This is Mary, my nephew Derek’s wife.  As a kid she wanted to be a ballerina like most little girls.  Her parents could of never imagined her beaming from ear to ear, over the huge tom turkey she just shot, all by herself!  In fact it’s hard for her to put into words the metamorphosis that has taken place, since her marriage to Derek Ansel.

Derek comes from a family that has a long heritage of hunting flowing through their veins.  His dad, grandpa, and uncles all are avid outdoorsmen.  If there were such a thing, Derek would have his Masters degree from Hunting University.  In fact Derek is one of the managers at the huge Cabala’s store in Dundee Michigan.  Derek and his dad Darryl have teamed up to be a couple of the most successful father and son duo’s in the state.  And this is what our pretty little ballerina has been dealing with for over a decade.

Mary has gone from hunters wife to hunter in the past week.  She finally gave into her wild side, and teamed up with Derek (her guide) and pulled off a feat almost unheard of.  Mary took a trophy tom turkey her first time  hunting, and the first time ever squeezing the trigger of any firearm!  Mary stayed cool and poised, as Derek gave her encouragement and instruction from behind her position.  Mary performed like a seasoned veteran and dropped a bird any hunter would be proud of.  Her gobbler weighed in at 23-1/2 pounds, had a 9-1/4 in beard, and 1″ spurs.

If you go over to blogsmonroe.com and click on “Hunting with Mike” you’ll be able to read Mary’s story in her own words.  It comes in two installment, so be sure to read “From Hunters Wife to Hunter” first.

Mary’s “Great White Hunter” husband also got a bird, but I’ve been having a hard time getting a picture of it.  If I do I’ll be sure to get it on this post for all to see.  These birds of a feather now hunt together.  Congratulations guys.

Mike

Now here’s a real turkey!  No.  The one with the feathers silly!  This big Tom fell to my model 870 Remington Tuesday morning around 9:15 a.m.  I had the third hunt, which started the day before (Monday) and was hunting on property I found at “southernmichiganhuntinglease.com.”  The property has some wet area’s to negotiate, but the birds are definitely there along with lot’s of deer.

Monday evening I had five Tom’s and two hens around my stand, but couldn’t get the long beards interested in my decoys.  I had a Jake about 40 yards away, but wasn’t that interested in shooting him my first night out.  All the Tom’s took the same route into a cut soybean field, so I figured I could set up an ambush for Tuesday evening.

Tuesday morning changed all my plans for the evening hunt  My grandson Quinn and I arrived at my “walk through the swamp blind” about 5:30 a.m.  We set 3 hens and 2 jake decoys along the fence-line adjacent to a cut corn field.  We heard very little gobbling on the roost, and at first light saw a Tom with a hen across the field.  A little later we saw another Tom and hen prancing and strutting about.  Two big raccoons snuck up on the decoy’s,but took off for parts unknown when I waved my hand out the blind window at them.  A nice big doe feed within 50 yards of us, and we spooked a Tom, coming into the decoy’s, when Quinn stepped out of the blind for a minute.  About 45 minutes later Quinn said “papa there’s a big one coming toward us.”  We switched places, as he was sitting in the only chair in the blind, and I saw a strutting Tom about 100 yards away.  Then another one, and yet another one came into view from the little dip they were walking in.  Three Tom’s all with their eye’s on my three hen decoy’s!  One of these guy’s had a great long beard, while the other two were Jakes.

Up to this point I had not called, so I gave out with some yelps followed by some soft purrs.  They went nuts, and strutted their stuff to within 40 yards.  I did a few more yelps and “old Mister Long beard” fanned his tail, puffed out his chest, and drug his wingtips on the ground to within 20 yards of our blind.  The smaller Jake’s hung back a little, but this bad boy was going to let everyone know who was going to get the girls at this “dance!”  Just as he stretched his neck out to let out a victory gobble, my 870 roared and I let out the victory yell!  “Yes.”  Ouinn and I did every handshake ever invented by someone younger than 15!  We celebrated for a few minutes, and gave thanks to our Creator for allowing us to partake of this wonderful bounty we have here in Michigan.  My bird had a 10-1/4 inch beard, 1 inch spurs and weighed a tad under 27 pounds.  We had a hump back to the trailer with all our gear, plus a nice big bird, but we smiled all the way back.  What a great moment to share with my grandson.  Neither one of us will ever forget it!

