Au Sable South Branch Hunting Trip

Well, that wraps up another deer season in Northern Michigan.  I've never hunted harder.  I hunted every day of the season.  It was tough up here.  I saw deer every time but the cards just didn't fall for me.  I passed on a small buck opening day and saw a whopper on the third day that just didn't want to get eaten.  Saw a six point chase does across the river--wasn't ready.

Probably the highlight of my season, besides the whopper, was a hunting trip down the Mason Tract on the Au Sable River's South Branch.  It was like stepping back in time.  Grouse flushed across the river, eagles followed us downstream, ducks jumped around every few bends and mink, herons, and muskrats kept us alert to all movements.  We kicked up 4 deer in the thick stuff and never fired a shot.  But it was a perfect afternoon on the river and the thought of sliding into the landing with a racked buck kept us quiet and moving slowly . . . kept us eager.

Certainly time well spent.  I suppose hunting is a lot like fishing; the results aren't always the reward.  I'll take the memories.



Grouse Season

Well, grouse season is all but wrapped up now with the opening of firearm deer season in Northern Michigan.  I hate to see it go.  Maybe we'll go a last time or two when the season opens agian in December but we tend to leave the birds alone in the late season--they've got enough on their plate getting ready for winter.   If there's not too much snow, I'll run the pups solely for the experience.

It's alwasy bittersweet this time of year.  I just don't want to let Fall move into winter.  Rifle season is okay for a little while but it gets long for me.  And it marks the beginning of production tying, snow shoveling, wood hauling--work.  When you you make your career in  a fly shop, work isn't supposed to be involved.  You just sit around and talk fishing all day (I wish).

This fan is from a nice red-phased grouse I shot this year.  Grouse in our area are generally gray phase, so the reds can be rare.  There's a thousand theories about grouse and their populations.  I find them all weak and incomplete.  For example, some folks say that when you start seeing more red phased grouse up here that the grouse numbers are on the rise.  Maybe.  I thought the overall numbers were down this year and roughly half the birds I shot were reds.  

Then there's all the talk about the "cycle".  While there is unquestionably some sort of cycle, the reasons are unclear.  Much of the talk is a predator/prey argument.  The problem is that the predators change depending on the study/theory but the cycle remains the same.  Some talk about the bobcat numbers rising or falling, while other studies talk about gosshawks, coyotes, skunks, racoons, etc . . .     The other animals likely (I'm guessing here) rise and fall with the grouse numbers and not the other way around--kinda like the hunter numbers.  When grouse hunting is great there seems to be many more hunters.  My guess is that the grouse cycle is a very complex relationship between the bird and its habitat probably having more to do with food sources and weather.

I gonna miss chasing them this year.

Here's a great link . . . if you like grouse hunting,  you'll love the Ruffed Grouse Society .

http://www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/

http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/515/articles/introduction

Deer Season in Northern Michigan

The orange army is about to descend.  Deer hunting in Northern Michigan is a right of passage and a passion passed down through generations.  Of course, many folks hit the woods more out of tradition than anything else.  It's a time when old friends and family crowd into one room hunting cabins, each chili, and throw logs at the woodstove. 

I grew up with that.  And it has a strong pull even still.  I don't have a deer camp to go to anymore, but I make sure to visit my friends that do on deer season eve.  It's pretty much a holiday up here.  The schools even close for opening day.   We'll play cards and tell lies and just generally forget about everything that's not deer hunting.

I still like to hunt, though.  And I usually get a buck.  Which is nearly a neccessity for me cause I love eating game I've harvested. 

I spent one of these beautiful afternoons we're experiencing in the Au Sable valley scouting my area for buck activity and found this nice 9 point skull.  To me, skulls are cool.  I'd like to think it's because there's still a boy in me.  But maybe skulls are just cool.  Finding one like this means that you've missed an opportunity, but at least you know the potential exists for another one just as good to walk by on opening day.  Like a lot of things I do, the possibilties are all that really matters.  And success is just knowing you gave it a good go. 

With that in mind, I'll spend the last days before deer season looking for one more grouse and fishing for one more trout.  Hopefully, I'll tag out quick and spend all the rainy days of November fishing the Au Sable alone.