Elk on the Horizon

With fall right around the corner, many of us will have some great hunts to look forward to on the horizon. In just a few weeks, I will be heading out to Colorado in search of my first elk. A few buddies and myself have decided to go all in on a week long back-country excursion with our bows and backpacks into the high country of the Rockies. Having never hunted outside of my home state of Michigan, I am stoked to have the opportunity to chase some elk western style. I already have giant 6X6 elk haunting my dreams, slobbering in a rut crazed state of oblivion. This type of hunting is new to me, however I welcome and embrace the challenges that will be presented. I have been a bit overwhelmed with all the decisions, strategy and gear selection for the trip. I still need to make a run to Cabela's to round out my gear, but I will be posting my gear selection process as well as reviews as they filter in within the next few weeks. Stay tuned for all the elk crazed excitement!

Catfish Fever

Well, after attempting to fish the Grand River in Grand Ledge for catfish when it was flirting with flood stage, I scored a little bit of redemption on a recent return trip. The water was a whole lot calmer, as it flowed along at it's normal summer pace. The sun was gleaming down, warming the air well into the eighties, and I was optimistic some channel cats would be boated.


Tactics and Equipment

Rod and Reel: Pflueger Trion GX 6'6" Medium Action Rod and Pflueger Trion GX-7 Reel

Line: Berkley Fireline Crystal 8lb.

Rig: Thill bobber, split shot, and No. 4 Eagle Baitkeeper Hook

Bait: Chicken Liver, Berkley GULP Chicken Liver

Tactics: Anchor just upstream of fallen trees, dead-fall and log jams adjacent to deep water (5-10ft) and drift bait under a float set approximately one foot off bottom. Most of the better holes tend to be hanging out over 7+ foot of water. The holes that are 5 foot deep seem to be borderline producers, and usually yield smaller sized channel cats. Be sure to probe not only the upstream edge, but the downstream edge as well. Also, let your bait drift out away from the tip of a log jam as channel cats will hold in all these areas to feed.


Results

I started the day with a pretty slow start. I have always been intrigued whether the artificial catfish baits worked as well as natural bait. So, I picked up some of Berkley's GULP chicken liver imitation for $5.99 and decided to give it a test. My buddy Daryn was using good ole natural chicken livers which run under $2 at most grocery stores. After watching my bobber drift across prime log jams numerous times without a nibble, I was growing skeptical very quickly. Daryn had already boated 3 or 4 nice catfish and I was in danger of getting skunked. So, all faith was lost in the GULP chicken livers and I switched to natural chicken liver. I'm glad I did, because we were approaching the most promising of all our honey holes, a pile of timber adjacent to 13 foot of water just above the Fitzgerald Park Dam. On Daryn's first drift across the timber, he hooked up with a nice 7-8 pounder. Not long after this, a good sized 6-7 pounder started chewing on my bait, and a few minutes later he was boated. We ended the day with seven nice sized cats boated, and a couple of bullheads, one which was covered in leeches. Conclusion: GULP chicken livers do not work as good as natural chicken liver. This is evident when you take a whiff of the open bag of GULP. The aroma is not as pungent as that of a tub of chicken liver that has been festering in the sun for a couple hours, which you can smell a good 6 foot away.

Daryn battling a 7-8 pounder at our top producing spot





A nice 6-7 pounder that saved me from a skunkin'


You never know what might eat chicken liver......A leather-back turtle that devoured Daryn's bait

These baitfish also seemed to like chicken liver

Daryn releasing a nice 3-4 pounder

Myself bringing a whiskered warrior to the boat

Flood Fishing Folies

A few weeks ago, we had a couple of days of pretty heavy rain. It had rained for 3 days in a row, so when the weather broke on Sunday, I jumped at the chance to wet a line. A friend of mine, Daryn, called me up and wondered if I was interested in heading out on the Grand River in Grand Ledge, MI to do a little bit of cat fishing.





WET LAUNCH
When I arrived at the boat launch, it was obvious that the river was close to flood stage. The boat launch ramp was completely under water, and the current was fast and swift. Daryn showed up shortly after I had arrived with his trusty Starcraft and we assessed the situation. We both agreed that although conditions were not exactly prime, we would FISH ON! So, Daryn hooked a snorkel up to his Colorado, put his waders on and we launched the boat. The gurgling from his exhaust, which was underwater, could only help "call in the fish" I thought. After some careful planning, we managed to bamboozle the boat in the water and we were off fishing.





