What a wild weather week it’s been in Northern Michigan. Right after last week’s report we got so much snow that I could hardly drive to my hunting spot. I was literally plowing snow with my truck and had the white stuff pushing up over the hood. The walk from the car to the blind was a trudge in nearly knee deep snow. It looked like the beginning of another huge polar vortex winter. I was just about to buy my one way plane ticket to anywhere South when Mother Nature stepped in and gave u...

By: Aaron Dexter   Category: River Reports Tags: Winter, Deer, Brown Trout, Au Sable, Manistee

Here in the Au Sable Valley winter arrived with its bluster and blow just a shorts stone’s throw before the opening day of Michigan’s white tailed deer season.  Hunters bundled up in heavy garb and gear and squeaked through a few inches of snow on November 15th to watch the sunrise on a hopeful opening morning. Opening Day I heard the first shot right at daylight far off in the distance.  Minutes later another.  Then another.  The clocked ticked and more sho...

By: Aaron Dexter   Category: River Reports Tags: Winter Fishing, White Tail, Deer Camp, Au Sable, Manistee

The whitetail bucks are strutting, neck swollen, muscled up, and just a little love-dumb.  The brown trout are on a post spawn feed and me, well I’ve been hanging out with a two year old from dawn ‘til dusk for the last week. I’ll tell you what . . . it’s been great.  Am I missing out on some of the best stuff that happens in the Northern Michigan outdoors?  Sure.  I did sit, though, in the tree stand for the three fine days leading up to the last report and had a nice buck...

By: Aaron Dexter   Category: River Reports Tags: Northern Michigan, Hunting Partners, Deer Hunting, Outdoor Life

Oh boy!  It’s definitely late Fall now. On my drive to bow hunting camp this past week the low lying areas, ditches, and swales held wisps of snow.   And the rain-like precipitation hitting my windshield splattered in miniature crystal explosions on the glass as quickly as the wipers could sweep them away. I unlocked the camp door with a bundle of kindling in one arm and made quick work of a fire even before shutting the cabin door.  There’s just no messing around this t...

By: Aaron Dexter   Category: River Reports Tags: Wet Weather Gear, Outdoor Life, Bird Hunting, Au Sable, Manistee