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ilable in nday and n-Frontierserved at day and Townshipneals are e Addison a Hudson, r at 11:30Salisburyi, Italian le pie. tty withbrowned ich bread,sails with , waldorfla mode, potatoes,i, sweet :asserole,scallopedall brancap were also damaged.We coasted to a stop after the collision. The engine died and failed to re-start. We all commented on how targe the deer was and how lucky we were that we struck the deer with a glancing blow. It could have easily come right through the windshield. Ed, Nelson and I walked back to see the deer. We found tracks, hair, and even the broken antler of a small three-point count. Someone else must have hit a deer here, too, I thought to myself as I searched for the big buck that wiped out one whole side of Ed’s new car.To make another long story short, we did not find that deer. We could not start the car, and we were late for fishing. With the hood up we happened across a warning sticker about a fuel pump re-set switch. We finallygot the car running, and after askingfor directions three times, we drove to the Berrien County State Police Post for the accident report. The sergeant and two officers working were very courteous. We had coffee, they let me use the phone to tell May that we were still enroute, and theyand shook the plug free of the big fish. Foul hooked fish must be returned to the water. It was a good fight, and that big fish is free to fight again.We looked for a place to fish downstream, but 30 mph winds made it impossible to run lures or spawn behind the boat. The air temperature dropped all day long. We quit about 2 p.m. We had fun. Nelson and Ed commented on how hard May works for his clients. We felt fortunate to have a nice fish to clean. Many anglers were skunked that day. The fishing had been good and will be good. May’s boat is equipped with a heater and cap to make the fishing comfortable. I plan to go back down in December to combine walleyes and steelhead. May does have some openings for late November and December and can be reached at 616-428-2009.Now, on to the pheasant story. I invited an outdoor writer named Tom Huggler to come pheasant hunting in Hillsdale County. He called a couple of weeks ago and said he would be pheasant hunting in Illinois over theflushed yet another rooster. He flewup in a brushy fence row, flew into some more swamp grass and landed. Luke ran him across the swamp and flushed him out of range.It was time to change hunting locations. I took Huggler to another field of thick weeds. The labs were rested and Huggler’s English setters were belled and set free. Chaucer and Macbeth really covered the ground. An old rooster left the field ahead of the dogs. We hunted to the other end of the field. An old rooster flushed. Huggler and I both missed clean, but in truth, it was a tough shot. I started to walk over to Tom when another rooster flushed. Huggler dropped it with a good shot.I had just made it to Tom when a third rooster flushed from the same area. I shot and the bird dropped.Tom yelled for me to mark it down. I ran to the general location and placed my hat in some weeds. After ten minutes of fruitless searching, I ran back to Huggler’s vehicle and got Luke. We searched some more with no luck. We left that spot to hunt in the next field over. We flushed acouple of hens, but saw no cocks.We returned to the field of the downed pheasant for another look and still could not find it. I vowed to return and look the next day. Huggler left Hillsdale County with his two bird limit. He was impressed with our cover and our population of birds, especially the number of hens that we flushed. He saw the best that Michigan has left. He saw hope for the future of pheasant hunting in Michigan.I went back to the field of the lost rooster the next day. After an hour of stomping weeds I gave up. Luke acted birdy on the edge of the field. He stopped in his peculiar point. I walked over to discover that another hunter had already found my bird. Scattered feathers, a mutilated wingbone and a foot were all that was left of the rooster. The remains were less than 80 yards from where I dropped the bird the day before.I have always prided myself in my dog’s ability to find and retrieve downed game. I haven’t lost a Michigan pheasant in 1 don’t know.', long. If they hit the ground, Luke -chases them down and brings them back to me. It is always painful to lose game, but it was especially-upsetting to do it in front of Tom Huggler. He felt badly, too. He apologized for his dogs. Lost game is an inevitability that most hunters will face at one time or another, but it still hurts. Hopefully, it will be many years, if ever, that I lose anothqr^lt; pheasant.Stay away from those black cats. Enjoy the deer season and play it safe. Be sure to hang your deer on the Daily News buck pole. Next week I will start in on the deer stories.Dave Knox, Daily News special writer, enjoys the outdoors and shares with readers his thoughts on outdoor life in Hillsdale County.Good catch — Nelson Gamble checks out the steelhead he caught Sunday at Berrien Springs. Ed Wolf joined Gamble and Knox on the fishing excursion. (Photo by Dave Knox)
Newspaper Details
Hillsdale Daily News
Hillsdale, Michigan, US
Sat, Nov 15, 1986
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Winnefox L.
WI, USA 08 May 2020
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Hillsdale Daily Standard
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