This story just makes you want to scream, what were you thinking!  This story was reported a couple of weeks back by WZZM Channel 13 in Grand Rapids.  Apparently two DNR Rangers poached deer on private property last fall and one of them used his father-in-laws license to tag one of the deer.

     Now here is where stupidity got the best of them.  One of the rangers posted pictures of his prize kill on Michigan’s internal DNR website!  Now there’s a bright idea!  A CO began an investigation and uncovered the poaching of the deer.  During the investigation the CO found out that the father-in-law of one of the rangers loaned his kill tag to them for one of the deer, so the CO also ticketed the father-in-law with possession of buck over the limit and loaning a kill tag to another hunter.

     If convicted all three could face jail time, fines, and the loss of their hunting privileges for three years, not to mention the two rangers could and should loose their jobs.  I say throw the book at them.  Working for the state, there is no excuse for what they did.  It just makes my blood boil when we see the people who work for the government get caught doing something illegal, especially those that work for the DNR and committ game violations.

     This story comes from the stupid file!  The Los Angeles Times reported this week, that 57 year old Patricia MarieVincent, an Incline Village (Near Lake Tahoe) resident paid a tree cutting company to come in and cut down several trees that were blocking her view of Lake Tahoe.  Seems simple enough, no problem, right?  Well the trees she had cut were three 80 - 100 year old Ponderosa Pines on National Forest Land that was next to her property!

     Now don’t fret, she was caught and fined.  She was charged with a felony count of theft of government property and willingly damaging government property, punishable by 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each offense if found guilty.  Now the kicker, she pled guilty and received a reduced sentence of a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully cutting trees on U.S. land, which could have brought her one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.  Since she pled guilty on a plea bargain, she received one year probation, 80 hours of community service and a $100,000 restitution fine.  The money will be split between the U.S. Forest Service ($35,000) and the National Forest Foundation ($65,000).

     In a statement to the press, Scott Freeman her lawyer from Reno said,

 ”This was a fair resolution for both sides,” Freeman told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “The about of exposure Ms. Vincent was facing was incomprehensible to someone like her. As a consequence, both sides came to an agreeable compromise and we’re hopeful the court will follow our joint agreement at the time of sentencing.”

     A fair resolution for both sides! Give me a break!  This lady cut down trees that cannot be replaced for at least 80 years!  I have a feeling that if she lives with a view of Lake Tahoe, the $100,000 fine is probably worth the view she gained by having them cut in the first place.  It is probably now a million dollar view!  She got what she wanted and there is nothing we can do about it, except wait for trees the trees to mature in another 20 to 30 years, that is if they even get replanted!  If I were the judge I would throw the book at her, and then replant the biggest trees available back in the same spot at her expense.  I would make sure she didn’t get her $100,000 view of Lake Tahoe. 

     It amazes me that people think they can just do what ever they want to, to get what they want.  Now if that were you or me cutting down a Christmas tree on National Forest land, we would have probably gotten the hammer put down on us, but with the right lawyer I guess you can get away with murder!  I just wonder if it was only three trees that blocked her view or did the tree company realize what was going on, stop cutting and then turn her in?

     Last weekend I took two of my kids up north to open up the cottage and on the way home we made our way over to our 40 acres in Missaukee County for a quick visit.  The reason for our detour to the property was to place two wood

duck nesting boxes that my oldest son Michael and I built back in the winter.  This past winter he wanted to build a couple of these boxes to help provide some nesting areas for wood ducks.  When we built them, we didn’t really have any idea of where to put them, but a recent scouting trip took care of that for us.  About a month ago I had to make a trip to the town of Cadillac, which is only about 30 - 40 miles from our 40 acres.  We thought that this would be a great opportunity to stop by and do some scouting.  While we were there we saw a ton of ducks on the beaver pond on the property and there were quite a few woodies in with them.  Right away we both knew exactly where to put the new boxes.

     Well this past weekend we took all the supplies to finish the job and place them on the pond.  With some help from my daughter Mackenzie we managed to place both nesting boxes at the waters’ edge.  Hopefully there will be two nesting pairs that put these boxes to good use, and hopefully this will keep a few of them around until the opening weekend of duck season this fall!  Even if they don’t stay, at least we know that we helped to provide a suitable place for them to nest and raise their ducklings. 

     I hoped that this little adventure taught my two kids, that if you plan on having game to harvest in the future, you

must help provide for them and give them plenty of opportunity to flourish and grow.  Without our help, the abundance of wildlife would not be possible.  If you want to see our video of how to build a wood duck nesting box, check out our videos on youtube.com here is the link directly to our site, and here is the link to the wood duck nesting box video.

