My Mistress and I

Jim Low (right) presents the Jade of Chiefs Award. A humbling acceptance speech.
photos c. Tom Ulrich ©2012

 

CHENA HOT SPRINGS, ALASKA -- OK, it’s true confession time. I have a mistress, and have had for 44 years. There, I feel better getting that off my chest.

She’s not some cute woman 25 years my junior. My wife knows about her, all of our  friends know this little secret, and they know I’ll do whatever she asks of me if it is possible. It’s been this way for more than four decades, and I’m actually proud of my actions.

Whoa! What’s up with this? Richey is publicly confessing to having a mistress. Well, yes, I am doing so and freely admit it.

All of this is just my reason for being what and who I am.

My mistress is an organization. Her nickname is OWAA, which stands for the Outdoor Writers Association of America. We began as just friends back in 1968 when I was much slimmer, had blond hair, and was more tidy than now.

I’d began writing outdoor magazine articles in 1967, and seemed to have a way with words. Magazines bought the first six pieces I wrote, and two went to Sports Afield. I figured this was so easy I should have started writing in high school.

The good times lasted as long as those first six stories, and then I smashed headfirst into the brick wall of magazine rejection slips. My first six stories were something of a tease, and despite the rejections, I felt head over heels in love.

Writing was all I could think about, and even though I had some natural talent, I had to learn how to write saleable copy. That took more time than I earlier believed was possible, and after several years, my reputation began to build. Magazines began to come to me, and sales increased.

My first three-year term on the Board of Directors as a great experience.

With increased sales, my reputation began to grow, and as time went on, I ran for the OWAA Board of Directors. I wasn’t nominated, but 20 people thought enough of me to sign a petition and in time I became a Board member. After three years, I got an Outstanding Board member award and was kissed goodbye.

I then ran for the Board again after a year off, and yet again had to gain 20 signatures to get on the ballot. Again I was elected a board member, and again three years passed, and then I said goodbye for another two years, and was re-elected as a Board member the third time, somethng that has happened only twice in OWAA history.

I served on my mistress’ Board of Directors for a total of nine years, ran for 3rd vice-president several times, but was never elected. It seemed my mistress had other plans for me, and over many years I served on many ad hoc and standing committees. If memory serves me right, I served on nearly 50 different committees over four decades.

Somewhere along the way, I was rocked to my sox by being awarded the J. Hammond Brown Award, for many years of continuous service to my mistress. With the Ham Brown comes a lifetime membership. She and other Board members thought enough of me to give me this award.

I was deeply honored, and nine years later she blessed me with the Excellence in Craft Award, which meant a great to me because I came to feel my mistress was again paying tribute to my work. Sometime shortly after, an article was written about me in OWAA’s Outdoors Unlimited newsletter, and it called me a Legendary Writer. Now, my friends, that’s some pretty heady stuff.

Other honors had a deep and meaningful effect on me.

After another nine years of service to my mistress, and after a long flight to Fairbanks, Alaska earlier this month, the angels smiled again. This time, dressed in jeans, baseball cap, jacket and scruffy beard, I hobbled up the podium steps while leaning on my stick, and was presented yet another prestigious OWAA award – the Jade Of Chiefs Award by Jim Low, a past recipient of the award and a past president.

If I’m correct, I am the 44th recipient of this award since it’s inception in 1958. It is not awarded every year, and in my wildest dreams, I’d come to believe that this award wasn’t to be. It isn’t given by OWAA, but given by other living OWAA recipients to honor a person by affirmation of OWAA adherence to, and support of, the principles of conservation. It is the highest conservation award among outdoor writer’s groups.

It puts me in with some pretty heady and influential past and present writers. Past recipients include such worthies as

• Arthur Carhart
• Henry P. Davis
• Nash Buckingham
• Roger Latham
• Homer Circle
• John Madson
• George Laycock
• Karl Maslowski
• Ed Zern
• George Harrison
• George Reiger
• Ted Williams (not the baseball star)
• Joel Vance
• Erwin Bauer
• Leonard Lee Rue III
• Charlie Elliott
• Grits Gresham
• Michael Furtman
• Tony Dean
• Greg Patterson
• Rich Patterson
• Chris Madson
• Jim Low

and many others that I have known over the years.

These members had a terrific impact on how I approached conservation issues.

This award was granted for a wealth of conservation stories I had written for The Detroit News, and during my freelance career. A 13-part series on profit poaching in Michigan brought this problem to the forefront. Other stories including an 18-part series about the need for increased study on state black bear numbers, and more positive studies on this animal. I covered Indian Treaty Rights and negotiations from both sides, fought hard for a dove season that lasted only one year, and many other resource management stories.

My 44-year affair with my mistress, and 36 years with my lovely wife Kay, has brought me many highs in my lifetime. It hasn’t all been fun, and that’s one of the things about life we must accept, but I consider my life and career to be the best thing that has ever happened to me.

My long-term friendship with these and many other writers have been a joy to my life. I’ve mentored many beginning writers over the years in hopes they carry the literary torch for conservation in the future, and it’s all been a great and wonderful time.

My life as an outdoor writer has become the model for my professional career. Honestly, I must admit to being one of the luckiest and most humbled men men in the world. And I also admit that my wife, and my mistress, are greatly responsible to me being what I am today.

May God bless and smile kindly on all present, and all who have blessed me with their friendship. Your obedient servant. -- David J. Richey

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Do human thought waves spook deer

My wife Kay knows how to shoot bucks. A quartering-away shot
photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

You may have read this before because I've posted it a few times over nine years. If so, revisit it, determine for yourself how it may apply to your hunting techniques.

Ever see a buck coming through the woods and suddenly it flees for no apparent reason?  Have you ever had a doe stop upwind of your stand, snort, blow, stomp her foot and run off even though the wind was right and you hadn't moved.

Sure you have. It happens to everyone on occasion. What follows may disturb some hunters, could cause other sportsmen to wonder if this topic is true, and if so, how does it happen?

New hunters arrive on the scene every year, and probably haven't read this before or missed it when it was published years ago. It needs to be revisited every so often.

Trust me on this: This topic will be a quantum leap for some deer hunters when they read it. I've stated my opinions at deer-hunting seminars I've given over many years, and some folks sit in total disbelief. They look as if they've been sucker-punched.

Don't stop reading just yet. These thoughts, if you accept and think logically about the topic, may make you a better deer hunter. We'll be talking about your mental rather than physical actions.

My many years of testing this theory

It's not important that hunters believe as I do, but over 40-plus years I've tested this theory on countless occasions in many scattered locations. Each time it is tested, the result is the same. I strongly believe what follows to be true, and all I expect of readers is to study and decide if they believe and trust it.

Know this before we go any further. There is much that modern science doesn't know about the brain, brain waves, and how it affects people and many of the wild animals we hunt.

My thoughts on spooking deer

Here goes: I believe, being a very capable and deep thinking predator, that deer -- especially does -- can sense the presence of danger without the benefit of movement, noise, scent or other stimuli. I once hunted mountain lions in northern Arizona, and my guide told me the reason he feels cougars kill mostly mule deer bucks is because those deer are so full of themselves they act and feel immune to danger.

They are not alert or attuned to the presence of danger. Does, on the other hand, are constantly alert to the possibility of nearby predators as they try to protect their fawns from predation.

My thoughts are pretty straightforward. I believe that thinking hard about killing an incoming buck or doe can transfer some type of danger signal to the animals. Are human thoughts carried by brain waves? Do these vibes, for lack of a better description, throw out a silent alarm that does can pick it up much easier than bucks?

Clear your mind of all predatory thoughts

I never think, after spotting an incoming buck or doe that I am going to shoot that animal. My brain stays in neutral, idling without conscious thought. I purposely avoid thinking about shooting and killing the animal. I may and often do spend that time thinking about my next article to be written.

My belief is to never stare at a buck or doe. Looking into a deer's eyes seems to allow that animal to feel or sense human presence. My thoughts remain neutral, and when I draw, aim and shoot, I'm concentrating on my aiming point but am not thinking about killing the animal.

Testing this theory over many years has proven informative. My normal hunting method is to allow my eyes to sweep over the deer without lingering on any part of its head or body. It's easy to establish the animal is a buck if antlers are visible, and that data is stored in my mind. I know it is a buck but no longer think about it, and I never dwell on such thoughts, which I feel are counterproductive.

Instead, I think about going hunting the next night, which stand may be productive under the current wind direction, or I'll recall something that has nothing whatever to do with hunting. I could just as easily think about painting the basement walls, which is a horrid thought, even when trying to fool a nice buck.

