Bald Mountain Help

Here is a map for a few helpful friends.

Tomorrow is the Opener!

The last few weeks have been rough. My spots have had a huge influx of last minute scouters, thieves and poachers. I had two of my cameras stolen and found a gut pile two weeks before season in one of my parking spots. I am still getting pics of deer roaming around me stand though and one looks to be a decent 8. It might be tough tomorrow to pass on does and smaller bucks to wait on a decent one. I am hitting the road by 3:30 am to get to my spot as early as possible. Good luck to everybody hitting the woods tomorrow!

6 Point that hangs out under my stand 3 times a day.

An 8 point that visits periodically. Put my camera a little low.

Another shot of the little 6.

Product Review:
I tried using a new product called Rubline Slime made by Wildgame Innovations. It is a slimey closer-to-liquid gel that resembles something from nickelodeon. You are supposed to create your own rub or slap some slime on a real one and bucks will hit that rub. It doesn't stick as well as it is supposed to to trees. I tried making my own and set up some cameras on them but those cameras got stolen. After I made a few new rubs and set up another camera I got zero interest in any pictures from bucks. I would say the product does not work. There was no evidence the deer even noticed the rubs I made or the product.

Michigan Bucks Are Getting Hard Horned Now

Nice young 8.



First hard-horned buck of the year.

Basket 6.

Rubs already showing up!

All these pics are from my back up stand location. It might just turn into plan A. The videos below were from plan A. I don't know why they look like crap on youtube they looked fine on my computer. Looks like the bachellor group has broken up leaving only two spikes hanging out together.

 

Two spikes of different sizes.

A guy and his dog. The dog found my cam but the guy never did.

A coyote with what looks to be a rabbit in its mouth.

Awesome Bucks.

I got to go out scouting with my brother yesterday. It couldn't have gone any better. Even though I forgot the keys to the security cages and had to make extra trips, had to saw through a cable with my new knife which is now a butter knife, and it rained like crazy all day. We saw some awesome deer all over and got some decent pics. My best camera's infrared is not working apparenly so 113 pics that would have been of awesome deer were washed out. Also, I had to send one in to be either fixed or replaced and haven't heard anything about it in 3 weeks. Don't trust Gander Mountain's warranty process, I am out one of my best cams because of it. I recently got a Gerber Instant. Its an awesome knife with assisted opening that shoots open with one hand use. The lock I had on the cable that held one of my treestands had rusted shut so I had to saw through half inch cable with the knife. It now has no blade at all but it got the job done. We will see how well the Gerber lifetime warranty works.

Lets get this season started!

Me and my camera militia hit the woods hard today. I made some security cages out of fixtures I got from the trash at work. They should at least slow down anyone looking to score some trail cameras. I set up three cameras in two spots I hope to hunt. I also got stopped by a DNR officer while I was loading my pack. He said he was just making sure I wasn't broke down. Its actually the first time I have run into a DNR officer in Michigan. I also got some pics from my parents' backyard of a doe and her fawn but no bucks.

Back and better than ever!

I took a brief hiatus from blogging in due to a number of changes that have kept me busy. I now have a new job as Lodge Lead at Dick's Sporting Goods. I now get to talk and mess with hunting, fishing, and camping equipment all day. I also traded in the Malibu Maxx for a new Dodge Journey. This should help me get down the trails a little easier. The biggest change is that I moved to the Orion, Mi area. I am smack dab in the middle of some of the best public hunting areas in Michigan. I have been out exploring a lot lately. I can be in the wilderness within 10 minutes of leaving my apartment, it's pretty awesome. Here are some things I have seen so far.

Great buck with awesome brows. Found him eating in an opening with another wider buck. Definitely at the top of the hit list.



Bottom right corner. The first buck I saw out here. Hes got a gnarly rack.



Still tons of lakes all over.



Went skeet shooting recently. Found out I am really good at it.

One of the cooler days hiking.

Throwing in the towel.

I am giving up on my spring shed hunting. After spending $100 in gas and a full day, 20 mile hike with nothing found; I'm done. I am not as bitter as I sound though. I did find some sweet honey holes for the upcoming season and saw some cool stuff.

Almost stepped on this 60lb.+ porcupine.

Oh the places you'll go...

I have been shed hunting all over public land around me but have found no antlers. Today I hit the Holly State Game Area and I have been out to the parks around me a few times as well. It looks as though many other hunters have beat me to all the spots I know of. I have run into many cool things on my treks though. Not a lot to report from my trips. I will just post a few pics to sum up. I have started taking some videos though. This marten in the top video hopped up on the same log I was standing on. He was about 3 feet from me and never even looked at me.

Came across this guy in the middle of the woods.

Had to cross this log, didn't work out so well.

