Well, another deer camp at Shrew Haven is history. We had fewer hunters in camp this year. Last year our camp was in mid October, this year we changed it to the first week in November. Some of the guys couldn't make it mostly because of job schedules. Still we had a great time and some success as you will see.

Roger Norris and I drove up together from lower Michigan, The 500 mile drive took all day but switching off driving and eating fast food on the fly made the trip go fast. As we got close to camp we were greeted with a good covering of the white stuff.

 

Love this thread every year!

Looking north up Armstrong Creek



Looking south down the Armstrong from the bridge over the creek

 
Ok I'm comfy and ready for this tail to unfold.

After arriving at the cabin it was like coming home. The old Fisher wood stove soon had it warm and cozy, the gas lights gave out their soft glow and as I settled into the old Lazy boy recliner beside the woodstove, all was right with the world.

Because we didn't have a full crew this year Tim Cosgrove who is a regular at the camp invited a business associate, Henry Bodnik of Bear Paw Products  in Germany. As some may know, there is NO hunting in Germany so Henry, a traditional archer has to go out of his home country to hunt. This year was only his 2nd time bow hunting deer in the US. His first time was with Tim in Indiana where he killed a doe with his longbow, his first deer with a bow

Henry was a very interesting guy and a lot of fun to have in camp. He pitched right in helping with camp chores. He also like to help with the cooking and treated us to a delicious German potato salad one night.


 

I'm in my comfy chair and ready for a shrew tail

  Always look forward to this!

I always look forward to hearing this story.

The first day of the hunt deer were seen but no shots were taken. For the last several years antlerless deer have not been legal for bowhunters in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

On the second day a nice fork horn presented it's self  to Henry, his shot was true and the buck went down within sight. Henry was thrilled with his first bow and arrow buck and we were all very happy for him

The next night Tim came in after dark and said he needed some help that he had shot a buck.  I ask him if her had an idea where he hit the deer. He said, it gave him a good quartering away angle but he thought he may have shot low. I told him it might be a heart shot. Then he said, I think I heard him go down so I took a compass reading in the direction of the noise.

The compass reading is something I had told the guys about many years ago, about how I had found a buck one time after I heard a crashing sound and took a reading with my compass. I found the deer that night with a flashlight after it had run over 100 yd's without leaving a drop of blood. The arrow had hit in the guts, angled forward into the lungs and the wood shaft had broke off inside the deer. A intestine plugged the entrance hole so all the blood was inside.

Here's Roger and Tim at the end of the trail




The happy hunter



Tim's hit with a 200gr German Jaeger broadhead from Bear Paw. The sharp back edge of the head really opened up the heart.

Three hunters and two deer. The guys with the big smiles are obviously the successful hunters 

Roger and I modeling our Asbell "Pathfinder" wool in the new "Oakridge" pattern

Congratulations to the successful hunters.  Love my Asbell wool.

       Did you carry that bear k4 ?

Both deer kills in camp this year were interesting, and worthy of a story. Henry Bodnik has a ton of respect for our freedoms and hunting opportunity that we have here in the USA.

Henry is an experienced outdoorsman and hunter, yet he was like a sponge soaking up what few deer hunting tips we had to offer. I helped Henry choose 2 stand sites that had been productive in the past, one on historic Banana Ridge. It had 7 scrapes leading to his stand alongside a brushy trail. I admired that Henry wanted to "do it himself"....he insisted on hanging his own stands. He went quickly from "guest" to "hunting partner".

The second site was far enough away as to not disturb the first,in a pine thicket that serves as both bedding and travel corridor.

On his first evening out, Henry saw only a button buck up on Banana Ridge. He hit the same stand the next morning, but wisely climbed down due to swirling winds. Banana Ridge can be tough to hunt....changing winds and a plethora of acorns cause an odd problem...too many deer. It is common to have deer moving through from all directions.

With great effort Henry snuck almost a mile to stand #2. He climbed in, and within an hour his buck was down. It was fun experiencing Henry's excitement, and his respect for the kill. Bravo, Henry!

Very nice, congrats to the hunters.

Tim Cosgrove is one of the original ShrewHaven members,he has been coming to camp longer than I have. Tim is a wonderful guy,and a dear friend to all of us. Tim struggled this year,having shoulder surgery earlier in the year. He worked hard to be able to pull a hunting weight bow,actually switching from left handed to right handed (with some coaching from Henry). I came down the road one evening and there he stood grinning in the headlights...."Got one?" I asked....

"Heck yeah" was Tims response.

We decided to go back to camp, eat supper, and let it lay for a bit.

Tim was sure of his hit, but like anyone waiting to take up a bloodtrail, he was nervous. An hour passed quickly in camp, and now it was 2 hours since the shot. Tim, Cindy Gustafson,and I went out on the blood trail.

No blood. Nothing.

But Tim had done everything right. With compass and good after shot observation, he guided us down an obvious trail. He said he was certain that the buck had rocketed out, did a button hook,and Tim's last note was lots of crashing in a thicket.

Pitch black UP darkness made everything look different. Tim directed Cindy and I by flashlight to where he thought the buck made it's last crash. He then split the difference, walked between us, and there was his buck, exactly where he thought it would be. Tim is a great woodsman, and it showed that night!

look forward to this post every year! have spent some great times near you ( Crystal Falls) just love your stories and the U.P

Nicely done guys