first gun was a .410, but Dadsoon realized it wasnt enough powerfor pheasant hunting and he presentedme with a 20 gauge bolt-action Mossberg. As I recall, that gun acceptedthree shells, counting the one in thechamber, and it had a safety tang thatyou could flick red or green with athumb. The 20 gauge evolved intoa Remington Wingmaster 12 gaugepump, which I shot for many years.Then I discovered double guns andstarted back down the ladder withover and unders and side by sidesin 16 and 20 gauge. Now I shoot a28 gauge for everything butpheasants.If I was a better shot, Id likelyreach all the way back to the .410.I circled back to the guns of myyouth because they are lighter and Imnot as fast on the mount and swingthrough as I used to be. Maybe someday as I look through the ragweed fora dog on point, Ill be armed with onlya camera. But not yet.I read somewhere that if a personlives long enough, he gets to see itall happen again. A friend of mine,who loved to fish for steelhead, wascremated when he died. One day inOctober, his brother took some of myfriends ashes and added them to aspawn sack.He asked me to do this, thebrother said. He wanted to go fishingone more time.That got me thinking. If I wascremated, someone could sprinklesome of my ashes with bird shot andtake me hunting one last time. Trueto form, though, they better load twoshells because they will miss with thefirst one.Only then will I have completedthe circle.n

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The author, Mark Martin, steers his Lundduring a late summer outing. Unseen to theeye here is that he has already started hisboat maintenance for the year so winterizingwill be easier once winter arrives.

Start boat maintenancebefore the season ends

There are many processes you should start now thatllsave you frustration and money later on...By Mark Martin

I

ts now late summer... The waters cooling,recreational boat traffics down and the fishcatching is better than ever. The last thing youwould normally think about is winterizing yourboat for the season at this moment.Part of the responsibility of owning aboat, howeverwhether it is a large craft or basicrowboatis properly caring for the vessel and itsaccessories to prevent breakdowns or prematurewearing of parts well before they occur. And if youstart the process now, the tasks wont collect andcome all at once when the lakes freeze over.In short: Although it may be months beforeyou tarp it up and tuck it into the far corner of thegarage, there is an array of boat maintenance tasksyou should start at this time thatll save you frustration and money later on.

In summary, do not let gasoline set for a monthwithout additives mixed in!

Grease And Oil Is Good

This is also a good time of year to get the oiland oil filters in 4-stroke outboards changed out, aswell lower units lubed and the grease in all movingparts, including trailer bearings.Changing oils out now will help you determineif there is a leaky seal or gasket before putting yourrig to bed for the season. Find a bad seal now andyou can have the problem fixed immediately, whichlessens the chance of damage to gears and sealsonce the weather turns frigid. And adding freshgrease to all the zerk fittings on your outboard motor will fill grease ports to the max will squeeze outany water that may have entered and will keep morefrom entering, freezing, expanding and causingdamage.As for trailer bearings, they are also overlookedTodays gasoline is most definitely not the samepieces equipment when it comes to keeping themsubstance your grandfathers used. The overallproperly lubed.processing of it as well the added ethanol makesAppropriate trailer-bearing maintenance is ait much more volatile; thus it turns for the worseno-brainer for me as I put on thousands of miles perfaster than ever. Nowadays, month-old gas is conyear towing my boat tournament to tournament. Butsidered very-old gas and starts to turn south afterthat time. As for that added ethanol, it will deterio- even if you only tow a few miles to the boat launch,the grease within the housings needs to be changedrate fuel lines and create chaos (major damage) inout every season, not just more added. This isoutboard motors.because grease not only breaks down with age,Because this is the time of year trips to thebut every time you launch, some water willwater are fewer and further in-between, less gas isenter the housing and speed up the decomposingbeing run through the outboards of my Lund, it isprocess.also the time of year I start adding fuel additivesCompletely remove and then replace the lubeto the tank every time I fill up. And starting thissurrounding and within your trailers bearings everypractice early on rather than the very last fill-upguarantees the treated fuel will run through the lines year in the late summer/early fall and youll saveyourself from a major towing catastrophe in theand interior of my Mercury outboards.future.Overall, there are many brands to choose fromwhen it comes to fuel additives, and most all workvery well. What I like to use, however, is an additive that not only stabilizes the petrol, but alsoA dead battery, by far, is the culprit of botchingcleans fuel injectors and counter-acts the ethanol.more fishing trips than any other piece of equipI also make sure the additive itself is new because,ment. And now that the weathers cooling, havinglike gasoline, these chemicals will sour with age.high-quality batteries that can keep a full charge,And as an added bonus, outboards that have stabistart outboards and run electronics is more imporlized fuel running through them and been cleanedtant than ever.of their inner gunk will be much easier to startOn board my Lund I have four Optima marineduring that first trip next spring.batteries. One is a cranking battery for starting


