Up and Adam Adventures

After a long review period, the Michigan Natural Resource Commission announced the approval of a wolf harvest in the state's Upper Peninsula. The goal is to harvest 43 wolves from an estimated population of 658 animals. The state has established 3 wolf management units, with different harvest totals in each, and the season will from November 15 to December 31, or until the total harvest quota is met. They will be issuing 1200 wolf tags that cost $100 for residents and $500 for non-residents with a limit of one wolf per hunter, per year. Firearms and archery hunting methods are legal. I've posted before about my views on wolf management. And while I don't feel they need to be eliminated like they were many years ago, a comprehensive management plan, like the one Michigan is adopting, that involves hunters is a step in the right direction.

We had a plan. The plan was to go back to the exact spot I had several close calls with good bulls last year. This year I knew the pattern. I knew the location. All I had to do was hike up the mountain and stick an arrow in a bull. As my dad and I were driving toward Dubois, WY on Saturday evening, we began to smell smoke. The closer we got, we began to see smoke a ways off the highway to the north. Knowing the smoke was in the general direction of my hunting area gave me an uneasy feeling as we neared the turnoff to Horse Creek. Sure enough, as it began to get dark and we drove farther, you could see the orange glow of a raging fire in the sky. A forest ranger stopped us to inform us that the road was being closed. The fire had started the day before and grown from 4 acres to 400 in no time. It wasn't burning in the area I intended to hunt, but was closing in on the road, and homes and ranches in the area. Evacuations were in progress. So with some disbelief that a f...

While at the World Deer Expo in Birmingham, AL a few weeks ago, I met Ken Stewart, the innovator of a new product in scent control that I believe may be a big hit in the outdoor industry. The product is called Body Guard 360 and it's made by Herd Guard. Body Guard 360 is a scent eliminator that also repels ticks, chiggers and fleas. This makes it handy not only for big game hunting, but also for turkey hunting in the spring, or anytime you're out in the woods. The product is sold in a concentrated form that you add water to. In it's concentrated form, it's extremely lightweight, which makes it great for traveling.