TRUSTY OLE TRAIN TRESSEL

We decided to head downstream, towards the downtown area of Grand Ledge and see what the river had to offer. Our fishing strategy for river cats is to locate deep holes that are adjacent to structure such as: logjams, blow downs, and bridge pilings----and drift some nasty, pungent chicken liver in their faces. Normally, this is achieved by setting a float 4-6 feet deep with some split shot about a foot above our bait. However, the current was too strong for our normal tactics, so we had to improvise. Instead, we added about anywhere from 1-2 ounces of weight above our hook, and fished on the bottom. We decided to hit up the ole train tressel bridge as our first target, and Daryn had something that was playing with his bait almost immediately, but the undecided fish would not commit. I had found some soup straining "socks" that I cut into squares to wrap around my chicken liver bait, because chicken liver doesn't like to stay on the hook very well. This wrapping did not seem to be a deterrent, because I had a solid hook up on this offering, however I tied my sinkers on mighty suspect and it came back to bite me, as the fish broke the line off at the sinkers in quick fashion. I could have kicked myself for that one, but hopefully redemption would be had. After these initial signs of a hot bite, things slowed down pretty quickly, so we decided to make a move upstream.

UPSTREAM SIDE OF THINGS

Under normal conditions, the upstream stretch of the Grand River from the J.C. Boat Launch can be extremely limiting to fish. This run of the river features a series of rocky ledges that are often less than a foot deep and have been known to crack a few hulls. Fortunately, when the river is high, navigation is quite less hairy in this stretch of river. We located the first rocky shelf, which was tucked away under nearly 5 feet of water, a good sign. We stopped in the one of the first deeper holes we came across, a 13 foot deep pool that had produced for us before. Since this part of the river holds a decent amount of carp, we decided to trade our chicken liver for some juicy night-crawlers. Not long after dropping anchor, Daryn hooked up with a channel cat and officially kicked his skunking to the curb. I was starting to get nervous, because the last time I was fishing with Daryn, I ended up taking a skunking and was not eager for a repeat performance. After a while of not luck, we continued upstream in search of the next hot hole. Our next stop proved to be unproductive, so we kept moving upstream, stopping to probe various deeper pools, logjams, and slack water current seams. A few holes up the river, I finally connected with a true beast. It was all I could do to hold on as I was charged head on by a notoriously aggressive Bullhead. Under normal circumstances I would not embrace such an incidental catch, but hey it put an end to my skunking. As far as bullheads go, this one had character, scraped, bloodied and scared from his deep water tangle of a home. Later, we ended up tying off to a pile of dead-fall, and I threw my bait out along a seam in the current and into some calmer water. Moments later, my rod tip was dancing, drag was peeling and I had a legitimate fish on line. I battled the hefty fish back to the boat, and as Daryn was trying to snap an action shot boat side, the golden image of a carp surfaced from the murky water. As I reach down to land the spunky fellow, he decided to liberate himself from my line. After such a tough day on the water, both Daryn and I concurred that it would count for a catch. Our best estimation was that this carp was around 8-9 pounds, a decent fish on a slow day.

DODGING DEAD FALL AND DEER

Even though the fishing was pretty slow, there was no lack of action of this fishing excursion. On two separate occasions, we had trees drift by within feet of the boat. The first was at least a 30 footer, with all it's leaves and branches still intact, and would have been disastrous if it had passed inches closer to the boat. The second tree had been in or near the river for a while, only the main log was left and at twenty feet it was smaller but no less dangerous. While tied off to a pile of dead trees, a loud crash and splash alerted us. We both looked over to the opposite shore to see a sizable tree falling into the river. With the river being to high, I believe that the roots were not able to hold in the muddy, loose soil. Amongst other things, we saw the carcass of a dead deer drift by. It was almost black in color and had been ripening in or near the river for a quite some time, as it's pleasant aroma seemed to indicate. On a more positive note, I was able to snap a photo of a doe hanging out in someone's backyard, which was surprising given the suburban nature of the area. Just before we were getting ready to call it a day, an old weather tattered life jacket came bobbing past, which we took as a sign from the fishing gods to pack it in and go get some dinner. Even with the unsavory fishing conditions, we managed to barely avoid getting skunked and had even connected with a good sized fish.

'Yak attack on the Mighty Muskegon River

Saturday, I was able to take a float trip with some buddies down the Muskegon River, located in West Central Michigan. We launched at the Croton Dam and floated 14 miles into the town of Newago. The weather was overcast and temperatures topped out in the mid sixties. We had a full moon within the previous few days, so the fishing outlook was good. The water was very clear and moving along at a pretty good clip, 2010 cfm discharge at Croton Dam.

