By Mark Romanack Few outdoor activities are more rewarding than spending time chasing a favorite species on and off the water — allowing you to camp and fish more. Fishing is always a great time, but what an angler does off the water can enhance the outdoor experience and the memories created. For my money, combining fishing with a bit of camping makes for the ultimate outdoor experience. Fishing trips have always been an essential part of what makes the Romanack family tick, but some of my most cherished fishing memories have occurred during family camping trips. Camping opportunities abound ..read more

By Dr. Russ Mason Across North America (albeit not in the Midwest), record book entries show a gradual decline in antler size scores for white-tailed deer. Factors contributing to this disturbing trend aren’t clear. West of the Mississippi, possibilities include invasive species and predator impacts, intrusive energy development and accelerating fire cycles. East of the Mississippi, declines could reflect changing habitat quality or the influence of various harvest regimes. Antler point restrictions (APRs), bag limit constraints and shortened harvest seasons are traditional topics of concern ..read more

By Allen Crater At home a friend will ask, “Been bird hunting?” You will say that you have, and when he asks,” Have any luck?” You will think of what you have held in your heart instead of your hand, and then answer that you certainly did — without a doubt. This quote from one of America’s most beloved outdoor writers, Gene Hill, conjures romantic images of days afield with old double guns and English briar pipes while a well-bred bird dog zigzags through popple stands. Hunters don waxed cotton and wet wool. Notes of vanilla, nutmeg, and honey from single-barrel bourbon shared over a tailgate ..read more

By Nick Green Michigan coyote hunting has the outdoor media spotlight as managers, commissioners, trappers, hunters and anti-hunters debate whether a proposed closure should be enacted. Read the order here. The proposed closure of the current year-round season, from April 15 to July 15 each year, was borne from the Fur Takers Workgroup, where a majority of stakeholders, including trappers, houndsmen and callers, were in support of the proposal. Michigan United Conservation Clubs voted no and was one of only two organizations to oppose the change. You’ll have to take our word, though. No record ..read more

An inevitable part of owning and loving a hunting dog is injury and mitigating how our four-legged best friends could get hurt — it isn’t IF it will happen, it’s when. Our dogs are predisposed to injury given the nature of their work and the environmental factors they encounter. Examples include shiv-shaped cane stalks in pheasant marshes, small tree stumps or barbwire fences — all obstacles a dog pays no mind to as it chases its nose. Field Armor would become the answer to dog injuries and vet bills for a pair of new bird dog owners and boyhood friends trying to navigate their dogs’ injuries ..read more

Michigan United Conservation Clubs CEO Amy Trotter attends week-long, intensive trappers college training in Indiana. By Amy Trotter, MUCC CEO Maybe fur harvesting is in my blood. Through the extensive genealogy work of a distant cousin, I recently learned that my maternal great-grandmother’s family came from France. In the early 1600s, they traveled to Quebec, Canada, eventually through New York and Vermont, and landed in Michigan around 1880. By then, they made a living in farming and lumber, but I have wondered if my ancestors crossed the Atlantic as part of the fur trade. That is only one ..read more

Dardevle by Eppinger is one of the most widely known fishing lures in existence — it’s made right here in Michigan. By Allen Crater As a kid, there was nothing more intriguing to me than my granddad’s tackle box. When I was with him, I spent more time rummaging through the contents than fishing. Bobbers and baits, plugs and poppers, spinners and spoons, and a variety of suspicious-looking materials floating in vaguely opaque yellowish liquid all were wonders. “Don’t get that on your hands, boy, you’ll stink for days,” he’d say, Pall Mall hanging sideways from his mouth. I can still picture tho ..read more

Recently passed NRC amendments to steelhead fishing regulations are not scientific, are unnecessary and restrict angler opportunities By Nick Green, Michigan Out-of-Doors Editor Vesting oneself into work-related topics is part and parcel of who many of us are. Working in the conservation world, one must dig even deeper to find ways to remain interested, engaged and vigilant but detached enough to realize that everything can’t always go in our favor. That’s the only way to be sure we can do this day in and day out without burning out. When we live the conservation lifestyle — spending weekends ..read more

Managers and policymakers need to get creative to solve 21st-century issues plaguing the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. By Dr. Russ Mason For decades, the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAM) and its’ seven foundational pillars have been the touchstone of conservation. Considered sacrosanct by agency managers, hunters, and anglers, the seven pillars are: 1. Maintaining wildlife as a public trust resource, entrusted to the state to manage. 2. Prohibiting deleterious commerce in dead wildlife products. 3. Regulating and defining appropriate wildlife use by law. 4 ..read more

Winter walleye fishing is an often overlooked, lucrative time to be on the water in Michigan. By Mark Romanack Anyone who has spent considerable time targeting walleye will attest that these popular fish will often literally destroy one fishing presentation while seemingly ignoring others. Some might say, “that’s fishing,” and move on with life, but the most successful anglers always push the envelope to figure out why walleye do what they do. Truth be told, if what we know as a fact about walleye fishing were a jigsaw puzzle, there would be a lot of missing pieces. The problem with anglers is ..read more