Why do we love trout water?

This angler caught this 18-pound brown trout from Little Bay de Noc.

Anglers for centuries have touted the mental and sporting values of trout fishing. But what is it we love so much that makes many anglers dream all winter about catching these lake and river game fish? Why, for goodness sake, would any person count down the days to the opener?
Why are 10-inch trout prizes to be cherished? Why should people spend good money to buy fine tackle just to catch a small trout and then release it? Or, on the other hand, why would anglers gloat over a 10-pound brown trout or a 14-pound steelhead?
What is it about this game fish that stirs our cerebral juices, captures our thoughts and engages our soul on a day like this, one day past the general statewide trout opener? It’s just one of many questions that trout anglers attempt to rationalize as they tour Michigan’s greatest trout lakes and streams.

Sometimes one would think there are more questions here than answers.

What follows are just a few of today’s idle thoughts that have made me wonder about my 60-year trout-fishing love affair. There are many thoughts that arise from trout openers I’ve enjoyed since the early 1950s.
Think long and hard on trout, and make a list of some of your favorite trout fishing thoughts. One often will find that the experiences, sights, sounds, and other sensory perceptions are far more important at the end of a fishing day than the fish we’ve caught. Here are just a handful of reasons why trout captured my soul more than a half-century ago.

• These beautiful, colorful and fragile game fish are the canaries in our environmental coal mine. They are a key barometer of our times. What harms trout can't be good for humans, and when these species are gone forever, can our civilization be very far behind? It’s something to think about.
• Brook trout are the prettiest of all. They come in four sizes: tiny, small, legal-size and lunker, each with an array of spotted beauty that hints of wild places that stir our senses. With their tiny blue spots, and white piping along the outside edge of orange fins, brook trout take first-place in any fishy beauty pageant. I look at a trout, all smooth-skinned, and painted up in all their finery, and the sight takes my breath away.

Trout fishing is easy, hard or nearly impossible based on personal restrictions.

• Trout respond well to a careful approach and a delicate delivery. Fancy waders and top-of-the-line rods, reels and nets do not impress Michigan’s char and trout clan. They feed when hungry, fast when not, and nothing we do can or will change this pattern.
• Trout inhabit some of the state’s most beautiful places. They live in a land of towering pine and spruce, beaver ponds, impenetrable cedar swamps, sparkling streams, gurgling meadow brooks, remote Upper Peninsula rivers dotted with waterfalls -- all such places are home to lake and stream trout, and humans are nothing more than infrequent visitors to their world.

As such, it behooves anglers to put back more trout than we keep. Conservation of wild trout means joining and backing such organizations as Trout Unlimited, who fight for our fish and their special environment.
Their needs include clean water and an environment that is friendly to the fish. They are truly game fish worth fighting for.

• I fish because of soft dimpling rises, blanket hatches, selective trout, wild places, stream-side camaraderie with other like-minded fishermen, wild fish and the history and romance of trout fishing. Trying to outwit these game fish is for the thinking angler, not a gluttonous fisherman intent only on a full creel.

Anglers should fish for trout for many other reasons than to just catch fish.

• One last and untapped trout bastions are our inland lakes. Such waters produce robust fish, and for those who learn lake-fishing secrets, the rewards can be many and great. Huge trout are taken from inland lakes that seldom, if ever, see a bait, fly or lure. These lake-dwelling trout are a thrill to catch, and doing so requires specialized skills.
• My familiarity with trout forces me to fight for them and to proceed in a manner that gives each fish every advantage and opportunity to escape. Trout fishing means much more than a limit catch. This sport is and always should be a major challenge.
• Seldom are trout kept. Trout deserve to be caught more than once, but on occasion I will keep a few small but legal ones for the frying pan. My thoughts are that big trout should be allowed to spawn and reproduce, and small ones should be released as gently as possible to avoid harming them.
• There are places where brook trout live that rarely see a fisherman. These fish are naïve, easily caught, and some anglers take advantage of this small failing. Often, in such areas, the area may be over-fished in one day by a greedy angler. Catching a limit, day after day, doesn’t prove an angler is a good one.
• For years it’s been my practice to fish those back-of-beyond spots where brook trout hold at the base of a root-flooded cedar. Such black swamps have produced numerous sightings of bear and deer as I slip slowly from tree to tree, dapping a fly or single-hook wee spinner in the water between tree roots. The fish come hard to fly or lure, are easily hooked, and quickly released without taking them from the water.
• I have a problem with those who regard trout fishing as a social event. The fish are not impressed by our homes or the cost of our cars, so why clutter a stream with people who are there only to impress clients or other fishermen with fancy creels, fly rods and vests?
• People go through three trout fishing phases. 
  • The FIRST is to catch as many fish as possible; 
  • The SECOND is to catch the largest trout possible; 
  • The THIRD is to exact a challenge from trout and tackle while giving the fish every chance to get away.

Trout fishermen go through distinct trout-fishing phases.

• I'm in Stage No. 3, but can remember as a kid passing through stages 1 and 2. It's easy to remember the heavy catches, huge fish and the bragging of yesteryear, and I'm ashamed by the number of big trout taken during my earlier years. But those days are long gone, and my efforts now are far less than my heavy catches of 30-50 years ago.
• For 10 years, guiding trout fishermen was my life and a major way to make a living. The hours were long and hard, the weather sometimes bitterly cold, and although memories of those days with large numbers of browns and steelhead still linger, they foster no strong feelings that make me want to return to that way of life. It was a tough way to make a living, pay bills and put cooked groceries on the table.
• I fish for trout now because I want to, not to prove anything to myself or to others. I fish because of the tremendous enjoyment it brings, and the challenge of hooking trout from difficult places with tackle that gives every edge to these game fish.
• I now fish for trout because fishing can sooth a troubled soul. It energizes tired fishermen, and it provides me with something I deeply love and something to look forward to in beautiful areas where it's not necessary to rub shoulders with other anglers. It offers me peace and solitude in a world of turmoil and unpleasant things.

That's me. A guy with simple ideals and needs that continue to make me very happy. And just think: an eight-inch brook trout can make me feel great for weeks on end.
No amount of money, big house or fancy ride, can do that for me.
Running water, cold water, wild places and wild fish, are why trout make me feel good in a way that I’ve tried to explain but find it impossible to convey any better than this. So, if you’ll excuse me now, I’ve had my say and now have a date with a trout river.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

When deer don’t move

This hunter set up closer to a bedding area & shot this buck as he moved out.

It's always been a perplexing time. There comes a period about two weeks after the Oct. 1 bow opener, when the deer seem to stop moving around.
The woods get still. There are few if any sign of does and fawns moving about or feeding, and the bucks have taken an apparent siesta. There is nothing much to be done for it.
Some call it the doldrums, although that applies more to the hot summer months. Many feel the deer are slowly becoming more accustomed to humans in the woods.

The 10-day period is when deer slow down. It‘s time for a new trick.

Some hunters feel this is the time when deer begin shifting to their fall mode or travel as they begin preparing for the upcoming rut that will start the end of October and early November. Still others believe the deer are just starting to settle into their autumn routine.
It makes little difference what causes this slowdown of whitetail deer activity. It's enough to realize it happens, and there is little that can be done to change things.
Over the years I've learned that if a savvy hunter can move in close to the bedding area without making noise, or being winded, that they often can get a better chance at the deer as they move out. Those hunters who are set up along field edges will see few if any deer. Most of the action, such as it is, will happen in or near heavy cover.
Knowing that this annual phenomenon does occur, and that making slight changes in hunting techniques can turn this two-week period around, is important to bow hunters. The month of October begins with deer still following their summer mode of travel, and it is followed by 10 days to two weeks of inactivity, and then the rut kicks in during late October.
Several things can work, and all can fail unless the hunter recognizes the need to be scent-free, and to approach hunting areas with the wind in your face and avoid making noise.
One thing that has worked for many hunters is to get in as close to the bedding area as possible without spooking deer. Make one mistake with this hunting method, and all the deer will head for exits in other parts of the area and you won't see a deer.
Another thing that can produce is to mix a little rattling with a little grunting. Keep it low-pitched, soft and quiet, and make it sound like two deer testing each other without either one wanting to get hurt.

Soft, non-aggressive grunting and rattling can get deer up & moving.

This often occurs if a doe is close to entering estrus. Nearby bucks will push and shove, grunt softly, but neither buck wants to get gored in the eye or become seriously injured if she isn't ready and willing.
Keep the calls soft, and the antler rattling gentle without the violent clashes of bone against bone. Remember that the best response to antler rattling and grunting will come during the pre-rut. Set up shop near travel routes that lead to food sites, and keep the rattling and grunting short, not violent and make certain you are downwind of the bedding area.
There are times when this grunt and rattle routine will draw deer out a bit earlier than normal. Play the weather as well. If a storm is due to move into the area, make certain that you are in a key location to intercept deer as they dash out for a quick feed before the storm arrives.
Another major problem during this period is that the wind direction often shifts and brings in an east wind. Such wind shifts have become all too common in the past several years, and few deer move on an east wind. One can try to establish a blind set up for an east wind, but deer often try to cut the corners on an east wind, and come in from a cross-wind position, and they can and may pick up your scent.
Many hunters give up during this in-between period, and sit out the east wind days and do household chores so they can hunt the rut. That's OK, but it robs hunters of several days when trying different techniques might work.
It's my belief that shooting deer is impossible from the house, and especially from a couch in front of a television set. My thought is to get out in the weather, regardless of what it is doing, and try to puzzle out a workable hunting strategy.
It doesn't always work, and in truth, it seldom works but hunting during bad conditions makes people hunt harder. Those who put in their time, and try different tactics, will occasionally shoot a good buck.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

What to do on bad-weather days

Sometimes cleaning up my workbench allows me to find some neat things.

