What I experienced this weekend, though, is one of the big things I love about Michigan – the definite change of the seasons.  And while it was a little depressing to know that the melt off would signal the end of our ice fishing for the season, it’s great to know that the melt off also signals to the steelhead that it’s time to head upstream.  You have to love the variety that Michigan’s woods and water provide!

And, I can’t forget, that this warm spell will also start to stir something inside Michigan’s turkey flock as well; they will starting thinking about those good-looking hens, and start gobbling from their roost very soon.  Of course, come the second of May, I will be in those woods and appreciating the newly regenerated woodlot and hoping that a lovesick tom heads my way.

Watching the changing of the seasons in Michigan is a very unique and one-of-a-kind experience.  And not a season goes by that doesn’t provide something exciting and stirring to do outdoors – and this year it has been even better. Usually this time of year I would be experiencing some serious cabin fever, but with my new ice fishing discovery, those feelings were definitely kept at bay.

As March arrives, there are no thoughts of cabin fever or seclusion.  The thoughts I have are those of anticipation and reflection; reflection on the first fish I ever hauled through the ice, and my wife’s first pike through the ice; reflection on quads heading across the frozen tundra that was Houghton Lake, and sitting on the ice eating hot pizza; and anticipation for the steelhead that will be running soon and the turkeys who will be answering our new Cottage Craft Works calls.

Every one of Michigan’s seasons brings with it a chance for a great outdoor experience.  And I look forward to every one of them.

This early season allowed Tyler to experience all the emotions that come with hunting – the feeling that comes with missing, and then the elation that comes with………well you’ll just have to watch to find out.

The long and short of this post is this:  It would be nice if some of our lawmakers, local authority figures, judges, and special interest groups didn’t worry so much about “endangered” wolves, lead in condors, Global Warming, and when and where we can carry a weapon, and maybe focused more on keeping those who break the law in confinement.

If they worried about this real issue, there is a certain possibility that tragedies such as this one wouldn’t happen.  It just makes me sick……and angry.  While all of these particular individuals and organizations are trying to find a way to make law-abiding citizen’s lives difficult by imposing unneeded and unwanted laws against them, monsters like the one connected to this story are still free to do as they please.

I pray for the family of this young girl; and as for her attacker, if he is proven guilty, I hope God has no mercy on his soul.

I just love seeing the kids involved in the outdoors.  It’s too cool!

Click the picture to watch.

Fishing License that was only good for 2 days:  $15

ORV Sticker that was only good for 2 days (after I lost it):  $16.25

Enduring the stress of driving 3 hours on ice-covered roads:  $0

My wife’s first fish through the ice and her biggest fish ever:  Priceless

This past weekend, the wife and I, along with a few members of the rest of our family, took a trip Up North and tried our luck ice fishing on Houghton Lake.  The drive up on Friday night was insane – we witnessed many cars in the ditch, and endured some treacherous road conditions – but everything cleared up on Saturday and it made for some decent ice fishing weather.

We were a little disheartened, however, when we arrived at the DNR launch and noticed the lot was empty.  In my experience, normally a place like this is empty because of one reason:  no fish.  After going through all the work of loading quads, and enduring the nasty drive on the way up, though, there was absolutely no way we weren’t going to at least try.

With quads and snowmobiles unloaded – all 10 of them – ice shanties hooked up and attached, and gear loaded into sleds, we were off.  The trip across the ice was pretty interesting, but uneventful, and the first spot we fished was uneventful as well.  After a little over an hour of not even feeling a fish, we ate some lunch and debated what to do with the rest of the day.

Finally, we all decided that we would head to an area that produced for us last summer.  After setting up in the area, it didn’t take long until a guy in a shanty near us had his tip-up flag raised.  We felt pretty good about the spot after that, and it wasn’t too long before Justin’s tip-up caught the first fish of the trip – a respectable pike.

I decided that, even though the wife and I were originally targeting bluegills, we would switch it up, put a pike minnow on our teardrops, and see what happens.  We had a few minutes of frustration, because of the lack of fish, but we just enjoyed the time outside and eventually the fish gods smiled down on our shanty.

