Turkey Tribulations

The good news is that I got my bird. The other news is that I had to go thru many changes in emotions and tactics to do so. The ups and downs of hunting turkeys in Michigan. Opening day was clear but windy, 7 to 15 miles per hour winds. This cuts down on your calling range and demands you stake your decoys. Staking is putting a stick long enough to impede the decoy from moving too far to either side on each side. So even in a strong wind the decoy moves but doesn't spin around on it's pivot point to look like a top. Birds were gobbling when I set up and for an hour after sunup. Unfortunately that was it and all 5 toms I saw within eye shot over 2 days never gobbled.

Now for the tribulations. Monday afternoon around 3 I looked over my shoulder to see a tom zooming in to my decoy set up. No gobble just a stealthy drive by to teach my jake decoy who's boss. Not having any shooting windows on that side of the blind I had to open the sliding door to get a shot. The door opened easily and unbenownst to tom. As I lined up the shot I noticed iron sights. The kind that are on a slug barrel not the normal shot barrel for bird shot. I quickly calculated the difference in aim point with the different sights and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. As I looked at the gun I could see the shell wasn't all the way into the chamber. A little force didn't help the situation and I was forced to eject the shell and the succeeding shell of the same type. My third shell was different and one I considered a long shot, size 4 shot shell. The shell did go all the way in and I focused on the tom heading well out of the decoys and looking over his shoulder trying to figure out what all the noise was coming out of the blind. I aimed right for the waddles and pulled the trigger. Not a feather was touched and the bird ascended into flight across the field only to land at the hedgerow and run into the woods.

This was the low point of my hunt with many negative thoughts and feelings rushing over me. Not seeing anything for the rest of the night I headed in a little early to find a way to see where the gun was shooting. I found a large piece of cardboard and measured out 20 yards. My shot was 4" low and 4" to the right so I would use this as my adjustment for any further action.

The next morning found me in the same blind with the same decoy set up. The sunrise gobbles were very distant today but the woods was full of hens. A dozen hens searched the river bottoms for food when a single hen came thru giving a roundup call. Another 10 hens came out of the surrounding woods to join the group and they all headed off to the west. Mid morning a puffed up tom suddenly appeared 70 yards out and he was with 2 hens. I tried every conceivable call I have in my repertoire but got no response from the tom. The hens naturally ignored my calling and probably became suspicious and they all left to the west.

About noon I decided to switch spots to an area I heard gobbling in the morning. The blind is on the other side of a creek and just before the creek there is a rise in the terrain. As I topped the rise I spotted a tom in full strut accompanied by hens. I dropped down to my knees and set up decoys, back off about 20 yards and started box calling. No response, so I tried crawling to the top of the rise to get a shot but the hens detected me and were on the other side of the creek being followed by the tom.

Crawling in mud takes a lot out of you so I packed up and made my way to the blind. Set up the dekes and climbed in and after allowing the area to settle in I did some calling. No responses back but within a half hour 2 hens with a tom in tow appeared across the small field I was in. The hens didn't like my decoys and headed back into the woods to the awaiting tom. That was it for the next 5 hours, no responses, no sightings and negative feelings setting in.

Just before 6 o'clock some sort of switch was turned on and about 20 deer moved from the woods across the field I was in, across the field and into the woods behind me. Some of the deer didn't like my decoy set up and ran across the opening.
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Soon after the deer were done turkeys started to follow. First 2 hens ignoring my set up, then a young tom with about a 6" beard came thru trying not to make eye contact with the decoys. All these birds were just out of range for me even with the right barrel. Next up was a nice tom and he puffed up when he saw my set up. He walked right in displaying to the hens in my grouping. He was well within range and I waited to see if he would attack my jake decoy. Suddenly something just didn't seem right to him and he deflated and started to walk off so I lined up the sights with the allotted deviation and fired. The gun fired but the turkey was trying to leave the area a little quicker. The second shot somehow connected and the bird went down.

Overlooking the poor shooting the hunt was fairly typical of the ups and downs of hunting turkeys in Michigan. Hopefully the birds will start to respond to calls shortly and I can call in some birds for my sons and cousin.

Get Outdoors Downriver.

Boating season is Upon Us

The Coast Guard has recently become aware of counterfeits of U.S. Coast Guard approved portable fire extinguishers manufactured by Amerex Corporation and Buckeye Fire Equipment. Both companies are major producers of genuine approved fire extinguishing equipment and serve a worldwide market. These counterfeit extinguishers present a significant safety hazard. Their capability to extinguish a fire is unproven; they may be charged with a powdery substance that is not a fire extinguishing agent, the pressure cylinder is not DOT approved, and the pressure gauge may not function or give false readings. The dry-chemical counterfeit extinguishers are size B-II and may be identified by several distinguishing features: Counterfeit units may have duplicate serial numbers. Genuine approved extinguishers will have a unique serial number for each extinguisher.