Add Additives To Gas

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All Charged Up

my outboards, as well having plenty of power in reserve for running my Lowrance sonars bilge pumpsand lights. The other three are continuous drawfor my 36-volt bow-mounted and tiller-mountedelectric trolling motors.What I like about my Optima marine batteriesis not only that they are maintenance-free, but Ican get three times more charges out of them thanstandard marine batteries. (FYI: The procedure ofcharging, by far, is the hardest thing on marine batteries.) And if I am in a remote area and am unableto charge my batteries during a fishing trip, I willget up to three-times more use out of them in-between charges.For those of you that do not have maintenancefree batteries, however, make sure you pop the topsoff and confirm they are filled with water to thepoint of just covering the interior grids. If the waters low, or worse yet gone, fill them with distilledwater, which has no minerals in it that will collectonto the grids and ruin the batteries. (Hint: One ofthe best tools for filling marine batteries with wateris a turkey baster. Just dip the tip into the jug ofdistilled water, fill, and then place the tip over thebatterys fill hole and squeeze. The job is done spillfree!)

Odd Jobs

Little things mean a lot when it comes to boatmaintenance. Light spritz of oil or silicone hereand an inspection of wires and tightening of screwsthere will go a long way.I like to lightly oil or silicone on the hinges ofall my boats compartments this time of year so thatit can penetrate into them and ward of corrosion.I also go around and, with screw driver in hand,tighten all the screws holding down my accessoriesand the like. (Bouncing around in waves or whenbeing towed will cause screws to loosen on theirown.)And speaking of bouncing around in wavesand tightening screws, one Item I rarely have todo any maintenance to are my Smooth Moves seatmounts. These seat mounts are spring-loaded shockabsorbers attached to the bottom of my boat seatsthat have saved my body from severe injury whenmotoring in high waves.Without them, I am not sure I would have beenable to stay in the fishing business as long as I have.Seriously.

Overview

Dont put off boat, motor, and trailer maintenance until the last minute. Start the process nowand youll find the chore of winterizing your rig notonly easier, but much better for your equipment inthe long run.Start mixing additives with your gas now, aswell change all oils and grease. And completelychange out the lube in your trailers hubs. Makesure your old batteries are up to the task of holding a charge. If not, replace them with high-qualitymaintenance-free units. Youll find all of these taskswell worth what little time and effort they reallyare.Mark Martin is a walleye tournament pro andIce-Fishing Vacation/School instructor who lives inSW Lower Michigan. Visit his websites atmarkmartins.net and fishingvacationschool.com formore information.n

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COVER STORY...

Hunters today are much more educated in their sportthan at any time in the previous 150 years, and so isthe technology that most embrace. They also areeducated in deer behavior, so does that put deerat a total disadvantage? By Fred Abbas

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o, not at all, simply becausedespite our knowledge anddesire to be successful a certain sequence must fall intoplace. For example, a hunterhas watched a big buck allsummer long entering and leaving afood plot and knows exactly whichtrail the buck has been using. Finallythe season arrives and the hunter iswaiting in ambush, but the buck nevershows up because he had changed histravel pattern. The hunters mistake?He allowed the buck to controlthe situation. The simple solution wasto mow a trail starting in late summer that the hunter wanted the deer to

