SOMETHING WRONG AT THE RIDGE
By: Ray Hansen
We both knew something was wrong at The Ridge. We had always killed deer there, including Duane’s great nine-point buck, and we had watched many others at this natural crossing without drawing on them. Want some venison for camp meat? No problem! Use an antlerless tag on one of the does we commonly see there.
”The Ridge” was our name for a long narrow strip of higher ground bordered on the west by a twenty-acre patch of wet marsh, and on the east by a much larger jungle of tag alder, white cedar, and heavy brush. This was a natural travel route for local deer, and when the rut kicked in, bucks cruised through here regularly while patrolling doe groups. Big white cedars and spruce on this elevated runway offered good stand sites. This was the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at its best.
This particular season however, traffic was way down. Something had driven the deer toward alternate routes, and the few we saw were spooky. In camp between morning and afternoon hunts, Duane and I tried to figure out what happened.
For starters, we set out a trail camera, which quickly provided a clue. Six images of a large black bear showed up within two days. But bears by themselves don’t scare deer away. The whitetails may become a little more cautious when a bruin starts poking around their favored territory, but they will not abandon a home area that has served them well for years.
Knowing that the bear was close by made Duane and I pay closer attention while hunting and the photos motivated his brother Tom to apply for bear tags the following year. He ultimately shot a prime three-hundred pound boar close by.
In desperation, I left one of my stands early one morning to take a closer “CSI” look at the area immediately surrounding a stand I had on the ridge. I uncovered clue number two in this way. The carcass of a recently killed coyote lay sprawled in heavy cover just east of my stand. The male pack leader had died hard and fast. Its neck was snapped, ears standing upright, eyes open, and teeth bared in a perpetual snarl. I could visualize a 110 pound wolf grabbing the thirty pound canine by the neck and shaking it like a rag doll.
This find revealed that a pack of wolves was challenging their smaller relatives for hunting rights to the ridge. We later found canine tracks along an old logging road that confirmed recent wolf activity. Tom’s house backs up to a twenty acre field which is bordered by heavy woods with a creek meandering through the low areas. He’d been watching wolves through a spotting scope while they harassed resident deer.
So Duane and I knew what had altered deer movements, but one additional discovery cemented the knowledge that things would not return to normal for a while. One other camp was accessed by the same sand road we used to get to our spot. A “Y” in the road signals where a truck must turn to approach the other place. The owner, “Kenny”, stopped us a few days later to say that a juvenile mountain lion had crossed the road at the junction, only fifteen feet from him as he drove in. He wasn’t guessing about what he had seen. The cat paused in the headlights before jumping into the tag alders, giving Ken a good, broadside view. I can tell you that the long, sinuous tail on a lion cannot be mistaken for any other wild feline.
So, all the local predators knew about the deer traffic on The Ridge. That left Duane and I looking for other places deer had moved to. But… that’s part of the fun. Hunting areas change, and hunters adapt. Wolves, bears, mountain lions, and coyotes move on. Whitetails eventually return to old patterns, and I hope to be in a treestand on The Ridge when they do!
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008.
Showing posts with label black bear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label black bear. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Monday, October 27, 2008
PREDATOR AND PREY
Author’s note: I enjoyed a successful hunt last week in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I spent the week in a bowhunting camp owned by life-long friend Duane Deno of Gladstone, Michigan. Duane and I have hunted together for many years, and as usual, we were the only ones in camp during the nine-day hunt this year. Hunting is far from over. Bow hunting continues until the end of December, and the annual “rifle season” (the firearms portion of Michigan’s whitetail deer hunting season) runs from November 15 – 30. We will also be out in the woods with muzzleloaders in early December.
Both Duane and I tagged adult does during the bowhunt, and we both retain tags legal for one antlered buck each through the remainder of the season. We also have the option of tagging another antlerless deer with archery equipment if we want to use our buck tags in that way.
Anyway, I keep a detailed journal during the hunt since we normally have a number of experiences worth writing about. Today’s blog is about an injured deer I observed while hunting this year.
