What a day for ice fishing

That is if you're in the UP. There are still trollers fishing the mouth of the Saginaw River near Bay City. No ice fishing here but a day on the boat was greatly enjoyed. I did get some tanning time in for about an hour then the guide wanted to move again. All I have to show are some tan lines from my glasses and the straps from my bibs. After the move the wind picked up so tanning was out of the question. We did stay warm, however, by just using the windshield on the Lindberg Flash's Crestliner. The wall of bone wind blocker was set up but we never needed to put up the tarp on it. It's a nice design that keeps you still fishing in nasty wind.
You can see from the photo the bones are 1+1/4" pvc and they fit nicely into the rod holders. The tarp is secured inside the boat and weights are attached to the outside by the grommets. You know what they say about fishing, if it's nice out the fish don't bite , if it's nasty they won't stop biting. Thanks Mike for your idea and for your idea you win a free pass to the Ultimate Fishing Show this weekend. If anyone else is going the Downriver Walleye Federation is asking you to go to Mark Romanack's Super Walleye Clinic at Novi Ultimate Fishing Show on Saturday, January 14, 2010 at 2:30 PM – Stage A. Mark will be donating $5 back to the club from the $25 entry fee. If you're a DWF member Mark will leave a free ticket for you at will call.

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Chase Nature At Oakwoods Park

This weekend we'll be taking our Grand Daughters to the Oakwood nature center. The eldest of three, Stella, has been torn by staying with Ms. Jennifer or going to the older kids group, the Explorer's club. All the girls really love Ms. Jennifer and it was hard to convince Stella to change but it was time for her to move on up. The month before she decided to move I notice a table in the fireplace room that had a display of mushrooms on it and I asked how long did it take to collect all of them.
About 48 hours was Chase's reply. He had it down to hours and a few of the specimens were some I'd never seen before.
The next month Stella attended the Explorer's group and immediately got involved in Chase's discussion about beavers. Soon he had given out treats for correct answers and had a member of the group dressed as a beaver with a can of WD-40 and a deodorant applicator attached to the back, it all made sense at the time. Next we took a short walk to a site where beavers were chewing down their favorite trees, aspen or poplar. Wait did we just get beamed up north by Scotty? No we're just a couple miles west of Flatrock. Amazing.
Last month Case announces to the group we will be starting camp fires and boiling eggs. These are 6 - 10 year olds and the thought of each of them starting a fire seemed far fetched even if their name was Blue Tip. Much to my surprise each had a fire going in short order with the supplies provided. From dryer vent lint and shaved wood for kindling to bigger twigs and branches each kid started their own camp fire. The out came the 5 foot 2 x 2s and tin cups with wire handles on them. Soon eggs were boiling in the set ups and after about 10 minutes of this the eggs were cooled and thrown at a wood target. All were hardboiled or very close to it and smashing them on the wood was icing on the cake. A very interesting start to the weekend.
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Happy New Year

   Yes it's that time of the year when we remember back about the old year and are relieved to start a Happy New Year. I tend to remember the really impressive things or the negative things and not much else. I think there was a lot of negativity to remember from last year so next year has to be better. I was reminded of a ride I took in a department store by my Sister-In -Law, Donna, Roger's wife. This was many years and pounds ago in Grand Rapids. Seeing me crammed in the ride must have impressed Donna because she still remembers and couldn't believe I have no recall. I couldn't see myself and nothing bad happened so there was nothing there for me to remember.


   I recently saw a flock of between 50-75 turkeys on Ostrander road just west of Maybe in Monroe county. I thought this to be very impressive and I'll remember this for a while. I've only seen flocks that big in the thumb area never this close to home and that reminded me of the turkey me and my boys saw just on the shore of the Detroit River. This was a few years ago and it was about the same time my neighbor said he saw a turkey sitting on our fence and a coworker told me a turkey had traffic bottled up at Pennsylvania road and Biddle in Wyandotte. You must admit these are amazing things that anyone would remember for a long time. Then there are the "other" memories, like the truck and boat floating in the river, that are better left for another time.

   Some things to put on your calendar to remember:

The last weekend in Jan. Ray's Prime Meats in Taylor will be making their venison bacon so if you were lucky this year this is a real treat to use up some of you deer cache.

 The Ultimate Fishing Show Jan. 12-15 at the Suburban Collection Showplace

There will be a NRC meeting in the Hyatt Regency, 600 town Center Drive, Dearborn, on Feb 9th.

  This is your chance to make your voice heard by those making the decisions on your hunting and fishing.