22

follow. Deer are creatures of habit andthat habit could have been instilledin the summer, plus deer are lazyand will always take the path of leastresistance. While there are no guarantees that live animals will followthe script, you do put the odds in yourfavor.As many readers are aware, myson Greg and I are inventors and weown A-Way Hunting Products and AWay Outdoors Invention Consulting.We invent hunting products and weinvent hunting tactics. Ironically, allof the products that we have inventedand now sell in our business werenever initially meant for the consumer, they were for the most part solely

The author with one of his many trophy bucks taken and all of his tactics begin and revolvearound deer/hunter communication in one fashion or another.

The authors son Greg took this beautiful buck as it came in grunting, taking itstime to loudly sniff each scrape, and repeating the process over and over again.to give us an advantage over the bigMichigan bucks that we love to hunt.As our knowledge and experience in the field grew we realized weneeded to invent different huntingaids for the many different situationsthat have created a problem for allhunters, especially since these hunting aids did not exist on the shelves ofyour local sporting goods stores. Onceinvented it didnt take long to noticethat what worked on mature buckseasily worked on all other bucks.Some of these products have becomeextremely deadly on big bucks, andthats exactly what we were hoping toaccomplish.All of our tactics begin andrevolve around deer/hunter communication in one fashion or another. Weneeded to first open a dialogue withbucks before we could ask them questions. The best starting point is in thelate summer time frame near or overfood plots, or some other favored foodsource where deer are most apt tocongregate. Every one of our 24 foodplots are planted exclusively with avariety of forage products offered bythe Whitetail Institute.Starting in mid-August we create several small mock scrapes, alongwith using any existing scrapes oneach farm that we hunt. The scrapesare scattered near the trails that thedeer use to get to, or return from thesefood sources. This is the first phase,now we could ask questions throughour actions.In about a weeks time we shouldreceive partial answers through a

bucks physical reaction. For instance, our actions come in the formof using what are probably the worldsmost powerful deer attractant scents,they are designed to work for up tofive days or longer, through rain orshine in the scrapes and on the lickingbranches. We constantly change up byusing different scents on each visit tokeep the bucks interested and curious.The expected bucks counter-actionswill come in the form of expandingthe scrape. In time each deer run willbecome so well defined that they willtell us exactly which trails the biggerbucks use, where his bedding area is(by back tracking), he will also tell ushow big he is by the size of his tracksand how heavy he is by how deep hishooves sink in the dirt. This is what Imean by opening a dialogue.Mock scrapes and scrapes ingeneral are not as seasonal as the vastmajority of old school hunters believe.These scrapes are the equivalent ofour internet to deer, and bucks arecapable of scraping all year long,its simply a form of communication to them. If I had to choose onetactic over the rest it would be mockscrapes, we utilize them all seasonlong.Like most hunters our favoritetime for scent use is the all-importantpre-rut/rut time frame when thethoughts of every buck (of age) turnsto reproduction, and of course likeevery hunter out there, we also usedoe in estrus type attractant scents.

Use buck behavior page 24


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Use buck behavior:from page 22


