October & November 2011 Hunting

That's right! I've been gone for awhile but I'm back!!!

Sorry for slacking on the blogs guys. Between night classes, an internship at a hospital, and hunting season it's hard to find time to actually sit down to relax. Unless that is, in a cozy deer blind! I hope everyone is having a safe and successful hunting season this year! I know our group is having both! No injuries (like the year I almost lost my thumb via a cross bow string), and if deer hunting had a name for success, I'm quite certain it would be my father's name! What a season, both archery and firearm! During October he arrowed a beautiful 8 point in rut chasing a doe and while hunting the firearm deer season, the last day of the season and the first accumulating snow fall he bagged a 10 point with his TC Omega .50 caliber muzzle loader (11-30-2011)!!! As this buck came in he was again chasing a doe. Don't become a hunter who is brain washed into believing there is only one rut during the fall months October, November, and December just because someone on the Outdoor Channel said so, (there is a rut for each month). Argue this if you wish, but if you spend as much time in the field as I, and aren't one of these guys who shoots every deer they see, and takes the time to study deer activity, how they respond to scent & calls, etc., you would have already picked up on this. Right now we have plenty of standing water in the fields due to recent rain and the melting of the first snow, but here in Zone 3 our muzzle loading season runs from December 2nd to December 18th. Plenty of time for the standing water to absorb into the ground and it sure is looking like a chilly week ahead with temperatures in the teens! If you're hunting bait, keep your pile stocked (check with regulations regarding amount) and keep dispersing doe estrus when you head out. I've been trying to hunt larger bucks in hopes to collect bones for the house! For those of you that don't know I have over fifty animals and fish taxidermy mounts on the main floor of my home. While I waited, and waited, and waited some more. I told myself "Your hunting a trophy, let these smaller bucks go." Well I don't count button bucks, spikes, or fork horns when I say I passed up a deer since they are about as easy to kill as a doe. Though November 10th a tall 6 point came in and I drew down on him fifteen yards away and after about a minute or so, I put my bow down. I just had a feeling there were bigger bucks out there. I should have arrowed him! He was the first shooter I saw since October 1st. I ended up bagging a 5 point which I thought was a 6 but one of his brow tines were broke off. Here are a few photos of the bucks we bagged thus far during the 2011 deer season. Myself, Josh, Corey, & Mark are still at it. But my father has filled his buck tags, doesn't harvest does, and is all done. But what a season he had!!!

Another huge congratulations to my father on a successful 2011 whitetail deer season in Michigan!

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As most of you might already know, when it comes to hunting we typically never leave the farm but do put in alot of preparation to our property which means plenty of work readying the fields for whitetails and waterfowl. This is a year long process which involves taking care of food plots, brush hogging, pumping water, etc. I guess the only thing worse then not seeing deer would be dealing with trespassers which we did in fact have several incidents this hunting season, but the unlawful hunters were caught and had to answer to Johnny Law.

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I swore to myself I would take the time to target steelhead on the Au Sable this fall after landing several nice steelhead in November of 2010 but became obsessed with the ducks & geese and even the deer at one point. Though I did make it up in October during the Indian summer and fished the river from the Whirlpool access up to the High Banks. It was a nice day trip on the boat with Belle swinging flies with my Albright 10' 8wt GPX with a Lamson Konic large arbor reel. There were still quite a few salmon in the river I was trying to avoid and did manage to land one nice steelhead on that trip! The greatest thing about fishing migratory fish or resident trout during the fall months is the low angler pressure. Everyone is hunting! After the salmon run that is...

What a fantastic day spent on the lower river in my Hyde drift boat with my good friend Belle!

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The 2011 waterfowl season was decent, but nothing like 2007 or 2009! I think 2009 will be a memorable season our group reflects on for years to come! My famous quote regarding opening day of waterfowl season is "Anyone can go out, throw a dozen decoys in the water, anywhere, and harvest at least one duck!" Well when you have an operation that is maintained year round, here are a couple photos of a successful opening morning resulting in a 4 man limit of ducks.

