Pursuits and pitfalls

By Mac Arnold
Editor-In-Chief

As I sit here on Tuesday, Feb. 15, going into the third week of recovery from ankle replacement surgery with the days dragging on, I'm wondering how I can get started on a new blog item to follow up on the 2021-22 hunting seasons.

Most afternoons take place in the kitchen post where I'm close to the back door to conveniently let the dogs out when needed. Seems like this happens a lot to my chagrin, and yet I still get burned by the 6-month-old Lab pup.

It's also where the speakers are located so I can stare out at the living room and listen to tunes. 

Today, I've already burned through my favorite inspirational Christian songs, and the Gordon Lightfoot channel on Spotify wasn't getting it either since I've had that on for the past several days in a row. Gord's cool don't get me wrong. The artists that I lean toward are those who pick an acoustic guitar and croon away.

Now I'm dialed onto the Kenny Chesney channel. Not a bad stop really since he sings about sandy beaches and relaxing hot spots to hang out all the while reflecting on life's pursuits and pitfalls. Good visions to have with the weather the way it is here in Northwest Ohio as temperatures dangle in the low 20s. The pile of snow that fell during last week's storm remains wherever you look.

The forecast is calling for mid-50s tomorrow (Feb. 16), so I may just roll outside and take up a perch to enjoy a bit of fresh air.

But what about the wrap-up on the 2021-22 hunting season?

Hold on, I'll have to put a pause on Mr. Chesney since he has me imagining I'm drifting lazily away with the wind on a boat (or in my case, a canoe) on a hot July day. That'll work here in a couple months. Trust me I can't wait to get out on the water and do some baaaaaaaaaaaaaass fishing. And I anticipate getting out more than once like last year since now we have a vehicle with a rack on top.

Hmmmm, so we'll end here on one of his best songs: "Better boat."

Now let's get to that fall-to-winter season where deer reigns as king.

Pretty uneventful except I finally did bag a deer -- a buck even -- unfortunately he didn't pass the Michigan Thumb camp standards, and I heard an earful with even a $100 fine discussed over my transgression. Camp boss is a stickler on the regs there -- even if he himself has done the same thing himself -- oops, did I say that? -- and bucks have to have three points to a side. This one had two. 

Frankly, the light was slipping away and I was really just looking for a nice-bodied doe to blast with the muzzle loader on Dec. 6. His head was down and one side was completely broke off. Reflecting back on it now I should've put the binos on him again.

Thing is, in the end, it's still a legal deer in the state's eyes. So I'm kinda happy and kinda not. And I have venison. Lots of it. I think in the future I'll only shoot ones there that rival the world record Milo Hansen buck.

Heaven forbid if you shoot a button buck. I mean I hate when that happens and take great pains to make sure that doesn't happen but it still does. Thinking about it now, I can't even remember when I've shot a button last so it's been a long time. Maybe the early 2010s?

And I can't even count how many younger bucks I've passed up there. Probably dozens so it's not like I don't try to follow the rules.

Put this scenario on Ohio public land and/or Michigan with it being that late in the season, I would have shot that buck all day long. Way I look at it, that's a trophy with the old smoke pole. And really that makes it more fun to me being it's a kill with a primitive weapon.

Especially in Ohio. I almost didn't buy a deer tag. Wasn't really anticipating going out but then I saw how the muzzle loader season dates -- Jan. 8-11 -- kinda jived with when I wanted to kick back before my ankle surgery and figured, why not?

Again, as in the last two seasons in the Buckeye State, no deer were seen let alone bagged. The last day out retired me for good this deer season as temperatures dipped into teens Real Feel with the 30-mph winds howling. I wisely trudged not too far away from the car at the Killdeer Plains spot.

As I was walking back to the vehicle I had this strange feeling something was clinging on my backside.Turned out it was my sweat pants had froze into lumps. I had been sitting on the edge of a wet bog.

I couldn't get inside the car fast enough so I could crank the heat.

That was enough for this deer hunter.

I haven't even discussed how haltingly my steps were walking along the grain fields in all the spots I hunted. My ankle even with a brace made any foot travel practically unbearable and nearly impossible.

Which now leads me to two epiphanies that came clear to me before and during the 2021-22 hunting season.

The first of which, is not really a stunner. I physically have definitely lost a step ... literally. And I knew this when my left ankle first took a crap in August that something was really wrong. Turns out it was arthritic to the point where the joint was completely gone and was bone on bone. Very painful.

I wasn't sure if it could be fixed or what, but the podiatrist seems sure with this surgery that I can regain most of my abilities with the exception of high-impact activities: no jumping, no running, no kicking the heavy bag and so forth. 

But I will be able to power walk, hike, ski (not that I have in years), and even get around on most outdoor terrain, which means hopefully I can get on with training my red fox Labrador pup for upland and wetland hunting. We'll see. Now that the surgery is over and I'm taking strides to recover, I am looking brightly into the future. I mean even just walking without much of a limp and painfree would be big wins.

As for the second revelation: I realized maybe I'm not the hotshot hunter I once thought I was. This really came on when I talked with a security guard at the newspaper where I work. He claimed to have shot 75 bucks and travels to a lease he has in Kansas -- home to huge bucks. He showed me the ones just from this year he bagged. I'm not worthy hahahahaha. Oh well. 

And here I am with 52 deer (not just bucks) notched in my belt with maybe one real nice buck, a couple OK ones and others just too small to talk about. I have done a lot better on turkeys, I might add.

When I first got into deer hunting in the early '90s, I fancied at aiming to be some big trophy buck guy along with my late friend Mike Phillips. Mike ended doing better than me before he passed in 2006. 

What this is all coming down to is that I'm pretty much a meat hunter. Poof! There it is. And many of us deer hunters are. I noticed when mixing up some sausage the other day how much I missed being able to do that. The fact is I hadn't shot a deer since 2017. I was in the throes of a really major dry spell.

