Geiger Encounters Tomskullery

One of Wyandotte's finest, Devin Geiger, recently had a very successful hunting trip in Northwest Michigan. Devin was after the elusive Eastern Turkey and spent quite some time tracking down a bird. While driving the backroads he noticed birds crossing a road at a certain time each day. Turkeys can seem very dumb sometimes but just try to get close to one.
After picking out a general area he started laying down leather not rubber. It's not easy figuring these birds out and any discovery while scouting could help determine a blind location to intercept the quarry. Taking note of tracks, droppings, wing drag marks and feathers while deciphering the lay of the land you can get an idea of where the birds will travel thru. Adding in the time you see them a date can be made to hunt up the birds. As Devin was doing all this he made a discovery of a different kind.
This is a skull of a wild Russian boar you may have heard about being shown off by his son, Magnus. Nice tusks! These invasives are doing so much damage to crops and habitat that the State has created an open season on them. They are evasive as well and hunting them isn't as easy as some may think. You need to know where they live and sit and wait for them to show up or call them in. Calling in can be tricky as to the type of call to use and keeping calm if a big one comes in. Here's one harvested in the Chelsea area in 2010.
Devin ended up making a date with a tom and got his bird.
Good job Devin, two trophies in one trip.

Get Outdoors Downriver.

Summer and Celebrations.

Well summer is finally here. School's out in many different directions and the temperature is soaring like the national debt. The silvers are finally down to manageable levels and many walleye limits are reported. Along with those reports is the fact that many undersized fish are being caught, the 2010 year class is showing how good it was. This class should carry us for a while. Bottom bouncers and crawler harnesses are the ticket now whether you're in the river or lake.
Some are even using an Alabama rig to cast and troll for walleye. Casting should take some practice and a pretty stiff action rod. Especially if you put 2 in tandem as I've seen before. An in-line weight behind a in-line planer board should troll up even the shyest fish.
For other entertainment look to our Metro parks. Lake Erie Metro Park has a lot of fun things planned for the kids and adults. With the cut backs in city budgets many are opting out of firework displays. Both Lake Erie and Willow Metro parks are having firework displays coming up.
LAKE ERIE METROPARK, in Brownstown– Saturday, June 30 at 10 pm. Flashback will perform from 6 pm to 9:30 pm. There is a $5 daily vehicle permit before 5 pm; $10 special event daily vehicle permit required after 5 pm; admission is free with an annual permit. For information, call Lake Erie Metropark at 734-379-5020.
WILLOW METROPARK, near New Boston – Wednesday, July 4. Hidden Agenda and the Rick Lieder Band will perform from 5:30 pm to 11 pm with a break for fireworks at 10 pm. There is a $5 daily vehicle permit before 5 pm; $10 special event daily vehicle permit required after 5 pm; admission is free with an annual permit. For more information, call Willow Metropark at 734-697-9181.
At Lake Erie they're offering cruises covering topic about the Detroit River and western Lake Erie.
Go to http://miseagrant.umich.edu/discovery/ to see cruise descriptions. Here's the schedule.

Get Outdoors Downriver

School's Out Forever

I can still remember Alice Cooper belting out our class song back in 1972. It was just for a week and then the uppity ups in student council changed it to some Beatle's song. Now it's appropriate for a different set of students and a different type of school. Wilson Middle School in Wyandotte has delivered a school that will be "Out Forever", a school of Chinook salmon. Wilson Middle School is the only middle school in Wayne County to sponsor this program with coordinator Mr. White and everyday members Jeana Claxton, Sabrina Kettler, Sydney Murphy, Jason Niebrzydowski, and Endri Kambo.
Mr. White has brought "Salmon in the Classroom" to Wilson Middle School. In 1997 the Salmon in the Classroom project was started. Salmon in the classroom is not just another science activity but a very interactive participatory program in which students raise the resource and ultimately are responsible for its survival and release.
Mr. White says "We strive to add activities that will enable us to better teach students about Michigan's fisheries resources and Great lakes issues. As scientists, we have created the important messages we need to reconnect our children to the great outdoors. Together, we can develope and nurture the next generation of stewards and anglers.
About 2 years ago Mr. White was contacted by Jerry Sickon from the Huron Valley Sportfishing Club and PLAV sausage proclivity. Together they got all permits from the state and the equipment for raising the fish from eggs to smolts to young fish. The tank must be cooled to the temperature the fish need and the water quality needs to be checked frequently to give the fish a great environment to grow. The group received their eggs on December 8th from the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery and have put a lot of effort in raising 75 four inch long fish.
The day of reckoning came last week and all the fish were set free in the Huron River somewhere near Flatrock. Hopefully, Tom Cunningham and his cohorts were there to protect the plantings from the cormorants. It will be interesting to see how many fish survive and come back in 3 years. Even though the school is out they will get the urge to spawn and return to the river of their planting. Good luck class of 2012.
As an added bonus the students got a glimpse of how the DNR try to control an invasive species.

Get Outdoors Downriver.

Oscillation Fascination

Getting on up in age I’ve started to lose strength and function of my hands. From carpel tunnel problems to swollen knuckles doing things that were easy before now take longer and can hurt. Some things I’ve enjoyed doing I don’t anymore but others I still want to and do. But now I use an aid to help me, it’s an oscillation tool. You may have seen these tools demonstrated on TV. It’s much like a dremmel tool in shape but instead or spinning it vibrates.
With many different blades offered you can cut wood, metal, plastic, drywall and on and on. I use the tool to process pelts and do some turkey taxidermy. There are mainly 4 types of these tools, pneumatic, battery driven and electric of which there are the one speed and variable speed. The variable speed is needed for any kind of work with the previously mentioned items. The one speed models I think are too powerful to use on delicate items and to work in tight quarters.
Here’s a turkey wing bone that would have taken me over 20 minutes to debone.
Now it's mere seconds.

After treating with some 20 mule team I can position the feathers and bondo or hot glue onto some cardboard or other backing. Next is the tail.
Separate the “guard “ feathers from the tail.
I use the O tool to get as much meat off the quills as possible on both sides.
Repeat with the borax treatment and attach to a backing.
Here’s a display I’ve donated to our local nature center.

Record Cat Caught

Caught by Rodney Akey of Niles, Mich., at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 22, on the St. Joseph River in Berrien County, the fish weighed 49.8 pounds and measured 45.7 inches. Akey was still-fishing from shore with an alewife when he landed the record fish.

“It only took about 15 minutes to catch this fish or to get it to bite, but it took about a half hour to land it. We were pretty excited about it, I’ve caught a lot of big ones, but nothing that big,” Akey told WWJ 950′s Marie Osborne, later adding, “We just bugged our eyes out of our heads, I said ‘I think we’ve got a state record here.’”

The record was verified by Scott Hanshue, a DNR fisheries biologist, at the DNR’s Plainwell office.

The previous state record flathead catfish was caught by Elmer Rayner of Hastings, Mich., on the Maple River in Ionia County on Aug. 6, 1943. That fish weighed in at 47.5 pounds and measured 44 inches.

“I’ve been fishing catfish on the St. Joseph River for the last 20 years, but it never crossed my mind that I would catch a state record,” said Akey. “And beating a nearly 70-year record – that’s a feat in itself!”

State records are recognized by weight only. To qualify for a state record, fish must exceed the current listed state record weight, and identification must be verified by a DNR fisheries biologist.