For counterfeit Amerex extinguishers, the serial № V-654690 has been reported. There may be other serial numbers used on the counterfeits. For counterfeit Buckeye extinguishers, the serial № K-094927 with a red handle and serial № YMU76222 with a black handle have been reported.

• The labels on counterfeit extinguishers may be simply printed. Labels on genuine approved extinguishers will include a security imprint / texture behind the UL LISTED logo, classification, testing and approval data. Genuine Amerex Corporation extinguishers will have a pattern of scored "circles," and genuine Buckeye Fire Equipment extinguishers will have the letter "S" scored into the label.

• The bottoms of the counterfeits have a rounded curved in lip as shown on the right side of the image on the right. The bottom of a genuine Amerex extinguisher is shown on the left side of the image. Genuine Buckeye extinguishers will have a date stamped on the bottom. Inspections and Compliance Directorate Genuine Counterfeit The counterfeit extinguishers have been reported to have black or red plastic handles. Genuine approved dry-chemical B-II extinguishers typically have handles that are constructed of silver-colored aluminum (although there are some with plastic handles). Pressure gauges on the counterfeit units may be the wrong color. The gauges on genuine approved Buckeye dry-chemical extinguishers will have a red background. Counterfeit extinguishers may have welded seams on the sides of the cylinders. The Coast Guard believes that counterfeit production is not limited to Amerex

Be careful out there and...

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35 incher in the Walleye Capital of the World, For Now

This has been an unbelievable year for walleye fishing in the Detroit River. Due to the weather it's been a later run compared to recent years but the fish are worth the wait. Big fish, that are maybe sticking around longer waiting for the water temp to be right before dropping their eggs. This one came into Dip Net in Ecorse it measured 15+ pounds and more impressive was 35.5" long. This was probably the biggest reported but there are so many that a bigger fish could have been caught and the old river rat just isn't saying anything.


  My son Justin caught his personal best and the largest in family history. This one measured 30.5 inches and weighed 10.6 pounds  

And my best for the year, a 28.5 inch male. Any of these fish would be fish of a lifetime if caught in other waters. Here in the Walleye Capital of the World they're caught on a regular basis in spring.

Get Outdoors Downriver.

Insider's Look at Point Mouille

Got to go thru the gates and ride on the refuge's dikes. What a nice experience and what a place to visit. This was back on March 23rd with much of the area still under ice. Still early for many spieces of birds but there were thousands already there. The first stop was for  trumpeter swan.


The bird was acting nervous with our presence, leaving a mound in the bullrushes and swimming back and forth in front of us. We left this spot, which wasn't very far from the Siegler road parking area, and headed to the banana dike area on Lake Erie. The Army Corp of Engineers was working on filling in a section of the dike. We stopped a little farther on and got a pick of the eagle's nest.



We also got a glimpse of some other wildlife. There were a few muskrats around, but no beaver.

It was a great day on the refuge especially so that we could drive and not have to walk like a couple of others that didn't know about the outing. I got to spend the day with my brother-in law, the professional fisherman, and my dentist Brian Hartwell along with many members of the Detroit Audobon Society.

Thanks to Joe Robison for leading us around and Zack and Chuck. Joe gave us some info on the refuge in regard to funding the projects there. The place has really changed in the past 10 years due to their efforts and money from various sources. Joe emphasized they need support from all of us and the best way is to but a refuge permit, which goes right to them, or buy a small game license. Even if you don't hunt buying the license opens the vast amount of Pittman-Robertson money that's building up quickly due to the run on guns and ammo. A $15 small game license purchase brings $45 of RP money to the state. Please buy one even if you won't use it. Stay tuned for info on the next ride on the dikes.

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Yo, Yo, Yo it's Walleye Time.

Finally got a chance to go walleye fishing in 2013. The weather Gods all complied and the temps were manageable along with the wind. As a first time out on the water, for the year, it was expected to be more of a shake down cruise than an actual fish catching experience. We did have problems with the electric trolling motor but improvised a solution, note to call Lockeman's for help.

What do you do for major problems? Ask for help from one of the other 40 boats in the jigging line? Maybe after the fish stop biting for an hour or two. Another alternative is Tow-BoatUS. For $67 they'll tow your boat in the water for 25 miles and for an additional $14 they will tow you on land for 100 miles. It may sound expensive but even if you only use them once in 5 years it's probably worth it.

Back to the fishing, we had some success and just missed our limit by one fish each. Four large and four regular not bad.

Due to the trolling motor problems we used 3/4 oz. jigs tipped with Wyandotte worm and stinger hooks. Since we could see the Wyandotte launch from where we fished and using Wyandotte worms it gave a great feeling being from Wyandotte.

Get Outdoors Downriver.