I really wish my father would have jumped into one of the opening day photos, but he departed early from the morning hunt and only Corey & myself hunted the evening (and of course Belle).

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As the season progressed we had our good days and slow days. I would never refer to a day in the field as being a bad day. Unless of course a tragic accident occurred as such the incident resulting in the death of a waterfowler at Fish Point this year. Many prayers go out to the family of the deceased.

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Here are some photos of time spent in the duck blind crushing birds with some of my greatest friends and the best dog in the world during the 2011 waterfowl season.

I hope all my friends are having a great fall season weather it be swinging flies for steelhead on the rivers, hunting waterfowl, or chasing horns! Though December has just begun it will be over before we know it! January brings the fridged temperatures that makes for excellent predator hunting, deep nymphing for steelhead, and for those that ice fish the walleye and perch fishing should be well underway.

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Everyone have a wonderful holiday season and best of luck out in the field and out on the water! Plenty of game and fish to be had in the great state of Michigan!

Fall has arrived!

FALL HAS ARRIVED!!!!

My favorite time of the year is here! The rivers are loaded with salmon, the brown trout are getting their spawning colors, soon the steelhead will be entering the rivers below the dams looking for salmon eggs to gorge on, the ducks and geese are gearing up to make their annual trip south, and the whitetails are on the move!

Above are photos of the 2009 and the 2010 waterfowl opener in Zone 3. In 2003 Kanicki Farms LLC. implemented approximately 55 acres into the Conservation Restoration Enhancement Program which with alot of work over the last 8 years has turned into our own private hunting refuge. Just to make things even better, in 2007 I purchased an additional 15 acres that is adjacent to the C.R.E.P. field. With proper management and hunting only on days when the weather and wind work to our advantage, our group has harvested hundreds of ducks and geese, some great whitetails, and put a hurting on every predator that comes in range.

Swamps and duck habitat + good bird numbers = more food for the predator population.

NO PROBLEM! THE BEST WAY TO KEEP THE POPULATION DOWN IS TO GUN EM' DOWN!!!!

Many of you who reside in the Saginaw Valley region may have noticed over the last decade that the coyote population has exploded. Once the coyotes establish themselves in an area, they are here to stay. Eliminating a coyote population is nearly impossible, but giving up is not a term in my vocabulary! The best times to target coyotes is during the night time hours from December through March. With snow on the ground and a full moon you would be surprised how far your eyes can see across an open field in the middle of the night. The picture of the gray fox and the coyote above was taken after a late night hunt in December of 2010. Remember this isn't like hunting out west, during the day if you do a stand in hopes to call a dog out of a wood lot across an open field, your odds are slim. Try the same approach after dark with a partner or 2 and your odds are multiplied by 100! Hunting predators in Michigan is nothing like watching a video made out west featuring Randy Anderson of the Primos Hunting Team. Don't get me wrong, that man has got skills and has earned his reputation by killing hundreds of coyotes out west. But when you come to Michigan it's a whole new ball game. Over hunting an area as well as over calling an area will kill your success regarding harvesting predators. Slip in to the area your going to hunt with a plan already implemented regarding who is sitting where and who is watching which direction. 9 times out of 10, if you think you know which way the predator is going to come to the call your wrong. That's usually the time your shaken by the gun going off behind you as your hunting buddy is blasting a coyote. You know the expression "I've got your back?" 100% true regarding hunting predators. If there are two guys hunting, sit back to back. Predators live and die by their sense of smell. So in reality one would think they would always approach a call from down wind, guess again. When a fox or coyote hears that rabbit in distress they come charging in from any and all directions, unless of course you are hunting an educated dog. In that case your best bet is to run a snare line. If you can find where the coyotes are traveling snaring is the most effective way to get them since hunting you are in and out of the woods, while snares are out 24/7. Snaring is prohibited on public land in the state of Michigan. Private land only.

