Take a Hike

The next time someone tells you to take a hike, do it! Just be aware of the time of year you decide to take that walk.
With the firearms deer opener coming up beginning November 15, it would be a good idea to follow North Country Trail thru hiker and backpacker Luke Jordan's advice.
"I stay out of the woods during deer season," Jordan whose trail name is Strider, said. Staying off the trails during the time hunters are in the woods makes good sense.
Some hunters mistake movement for a deer approaching. Whether they see what that movement is or not doesn't make any difference to some. They shoot at the sound. Sometimes that sound is a human, even another hunter passing nearby.
Another factor is what you are wearing in the woods. Anything with white on it is going to attack hunter attention due to the white on a whitetail deer.
Nearby mountain bike trails in the Holly Recreation Area are posted with warnings about hunters in the woods this time of the year.
Your best bet is to stay home to ride and walk another day. There are still plenty good days left even after hunters have left the woods.

Luke "Strider" Jordan pauses along the trail.

Hunting Safely

Hunting from a tree stand isn't the sort of activity you should take lightly. This is not the place or time to cut corners.
I've bow hunted from a stand some 40-feet in the air. It was referred to the "high rise" stand because it was so high.
Crude steps had been placed along the trunk. A short-legged guy like me had trouble going up and down due to the unusually large distance apart the steps were positioned.
Once I made the stand proper it was a dizzying look back down to the ground. Between forks in the tree, a couple of 2x6's had been nailed to sit on.
Add to the height, lack of back support and long steps, the wind was blowing so hard it made the tree sway back and forth to the point I thought it might crack or break.
And along towards dark, I had to climb down. This all happened many years ago before climbing harnesses had been thought of and fastening steps into trees on state land was illegal. In fact, you hauled your bow and arrows up either on your back or with one arm through the bow string so could could climb up and down.
Today, I would never think of hunting in that fashion. I'm older and like to think a little wiser and a lot more safety conscious.
In fact, these days, I stay on the ground, hunting from a ground blind or natural break in the forest. You don't need to be 100 feet in the air. If you hunt from a tree, 15-feet is plenty.
At that height, should you fall you can still be hurt seriously if not, much worse. Unless you have practiced shooting from some kind of height, stay on the ground.
There's too much that can go wrong when you are swinging in the air with a bunch of razor tip arrows   either on you or hanging in a manner to hurt you. Stay safe.

Salmon trip interrupted-Injury to wife

I've packed and re-packed for my fall salmon trip. This year I thought for sure it would happen. In the past, we've been out of the country visiting our children and grandchildren. But this year we were free.
My original trip; the one I thought I would be taking part in didn't happen for me. Some others made it. I don't know of they had any success or not.
Then another chance came up. I had to cancel practically the last minute as wife was seriously injured in a bad fall she had.
When all was said and done, we found she had broken three bones in her wrist. The left side of her face and chest are black and blue but turning hello.
She's pretty incapacitated, requiring me to care for her. So my next move with salmon gear will be to stow it for another year.
As she gets stronger, I plan on getting in some fall fishing here in Oakland County. Sometimes things don't work out as we think they might, even after careful planning. Such is life.

My wife Pat in the emergency room. I don't know how she cold smile.