Along those lines in you received a deer hunting survey complete it and if you hunted turkey in the fall go to the DNR website and complete the hunting activity report, even if you didn't get one.

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Inventions

Here are some neat tips for all you outdoor people.

Apply for the Pure Michigan Hunt online or at any license agent. A great prize

Fishing:
Use heat shrink tubing to help your wacy worm last longer. Just cut a 1/2" piece of heat shrink tubing with a large enough diameter to slip over your worm and heat until it fits snug. Insert hook thru both heat shrink and worm.

Hunting:
For all of the lucky pheasant hunters out there or and bird hunters check this video out.

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Wolf Delisting?

 We've heard this many times before but now this may become a reality. Due to Congress passing a law to delist wolves it becomes very hard for the anti-hunting groups to " persuade " a judge to put an injunction on any sane decision the Department of Natural Resources makes. Finally we'll have people making decisions on wolf numbers based on scientific data. This will make residents and hunters in the UP very happy.

   Recently it was stated that the wolves were introduce by the MDNR 30 years ago. This was news to me as they've always said the wolves came down from Canada thru Minnesota and Wisconsin to get here. If they were introduced I'd like to know who decided that dumb move. Now, however, it looks like we can expect a wolf season soon. Up until now to hunt a wolf was a major undertaking. Some Canadian provinces let non residents hunt wolves but the license is costly and to get into Canada with a gun is tricky at best. Idaho and Montana are currently in their wolf seasons and let non residents hunt. Idaho charges $187 to hunt wolves and with travel costs at almost $1000 in the least the urge to hunt a wolf must be strong.

   People involved with the first hunts in Idaho 2 years ago are saying the wolves are much more wary now that they have been hunted before. As with any hunting finding your quarry is more than half the battle and 2 years ago the wolves would respond to howling challenges which greatly helps the hunter. Now the wolves aren't as vocal and tend to stay farther away from places inhabited or roads so a lot of leather work is needed. Only time will help hunters figure out what's needed to successfully fill a tag.

   So if your interested in hunting the eye of the pyramid in the predator chain the first season in Michigan will be the best. I'm sure there'll be many farmers willing to let you hunt their land if and when a wolf season opens here. This situation has gone on too long without any plan in place to control this predator and like any other problem that's left to fester, emotion run high on both sides. Hopefully now the MDNR will be allowed to study and control the population of wolves although with declining revenues I'm sure they'll just try to deal with the worst problem areas. With the loss of ~200,000 deer hunters to the tune of $14 each has got to be putting a lot of pressure on the department and the decisions on where the money they have will be spent. Baiting was reintroduce late in the year and some hunters may not have received the message but weather you like this type of hunting strategy or not it helps the weekend hunters feel good about their chances. Do wolves like sugar beets? oh that's right we can't buy them here. Maybe they'll go for corn and we can hunt wolves and deer together.

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Crossbow Crossroads

That's where I'm at. The crossroads of buying a crossbow or not. My boys both got deer already during the bow season using these high tech devises. Justin got a doe on hard hunted state land in October. It was an amazing shot right thru the heart. Jason got his 8 point buck in early November a nice rack with a 14 inch spread. His 25 yard shot didn't hit any bone and we couldn't find the bolt in the tall weeds so it must have been going pretty fast to bury in that stuff. Speed however is still higher in the new compounds so what's so special about these weapons?


Speed not being better what else is there for bow hunting. Crossbows usually have scopes on them but you can put a scope on a compound bow. Compounds are lighter than the counterpart so that's not it. I think it all boils down to the amount of practice needed to become proficient with the compounds. They're definitely easier to use, especially for women, but they do have some drawbacks.

Crossbows I think are clumsier to use because of the orientation of the weapon. A compound is in one hand and is balanced while the crossbow needs two hands to point and aim. The crossbow allures you into thinking you're using a gun which isn't a big problem unless one of the limbs catches on the window you're shooting thru. The biggest problem that occurs, as reported by vendors, is a user’s thumb can catch on the bow string causing injury. This injury can be very severe so chose a new crossbow accordingly.

So just like trying to decide on which deer license to purchase I'm not sure about buying a new crossbow. Do I really need another option to hunt deer with? It's probably more important to hunt in a good area with high deer numbers than to cover every option to take them with. So maybe I should use that money to lease some good hunting land, or maybe I could hire a guide to take me to the deer, or maybe buy a mountain bike to take me deeper into the woods, or maybe take deer calling lessons, or maybe....