I was practicing on my various turkey calls, and my 3 year old granddaughter wanted to give it a try.  She’s got a slate call and a wooden striker.  Actually it was making some very nice music.  Addysin watched me for awhile then started to imitate what I was doing.  As long as she had the striker at the right angle, and moved it in a circular motion, it sounded pretty good.

My other granddaughter Ava was “yelping” away on my twin hen box call, and the three of us were making quite a racket.  I could just imagine a flock of Longbeards trying to break into our house to get at those excited hens.

Hopefully I’ll have a chance this coming Monday morning in Jackson.  It’s calling for rain (bummer) but I have a ground blind that should keep most of the water off me.  My brother Brett may tag along, and that would be nice to have somebody to share the hunt with.  It’s a good thing I started packing today, cause I’m missing some very important items.  Now all I have to do is remember who I loaned them to!

Mike

This little baby bunny rabbit would of been history, had I not caught a glimpse of it just before my riding mower would of ended his young life.  At this time of year when people are cutting their grass, for the first time, some rabbits aren’t as fortunate as this little fella.  He was in the high grass, where mother rabbits often have their litters.  As soon as they can move from that initial nest they will, but that sometimes takes several weeks.  These little guys have a tough enough time trying to survive without lawn-mowers taking some of them out!

My daughter in Chicago said she saw a crow kill a little rabbit in front of her house a few days ago.  Dogs, foxes, coyotes, hawks, owls, and even cats take there toll on baby rabbits.

I picked up this little guy, and searched the rest of the yard to make certain he didn’t have any brothers or sisters hiding on me.  My grand-daughters got quite a kick out of this cute little bundle of fur.  We took some pictures and let him go.  He hopped under a pine tree with low hanging limbs, where he no doubt met up with his mother.  Just a word of caution; check your yard out before you cut it for the first time.  The rabbits and your kids will appreciate it.

Mike

Sorry about the length of time between post, but I couldn’t find anyone to fill in for me while I was in sunny Florida.  We just got back yesterday (Sunday) and unfortunately didn’t bring any warm weather or sunshine with us.  We did however bring back some wonderful memories.  The above picture is the focus of one of those glories days you hope will never end!

My son-in-law Glen, my grandson Kyle, and myself booked a bass fishing charter with “Memory Makin’ Guides,” and was Captain Reno Ally ever a good fishing guide.  I highly recommend him if anyone is interested in a quality bass charter while in the Orlando area.  His toll free number is 1-800-749-2278.  You will not be disappointed!  I will do a post on Captain Reno in the future with more information on this personable guide.

To make a long “cast” short, here are the fishing trip statistics.  Glen caught 16 largemouth bass, 2 dogfish, and 1 alligator gar.  I caught 12 largemouth bass and 3 dogfish.  Kyle hooked and landed 2 largemouth bass.  Most fish were in the 2-1/2 to 5 pound range, and did they give us a good fight.  We would of kept a “hog” (anything over 8 pounds) but have no complaints about our day.  Glen did have a very nice fish on that went under the boat, and broke Glen’s 12 pound test line.  You know “the big one” always gets away.  Except for that one fish we landed everything we hooked.  The Captain showed us how to properly set the hook, and it worked like a charm.  There will be upcoming stories about our trip, but the fishing trip was on the top of my list.  This is Kyle (driving the boat) Glen and Captain Reno.

Steelhead action heating up in Michigan, even if the weather is still cool.  These fish were caught by my pal Bill Michaud and myself on the “Big Manistee” not very far from the Tippy dam.  We put in at High Bridge then motored upstream, fishing a few holes on the way.  There wasn’t a whole lot of traffic, but the closer we got to Tippy, the more fisherman were lining the banks.  We only landed these three fish, and lost several others.  One “big boy” pulled us down stream for several hundred yards, before we landed him, only to find he was foul-hooked.  It’s in the mouth or back in the water, so released he was.

The western rivers and streams that feed Lake Michigan are experiencing some good runs of steelhead right now, and with some warmer temperatures forecast, things should get better.  In the past I’ve tried the Little Manistee, but for me the river is to narrow and brush lined.  Be sure to check your Michigan stream guide to determine if a particular stream is open to fishing.  Many of your smaller streams/creeks are closed to fishing, for obvious reasons.

As soon as I get a few more fish in the freezer I’m going to have a fish fry.  Nothing like grilled salmon, baked potato, and a garden salad.

Mike

Just had to share this photo of a very rare albino moose.  This beautiful aberration was seen in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near the town of Marenisco in Gogebic county.  From what I can gather from the story there were four moose feeding along the highway, with two of them being their normal color, and two of them being albino’s!  To see one white moose is a one in a million chance, but to see two of them together is off the charts.  This particular moose was bigger than the other three, and my own guess is that it’s a bull.  Of course I’m no moose expert, that’s just my gut feeling.