So even if I would to like take down some real brutes, I'm just as content to fill up the freezer. Maybe another aspect I should consider is getting out to more places where there are fewer restrictions. But fewer restrictions don't always add up to seeing deer or having opportunities. 

In the meanwhile maybe I'm building a better boat. 

RTWO photo by Mac Arnold

Taking a  look around during the 2021-22 muzzle loader season on public land in Northwest Ohio. 

Special days

By Mac Arnold
Editor-In-Chief

I have to remember that these are special days as I slowly count down to normalcy. 

No, I’m not particularly happy about my ailments. I can’t run anymore. Haven’t been able to throw normally for quite some time now. (I used to have a rocket arm. Or so I’ve been told.)

But there is so much I can still do!

I’ve been taking a few shots at my hunting prowess or lack of it on this blog as of late yet I’m still out there and in the game. I feel like this is the year I score a breakthrough white-tailed buck.

RTWO Photo

by Mac Arnold

This smallmouth was hauled in in August on Michigan's River Raisin and came in just under three pounds.

And I didn’t post it on here back in summer but I boated, er,  canoed a pretty nice smallie all the while going backward down the roaring waters from the small dam on the River Raisin.

I’ve gotten through a rough two to three-year stretch where all I did was work and sleep while holding down two full-time jobs.

But I’m to the point where I no longer have to do this, and I’m not.

The thought of finally getting away from this leaves my mind so relieved.

It was hell. 

God got me through it. All glory be to Him on high.

Life should start being much more enjoyable in 2022. 

I think I’ll start it off by getting deep into the Ohio muzzle loader season, which opens Jan. 8.

Of course in the meanwhile I will still be hunting in Michigan's Sanilac County with the king of all seasons -- regular deer firearms season -- coming up next week on Nov. 15.

Talkin’ and walkin’

By Mac Arnold
Editor-In-Chief

Many thoughts are swirling about in my head lately.

This hunting season has already been a trial by fire with my troublesome left ankle.

I’ve been out four times since mid-September in three different versions — early firearms for doe, fall turkey and, of course, deer archery — all in Michigan and it’s been a real struggle getting around.

Walking on the hard-packed drive is not an issue, but get me looking for blood or hair in an dry, crusty soybean field or hobbling along a squishy two-track, and I’m barely able to stay upright.

However, that all could change with the modern miracle of this new brace I finally got around to putting on and giving a whirl. 

The first test came Sunday on the awful foot-breaking and mole-ladened yard while mowing.

Outcome? It was a success. I really was surprised at how much better I could maneuver around.

For hunting all I needed was a way to get both foot and brace into a boot. 

I’ve already bought one pair of rubber boots with the same result of intense pain after pulling my foot out of a tight muck-style boot. (Believe me, this bone-on-bone arthritis in a joint that is gone is extremely painful.)

Then there they were on the TSC shelf: rubber overboots! Perfect! 

You know the ones. The old-buckled black ones that would get you teased by other kids when you wore them in grade school.

But for my purposes I think they’ll be just what I need to stay upright while walking across a mushy cut cornfield. 

Anyway, so sadly, this blog has turned from an exciting see how the self-taught suburban kid hunter slams big game is now like a former challenging NASCAR champion relegated to riding around in 35th-place never really getting in position to vie for first place.

So all I can say is I guess tune in to see how this gimpy graybeard does with this improved outlook. At least I may have staved off ankle surgery, which is probably a good thing for now.

RTWO Photo by Mac Arnold

So here it is: the Breg wonder brace helping me along to mow Sunday.

Past notes update blog

By Mac Arnold
Editor-In-Chief

Written earlier this past summer:

Here I am at the end of another long stretch of paying child support.

Just thinking about it recently left me stunned when I realized it was 7 1/2 years this time. 

My youngest child — Zachary — turned 18 in August. 

Guess where I’m going with this is piggybacking off my last blog post published March 15, 2019.

Some of the rehash from that last post was how I was sick of having what I wrote about being used as ammo against me by my ex. 

That also should have ended in August but we'll see on that one.

Sadly I noticed that I had put up zero posts in 2020.  

RTWO photo by Mac Arnold

As promised, a quick glance at the 2020 hunting

log that I posted in the garage. Despite the small 

reproduction, each gig was noted on where and 

what was hunted.

But that really is more of a telltale of how busy I was working two full-time jobs. Beyond work at The Blade on the copy desk, I picked up a very laborious but decent paying job as a package handler at one of the larger shipping facilities. The corporation prefers discretion, and I will keep it at that.

However I was able to get out hunting — mainly for deer — more than I had in 2018 and 2019 in 2020 and even kept a pretty detailed calendar log. This may be worthy of getting shown on here even if it might bore most readers. But this is all things Mac hunts or has hunted, so I just may go ahead and do so. 

I had planned to post some of this spring’s turkey gigs, which had the best action in years. Mainly because I opted to pass on unfruitful Ohio outings and return to my native state of Michigan. If I remember correctly,
I got out four times to thee olde Thumb camp.

As I’ve long been saying: Great Lake State turkey hunting remains a downplayed golden nugget.

I’m hoping to put in some time for birds this fall

— before I get too obsessed over the white-tails
— and break up a bachelor brood party of toms.

I’ll be back on soon with what plans I have for the upcoming seasons. They certainly won’t be as 

ambitious as they have been in years gone by as now we will undertake Operation Restore Finances.

It was long ordeal, and I’m glad it is finally over.  Whew … relief! It’s going to take time to sink in that’s for sure!

Writing is life

By Mac Arnold
Editor-In-Chief

Writing is life.

Detailing what I've done in the woods and on the water is what I do, and I see I did not make a single post in 2018.

What a shame.

It was a pretty awful year all the way around.

As the wind whistles away outside the glider window in my fairly recent place of residence, I realize I never can escape the howls of a whirling life.

We moved three times in 2018.

It was unsettling. Too unsettling to write about? Actually, that is the time TO write.

It's such good therapy, although some might find happiness in my undoing. We all have certain people in our lives that take such pleasure. They are to be pitied. What a weak and feeble person they are in doing so.

