16ga.com ~ View topic - Cross-country hunting trip

Guest

My 6200 mile cross country trip has concluded. I made it to Michigan from California via Denver in three days, in time for the second day of gun deer season. I was fortunate enough to have unlimited access to this private land where the corn had been cut several days earlier......

I passed on some smaller bucks hoping that a big one would appear. I saw a six point and an eight point, but could not get a shot. I passed at least three times on two four-pointers, and must have had 50+ deer at my stand during the course of the week, mostly does. I took this big corn-fed southern Michigan doe to put some meat in the freezer....

We moved on to Pennsylvania and spent Thanksgiving in West Virginia where we were greeted on Thanksgiving morning by nine turkeys (lucky for them not in season) strutting around up on the hillside. I hunted deer here but encountered only does, many with good size older fawns still tagging along.

Also hunted WV state land for released pheasant (had to get a 16 gauge reference in here somewhere, and I carried the Citori) with my nephew, his beautiful Golden Retriever and Jaeger, but we only saw one hen on a wild flush.

Jaeger the bird stalker adapted well to the road and was a well behaved traveler..........

We left Michigan on Tuesday for the long haul back west, taking a slightly different route and enjoying the scenery of Wyoming and Utah. I will admit that the extended driving was not as appealing to me as it used to be. But the hunting and the sights more than made up for the long miles. After spending my career in Kalifornia with periodic respites such as this one, it was refreshing to be reminded once again that America, wide open hunting spaces and good, real people are alive and well out there! Michigan (my home state) is a strong contender for my upcoming retirement

Birdswatter:
Michigan is also my home state and I still spend at least 6 weeks a year there. Tough to beat the Wolverine state especially up in N.W. lower peninsula or the U.P. Not sure if I am headed home or not. Granddaughter is in Chicago area and I think it will be tough to pull my better half away from her.

I lived in the U.P. for 8 years and really enjoyed it, but I have a feeling as I age those winters of 300 plus inches of snow would catch up with me. To keep in spirit of site my 16 works great on U.P. grouse and woodcock.

Mike

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

Lot of miles with a lot of good memories Wink

Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Posts: 54 Location: Minnesota

I am also from Michigan (Muskegon), I have not been back in a while, sure miss the beaches in the summer and deer camp in November. Sounds like a heck of a road trip, so how much time did you have to to enjoy your x-country trip?

Member Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 989 Location: Las Vegas

Birdswatter: Sounds like a great trip! Nothing bad about a drive like that if you have the time. Hope you took lots of pics!

Mattson: You miss the beaches in Michigan! Shocked

Dude, you have to get out more! They may be nicer than the ones in Minnesota, but lets face it, they don't have beaches, they have 6 months of winter and 6 months of poor sledding! Laughing

Matt

Guest

I was gone approximately 3 weeks. It was a lot of hunting combined with visiting family, including parents, who I had not seen in 5 years. Very rewarding trip all around. Now I have another 10 days off and am considering flying back for archery and antlerless season next week to fill my remaining Michigan deer tags! Terrible affliction.

Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Posts: 54 Location: Minnesota

CitoriFeather16: True you only get about 45 days of 70 degree water and 3 months of volleyball, but since the rest of the year's weather is so crappy everyone really tries to take advantage of when the weather is great, this is from March, my parents like to send me pictures of the beach. I have to say living in Minnesota now, I am spoiled with sunny days, as I am sure Vegas is only more so..

P.S. This picture is looking south toward Grand Haven, from Braunson state park, it is a dog park (beach), my dad is there almost every morning in the fall and spring, multi-tasking as only retired guys can... surf fishing for Steelhead while running his GSP. In the winter those sand dunes are great for snow boarding (long walk up), heck we even used to build sand board in shop class to surf down the dunes in the summer.

Member Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Posts: 989 Location: Las Vegas

Well, that's a better looking beach than I've seen around here! Confused

Used to camp out on some nice beaches at Lake Mead but the water's down 47% and the population is up about 400% since then! The weather is better here but no birds to hunt when we have a dry year like this one. Some years we get some good desert quail hunting.

Matt

CitoriFeather16:
If God made a better place than N.W. Michigan he saved it for himself. Things like this are quite subjective, of course.

Mike

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip to the Great Lake State. I grew up in Ludington and I still miss it. My sister lives in the Grand Rapids area. My mother is in that area also so I get back from time to time.

My dad and I hunted and fished all over Western Michigan from Holland in the South to Traverse City in the North. My grandfather operated a small fruit farm in Manistee County for years so we spend most of our time in the Onekama area.

I'd move back in a heart beat if my wife could tolerate cold weather.

I hope to put together a Lake Michigan fishing expedition in mid to late July with a group of guys from my Chapter of the Izaak Walton League after the national convention in Crown Point Indiana.

Jim Smile

Guest

Forgot to mention, while driving across the U.S. I encountered three Cabela's. My wife, who accompanied me on the return leg, is convinced that my truck automatically hits the exit ramp when a Cabela's looms ahead. Nice gun rooms. Talk about overload!

If any of you displaced Michiganders want to get together for a grouse and woodcock hunt next fall, and maybe combine that with a bit of river fishing, PM me. I'd be happy to have you up to the cottage. As fair warning, though, I'll probably have a 6-month old pup by then, who will likely be getting her first introductions to wild birds -- hard to say how she'll do. Greta can pick up the slack, though.

Where is your cottage? I might be VERY interested.

Jim

Guest

Please tell me you're near the Pere Marquette????

Not real close to the PM, but very close to another blue-ribbon trout stream a little further north and east. Great grouse country, too.