My main train of nonviolent thoughts

However, my mind knows why I'm out there, and that is to possibly shoot a buck or doe. However, my mind focuses on another thought or topic, or on nothing at all, and when it tells me it's time to shoot, the bow is drawn, the red-dot settles behind the front shoulder and the arrow is gone before my mind tells my finger to shoot.

The deer never senses a threat or any unease. It doesn't feel my predatory instincts coming its way, and the deer remains relaxed. Calm and cool thoughts or even not thinking at all is far preferable than telling yourself that the shot will go through its lungs and heart. That may happen, but if you don't think hard on it, I'm convinced the deer will not bolt unless you move or make a sound at the wrong time.

On the other hand, I've often thought about killing the buck as a specific test. I'll think: Here comes a buck, and look at those antlers. My eyes scan the bone on the buck's head, and then I look at its eyes, and then strongly focus my attention on the heart-lung area.

The buck, suddenly alert, turns his head to look around. My eyes lock on his, a predator against a nice buck. His head turns slowly away, and I come to full draw, think about driving the arrow into the chest cavity, and at about that time, the animal suddenly bolts off in panicked flight.

There has been no noise or sudden movements on my part, and no way the deer could smell me. But my thoughts were keenly focused on shooting that animal, and perhaps this comes from my many years of hunting experience and shooting many deer. Perhaps my vibes are stronger than those of others who have largely been unsuccessful.

A human example to illustrate my point

Think of it this way. I no longer drink, but back in the day, my entering a bar was always an experience. If I were a stranger, I'd immediately sense the vibes of other people looking at me, and then would come a strong feeling that someone was staring intently in my direction. With practiced determination, my eyes would scan the room until the person staring at me was located.

It was then I'd size up the situation. Is this a friendly person or one who wants to put knuckle bumps on my noggin? If I sensed agitation or aggressive hostility, I'd turn and walk out while it was possible. It's the same thing with deer. Flight is always preferable to fight.

An example of street smarts

In some areas they often say a person has "street smarts." Why. Pray tell, don't deer have "woods smarts?" They do, and their instincts are more finely honed toward survival than yours or mine.

If deer sense danger, however it is transmitted to them, it becomes an instinctive reaction. It's like an adrenaline rush: it triggers the fight or flight response. Deer don't grow large antlers by ignoring these little niggling feelings. I draw the line at granting deer human-like qualities, but am convinced these animals can pick up hostile vibes from someone trying to shoot it with a bow, which are invariably close shots.

Deer can do the same thing, as humans although how they process this invisible information is an unknown factor. Years ago, while shooting some of the deer photos needed for stories, the deer would hear the shutter click, look around, and nothing happened. Minutes later another photo or two would be taken, and the deer would become used to the noise. Nothing happens, and they would soon relax.

It's strange but deer seem to sense when a hunter or photographer means no harm, and while an old doe may go charging off, if they are not unduly alarmed, they often return within minutes.

Deer that may sense a hunter intent on shooting them can get as freaky as a mule deer doe when she suspects the presence of a nearby cougar. She doesn't want her or her fawns to be dinner, and will take whatever evasive actions are needed to avoid the predator

Bucks, on the other hand, seem unaware of danger unless it picks up some predatory vibes, catches a whiff of human odor or sees some movement. Often, if a doe spooks and runs off, a nearby buck may do the same thing without feeling any sense of danger.

This is where it becomes extremely important to remain in a non-predatory mind-set. Think about killing, and things can quickly change and game can vanish without a shot being taken.

A quick recap

Never look deer in the eye, never think about shooting them, scan past the animal, never put a lingering stare on the deer, and if I'm about to shoot, my mind is emptied of all predatory thoughts. Ninety-five percent (or more) of the deer that have fallen to my arrows were dead before they knew their lives were in danger.

I repeat: it's not necessary you believe this, and hunters can continue to hunt as they choose. However, when I hunt, my purpose is to get close to deer, never get them excited, and if the right buck comes by, I'll take the shot. Cougars hunt the same way and they are far more deadly predators than most humans.

It's quite likely this may be the most radical bit of deer hunting lore you'll read this year. I'm not trying to change your hunting style or your mind-set, but ask you to consider an alternative line of thinking when deer approach. Many of the key hunters in North America, if pinned to the floor with a hammerlock, will agree with these thoughts. All I'm taking is your time (the line from an old song) and my hopes are you'll give this the mental consideration it deserves.

Feel free to share your thoughts. Do you agree or disagree? Your comments, please. Contact me at dave@daverichey.com. Thanks for your time spent reading this. Give it some thought, and you may or may not disagree.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Missing my twin brother

George Richey (both photos) landing and holding a big king salmon
photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

September 10 is a day I won’t likely forget. It’s the first day of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula black bear season, but that’s not why I remember it even though I’ve shot a bear on that day on several occasions.

Yesterday was the ninth anniversary of my twin brother George’s death. It happened nine years ago. He was taken ill and learned he had seven different kinds of cancer, and four days later died in Traverse City’s Munson Hospital.

He faced his impending death bravely, didn’t quibble about the outcome he knew was coming, and greeted death on an optimistic note. I lay in his hospital bed, clinging to him while staring at the heart monitor. The flat line seemed meaningless because of the gravity of his various cancers. It simply spelled an end to a great life.

He didn’t fear death but embraced it

You see, George and I began steelhead fishing many years ago in the early 1950s, and we traipsed all over the Upper and Lower peninsulas in search of steelhead once we became old enough to drive. We were always together in the early years, and we could read each other’s mind. He could start a sentence and I could finish it. Twins often have such gifts.

We both loved the same things. First it was steelhead, and then jumbo brown trout in numerous locations, and then salmon came along in the mid-1960s. George jumped on the lure bandwagon by manufacturing a wide variety of Michigan Squids, Michigan Sparkle Flies and other trolling flies for salmon.

George’s son – Casey Richey of Frankfort – has taken over the fly business, and has expanded on many of his father’s ideas. Casey held the brown trout state record for a short time before it was beat by a larger fish caught in the Manistee River.

George had a long run with his lure business, and lived to age 63. He died just five months after I retired from The Detroit News as their staff outdoor writer-photographer, We made plans for countless fishing and hunting trips, and we both looked forward to retracing our earlier study of Lake Superior tributaries for steelhead.

We’d planned a more leisurely assault on such rivers as the Big Two Hearted, Huron, Middle Branch of the Ontonagon, Mosquito, and many others that we’d fished in the late 1960s. We’d planned a pilgrimage to the Rock River for pink salmon as we’d done in the early 1970s.

He had caught more than his share of Chinook and coho salmon during our 1967-1976 guiding career on Lake Michigan tributaries, and during his lengthy career in the lure business. He also tied fishing flies for added income, and came up with several flies that he formulated to work on clear and dark-watered streams.

George had a great deal of fun with big salmonids but he and I shared a secret love for back-of-beyond jump-across creeks and silt-laden beaver ponds for brook trout, and wee little ponds and lakes for bluegills.

He loved small fish as well, and loved bluegills and brook trout

He didn’t share in my love of big game hunting, but he would go on such trips just so we could share another memorable event together. He shot mule deer and whitetails in Texas, was on a one-shot big whitetail hunt in Quebec where we saw only one whitetail over a four-day hunt. He shot two caribou in northern Quebec, and one was a cow caribou, which he proclaimed, as “having a bigger spread than any whitetail he ever shot. That netted him a good razzing from others in camp, but George didn’t care.

“If they are picking on me,” George said, “they are leaving someone else alone.”

That was George. Many people knew him, everyone liked him, and those who knew him through his lure collecting, admired the depth of his research for his books Made In Michigan Lures and Made In Michigan Lures II. Both editions are available from me, and the first edition is rare and very collectible.

He was a picker. He could look through a mountain of old lures, often a pile that had been picked by another collector, and find the proverbial diamond in a coal mine. His skill at uncovering old Michigan-made fishing lures was legendary. His skill at identifying old Michigan-made lures was an enviable one.

In many respects, George was a legend in his own time. Not only as a fly tier, fishing lure maker, fishing guide, angling and lure historian as well as an outdoor writer.

George Richey had many loves and most of all were his old lures

Brother George and I grew up in a little town north of Flint (Clio) and moved north after years of barbering in Clio and Flint. He was a well-known hunter and angler, and many people came to pick his brain on a variety of topics.

He liked people, people cared for him, and he made a lasting impression on others. Readers often write me to ask if George and I were related, and when they learned we were twins, they didn’t know how there really could be two of us.