To set the stage for this incident, I was hunting from a small tree stand about twenty-five feet above the ground at a spot I call Birch Hill. I was experiencing a lot of deer activity that morning, and had seen nine different deer in five hours. Some offered easy shots which I decided not to take. I was confident I would see additional deer and was enjoying the activity. A group of three deer were browsing around my stand, consuming maple leaves and small, woody roots growing up out of the ground from the main roots of nearby maple trees. This is what I witnessed:
PREDATOR AND PREY
The third deer in the group was hanging back while the others began browsing. It was small, and did not have the somewhat “sleek” look of a healthy deer during the autumn season. As it maneuvered closer I saw that it had recently been attacked by coyotes or wolves. Perhaps a mountain lion or one of the local black bears. Its sides were raked heavily as if by claws, the lower jaw was broken, and its tongue protruded out of its mouth sideways from the right side. Once in a while, deer survive an attack from these predators, and make an escape. The injuries could also have been caused by a vehicle, but we were so far away from the nearest road that I did not think this was the case. Even then, the closest roads are dirt and quite rutted. Ten miles per hour is about top speed.
I decided to kill this deer if I could. I watched it try to eat with the others, but it could not bite effectively. It stayed out on the fringe of the group, and when it got closer the others would drive it away. Unfortunately (I guess) the injured deer walked away toward the east, and I had no opportunity to get a clear shot. That’s just the way it is when hunting with a bow.
Although I spent a lot of time hunting many different spots in that area for the nine days I was in camp, I did not see that deer again.
In upcoming days I will detail other hunting adventures I had. See you then!
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Both Duane and I tagged adult does during the bowhunt, and we both retain tags legal for one antlered buck each through the remainder of the season. We also have the option of tagging another antlerless deer with archery equipment if we want to use our buck tags in that way.
Anyway, I keep a detailed journal during the hunt since we normally have a number of experiences worth writing about. Today’s blog is about an injured deer I observed while hunting this year.
To set the stage for this incident, I was hunting from a small tree stand about twenty-five feet above the ground at a spot I call Birch Hill. I was experiencing a lot of deer activity that morning, and had seen nine different deer in five hours. Some offered easy shots which I decided not to take. I was confident I would see additional deer and was enjoying the activity. A group of three deer were browsing around my stand, consuming maple leaves and small, woody roots growing up out of the ground from the main roots of nearby maple trees. This is what I witnessed:
PREDATOR AND PREY
The third deer in the group was hanging back while the others began browsing. It was small, and did not have the somewhat “sleek” look of a healthy deer during the autumn season. As it maneuvered closer I saw that it had recently been attacked by coyotes or wolves. Perhaps a mountain lion or one of the local black bears. Its sides were raked heavily as if by claws, the lower jaw was broken, and its tongue protruded out of its mouth sideways from the right side. Once in a while, deer survive an attack from these predators, and make an escape. The injuries could also have been caused by a vehicle, but we were so far away from the nearest road that I did not think this was the case. Even then, the closest roads are dirt and quite rutted. Ten miles per hour is about top speed.
I decided to kill this deer if I could. I watched it try to eat with the others, but it could not bite effectively. It stayed out on the fringe of the group, and when it got closer the others would drive it away. Unfortunately (I guess) the injured deer walked away toward the east, and I had no opportunity to get a clear shot. That’s just the way it is when hunting with a bow.
Although I spent a lot of time hunting many different spots in that area for the nine days I was in camp, I did not see that deer again.
In upcoming days I will detail other hunting adventures I had. See you then!
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
OPENING DAY DEER HUNT
Author's note: Today was the first day of the bow hunting season for deer here in Michigan. I was out in the woods, and this is how my hunt went.
Before moving here to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I rarely had an opportunity to hunt deer on the opening day of the bow season. Most years, I took a week away from wherever I was living and working, and drove here to hunt. Being here permanently has changed things in many pleasant ways. Today was one of these nice advantages.
I drove to Duane Deno’s house well before sunrise, to haul him and his hunting gear out to an area where we placed tree stands well before the season started. He and I have known each other for about fifty years and have spent a lot of time chasing deer together.
Light rain fell during the drive, but skies cleared (temporarily) when we reached the woods. His stand is named the “Pocket Stand” because it overlooks a very small open pocket surrounded by heavy woods. My stand is called “Birch Hill” because it is a very small rise of higher ground surrounded by low ground, marsh, and swamp. The rise holds some very scenic live birches, along with maple, spruce, and cedar.
Dead birch trees lay scattered across the rise as well, like so many deceased soldiers on a battlefield. Trails cross the spot, some of which look like cow paths from many years of use by deer. A bear stays around the spot, occasionally raiding old, wild apple trees and breaking their branches to get at the fruit. We only get to see this animal as photos on the trail camera we sometimes set there. As with most bruins, this one is secretive and mostly roams at night.