It seems to happen almost every uear, regardless of the season. There comes a period of a week or so when the fishing or hunting slows down or stops.
Who knows the reason why it happens. That part is not as important as knowing that it will occur. The major question is when it will happen.
Obviously, on any given day, a person or boat filled with people can get skunked or have a very poor showing. That part never bothers me now because fishing is just one more of many reasons to get outdoors and breathe some fresh air.

I’m out there to have fun whether we are successful or not.

If the fish bite or deer move, that’s great. If they don’t, there will be no sad looks on my face. It is what it is, and we usually have no control over it.
However, I look at such days as an opportunity knocking on my door. It’s a day that suddenly is freed up so we can do something different. It allows us to change our plans.
Perhaps, weather permitting, we can arrange a fishing trip on an inland lake or stream. There are countless lakes in the Traverse City area where I can go to fish for bass, bluegills, crappies, northern pike, sunfish, trout or walleyes … just to name a few game fish species.
So what if these fish may not be as big as a lake trout or Great Lakes salmon? It doesn’t make any difference as long as I can find something out there that will pull my string, and make my heart do a flip-flop or two.
Mind you, years ago I would have been devastated by not catching some great huge salmon. The froth would be running from my mouth like saliva from a rabid skunk.
I’d kick the tackle box two or three times just for good measure. The problem was outdoor writers need action and photos to produce magazine stories. No photos, no story, and no money. It’s as simple as that.
No unemployment for me. I could work my butt off, but hard work was no guarantee the weather would cooperate or the fish would bite. Go for a week or two with no money coming in, and it’s enough to make a gent like me a bit testy.

Being retired offers me a certain form of freedom that i take advantage of.

Well, guess what. I’m retired now, and have been for more than six years, and my fishing attitude has changed. There are no hard and fast rules. If I don’t get tonight’s blog done tonight, I’ll do it tomorrow and back-date it.
It’s no big deal. I had two fishing trips called off last week because of rain and wind. It wasn’t the end of my world, and I obviously survived it.
There was other work to be done. I was putzing around with an old Shakespeare bait-casting reel and took it in to get the thing repaired. It needed a new handle, and the repair guy had one. Quick-like, it was done!
There is more stuff around my house that needs my attention, and it’s time I find a home for some of it. I joined the Outdoor Writers Association of America in 1968, and they began sending me monthly newsletters. The paper edition continued until two months ago when OWAA went digital.
So now I have 41 years of monthly newsletters and Kay has received newsletters since she joined in 1978, and since that time we’ve received two copies each month. I’ve still got them but needed some room so two large plastic tubs were purchased and it took both of them to handle the load. Now, both are so heavy I must partially empty them to move them into a storage unit. That was almost a one-day operation, and my back is still sore from tugging the heavy tubs around.
Someone with more time on his hands once came up with the saying: If life deals you lemons, make lemonade. There’s some sort of logic there.
To paraphrase that: If life robs you of a fishing day, find something else to do. Clean a reel, sharpen fish hooks until your eyes cross, put new line on reels that need it changed, and try to clean up things.
I have what some might call a work bench. That gives me too much credit for working or for needing a bench to work at. However, I start looking for something that often is on my work bench, and in the  process of looking, other things get placed on the bench.
Eventually, it would take a small back-hoe to move the stuff off my work bench. So, when the opportunity presents itself with bad fishing or hunting days, I will clean it off and put most of the stuff where it really belongs.

I don’t know where they live but I have a serous problem at certain times of year.

Sadly, I think my home is infested with gremlins with nothing better to do than make a mess of all of my old gear. I put lures back into the proper tackle boxes, strip old line off reels, and prepare them to have line added some other day.
Can’t do all of this at one time. Do that too often, and the meaning of having stuff to clean up and put away will be lost. We must be orderly, and remember what my first-grade teacher tried to pound into the minds of his six-year old students.
“There is a place for everything,” he lectured, “ and everything should be in its place.” Kind of sweeps over you, doesn’t it?
It didn’t make much sense back then, and still doesn’t. Being a pack rat means I enjoy a certain amount of clutter. It gives me something to do on rainy or windy days, things that are far more important that putting up screens or storm windows.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Sportsmen name almost everything

Lea Lawrence (left)  & I chat about a grouse hunt at the Church covert.

What’s in a name? It depends on how anglers and hunters use the name to communicate with other sportsmen. Names can and do play an important role in how we feel and think about the outdoors.
They may remind us of a favorite trout pool with mist rising off it or a secret woodcock covert where white splashings cover fallen leaves, and names often play a major part in identifying where we fish or hunt.
Mind you, I’ve been banging around the outdoors for about 60 years. During those years I’ve learned some things about a good many places and things, and it’s fun to talk about these different spots to like-minded sportsmen with our special name codes. Of course, other folks may have developed their own names to confuse other anglers or hunters.

Naming locations is a great way to keep them a secret from strangers.

The Platte River has long been one of my favorite salmon and trout streams. I guided fishermen on it and several other streams in our northern counties for 10 years, and have fished it for 50 years.
The Platte has many local  names that help anglers pinpoint specific locations. For instance, the old Rope Hole, just upstream from the mouth, was the first spot salmon and steelhead would pause on their way upstream to spawn. It was known by this name by many anglers.
The Hole Where It Never Rains was a hotspot until the outlaws began going under the M-22 Bridge to snag fish. The conservation officers also knew where this spot was, but few people had the knack of fishing it.
The trick to fishing this hole was to wait until broad daylight. Any fish in the hole at dawn would stay there. Those people who went under the bridge in the dark would spook the fish upstream or down. The hole would be empty of fish at dawn if anglers tried fishing at night.
There was the Goose Pasture (also called the Goose Grounds), a campground on the upper Platte River off Goose Road. It was always good in the old days when more fish were available than anglers.
There was the Swimming Hole in Honor, the Doctor’s Hole and the Nurse’s Hole, all upstream from Honor. Two favorite spots years ago was the Grade. There were two: the Upper Grade between Haze Road and US-31 and the Lower Grade, downstream from Haze Road. These grades were where an old logging train once crossed the river. Some of the old pilings still remain but the only thing they are noted for now are gravel bars for spring and fall spawning fish.

We named everything. We had a river we named The Crick but no one knew it.

Think about it. Two anglers in a restaurant are talking about where to fish, and one would be heading for the Rope Hole while the other was heading for the Upper Grade. Few other anglers would know what we were talking about.
My Home Stream was the Sturgeon River in Cheboygan County between Wolverine and Indian River. I began fishing it at the age of 11, and spent every summer camping there to escape the downstate pollen that affected my hay fever. It too is rich in angling history and place names that were rather odd.
I can close my eyes, and think of The Snow Hole, and the spot instantly comes into focus in full color. The river flows downstream, dropping into a deep hole in front of the old Snow Cabin, and then it makes a sharp 90-degree bend to the left. It then splits into two current flows as it goes around a tiny island before both threads of current connect.
My late twin brother George and I laid claim to the Snow Hole while others who fished the Sturgeon had their favorite spots. The Sturgeon is a wild and free-flowing stream, and it holds steelhead and brown trout.
It also holds the ashes of my brother and of a very fine gentleman and good friend named Russ Bengel. He donated large sums of money to Ducks Unlimited, and loved the river like he loved life itself. One day when my last fishing trip has been taken, and my last hunt has ended, my ashes will mingle with theirs in my beloved Snow Hole.

Snow Hole, Five Sisters Hole -- all were secrets to all my twin and a few others.