We were proud of being twins, and we each praised the other when such praise was needed. He’s gone now, but will never be forgotten by me or those who knew him, and I guess I may now  have to do the steelhead assault on the Upper Peninsula streams alone. It just won’t be the same without him but it will give us something new to talk about  when I meet him again up yonder.

I still miss him and that empty hole in my heart is where he lives.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

A lifetime of steelhead fishing

A buck steelhead hovering over a spring spawning bed
photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

A friend stopped by the other day with a buddy of his. The other gent wanted to meet me, and have a discussion about steelhead fishing.

It began mildly enough when we shook hands, and we made small talk for a few minutes. Then, in a burst of what seemed like pent-up anger, he questioned me about my steelhead fishing.

"You've written that you have caught 100 steelhead in one day, and another time you wrote that you'd probably landed nearly 10,000 steelhead in your life," he said. "I think both statements are a crock. No one can catch that many steelhead these days."

Mind you, this dude was a guest in my home. I didn't take kindly to his ranting insults, and that I might be lying.

I agree that he was probably right. It would be most difficult, if not impossible, these days to catch 1,000 steelhead in a lifetime. I also added that he must have missed something from both stories he had read. I learned long ago that people read what they want to read into a story, and then want to argue their mistakes when they are wrong.

"First of all, Bud, I wrote that two of us caught 100 steelhead in one day, and will gladly introduce you to the other man who has a much shorter fuse than mine," I said in an even voice. "Call him or me a liar, and you'll find a rocky time ahead."

"But ... but," he stammered. And I then told him it's not polite to interrupt someone when they are speaking. He quickly shut up.

I explained that the 100-fish day happened over 25 years ago, on a cold and snowy day with lots of wind, and most steelhead fishermen were home or working. We happened to find a big school of fish, and it seemed as none had eaten in a month. Every orange-colored fly we pitched to them resulted in a strike.

We quit fishing once with nearly 60 fish that we had caught and released unharmed. We went for breakfast, checked another stream, and headed back to the hotspot for a second round. We were up to about 85 fish when my buddy fell, got soaking wet and headed for the car and some welcome heat.

I envied him but there were more fish to hook

I stuck with it, caught what it took to hit 100 fish, and kept only one small male steelie that inhaled a fly through his mouth and was hooked in the gills from the inside. The fish was bleeding heavily and would die so I kept it.

And then, catching approximately 10,000 steelhead. I'm 73 now, and began steelhead fishing at age 11. By the time I was 15, I was catching between 100 and 200 steelies each year, and that was from the Sturgeon River between Indian River and Wolverine. Mind you, that was back in the early to mid-1950s.

By the time I was 18 in 1957, I was fishing even more often, and the fish numbers shot up to about 300 steelhead per year. Some of those fish were caught during a "temperature run" caused by Burt Lake fish seeking comfort in the cooler river water. Competition? There wasn't any.

By my mid-20s, I was fishing steelhead along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Favorite streams were the Betsie, Little Manistee and Platte rivers, and those rivers held lots of fish and very few anglers.

It was really amazing, and seldom would I keep a fish. I would have six or eight 30-fish days each year, and always put the fish back. A quick, hard fight, and a swift release and no harm to the fish.

I began guiding salmon and steelhead fishermen in 1967 when the spawning runs first began, and my clients cared nothing about steelhead. Everyone wanted salmon, so I'd give them lessons and once they learned how to cast, I'd "go check for other hot-spots." I always carried my Black Beauty fly rod, and I always looked for steelhead holding downstream of spawning salmon where they gobbled free-drifting salmon eggs.

Those fish were always caught and released, and I'd return often to check on my people and lead them to new batches of salmon. I guided for 10 years, spring and fall, and not once did my clients go home without a limit of fish. Not only was I the first fly-fishing wading guide in the state for anadromous browns, salmon and steelhead, but I pioneered this fishing and developed many of the tactics in common use today.

Whenever I had a free day, I would check rivers to keep track of the runs, and the best way to do that was to fish. There were countless days, especially in November and December when the rivers were full of steelhead and everyone else was deer hunting, working or at home, close to some heat. Those months can be brutal on a steelhead stream.

I could easily say I personally landed 400 to 500 steelhead each year during my guiding years, which would mean 4,000 to 5,000 fish during those 10 years. One also must remember the limit back then was five fish daily, and seldom a day passed without catching a limit. Again, perhaps 99 percent of those fish were released.

Steelhead laying on a spawning bed
photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

Fish only for male fish

One also must remember that the big push by the Michigan Steelheader’s group really didn't get underway until the mid-1970s. Back then, people who had caught three or four steelhead in a lifetime were introducing their friends to the sport.

High steelhead numbers held through the early 1980s, and although I no longer was guiding, I was still fishing hard in the spring and fall. It was great: I'd fish for steelhead in the morning, and bow hunt for whitetails in the afternoon and early evening. It was great fun.

Do I know precisely how many steelhead I've landed? It was well over 8,000 steelhead by 1976 when I quit guiding. I know I've caught well over 2,000 fish since then, and if it hasn't reached 10,000 by now, I'd be very surprised.

I'd consider myself a fish hog and poacher if I'd kept everything I caught, but nearly all fish were released after a fast, spirited fight. Most spring steelhead are soft-fleshed and not tasty, and they don't freeze well. I only fished for male steelies in the spring, and never bothered fishing for the females. I avoided hooking the hens.

Nowadays, with my vision problems, I don't fish steelies as hard or nearly as often as I once did, and that is a good thing. Bowlers become expert by rolling 20 games or more each week, and steelhead fishermen become better anglers by fishing daily.

I courteously ushered the head-shaking gent to the door and on his way. I don't know if he believed any of this or not, and it really doesn't matter. All I know is that for many years the numbers of river steelhead far outnumbered the anglers who were qualified to fish for and catch them.

Those who could, did. Those who couldn't, bad-mouthed the hot sticks. There's nothing new about jealousy among anglers.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Come along on an outdoor adventure

A nice king salmon caught in early fall on a Michigan Squid
photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

The above title asks a good question, and it's been tossed my way for nearly nine years by many readers. My answer is invariably the same: why not?

Anglers and hunters can understand a column, which is nothing more than a bit of self-indulgence plus some solid fishing or hunting experience and information. Columns are about what I think, feel, do, believe in, rant against, etc.

The same thing can be said about a blog. A blog (short for weblog) is a daily journal of sorts. It covers the wide range of my daily emotions, and how I look at things through a bleary and somewhat biased or jaundiced eye. You may sense a touch of anger, animosity, joy, sorrow or other human emotions. My feelings on a wide variety of things is never far from the surface nor am I adverse to bluntly speaking my mind.

I've been writing a daily weblog since I retired from The News

You'll almost always feel my love for the environment, the animals, birds and fish that we hunt or try to catch, and you'll feel my sense of betrayal and delusion when some sorry dude levels perfectly wonderful wildlife habitat and then builds a shopping mall or hard-scrabble subdivision.

Readers will read my unabashed feelings on brook trout that invariably turn me on in their watery little trickles, and the litter that invariably turns me off when I must look at it. You'll note, hopefully with a righteous indignation like mine, when I bare my soul about the destruction of an ever-decreasing amount of wild land.

Hopefully, you'll share my glee when the DNR does something really great or get ticked off when they continue to do something utterly stupid like depriving you and me of the opportunity to obtain private-land turkey permits in Region II while granting such permits to people in the Upper Peninsula and southern Lower Peninsula.

My blog runs daily except when something happens to my computer

My weblog runs daily, and I've only missed a few days since November, 2003, and then only because some piece of crud hacked my website. My archives are available to one and all, and I urge readers to dust off some of them and see what you've missed.

You'll share my pain when my beloved twin brother George died on Sept. 10, 2003. You'll get as excited as I did when catching a 30-pound muskie, writing about the Christmas Tree Bomber, and other true tales. I invite you to walk with me when we go into a bear swamp for a hunt, and what is even more fun, when we walk out in the darkness. Jump into my tree stand as we bow-hunt for whitetails, and whisper in my ear when it's time to shoot a dandy buck or tell me to draw down on him and let up, giving him a life he could have lost had I shot.

Come along as we wade belly-deep into an area steelhead stream during those cold March days, and grab the net when we slug it out with hefty Chinook salmon in the fall. Let's take a walleye fishing trip on Long or Platte lakes, a bluegill outing to Arbutus Lake, and we can trudge through the January snow in search of cottontails and snowshoe hares.

Sharing the outdoor life with each other

Do you feel up to laying flat on the ground as Canada geese hover overhead, honking loudly, as our belly muscles tighten and we lever our way to a sitting and shooting position? Is there anyone out there who doesn't thrill to the loud and clattering flush of a ruffed grouse as the October dew dries on the ready-to-fall golden leaves?