Someday I will unload on what went down these past few hectic years of uncertain financial times. It surely wasn't fun. Or deserved, in my opinion. But that's how it went down.

We are climbing out of it ... somewhat. Anyway, that will be a story to be told when the time comes.

Being it's nearly four months into this year, I pledge to get back to the keyboard and document my outings in the great outdoors.

As busy as I am now, the time out is much less, that is true. And it will likely be that way again as some of my favorite times of the year come about: spring gobbler, baaaaaaaaaaaass fishing, bird hunting, and of course, King Deer Hunting. Which will be my top focus now that I'm in Ohio where I see many great beasts conquered on a hunting site I belong to. However, I did not see a single deer on the hoof in the three times I was out in Ohio last season.

Three times. I scoff at such feeble amount.

In years gone by, I would be out during the first archery season close to 20 to 30 times.

Seems also more difficult to train properly with the compound bow but I'm thinking it might be easier to find places to practice with the recurve and the Black Hole target. Covert places. (Whoa.) The main problem is travel time to practice locations with high-speed archery gear.

Long distances are not as necessary with the recurve, and I never take very long shots in the deer woods anyway, so don't judge me.

Even with all of the time constraints I've always got some type of outdoor event in mind. In fact I heard a midnight goose honking in the wind overhead outside just a minute ago and prompted a deep-sleeping Lab Augustus to my awful goose mimic call.

He barely budged ... LOL. Oh well. He will once we get on them again for real.

We still manage to practice retrieves even if it is in the street here at the apartment complex.

Hopefully today I will get to replace the Lynch's Fool-Proof Hen Call that went crunch during the fall season in 2018 when I had to bust out of a blind 12 feet in the air after stirring a yellow jackets' nest. I also ended up getting stung four times. Funny now yet not so funny then, and I was really hoping to drop a turkey after setting back up to shake off the pain. No, it wasn't in the blind. The wasps won that one.

With spring turkey season nearly upon us, I can't even imagine not having that call in my pack. Many a time a repetitive light yelp and cluck from that old box call would bring in a nice tom.

The Lynch's one is all I believe in so forget about the rest.

Happy days for small victories.

Howl on wind. I'm here to hear you.

What happened ... where we're at now

By Mac Arnold
Editor-In-Chief

So much time has gone on since my last post has been logged.

So many things have changed but I'm still here.

RTWO photo by Bill Brisebois

One of the better fish caught during our bass
challenge in July on the River Raisin. 

And yet blink, it's now the middle of the early goose season in Michigan with one already knocked down and cut up for the table.

Plus the small game and fall turkey seasons are now in full swing as of this Sept. 16 date that I write and detail what has gone on in my professional life and hunting and fishing adventures.

I will hold close to the vest on the professional life part because of agents of doom that still haunt my life and would love to hurt me, but will fully tell all of what's gone on in my triumphs in the Michigan killing fields and its magnificent bass waters.

Some of which I will have to play catch up as I get back to writing on this blog.

The latest success was a folly much like any "Rockin' The Wild Outdoors With Mac" follower would appreciate and laugh along with me at the silliness of it all.

For one, this goose rose up from the dead in our blind after I successfully brought it down Sept. 3. After much drama of hissing and clomping of its bill it was tamed. The best part of this harvest was how after three years, Augustus the bred-for-waterfowl-backwaters black Lab also rose up.

First with the initial take down, because it was mostly a wing shot. And as many bird hunters can attest, catching up with a bird such as a wounded goose by mere mortal man can be quite trying through the thick bog grasses. Enter the four-legged partner and that effort is cut in half.

Thinking after that episode it was at last dispatched, up it sprung a half hour later, stunning both of us as it tried another vain attempt at evasion but the black Lab was on his best duty.

As a doggie parent and a hunting commander, I was quite pleased.

***

With regard to the spring turkey season and summer bass action, both were decent.

RTWO Photo by Mac Arnold

As you can see from the final product, this 

bird wasn't bad but he wasn't the big boy.

I was left at summer's end still looking for that elusive monster smallie but one the better ones was caught during a friendly challenge with longtime childhood chum Bill Brisebois, who was able to click off a nice picture for me. It came off the favorite angling waters of the River Raisin in mid-July. The surprising part was the time of day it was -- midafternoon at about 2:30 p.m. (usually my least favorite time on the water). There may be another gig for fall, and I promise I will do a better a job of recording how the day ends up.

Spring turkey this May was another amazing experience at Dairy Farmer Dave's in the Thumb. For the second straight spring I was able to bag a long beard, but as is usually the case with the Gobbler Man, the giant of the bunch was the last to appear and it was not the one taken. I did have to act a bit hasty being the first shot with the H&R 20 gauge missed its mark and the bachelor brood was alerted to impending danger. This meant I had to make do with the dummy in front of me who was still very nice indeed with a 9 1/2-inch beard. But his pal that stepped out after the bird was dropped had my jaw hangin'.

As we know from previous birds shot at Dave's, the beards and poundage can go much bigger. It would be nice to make it out for fall turkey but with the new occupation now added into the mix it'll be tougher to take on all the prey. In fact, I thought I might be lucky to only get out once or twice for goose season. So far though it seems that isn't necessarily the case. Plus I have a client calling for goose breasts ... go figure. 

***

So what's on the horizon for fall here at RTWO? Next up toward the end of this month there could quite possibly be an Upper Peninsula bear hunt accompanied with some bird hunting since Augustus will be tagging along for the trip. 

Another part of the trip could include some baaaaaaaaaaaaaass fishing if I can rent a canoe or a boat on Manistique Lake, which I have heard has some awesome bass action.

Of course after this it'll all be King Deer Hunting once Oct. 1 hits and the archery season begins full throttle.

Look for follows at RTWO, I promise to post more vigilantly and let you in on the action. Promise.

***

Here are a couple of videos from the summer bass fishing outing with Bill. You can observe the candor of two old dudes who have been friends since they were 7.