Getting Ready to Launch

Mike with his Perception Caster 12.5

Derek with his Wilderness Systems Pungo 140

Jeff with his Ocean Kayak Scrambler

Daryn with his Creek Company Pontoon getting in some quick casts

Myself with my Mainstream Kingfish and lucky fishing hat



Fishing
The Muskegon River holds a variety of gamefish including Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, and Muskie. Also, the Michigan DNR stocks this stretch of the river with Rainbow, Brown and Brook Trout. The habitat in this area is pretty typical for most river, a series of deeper pools and shallow riffles. There are tons of rocks throughout the entire stretch, with many large boulders. While tying on a new lure, I wasn't paying attention downstream and slammed sideways into on of the Muskegon's massive boulders. The durability and stability of my kayak was tested and certified on this particular collision. Mike and Daryn were having good luck throwing small No. 1 & 2 spinners as well as jerk baits such as the Rapala X-rap. The hot color seemed to be a rainbow trout pattern as Daryn and Mike cleaned up using these. Most of the fish caught were rainbow trout with the occasional brook and brown trout thrown in the mix. Daryn also landed a couple nice smallmouth bass on his Hot Steel X-Rap, his go to lure. Mike had the most success throwing out a small rainbow trout spinner.


My lucky fishing hat didn't seem to help out my cause, as I officially got skunked. Even Derek, who wasn't fishing, managed to catch something.....a trophy sized minnow in his sandal. I employed various tactics such as throwing an X-Rap and small spinners. The fish must have heard I was on the river and decided to steer clear of the Kingfish. No matter what I tried, I was having no luck at all. Even Derek, who wasn't fishing, caught a minnow that swam into his sandal. To make matters worse, I had several trout surface or jump within feet of my kayak. They were definitely taunting me. Derek had found a small Panther Martin along the bank, and it was a brown trout colored pattern. Thinking it was an omen, I decided to tie it on and give it a whirl. During a rest stop along the river, Derek even found a Hellgrammite crawling around in his kayak. These little critters are like candy to trout, so I put a hook and split shot on to drift this magical live bait. Unfortunately, neither of these omens panned out for me. Looking back, I believe the problem was the line I was using. I have some Fireline Crystal that worked well for me last season, however the Muskegon is much clearer water than what I normally fish. My line looked like white sewing thread in the water and probably made the leery trout uneasy. I should have tied on a mono leader, which would have made my presentation more subtle.

The Results
Daryn's Nice 16" Smallmouth
Daryn's Dandy 16" Rainbow
Mike's Eater 11" Rainbow

Numerous keeper Rainbows in the 10-11" range were released by Mike and Daryn although some of Daryn's were unverified

Mike managed to catch a couple 9" brookies that were released



A few more pics

Daryn's Float 'Toon
Daryn custom built his seat platform for his fishing rig. It is a slick outfit, very stable and fisherman friendly.

Heading down the River

Sand Cliffs

Lack of Stack Posts

Recently, I have been very busy and haven't had much of a chance to post as often as I would like. However, I have some great ideas for upcoming posts, and should be posting more frequently. My camera is back up and running so I will have a lot more photos to go with my posts.

I would also like to thank everyone that stops by and takes a gander at my outdoor blog. Please feel free to comment on my posts, and come back often!

Mid-Day Turkey Hunt

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to get after some gobblers. Traditionally, most turkey hunters get into the woods before daylight and try to hunt turkeys as they fly down from their roost. I'm a bit of a non-traditionalist and believe you can be just as effective during the middle part of the day, if you adjust your tactics. There are a couple of techniques that you can use during this time, run and gun or sit and wait. Running and gunning is when you try to locate a tom using yelps or calls such as a crow or woodpecker. Sit and wait is when you set up in an area you know turkeys frequent and call, hoping to draw a bird in or intercept one in travel. I was fortunate enough to have a top notch caller with me on the hunting excursion, Bucko. Bucko is 14 and has already taken a pair of toms and participated in turkey calling competitions, which makes him more experienced than me right now. Needless to say, I felt a whole lot better about his calling ability than my own right now.

We headed out behind his house to try the run and gun technique out around mid morning. Bucko was hitting his woodpecker and crow calls to try to see if we could get a tom to shock gobble at us. We thought we might have heard a few gobbles from a nearby tract of timber. There was a grassy field that had a pocket of young trees in it close to the timber, so we set up a hen decoy and crawled into the stands of young trees. Bucko hit some yelps and clucks, however no tom showed up. Because of the lack of activity, we decided to try another piece of property that we knew turkeys frequented.

