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My son connected on a nice doe yesterday morning. Looks like we’ll have some brats for the grill. Great dy in the woods as we seen 22 deer between the two of us. My son said he thought his heart was going to jump from his chest when the group of does first came into view. Only one gave him a shot and he put it down on the spot with one shot from his muzzleloader.
I wound up seeing 11 deer, including 2 swimming across a pond. I did have one large doe within 30 yards, but she caught my scent before I could get in position for a shot. Hearing lots of turkey talk again yesterday, from clucks and purrs, to some nice gobbles. Hoping thery stay around for spring.

Well opening day was pretty uneventful for our group this year. Wespent the day in Gratiot County in a spot that had done very well for us over the years. This year things were pretty quiet. We only saw 3 deer, last year 27 were seen here on the opener. The parking area we were parked at last year had numerous bucks and does hanging at days end. This season saw 2 does hanging by the end of day one. Number of shots heard was also way down from last year. Hoping things will pick up as we progress.

For those of you who hunt, there are 2 night that seem to have no end. Seems like daybreak will never come. The first is the night you have to leave a deer you’ve shot and follow the track in the morning. You wrestle with so many emotions it’s hard to shut the brain down long enough to sleep. Worry about whether you’ll be able to find the deer, whether it might be eaten by coyotes, or worse, taken by a another hunter. The second longest night is the one that is upon us now,…..opening day eve. I’m pretty certain there are extra hours added to this evening. Then when you finally do get to your blind on opening morning, daylight takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Good luck to all tomorrow. Stay safe, and remember treat every gun as if it’s loaded at all times, and always know what lies beyond your target.

Got to spend a couple gours in a tree stand last night on a piece I have leased. Really thought we’d see a few deer as the evening was just about perfect. Only problem was a NE wind. Never had much good luck for anything , fish or game on an east wind. Last night was no exception. Surrounded by scrapes, and rubs, never seen a deer. Bunch of turkeys flew up to roost within 50 yards of me, and 1 fox squirrel, but not a hair of a deer. Hoping to get back out next week and put one in the freezer.

Ok, so I haven’t seen a wild pheasant in the woods in probably 10 years. Tonight I had 2 big hinking rooster land within 20 feet of me while I was setting in a ground blind. First time I’ve ever been watchng and seen one land so close. It stood completely motionless for over a minute after it landed. Guessing it was trying to pull off having everyone think it had been there all the time? It did finally wander off to pick at some berries. Then not 5 minutes later here comes another one, right in the same spot. Geez I could have tagged out on wild roosters tonight with a BB gun. Didn’t see any deer, but the roosters made it a good night.

It is with a sad heart I have read to day of a hunting accident at the Fish Point Managed Waterfowl Area. 39 year old Lapeer man passed away from apparent gunshot wound from a hunting accident. I have spent alot of time up there hunting ducks and as such get to see alot of the same folks around the office waiting for the draw. You sort of develope a distant relationship with the others there. Likely not a personal one, as folks come from many different areas, but seeing the same faces on a regular basis they kinda become almost a family. Anyway, today we lost a member of that “family” to an accident. No details on what exactly happened.  Prayers go out to ALL involved including family and friends.

Had a blast yesterday. Got to spend the day duck hunting with a couple good friends up at Fish Point. The ducks and geese were flying all day, must have seen 10,000 in the 5 hours we hunted. The wind was howling, but we did manage to get a few birds to come close enough to get some shots. Wound up with 4 geese and 4 ducks. The area we hunted wasn’t the easiest to access but the work was worth the effort.

OK, I thought this was supposed to be October?? Been walking properties for last couple weeks and sweating my %$#&^% off. Come on bring back those 30 degree mornings and 50 in the afternoon. Had enough of this Indian summer stuff. Haven’t seen a deer yet in the daylight. That warm winter coat is too much for them to stand out in that blazing sun. I have seen a ton of squirrels. Se4ems they are having a blast picking up all the acorns. Hoping there are a few ducks moving this weekend, got a chance to go chase a few.

Last week was a busy one for us. Spent the first couple days with some folks from New Hampshire, walking properties in northern part of the state, then last couple days back up in NE side of state. In between quite a few trips around the thumb area. In all the running we didn’t see too many deer, but a whle lot of turkeys. Interesting that we saw many flocks of hens with fairly small poults. Heck some weren’t much bigger than grouse. Hope those little guys eat lots to fatten up for winter.
My son and I made a trip out to our gun season haunt in Gratiot County on the opener for bow. Very few folks out there yet, only seen 3 deer. The woods are again full of acorns, so looks like lots of food available for the critters again this fall. Pretty much state wide, apple trees are dripping with fruit.

Got to spend some time with my son deer hunting yesterday. I must admit it was our first youth hunt and it seemed very weird gun deer hunting with green leaves on the trees. We didn’t see any deer, but bumped one when we walked in in the morning. Seen a few turkeys fly off the roost and Lord knows more squirrels than we could count.
Spent an hour or so sprucing up our gun blind. Since we hunt state land it’s a good idea not to make it too obvious, but a few more logs and sticks were added. That location has produced 20+ bucks over the past 30 years, so we keep it on the down low. Lots of acorn dropping already, so looks like plenty of food in the woods again this fall. I was suprised, I figured hunting state land we’d see lots of hunters, but only seen a handful of cars on the 2 mile stretch of road going in.