Season wrap-up: Top hunts of 2016

By Mac Arnold
RTWO Editor-In-Chief

After nearly four months of insanity and mostly frustration, Michigan's white-tailed deer season will come to close Jan. 1.

Yes, sadly, and maybe with relief, when the sun dips below the horizon this chilly winter evening that is going to be it until mid-September.

The weapon of choice for this hunt by this worn, gray-bearded hunter will be a crossbow -- the same one as when the season began Sept. 17 for early antlerless deer.

There was some debate as to whether to go out instead with the freezer-packer -- the 12-gauge Mossberg slug gun -- but what if a decent buck chooses to come into range? So with that, the Parker crossbow made the grade, or at least we hope it does.

But most likely that is not to happen as few ... well, one antlered deer was seen on the hoof this past season, and it was hardly a nice buck. It was very much so a yearling buck, possibly a six-point, and if seen tonight it will be left alone to roam until next season.

So it is with this season wrap-up combined with a Top Hunts of 2016 post we hold promise for the new year with the knowledge that Michigan's lottery opens for Spring Gobbler from Jan. 1-Feb.1.

Goodbye 2016.

Starting in order from bottom to top:

No. 3: CAIDEN STAYS IN THE STAND -- It was all talk for most of the late November deer season with the 7-year-old grandson until we were to climb into the blind for that evening's hunt at the Sanilac County, Michigan camp. Once the young man got to the top of the ladder and a mere step inside the wooden enclosure, that was it. He was having nothing to do with it. "Whoaaaa, I'm coming down, Mac." Guess heights aren't his forte. But that's not how it ended. After a stern talk of "oh, no, you're a staying," from his Papa Mac, the hunt went on until dark. No deer came in to look over but some knowledge was passed on, and he learned how to use the grunt call ... um, ad nauseam.

RTWO Photo by Mac Arnold

While not everything might have gone to plan this

hunting season, we did bag our first mallard drake. 

And for being a part-time waterfowler, it was a

big deal. Augustus shows his approval.

No. 2: GOOSE FROM SEAT OF MY PANTS -- By early December, with the cupboards bare from few opportunities not only in the deer woods but along the duck pond, expectations were low as Augie and myself took point just outside the Monroe County, Michigan pothole. Despite the timing being right as many -- if not hundreds of ducks and geese -- picked up from their comfy confines inside the madly swaying cattails. The wind was howling on this day, but the only problem was our setup, which was back too far for a good shot. After a move to the edge of the pond, up went three mallards and once the Browning reported, one went down, which was my first-ever bagged mallard drake. A short time after that, a small flock of geese swirled overhead. While the others were wise to the nonsense behind the bush, one dipped in for a closer look despite the discombobulated hunter being twisted around to his backside in an effort to get a shot. So while practically lying down, with the first shot missing, the second shot rang true and down rained a goose.

No. 1: DAIRY FARMER DAVE'S PAYS OFF AGAIN -- The top hunt of 2016 was actually months ago on the very last day of May. Spring gobbler took me to three different states that provided a handful of decent opportunities but none of which that ended in a bagged tom. After mulling how to get the job done with the season down to its last days and securing a return invite from the Sanilac County dairy farmer, there I was back along the famous woodline where I shot my best-ever gobbler in 2010. Despite being late to the best place to sit for this hunt, the bunch of four or five birds that sounded off as I walked in eventually appeared with two nice toms in tow. Yet, not everything went as planned because the 1993 Mossberg Ulti-Mag did its occasional misfire gag not once but twice. That was enough for the wily big boys to say "uh-uh" to that and start turning around but not before one was dropped on the third attempt. It had a nine-inch beard and was pretty heavy, probably 20 pounds or better.

Reality looms as deer season dwindles and Michigan now a white wonderland

By Mac Arnold
Editor-In-Chief

With the fields having been turned into snowy moonscapes, it is clear that I am truly up against the odds of putting a white-tailed deer in the freezer.

Dec. 18 was officially the last day of Michigan's muzzle loader season.

One in which I have had some success in over the years. In fact, this time around, on Dec. 9, it produced the only shot I've had at a deer during any of the regular seasons in 2016.

But this has been such a trying muzzle-loader season and deer season in general. When I got back to the camp cabin, I told everyone who asked "if I found (the deer)" that the shot on the doe "probably went left and over her shoulder." For some reason the .45 rifle had this tendency to hit like that despite me thinking I had fixed it the last time I had sighted it in. But this was confirmed when I wrapped up that final day of smoke pole nine days later by clearing the load with some shots at a practice target.

Not only were the rounds hitting high and to the left -- but the three grouped in the upper left-hand corner with each round an inch apart. After some tweaking on the scope, I got the round to hit where I wanted slightly above the bull and nearly dead center, which effectively squashed talk of getting a new muzzle loader for next year.

This $99 special -- a Knight Wolverine -- has always been one of the more accurate rifles to come out of the gun safe. I don't know what got the two of us on such a wayward path but it seems to have come full-circle back to good. And now the season's over.

 The slogan at this time of year that is usually "one more deer" is now a foreboding "wait until next year."

Sure, the family will survive but venison often does help to sustain our food lockers, or mine, however you want to look at it since I'm the one who primarily eats it. Again, I'll survive.

I'm more questioning why this year has gone so poorly, at least deer-wise. Whereas it's not uncommon for me to not shoot a gobbler some springs, deer have been taken in at least every season since I started hunting in 1993 except one: 2000.

I guess all streaks come to an end at some point as all good things eventually do too.

However, at the end of all this reflection, there is still season left. Even if I don't want to carry on in the frigid December temperatures with a bow, the late season antlerless firearms season took off where the muzzle loader ended.

Which is where I was hoping to add another hunt for the slim selection this year for the annual Mac's Top Hunts of the year installment.