At the second property, we decided to employ a sit and wait technique. We set up on a ridge that was bordered by a swamp, a corn field, and a grassy hay field. There was a massive stump, about 3 feet high and at least 4 foot around with a 6 foot section of log laying next to it, and it looked like the perfect spot to set up and conceal ourselves. Bucko placed the decoy out in front of us at 15 yards, and the hunt was on. Not fifteen minutes after we sat down, Bucko had a hen yelping at us. The next hour was pretty exciting, as the hen kept answering Bucko's calls and seemed to be closing the distance. The wind was fairly gusty that day, so it was difficult to judge where and how far the hen was from us. Between gusts, we were able to concur that she was approaching from the edge of the swamp, along a ridgeline. One of our goals was to try to entice a boss hen, because often they will challenge other hens in the area and have a silent tom in tote. Well, it appeared we had found a boss hen, because she was getting all fired up and laid down a gauntlet of calls. She would yelp-yelp, cut-cut-cut, yelp, yelp , yelp. This bird had no qualms about mixing it up. I was really impressed with Bucko's calling skills, as he mimicked her every sound for a solid hour with perfection. After about an hour of turkey talking, we thought we heard a couple clucks within 50 yards, from the direction the hen would have approached from. That was the last we heard of the bird, as she promptly fell silent. What caused her to hang up all of a sudden? Did she catch a glimpse of small movement from us? Was she uncomfortable with something? Looking back, I believe she may have gotten cold feet. Our decoy was set up in a spot, where from her approach it was not visible. I think she was looking for a visual confirmation and there was a cluster of trees blocking the decoy from her. Regardless, I was just as fired up as the ole boss hen was. Once she grew silent, I thought any minute she would pop her head over the hill with a Birdzilla Tom in tote. The anticipation gets the adrenaline flowing, especially when you have have a bird answering you for an hour.

As we walking back to the truck, we saw a huge tom crossing a field across the road, as if he was taunting us....you'll never get this, you'll never get this..lalalala. Well, he may have been right on this particular afternoon, but I have a feeling redemption will be had shortly. To make matters worse, I saw about a dozen turkey's in various spots on the drive home. I honestly can say I now have turkey fever, and the only cure is to skewer a nice Tom. With two more weeks to go in the season, I remain optimistic that I will have a chance to let the Hoyt makes things right. I really enjoyed having Bucko out there in the woods with me, that kid can flat out call. His season ended a few weeks back, but I think he would like to see one go down for his own redemption. He was taunted by turkeys just out of range for a week straight, but he hunted them hard and gave it 110%. Even though the day ended without a bird slung over my shoulder, the time spent in the woods made it a success. Also, by getting our youth active and involved in the outdoors, ensures that we will keep the sport going strong for generations to come.

3-D Archery Practice

Recently a friend of mine, Mike, introduced me to a 3-D course in our area, Country Woods Archery and 3-D range (Saint Johns, MI). I have had my bow for a few months now, and jump at every chance I get to practice. Until I made the trek to Country Woods, my practice consisted mainly of shooting at targets from known distances (20-60 yards). I had shot an indoor screen course a few times at another archery shop in the area, Arrowhead Archery (Eaton Rapids, MI), and really liked the concept behind 3-D practice. The screen course features animals in different hunting situations, and your objective is to identify the vital area, and place your arrow within it. After your shot, the "target zone" displays on the screen and your shot is scored depending on where your arrow hits. This really appealed to me because it trains you to identify the vitals on various game animals.

Since the weather here in MI has finally broke, outdoor 3-D is a new practice option available. I have shot the outdoor 3-D at Country Woods twice now, and am really impressed at the quality of practice it delivers. There are 30 targets in the course and they are each at varying distances (20-50 yards) within the woodlot. Whitetail deer, turkey, javelina, bear, elk, caribou, mountain lion, and wild pig are among the targets featured at the range. Also, the course features 3 elevated platforms as well as a couple of different blind shots.

One of the practice skills that I hope to improve on by shooting 3-D is distance recognition. It is easy to group arrows tightly at a known shot distance, but more difficult if the distance is unknown. Mike and I decided to utilize his rangefinder at the course, but not in the manner most of you might think. Both of us hoped to sharpen our distance gauging abilities, so we would both shoot at the target, and then tell each other what distance we thought the target to be at. Then, Mike would scope the target with his range finder to give the actual distance. Most of the time we both were within 5 yards of our guesses, but a few shots appeared to be closer or farther than expected. This really helps you improve your distance estimation, and I hope to see the results this fall on stand.