But unfortunately there are highly ineffective times for scent use. The first(and worst) happens to fall during theearly part of bow season where wehave very few tactics to rely on, andthe second falls after the rut. If youwere to add both time frames togetheryou will discover it covers a significant portion of our total deer season.If ever there was a problem thatneeded a solution, it was this one.After much trial and error we discovered certain patentable characteristics in proprietary synthetic scentswhich led to the inventing of SheDuction. Its role is to specificallycover these two dead periods with itsability to heighten a bucks sense ofcuriosity much beyond normal, (thestronger the smell of the scent, thestronger the attraction to a buck), andit all came about because we focusedon a deers strong sense of curiosity tinged with a dominant bucksterritorial instincts. Nobody has evermerged these two known buck behavior patterns together, until now.We have always considered curiosity as a weakness that any huntercould exploit. Consider this, 75percent of deer attractant scent use isgeared strictly toward a bucks senseof curiosity, and the other 25 percentis pre-rut/rut related doe in estrus typescents. Each has their time and place.Two years ago I was able to take ahuge, gorgeous 11 point buck that hadbeen nocturnal. I had spent considerable time bow hunting him when hefinally made a critical first mistakeby responding to a mock scrape withmuch too much aggression. Overkill, was my first impression when Idiscovered what he had done. Thisbuck had just given up more information than he probably intended, andit would ultimately get him killed thevery next morning. He spent considerable energy destroying big branchesoff of the same tree that held the licking branch above our mock scrape.He continued by kicking dirt 20 feetaway and finished his tirade by making his own scrape near my scrape.His message was clear, actually it wasmore than a message, it was a strongstatement. He was telling the worldand any local or neighboring contenders that this was his territory and hisintentions were to stick around andanswer to all challengers.I knew timing was critical beingso close to the rut. So I created another scrape near his scrape, informing the aggressive buck that his challenge has been accepted. My hopewas to force him into another mistakethat hopefully would stall him long

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enough until shooting light. You willnever shoot a mature buck unless hehimself makes a mistake. I sprayedthree different powerful scents in thescrapes knowing that the buck couldnot possibly decipher their message.This is the incident where the inventing of a new tactic called ClusterScrapes was born. Even beforedaylight I could hear a buck grunting, then as more daylight filtered in Icould see the shape of a big body, hewas going from one scrape to anothersniffing so loud that I could hear himfrom 75 yards away. Legal shootinglight had finally arrived and the bucknot realizing that he had just made theworst mistake of his life was slowlyambling toward his bedding area,down the same trail where I was onstand waiting for him.Fast forward to last years muzzleloading season. We hunt in severaldifferent Southern Michigan countiesand on eight different farms, by thetime we rotated back to the same farmwhere I took the big buck, the secondrut in December was about to kickin. Earlier in the season we scoutedthis farm and found some mild scrapeactivity on the same scrape where Itook that big buck the year before.Nothing to write home about though,which led us to believe that no newdominant buck took over the territory which is what usually happens infarm country.What we found this time on thatsame scrape absolutely shocked us.Broken branches, dirt spayed all overand this new buck even opened hisown scrape near our scrape, an exactduplication of what we had found theyear before. We normally pull ourtrail cameras early to avoid the temptation of checking them and to avoiddisturbing the area. On this hunt wewould depend on the sign left by thebuck. We found plenty of tracks thatindicated the culprit was a good sizebuck and based on the large tracksGreg choose to hunt this area. I wasworking a buck on a different farm.Since we didnt know if thisnew buck was nocturnal or not Gregdecided not to take any chances andwould use the cluster scrape tacticagain. He then refreshed each scrapewith a different scent. The next morning Greg positioned himself on ahigh vantage point about 125 yardsaway from the scrape site. Gregsmuzzleloader is a custom (made inMichigan) Ultimate Firearms in 50cal. with 180 grains of magnumTriple 7 pellets and a 300 grainHornady SST bullet, topped with a3x10 power Swarovski scope. We not

The author has always considered curiosity as a weakness that any huntercould exploit. Consider 75% of deer attractant scent use is geared strictlytoward a bucks sense of curiosity...the other 25% is pre-rut/rut!only use these guns exclusively during our regular rifle season here, wehave taken these super accurate andpowerful guns to Africa where weused 200 grains of triple 7 pellets andastounded the PH (guide) by droppingseveral big game animals at 275 yardson average.After the hunt Greg related thestory to me how he had witnessed anexact replay of what had happened tome the year before. The buck camein grunting, taking his time to loudlysniff each scrape, and repeating theprocess over and over again untilGreg could plainly see through thegathering light that the buck was adefinite shooter. Here is where thestory goes off script and takes on anodd bizarre twist that you only hear,or read about. As Greg was lining uphis cross hairs behind the big bucksshoulder a movement caught his eye,suddenly another, even bigger buckentered the picture from behind thefirst one and

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