     This past weekend, my two oldest kids and I made our way up to Mackinaw City to open up the cottage and do some repairs.  While we were out of town a couple of weeks back we heard about the forest fire near Grayling that burnt about 1100 acres and closed down the I-75 expressway.  On our journey to the north we came across the area that was burnt by the fire and was amazed at how bad it looked.  I’ve never seen a section of forest or woods that have been hit by a forest fire before.  I was kind of taken by surprise at how barren the landscape looked.  Everything was chared black or brown from the fire.  There was no grass, or understory growth under the trees, and the trees themselves were burnt like match sticks.  No leaves, no pine needles, no nothing. 

      It gave me a new appreciation for what the spring woods look like normally.  It also showed me what an awesome responsibility it is to have a campfire or recreational fire.  It was said that this fire was an accident,  I never did hear how it actually started, but I did see the end results, no matter what the cause. 

     When we came across the burnt area that went for about a mile down the highway, we pulled off at the next exit and came back down the county road next to the highway, so we could get a closer look and take some pictures.  The road we were on stopped at a dead end and a gate that went to a road that went into the Grayling Game Camp.  This looked like a sportsman’s club of some sort.  It appeared that their property was in the direct path of the fire.  It appears that it burnt quite a bit of their land, it was truely sad to see that.  The only good thing we can say is that mother nature uses fire to clean out the debris and bring in new growth.  I’m sure it won’t be long before we get to see some green growth back in that area soon.  It will take some time for the trees to come back though.  So just remember before you light a fire, take precautions to make sure it doesn’t get out of control and make dog gone sure you put it out!

     Bovine Tuberculosis Prevalence Rates Drop In 2007

     This week I posted about the unlimited tags being handed out to the private land owners in DMU 452 here in Michigan.  I mentioned that the TB actually declined this year as compared to last year, along with a comment from deerhtn on the issue stating that the DMU has actually decreased in size also.  Today I found the actual numbers from the DNR on the TB testing in DMU 452 and they are as follows:

 Disease surveillance and monitoring efforts by the Department of Natural Resources during the 2007 white-tailed deer hunting season showed that the prevalence rate for bovine tuberculosis (TB) dropped to 1.4 percent in Deer Management Unit 452. DMU 452 is the core area of the TB outbreak in northeastern Lower Michigan that includes parts of Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Oscoda counties. The prevalence rate during the 2006 season had spiked to 2.3 percent, after seeing a decline to 1.2 percent in 2005.
In 2007, the DNR tested 8,305 deer statewide for bovine TB and 27 deer were positive. In 2006, 7,902 deer were tested and 41 were positive. The DNR also tested 192 elk for bovine TB, and none were found to have the disease. In 2006, 161 elk were tested, and one was TB-positive.

     With that being said, why are they wanting to decrease the deer herd by 50%?  We saw a one year spike in TB cases two years ago, a one year spike followed with a significant decrease from a smaller area,  shouldn’t be an alarm to slaughter the deer herd.  The efforts to fight this disease have been working.  What I would like to know is why are the deer being targeted for the BOVINE TB, this came from cows?  Why don’t the farmers have to take more precaution to fight this disease, that is where the pressure is coming from.  It would be nice if the government would step in and provide some funds to help farmers high fence their pastures or feeding areas to keep deer away from the cattle.  The government subsidizes farmers to NOT plant crops, lets get them some help at protecting their animals as well.  I do understand that this is their livelyhood, but the hunters and deer herds of Michigan are also feeling the effects of the disease.  I do feel the DNR needs to be more diligent at stopping the baiting of deer in this area.  We all know that this helps to promote the spread of TB, so lets concentrate on the protection of cattle and the spread in the deer herd,  which are fences and baiting, just my two cents!

     Has anyone ever heard of reciprocal hunting rights on private property?  I ran across a post on the Michigan Sportsman Fourm about this today.  Apparently, at least here in Michigan there is a entire section of land in Otsego County that has these rights granted to private property owners.  What it states is that everyone in that section who owns land and their family memebers has the right to hunt all other private property in that section!  Wow!  I would be highly ticked off if I bought a piece of property and found out that everyone and their brother literaly could hunt my property. 

     From what this gentleman posted, he said that his brother in law bought a parcel of land for hunting and found that everyone else was hunting it.  He called the DNR, but the CO’s said that these people have reciprocal hunting rights granted to them and there was nothing they could do.  With further discussion on the forum it was stated that this was on the property deed.  It was stated as “reciprocal hunting and fishing rights in Section 21“, further discussion revealed that this was put on the deeds about 50 years ago by all the land owners of that section, the only way to recend it would be to get all land owners to sign off.  Yeah like that is going to happen. 

     So the moral of the story is to have a real estate lawyer check your deed and title work before you sign.  Don’t just assume that the title work is enough.  This guy did and didn’t read all the deed word for word, and now he is hosed!  Years ago I guess you had an abstract drawn up on land purchases that showed everything that ever was done or transfered to and from property owners, I guess this is no longer the case, that is why we now have title insurance.  Good lesson here to learn from, unfortunatly it was the other guy who got the screws put to him.