As mentioned earlier, the ability to identify an animal's vital area is crucial when bow hunting. Like indoor screen 3-D, the outdoor targets feature vital zones which are identified by a series of rings. Each ring corresponds to a given point value, and that is how you score your shots. Not only does this hone your vital zone recognition, but it gives you a way to measure your improvement, plus adds a little friendly competition amongst pals. I would encourage anyone who shoots a bow to try out 3-D archery practice. It presents you with the traditional benefits of practice such as form and repetition, and adds new elements like distance estimation and vital zone recognition. By shooting your bow throughout the off season, you should become more accurate in your hunting pursuits.

Turkey on the Hit List

Yesterday, I was down at the family farm doing some plowing. On my way to the fields, I saw a flock of 4 turkeys in a field that borders one of ours. Later on that afternoon, I saw this same flock in the same field, but about 100 yards away. I looked like there might have been a couple of nice toms in the flock, but they never got close enough for me to tell for sure.

Well, on my way back to the farm from the field, I saw a familiar turkey limping across the same small field where I had saw a turkey a few days back. Wouldn't you know it, this turkey was limping his way across the field, and headed on a collision course with the John Deere. Not being able to run very well, the turkey took to flight about 10 feet in front of the tractor and landed in a swamp across the road. This was the same limping turkey from Sunday morning and he was crossing in the same exact spot, but this time headed in the opposite direction.

I have decided to nickname this turkey "Gimpy" because of his pimp limp and have made him the inaugural selection for my hit list.. I think I have his travel route figured out now and the first chance I get, I am going to set up on the edge of the small field where he crosses. I have hypothesized that he roosts on the opposite side of the road from the small field because when I have seen him in the morning, he is headed from that area. Last evening, I saw him heading back towards the suspected roost. Not knowing exactly where his roost is (I believe it is off of our property), I am planning on ambushing him along his travel route in the early morning or late evening. So far, I have only encountered him in my truck and in the tractor, but am looking forward to meeting him when I have the ole Hoyt in hand.

Quick Afternoon Turkey Hunt

My turkey season started today, and I was able to sneak in a quick afternoon hunt. I decided to go out on some property where a couple buddies of mine had heard some gobbles a few weeks back. I wasn't able to hit the woods until 5pm, so I had to adjust my tactics accordingly. I set up at the base of a cluster of trees, which concealed me pretty well. There were a couple larger trees around, and hopefully I would be able to draw my bow while these were between a turkey and me. I decided to hunt on top of a ridge, which was bordered by a swamp, a pasture, and a corn field. Birds frequently roost in this area, and I know that lone toms tend to roost on the highest ridge in a given area. This ridge seemed to have all of the above characteristics. Late in the afternoon, most toms are with hens. Because of this, I hoped to catch one on his way back to his roosting area, and not necessarily call one in. I kept my calls pretty laid back, just soft and short series of yelps every 15 minutes or so. As the afternoon turned into evening, I had yet to hear a single gobble, other than the local pet jake. I think part of the reason was that fence was being built for a cow pasture not too far from my spot, and may have kept the turkey's out of the area. About 8:30, I packed it in and headed for the truck. With a month of turkey season left, I did not let this outing discourage me. After all, any time spent in the woods is time well spent.

Turkey's Everywhere

The weather here in MI has finally broke (crossed fingers), and it seems the turkeys are out in full force. This past weekend, I went down to my Grandpa's farm to get equipment ready for the planting season, as all the rain that fell during the last week put a hold on fieldwork. On my drive down to the farm Saturday, I saw plenty of turkey action. Not 25 yards from a major highway, two nice toms were in full strut trying their best to seduce a hen not far away. I also saw two lone toms, each in full strut on a hilltop for all the ladies to see. When I arrived at the farm, my Grandpa informed me that he had saw a turkey heading across the field (hen or jake) in a spot where I had saw one earlier this year. Sunday morning on my way over to the farm, two hens crossed the road in front of me, heading into a swamp on our property. Now all these turkey sightings had really started to get me fired up, as my season was only a day away. Then, just down the road from my Grandpa's, a lone tom was limping across a small field. I could tell the bird was injured, most likely the result of a battle with another tom. He had a decent sized beard, probably 8-10", and was good sized. All these sightings really have given me high hopes for the season, and I seem to have identified some frequently used travel routes. Hopefully, a nice tom will decide to stroll down one when I'm posted up!!