EdB

Good luck to Hunter and Wyatt and the pit crew too.

Yes in Ludington. Occasionally in the spring in St Joe. Probably ran it less last year than prior years. We can generally put good boxes together without meat, last year was easier then prior years so we ran less meat. When we are fishing hard, like at a tourney or if I'm staying out for a long time into mid day, I won't be without meat. It does shine late morning. Some will profess the small 6 rod spread with meat only but I always like to drag as many lures as I can. We have lot's of success mixing meat in our spread. If I was running charters, I'd wouldn't leave the dock without it. Seems as I age, I like to fun fish more than I want to fish hard. Not going out on rough days, no 2 a days, coming in early etc. That's also due to fishing every weekend all summer and 3 weeks of vacation time. Don't really care to fish meat if I'm easy fishing with buddies who get to fish all the time. There has been more days lately where I don't really care if I get 5 fish or get double digits. I'm not going to bother with meat when I fishing like that. And then there are trips where we want to fish hard all day and load the box, we are taking meat that day.

Reports saying Tigers picked up Prince Fielder. No official comment from the Tigers as of now. Hope this is true!

Congrats and enjoy.

This is a blow to the 2012 season but there are some good free agents to fill a DH role. Still, Victor sure protected Miguel. Miguel would have had another 50 intentional walks if Victor was not behind him in the line up.

Sounds like a fun day with your son!

Nice job, a lot more fish in the St Joe this winter than the past few years. All that high water in the fall really brought them in.

Nice job, thank god for steelhead in the wintertime!

This awesome weather for January is making winter steelheading real comfortable. We fished the river again and hit 9 fish and landed 5. All fish came drifting spawnbags. It's nice not needing to wear gloves all the time. The size of the fish this year is a few pounds larger than average and with the water temps up, the're hot. Got some smokin runs and some jumpers. A lot of fish in the system so it looks like it's going to be a good winter season this year.

Thanks guys. Joe, sent you a PM.

It was nice to get back out fishing today after the last 2 months of nothing but hunting seasons. My buddy and I hit the St Joe river. We started around 11:30am and fished till 5:15pm drifting spawn bags. We had bites throughout the afternoon. We hit 11 fish. boated 8 and kept 5. The steelie spawn supply is looking good after today. Had some nice fish.

Good job guys.

Merry Christmas to you too Frank and to everyone here! May the New Year bring calm seas, tight lines, big fish and heavy boxes to all!

It is usually ice fishing or steelheading on the St Joe and KZoo rivers. I also like to go hiking with my girls on all the trails in Waterloo when the snow isn't too deep. My oldest daughter and I hiked about 5 miles today on some of the more hilly terrain around here. She always wants to get off the trails and cut our own track and that's fine with me. This winter, I'm going to put more effort into coyote hunting.

Good luck, I was walking on the ice on the lake I live last weekend, now it's all open water:( Was going to hit the St Joe river today but it turned to chocolate milk with the rain we had mid week...no steelies for me. I guess I'm going buy a doe tag today and try to get one for Sportsman Against Hunger this weekend.

Welcome to the forums!