We had to cut our stay somewhat short today because the wind kicked up so hard that it swayed the trees we hunted from. The strong gusts would not have knocked us out of the stands, but it made aiming very hard with all the movement it created. By noon we walked back to the truck. This was the first day, and we’ll have plenty of other opportunities.
We both could have taken deer shortly after getting settled in. By 8:45 a.m. I had seen four different does pass by. Three stayed about fifteen minutes within range of my bow as they browsed on some plants that grow only on Birch Hill and a few other spots in the area. These plants have leaves that look like maple, but I’m not sure what kind of vegetation it is. About one to two feet tall and quite leafy, it sprouts on sunny openings. The stem is tough and I can hear deer pulling them out by the mouthful even when I can’t see the animals themselves.
Duane had a doe near his stand as well, but it stayed one and one-half hours, forcing him to stay quite still so it would not get spooked and run off. In a way, the doe acted as a live decoy. Duane hoped a buck would happen by, but it was not to be. We usually take a doe apiece to help keep the herd in balance, then concentrate on finding bucks later in October or early November. They are much more active at those times.
So our opening day was a success even though we did not fill a tag. Being out there before sunrise and watching the woods come alive around you is an experience I guess I’ll never tire of. I’ll have plenty more to write about as the season progresses. Keep watching this blogsite for additional reports.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Before moving here to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I rarely had an opportunity to hunt deer on the opening day of the bow season. Most years, I took a week away from wherever I was living and working, and drove here to hunt. Being here permanently has changed things in many pleasant ways. Today was one of these nice advantages.
I drove to Duane Deno’s house well before sunrise, to haul him and his hunting gear out to an area where we placed tree stands well before the season started. He and I have known each other for about fifty years and have spent a lot of time chasing deer together.
Light rain fell during the drive, but skies cleared (temporarily) when we reached the woods. His stand is named the “Pocket Stand” because it overlooks a very small open pocket surrounded by heavy woods. My stand is called “Birch Hill” because it is a very small rise of higher ground surrounded by low ground, marsh, and swamp. The rise holds some very scenic live birches, along with maple, spruce, and cedar.
Dead birch trees lay scattered across the rise as well, like so many deceased soldiers on a battlefield. Trails cross the spot, some of which look like cow paths from many years of use by deer. A bear stays around the spot, occasionally raiding old, wild apple trees and breaking their branches to get at the fruit. We only get to see this animal as photos on the trail camera we sometimes set there. As with most bruins, this one is secretive and mostly roams at night.
We had to cut our stay somewhat short today because the wind kicked up so hard that it swayed the trees we hunted from. The strong gusts would not have knocked us out of the stands, but it made aiming very hard with all the movement it created. By noon we walked back to the truck. This was the first day, and we’ll have plenty of other opportunities.
We both could have taken deer shortly after getting settled in. By 8:45 a.m. I had seen four different does pass by. Three stayed about fifteen minutes within range of my bow as they browsed on some plants that grow only on Birch Hill and a few other spots in the area. These plants have leaves that look like maple, but I’m not sure what kind of vegetation it is. About one to two feet tall and quite leafy, it sprouts on sunny openings. The stem is tough and I can hear deer pulling them out by the mouthful even when I can’t see the animals themselves.
Duane had a doe near his stand as well, but it stayed one and one-half hours, forcing him to stay quite still so it would not get spooked and run off. In a way, the doe acted as a live decoy. Duane hoped a buck would happen by, but it was not to be. We usually take a doe apiece to help keep the herd in balance, then concentrate on finding bucks later in October or early November. They are much more active at those times.
So our opening day was a success even though we did not fill a tag. Being out there before sunrise and watching the woods come alive around you is an experience I guess I’ll never tire of. I’ll have plenty more to write about as the season progresses. Keep watching this blogsite for additional reports.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
TOM'S U.P. BLACK BEAR - PART 2
Author's note: this is the finishing segment of the story about Tom Deno's successful bear hunt in Michigan's Upper Peninsula during September, 2006. Part one ran yesterday, August 25, 2008.
The bait that seemed to generate the most interest was outdated pastries procured from a local bakery. He also tried meat scraps, dog food, a frozen beaver carcass donated by a trapping acquaintance, and a few other items. His hunting time was mainly limited to afternoons, after working his shift at the mill.