Isn’t it good to know that, in the midst of all the upheaval in the world, God is still creating things of awe and wonder!  I hope there’s not an open season on moose this year.  Of course they were spotted only about 20 miles from the Wisconsin border, and they could wind up in a state that allows moose hunting. (I think)

Mike

This is my brother Brad.  He is one of six Ansel brothers that enjoys the outdoors, and likes to hunt. He’s pictured here with a bow tagged bruin taken around my brother Randy’s Marquette camp.  All of us have taken Michigan black bear, and some of our sons have also been successful.  Five of the bear we have taken out of the Baldwin camp have been large enough to make the “book!”  At one time I held the #17 bow killed bear and my brother Darryl held the #2 re-curve downed bruin.  My big bear was aged at 13-1/2 years and had a 19-6/16 inch skull.  Brother Darryl’s bear was only 5 years old, but had a bushel basket for a head.  His skull went 20-11/16, and was taken with an old Bear Kodiak Magnum and a cedar arrow.

Darryl has been the most proficient of the brothers with bear success in the double digits.  Two of us have also hunted out of state, and brother Brett’s son, Grant, took a beautiful cinnamon phase in Saskatewan one year.  I have hunted Quebec and Ontario for these black ghost without filling a tag!  All of us could have harvested many more bears than what we have, but we hunt strictly with bow and arrows.  When you have to get your quarry within 25 yards there isn’t much room for error.  Since 1973 we, and some of our close friends, have taken over 40 Michigan black bears.  Our success was much greater in the years that you could buy an over-the-counter license.  Since the lottery system has been in place, it has been very hard for us to draw more than 1-2 permits in a season.

In the 35 years that we have hunted the hills and swamps around Marquette Michigan we have not really notices a decline in bear numbers.  What we have noticed is that the bear seem to be more educated.  Basically they have caught onto the game, and have made it much harder to hang one on the game pole.  Once a bear has been shot at (over a bait pile) during daylight hours, chances are it will feed strictly after dark.  I have had bear wait me out, just out of sight.  Once darkness sets in, and I leave, they enjoy a worry free feast.

We have had numerous encounters over the years with different bears.  Some are kind of scary and others down right funny.  Trust me we have left far more bears “walk” than what we have tagged.  From our vantage point the bear population is growing, and becoming much more elusive.  It may be time for us to rethink Bear Hunting 101!

Most of us hunter have our own little room, cubby-hole, or garage where we do our “THING!”  We need our own territory, space, or hide-out.  Whatever you call it, I bet you have at least one!  The above picture shows only one little corner of my brother Darryl’s sanctuary.  Trust me when I tell you that this corner is the most organized in the room.  Now I’m not picking on my little brother, cause mine is even worse.  I didn’t have the guts to display a picture of my “hunting work room!”  Admittedly it is a mess, and I swear I’m going to clean it up before the first tulip pushes through the dirt.  My wife says its a good thing I have a door I can close, so the rest of the house isn’t contaminated.

My problem is probably not unlike yours!  I just don’t have enough room for all my “junk.”  I mean hunting necessities.  I just remodeled the room a year and a half ago, and I’m already hurting for space.  It wouldn’t hurt if my wife would let me hang my flying turkey mount, or my 12 pound bass, in the family room.  But I guess the walls are full enough already.  I know what I could use more of - shelves and drawers.  You can never have enough storage bins either.  When I run this by my wife she says all I need is a garbage can and a shovel!  Very funny Lorna, very funny!  I’ll fix her, once I find my way out of this room.  I know there’s a door handle here somewhere; I think!

“I like venison, not just for the taste, but also for the fact I don’t have to worry about it being unhealthy for me.  Actually, according to the USDA venison is one of the most nutritious meats available.  It has fewer calories than beef, pork, and chicken.  Not only that, but you get more iron, per serving size, than the other three meats.  The fat content isn’t bad either, as venison is not marbled like beef.  Most fat is cut off venison by the person processing it, or removed before cooking.  To keep it healthy it is suggested to broil or bake your meat.

The non-hunting public may never get a chance to try this bounty from the woodlots, as you won’t find it in the supermarket.  Not only that, but it is against the law to sell venison.  So I would suggest if you don’t hunt, become a good friend with someone who does.  Most hunters will always share with the “less fortunate!”