I disagree we should cap buying more state land, more info below, call your legislators to express your opinion. http://www.michiganoutofdoors.com/2011/12/deer-say-action-needed-on-land-cap-bill/ There are a number of issues out there right now that could have big time consequences for how we hunt in Michigan that are not related to number of deer. One such issue, Senate Bill 248 – also known as the “land cap bill” – is coming up for a vote in the House Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, December 13th. As its name implies, the bill would “cap” the amount of land the DNR can own and manage into perpetuity at 4.65 million acres, which is a mere 17,000 acres over what the department currently manages. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Who hasn’t felt at some point that the DNR has over-stepped their bounds, and this is a great way to control their power, is it not? Not so fast. Think for a minute about what is happening here. Say, for instance, part of our solution for a better deer hunt is to purchase more tracts of accessible public land in southern Michigan, or some quality winter deer yard becomes available in the more northern reaches of our state – which has had its fair share of low deer years. Once we get close to or reach that cap, the department would have two choices: 1.) forget the land and keep things the way they were, or 2.) purchase the land and sell off land someplace else. Sounds reasonable, right? Except that most land to be sold off would be tax reverted land the department has been trying to sell off but can’t – mostly because it is poor quality land. And if not, the department would have to start looking and similar sized parcels of quality land they could sell off. Imagine if you are a community or user group of the land chosen for sale. If it were part of the Traverse City State Forest or Rose Lake State Wildlife area near Lansing where this writer typically likes to go, I would have flames coming out of my nostrils. You would too if it was your favorite place to hunt. And so will other communities and user groups. The problem with SB 248 is this: it identifies an issue – that the state has a lackluster plan for acquiring public access land – and then does a lackluster job of trying to solve that problem. That is why MUCC cannot support this bill the way it is currently written. And that is why we need your help to take action. Call or email your Representative today to get it on their radar. In addition, you can also contact the members of the House Natural Resources committee, who will be voting on this bill Tuesday, December 13th. Sportsmen and women in this state have too much stake in our natural resources to let legislation that could have large consequences slip by. Take action by calling or writing today. Members of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Tourism, & Outdoor Recreation Rep. Frank Foster, Chair 517-373-2629 [email protected] Rep. Matt Huuki 517-373-0850 [email protected] Rep. Holly Hughes 517-373-3436 [email protected] Rep. Joel Johnson 517-373-8962 [email protected] Rep. Kurt Damrow 517-373-0476 [email protected] Rep. Peter Pettalia 517-373-0833 [email protected] Rep. Wayne Schmidt 517-373-1766 [email protected] Rep. Harold Haugh 517-373-0854 [email protected] Rep. Tim Bledsoe 517-373-0154 [email protected] Rep. Maureen Stapleton 517-373-1008 [email protected] Rep. Dian Slavens 517-373-2575 [email protected]

Mike, that hobby is going to be more expensive than fishing, better luck at the next race.

Sounds like the wait was worth it this year, way to go.

Awesome buck and great pics! It is even more special to target a specific buck and get him. Well done!

Makes an awesome Thanksgiving day appetizer. Started with some Hi Mountain cured and smoked venison logs, just follow the recipe on the package and roll the venison burger into logs and smoke it. Last night, I smoked the chedder so it could chill. If you have never smoked cheese you really need to watch the temps and not let it get to hot. I crack the lid on the smoker, put the cheese on the top rack and keep a close eye on the temps. If it gets to hot, the cheese will melt. A couple hours of smoke is all that is needed. Your not trying to cook anything, just putting a nice smoke flavor to the cheese. Slice the smoked venison logs and chedder and lay them out on a platter to serve with club crackers. I might have to put a padlock on the fridge to keep the family from eating them all before we head to moms for dinner later today. Smoked chedder give a unique twist to any recipe needing cheese.

Hard to see it markings but I'll guess either a Pinook(king/pink cross) or an Atlantic salmon.

Great buck, congratulations!

We tried in the 90's for 2 years and after watching numerous bucks cross the fence and get whacked, we gave up. Back in those days, we always get our bucks. sometimes 2 of them but most were scrawny or small basket racks. Typical 1-1/2 year old deer. Then some dedicated guys got the co-op started 5 years ago and 2 of our neighbors got in with us and it has been getting better ever since. Our neighbor on the 3rd side joined 2 years ago. Now that others are seeing the results, more people are joining and it is getting bigger.

We had another great deer camp this year, just cut shorter than most due to my buddies work schedules. On opening day, I saw a lot of does and 4 bucks I let walk. My buddy Rick watched this nice 9 pt bed down 200 yards from his stand around 10:00AM. He got down and made a nice stalk and got him with a 60 yard shot. I got a doe in bow season but I haven't shot a buck in a few years although I've had plenty of chances. I let a nice 2-1/2 year old 8pt and 10pt walk last season and maybe this buck was one of them. He had a similar rack only a lot nicer this year. I spotted him following a doe at 11:30 on Wednesday. He stopped behind some brush about 70 yards out. I had him in the scope and 2 steps forward and I had a shot. We had a 10 minute stand off but it gave me some time to settle my heart down. He stepped back and not forward but turned and started coming my way. He came close enough for a bow and then turned broadside and I took the shot and nailed him. I'm glad I didn't rush a long distance shot. With the split brow tine and a kicker, he's got 13 points. We have really seen some good results in the Springbrook Co-op. We have been letting little bucks walk for 5 years now. Even though each of us doesn't always shoot a buck each year, we have always got our deer meat shooting some does. It is great to see the nice bucks that are growing older. Voluntary trigger restraint pays off. Everyone in our camp has shot a least one very nice buck since we have started. Still a lot of time for hunting, I'll be looking for another doe for the freezer. Good luck!