But a Tuesday, Dec. 20, hunt out at the Sanilac County camp did not quite go as planned. The targeted deer decided to keep on going despite the hole in its side. After a two-hour tracking job it was decided I was putting myself and a friend at risk in the teen temperatures with the wind-chill factor, and I backed out ... but not before I got turned around and lost in the dark, everything-looks-the-same woods. Looking back now, I'm thinking maybe the Hornady SST slug didn't hit any vitals. Usually those 300 grainers drop deer in their tracks unless the previously mentioned scenario happens. It's rare indeed when the freezer-packer -- a 12-gauge Mossberg slug gun -- can't get the job done.

Anybody who questions how hard I looked for that deer needed to only look at my shredded hands. The doe's escape route through bramble tunnels was a bear to follow. One that I could not overcome this time around. Still it's not something that has me happy. In fact, I'm pretty bummed out.

But there will be other deer hunts.

Just maybe not in Michigan this season.

Midseason report 2016 -- deer-less in Michigan and hope for colder weather

By Mac Arnold
RTWO Editor-In-Chief

Here we are for what is usually a magical time called the "Midseason report" at Rockin' the Wild Outdoors, yet it's been anything but a rockin' one.

If we look at the record here, we find little in the blam-blam of the shotgun and no whooshing of arrows from the Martin bow.

Let's see, from September to October there were four missed shots over five goose outings, all in Monroe County, Michigan; one missed shot in a lone October grouse trip to Gladwin County, Michigan public hunting land; no shots in one turkey hunt in Sanilac County, Michigan; and in an even bigger surprise, there were no shots period over roughly 15 archery deer gigs -- to include an early September firearms season one in which I used a crossbow -- from October to early November.

What's going on here?

For one, I'm much more patient.

Additionally, I've been sticking to the game plan, which is, make it something significant to be worthwhile.

So despite not having any downed game to my credit in more than 20 outings, I think this is a good thing.

Really, I would have to admit that out the chances on deer, only one do I think I could have turned into pay dirt.

I passed on two smallish does while in the ground blind with my wife, who remarked that neither deer was much bigger than Augustus, our 100-pound Lab. And with that, the decision was made. No way was I going to try a shot, especially when I heard previously there was a 200-pounder doe in that section of woods. We also heard a couple more behind us in the still green brush, so we waited them out but they never appeared.

RTWO photo by Mac Arnold

A Nov. 2 hike out to the woods in a short-
sleeve shirt is a perfect example of how warm
it's been this deer hunting season.

For the most part, I think the reason I'm not seeing many deer is it's just too warm. But all of that could change this weekend, with temperatures dropping low enough to cause snow, and blowing snow at that with the predicted blustery conditions.

I'm not sure if even this weather change will help my luck this season.

So is my 15-year streak of getting a deer each season in jeopardy?

Additionally, I have not gotten a deer only once, in 2000, since I started hunting in 1993.

Guess you will have to log back on this site later to find out what happens.

* * * 

This midseason report is so in-depth that it even touches on the first two days of the regular deer firearms season in Michigan, which opened Tuesday, Nov. 15. (Is it so in-depth or is because I'm so behind in writing?)

Anyway, again, temperatures were above normal and from where I sat at the Sanilac County camp for the opener and in Monroe County behind the house on the second day, I saw zero deer in any of the morning-evening sits.

The headline for a Michigan Department of Natural Resources news release from Wednesday, Nov. 17, pretty much concurred with my findings, "Firearm deer hunting season kicked off Tuesday; mixed reviews across the state."

It added, "warm weather and fog in some areas seem to have had an effect on deer movement."

Hmmm. You think?

No, I know because the only deer I had chance on was early Nov. 15 when one of two deer darted across the rural Sanilac County road I was hauling down in the Jeep and then peeled back in front of me a second time, and I had to lock them up on loose gravel before proceeding onward again. It was pretty close.

Ashley Autenrieth, DNR deer program biologist, said pretty much the same thing in the news release in all four of Michigan's regions, that deer numbers were down and would pick back up once colder temperatures returned and the corn crops were chopped.

It can only go up from here for me because I've pretty much have seen nothing.

For more information on deer hunting in Michigan, visit the DNR’s webpage at www.michigan.gov/deer.

Oh, don't miss my video below while on the tree stand Oct. 30.

Lazy days come to an end

By Mac Arnold
RTWO Editor-In-Chief

It seemed like just yesterday, when I was lazily floating down the River Raisin on a sweltering summer day, trying to keep the canoe righted and wishing I was making better casts.

Ah, the cast bugaboo, always a major torment anytime I take the paddle to the currents.

But let's not get tied up in that crux much like a buzz bait wrapped around an overhanging branch along the river's bank.

This post is more in line with that worn refrain we often at this time of year in September: Where did summer go?

Well, it's long gone.

It it is now autumn. And its bountiful hunting seasons (I hope) await.

In fact, together with Augustus, we've already closed out September's early nuisance season with what couldn't be more apropos: a goose egg.

RTWO photo by Mac Arnold

Augustus and I managed to find a new spot at 
the Monroe County pond.

This comes after scoring geese the past two years during the early season. However, I did have some help from the evil Monroe County Drain Commission who came through and caused carnage to my favorite spots. With all its digging and scalping back there, it kept me from going out in the morning.

But that is now all behind us. The drain commission will likely not come through for another 20 years. I doubt I'll be here for that entirety but of course one never knows.

And there will be the regular waterfowl season next month, when hopefully, the less informed migratory flocks will be passing through and think the pond is a great spot to stopover at until they take off the following cool foggy morning and rise over me, and I pick off a couple of their friends.

So it's hard to stay down. What I've found hunting and in life, holding onto past failures is really a waste of time.

This was shown to me by a late great spiritual adviser who helped me through a few trials earlier in my life. He used the salesman analogy from when he was a door-to-door lackey for some concern. One of the many occupations he had which ranged from that previously mentioned to being a 21-year-old Army infantry company commander in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

He would say he would get excited about rejections because it meant the next door he knocked on could be his next sale.

What a great way to turn failure into success, if you ask me.

Plus, I recently got my spring turkey mount from Taxidermy by Ron in Columbus Township, Mich. Ron has done pretty much every one of my mounts but he really outdid himself this time. I would talk him up but he is trying to slow down and is keeping business to his longtime customers only.