Does any upland gunner fail to rejoice to the towering flight of woodcock as they dart and twist ever upward out of the alders before quickly plummeting to earth before we can swing and shoot

Calling predators with that high-pitched squeal of a dying rabbit is a heap of fun during the winter months as the coyote darts out of a thicket, and begins circling to a downwind location. We know a shot may be possible but it's nerve wracking to watch the animal close in on a spot straight downwind. Will we get a shot?

Fishing and hunting has been a major part of my life for more than 60 of my 73 years, and I eagerly await each new season and every new adventure. You ask me: why do I write a daily weblog?

I write because I have a strong need within me to do so. There is a deep need to write, and a need to share my love of fishing and hunting with my readers. I don't have to write for the money although I wish this blog and website paid more; instead, writing about the outdoors makes me feel good, makes me feel whole and helps smooth out all the rough spots in my life.

You and me, we can go places and do things. We can discover new places to fish or hunt, and learn more about what pulls us ever onward to another wonderful outdoor adventure. People who stay indoors, and watch idiotic game shows on television have my sincere sympathy.

Me, I'd rather be outdoors with a bow or rod in my hand and enjoying all that nature has to offer. How about you?

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

From nature to a parking lot

A black bear near Traverse City eating summer berries
photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

Are you a giver or a taker? It's a simple question that goes far beyond a one-word yes or no answer.

The bottom line here, in the event that this question may come as a big surprise to some of my faithful readers, is very simple. Do you take more from your fishing or hunting trips and your living area, than you put back?

The purchase of a fishing or a hunting license grants us nothing more than an opportunity to legally fish or hunt. It is a privilege but not a guaranteed right. It promises opportunities, not limit catch or a heavy game bag.

Anglers and hunters pay their way; What do others do; They take

In days of old, when knights were bold, the landowner owned the fish and game. They also owned the river water that flowed through their property, and Heaven help those pesky peasants who poached one of the king's red stags, a brown trout or Atlantic salmon.

The human population was far less 300 or more years ago than now, and peasants were kept in their places and ruled with an iron fist. People caught poaching were severely punished, and any fish or game they may have taken was confiscated.

Things are much different now. We have flowing springs, but bottled-water plants are tapping into the underground aquifers. They are taking water but putting nothing back. There are developers ready to quickly fill wetlands, and they operate on the premise that it's easier to say "I'm sorry" and ask for forgiveness later, if caught, than to ask for and be granted permission first.

These are trying times, and everyone wants and needs some outdoor recreation. We need to smell the roses, but what will happen when the roses stop growing?

What will happen when former trout streams become a mere trickle before drying up because a bottling plant has shipped our water out of state for corporate profit, and the trout have disappeared because bottlers have drained and sold our water? What about the ducks that once inhabited the wetlands or the bullfrogs that croaked all night

How many people are speaking out to state governors? Are you standing up to face big business, and asking the hard questions: Is sale of our water right?

What happens to Great Lakes water when Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas want our water? What will be done then? Hopefully, compacts already in place limit such water withdrawals but those who do not care are greedily trying to circumvent those laws.

What about urban sprawl in our area and car-choked streets

Who among us is speaking out about urban sprawl in the Traverse City area? Or near Charlevoix? Or in the Petoskey-Harbor Springs area? Cadillac is another area primed for a push from those who wish to move north to what they perceive as paradise in northern Michigan.

How many people are willing to take a few minutes from their busy lives to ask why? Why is state government allowing this to happen? Why are cities like Detroit becoming an empty maze of cluttered and unsafe streets, boarded up crack houses, and why have 1.2 million people fled Detroit over the past 20 years? Why is the same thing happening in Flint and other cities around this state?

When will we get rid of all the crooks in government? Books have been written about Kwame Kilpatrick, who followed the lead of former Detroit mayor Coleman Young. The city was just something to be looted for personal game. They caught Kilpatrick, tossed him in the clink, but whatever they do to crooked politicians isn't enough.

One needs to look no farther than some politicians. Consider Kwame Kilpatrick and his sordid text messages and political hi-jinks. He stacked some time in the can, but not nearly long enough for someone who profited while the city he was paid to protect teetered on the edge of death and total collapse, a city where crime runs rampant.

I ask: What will become of our open fields, marshlands, hardwoods and conifers that now provide cover for game and non-game animals and birds here in northern Michigan? Has anyone paid attention to the downsizing of Michigan's deer herd? The marked decrease in snowshoe hares and some game birds?

How about those rivers where salmon and trout were once plentiful? Those rivers don't support the same number of salmonids as they once did, and  they may never regain their great popularity as world-class steelhead waters.

What about our Department of Natural Resources, a state agency nearly as financially bankrupt as the entire state? When people lose their jobs in downstate factories, they often move north. Acre by acre, day after day, our land is being gobbled up, paved over and otherwise desecrated.

The answers are not nice but they are easy to answer. We're talking about an excessive loss of habitat. We're talking greedy businessmen. How, I wonder, can Exxon and other gas companies declare such huge profits for shareholders while the average person was breaking his back trying to stay afloat when gasoline was over $4 per gallon? We have Medicare programs that no one understands, and skyrocketing prescription drug prices. It's bureaucracy at its worst.

More people help increase the price of gas in some cases

Granted, what has happened in the past several years to our deer herd is not easy to cope with. But take a hard look at some of the problems.

Urban sprawl is eating away at land necessary for deer to live. People move north, buy five or 10 acres of paradise, and disrupt deer travel routes. Homes are built where deer crossed roads. As more people move in, buy land, the terrain becomes even more fragmented. The deer soon disappear to another area that has yet to be exploited.

People see bears where they've never been seen bruins before. The animals need a place to live, but humans have taken over. We own 20 acres we bought 30 years ago, and admit that we may have contributed to the problem. However, we did it long before the big push to move north came about. Traverse City was a nice and quaint northern town on the water.

Now, some surrounding areas harbor sex monsters in some of our local schools. Six such people were named in today's issue of the Traverse City Record-Eagle <record-eagle.com> . That is hardly anything for people in this area to be proud of. Five men and one woman have been charged for sex charges against students.

Deer numbers in our area are down so we hunt elsewhere when we can. Does this solve the problem? Of course not, it just puts a bit more hunting pressure on an area that hasn't felt the full force of land development like what has taken place around Traverse City.

Look at Traverse City today. It has the same types of problems as southern cities have faced for years. Drugs, embezzlement, rape, robbery, murder. We've got that whole bag of nastiness up here now, and paradise has lost most of its glitter and luster, but it still looks nicer than downstate so people keep coming back for another sample of the northern good life.

Twenty or 30 years from now, when Traverse City has expanded southeast past Kingsley, southwest to Thompsonville, northwest to fill the entire Leelanau Peninsula, and northeast to meet Charlevoix that is expanding southward, we'll have the same problems that people fled when they moved north from the downstate big cities.

The difference is people who move north bring excess baggage with them, and now they want this area to be like their home area once was. Folks, it doesn't happen that way.

When will people look around, see the slow but certain destruction of this area, and wonder how and why we let it happen? Of course, the answer is easy: we are too busy raising a family, pinching pennies because half our pay is a view of the bay, and if we live long enough, we'll learn that if we aren't part of the solution, then we must be part of an ever-growing problem.

Stupid bumper stickers like this are not needed here

Just yesterday, I saw a bumper sticker that stated how upset some people can be. It stated: Drain The Bay and Double Our Pay.

Meanwhile, paradise has been turned into another drug store chain, gas station, bank or a cement-carpeted parking lot. And one must look hard to find a rose to smell, a deer to see, or that wonderful silence at night when the northern lights sparkled in the heavens. Sorry folks, but the aurora borealis is hard to see through the glare of city lights.

The problem is people have taken what we deemed as ours and given nothing back. How sad is that?

How greedy are we? Many people should be ashamed of themselves. They've paved over paradise and turned it into a gigantic parking lot.

It's time for people to give something more back besides lip service.

REMINDER: Read 'Hunt Pre-Rut Bucks'

Bone-white antlers of a resting buck show above weeds during the pre-rut

This method has worked for me, and can work for you regardless of where you hunt.

Try it this fall and see if it doesn't produce action at a time when no one is hunting. It's rut hunting's biggest secret, and now only you, me and several hundred thousand other people will know.

Mark this blog and go back and read it again in mid-October, and maybe it will produce a nice buck for you next fall.

OK. Here's your reminder.  Re-Read, "Hunt Pre-Rut Bucks' and go get your mid-day buck.