     Well, we here at Hooks and Bullets are getting fired up for the upcoming archery season.  We are getting our equipment lined up for the big range and field test of some of the more popular broadheads in the industry.  So far we have Muzzy on board with their MX3 and MX4 broadheads, as well as G5 with their Montec, Montec Pre-season, Striker and Striker Magnums.  We are also testing the new Muzzy Zero Effect Next Generation arrow rest.  We hope to have a few more companies allow us to test their products as well.  We want to thank Muzzy and G5 for partnering with us on what we expect to be a great hunting season this year. 

     We will take each of these great products through their paces at the range and in the field this year, and with that said,  we will bring you the results of what we find.  We will also be shooting some video during the testing sessions so you can also see what we are talking about.  What better way to find out what product to use then, letting us put it through its paces for you!  We will have several teams in the field this year to let you the readers, listeners and viewers know what works well, and what just simply works.  Stay tuned for further updates right here at Hooks and Bullets Blog, Up North Journal Podcast, and Up North Journal Television!

     We once again want to thank the companies already participating and anxiously await the response from the rest of the field.  Take the time to visit their websites so you can see what we will be using this year!

Muzzy Broadheads & Zero Effect

G5 Montec & Striker

     Once again I was doing my morning ritual of looking at the outdoor news of the week and ran across an outdoor article from the Rutland Herald out in Vermont.  It seems as though the Governor of that great state, James Douglas, used the time honored tradition of the opening day of trout season as a photo opportunity to show his trusted constiutants just how much of an avid outdoorsman he was.

     On the opening day of trout season in Vermont, the good Governor made his way to the banks of a river with his groupies in tow and cameras rolling.  I guess he wanted everyone to know just how important the outdoors was to him also.  I guess he forgot that the cameras were rolling when he brought his line back in and let one of his nearby aides bait his hook for him with a worm or some other type of bait.  What, couldn’t the good Governor get his hands a little dirty?  Now I’m not a great fisherman by any means, but I would NEVER let anyone bait my hook for me as long as I can move both of my arms and hands!  The only people who let someone else bait there hooks is either little girls or sissy boys!!!!

     How can we trust our elected officials if they claim to be something they are not!  Don’t use our great outdoor activities to show how much of a avid outdoorsman you are just for a photo op!  I’m going to assume that most of our outdoors men and women are smart enough to smell a skunk when one is around,  do they think we are just stupid outdoor hicks?  Maybe I’m making more of this, than there needs to be, but I’m tired of people sucking up to hunters and fisherman and posing for a vote, then later stabbing us in the back by passing legislation that goes against what we believe.  I don’t know this Governors voting record on hunting, fishing, and gun issues, but if your going to pose as a fisherman, at least get your hands dirty!

DNR Proposes New Changes

     Last week the Michigan DNR posted a press release on their website asking for your input.  The press release was asking that you give your input on two proposed fishing regulation changes for this year. 

     First they are asking that the daily limit for Chinook and Coho salmon be increased to five fish per day in any combination.  Currently you can have five but only three maximum of either species.  This change would allow you to still only take five total but they could be in any combination.

     The second change they are asking for is to allow the number of allowable fishing lines at one time be changed from two which is allowed now, to three lines in the water at one time.  Thier concern is for pier fishing and ice fishing.  I’m knew to ice fishing this year, so I don’t really understand why there would be an issue on ice fishing, unless it had to do with the number of tip-ups or something.  I can understand pier fishing, where there may be a good number of fisherman, and too many lines. 

     If you have an opinion on either of these issues the DNR is asking you to give your input on these matters, here is the link to the press releases and a place to voice your opinion.

Mushroom Season Brings Hidden Dangers

     I recieved an email this week from a listener of our podcast “Up North Journal”, he ran across a post in one of the Michigan Morel Mushroom forums.  It was warning unsuspecting mushroom buyers to beware and sure of what they were buying.  Here is the post from that forum:

 I hunted in Mesick this morning and as I was headed back north the usual 2-3 cars were at the corner of M37 & 115 with their signs and coolers selling Morels or so they say . well when I got back I received a call from jondahighlander and he seen them also but he stopped to see how much they were getting for a pound and to jons surprise the guy said $40.00 for 7 ounces of blacks…ouch ! but the real kicker was he also was selling the poisonous verpa bohemica for $20.00 a pound. when jon and his buddy told the guy he was selling poisonous mushrooms the guy simply replied “thats hogwash”.so here is my point…you better know what you are picking and eating and more importantly if your buying from a guy on a corner who could give a sheet as long as he gets his 20 spot. DO YOUR HOMEWORK or ask someone you trust what is real.    

     Now that is a scary thought.  I guess it is just like if you were picking them yourself, know your mushrooms!  What makes this even worse is that this guy was told that these were poisonous and he continued to sell them.  Educate yourself if you are going to be buying roadside mushrooms or if your going out picking them.  Your life depends on it!
     Here is a great resource for new mushroom hunters, it is The Great Morel website.