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Deer Hunting in Michigan- Get Your Program and Lose Your Head Win $200

  The article will be much shorter than the headline implies. Compared to last year the regulations are easier to remember. Last year the combination of hunting scenarios was 47. That's combining hunting area, antlers/ no antlers, antler length, number of points and type of license. This year the regulations are more traditional lets say. However the baiting rules are much different, last year no baiting - this year baiting is allowed except for area 487. Well for most  of area 487, the new regulations allow baiting in certain township included in the area. You'll have to check the regulations for which townships are excluded because once again the DNR has made it difficult to know them. So get a program and good luck his year.

  Another decision the DNR made but hasn't got the word out about is the cash for TB. If you're luck enough to bag a deer in the 487 area, and are willing to turn in your head , if your deer is infected with TB then you'll win $200 from the DNR. They say lightning doesn't strike twice but you could bag a buck and bag some bucks all at the same time.

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Extreme Makeover Downriver Edition

The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge will be celebrating the makeover of the area this Monday November 7th at 2pm in the Gibraltar Carlson High School. The DRIWR is the only international refuge in the country and the property just north of Humbug Marsh, designated the Refuge Gateway, has gone thru an amazing makeover in just a few short years. Considerable cleanup and restoration has been accomplished in 2011 including restoration of a natural shoreline, restoration of 3 acres of riparian buffer habitat (thanks to Nathan Lewis and the scout troop #802 out of Woodhaven), construction of a second access road, creation of the kayak landing and the greenway bike trail connecting Humbug marsh and Lake Erie Metropark. Amongst other projects with more to come.

From October 16, 2011

Not that long ago the developer, Made in Detroit, would have ripped this area apart to make a high end housing development with a marina and golf course. I wonder how that project would have ended up with the current economy. Definitely no where near the jewel it’s become so far and will become in the near future. So come and join Congressman Dingle and all those involved in the making for a truly joyous celebration.

From Downriver Outdoors

From October 16, 2011

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They Shoot Plates, Don't They?

      Friday night at the Wayne County Sportsman Club they do during the "Duel". This is a neat set up that's unique for this area. There's a shooting booth that 2 shooters occupy and the starter spins a double arrow on the top of the booth to determine which shooter aims at which color plates. Whomever knocks down all their plates first advances to the next round. The last shooter standing wins.




    They have many rules that fill up a sheet of paper that make the event fun for everyone and safe. The gun must be of a .22 LR caliber with a barrel limit of 10 inches. No shooter may win more than $50/month or $200 per year but many compete anyway with the winnings going to the next eligible participant. The cost is $5 per game with a $1 clean up fee, very reasonable for a night of fun.

     The club also has skeet, trap (available under the lights at the end of video), a pistol range and archery. They host ANSS and ATA shoots, steak roasts and lots of other fun get together. Definitely check them out at http://www.waynecountygunclub.webs.com/. With the pheasant season upon us this is the only skeet shooting in the area to practice up.



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Ms. Nature

I've taken my Grand Daughters for the last 5 years to the Oakwood Nature Center to attend the Tadpoles program. That's the park located just south of Michigan memorial Cemetery and is part of the Huron-Clinton Metro Park system along with Willow, Lower Huron and Lake Erie in this area. The $25 entry sticker gets you in all the parks in south east Michigan and is quite a bargain. Lake Erie is closer and has many attributes like the wave pool, boat launch and their own Nature center along with Luc the eagle. Our Granddaughters really like Oakwood because of the instructor Ms. Jennifer.


Ms. Jennifer is a grade school teacher from the Deaborn School District and it shows when does the Tadploe program. I don't remember much from my Kindergarten classes but Ms. Jennifer is the best I've seen recently to combine a book and a craft around a theme. This month's was spiders, kind of a lead in to Halloween. She reads the book and draws pictures to explain things in the book. To keep 3-6 year olds attention for 15 - 20 minutes while she covers the book is amazing and well worth the price of admission. Then there's the craft and the parents/guardians are needed so everyone gets involved.


At the same time there's a program for the 8-10 year olds. Our Oldest Grand daughter still likes to stay with Ms. Jennifer  but in just a short hike around the center the participants discovered some mushrooms, many of which I'd never seen before. So check this program out.


Go to their website to check out all the events they have.
http://www.metroparks.com/parks/index_all.aspx?ID=10
Like the Owl Prowl on November 11th and 12th.


Don't forget Veteran's appreciation Day.

Get Outdoors Downriver.