Steelhead Fishing: Four Decades Ago

George Richey (left) with big fish and the late Stan Lievense at work
photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

It was April 1, 1968, my second year of guiding brown trout, salmon and steelhead fishermen, and I was scouting the Little Manistee River for clients who would arrive the next day.

The river was rain-swollen and murky, and in another hour of heavy rain, it would be a foot higher and the color of chocolate milk. I thought a big buck steelhead was on a shallow gravel bar an easy cast from shore, and brother George shinnied up a tree and stood on a big branch.

"That fish is huge," George muttered to me. "It's bigger than any steelhead I've ever seen, and his cheeks and gill covers are an orange-red color. It is a truly awesome fish.

The fish was huge at about 25 pounds; Could I hold him

"You know about where he is. Cast a copper spinner upstream and reel hard when I tell you."

I cast, and George said to cast another six feet farther upstream in hopes of getting the spinner down in the heavy current. My next cast, he said, was on target.

"That's the spot," he said. "Keep casting to it. Reel hard now!"

I reeled, and nothing happened. Cast after cast went into the right spot, and I'd reel fast enough to make the spinner blade turn over in the current, and after 40 or 50 casts, George yelled "Hit him!"

The hooks were slammed home as I felt the strike, and nothing happened, so I pounded the rod tip back to set the hooks again. The huge steelhead rolled to the surface, his cheeks and gill covers glowing like evening campfire embers, and the fish started upstream, his dorsal fin creasing the surface like a shark. Not fast but with great power.

I moved along the bank but stayed downstream. The trick was to make the giant fish fight the rod pressure and the river current. We duked it out in the soggy rain for 10 minutes before the fish swapped ends and headed downstream into a deep hole. I was reeling while running but still the fish tangled the line in underwater brush and broke me off.

"How big," I asked George. He'd caught steelhead to almost 20 pounds, and guessed this ponderous male was at least 25 pound, perhaps more.

It was the largest steelhead I’d hooked, before or since

Wow, you say. That's what I said, and of the thousands of steelhead I've caught before and since, it remains the largest one I've seen.
or hooked.

My point with this is that incident occurred back in the days of very few steelhead fishermen and lots of big fish. The Little Manistee River at that time had a huge run of spawning steelhead that averaged, according to the DNR, between 11 and 12 pounds. A 15-pounder wasn't anything special, and it took a 17- or 18-pounder to raise eyebrows.

That year, also on the Little Manistee River, I found a 30-yard stretch of gravel that was wall-to-wall fish. The bottom was honeycombed with spawning redds, and 15 or 20 feet away would be another redd, and every one held a female and one to four males. We fished only for the male fish because a hooked hen would take all the boys with her.

On that day I set a record of sorts. I hooked 30 steelhead in eight hours, and am proud to announce that I made a professional release on every fish. If you're unfamiliar with the phrase, a professional release means I lost every fish, one way or another.

Steelhead four decades ago far out-numbered anglers.

There were far more steelhead in those days than now. There are far more fishermen today than back then. It's easy to do the basic math; fewer fish are being sought by more anglers.

There are still some rather exciting days if anglers can find a spot where fishing pressure is minimal. A few years ago me and another man hooked 30 steelhead in a morning. We landed about half of them, and released each and every one. Those days seldom occur any more.

Low Lake Michigan water levels haven't helped. The Betsie River mouth has been so low in recent years that very few fish make it upstream. Rivers like the Manistee below Tippy Dam can be good at times, but the fishing pressure is just too much to suit me. I can take a half-day of fishing in a crowd, and then get turned off by the whole thing.

That doesn't mean that you should, but it's easy for me to remember way back when to those special occasions when a steelhead fisherman would be unlucky to see two other anglers all day. And, back in the day, people didn't crowd you or wade down through a spawning bed. People had manners, which are hard to come by these days.

They had some class. The fish were larger and more plentiful, and the rivers weren't swarming with anglers. It was a different era, and the steelhead fishing now is still fairly good, but remembering what it was like 40-45 years ago is enough to make a grown man cry.

Personally, it's my thought that we'll probably never see the likes of those days again but remembering them remains a great thrill.

Honesty in the outdoors

The author with one of the thousands of steelhead caught since the early 1950s
photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

I’m well into my 45th year of outdoor writing. Some of the nation’s premier outdoor writers are or were my friends before they passed on.

In my lifetime I came to personally know thousands of scribes from across the United States and Canada. Some were known through word of mouth, and many were folks that I worked with in one way or another.

Some were magazine editors, newspaper reporters, photographer, or people who labored in the vineyards of radio or television. Some wrote books on fishing or hunting, and others were fishing or hunting guides who wrote on the side.

Most writers are honest but I’ve known a number who were not

The good ones had one trait in common. They were honest in their writings, and always told the truth.

My father told me during my second year of outdoor writing in 1968 that he expected one thing out of me: honesty. “Never lie to your readers,” he said. “Tell the honest truth about your experiences, and never fib to them. They will spot a liar in a heartbeat, and make damn sure you know what you’re talking about. If you don’t know a topic, don’t write about it.”

I’d never had any intention of lying to anyone, but when my father told me that, I paid attention. I’ve been at this job for almost 45 years, and have never lied to my readers.

I sell books about fishing and hunting, and buy books, and I’ve always been honest. If someone sends me a book for appraisal and possible sale, I tell them the approximate value of the book and what I can pay. I explain I must buy at wholesale price, and by selling at retail price, I make some money although I never know how long I may have to hold that book before it sells.

Most people are aware of the differences between wholesale and retail, and most know that a bookseller who buys book at retail prices and tries to sell them at retail, will soon be out of the book- buying business.

However, I’ve got a bit off the track. Some writers I’ve known were not honest. I once knew a guy who got into a financial bind, and came up with this solution to make some easy money. He was going on an Ontario moose hunt.

This guy was an out-and-out crook

He contacted Remington for a 30-06 to use on this hunt. He then went to Winchester and got a .270, and then to Savage for a 30-30 rifle. He hit on Weatherby for something else as well as several other firearm manufacturers, and apparently left on his hunt. He didn’t tell the firearm manufacturers that he had borrowed several other rifles.

Two months went by, and a bunch of firearm reps were gathered at a show, and got to talking about a hair-raising experience that Johnny Outdoorsman had experienced on a recent hunt.  The Winchester guy mentioned loaning his a rifle and scope, and then told how the writer explained how he and his guide narrowly escaped with their lives. He had one of our rifles, and when the canoe swamped in a sudden storm, the canoe capsized and all of the equipment and food went to the bottom of the lake.”

“Well, said the Remington spokesman said, “that’s some story. He told me the same story about the guy telling him about losing their 30-06. The Weatherby and Savage Arms guys piped up saying they had lost firearms to the same guy. They began talking amongst themselves, and the Winchester rep, who lived nearest the outdoor writer, agreed to talk to the guy.

When confronted with so much incriminating evidence, the writer ‘fessed up to telling a lie. All told, he had bilked the manufacturers out of nearly $20,000. He had turned the firearms over to friends that bought them at “discount” prices.

He was a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, a group that I’ve been a fulltime member since 1968. OWAA drummed the guy out of our organization, and the companies sued for the value of the so-called “lost” firearms.

For a number of years my wife and I had a business working with outdoor writers who wanted to self-publish books that were not attractive to the big publishers. We worked with a number of people, but there was a problem. Within a group of southern writers there was one person who saw a way to make some big money.

He would hire out to help an author come up with a good title, a fine book, and get it published. I know one man who lost about $40,000 to this outfit. Every two weeks the gent he hired would send an invoice for $2,000. He had over $20,000 into a book that hadn’t even gone to press yet, and he felt he’d been taken.

He called me, asked me what I thought, and I told him to call the law, work with OWAA and the attorney general for that state, and that thief narrowly escaped going to the Gray Bar Hotel for his crimes.

The point of all this rhetoric is: as is true in all walks of life, there are crooks and thieves out to make a shady buck. Usually, they trip themselves up. The biggest way is they begin to tell lies. It’s said that liars and lovers should remember their tales because they often slip up.

One could ask who these writers are. I know but I’m not talking. The problem is that if someone starts lying it’s usually in a written story. I’ve been at this job for all these years, and there is no need to lie. I’ve got a weather of true stories, more than enough to last me the rest of my lifetime.

I’ve been in some very tight spots at different times

I once wrote a piece about things that have happened to me in the outdoors. Falling off a hotel fire escape and breaking my back, being attacked by a pack of semi-wild dogs, getting caught in quicksand, and having a drunk pull a .45 on me in a bar-restaurant.

