On this week’s show, I take you out into the field on a Turkey Hunt with me.  We have a great interview with Wildlife Deer Biologist Dr. Grant Wood of GrowDeer.tv about how to maximize your hunting on small plots of land and how a public land hunter can maximize his hunting potential, something for everyone!  Mikey covers the Game Bag this week with a little bowfishing and finally I take a stand on the new Montana state law that outlaws trail cams!  Just visit our website at:  www.upnorthjournal.com and click on the audio player to listen to this week’s show.  Don’t miss next week when we interview Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo of Archer’s Choice!

     I just received an article from one of our Up North Journal Pro Staffers about trail cameras being illegal in the state of Montana!  I was sure this was a joke, but after reading the story I was blown away with the fact that this is 100% true!

     According to the Field & Stream blog article by Scott Bestul Montana’s Dept. of Fish and Wildlife has decided that trail cams or game cams as they are often called are subject to the following:

“It is illegal for a person to possess or use in the field any electronic or camera device who’s purpose is to scout the location of game animals or relay the information on a game animal’s location or movement during any Commission adopted hunting season.”

     What bothers me even more is the chatter that this has created on F&S’s comments below the article.  Once again we see an elitist faction criticizing anyone for using a camera.  If you don’t want to use one that is fine, but don’t slam someone for choosing to do so.  If it is legal then I have no problem with it.  What I do have a problem with is the groups of so called hunters attacking each other!  This serves no good what so ever.  Once again something as simple as a camera is coming between us and dividing us!  Instead of banding together for the common good we find it necessary to tear each other apart!  When is this bull going to stop?  Our outdoor heritage is slipping away right through our fingers and we are the ones to blame!  There is no one else to point the finger at!

     Back to the law at hand, how can the state tell someone on their own land that they cannot use a camera to catch a trespasser, keep an eye on predators that might be killing their livestock, tell biologists that they cannot use them to do studies, see if a deer you took a shot at and couldn’t find is still around the area, watching the progression of growth on a deer’s antlers, or simply taking photos to enjoy them, etc…..?  This stupid law has more far reaching ramifications that I feel no one has even given any consideration to see what ill affects this might have on good law abiding outdoors men!

   For more information on this law, NRAhuntersrights.org has their take on it as well!

We finally made plans to hit the woods with the AR for a little coyote hunt this past weekend. I got with our Pro Staff Member Chico Lopez to see if he wanted to ride along and spend a day in the woods chasing the devil dogs. I picked him up around 1:30am and headed north, after a 2 and a half hour drive we arrived at our northern Michigan destination around 4am! After a little sleep we got our gear ready and hit the woods. As we were getting ready to take to the field, I noticed a beautiful bald eagle flying over a clearing next to the lake. I thought to myself, this is a good sign of things to come, or so we thought!  Read More

The Michigan DNRE issued a press release Feb. 11th about wanting the public’s help with sightings of gray wolves in Michigan’s lower peninsula.  Below is the statement issued by the DNRE!

Contacts: Jennifer Kleitch 989-785-4251, ext. 5430 or Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014 DNRE Asks for Help From Public to Detect Presence of Wolves in the Lower Peninsula The Department of Natural Resources and Environment today announced it will conduct a survey in the northern Lower Peninsula Feb. 16 through March 12 to detect the presence of gray wolves in this area of the state. Survey teams will be searching areas where the public reports observing a wolf or wolf tracks during the survey period. Priority will be placed on the most recent reports and reports with potential wolf evidence. “The purpose of the survey is to both verify the presence of wolves where we have previously confirmed animals and to detect new occurrences in other areas,” said DNRE Wildlife Biologist Jennifer Kleitch. “Given the low probability of observing a wolf or tracks in the Lower Peninsula it’s helpful to have as many eyes looking as possible. That’s why public reports are important.” The DNRE is asking the public to report wolf sightings that occur during the survey period to the Gaylord Operations Service Center at 989-732-3541, ext. 5901. Observation reports can also be submitted online year-round at www.michigan.gov/wolves. The Web site also contains identification information for wolves. “It’s imperative that observations are reported in a timely manner so we can work with fresh evidence. If the public finds what appear to be wolf tracks, they should preserve the physical evidence and disturb it as little as possible or take a photo of the tracks with a ruler,” Kleitch said. “If someone has a photo or video of a wolf in the Lower Peninsula, we’re interested in that as well.” Wolves began naturally returning to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula via Canada and Wisconsin in the early 1990s. Since that time populations have increased and continue to expand their range. Evidence of range expansion into the Lower Peninsula came when a gray wolf was accidentally killed in Presque Isle County in 2004. More recently, the DNRE verified two wolf observations in 2009 in the northern Lower Peninsula as a result of a video and trail camera photo taken by Michigan citizens. The DNRE is partnering in this survey effort with USDA Wildlife Services, the Little Traverse and Grand Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and Central Michigan University. The DNRE is committed to the conservation, protection, management and accessible use and enjoyment of the state’s environment, natural resources and related economic interests for current and future generations.

     We are proud to announce that episode 2 of Beyond The Wild is now available for you to view!  You can get it by going to our website and view it on the video player or download a high quality version right off of the site as well at:  www.upnorthjournal.com  You can also subscribe to it by going to I-tunes and searching “Beyond The Wild”.  When you do, make sure and leave a comment to help boost our rankings!  Thanks for your support!

     This episode we take you out on the BIG waters of Lake Huron in Saginaw Bay to chase the tasty walleyes!  Next we get our hands dirty working the soil for the upcoming deer season by getting our food plots ready for planting, plus a few other odds and ends!

     Episode 122 of the Up North Journal Podcast is now available for your listening enjoyment for free at: www.upnorthjournal.com

     This week we cover goose scouting, deer season, hunting expos and which is faster an arrow out of a compound bow or a 4 second dragster?

     Yes I’m still alive and well!  To those of you who regularly follow this blog I know is has been over a month since my last post, but I have a very good reason as to why this has happened. Read the rest of this entry »

     The Up North Journal Team has launched their new website and they invite you to stop by and check out the new digs! You can find it at the same ‘ol place: www.upnorthjournal.com you will find a new interactive video panel that will play their most current video and will eventually have the most current episode of their upcoming new video show. You will also be able to click the link to take you to the archive page of all their videos. Not only does it have the video player but it also offers an audio panel that has the most current episode of their podcast with a scrolling banner with an outline of the current show. The link below the player also takes you to an archive page of past episodes for download or playing right from the site.     At the bottom of the page you will find all the Up North Journal Pro Staff members. By clicking their photos you will be taken to each members personal bio page which will host a video of each member talking about themselves and the game they like to persue. Included on their personal bio page is all the links to their own blogs, and other internet links they are associated with such as facebook, twitter, and email address’.

     The site is not 100% completed but the important items are there, so keep looking for further updates to the site and bios on the prostaff pages. When your finished taking the tour, be sure to drop them an email and let them know what you think about the new digs!

     After taking a few weeks off from blogging, I’ve got the urge to get writing again and today I have finished the first step in our new food plots.  Read the rest of this entry »

     Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Steve Scott, the Vice President of Whitetail Institute of North America about the basics of food plots.  As you may already know, Whitetail Institute of North America produces seeds for various crops that are designed for wild game food plots.  Below you will find a few of the basic questions I asked and the answers he gave. Read the rest of this entry »