Hunt Fall 2001

Michigan's 2001-2002 Hunting Seasons
September 1, 2000 thru September 15, 2001	Early goose season (5 per Day)
September 15, 2000 thru December 31, 2001	Small game season begins (Grouse, Squirrel)
November 15, 2000 thru November 31, 2001	Rifle Deer season
October 1, 2000 thru December 31, 2001	Bow season for deer
September 15, 2001 thru March 31, 2002	Rabbit season
February 1, 2001 thru March 31, 2002	Crow season
January and early February 2002	Late Goose Season (5 per day)

Hunting in Ionia State Park for Quail.

October 20, 2001

Bruce and Travis

Opening day of quail and pheasant season was slow for us. We came away with zero birds but had a few chances in which we could have bagged one. Bruce missed a covey of three quail but claimed he knocked one down. We looked for the quail for at least twenty minutes but could not find it. Travis had a shot at a woodcock but was not sure if he hit the bird.

During the trip people were running their dogs for a field trial going on that week. There were a few reports of people getting quail. One person limited out with five quail saying they were all over the place. We tried where he got his five quail but ended up seeing zero birds. We met two bow hunters and one got a nice three-point buck.

Travis and Reb after a long hike in the open fields looking for the elusive quail. The Ionia State Recreation Area is big - about 10,000 acres.

Here is the kind of cover we would encounter but this kind of cover only produced woodcock. The quail stayed in the open fields. You can see the kind of grass we were marching through.

Opening Day of Small Game Season

September 15-16, 2001

At Wolverine, MI (Bruce and Travis)

For the opening day of small game season it was pretty nice the temperature was about 65 degrees. The forest was covered by cedar, poplar, pine, and young growth. Our last hunting trip in this spot near Wolverine, MI was back in October 1999 and our flush rate was about 5 ruffed grouse per hour. This time we hunted from morning to about 1 pm in the afternoon and did not flush a bird. Our second part of the trip we did not flush a bird until about 5 pm . The one grouse pinned down by Reb gave Bruce a chance for his first shot. Bruce ended up taking two shots and bagging the grouse on the second one. It was a poor shot and the grouse ran. Reb trailed it and pointed the wounded bird about 25 yards away and across a dirt road. Good Boy!

The next day was basically the same - we did not flush any birds all morning. During the second part of the hunt a grouse flushed about 25 yards from Travis. Travis pulled up to take a shot but was too late as the grouse was off and gone. Later we decided to call it a day. The grouse rate per hour was not that great, flushing about 0.2 grouse an hour (counting all the hours and grouse we flushed).

There was other news which was interesting while we were there. We had company with bear hunters getting their dogs ready for the up coming season which starts September 22, 2001. During the morning of September 16, 2001, we had beagles running almost thru our camp area in hot pursuit of a black bear..

Bruce with his first grouse of the season. As you can tell Reb is the one who found the grouse for Bruce. Leni is on vacation.

Travis holding the one grouse he shot out of a tree just ten minute drive from Bruce's house. Emmy-Lou is getting ready for rabbit season.

Opening Day of Duck Season

September 29, thru October 3, 2001

Munuscong Bay (Bruce, Tom, and Travis)

Opening day of ducking hunting was a lot different than last year as we saw roughly 400 ducks. The basic local ducks were around (Green, Blue Winged Teal, Mallards, and Wood ducks) but the migratory birds were still up north. Although we saw many ducks just about 10% flew into our decoys which were in shotgun range.

We started our hunt at 1 am in the morning for the opening day of duck hunting. The race was on to get into our "spot" and defend our territory. We found our blind by 2 am which gave us plenty of time to set up the decoys. Tom slept on top of a big bag of inflatable decoys - some of them still look funny. After roughly waiting six hours for the first shot we started to get bombarded by ducks. After about 10 minutes into the hunt we all turned the other direction in our blind as the ducks were coming in "backwards." The hunting was good until 11am. We then moved on to jump shooting in the marsh. During the stay we bagged nine ducks. Bruce with 4, Travis with 2, Tom with 1 duck, and Reb with 2 ducks. We let a lot of teal go and wished them well on their travel South. Reb found two cripples in the marsh which someone else shot but could not find. Leni made some awesome retrieves in the tall grass.

Our docking channel at Dan's Resort on Munuscong Bay, Michigan. The water is still low this year.

Bruce with Leni and Reb and a few nondescript ducks. The weather was mild.

Here are some Michigan Fall Colors during October. We will update you on the changes in Michigan's weather. Also on how it effects our hunting and shooting percentage.

You can find when the season opens for your favorite hunt in Michigan. Year 2002 will be similar unless something weird happens like a great woodcock breeding season.