A few weeks back I promised a report on our Michigan hunting trip. I would say the best way to describe it was simply fantastic.
The quantity of deer was like nothing that I had ever experienced before. We hunted only three days and conservatively guessing, we saw nearly 200 deer in very tough hunting conditions. It snowed hard and the wind blew hard, but it didn’t seem to matter much to the deer as on one late morning hunt I had a good 25 to 30 deer come by me just across the Chippewa River.
One of the highlights of the hunting trip was when my buddy Don Blake made a beautiful 100-yard shot on a big Michigan buck. We field dressed the deer, as sometimes bad luck has it, the buck Blake had taken had previously been wounded a few weeks before by a small caliber rifle and the deer was not fit for consumption.
Blake and I both had purchased new muzzleloaders prior to heading to Michigan, after looking over many makes and models, we both bought Kodiak Magnums made by Connecticut Valley Arms and they shot and performed flawlessly. One example of their effectiveness was a nice doe I took at 130 yards with just one shot. The load we were using was 130 grains of triple seven pellets combined with a 245-grain power belt bullet.
Why so many deer in Michigan? I’m not really sure but I would speculate the vast amount of food sources. Where we were field after field of corn, soy beans, sugar beets and carrots. The fields are miles long in most places surrounded by small tracts of woods and it all added up to great deer hunting.
Yes, the country was big, but the warmth and hospitality by our host was bigger. Thank you Chris Blake, you and your buddies Kim and Alvin really made our hunting trip a memorable one.
In closing, this week, ice fishing is upon us so before venturing to far out on the ice; check it’s depth every few yards to be pm the safe side.
Until next time, Play hard and be safe!
Send questions/comments to the editors.
