Two weeks off

To say I have been busy is an understatement. However, it wasn't because I was working long hours and burning the candle at both ends. This was the good kind of busy. Busy because I was actually on vacation. Vacation longer than a day here or a day there.

Dad comes every October to spend a month and a half with me. Between, hunting, fishing, and trapping, I have little time for much else. I checked posts regularly however I just didn't have a good enough signal to really make many comments.

Michigan's weather has been unpredictable the last few weeks. In years past, I would have been angry at the heat keeping the deer at bay. Fortunately, I'm older and wiser. It gives me the day to go out and do some fishing without the need to worry about some giant walking past my tree stand.

I'll try and put my two week adventure into a day by day format so that people can follow.

October 26th-

Spent the weekend trying to get my dad on a deer for the freezer. Trail cameras indicate deer being every place that he is not. Currently Trying to stay as far away as possible from him. The big 9 pt continues to cross paths with multiple cameras every night however it still isn't cool enough for him to venture out during daylight. I know where he is bedded in the morning and night. Only thing I can do is try and intercept him.

Called Lowrance because I had an issue with my Structure scan module. Actually been having the issue since the day I installed it. System will not actually lock on the bottom It will show the bottom but I can be overtop of 30ft of water and it only shows as 1 ft. Makes it too small to view. They are sending a new HDSS module.

Wednesday October 28th. Structure scan module arrived. Temps in the 70's. I'm going to the lake to run a test

Thursday October 29th-

I attempted to head to the Bruin chain of lakes yesterday. I was going to launch on Halfmoon lake as the water levels are usually low this time of year and I did not want to contend with the shallow channel. Road crews were working on a culvert so I could not get to the launch. Back to Bruin. Water levels down almost 5 feet as they release the damn in the fall. Could not launch my boat. Went to the Marina. They said they were too busy to let me launch. Ended up on Portage lake. I hate that lake. Still haven't caught a crappie. Structure scan worked for 5 minutes and then stopped. I think it is the transducer. Would make sense that it is filling with water. Will call Lowrance again.

Left at 3am this morning for Escanaba. I found a new boat for my dad. It is basically the same boat as mine except it has wide gunnals on it. It is an Alumacraft Dominator 175 sport with a 115 Yamaha. Brand new 2015 (last year for this model). I ended up getting it for 10 grand below retail. Arrived in Escanaba a little after 10am. I brought my cover and transom saver and some wiring stuff as the trailer wiring is usually all wrong!

Had the boat on the truck by 11am. Notice the 5 pin flat plug was ground down from being drug down the road. Good thing for my tools. Changed the plug to a 7pin round and was on the road by 11:30. Back to my house at 6:20pm. My barn looks like an Alumacraft dealership (mine, Brian's, and Dad's).

Friday October 30th. Boat came with a stupid flip down casting platform. Drilled out 10 pop rivets to get it off. Then had to grind off three bolts as I could not access them. Now it is the way he wants it! Now I have a casting platform to get rid of. It has jump seats built in too!

Heard the neighbor scream for joy around 5:20 pm (more than half a mile away). Watched him drive his 4 wheeler around the property that I used to lease. I still do all the work for him and his dad. He called at 7pm for me to process his deer. A 9pt. I was disappointed. I've worked hard to keep that deer alive the last 3 years. They own the property for 5 months and get lucky. On the flip side, I was happy that he got it. He worked hard too. Besides, I would rather he get it as apposed to someone that doesn't deserve it. He had his girlfriend with him too so that was cool.

After close inspection, I had to go back to my 100's of trail camera photos. I believe this is NOT the same deer but a twin. Same 9th point in the exact spot but he is much shorter than the deer I have been on. Besides, this deer was NOT where I KNOW he beds and moves. Hopefully I can get confirmation on a camera soon. If not, I'm at least happy knowing it went to someone deserving. He just graduated State Trooper school. Good young man. I have the head and cape in my freezer. This is the largest deer he has harvested. At least I know my management practices are paying off. Plus, he has passed on 10 other small bucks to get to this one. So... I'm happy

Saturday October 30th-
Pulled Camera cards this morning. Confirmed the big 9 is still alive and well. Actually watched him bed up this morning. He rubbed a 15inch diameter Maple tree.

I put a triangle approach on him this evening. My dad on one side of the bedding area, Brian on the other and I was in the tail end. I rattled, grunted, and doe bleated for about 2 hours. Finally got him to come out to my dad. No shot though. Then he moved over to Brain and caught him off guard at 20 yards. Again no shot. Plan worked to perfection, but no one was ready.

Sunday November 1st-

Set Raccoon traps this morning. I have some numbers this year I need to trim down before moving to another farm.

Played chicken with the 9pt tonight. Was able to rattle him in to 67 yards before he turned the wrong way and went into a thicket. He came out the other side at 54 yards. I shoot 9 months out of the year and have no problems shooting at that distance. He however decided that he wanted to chase a doe or two and 54 yards quickly turned into an unmanageable distance. He lives another day.

Monday November 2nd-

Two coons last night and one Grinner. Transducer arrived for the boat.

Tuesday November 3rd-

Three Coons last night.

Played peekaboo with the big 9pt. No shots. Headed fishing tomorrow out to Saginaw bay. Supposed to be in the mid 70's.

Wednesday November 4th.

Left for Linwood at 5am. Arrived a little after 7am. I've never fished out of this port so I want to test just how good I think I am.

Left the harbor and turned on the structure scan. Worked perfectly. Problem solved.... bad Transducer

Set the boat down 1.5 miles due east of the harbor at the 15foot break line. Started marking fish. Didn't get three rods in the water before we were clearing rods. Took over an hour to get six rods out. Found a bunch of white bass but the walleye seemed to be mixed in as there was tons of bait. Just need to fight through them to stay on the walleye.

Attachment 219469

Photo shot of my Off Shore Planer Boards running off the starboard side.

Ended the day with 9 walleyes and 3 master angler white bass. The radio reports told stories of people not catching many fish (or none). They all went way too far out and didn't trust their electronics. They should have fished the marks on the screen!
My first sunburn in the month of November.