There’s not a word of a lie in any of them. They happened to me, and everything about these experiences was true.

My getting the job as the Outdoor Writer for The Detroit News in 1980 meant the company went into my background with a fine-tooth-comb, and did a thorough background check on my character. In closing, I reiterate what I’ve said before.

I took my Daddy’s advice, and have always told the truth. If you read somewhere that I caught a 38-pound Chinook on a fly line, you can take it to the bank because I had that fish weighed on honest scales about three hours after it was caught.

If I write about me and another man catching and releasing 99 of 100 steelhead we had caught in one day on the Platte River, it’s another believable story. Catching 12-13 pound walleyes on Manistee Lake is true, and there is nothing to gain by lying.

What I write about is what I’ve done, and I’m proud of my accomplishments and those thing’s I’ve done in my life. Mind you, this job hasn’t always been fun but I honestly believe I’m the luckiest guy in the world.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Rainy Day Whitetails

A big buck posturing in a soft rain and far from any bow hunters
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors©2012

There are times when a bow hunter can hear a whitetail coming for 100 yards. If the animal is upwind, and the leaves are as dry as corn flakes, the sound carries for a long distance.

Whitetails depend on their hearing for survival, and dry leaves advertise their presence. The opposite is true when it rains.

The leaves soak up the rainy weather, and a whitetail can ghost through the woods with barely a sound. This is an important reason for hunters to spend time in the woods when the rain is falling.

Fog, a light mist or a soft drizzle can cause bucks to move

I've written before that deer love to travel when a soft misty rain is falling. There is a soft pitter-patting sound under such conditions, but it doesn't seem to bother the deer. They seem to be able to separate that soft noise from a dangerous noise without a problem.

These soft rains seem to get deer moving earlier in the evening, and it appears that deer move with more confidence during a soft rain. They appear more comfortable moving between bedding and feeding areas, and they seem to eat and move without hesitation.

I've had people ask if I feel a soft rain will carry human scent downward. I believe, to a small degree, that it does. I also think that low-lying ground fog will hold human scent near the ground.

Soft rains and fog seem to go hand in hand during the autumn months, and I've seen some of my largest bucks under such conditions. The fog seems to offer big bucks a sense of security, and they seem to be on the move. This is most certainly true during the pre-rut, rut and post-rut, when buck and doe activity is high.

One thing about fog is it distorts the sense of sound. I don't know how many times I've listened to a buck grunting as he tends an estrus doe, and in the fog, my vision and hearing is limited. I've seen bucks appear and disappear in the rainy fog without ever seeing the doe, and there have been many times when the doe is visible but the tending buck cannot be seen.

Fog is the hardest to hunt in because it distorts hearing and vision

It's at times like this that a hunter must be alert. I remember one night several years ago just before the Nov. 15 firearm season opener, when I saw a half-dozen bucks appear and vanish into the fog. All were moving, all were grunting, and the antler and body size of each one indicated they were individual animals.

Judging distance in the fog can be difficult. I've talked with a number of people who know the far edge of their bait pile is 20 yards away, and if a doe or buck appears in heavy fog, they feel the animal is much farther away that it appears. They aim high to compensate for this imagined difference and shoot over the animal.

The best advice is to put out markers  if you are not using bait. A measured distance must be believed, even if the fog makes the animal appear much farther away than what it is.

I like rain on the roof, rain after my crops are planted, and rain (on occasion) when I'm hunting. I dislike a steady diet of it, and I compare that to eating steak every night. One soon grows tired of it.

I find it enjoyable to  hunt under these conditions

Hunting in the rain isn't too bad. It offers something a little different to a bow hunter, and that is fine by me. I enjoy a variety, a change of pace, in my hunting, and I can hunt in anything except a downpour or when the lightning is dancing in the sky.

Most of all, I like to hunt in those soft misty evening when the darkness comes early because of heavy rain clouds overhead, and when the whitetails seem to slip up on a guy. That is when a hunt really means something to me.

Thinking and being alert to deer is easy

This buck has a larger rack than you think; Count the points
photo c.  Dave Richey Outdoors

My mind seemingly has tunnel vision. The only two things i seem focus intently on while bow hunting is studying deer, which really doesn’t make me all bad. I could care less about ball parks, Nascar races, or tournament golf.

Whitetails excite me; almost everything else is far less interesting, and certainly a lot less fun.

People question how I can only think about these two items most of the time. It must be easy because both passions have consumed my thoughts for more than 50 years.

Both thoughts are of equal importance, and without my intense study, there would be less hunting success. A number of years ago, I was asked a question at a bow-hunting seminar I was giving.

Another seminar attendee asked if the only thing I thought about was writing. I gave the man a straight answer.

It's a wise hunter who can act and think at the same time

"Writing is what I do," I said. "It's how I make a living, and to do my job properly, I'm always thinking about the next story. It has to be what I think about on a daily basis. I'd be dead in the water without the next story idea. The same thing applies when I bow hunt for whitetails."

My answer is based on these reasons. For me, hunting whitetails with a bow, and studying the animals at every opportunity, is what I do. To stop studying deer is to stop learning about whitetail deer. To stop learning means less opportunities and decreased success.

When I hunt, I become totally focused and immersed in my surroundings, and what the deer are doing. I never lose my concentration on deer, but I continue to focus and watch other deer. I can solve all kinds of deer hunting problems while sitting in my ground blind or in an elevated coop or tree stand.

Stay focused on your surroundings and remain alert

When working, my thoughts are always on deer hunting or trying to figure out why a particular deer did what it did the night before. Most people forget yesterday's hunt but not me.

Some people find it hard to think about two things at once or have trouble chewing gum and walking. That often happens when deer hunting: I'll be trying to solve a knotty little deer travel pattern problem, and a nice buck will walk out. My reflexes take over, and I can shoot that buck while shifting mental gears, and then I will shift back to solving other problems after shooting the deer or passing up a shot.
Solving any bow-hunting problem is always easier while bow hunting. Any hunting area always has some natural noises, but out there, the phone doesn't ring to distract me.

Years ago I learned that many of my award-winning articles and columns came to me while sleeping. One part of my brain kicked into gear, and I would wake up, slip out of bed, head for my office and write it while the idea was still fresh in my mind.

The same thing happens while bow hunting. A problem may bother me for weeks, and then one night while sound asleep, the answer wakes me up faster than a face slap with an ice-cold wash cloth. I suspect that being asleep allows the subconscious to kick in, provide the needed answer, and usually the answer is so simple I wonder why it didn't come to me much sooner.

Hunting and thinking is just as easy as walking and talking

I'm able to study deer, think about various deer patterning problems, and be ready and able to shift gears automatically, and shoot the buck. It's what I've trained my body and mind to do, and anyone else can do it providing they've learned the basic fundamentals of drawing and properly aiming a bow and making a smooth release. Do those things long enough, and do them properly, and it becomes simple.

This sort of thing often happens while I'm hunting. When my two main thoughts meld while aiming at a big buck, it is one of the most memorable events of my life.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Hunt regardless of the weather

Check out these bucks; They’re all standing up at once
illustration/photo c. Dave Richey Outdoors / I65DESIGN+MEDIA ©2012

Millions of deer hunters are found across this great nation of ours, and we all seem to have a different philosophy on deer hunting. We seldom agree on wildly varying topics.

Some hunters refuse to hunt various wind directions. Anything from the east is normally bad. For years, October featured south and southwest winds and then west and northwest, and by December we were hunting northwest, north and northeasterly winds.

All the climatic changes we've seem to have produced more hot, dry weather, and the drought we've experienced this year has burned up many food plots or farm fields. It's still a bit unclear what we will be dealing with this fall, but all of us will probably dealing with freaky weather changes.

If we can’t change the weather, learn how to work with it

So, do we worry about it or allow nature take its course, and we deal with the changes as necessary?  My though is that we deal with the changes as best we can because we can't change the weather.

My philosophy is that a deer hunter won't get much hunting in if they stay home whenever there is a bad wind. I hunt but switch from an open tree stand to an elevated and enclosed coop on such days. A few stands are set for an east wind, and they are in demand when the wind goes sour.

I strongly advise hunters to make certain there are a couple of stands, whether elevated or on the ground, that allow us to cope with and hunt on an east wind.

Many are the deer hunters who believe they should only hunt during the dark of the moon. Others only hunt the week before the full moon, and others never hunt during a full moon.

There are those who believe in hunting around the Harvest Moon, the Hunters Moon, the Rutting Moon, and some who will only hunt just before the second full moon after the autumnal equinox. The nice thing about living in a free society is each of us can indulge in such pleasures that make us happy and perhaps more productive.

