Story of Visitors

Hunt 2000 Well, once again the firearm deer season has started and Nov. 15th found me in my favorite blind at 5:45 A.M. waiting for the first rays of light to filter through southeastern Michigan wood lots. It was a great day, as the deer were very co-operative for me. I saw 10 deer and I harvested an long legged 8 point buck and a doe before 9 A.M.. As many of you know I am very fortunate to have a great safe place to hunt with a few good friends. I want to wish everyone a Happy and safe Thanksgiving with their family and friends. Doug Esch

It was a cool morning at 0400 but by 0600 the weather was changing . a light rain be gan to fall ,so i decided to move form the tree I was in to a covered stand . I slipped quitly to the next stand. after about a hour and a half of hard rain the temp and clouds started to change again. the clouds left and the temp started up,so i moved dack to the other tree. as i was just getting setted , i saw movement , yes a fat,in rut 10 point buck was heading my way. slowly I raised my rifle and placed the + on the his shoulder. the gun barks and down goes my thanksgiven deer. time 0935. it looks like turkey time is hear!!

It was the first weekend that promised to have a good Hex hatch on the AuSable. I had never hit the big bugs before and so read my book to find a good spot. Unfortunately I had to work friday and didn't get up the the river untill almost 8 pm. I had never fished that section of river (no I am not going to tell you where!) but it was already getting dark. I put on my waders and hurried as fast as I could to tie on a size 8 dry fly. It was just starting to get dark and I took the most direct route to the river- through some brush. What I didn't see was the barbed wire fence right in front of me. I ran right into it! I decided to go around the long way. By the time I got on the river, it was pretty dark. I took a few steps in and found that my waders were leaking pretty bad! Well, do you think that stopped me? HECK NO! I started to see a few bugs and the first splashy rises began. In about 20 minutes after no luck I turned on my light to see if my fly was in-tact. I could hardly believe my eyes- there were hundreds if not thoughsands of huge bugs(spinners) drifting by. I stuck my hand in the water and caught a few! They were everywhere. By now I was completely soaked, but the fish were really rising. Unfortunately, there were so many flies on the water, it was virtually impossible for a fish to hit my pattern. I eventually had to give up soaked to the bone, yet my spirit was more renewed than ever. I had never seen a hex before, and I saw possibly more of them in one place than I ever had. The next day I looked at my waders and had probably at least 100 spots approximately .5 cm in diameter of hex eggs. When I took my waders to a fly shop the next morning the manager said he had never seen anything like it! He was very nice to help me patch up my waders and told me to try the manistee for some easier fishing. I took his advice and caught a nice brown the next night- and stayed dry! Moral of the story: Always do your research, check out the river during the day to find a safe place to night fish. It could cost you a whole lot more than a pair of waders! <">< Tight lines, Ryan

I sat in my pine blind after a week of season. The light was beginning to shine when I saw this deer moving in the field. I waited until it came within 70 yards of me when "BAM" the 44 mag sent a 180 grain piece of lead into the doe. I was successful in filling my doe permit and another great season for my memories. John Shoup

I was out at my friends lake. She lives on a horse ranch. We were bass fishing adn hadn't had much luck. I finally tried a little yellow jig. I cast in about three times and all of a sudden, I felt a huge jerk. I pulled up and tried to reel in but the line just kept going out and out. It took me about ten minutes and a big glister on my fingure to reel this sucker in. He ended up being 26 inches long. There's my success story, Mike