Skinning a predator for their hide is a simple process and an inexpensive tannery where we send our hides is Moyle Mink & Tannery. Be sure to salt and fan dry your hides before shipping them out or they could become victim of "pelt slip" and look awful upon delivery.

Alright, I'm finished complaining about the predator population...

Back to the season at hand, fall.

According to biologists and Ducks Unlimited, the bird numbers are the highest they've been in the past 50 years!!! If this upcoming season is anything like 2009, I will be a happy hunter and Belle will sleep good at night after fetching ducks all day!

Along with smashing some ducks and geese, there is always the whitetails! Find a good run  way, make sure the wind is in your favor, sit down, and shut up. I'm not knocking any scent elimination products by name, I'M KNOCKING ALL OF THEM! I never use that dirt in a bottle neither does my father, and he has killed more bucks then anyone I know. I've had smaller bucks and does walk up and smell me during archery and firearm season without scent eliminator on. I've had trophy bucks within 10-12 yards while I was hunting on the ground. Like this fella I passed up during archery season last fall since I couldn't get a clear broad side shot.

No worries though, when he went in rut several weeks later he came in hot chasing a doe in the area my father hunts and well, as you can see above he turned broad side for my dad! If you're ever in Bay Archery on Center Avenue in Bay City, MI there is a great picture of my dad with this buck in their 2010 trophy catalog. I plowed the buck below in November with my .50 cal TC Omega. He was also chasing a doe during a moon phase I love to hunt!

Another bonus this upcoming waterfowl season is my cousin Mark will be returning from Afghanistan and will be tearing up the ducks with us! Last year he joined us waterfowling and absolutely loved it. As myself & Josh were wondering why the morning was so slow with only 2 ducks and 2 geese in the blind, mark was overwhelmed with joy. I'm really looking forward to seeing the excitement on his face when the flight birds come down and we are layed out in a cut corn field and 300-500 mallards and black ducks all drop in at the same time!

If it was November right now and a fishing buddy said "Lets take the boat up to the Au Sable! What do you want to fish for, browns below Mio or Steelhead below Foote?" For those of you who don't already know, I am a steelhead junky! I target them much more in the late winter and spring since I have to make a trip north to fish them, and because during the fall months I spend the majority of my spare time hunting waterfowl and whitetails. Fall steelhead that enter the river systems are aggressive silver bullets! They come in to the rivers to do one thing, EAT! They are looking for loose salmon eggs that are floating around, nymphs, and whatever else they can find. The neat thing about fall steelheading versus spring steelheading is the fish are more apt to chase down a streamer or some hardware. The water temps are warmer and these fish are hungry! Often times when steelhead enter the rivers in the fall, they just hang out till it's time to spawn in the spring. Therefore these guys can be fished all winter long. With colder water temperatures though, often times deep nymphing is the way to go in the brutally cold winter months.

Above is a photo of a steelhead caught on the Au Sable River in November of 2010. The best way to fish the lower river is by boat. A boat gives you access to areas a shore angler could never get to and covering more water means your covering more fish!

Good luck and best wishes to all this upcoming fall hunting and fishing season here in Michigan! I hope everyone has a safe and rewarding hunting and fishing season!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Last week we made a trip to the northwest side of the state and did some salmon fishing in the rivers and creeks. The fish we came across were already pretty dark, but we did manage to put a few in the net!

Salmon sure can pull, but there's nothing like an acrobatic steelhead! These fish fought surprisingly well for the time they had been in the river. The hen had not even spawned yet. Fresh eggs for tying spawn!

August in just a few days? Summer is coming to a close.

Little Manistee River Wier

After venturing to the other side of the state last year, I was once again sold on chasing salmon during the fall spawning runs. Even though of the two trips last fall I only hooked one very large salmon above the wier on the Little Manistee, I was fortunate enough to spend a day in mid-September with a friend and a 34 inch, 14 lb. King crushed a Rapala he had tied on while plugging a holes on a different river system in northwest Michigan.