“Bears don’t make any noise” Tom told me, “so watch closely while you are on stand”. He reported that he might try using a tree-stand on future hunts, but that an enclosed ground blind helps contain your scent more effectively.
“I haven’t felt buck fever for some years while deer hunting” Tom said, “but I admit I felt some shakes when this bear came into sight”. The time was about an hour before dark. He chose to make a solid behind-the-front-shoulder shot like that used for a deer standing broadside. He had been sitting in the blind almost daily for a two-week stretch.
The bear is being mounted by Blue Ribbon Taxidermy (906-233-1782) and the meat was processed by Michigan Meat Processing (906-786-7010), both located in Escanaba, Michigan. We enjoyed both steaks and chops, grilled over charcoal sprinkled with wet apple wood chips. I also enjoyed bear sausage made by this processor, and tried Tom’s bear chili and stew. The meat was absolutely delicious, and that meal was one of the highlights of my mid-October bow hunting trip to Delta County.
Later in the year, I returned to the area for an ice fishing trip. We thawed some frozen bear steaks and found that the meat was perfectly accented with friend Fred Johnson’s home-made wine, a deep red Michigan vintage made with grapes grown in Escanaba. With a sweet start and a strong but smooth finish hinting at blackberry and oak, Fred’s wine put the perfect finishing touch to this classic Michigan dining experience.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
The bait that seemed to generate the most interest was outdated pastries procured from a local bakery. He also tried meat scraps, dog food, a frozen beaver carcass donated by a trapping acquaintance, and a few other items. His hunting time was mainly limited to afternoons, after working his shift at the mill.
“Bears don’t make any noise” Tom told me, “so watch closely while you are on stand”. He reported that he might try using a tree-stand on future hunts, but that an enclosed ground blind helps contain your scent more effectively.
“I haven’t felt buck fever for some years while deer hunting” Tom said, “but I admit I felt some shakes when this bear came into sight”. The time was about an hour before dark. He chose to make a solid behind-the-front-shoulder shot like that used for a deer standing broadside. He had been sitting in the blind almost daily for a two-week stretch.
The bear is being mounted by Blue Ribbon Taxidermy (906-233-1782) and the meat was processed by Michigan Meat Processing (906-786-7010), both located in Escanaba, Michigan. We enjoyed both steaks and chops, grilled over charcoal sprinkled with wet apple wood chips. I also enjoyed bear sausage made by this processor, and tried Tom’s bear chili and stew. The meat was absolutely delicious, and that meal was one of the highlights of my mid-October bow hunting trip to Delta County.
Later in the year, I returned to the area for an ice fishing trip. We thawed some frozen bear steaks and found that the meat was perfectly accented with friend Fred Johnson’s home-made wine, a deep red Michigan vintage made with grapes grown in Escanaba. With a sweet start and a strong but smooth finish hinting at blackberry and oak, Fred’s wine put the perfect finishing touch to this classic Michigan dining experience.
Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
SOMETHING WRONG AT THE RIDGE
We both knew something was wrong at The Ridge. We had always killed deer there, including Duane’s great nine-point buck, and we had watched many others at this natural crossing without drawing on them. Want some venison for camp meat? No problem! Use an antlerless tag on one of the does we commonly see there.
”The Ridge” was our name for a long narrow strip of higher ground bordered on the west by a twenty-acre patch of wet marsh, and on the east by a much larger jungle of tag alder, white cedar, and heavy brush. This was a natural travel route for local deer, and when the rut kicked in, bucks cruised through here regularly while patrolling doe groups. Big white cedars and spruce on this elevated runway offered good stand sites. This was the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at its best.
This particular season however, traffic was way down. Something had driven the deer toward alternate routes, and the few we saw were spooky. In camp between morning and afternoon hunts, Duane and I tried to figure out what happened.
For starters, we set out a trail camera, which quickly provided a clue. Six images of a large black bear showed up within two days. But bears by themselves don’t scare deer away. The whitetails may become a little more cautious when a bruin starts poking around their favored territory, but they will not abandon a home area that has served them well for years.
Knowing that the bear was close by made Duane and I pay closer attention while hunting and the photos motivated his brother Tom to apply for bear tags the following year. He ultimately shot a prime three-hundred pound boar close by.