RTWO photo by Mac Arnold

It's hard to stay down when you have past 

successes like my 2016 spring gobbler to

reflect on.

This turkey blew me away in all facets from what a great job he did to what a tremendous bird it was, which is a positive way to head into the deer archery opener next week, Oct. 1.

It's likely I'll be patrolling the back 40 near home for the opener despite not much turning up on the trail cam in the woods. There are other places, and they will all be hit over what I call the "90 days of insanity" with hopeful returns to old stomping grounds in the Port Huron State Game Area and even possibly at an old Army buddy's farm in Ohio.

But a final baaaaaaaaaaaass fishing gig is planned for this upcoming week, along with a long-awaited birthday bird hunt in the first week of October at one of the most sacred spots of my yesteryear in Gladwin County.

So much fun ahead in the coming months to be troubled by past failures, if you can really call them that.

To which I scoff: No geese, no problem.

A kickin' bass summer on the river

RTWO photo by Richard Schindler

So along came a kayaker and we began shooting the breeze under the River Raisin bridges in Monroe, which all started when I explained to him I wasn't trying to photobomb his pictures. Next thing I know I had a nice one on and I asked Richard Schindler of Monroe, who had paddled down from the state park, if he wouldn't mind snapping a picture for me since it's hassle while canoeing by yourself. Thanks, Richard.

By Mac Arnold
RTWO Editor-In-Chief

How's the bass fishing this summer you might ask?

Pretty doggone good I would reply back.

At least in the spots I've been fishing, which have been nearly exclusive to Monroe County, Michigan's River Raisin. I've also heard of friends and others doing well around the state.

It is obvious now that how the river flows dictates the action. Like last summer for instance, when June rains turned the River Raisin into a River Wild and caused a longtime friend to swear I nearly killed him when we were turned upside down in our canoe and pulled into its swirling chocolate waters.

Before that episode and after, the fish were tough to find. And other than a time when I found a couple real nice smallies along rocky bank near where I've been going at the end of the Raisin this year, it was pretty fruitless.

But that was then.

RTWO by Mac Arnold

I can't even explain how this

happened. I know longtime bud 

Bill Brisebois would have howled

with delight had he witnessed this snag,

turned into a massive bird's nest, 

and then a catch.

This summer the waters are clear green and tame, and comfortably warm on my feet and ankles when I've been forced out of the canoe to traverse shallow spots, which has been often upriver.

The biggest problem has been dealing with all the grasses and weed beds more easily snagged because of lower water levels. It's required diligence when choosing what lures to throw.

Another of my goals this bassin' season was to try and diversify the arsenal, which is part of the reason for subscribing to "Bassmaster" magazine, to see what the pros offer up as suggestions. A couple of the tips have worked -- the wacky-worm delivery with three -inch Senkos rather than four and five-inchers, and the other being Shad Raps by Rapala. Both caught fish but really became more of a nuisance to toss because of the constant mine-sweeping of grass piles and the re-setting for the next cast.

By far, as always, the best bet because not only can it be weedless but because it can get down to the big boys at deeper depths has been the drop shot with Senkos. And speaking of exclusivity, nothing else works like they do, so that's all I use. Mostly, it's a matter of determining what color to choose.

It's funny. There was one day with the shade darkening the waters under the bridges and trestle foundations,  that I couldn't throw enough of the red shad laminate ones. But it clicked! Darker lures for darker water. Then the next time I was patrolling in and out of the pillars, it was nothing doing with those, and the best fish were caught with old standbys, blue pearl and chartreuse.

A surprising nonfactor has been the buzz bait, which has always been a sure bass buster, but with the fish apparently hanging in the deeper depths from warmer, shallow water it seems top water is out. But again, that is fine because I would like to get away from the usual go-to lures and try new stuff.

As far as equipment goes, paying some bucks for a St. Croix rod to help replace the three lost in last summer's canoeing debacle, has made a world of difference. Out of the four to seven fish I've been averaging when out this summer, two to three are pretty nice, and as we know, those bigger smallmouth bass can really fight. But where maybe one or two of those get off in year's past, they aren't this year.

Can't wait to get the next one on. Hope it's a big one.

There's plenty more season left with it still being only July, and August likely will continue to be productive, at least for anglers like myself who cruise the rivers in a canoe. But summer as we all know also tends to fly by and then it'll be closer to the time for getting ready for deer.

Oh no, did I just say the "D" word?

Still a little early for that but might be getting time to begin practicing with the bow.

RTWO photo by Mac Arnold

First catch with a Shad Rap. Had a good feeling about the color when I bought it at Bass Pro Shop in Rossford, Ohio. It ended up being one of the better fish on that day.

More trials await for bass fishing

By Mac Arnold
RTWO Editor-In-Chief

With the kids safely dispatched to their West Virginia home, it is now time to get serious about baaaaaaaaaaaaass fishing at Rockin' The Wild Outdoors with Mac.

I don't know what it is about the heat and July Fourth, but once those elements come together, I must bass fish. And I must do it intensely.

Which means casts until shoulders ache, and rowing and navigating the canoe until the lower back locks up.

But with the melanoma only three years or so removed, long sunstroke afternoons of being shirtless man in the canoe are definitely out. Covering up to some degree is a must.

There have been a couple of gigs in the backyard pond in June but those have only produced the little guys.

The last outing Thursday, June 23, which at first was quite frustrating, actually offered logistical results. After an initial 12-incher was pulled out, it was all systems fail with the rod rigged up for drop shots and plastics, and that seemed to be the preferred bait. This "monster" was yanked in along with a mound of pond grass, which at first gave off the hint of a jumbo and got me all worked up.

Photo by Mac Arnold

So far only the little guys have gotten hooked, 

but we will definitely do better this summer.

But things eventually went downhill when all casts afterward would barely go 10 feet. At first it seemed like it was that the reel was stripped. The later diagnosis was bad line.

