http://www.record-eagle.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:00:52 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_335095235.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_335095235.html 'The duties of a state conservation officer are 50 percent public relations, 40 percent law enforcement and 10 percent other things, such as filing paper work." That was Leelanau County conservation officer Mike Borkovich speaking. He is a great big walking contradiction to many people as he goes about enforcing the state's fish and game laws. Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:00:57 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_332093158.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_332093158.html They are just bits of colored cloth and thread, but Department Of Natural Resources Successful Hunter or Management Cooperator patches for bear, deer and wild turkey are fun to collect but some can be costly and difficult to find. My personal passion is buying and collecting old hardcover books on fishing and hunting, but patch collecting is fun as well and prices remain reasonably steady for the hard-to-find patches. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:00:55 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_328094549.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_328094549.html The second firearm season is upon us, and many deer hunters are wondering where the animals have gone. What's that, you ask? The second firearm season? That's right. The DNR tells us that 75-85 percent of the deer taken during the 16-day firearm season, which runs through Nov. 30, are taken Nov. 15-17. The rest of the month is the so-called second season. Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:00:57 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_321094322.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_321094322.html My late father, bless his soul, always had a problem understanding why I would head out to hunt deer, especially when the skies opened up and dumped a bunch of rain or snow on his No. 1 son. "It's stupid," he'd say, "to go out into a bad storm or foul weather just to hunt deer. Why not stay inside where it's warm and dry, and not get sick. It's a wonder all the deer don't die of exposure." Dad simply didn't understand deer. Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:00:54 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_314094553.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_314094553.html Nov. 15 offers something very special. It's the only day of the year when you can hear the sun rise. Rifle shots, shotgun blasts and occasionally even the flat crack of a handgun going off becomes an audible clue that the annual firearm deer season is underway. But, all things are subject to change. That's the way it once was, years ago, in those years before bait. Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:00:53 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_307092757.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_307092757.html The rod tips were nodding softly in the rod-holders as the small outboard motor pushed the14-foot boat slowly across the mouth of the Manistee River where it empties into Manistee Lake. The water was 10 feet deep, an ideal depth for our lures to be. I made a slow outward turn into slightly deeper water, and as we made the turn to port one of the rod tips snapped down toward the surface, and 60 feet off our stern a 10-pound steelhead seemed to hang two feet above the water before crashing back down with a heavy splash. Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:00:54 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_286093805.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_286093805.html The rain was pouring down the other day, and one of my friends made a bad hit on a small buck. It was a scraggle-antlered six-point, with a rack that looked like it had been put together by committee. Size or beauty isn't the issue here. Wounding an animal is. Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:00:51 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_279093820.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_279093820.html The buck was a nice animal. It was an adult two-year-old with eight points, the beginning of a really nice rack, and he wasn't rut-crazed just yet. This rack, while still thin and spindly, had an inside spread of 16 inches and good brow points. The buck came to me early Wednesday evening with plenty of shooting light, and he stood at an extreme quartering-away angle for long minutes. It was a tempting shot possibility. Did I want to shoot that buck? Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:00:56 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_272093723.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_272093723.html I sit here at my computer, staring at a blank screen, and begin to contemplate today's topic, thinking about Wednesday's archery deer opener. Doing so gets me remembering past bow season openers. That causes a chain reaction about the past 10 openers, as well as allowing me to recall a few other Oct. 1 bow hunts. Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:00:51 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_265094804.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_265094804.html Humans have some funny notions, and oddly enough, some people believe them. Our beliefs often are very strong about things concerning hunting, and we believe them even if they are not true. For instance: we may think we smell just dandy after a bath or shower using a liberal amount of shampoo and soap, but a whitetail deer would probably think we stink. Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:00:56 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_258094403.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_258094403.html The complexion of deer hunting has changed. Bait piles are no longer legal in the Lower Peninsula, and hunters must return to their roots and learn how to hunt trails, scrapes and farm crop locations. There is no better way than laying down boot leather when it comes time to learn a new or old hunting area, and that is what most people do. Some take this "learning-the-land" attitude even further. Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:00:53 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_251095755.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_251095755.html The fog seemed almost alive. Heavy tendrils of white cottony clouds twisted and turned over the water in the soft breeze, coming together to make the murk even thicker, and then it would separate and any sounds were distorted. We were just 10 yards from the dock, and the next boat to launch was invisible. We could hear a faint string of conversation from the other anglers, but making sense of what they were saying was almost impossible. Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:04:00 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_244095339.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_244095339.html The worst disease any sportsman, deer-lover or right-thinking conservationist could imagine has arrived in this state. No one yet knows whether the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) found in one deer on a game farm near Grand Rapids has spread to other pen-raised deer. This could be our worst nightmare come true. Sat, 23 Aug 2008 20:00:53 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_237095336.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_237095336.html There are many things in life that go well together. Ham and eggs. Tea bags and hot water. Bow hunting and IBEP? Whoa, back up a bit! Bow hunting and IBEP? Explain that one. It's simple. Those four letters stand for the International Bowhunter Education Program, an advanced course in hunting with a bow and arrow. Sat, 16 Aug 2008 20:00:56 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_230095041.html http://www.record-eagle.com/daverichey/local_story_230095041.html Fishing or hunting alone isn't a popular thing these days. Let's face it, most sportsmen are gregarious by nature, not by necessity. Most sportsmen love the camaraderie of being with other like-minded people, the sharing of nearby campsites or putting a canoe sneak on a bunch of bedded bluegills. Two or more sportsmen enjoy planning their next deer hunt, bear hunt or trout fishing trip.