The Sturgeon is filled with names. Take the White Road Bridge. One might figure the bridge to be painted white, but it was painted red. Go figure. It was easy to throw people off our tracks if we mentioned going to fish the Five Sisters Hole. We seldom shared these secret names.
It wasn’t a hole, but a smooth run along the opposite bank, and at the head of the run were five aspen trees growing from a single trunk. The Rain Hole was immediately downstream, and it always paid off with a fish just before a rain.
You know how it is before a rain. You can smell it on the air. We would race off to the Rain Hole, and if we beat the rain, it always delivered a nice steelhead. It was one of the surest bets on the Sturgeon River.
Then there were the Meadows  pools, the Clay Hole, Yontz’s Hole, Eddie’s Pool, Railroad Bridge and many others. Knowing the whereabouts of these named locations gave some anglers a heads-up on others who were out of the loop.
Names also applied to hunting, and nowhere was it more pronounced than with grouse or woodcock coverts. Upland bird hunters were more close-mouthed than mushroom pickers and trout fishermen, and the names they gave to each of their favorite coverts were known only to them and two or three close friends who had been sworn to secrecy.
A good friend always starts hunting at the Church covert. This bit of tag alder swale was noted for October woodcock, and among those of us who knew its location, we kept it a secret for years. Actually, the secret didn’t come out until the aspen and tag alders grew too high, and it became useless habitat for migrating birds.
The Caboose covert was on private land, and was surrounded by 40 acres of aspen and bracken fern bordered by an old pasture on one side, a road on the other, and the edge of a damp cedar swamp. It produced wonderful grouse and woodcock hunting for many years, and its name was derived from a train caboose sitting in the woods. Don’t ask me why, but it was there for many years. A few of us were allowed to hunt the area for birds, and we flushed more than one grouse from under the caboose.
Then there were key grouse hotspots such as the Grape Arbor Run, the Split Rail Fence, and Old Baldy. The area 20 feet below Old Baldy was grown up to a smorgasbord of grouse foods, and it held plenty of grouse until wild turkeys moved in and took over. They used Old Baldy’s sand to dust in, and the grouse moved out.
Another spot that always comes to mind even though shooting grouse has become more difficult in recent years. I called it Dave’s Double, in reference to one of those memorable days when the shooting gods smile and two grouse flush. I took the farthest one first, and then swung on the closer bird, and he fell in a puff of feathers. It was my first double on ruffed grouse, and the spot deserved a name.
In fact, such locations are named for a variety of reasons. Some make sense while others do not, but there it is. We accept such things, and when the whim strikes, we name another location.
Many such spots are meaningless except to us, and then only because something caused them to stand out in our mind. Naming our hotspots is as much a part of fishing and hunting as carrying a rod and reel or toting a shotgun into the woods.
And less you think all such places are good, I’ll close with one where I won’t be when the deer season open Oct. 1. I won’t be in the Willow Tree stand. I tried it once, the wind kicked up, and the willow blew six feet in one direction in a gust, and six feet back. A nice 8-pointer showed up, and I came to full draw and couldn’t keep the sight on the deer.
I gave up and climbed down. Later that night, part of the willow tree broke off and fell to the ground. It smashed up my stand but I was long gone by then, and much wiser for the experience.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Go chase a swamp ghost

Chuck Lunn of the Flint, Michigan area with a hefty snowshoe hare.

The sounds came drifting through the cedar swamp like choir bells on Sunday morning. Three golden-throated beagles were on the hot trail of a snowshoe hare, and the white swamp ghost was giving them a hard run on this winter day.
We'd walked into the swamp, and although snowshoe hare numbers are down in the northern Lower Peninsula, we found several tracks. The  dogs snuffled deep of hare scent in each track, and with a beller that seemed to shake snow off the conifers, away they went.
The chase was underway, and this hunt was more to listen to the deep bawls, the tenor yodeling bark of another hound and the steady chop of our strike dog. The cold trailer led the other hounds for 200 yards, and a minute later the beagles picked up the intensity of their barking.

Hound music is the result of beagles on a hot snowshoe hare track.

A hare was up and running, and the hounds passed within 50 yards of me but the snowie made it impossible to see. The cedars were heavily laden with snow, and seeing a white-on-white hare moving through the snow can be exceptionally difficult.
I moved over that way, cut the tracks, and stood by with a double-barrel Lefever 20 gauge. The other hunters were not in position yet, and the hare avoided any human contact. Ten minutes later the bawls and chops had turned and were heading my way once again, and I knew the dogs could be sight running the hare or be 500 yards behind.
The hare blasted through a narrow opening 20 yards away, stopped behind a cedar to look back, and there wasn't enough of the animal visible to shoot at. The hare wheeled, and disappeared following his original circle. Minutes later a shotgun coughed once 300 yards away through the swamp, and then the hounds fell silent.
We'd bagged one of the hares, and we'd already determined that no more than two hares would be taken from this spot. The hounds cast about for five minutes in search of another hare track, and then they jumped another snowie that had been pushed into moving from one area to another by all of the commotion.
Away went the hounds, inhaling snowshoe hare scent like a Hoover vacuum sucking up dirt. We stood, quietly talking as the hare led the dogs on a long oval loop, and a short time later we could hear the bell-like sounds of hound music heading our way.

Hares, when pursued by a small pack of beagles, are tricky & often hard to see.

We hurried to take up positions, and this hare sneaked past all of us, and then the white hare seemed to lengthen his stride. He took the hounds out of hearing, and 20 minutes later we were trying to cut the last set of tracks that had circled past us, and took up our positions.
Hare hunting is usually done in tight quarters where visibility often is measured in feet rather than yards, and we try to find a place where we can see for 10 to 20 yards. I was closest to it, and the dogs were still 200 yards away when I barely saw puffs of snow flying into the air.
The satchel-footed hare was by me and heading toward another hunter. I whistled loudly to alert the sportsman, but this hare was past him before he could raise his shotgun. The beagles dashed by, looking sideways at me as if to ask why I didn't shoot, and they too disappeared through the snow beneath the cedars.
Again, the snowshoe hare managed to elude us, and his circle again took the hounds out of hearing. It wasn't long before we could hear the chops and yelps of the hounds heading our way. I moved 30 yards, took up a different position as I'm certain the others were doing, and I waited patiently.

Look close when the hounds get near as the hare may right in front of the dogs.

The dogs seemed to be within 50 yards when the hare burst out around a low-growing cedar just 10 yards away. He stopped, turned to look back at the trailing hounds, and one shot ended that chase.
We caught up the dogs, put them on leashes, and decided to try another location. We try not to hunt the same snowshoe hare area twice in a year.
The second location showed a few tracks but nothing was fresh. The dogs couldn't pull enough scent from the track for them to follow, and we decided that two hours of listening to a mix of happy yelps of 13-inch beagles is just about as good as a winter day can get.
We ended the day with two snowshoe hares, and countless memories of  the happy sounds of a small beagle pack and the mad dashes of snowshoe hares. This is a pastime where, if a hunter desires, the hares can be passed up in favor of listening to continuous hound music.
To me, even though I did shoot a hare, the sounds of winter silence are best broken only by dog music. It reaches right down into my soul, and gives me ample reason to be standing knee-deep in a cedar swamp on a cold winter day.
It gives me something wonderful to look forward to each winter. A white hare on white snow can be tricky to spot, but if the truth be known, hound music and feeling snow fall down our neck is why we hunt these animals. Taking one or two snowies is important for the hounds, and in many ways, it helps seal our fate for future hunts.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Write me a story

Dave Richey invites readers to submit a story for possible publication.

C'mon. Admit it. You've always had a hankering to write an outdoor story. One on fishing or hunting, and have it published.

Well, boys and girls, this is your golden opportunity. Here's the chance you've been waiting for. Let's get a bit of business out of the way first before I fill you in on what I need.

Right up front comes the bad news. I am not willing to pay anything for your masterpiece. No one pays me so I'm not going to pay you. However, I won't accept just any story. I want you to write me a query letter first, and send it to me, dave@daverichey.com. The query should be no more than 500 words, and it should tell me exactly what your story is about. If you have good, high quality color photos, tell me what you have.

Follow the explicit directions. I've mentored many great writers.

 

The story itself:

• should run 750 words
• I'll give you 50 words to work with
• send it in a .doc format document
• end it with a brief cover letter
• NAME
• ADDRESS
• CITY, STATE, ZIP
• PHONE NUMBER [ (area code) xxx-xxxx ]

Do not send a story until you've sent me the query letter, and I have returned your note with permission to send the story. Unsolicited stories will be rejected out of hand. People who write for magazines have all these hoops to jump through so I'm treating my space on my blog like they treat their magazine space.


I am soliciting your query letter on a topic of your choice, and hopefully with good photos. if your query letter is accepted, and I assign you the story, you have a month (30 days) deadline to write and send the story. I retain the right to accept or reject any story for any reason.


Stories must be

• in good taste
• feature no profanity
• and not be filled with "fluff" words to build up the word count
• stories of libelous nature will not be returned

I've edited four magazines during my career, and it's up to you to do it right the first time.


The story must be

• typed,
• double-spaced, and
• written in 14-point bold (Geneva, Times or a similar font)

My vision is bad, and whatever you can do to help me read your manuscript is a point in your favor. It often pays off when trying to convince an editor to look at your story.

 

Some helpful hints for any beginning writer.

• Write on a topic that you know very well. Only typed stories will be considered.
• Write on things I write about. Search the archives of my site to gain a better idea of what I want. For example: stories on bear hunting, deer hunting, grouse hunting, turkey hunting, steelhead fishing, salmon fishing, catching bedded bluegills, bass fishing, etc. Treat fish and game with respect.
• In your query letter, define exactly what the story will contain. A story needs a lead, a middle and an end. The lead is the first two paragraphs of the story. Use them wisely to capture my attention, and make me want to read the entire story rather than write a short rejection note.
• If you don't know how to spell, use a dictionary or spell-check feature on your computer.
• The two most overworked words are "the" and "that". Avoid them whenever possible.
• Paragraphs should be no more than two or three sentences. Don't send me sentences that take up half a page. Plan your story with the lead, and then transition into the body of the story, and when you are done, stop writing. Most first-time writers fill a story with nonsense or b.s., and I've been at this business for 44 years. Write the truth in as few words as possible. Go back and read some stories I've written on your choice of topics and see how I handled it. Do not copy what I have written because to use something very similar to my copy is to copy me. Plagiarism is an ugly word among writers, and it tends to upset people. Be you, not me.
• I retain the right to edit at will, and I will edit. I don't edit just to change things; I edit to make your story better. That's why they call people like me editors.