And this Seaguar line was touted highly by the salesman at Cabela's. (I think this has come up before in a past post.)

OK, maybe it was because the line was still on from last summer or because it's just plain lousy line, whatever it was, it's no longer on the reel.

After an initial harrumphing in the kitchen to the wife who was in her own disarray trying to leave for work, I stripped it off and put on 10-pound Trilene test. This is not my preferred line, which is Stren, but it is one I'm familiar with and I at least know will do the job.

While stringing up the reel I realized this was another of my trials on gear. Every so often it's fun to see how some broadhead, bow or ... fishing line works for the novelty of it. Once the newness fades, it's always a return to what is a proven winner.

Here it was no different. And it has been the same way in the deer woods: After trying out one pack of broadheads after another I'm back with the 100-grain Wasp Jak-Hammers.

I'm pretty sure this is what I'm going to stay with for the upcoming deer archery season. Over the last two seasons two deer have been easily recovered -- one dropped immediately on the spot from a high shoulder hit and the other after waiting overnight because the shot was back a ways, but it was found only 50 yards from the stand.

How did I go from bass to deer? Anyway, there will plenty of time on here to delve into fall bow gear and whatnot later as October approaches, so back to baaaaaaaaaaass fishing. Bass fishing.

With the lack of rain we've been having, I'm predicting a much better season this summer, mainly because the fish will be easier to find in the deeper pools from lower water levels.

So the line is on. It's just a matter of getting on the water. Let's hit it.

***

Upcoming draws also are on my mind: elk and bear. The Michigan DNR will be releasing the results Wednesday (June 29) for both.

Not really expecting much here elk-wise, which for Michigan rolls the same results as for Maine moose: zippo! 

But bear in the Upper Peninsula has come through tag-wise here and there over the last few years and it would be cool to score another one. A tag that is. I still haven't found success even seeing one under the stand let alone bagging one.

So getting another opportunity would be nice. Besides, the U.P. is a great place to view the outdoors and have an adventure. 

Gobblers never come easy

By Mac Arnold
RTWO Editor-In-Chief

Some hunters get it done in a couple tries.

This one here often takes multiple efforts to bag the intended target. Not sure why it has to go down like this but nothing ever comes easy.

So after three states and nine gigs, a mature gobbler was bagged.

It had been nearly six years since the majestic fall tom with a 14 1/2 inch beard was taken at the magical hunting grounds that is Dairy Farmer Dave's, and it would have been three years since any turkeys were slammed -- when two jakes were shot -- one in spring and one in September with the last having the best beard at six inches in length.

So when the second of two toms hit the deck on the morning of May 31 it was sure a welcomed sight.

And the kill nearly didn't happen at all thanks to the confounded Mossberg 12 gauge.

As that day unfolded, the one hour before sunrise target time was missed but not as badly as the week before on May 24  when I strolled in at 6 barely beating sunrise but actually getting to watch the glorious southeastern Michigan sky light up in orange gold.

Photo by Mac Arnold

The sunrise that greeted me May 24 at Dairy
Farmer Dave's was quite spectacular. 

It was quite the sight. So much so that I stopped to click off a picture to capture the moment. Later, as it was noted, despite the stench common with all dairy farms, there is always much beauty to take in at Dave's paradise. Here was a nice example of it, which I had forgotten until that abrupt stop before setting up in the property's east pine woods.

Even though there would be no success such as a tagged bird, much intel was brought to light as to just how many birds were strutting around the wheat fields. After a late morning move on the 24th, I got within 80 yards of him but that was as close as the tom would get. But I got a good look at him and his beard was dragging on the ground.

In addition, I discovered a great place to sit, which would be right in the center of his strutting ground.

After securing approval for a second gig from Dairy Farmer Dave, the plan would be hatched May 31 with the mission of getting out at that one hour before sunrise time.

OK, again, that didn't happen but I was closer. It was 5:33 when I popped the back hatch on the Jeep and 30 seconds into to gearing up, a gobble echoed from behind the retention pond.

Only good things happen when the birds are roosted there. Unfortunately it is best to already be on the other side of the smelliest pond known to man. I would be hitting the ground running, which meant I would try to sidestep the roost by a mere 100 yards to get on the other side of the woods that opens up into a lane skirting the wheat.

He gobbled a couple of more times, likely to my footfalls, which I tried to delicately set down in between the broken twigs and fallen logs the grayish dawn light. It wasn't easy but it went smoother than I thought. Soon I was right where I wanted to be in the corner of the farm field edge that gives you a good look along the woods for when they step out.

I made some gentle tree yelps with the Ring Zone glass call and then louder ones with the H.S. Strut mouth call once I figured they were on the ground. Within a half hour, a hen stepped out clucking in a disturbed manner and soon hustled back into the woods after it seemed she was unhappy about the lack of response from the decoy.

It appeared the jig was up as she putted while walking away through the trees.

Yet, the gobbling never ceased and even became louder at times.

They were close, but were they closing? I wondered.

The answer would come 15 minutes later when two more hens slipped through the tall grass along the wood line with two toms in tow. Nice ones at that. I acquired the yardage with my recently purchased Simons range finder. This was the first season I've ever used one and let me say it helped tremendously because it read "83 yards." The same as a week before when I had a bead on the one turk.

A couple of clucks on the mouth call soon had the one hen coming straight to me and the two big boys on her tail. I was shaking with nervous excitement. When they were in range I waited until the two gobblers were separated enough, took aim and pulled the trigger. Click!

Oh no. But it was just like that, and now I was freaking out. If the whole season weighed on this it would really be a bummer.  To my amazement, they were still close as I re-cocked the shottie. Yet, another click. This time the birds were done with the odd noises coming from inside the opposite woods and started to turn in the other direction. I ejected the one shell and chambered another, picked out the back tom's head and this time a shot rang out with the bird on the ground.

Finally, I had dropped a good-sized tom.

Some might ask what's up with the shotgun? I've had it looked at before and it was determined that for a gun bought for $450 in 1993 it's not worth the cost to fix. But when it comes down to it, it usually gets the job done.