In desperation, I left one of my stands early one morning to take a closer “CSI” look at the area immediately surrounding a stand I had on the ridge. I uncovered clue number two in this way. The carcass of a recently killed coyote lay sprawled in heavy cover just east of my stand. The male pack leader had died hard and fast. Its neck was snapped, ears standing upright, eyes open, and teeth bared in a perpetual snarl. I could visualize a 110 pound wolf grabbing the thirty pound canine by the neck and shaking it like a rag doll.
This find revealed that a pack of wolves was challenging their smaller relatives for hunting rights to the ridge. We later found canine tracks along an old logging road that confirmed recent wolf activity. Tom’s house backs up to a twenty acre field which is bordered by heavy woods with a creek meandering through the low areas. He’d been watching wolves through a spotting scope while they harassed resident deer.
So Duane and I knew what had altered deer movements, but one additional discovery cemented the knowledge that things would not return to normal for a while. One other camp was accessed by the same sand road we used to get to our spot. A “Y” in the road signals where a truck must turn to approach the other place. The owner, “Kenny”, stopped us a few days later to say that a juvenile mountain lion had crossed the road at the junction, only fifteen feet from him as he drove in. He wasn’t guessing about what he had seen. The cat paused in the headlights before jumping into the tag alders, giving Ken a good, broadside view. I can tell you that the long, sinuous tail on a lion cannot be mistaken for any other wild feline.
So, all the local predators knew about the deer traffic on The Ridge. That left Duane and I looking for other places deer had moved to. But… that’s part of the fun. Hunting areas change, and hunters adapt. Wolves, bears, mountain lions, and coyotes move on. Whitetails eventually return to old patterns, and I hope to be in a treestand on The Ridge when they do!
”The Ridge” was our name for a long narrow strip of higher ground bordered on the west by a twenty-acre patch of wet marsh, and on the east by a much larger jungle of tag alder, white cedar, and heavy brush. This was a natural travel route for local deer, and when the rut kicked in, bucks cruised through here regularly while patrolling doe groups. Big white cedars and spruce on this elevated runway offered good stand sites. This was the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at its best.
This particular season however, traffic was way down. Something had driven the deer toward alternate routes, and the few we saw were spooky. In camp between morning and afternoon hunts, Duane and I tried to figure out what happened.
For starters, we set out a trail camera, which quickly provided a clue. Six images of a large black bear showed up within two days. But bears by themselves don’t scare deer away. The whitetails may become a little more cautious when a bruin starts poking around their favored territory, but they will not abandon a home area that has served them well for years.
Knowing that the bear was close by made Duane and I pay closer attention while hunting and the photos motivated his brother Tom to apply for bear tags the following year. He ultimately shot a prime three-hundred pound boar close by.
In desperation, I left one of my stands early one morning to take a closer “CSI” look at the area immediately surrounding a stand I had on the ridge. I uncovered clue number two in this way. The carcass of a recently killed coyote lay sprawled in heavy cover just east of my stand. The male pack leader had died hard and fast. Its neck was snapped, ears standing upright, eyes open, and teeth bared in a perpetual snarl. I could visualize a 110 pound wolf grabbing the thirty pound canine by the neck and shaking it like a rag doll.
This find revealed that a pack of wolves was challenging their smaller relatives for hunting rights to the ridge. We later found canine tracks along an old logging road that confirmed recent wolf activity. Tom’s house backs up to a twenty acre field which is bordered by heavy woods with a creek meandering through the low areas. He’d been watching wolves through a spotting scope while they harassed resident deer.
So Duane and I knew what had altered deer movements, but one additional discovery cemented the knowledge that things would not return to normal for a while. One other camp was accessed by the same sand road we used to get to our spot. A “Y” in the road signals where a truck must turn to approach the other place. The owner, “Kenny”, stopped us a few days later to say that a juvenile mountain lion had crossed the road at the junction, only fifteen feet from him as he drove in. He wasn’t guessing about what he had seen. The cat paused in the headlights before jumping into the tag alders, giving Ken a good, broadside view. I can tell you that the long, sinuous tail on a lion cannot be mistaken for any other wild feline.
So, all the local predators knew about the deer traffic on The Ridge. That left Duane and I looking for other places deer had moved to. But… that’s part of the fun. Hunting areas change, and hunters adapt. Wolves, bears, mountain lions, and coyotes move on. Whitetails eventually return to old patterns, and I hope to be in a treestand on The Ridge when they do!
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