 

This is my challenge to you -- write a 750-word fishing-hunting story for me.

So pull yourself away from the television set, give it two or three days of thought,, and tell me a story that you think me and my many thousands of readers will want to read. I don't expect a Pulitzer piece for your first story, but I'd like to see a nice story on a fishing or hunting topic that pleases you, and I'd like to see you work hard on it.

Write it from beginning to end, set it aside for a day or two, go back through and read it again. One of the best editing tools is to read it aloud. Do this, and you'll stumble over a poorly written sentence. Figure out what needs to be done to avoid that bump in the road.

Your reward will find your story published on my website. It ain't much, but who knows, perhaps this is the kick in the pants you need to get started. One day you might find your name on a story in a big magazine that will reward you with a hefty check.

This is your chance. Let's see how many gutsy people we have out there.

Over-thinking the hunt

Think too hard about shooting this  buck and it might disappear.

I’m convinced of one thing. It’s my deeply-felt opinion that hunters can over-think a situation and spook deer from their hunting area.

Don’t agree? That’s OK by me. Each of us in this free country are entitled to think what we will, and at times like this, state our opinion. No one needs to agree although I’ve discussed the issue with many hunters, and they agree.

It’s my theory that deer can and will pick up on thought waves. Don’t believe it, then consider this. I was a twin, and my twin before his death could start a sentence on any topic, stop in the middle of a sentemce, and I could complete his thought. Over many years, I've known many sets of twins -- fraternal and identical -- that could do the same thing.

My twin brother and I were inseperable for 63 years before he died of cancer.

We could, within certain parameters, read each others’ minds. I often knew, as a kid, when my brother was getting his butt kicked in a childhood fight. I could perceive his location, and could run to the spot in time to land one on the ear or nose of the bully picking on him. Don’t ask me how it worked but over the 63 years brother George and I shared this world, it worked that way.

Now, after explaining the twin thing, I’ve studied whitetail deer for more than a half-century, I am more than just convinced that the mental attitude of a hunter can create success or render some hunting methods inconsistent or foil them completely.

You don’t need to believe what I am writing but ask that you keep an open mind about what follows. There are many things that we don’t know about the human mind.

Explain to me how an African native can track animals over rocky ground, and when they reach the end of the trail, they find the animal. Explain to me how I can sense a black bear coming to a bait site when I haven’t seen or heard anything that would make me believe that. Explain how when I say “Just one more cast before we leave”, often produces the fish of the day.

I believe that animals can sense potential danger from certain people. Some of my best friends are or were world renowned outdoor photographers. Some can approach quietly within photo range of big bears, wild sheep, goats and deer, and the animals will allow photos to be taken. If that same person is carrying a bow or firearm, the conditions change immediately.

Keep your mind free of any thoughts of hunting, killing, bow or firearm.

Over many years I’ve operated on the theory that predatory instincts carry a special danger signal to wild game. It’s why I never think about shooting a buck or doe. I keep my mind clear, concentrate on thoughts about work or play, or about anything other than killing an animal.

Years ago, when I was learning to deer hunt, I hit on this idea. I test it almost every year by letting a buck get close enough, and if it’s one I wouldn’t shoot anyway, I’ll start thinking about where to place the arrow so the animal, in my mind, died.

Often, within a few seconds, the deer has spooked and run off. Someties it runs out of sight or just out of bow range before stopping, but most of the time the animal puts distance between it and whatever may have scared it. I’m convinced it was my thoughts that chased it away.

Imagine yourself in a strange bar-restaurant, and you feel someone looking at you. A careful search of the room will usually expose the person staring at you. Does it feel hostile? Do you sense danger? It’s the same thing as a buck spooking from thoughts that may lead to its death.

Deer react to stimuli, and may react to your thoughts of shooting them.

Deer don’t think like humans but react to stimuli. How many times have you had the wind in your favor, haven’t moved or made a sound, only to have a buck approach a short distance and then run in the opposite direction? Could you have been thinking about shootinng that deer?

I’ve had some folks say I’m crazy, but in most cases I shoot more bucks than they do. I can’t explain this any better. However, it’s my conclusion after playing with these thoughts for about 40 years, that I’m on to something significant.

So, I think about the Detroit Red Wings or Tigers, wonder who will win the next game, or think about a calm day on a lake. I keep my mind clear of thoughts about killing a buck, never think about my bow or arrows, and often the deer will approach very close. Even as I draw, aim and shoot, I am thinking calm thoughts.

It’s something that works for me. It may your ace in the hole.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Avoid these turkey-hunting mistakes

Dave Richey aims at a big gobbler

It’s still two months until the 2011 spring turkey season opens, but with luck, a few preparatory articles may make the difference between success and failure. Trust me on this: I’ve made many mistakes over the years of hunting gobblers, and have learned from my mistakes.

If I can help sportsmen avoid some of those mistakes with this column, I’ll feel as if I’ve done my job of properly informing hunters.

If a wild turkey could smell, few hunters would ever shoot a spring gobbler. These birds have superb hearing and eagle-sharp vision, and if a hunter makes just one small mistake when a bird is nearby, the hunt will end quickly without a shot.

It's easy to write this piece because at one time or another over my lengthy turkey-hunting career, I've made some mistakes or watched others make them. I know how to avoid them because making a simple mistake has cost me more than one gobbler.

10 turkey tips to avoid and a “gimme” tip to remember at the end.

Here are 10 common turkey-hunting errors. Also included are some solutions that work some of the time. Nothing about turkey hunting is ever 100 percent.

[1] Being too concealed -- Every turkey hunter knows they must be dressed in quality camouflage clothing that matches the foliage at that time of year. They also must sit still and blend into their surroundings. What some people forget is that one cannot be so buried in thick brush, that they can’t move. I once watched a guy burrow into heavy undergrowth near an abandoned orchard, and the gobbler flew down at dawn and walked to within 20 yards of the guy. He couldn't raise his shotgun, and while struggling with old berry briers, he became so entangled he couldn't mount his shotgun, aim and shoot. The longbeard spotted the odd movements back in the briars and was more than 200 yards away before the guy could work his shotgun free.

• Solution -- Sit with your back to a big tree, draw your knees up and your heels back to your butt, tuck the shotgun buttstock into your shoulder, and wait for the bird to walk in front of the shotgun. Shoot when his head comes up to look around.

[2] Calling too much -- Turkey hunters usually know that too much calling is much worse than too little. However, they toodle away on a diaphragm call, switch to a sweet-talkin' box call, pick up a slate and yelp with it, and start over. The constant calling can and will spook some birds. It just doesn’t sound natural.

• Solution -- Use a call sparingly. If a gobbler keeps calling, wait him out. After he gobbles two or three times without an answer, muffle the call, and make it soft and sweet. He may come on a dead run so be ready at all times.

[3] Decoy placement -- It takes some willpower to curb the constant use of decoys. Don't hasten to set out decoys if a hot gobbler is coming. Don't hide decoys in thick cover where a gobbler can't see them, and forget the dekes when hunting near water. Placing too many decoys too close together will make them look like a flock of frighten birds.

• Solution -- Two or three decoys work best for me. Have a jake decoy face the hunter, and keep it between you and the hen decoys. Don't place the hens more than 30-35 yards out to avoid having a gobbler do an end-run on the jake decoy. The jake is the major object of concern for an adult gobbler so keep him in the open and visible from nearby heavy wooded cover.

Choose your camouflage wisely. Stick with black, brown or gray.

[4] Improper camouflage use -- Camouflage is camo, right? I've watched hunters dress in green camo when everything in the woods is still tan and brown, and bleached out from the winter snow. Dark-colored camo will stick out early in the season. Avoid anything that is colored red, white or blue, the color of a gobbler's head during the spring mating season. Match camo to existing conditions.

• Solution -- Know the terrain, and if the woods are brown, wear brown camo. If it has greened up, switch to green camo. Make sure that boot eyelets are spray-painted black or brown, and check to see that no white socks show when you sit down with your knees up, and beware of that white undershirt peeking out. Wear dark Jersey gloves. Make certain your glasses or watch doesn’t glint.

[5] Making unwanted noises -- You roosted one or two gobblers the night before, and are walking through the woods before dawn. A tree branch is bumped, and the box call squawks like a ruptured duck in your vest. Or, you are carrying two decoys with metal stakes and a shotgun, and you are almost to where you'll sit, and the stakes and shotgun clink together. Such noises aren’t good but the squeak of a rusty old farm-lane gate will often make roosted birds gobble..