And it did again May 31.

Back home for 'playoff' turkey hunting

By Mac Arnold
RTWO Editor-In-Chief

You hear in the NBA or NHL playoffs how a road team will try to "steal a game" when traveling to its foe's arena for the first two games of a series.

In some ways, that's what the "Gobbler Man" tried to do in Ohio and Pennsylvania this season.

And dang near pulled it off.

It was close ... oh so close. When the fog cleared that last morning of my two-day trip May 4, a flash of red in the middle of a green hay field caught my eye. Peering with my binos through the openings of small shrubs and saplings wedged along an old wire fence, it was soon clear a nice tom in his majestic glory was parked looking all around with a million pounds of eyes for his supposed hen in need.

I dared not move. The plan was to wait him out and see if he would break my way into the open. His spot at that moment was definitely too far out for a shot. He was at least 60 yards out. As he basked in the sun, which seemed like an eternity, the brilliance of his bronze hue reflected back at me and sent my mind whirling back and forth on whether or not he was in range. I was going nuts, and to boot, dealing with the maddening charlie horses in my legs was only adding to the frustration.

Then, at 9:30 a.m., another suitor gobbled at one of the clucks and purrs I was trying coax Tom No. 1 into coming closer for a shot.

To my dismay, the first bird tucked his head down like they do when they want to get somewhere in a hurry and made a beeline to his competitor in the woods, still well outside the shotgun distance.

Sometimes they link up and come in together later, so I waited for the rest of the morning but they never returned to the hay field.

Going back over the after-action report, it was clear I sat back too far into the woods on the edge of the field. He came into the clearing as anticipated but the fog likely blocked my view of his entry.

The week before a monster from the Ohio hunting spot was enticed inside the magical 50-yard barrier but there was too much debris in between us for a shot and of course, again, he didn't come into the open where I had a decoy set up.

But how exciting.

For what I consider early in the season being it's May 9, to have two close encounters like that in only five total gigs clearly shows I'm on the right track.

Now it's time for a little home cooking in the native state of Michigan. And when that first hunt kicks off -- hopefully this upcoming week -- I will have accomplished my goal of turkey hunting in three states this spring.

As players say, you gotta win the home games in the playoffs.

***

UPDATE: In all fairness, since I reported in a previous blog post how new turkey hunting friend Chip Regis of Sharpsville, Pa., missed a bird April 19, I should show what happened for him April 30, which also was his birthday.

He didn't miss this time.

Good job, Chip. Way to stay with it. 

Chip Regis of Sharpsville, Pa.,  called in this

nice 2-year-old tom with one of his buddy's

homemade mouth calls. The bird had a 

beard that measured 10.5 inches long and 

spurs that were over an inch long. 

In spring when it all begins

By Mac Arnold
RTWO Editor-In-Chief

As the cheery robin's song repeats in the blackness of early morning, which all-too-soon unfolds into bands of yellow light that spotlights the dogwood whites dotted throughout the woods,  yet another hunting season begins.

This one is a tad different though as the first gobblers being pursued were in Ohio, which is a first for Rockin' The Wild Outdoors with Mac.

RTWO photo by Mac Arnold

A look from my blind on April 19 

shows the direction I anticipated the

birds would come from and then 

walk past me for a shot. 

And for the most part, it was a great start. Good action.

This part of northeastern Ohio -- Trumbull County to be a bit more precise -- is loaded with turkeys, or at least has a pretty healthy batch.

For the opening week hunt's two days -- April 19 and April 20 -- things didn't cook off right at fly-down, or at least not for me, but by 9 a.m. things were rolling for the other hunter on the property. Then, by 10:30 a.m. things had been quelled.

Not because of a flopping thunder chicken, but because Chip had missed. Which is the best news of all, not for him necessarily, but because it wasn't me who sent No. 4 pellets whizzing off target. Something I'm well acquainted with as well as probably plenty of other turkey hunters.

I was able to go down to the bottom of the hill where the woods, fence line and a kitty-corner pasture come together and regroup with the sheepish hunter. He wasn't sure what happened other than he "rushed the shot."

It wasn't long before I retold the biggest blown shot of my turkey hunting when years ago I nimbly climbed two painfully long hours to the top of a West Virginia ridge only to come away empty. And while watching this tom come strutting down a runway strip of grass spread out along this steep ridge was truly majestic almost bordering on a spiritual experience, it was maddening when I did everything right except drop that gobbler in a feathery heap.

See? We all have our stories of failure, and even as I told Chip, "I've killed dozens and I've missed dozens more," it never makes it easier to get over them. The only medicine I've ever known other than by sharing is to get back into another setup and onto more birds.

But so far as this season goes, I have every intention of NOT missing the next shot.

Chip had to work the following day so I had the run of the place. Right at the first crack of light, the birds were making themselves known that they were in it for love.

By 7:30 a.m., now I was the frustrated one. That damn fence. Those turkeys were hot but not hot enough to cross it, and I was told "they rarely do."

So I will either have to see if I can get permission to get over there or patiently wait for the Lone Star Strutter as I have now dubbed him. The farm hands have seen him walk along the edges of the fields midday. And in fact I might have bumped him leaving the last day.

I might have seen a mirage but I was pretty sure I saw the lone bird as advertised milling long the wood line. I hastily set up but after 15 minutes and a peek around, it was clear he must have seen me and bolted.

Nevertheless, it was a good couple days to be a turkey hunter. And a good start to the 2016 hunting season.

Some states such as Pennsylvania consider spring gobbler to be the end of the hunting year but for me this turkey season is the big springboard. It goes into everything else that is fun with a brief fishing interlude in summer that is the chase on rivers and lakes for the glorious monster bass. Then there's September birds -- geese, woodcock and grouse and fall turkeys. And in October, the king: whitetails.

But we are definitely getting ahead of ourselves.

There is still another 5½ weeks of turkey season left that I also have tags in my pocket for which include Pennsylvania and Michigan in addition to Ohio.