Jason with a great hen that couldn't resist the Rapala he was dangling in front of her as she was making her way up the river to spawn.

Truly an amazing fish! He stumbled upon a treasure last fall when after a day of wishing we had brought a boat so we could access the big river just to escape the crowd. Every public access, every bridge, anywhere near the water there were vehicles parked and the majority of the "anglers" we encountered weren't actually practicing legal fishing techniques if you catch my drift. At one point a DNR officer stopped us and gave us her card and asked if we saw any illegal activity regarding illegal taking of fish if we could give her a call. I guess we looked out of place since we didn't have ocean rods loaded with cable and a weighted treble hook as bait. Finally after more then a half day of aggravation trying to get away from the rippers, we pulled up to a bridge and there were no other vehicles! A truck pulled up and the man inside started spouting off about how this was his land and we can't park here and fish. Just as I began to explain to him the law that allows anglers to wade fish navicable river systems he offered to let us access his farm to fish. $5.00 a day to walk, wade, drive the property and camp if we wished. The man owned a one square mile piece of land the river ran through and the anglers on this section were minimal.

Pictured above is a typical site to see along access sites during the fall spawning run. All I kept thinking this day which was a Saturday at that, was how much I wished I had a boat. At the time I had a 12' V-boat, a 10' flat bottom, and an Old Town kayak but nothing I would have felt comfortable standing up in and battling a salmon in the double digits in. This was just another step pushing me to purchase a drift boat. Sure the 12' boat would have worked to at least motor away from the crazies, and the flat bottom, NO WAY! And I kind of assumed if I was in my kayak and hooked a big king she would have took me for quite a ride.

Here it is! Slightly blocked by my photo friendly dog Belle is my 16'8" Hyde Pro Series High Side drift boat. At guide and friend Kelly Neuman's house one day this spring as our dogs were running around the yard and I was plotting on digging through his large fly selection I brought up if he was still looking for a new boat and mentioned I would be happy to take this one off his hands. I've made several trips to the Hot Ponds thus far, floated the Au Sable from McMasters to Parmalee, Parmalee to Mio Pond, launched at the mouth of the river and motored up river between 5-6 miles and drifted back. The only problem I encountered was using a short shaft motor was the water inlet was not far enough submerged prior to putting the motor in the forward position. Needless to say I burned the impellor up. No problem, just a $14.00 fix, well actually after repairing the old 2 stroke 3.9 Mercury that helped me through plenty of duck seasons prior to the days of having a private refuge to hunt, it was still a short shaft motor. So the same day I picked up the impellor, I purchased a 3.5 hp 4 stroke Mercury from Don's Sport Shop in Unionville. The difference between the short shaft and the long shaft on my new new engine is a short shaft has a 15 inch shaft versus the 20 inch shaft on a long shaft.

It's hard to believe September is a month away! Fall in Michigan gives anglers and hunters so many opportunities to get out in the field! Many hit the field for upland birds in the Northern parts of the state, but it's waterfowl season in my neck of the woods with early goose season kicking it off on September 1st! Cut down wheat fields, layout blinds, big decoys, loud horns, and solid retrieves by my pup!

With salmon still in the rivers and goose season going strong, we still have to hang our deer stands, flood the duck pond, do any repairs to the blind, go through the decoys, shoot our bows since archery deer season begins October 1st, and try make some trips up north since the streamer fishing begins to pick up for brown trout. Then November as we are still plowing away at the ducks and geese on those chilly mornings, the steelhead enter the rivers hungry for loose salmon eggs, and firearm deer season a true Michigan sportsman tradition begins on November 15th. So much to do before the cold winter season falls upon us.

According to a few river guides I know in northern Michigan, the small mouth bass fishing has been good on the Au Sable and some dark hex are starting. Be sure to check water temperatures prior to targeting trout on the river right now. These hot summer days have brought the water to dangerous temperatures for trout to reside in. For an honest fly fishing report, the shops along the Au Sable from Grayling to Mio are usually very insightful and willing to share info to put fish in your net.