• Solution -- Wrap box calls in a soft and dark washcloth, and fasten the lid and box together with stout rubber bands. Carry the decoys and stakes in the back of a hunting vest. Do everything possible to avoid noise once you are close to the roosting area. Stay at least 100 yards from the roost trees when you set up.

Movement saves the lives of more gobblers than anythinng else.

[6] Moving too much -- Movement spooks more gobblers and hens than anything
else. Hunters forget to clear a suitable area at the base of a large tree, and after 15 minutes and a gobbler is on the move toward you, hunters begin to fidget and move to relieve the pain of a tree root under their butt or a broken tree stub gouging their back. Tough it out and sit still. Play with pain or fix it first.

• Solution -- Scrape all leaves away from your sitting position so there will be no noise made if it becomes necessary to move slightly. Carry a rubber butt pad to sit on, and pick a spot where the tree trunk is bare. Remove any object that will make you uncomfortable.

[7] Not having the shotgun to your shoulder -- I've seen this one happen far too often to understand why hunters do it. The sportsman becomes very uncomfortable sitting with his knees bent and his boot heels against his butt. They stretch out their legs, and the muzzle is pointed at the ground when a gobbler walks out in front of them and gobbles his brains out. Any movement will spook the bird.

Three gobblers (one with beard visible) head for call

• Solution -- If a hunter is gunning for a wild gobbler, they must be ready for a shot at any time. Keep the shotgun resting across your upraised knees with the buttstock against your shoulder. It is impossible to raise a shotgun up, aim at the bird and shoot before the bird flies or runs away. Gut it out, and sit still and be prepared for a shot at any time.

[8] Not patterning a shotgun -- Yeah, it's OK. It was dead-on last season. I don't have to mess around with it this year. Stuff ol' Betsy full of shotgun shells and let’s go hunting. This is a mistake I made a few years ago.

• Solution -- Sights get knocked out of kilter for one reason or another. Pattern the shotgun with No. 4, 5 or 6 shot, and shoot whichever provides the most pellets to the head-neck area of a target. Make certain it is on, and don't forget to do this. It cost me a gobbler once, and  I’ve never forgotten it.

[9] Setting up in the wrong spot -- There are right and wrong spots to sit, and only preseason scouting and experience can tell you which place is best. Forget to scout, and start calling to birds on the other side of a big water puddle, flowing stream or lake, and turkeys will usually hang up at the water. Know where the gobblers are in the morning, afternoon and before shooting time ends.

• Solution -- Do the scouting, spend time at it, and know where the birds will be during the morning, at noon and in the early evening. Turkeys usually (not always because I called a gobbler across a river in South Dakota once) hang up at water and at some fences. If you know their travel route, it's easy to avoid such places. Chances are good the birds will come right to you.

[10] Taking long shots -- Many hunters have no clue what the effective range of their shotgun is. Make the mistake of spotting a big gobbler at 60 yards, and try to shoot that bird, is a lesson in futility. If anything, the bird is wounded and gets away to die or be eaten by coyotes. The shotgun may shoot that far, but responsible hunters prefer the bird to 20 to 35 yards away.

• Solution -- Know your distances, and if necessary, put a small branch on the ground at 30 yards. If the bird is coming, let him come and wait until he gets inside of the range marker. Granted, the big 3 1/2-inch 12-gauge or 10-gauge magnum shotguns can kill a gobbler past 40 yards, but why take the chance. Let him come within 35 yards and then shoot. The closer they come, the more fun it is, and remember this: the shot is anticlimactic to calling an adult gobbler within range.

And, last but not least: The Lagniappe:

• Follow the wisdom of longtime turkey hunters.
• Follow the old adage that states -- don’t make the mistake, take the jake.

Sitting still is an art

The author shot this bear from the ground at a range of six feet.

Anyone who has bow hunted more than a few days should know the importance of sitting still. Knowing that, and doing it right, are two entirely different things.

Sitting still means at least two different things. It means being motionless and quiet. One without the other makes little sense, and it will spook game.

I seldom hunt with another person, but in the past when my kids and grandkids were young, they would go out with me. Most adults can't sit still, and even fewer children can do so.


Solitary hunters often do better at bow hunting than will two or three buddies.

One of my grandchildren was fidgeting when I whispered to him to sit still. He whispered back that he was sitting still.

I told him his idea and my idea of being motionless and quiet were not the same.It's taken years to master the art of silent sitting. I've taken more black bears than I have fingers and toes, and have learned some of the tricks to sitting as still as a stone for long periods of time.

"The first bear I shot," another savvy hunter told me, "was on Sept. 10, opening day of Upper Peninsula bear season. This was well over 30 years ago, and tree stand hunting wasn't legal. I sat alongside but downwind of an active bear trail with my back against a big cedar root-wad on a warm autumn day. The trail was only six feet away.

"Sometime later, I awoke from my dozing and cracked one eye lid to see a black bear walking past. I made a smooth draw and an clean bow shot that took the bruin behind the front shoulder. It ran only 25 yards into tall marsh gras and dropped."

The hunter said he was absolutely motionless when the bear walked by because he was sound asleep. He admits it was an accident, but he's since learned to sit without movement or sound for long periods of time.

Over many years of hunting bears and deer, I've discovered the trick to being still is to be comfortable, and a hunter must learn how to relax and be at ease with himself and his surroundings if he hopes to be motionless and quiet. The first step is to remove anything that can cause discomfort while sitting

My primary problem is it's necessary to remove my billfold from my back pocket. If it is left in, my sitting time is 30 minutes or less before my hip begins to hurt from an old injury. No one can sit still if their butt is painfully sore.


Find a place where the human body can be comfortable and then relax.

Sit on the ground, and a root an inch under the dirt will put a crease in your butt, and you'll start moving to get comfortable. I make certain if I'm in a tree stand that no branch stub is digging into my hip, ribs or spine. A stone in the dirt under you hind end will feel like a boulder after 30 minutes.

Check out each spot wherever you hunt. Remove offending branches or broken branch stubs. Many tree stands have uncomfortable seats because the seat is too low, and your knees are up under your chin and that makes for an uncomfortable seat. Just as bad or worse is a seat that is too high, and you have to sit on the edge of the seat to keep your feet steady on the platform. This cuts off blood flow to your legs, and your toes and feet go to sleep, which leads to more movement.

Learn to get physically comfortable first, and then learn to relax your body and mind. A man told me once that he meditates while in a stand, and although his eyes may be closed and his heartbeat and respiratory system slows down, he can hear the rustle of bear hair against bracken ferns or the faint twig snap of a wandering buck.

This isn't recommended for someone unaccustomed to meditation. What works for most of us is to free our brain of all thought, to feel comfortable and relaxed, and to will yourself to being motionless. I've had bucks approach to within several feet of me without seeing any movement, and that is part of the secret. Keep your mind uncluttered by unnecessary details, and it's much easier to remain still.

One trick of mine is to fix your attention on a distant object, and stare at it. It will blur, come back into focus, and blur again. Stick with it, and don't think of deer or work or anything else, and try to become one with your surroundings. Get comfortable and don't feel like an intruder in the woods.

That works for me and some other people I know, but it may not work for you without a great deal of concentrated practice. The first and foremost thing is to be comfortable. Once the human body is comfortable, start working on the mind.

Soon, with continuous practice, it will be possible to sit motionless for 30 minutes. Then start working on being motionless for an hour. If you can get up to two or three hours, many of your hunting problems will be solved.


Expect sudden noises like flushing grouse, snorting deer or chattering squirrels.

Learn to expect sudden noises, such as a red squirrel chattering. Don't be startled when a bear or deer steps through dry leaves. Be alert but motionless and still. Sooner or later whatever made the noise will step into view. Never turn to look behind you.

The old Negro League pitcher 59 years ago  -- Satchell Paige -- had it right when he once said: "Don't look back. Something might be gaining on you." That thought should be considered by hunters who wish to remain motionless.

If you are not moving, you won't be making noise (unless you snore). Without movement or noise, the only thing you must worry about is being winded. Stay downwind of where bear or deer travel, and you will have removed most of the key things that can spook animals.

Turkey season opens in a couple of month, and movement or  sound (except a turkey call) will spook birds. Their vision is like you or me looking through 10-power binoculars. I wear a camo face mask that covers  my face, ears and glasses, and wear brown gloves on my hand. The trick to shooting a gobble-bird is to be ready for a shot when he steps within range. Sit with the shotgun across your knees, and try to raise it and aim at a bird, abd all you'll see will be tailfeathers going away.

Practice now, long before turkey or bow season opens, to sit still and motionless in a non-hunting environment. If you can pull that off for two hours, and you follow the other common-sense hunting rules, there won't be a bear, deer or gobbler that will be safe around you.

Sitting still and not moving any part of your body except your eyes is simply a case of mind over matter. Humans do have a brain, and once they condition it to silent inactivity, their hunting skills will go up.

Make outdoor ethics count

Kay landed two big brook trout  but stopped fishing then. She'd had enough.
Outdoor ethics are like dipping snuff. It doesn't agree with everyone, and for some, it leaves them feeling cold and sneezzy. Ethics, often unlike laws, are rules that rule our pitdppr conduct.