I personally don't care which day of the week it may be, which way the wind blows, what the moon phase happens to be, or anything else. I find it difficult to kill deer while sitting in the house rather than be out hunting.

There are others who place great emphasis on hunting the rut. Little do they know that the 10 days before the full rut begins, deer go through the chasing stage or the pre-rut. It is a wonderful time to be hunting, regardless of the moon phase or wind direction. Just hunt with the wind in your favor and forget everything else.

The rut is pretty much at the same time in Michigan

Many feel the rut begins Oct. 20-25, and that is the beginning of the chasing stage, and it will last for about 10 days before the full rut begins. It's possible to find many people who would disagree on when the rut actually begins.

The peak of the rut in northern Michigan where I hunt will occur on or about Nov. 3-4, and it is winding down by the Nov. 15 firearm season opener.

There are numerous variations, depending on where you hunt. Weather conditions and people pressure can alter these dates a bit.
Some hunters are addicted to the Solunar Tables. These tables, first invented by John Alden Knight many years ago, are based on the sun and moon and their effect on tides and the earth. They contend there are normally two minor and two major periods most days when fish bite, and when wild game move about.

Some sportsmen hunt according to the Solunar Tables and kill deer, and I know other folks who hunt whenever they can, and they also have good hunting success while hunting outside of these major and minor periods.

Nothing is 100 percent but hunt when cows are standing up

One time an old Florida cracker took me fishing. We poked around because he told me the fish aren't biting and the deer aren't moving. Two hours later cattle along the St. Johns River began getting to their feet.

"Let's go fishing now," he yelled, tossing a small baited jig into the water. We caught lots of fish while the cows were up, soon the cows laid down and the fish quit biting.

"I've watches this phenomenon for many years," he said, "and there is a correlation between standing cows, biting fish and moving deer. Fish and hunt when the cows stand up."

I've hunted many years with some poor and some great success. Good hunting habits bring wonderful hunting success, and simply being afield whenever possible is a good reason some people are more successful than others.

I forget about all this other business, and go on doing what works best for me. That means that I hunt whenever possible, and try to hunt every day of the season.

Take the normal precautions with the wind, stay downwind of the deer, and it becomes fairly easy to build your own deer-hunting success .... at least during normal weather.

The jury is still out on how future weather will affect hunting.

Highlighting Michigan’s Massasauga Rattlesnake

Map showing snake counties (brown) and a photo of a
Massasauga rattler
illustration courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors / I65DESIGN+MEDIA ©2012

CADILLAC - No one has an accurate count on how many Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus) live in Michigan, but one thing is well known: We have the lions share of the population of this, the state's only venomous snake.

All the other populations that stretch from Iowa and Missouri up through Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and a small number in Ontario, make up the world's population.

"These snakes are very scarce, and everywhere else, they are considered  "threatened" or "endangered," said Michigan State University doctoral candidate Rebecca Christoffel of East Lansing, who was speaking to some Michigan Outdoor Writers. "I've studied these little rattlers for some years. They are harder to find than most wildlife in this state or any other area."

Currently the Massasuaga rattlesnake is listed in Michigan under Special Concern and is a candidate for federal listing.

These small rattlesnakes are shy and reclusive, and are seldom seen

This snake is seen so seldom that there is much that most state residents do not know about these pit vipers. This much is known: the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus) is quite small, averaging 18.5-30 inches in length. They are thick-bodied, and gray or light brown with large, light-edged, chocolate-brown saddle-shaped blotches on the back with smaller dark spots along the sides. It has a blunt tipped tail with a segmented rattle at the end.

They are found throughout Michigan's Lower Peninsula and Lake Huron's Bois Blanc Island off Cheboygan. None are found in the Upper Peninsula, and wherever they are found, the land is mostly wetlands that include bogs, fens, marshes, sedge meadows, swamps and other wetlands that include prairies and savannas. See the above map for counties where known rattlesnake sightings have been documented.

Periods when Massasaugas are active

Massasaugas are active from April through October, and often are seen basking in the sun. Personally, I've seen only one live Massasauga rattler other than the one shown in the photo published today.

"Many people are frightened of these small rattlesnakes," Christoffel said, "but they are quite shy and will try to hide from view to avoid detection. They generally strike only when threatened, and most bites come when people try to handle them. They shake their small rattles, but the sound isn't as distinct as with a larger rattlesnake. Their rattling sounds more like the faint buzzing of an insect."

She said that perhaps 25 to 50 percent of massasauga snakebites are "dry," meaning the snake does not release venom. She added that from  1999-2005, from three to eight statewide snakebites were reported to Michigan Poison Control.

The chances of getting bitten by a Massasauga rattlesnake are very remote. There are certain precautions one can take, and that is to recognize where these snakes may be found. Usually, in the wild, they are found on or near humps of ground; near root wads of fallen trees; and near trash dumped in the woods by ignorant people.

"Learn to recognize possible rattlesnake habitat," she said. "The ground can be moist or sandy and dry, but there is normally some woody debris on the ground. Piles of fallen tree limbs, leafy areas, sandy hills and marginally wet areas around marsh hummocks are key locations for these snakes."

She also offers these tips to prevent getting bitten by these short-fanged snakes.

Tips to remember when in possible snake country

• Stay on the trail or the beaten path while walking in potential snake habitat.
• Always wear close-toed boots or shoes and long pants. Use a flashlight when walking after dark.
• Watch where you place your hands and feet. Do not reach into brush, rocks or dark places where it's impossible to see.
• Stop moving and determine the snake's location if you hear a rattle or buzzing sound. Step away slowly and give the snake the opportunity to move away.
• Never pick up a Massasauga rattlesnake or any other snake you cannot positively identify. Trying to pick up a snake is the most common cause of snakebites.
• Never chase, harass or threaten a snake. This is the second most common cause of snakebites. Remember, Michigan's Massasaugas, while not endangered or threatened, are protected (of Special Concern; candidate for federal listing). It is illegal to bother them.
• A Massasauga rattlesnake can strike a distance of half to two-thirds of its body length. A two-foot snake can strike 12 to about 16 inches.
• Keep pets on a leash at all times when in wild places. Besides the remote possibility of being bitten, a dog can run off to chase a fawn or even an adult deer. Keep them under control at all times or leave them behind.
• Four other snake species often are improperly misidentified as a Massasauga rattlesnake. Learn the many differences between the
  • Eastern Milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum) [photo.info]
  • Eastern Hognose snake (Heterodon platirhinos) [photo.info]
  • Northern Water snake (Nerodia sipedon) [photo.info]
  • Eastern Fox snake (Elaphe vulpina and Elaphe gloydi) [photo.info]

The Massasauga rattlesnake is a rather timid animal, and will go out of its way to avoid humans. Michigan has the largest number of these small rattlesnakes, but the population is a relative thing. These snakes are not plentiful even in the best habitat, and they deserve the protection afforded them.

For more information on massasauga rattlesnakes, go to the Michigan DNR -Massasauga website.

Start deer scouting soon

The author with a nice buck he scouted after the season opened
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

There is nothing better than putting down boot leather when it comes to learning a new hunting area, and that is what most people do. A few take this "learning-the-land" proposition two steps further.

The use of topographical maps is one key element of learning new land, and aerial photographs is still another. Combine these strategies, and a hunter will have a recipe for possible success.

To properly scout an area, it's vitally important to prevent your scent from drifting downwind to a whitetail bedding area. Play the wind like a fine violin, stay downwind of bedding areas, move through the area while checking ground sign for trails, food areas and bedding spots.

There is just a bit more than a month to scout before the opener

Nothing is 100 percent when it comes to hunting whitetail deer, but having a firm grip on the terrain is very important. There is a quarter-mile field that runs mostly north and south on my land, and through this open field are a series of small rolling hills and dips in the land. Deer have learned to use those tiny valleys and tiny hills to sneak through the open terrain.

Walking such an area is one way to learn how deer travel, and doing it with some snow on the ground is even better. There are places where bucks can enter the field on the west side, and by moving left and right, they can stay down in the dips and out of sight of most hunters.

What I've done is build hunting coops and they are strategically placed so that most of these travel routes can be covered. Deer often move east in the evening and west in the morning, and hunters can place themselves in key positions to waylay the animals as they pass.

However, when hunting strange land that you've never hunted before, topo maps and aerial photographs, when combined with walking the terrain will enable hunters to determine good spots to hunt.