Recent Stuff

I got my skull back from Bizzy Bugs. It looks sweet. I would recommend them to anyone who wants their deer head done quickly. They are located between Yale and Capac, Michigan.

I received the sight I ordered off eBay. The idiots sent me the camo version. I am pissed! They haven't emailed me back yet. The description and pic was for the black version and even included the manufacture number for the black one. I am going to tear these people up unless they fix this for me. We shall see. I don't think I will be using eBay for important hunting gear anymore.

I went up North with my brother to finally retrieve my camera. The first pic shows it perfectly straight but the next couple pics show the camera off center and all the pics were of branches. We buried the Chevy Yukon we drove in 3 feet of snow, walked 4 miles in a foot and a half of snow, and I lost my cell phone in the snow for no pics. It was a fun trip though. Always a good story. I set up another camera so we'll see if I get anything this time. I am not going ot get it until the snow is gone though.

New Toys and an Alien Invasion.

I have sold my PSE. It was a decent bow but since joining the Archerytalk.com forums I fell in love with the Rytera Alien X bows. I broke down and bought one off a guy on the forum with my tax return money and got a great deal on it.
Its "blacked out" which is awesome. This thing really looks like something an alien would hunt with. I bought the G5 Optix xr sight with the floating 4th pin and I am waiting to get it in the mail. I haven't decided on a rest for it yet but it has to be black. I am trying to customize everything I can on the bow without making it look cheesy like some of the other Ryteras out there. I am going to make this my priority outdoor project creating the 2010 Rytera Alien X "Adbuction". I've been trying to come up with a logo for my custom bow as well. Not sure which direction I want to go right now.

My other new toy(s) is a pair of Wildgame Innovations Trail Cameras. These are my smallest yet. They are Micro 6 Reds. I plan on cutting a metal ammo box in half and creating security boxes for them. We shall see if it will work. These bring me to 6 total cameras.  I still have one out in Lincoln on public land. I am going to pick it up this weekend. Also, I will be hitting Outdoorama this week in Novi. Going to try to get in there on Thursday to see if I can run into Tom Nelson (American Archer TV). Luckily, Outdoorama is only 2 minutes from where I work.

Kicking off 2012

I've had nothing but hunting on my mind with all the unusually warm weather. I talked myself into heading North to do some small game hunting and post-season scouting. I also hit the local hunting ground to get a better look at some areas I had yet to venture into. Here's how those trips went.

First trip: Lincoln, MI
Temp. 22 degrees
We had little to no snow here and I had heard many people complaining of the lack of snow up north that kept them from being able to snow mobile. I was thinking to myself that I might not get an opportunity to get into the Northern woods this time of year again for a while. Typically there are feet of snow right now. I talked myself into heading up with my 20 gauge to possibly harvest some rabbits and set up a trail cam.
As I hit Standish the snow started showing up. By the time I got to the two-track into my little piece of heaven there was about 6 inches of snow. The trail back wasn't too bad because it was downhill. The only other tracks were from snow mobiles that had packed down some of the trail which pretty much was the only way I was going to get my Malibu Maxx 2 miles back in half a foot of snow. I pushed a lot of snow but made it to my destination. A few snow mobilers came riding up from behind me as I was putting my boots on and I don't think they could have looked more puzzled as to how a car got back in the woods that far. But, my malibu is a tank.

The woods were amazing. Every little branch no matter how small had 4-5 inches of snow piled on it making both sides of the trails I walked look like a hallway with zebra print wallpaper.
I saw a few rabbit tracks, lots of deer tracks and beds and a lot of coyote tracks. I saw a couple squirrels and 2 deer but never got a chance at any rabbits.

I set up my trail camera in front of a trophy rock I poured acorn rage on. I was able to hide the camera pretty well on a pine tree about 10 yards from the bait. I hope to pick the camera back up sometime in February if the weather permits and it isn't stolen.

I hiked about 4 miles that day. I was worried about my Danner boots getting wet and my feet getting cold but they worked flawlessly. I can't believe I have used these boots in 90+ degree heat and now in freezing temps and have not had a single problem with them.
I had to rock my way out of getting stuck a few times on the drive out. Including burning through half a tank of gas in one 100 yard stretch but I made it to the road luckily.

Second Trip: Holly, MI
Temp: 32 degrees

Today I hit one of my favorite places in Oakland County. I was just out to get some exercise and maybe find an antler shed. I walked many of the areas I have been waiting for hunting season to get over to check out. I jumped 3 big deer in one spot and found 5 or 6 new tree stands I hadn't seen before. It was supposed to be nasty and windy but it was relatively nice. I found an old car flipped over in the middle of the woods which was pretty cool. It said Roadmaster accross the front I am going to google it later to see what kind of car it was. I didn't find any sheds and didn't really find any new spots to hunt but I put 3 more miles on the gps and had a good time.