Ethics are more easily understood when explained in this manner. Ethics are those things you wouldn't do if you knew a conservation officer was watching from a distance.

They are those hard-to-explain things that keep sportsmen from breaking fish or game laws if we knew an officer was in the area. For most of us, ethics and knowledge of our fish and game laws run hand-in-hand. We won't break the law under any situation.

Ethics keep honest people honest in the woods and on the water.

That's fine, as far as it goes, but it's a gross oversimplification of a very complex personal outdoor issue that all sportsmen must think about. And, frankly, these issues baffle many sportsmen.

Outdoor ethics are those complex but unquestionable rules that sportsmen must adhere to whether other people are watching or not. They are those things we must endorse if fishing and hunting is to survive this century.

Want a few examples? Chew on these on these little tidbits:

• I had six chances to arrow a big 10-point two years ago. He always showed up from two to five minutes after legal shooting time had ended. No one was within a half-mile of me, and no one would have known if I had cheated by shooting that buck a few minutes late.

No one, that is, except me. It would have ate at my guts like a malignant tumor until the taking of that big 10-point buck would have been reduced to a humiliating experience. It would have ruined my hunt as well as my perception of myself as a law abiding sportsman.

• One night last fall I climbed into my bow stand, tried to remove my wallet from my back pocket, and discovered it wasn't there. My bow license was home on the dresser in my bill-fold. I had a valid deer-hunting license but it wasn't in my immediate possession so my bow was stowed away in its soft case and lowered to the ground.

That evening was spent watching deer through binoculars. It was a fun evening, even without a bow in my hands.

I wouldn't have been able to eat a tenderloin steak if  I'd shot late.

• A big problem with outdoor ethics is they are impossible to legislate and difficult for many people to understand. Only one person – you or me – can deal with these ethical situations whenever a potential problem arises.
• For instance: we shoot a rooster pheasant and it drifts across a fence on set wings and falls onto posted land. Does shooting that bird give us the legal right to pursue it without landowner permission? Nope! The ethical sportsman would determine who owned the property, and make every attempt to gain permission to cross the property line.

What happens when it's virtually impossible to track down the absentee landowner? No one wants to see the game go to waste. The next decision would be to contact the closest conservation officer. If he says you can't cross the line without permission, it still remains an ethical and legal question. Cross without permission means breaking the law. Do you go or stay? Laws and ethics. Right or wrong. It always pays to do the right thing.

• We're fishing flies-only water for native brown trout and a stiff breeze puts down the mayfly hatch. Is it ethical to fish worms here? The answer, both ethically and legally, is no.
• Or, as I mentioned earlier about the 10-point buck, could I have cheated in that instance and shot? Sure, but I would have had to deal with my emotions and my personal sense of right or wrong and any resulting guilt.
• Mallards pinwheel down on a freshening breeze to spill into the bobbing decoys. It's a perfect morning, and it's five minutes before legal shooting time. Hunters in a nearby blind shoot and drop two hen mallards. Does that make it legal for me to shoot early?

We all know the obvious answer is “No” but some sportsmen would shoot any way, and be ticketed by a conservation officer. If they are not caught, they must still deal with their conscience as well as state and federal laws.

Ethics prevent us from doing illegal or quasi-illegal acts. Hunters don't shoot ducks on the water or grouse on the ground or off tree limbs. We don't snag fish, and we don't keep undersized fish or fish over our legal limit. We don't ignore slot limits wherever they exist. Such things are just not done. Buying a fishing or hunting license is no guarantee of a full game bag, a trophy buck, a hefty creel or a brace of pheasants. The license only grant us an opportunity to fish or hunt during the legal season. It offers sportsmen nothing more and nothing less than the opportunity to participate in these pastimes.

Ethical behavior is a topic as personal as the color of our morning toothbrush. It also serves as the bare-bones foundation on which our sports are built.

We are judged by our conduct, in and out of the field bu others, and those who wink at fish or game law violations or encourage any breach of ethical conduct, do themselves and others a great disservice.

If we can't fish or hunt ethically, and within the confines of the laws that pertain to these pastimes, we should not be considered sportsmen. If we have to worry about being caught by a conservation officer and ticketed, it may be necessary for some people to re-examine the reasons they fish or hunt.

Antlers: Bones of beauty

12-point; wide & heavy. 3-beamer buck.

It's not that a basket-rack 8-point isn't pretty, because it most certainly is, but beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder. Some whitetail bucks simply have a great deal of class, and others do not.

Two things that make for a beautiful rack are overall mass and points. A buck with tremendous mass is a sight to behold. They are awe-inspiring portrayals of nature’s handiwork. Some people favor a typical rack, and they can be absolutely stunning with high points and a wide spread, but I really enjoy seeing nontypical bucks.

It’s a personal choice for most hunters, but for me, bucks that have antler bases that most bow hunters can't get their hand around are truly breathtaking. Such animals are old, up to about 7 ½ years old, and it’s the sheer massiveness of antlers on its head that makes us gasp in amazement.

Hunters all appreciate the majesty of a big rack of antlers.

Locating, and hunting nothing but one big buck, is one of bow hunting's greatest challenges. It’s not easy tp find a buck's home range, and then trying to pattern the animal can be a lengthy and time-consuming effort, but when properly done, the end result is a thing of wonder.

I will hunt any big buck I find. Some years are better for big bucks than others, but often I’ll locate at least one nice buck and sometimes I will shoot him while other times I will not. One avoided me two years ago, and the same happened again last fall when I fell off my back steps, but seeing a buck with that much mass and so many points, puts a fire in my belly. It’s much like football, for instance: it’s not whether you win or lose, but about how you play the game. This is a one-on-one hunt.

Seeing the animal within bow range is the first taste of the bow hunter’s cake. Making a successful shot is nothing more than the icing on the cake.

I look for classy looking bucks. There is something about a symmetrical rack that is delightful to see, and there is something about those freaks of nature -- the non-typicals -- that capture my attention as well. I also like really high racks as well.

A buck on the prowl looking for an estrus doe

The non-typicals have so much going on with their rack that it is difficult to make a really adequate assessment of size unless a person can study the antlers from all four sides for a length of time. I look for drop tines, kicker points, sticker points, out-of-balance racks with one side higher than the other. To me, deer with drop tines are really something to see, especially if the drop point is long and/or thick.

One fairly common non-typical is one with double brow points on each side, and one look at such a buck gives the impression of Richard Nixon giving the peace sign with both hands. Double brows on one side are fairly common, and there are always a few bucks with double brow points on each side. A fairly common non-typical may have a third main beam on one side but I’ve never seen one with two main beams on each side.

Three-beamers have three main beams rather than two.

One of my buddies saw a nontypical last year that was much higher on one side, had more points on that side, and he was an impressive looking animal even through his rack wouldn't have scored very high because the rack was too far out of balance. It would have too many deduction points to rank very high.

There are a fair number of big, heavy, high and wide typical bucks that offer the viewer a huge thrill. These bucks have excellent mass, 10 or 12 points with very large G-2s and G-3s, a wide spread and there is little doubt among viewers that they are looking at a very special buck.



A photographer buddy -- Dennis Buchner of Grawn, Michigan -- shoots bird and deer photos. Last year he was cruising, and saw a massive 10-point stand up in marsh grass and run into the open woods. The rack on this buck was truly impressive, but there is even more to it than that.

Most truly large-racked bucks are large bodied as well. The neck on some of them looks as big around as a barrel. See one of these huge bucks, and the skin seems loose around the neck, and when the animal turns its head, the rolls of skin move with it.

Herd management give bucks more time to grow bigger racks.

A heavy buck left and a nice winter buck on right.

Time is the major reason why big bucks grow to such a large size. In reality, most hunters shoot the first buck with antlers they see. These 1 1/2-year-old bucks have tiny racks, and once they've been killed, there is never a chance for them to grow any larger.

Many hunters can feel free to disagree, but if most of them passed on these small bucks every year, and other hunters in the area did the same, within three years they would be wondering where all the massive bucks had come from.

Sportsmen who are content with shooting a small basket rack and continue shooting them, will never see a big-racked buck. Those who choose to shoot a doe are doing the right thing, but it's right only if everyone plays by the same rules on a level playing field. It’s one reason why Quality Deer Management rules are effective; only large bucks qualfy to be shot. That allows smaller bucks more time to grow a large quality rack.

Shooting a real trophy is a difficult thing to accomplish in this or any other state. One must either be very lucky or very good at hunting to pull off this trick more than once or twice in a lifetime.




And contrary to what the hosts of television hunting shows say, a deer does not have horns. They have antlers, and they should know better than to call antlers “horns” on television.


Antlers begin growing in the spring before shedding the velvet and turning hard bone in the early autumn. Horns, such as those found on cattle and sheep, continue to grow through the life of the animal. There is no excuse for calling the headgear of whitetail deer by something they can’t and don’t have. Deer have antlers, not horns. I hope that clear up any misunderstanding.