Use time wisely to learn where deer travel; Do it now

Funnels are an absolute deadly spot to hunt. A funnel is created by a narrowing of heavy cover. It can be a brushy fence-row that connects a wood lot and swamp, two wood lots, a wood lot and a pine plantation, and other such thick and narrow places like creek beds where deer movements are funneled through a narrow area. They are natural travel corridors that deer use.

The bases of hills are another hotspot. Often the thicker cover is at the lower elevations, and if there are three hills, only one will be vitally important to hunters. Deer often choose the one that offers the easiest access and exit routes to heavy cover, and they will ignore other nearby hills.

Field corners that border on swampy or wooded areas are great, Again, only one field corner is most likely to produce deer, and again, it is usually the thickest corner that still provides animals with a good view of a distant field.

Saddles or breaks in flat or low-lying areas or ridges that allow easy access to feeding fields are good spots. Such locations may have one good trail that leads from higher ground, down through the saddle, and through swampy or wooded areas that border the crop lands.

Dry or wet creek or river bottoms are especially good because there is a good deal of cover, the possibility of mast crops such as acorns and beech nuts, most bottom land areas are thick with berry bushes and other cover.

Don't ignore aerial maps or topographical maps; They can help

Walking this land is fine, but putting aerial photos and topo maps together enable hunters to obtain a birds-eye view, and the topo maps will show contour changes. Most topo maps have contour lines and special colors or symbols that indicate hills, wooded areas, swamps, creek or river beds and much more.

Spot the funnels, saddles and other topographical features, find their relationship to the aerial maps, and plot the best method of moving into these areas to hunt. Find such key locations, determine the bedding and feeding areas, and then begin scouting for active deer sign.

Locate the food source, and then find the bedding area, and the trails deer use will be relatively easy to find. Determine the prevailing wind direction, and start looking for good trees for a stand.

Finding hotspots in new areas isn't terribly difficult but it requires some scouting time. Most of all, carry a compass or GPS, and know how to use them. Finding such out-of-the-way areas, where other people seldom hunt, and you'll have your own little gold mine for deer.

Who Will Blink First?

This buck is screened by a tree and brush; Wait for him to move
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

It takes some age and an abundance of hunting experience to accomplish one of the most difficult things in bow hunting: determining when not to take a shot. There are times when taking a bow shot at a buck just doesn’t make sense.

I was sitting in one of my stands last October. Deer movements were slow, and going home and soaking up some heat seemed a good idea. A bad thing about taking a shot under iffy conditions is knowing that if the deer is not killed, it will be spooky of that area in the future.

Some say a deer's memory is less than five minutes, but I'm convinced that while deer do not think as we do, they react to instinct. A close call can cause a buck to change his travel patterns.

My decision was the right one: I'd sit and wait. There was no rush as plenty of shooting time remained, but I'm constantly amazed at how long a buck can remain motionless. This buck never moved a muscle, but yet, it had to move forward or sideways to offer a shot.

Sometimes it’s just a wise decision to wait out a deer

It chose to stand still and only its head moved very slightly. It moved its head an inch or two when other deer filtered past me, but I believe that some game animals can sense potential danger.

This buck seemed rooted stiffly in place, and he stood as still as a statue and never moved. I can set still for long periods of time, but this old boy's life depended on his choice of action. He stood, immobile, waiting and watching for something to confirm his suspicions.

Thirty minutes passed, and like a case of stare-down between two people, someone had to blink. It was me, and although I knew the buck couldn't see my eyes, he seemed to sense when I blinked.

He whirled and disappeared back into the tag alders. Other deer spurted away, frightened by his sudden actions, and they were visible momentarily before all was quiet again.

Such experience makes one wonder about whitetail deer

I sat back, and thought about our standoff. It was nothing I did or he did that resulted in his flight except me blinking my eyes. I was wearing a face mask, and he couldn't see my eyes. Turkey hunters swear an incoming gobbler will see the waiting hunter blink.

Maybe it's so. I certainly don't know everything about whitetail deer, but I do know this buck sensed danger. When his nerves couldn't stand the strain, he bolted.

It's what caused him to run is the question, and the answer is yet to be determined. I can’t believe he saw or even sensed me. It’s such encounters that make hunters wonder what they did wrong.

In all likelihood, the deer may have been spooked earlier, and was still a bit owly about that experience. It’s as good a theory as any.

Try grunting with a deer decoy

There's always a chance a big buck will investigate a grunt call
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

If you've never used a grunt tube to call bucks, you may be surprised in two ways: the call, properly used at the correct time, can call a buck within easy bow range.

The second way to be surprised is the sounds the call will make. It vaguely reminds one of ... ah, how can I put this delicately? Ah, ah, let's see ... ah, well, ah, sort of like someone four hours after eating a big plate of refried beans.

There, that's out of the way. For a first-time buck grunter, one often spends the first sequence of calling smiling and silently giggling. Just often enough, a grunt call will effectively pull a nice buck close enough for a decent shot.

A grunt tube sounds obnoxious but it does work...sometimes

There are two things to bear in mind about using a grunt call. No sounds you can make will scare deer away. The second thing is that it works best when you can see a buck.

Here's the scenario. You are sitting in a ground blind or tree stand, and spot a buck some distance away. A low grunt, breathe and grunt again for three or four seconds may stop a buck if he hears the call.
If the wandering buck stops, appears indecisive about what to do, wait and see what it does do. An amazing thing about grunt calls is that one buck will come to the call, and another one won't. You always work on the basic philosophy that this antlered critter is one that will. Feel it and believe in it.

Watch the deer. The animal knows precisely where the sound comes from, and may work his way cautiously or come on a dead run toward you. If the buck walks, trots or runs in your direction, do nothing but get prepared for a shot.

Pay attention to how a buck reacts to a call; Don't over-call

However, if the buck looks around and acts as if it doesn't know what it heard, wait. If the buck turns, and starts walking away, blow another sequence of calls but do so softly. If the buck stops, turns around and looks, wait to see if he will come. If he turns to walk away, give another calling sequence but even softer and shorter than before. Make it sound as if a doe or another buck is walking away.

That often is all it takes to turn a deer around. Watching how a buck reacts to the deer call is very important. Once they start coming in your direction, get ready for a shot because the buck may move to within 10 feet of your position.

There are any number of grunt calls available. There are calls that a hunter can blow into, but they can freeze up in cold weather. Other grunt calls work by inhaling air through the calls. A few have both features where authentic sounding calls can be made by inhaling and exhaling. This gives a very realistic tending buck grunt.

Try using an extension to position your call on the ground

One company believes that most big bucks are never found in trees, and it has an inhale tube that passes through 18 feet of rubber tubing so the call appears to be coming from ground level. This call appeals to me simply because it come from ground level, and a buddy of mine never sits over 15 feet off the ground and he calls bucks to him regularly.

According to my friend the best time to call bucks is prior to the rut. Bucks, he says, pay little attention to a grunt call during the rut and post-run periods. But other hunters disagree with that philosophy. They feel grunting may work anytime during the hunting season. Nothing about a grunt call  will frighten deer so I believe in using them whenever I but bucks within sight can come if they hear the call. It really can pay off at any time of the season.

Grunting with a nearby deer decoy can be deadly early in the season until just before the rut begins. This same man, who shall remain anonymous by his wishes, uses a deer decoy and a long-tubed grunt call at the same time.

Adding a deer decoy improves the effectiveness of a grunt call

He positions the deer decoy where to whether he plans to shoot a buck or a doe. Bucks will almost always circle and come to a doe decoy from the rear. He uses a small strip of white towel, and tacks it to the hind end of his doe decoy. The cloth is saturated with some type of doe-in-heat lure, and he strings 6-pound mono from him to a screw eye to an overhanging branch near the decoy's rump. He ties one end of the mono to the white cloth strip, runs it through the screw eye(s), and to his position in the tree.

If a buck is spotted, he gives one or two grunt sequences, making them soft and guttural sounding. Once the buck looks his way, he gently pulls on the mono line, and the combination of a grunt, the sex lure and a moving white strip of cloth on the doe's rump, makes it looks like a doe flicking its tail. Bucks often move in with caution.

My buddy thinks calling can be overdone. He begins with a short and soft muffled grunt that last one or two seconds, a pause, another longer and slightly louder drawn-out grunt that lasts several seconds, another pause, and a soft and short grunt, and that's it. If needed, repeat the sequence again, but call every 30 minutes. Sometimes blind calling will attract a buck passing through the area even though it is out of sight.

Using a grunt call isn't for everyone. If you feel self-conscious, leave it home. It the sounds doesn't bother you, and you wish to add two more tools to your deer-hunting arsenal, give a grunt call and doe decoy a try.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.