Dealing with trespass problems

All deer seasons have now ended, and snow still lies deep in the woods, but for some landowners the spectre of trespassers to their land still remains like a bad odor that never goes away.
Tire tracks, now buried under snow, were as obvious as a train wreck on my woods trail. I hadn’t made them that day so it meant someone had been trespassing or poaching on my land.

I followed the tracks for 200 yards into my woods, and then they ended. A vehicle had come that far and left. It was easy to see where it had been parked, and nearby was an empty cigarette package and a candy bar wrapper.

Trespass, like serious cancer, continues until action is taken to stop it.

I continued down my two-track another 200 yards before stumbling over something in the leaf-covered trail. Autumn leaves covered the trail, and I kicked around to remove what I’d tripped over and uncovered a mound of illegal sugar beets.

I felt like a detective searching for evidence. My gaze went to the nearby trees, and 20 yards away was a ladder stand. It wasn’t mine so I climbed the stand, unhooked it from the tree, and twisted it free. It was either a very cheap stand that bent easily or my anger made me stronger than I realized, but the ladder got twisted like a pretzel.

A note was left at the site. It said “If you want your ladder stand back, stop at the first house to the east at noon.”

The trespasser pulled into my driveway at noon.

A truck pulled into my driveway in timely fashion, and I didn’t recognize it. A man got out, walked up to the door, and I met him. He’d come to claim his tree stand.

He said he had put up the stand for his son who was living with other people nearby. I asked him why he used my two-track as a parking spot while he trespassed.

“I didn’t know it was private,” he whined. “I’m sorry.”

He was told that he had purposely driven past two No Trespassing signs near the road, but he claimed ignorance. He said he didn’t see them.

“Do you want your ladder stand back?” I asked. He said he did.

I wanted proof of who he was and where he was from. He argued.

“Let me see your drivers license. I need some information, and once I have what is needed I’ll return the stand.”

“Why should I show you my license,” he argued.

“If you don’t, you won’t get your stand back. I’ll walk outside before you can back out of my driveway, and write down your license plate letters and numbers. Then I’ll let the police track you down. That will work for me. How does that suit you?”

“C’mon, man, I don’t want any problem with the police.”

“Give me your drivers license, and don’t call me ‘man’ again. I’ll write down the information, and then give you your stand. But first, a warning: if you are caught on my land again, I will go to the police. If I find your truck on my land I’ll flatten all four tires to keep you here until the police arrive. Do we understand each other? Is all of this clear enough for you?”

It was, and he complied with my request for his license, and I returned his bent ladder stand. I haven’t seen him since, and don’t want to.

Trespass is one of the most common problems that landowners face. People sneak onto private land, put up tree stands, screw in tree steps, and figure they can get away with it. It is illegal to trespass on another person’s property without permission.

No part of this or any other state is completely free of trespassers.

Sadly, trespass is a misdemeanor and few trespass cases wind up being prosecuted. The prosecuting attorney and staff is too busy dealing with armed robberies, burglaries, embezzlement, home invasion, murder, rape and other more serious crimes. They seldom handle a trespass case unless it is a part of a more serious crime.

Sadly, what seems an easy situation for the prosecuting attorney’s office to handle, can leave the landowner twisting in the wind. Is it fair? No, but it’s a fact. This leaves the landowner feeling helpless and used by the system and the trespasser. It’s difficult to get police to the scene of a trespass problem in time to take any immediate action. Often, the landowner must handle the problem alone, and this is not always a wise decision.

Trespass is only one problem. Two others often include littering and property damage.

Years ago several friends and I leased 640 acres near Harrison for deer and turkey hunting. On opening day of the firearm deer season we encountered a stranger in the woods. He wasn’t dressed in blaze orange, and we asked what he was doing.

This gent was antagonistic and surly. He wanted to know who we were.

“We lease this land,” I told him. “You are trespassing and will have to leave.”

A typical trespasser’s argument.

“I’ve hunted this land for 40 years and will continue to hunt it,” he said, with grit in his voice. “You can lease it but I plan to continue hunting here. If you call the police, I’ll set fire to the woods. You’ll never prove I did it.”

He left, and we bumped into him again later. He threatened to fight all three of us, and the last thing we needed from a lease was to fight with a cranky neighbor. We finally gave up the lease for apparent reasons.

A doctor who requests anonymity bought 400 acres of land in the northern Lower Peninsula, built a nice log cabin and barn, and began planting food plots for wildlife. He soon encountered a trespasser, and went to talk and politely asked him to leave.

“I’ll leave this time but I’ll be back and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “My daddy grew up in this area and so did I, and I’ve always hunted one specific spot on the border of your property and I’ll continue to hunt it whether you like it or not.

“Put the police on me and I’ll sugar up the gas tank of your brand-new tractor. If that doesn’t educate you, I’ll burn down your barn. If that doesn’t work I’ll burn down your fancy log cabin. However, I am a reasonable man.”

By now the doctor was terrified, and asked what “reasonable” meant.

“Give me written permission to hunt my one spot on the corner of your land, and I’ll be the best caretaker you’ll ever have. Poachers and other trespassers know who I am, and I’ll keep everyone else away from your house, barn and farm equipment. I won’t hunt if you have a bunch of company, but I won’t allow anyone to hunt my stand.”

“How do I know you’ll do as you say,” the doctor stammered. “What guarantees do I have?”

“There are no guarantees. It’s a simple deal. Give me my one place to hunt, and I’ll keep everyone else off your land. You live up to your end of the deal and I’ll live up to mine. Trust me, you don’t need me as your enemy. I’m just a little bit crazy.”

So he cut a deal with the devil. He honored the agreement and has had no problems even though his cabin and land is in a remote part of the state, off a dirt road with no close neighbors except for his new caretaker. No one has broke into his cottage, sugared his gas tank or burned down his barn.

Not many trespasser will work out such deals. They come and go until caught, and if anything happens, they get a naughty-boy slap on the wrist and are turned loose with a minor fine. Some may retaliate. Most do not, but they may return to trespass again.

Land is tight in the Lower Peninsula, and as more farms are sold and subdivided, the acreage where people could once hunt has shrunk. It becomes a situation of the haves and have-nots. Those who own land worry about the have-nots trespassing on it.

There has been a few cases of physical violence over the years although most such actions have involved snowmobilers. It seldom comes to that with sportsmen.

However, the thought of trespass is never far away. What does the future hold?

It’s a difficult question to answer. The most obvious concern among landowners is the threat of increased trespass cases. That also brings to mind the possibility of retaliation.

Several people I know have made friends with the local Sheriffs Department deputies, and offer them a chance to hunt their land in return for them running people off. Others invite Michigan State Police officers to fill the same role. It eliminates the need for the owners to physically confront trespassers.

Should such actions be necessary? If we lived in a perfect world, it wouldn’t be but this is not a perfect world nor are all of our citizens nice people. The perfect world would allow for a jail sentence for repeat offenders and something far more substantial than a wrist slap and a small fine and court costs.

The perfect world would teach trespassers to stay on their own land or hunt federal or state land. That obviously doesn’t work in today’s society, and violence on behalf of the landowner only exacerbates the problem.

Solving this issue takes time, proper legislation, solid law enforcement, landowner cooperation and a court system that will address the issue of property rights while administering justice and punishment in a swift manner. One can only hope that day soon comes.

Steelhead fly-fishing tips

It's a well known fact. Ask any beginning steelhead fisherman, and they will tell you just how hard these lake-run rainbow trout are to catch. Many spend years before accidentally hooking one.

Books have been written about them. I've written three on the topic myself, including a limited edition, and even though when pushed hard, I will admit they can be hard to catch when they are not in the river just yet.

Melting snow, will raise the water level a tiny bit, but we need more warm weather to melt more snow, warm the water slightly and raise the water level.

If the weather stays on the warm side, we could see some steelhead enter the river by this weekend. But don't go out the door with your insulated waders and rod just yet.

Don't get too excited but watch for several days of warm weather.

My three books --

•Steelheading For Everybody

•Steelhead In North America

•Great Lakes Steelhead Flies

-- and the mystique that surrounds these game fish trouble some anglers. The mystery of this lake-run rainbow trout is usually part of the smoke-and-mirrors show that advanced anglers talk about. Contact me at this email address to get information about my steelhead books: Scoop's Books

The stories are meant to discourage fishermen, and in many cases, the falsehoods and lies work. It's nothing more than one angler shining on another to discourage them before they even begin fishing. It's nothing but a lie to keep anglers away.

These freaky falsehoods are basically tactics to drive neophyte anglers away from a favorite fishing area, but if an angler does not know the river, they can't catch fish with any degree of regularity. Locate some fish, as guide Mark Rinckey of Honor and I do with a great deal of regularity, and some anglers may think this highly-touted game fish are easy to catch.

Some days they are easy. Other days they are not. Go figure.

Any screwy suspicions spoken about steelhead fishing is nothing but reverse propaganda in the minds of good fishermen. This sport is easier than it needs to be, and it's certainly easier than others would have you believe.

Catching steelhead can be downright simple … at times. It can be extremely difficult at times. Savvy fishermen soon learn to take the good with the bad.

Be there, at the right time, fish the water properly and steelhead are not much more difficult to catch than bluegills or yellow perch are in the spring. One principle applies to all game fish species: Anglers must find the fish, and cast well, before they can taste the sweetness of angling success.

Fly-fishing for steelheads is my favorite way to catch them.

There are many ways to catch steelhead and this holds true with most game fish species. All methods produce during certain periods, but they may work best at other times of year. For me, stalking visible steelhead on shallow rivers and casting flies to them is as good as it gets, and I made a living for 10 years guiding fly fishermen to good catches using some of the following methods.

•One thing to remember is that experience on the water is necessary. I've taken beginning anglers, and under my tutelage, had them catching steelhead the first day. They thought the fish were easy to catch.

•The problem with fly fishing is that people are in a big rush. They want fish now, and bail off the river bank, go splashing into the clear river and spook fish off spawning beds. They then wonder why they can't catch anything.

•Forget about wading up or down the river, and spend more time on the river bank looking for fish. Walk slowly, stop often and study the water through polarized sunglasses. It's a method much like still-hunting deer, and if they try to rush the process, they fish spook. The deer run away and the steelhead swim into the log jams.

•Slow down – way down -- and take your time. My toughest problem when guiding steelhead fishermen was curbing their enthusiastic impatience. This old method worked back in the 1960s and it still works now providing people follow some easily understood rules.

Don't get into the river until a fish is found. Avoid splashing around.

•Stay out of the water unless casting to visible fish. Don't become another stupid fisherman that wades downstream and spooks every steelhead around. Barring a quick warm-up, snowmelt and run-off, anglers have at least four to six weeks before steelhead numbers begin moving upstream. Use this time period to study these tactics, memorize them and use them this spring.

•Instead of wading downstream, walk the bank, stop, start and look for fish. Use any available cover and a successful stalk may take 15-30 minutes to move close enough for a short and accurate cast.

•Wear a billed cap, pull it low over Polarized sunglasses, and pause frequently to study the water. A fresh-run mint-silver female is most difficult to spot in the water, and sometimes all that can be seen is a shadow. Males are darker colored, and their gaudy gill covers and cheeks are easily seen. Don't look for the whole fish; often all you'll see is a tail, a white mouth or a shadow apparently moving across the bottom.

•Watch the fish and study them. If they are going on and off the bed, it means they are spooky. Relax, take your time, and wait until the hen starts rolling up on her side and the male fertilizes the eggs with a jet of white milt. Remember, if nothing else: never fish for the female; try only for male fish.

Fish only for male (buck) steelhead.

•Why, you ask?
It's easy to figure out. There are usually more males than females, If you spook a female, it will dash away and hide. If there is no hen present, there is no reason for males to hang around.

•Which fly to use?
The old philosophy is always a good bet. Use bright attractor patterns on bright days, and dark patterns on overcast days. Use a tippet or leader testing six pounds, and perfect your accuracy somewhere other than on the river. Plop a fly down on top of a fish and it will spook. Carry several bright and dark patterns in sizes No. 4, 6 and 8, and experiment with them.

•Ease slowly into the water and move softly without splashing the water or crunching gravel underfoot. If the fish start moving back and forth, stop, remain still, and wait for them to resume spawning. Take your time, and ease gently into casting position. It can take a long time, and I've spent hours trying to catch a gaudy buck steelhead. This method requires constant attention to detail, great patience and accurate casts. Don't try to hurry things.

•Study the water current and depth. The fly must be cast far enough upstream to be scratching gravel when it comes to the male. If the female hits the fly. do nothing. Hook and fight the female, and all the males will disappear. Hook a male, and it's not uncommon to catch two or three fish without unduly spooking the hen or harming the resource.

•The fly must ease past his nose. Set up a rhythmic casting pace; cast upstream past the male, strip in line as the fly drifts downstream, and once it passes the male, lift the fly out and cast again. Cast, strip line, ease the fly past his nose, lift it out and cast again. Use a hook hone to sharpen hook points. They soon get dull when bouncing over gravel.

•The male will often move out of the way of a fly. Repetitive casting angers the fish, and they will often hit. Watch the fish's head, and when it moves two or three inches when the fly is near, it has the fly and is moving it out of the bed. Set the hook. If you wait for a hard strike, you'll never hook a spawning spring steelhead.

Don't wade up and down the rivers and spook fish.

Common courtesy has its place on a spring steelhead stream. If you spot an angler up ahead casting to bedded fish, walk wide around the area away from the bank. Don't wade up or down the river past him and spook his fish. If you are fishing to bedded fish, and see an angler coming, holler and politely ask them to make a wide detour around you and the fish. People with common sense will do so. Stupid people with no manners will not!

Those who never had any brains or too little fetching up will ignore your request. A steelhead isn't worth getting into a fight over, but I've seen days when I wish I'd taken those Charles Atlas courses offered when I was a kid.

This is just one of many steelhead techniques but it happens to be my favorite, and in the future, we'll share other methods that produce. But one thing to remember is to learn something new every day.

It's hard to do, but trust me. Unspooked steelhead are much easier to catch than those that have been dodging snag hooks, clumsy wading, and people who care nothing about the rights of other people. Too many folks want a steelhead at any cost, and as quickly as possible, but they have no clue about how to go about catching them.

Patience, fly presentation and good timing are three keys to spring steelhead fishing success.

Remembering early bow hunts

Locating big bucks became a habit but not all fell to my arrows.

Every now and then my mind carries me back to the so-called "good old days." Everything seemed larger than life when we were kids, and first getting involved in hunting was a big deal.

I can't recall the year of my first bow hunt, but I had an old recurve that I used. It seemed as if that bow was as tall as I was, but that is the fun part of remembering things from about 60 years ago. Our mind sometimes plays tricks on us.

My thoughts take me back to an era when very few people hunted with a long or recurve bow. This was long before the first compound bow was invented, and I remember trying to find straight wooden arrow shafts. Some were as crooked as a snake.

Things were much different 50-60 years ago.

Constant practice was needed to keep muscles toned for a quick draw, an even faster aim, and a sure release. There were no tree stands in those days, and the only rubber boots we owned were four- or five-buckle Arctics that were worn during winter months.

The deer seemed much larger back then than now. Of course, I suspect that was because I was smaller, and our size difference was a result of being a teenager.

Most of the hunting in those days came during the traditional November 15-30 firearm season. Blaze or Hunter Orange clothing wasn't worn in those days for one simple reason: it hadn't been invented yet.

Most of us wore green-and-black or red-and-black checked wool coats and pants. Ours were often hand-me-downs from an older brother or friend, and sometimes we hunted in whatever clothing we had. We knew about dressing in layers, and often wore everything we owned to stay reasonably warm.

We never worried much about human scent, and seldom took any precautions about hunting the wind. Many hunters simply walked into the woods, found a stump or uprooted tree to sit on, and would watch where two or three deer trails came together. If they happened to choose a downwind position, they might shoot a deer if they could sit still and not spook the animal.

Studying deer became my No. 1 practice while hunting.

I was fascinated by whitetails in those days. I'd often go hunting. It soon dawned on me that if I was upwind of deer, I seldom got a shot. My education had begun.

One of the first things I learned was to hunt the wind. I learned that a hunter downwind of a whitetail buck was seldom winded. I learned to hunt deeper in the thick cover so I'd have a chance at a buck before the guys lined up outside of the woods would see deer. Another lesson quickly learned.

It didn't take long for me to learn that a long bow or recurve wasn't made for long-distance shots, and I found most of the bucks I shot were between 10 and 15 yards away. I became an instinctive shooter because there were few sights in those days. I drew back, aimed down the arrow shaft at the buck, and when the sight picture looked right, I made my release. After time, those shots often killed that buck.

There are memories of scouting for deer. It was easy to find the main runways, and I avoided other hunters as if they had smallpox. The more hunters in an area, the greater the chance of the accumulated noise and human scent spooking deer long before dawn arrived.

So I hunted deeper in the thick cover, planned my adventure with teenage expectations, and studied deer. I wanted to learn all I could about these animals, because deep down inside, I knew that the more a hunter knew about whitetail deer, the better success they would have.

I hunted deer at every opportunity during the open seasons.

Weekends, holidays, days off from work, all would find me in the woods. I spent countless days studying them from afar, and many of those lessons I learned as a teenager are still being practiced today.

Hunting deer is much more than a casual thing to me. It is something I happily admit to being addicted to. Spending time in the woods, studying and watching deer, is as much a part of my scouting procedures as it was 50 years ago.

Perhaps the bucks were bigger back then, and perhaps they weren't, but it makes little difference now. The good old days didn't occur six decades ago, they are here today. Lots of deer doesn't make the deer hunting better. Hunting one buck, and concentrating one's entire efforts on that single animal, is what makes hunting so much fun.

After all of these years there is nothing better than going one on one with a whitetail buck. If he makes a mistake, you'll get a shot. If you make a mistake, chances are good you'll never know he was nearby.

For me, that's what makes hunting whitetails with a bow, such a worthwhile endeavor. Outwitting a deer means either acquiring a great amount of information about the game you seek or you are carrying a luck rabbit’s foot in your pocket.

Sadly, luck never played a very important part in my bow-hunting career.