After hours of waiting, I look over and notice the wife start to move a little bit; and then she – in the calmest voice I’ve ever heard – says, “I think I got something”.  A quick glance at her rod and I knew she definitely had something, but then the line appeared to go slack and I figured whatever it was was gone.  Upon reeling up her slack, however, the tug on the line was proof enough for me that something was, in fact, still there.  She stands up, continues to reel, and I just instinctively grab the line by hand as well, hoping to help pull whatever was on the line through the hole.  I was glad I did, too, because as soon as we got the 21 inch pike above the hole, the line promptly snapped in two and I had to pin him to the ice so that he couldn’t wiggle his way back into the hole.

It was a very cool experience, and provided the wife with, not only her first fish through the ice, but also her biggest fish ever.  We celebrated, screamed from the blind that we were on the board, and proceeded to take pictures.  And, as you can see from her pinky position in the picture, she wasn’t very fond of how slimy pike can be (I know Jody will appreciate the picture).  It sure made for some laughs later, though, when we went through the pictures from the day.

The weekend was awesome, and we all enjoyed our 7 hours on the ice.  A few of us managed to land some fish, all of us enjoyed the time spent outdoors, and getting outside always makes for a great day……….even if I did get out-fished by everyone, including the wife.

]]> http://www.simplyoutdoors.net/2010/03/01/worth-every-penny/feed/ 7 http://www.simplyoutdoors.net/2010/03/01/worth-every-penny/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SimplyOutdoors/~3/fGM7Ol-NsTk/ http://www.simplyoutdoors.net/2010/02/26/an-introduction-and-a-thank-you/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:16:14 +0000 Arthur http://www.simplyoutdoors.net/?p=3099 This has been one exciting week here at SimplyOutdoors, and we just want to say thank you to everyone who has visited the blog, watched a video, left a comment, or all of the above.  The work involved to get the site to where it’s at, and the time spent to get the video project off the ground, is completely worth it when we know all of you are watching, reading, and interacting.  It’s awesome.

And, on another note:  If you haven’t heard yet, Elizabeth, from Deer Passion, welcomed her first little one into the world just recently.  If you haven’t been over to her blog to check out the cute little thing, you’re missing out.

Have a great weekend everyone.  And we should have another new video up early next week.

Sit back, relax, and watch as Justin and Jeff, finally, after a number of days, outwit a wary Southern Michigan gobbler.

This video is definitley proof that persistence can pay off.

Holly, in a post on her blog, is promoting an idea that is the brainchild of Maj. Darwin Harper.  And the idea is a simple one:  Current members of the armed services should be able to pay resident fees to hunt in any state in the Union.

That sounds like a no-brainer to me.  Now I know that many states allow servicemen and women, who are stationed in their state, to purchase a resident license, but I still think that Maj. Harper’s idea is even better.  All of us at SimplyOutdoors are definitely pro-military – we very much appreciate the sacrifices they make – and I think this initiative is just one more thing that we can do to say thank you to all the people who allow us to safely live in the greatest country of all, and, most importantly, allow us to have our freedom.

I realize that many states are facing financial woes, Michigan included, but I believe that allowing our men and women of uniform to purchase a hunting or fishing license at the resident fee is an excellent idea.  Sure, they’re losing a little revenue from the license, but the reduced fee would definitely encourage members of our military to hunt out-of-state…….and wouldn’t they, while they’re there, be shopping at the local outdoor store, and probably paying to eat at a local establishment?

We are definitely going to do our part to help encourage this initiative.  And if you would like to help, Holly has some excellent ways to do so outlined in her post.

So, without further ado we present the new SimplyOutdoors.net as well as the brand spanking new SimplyOutdoors TV.

Jeff has had this video production dream for quite some time, and we figured now was as good a time as ever to bring it into existence.  We are hoping that you enjoy the down-to-earth, real, outdoor TV experience that we are trying to portray, because I know we’re looking forward to providing it.

We hope all of you visit the new video site, and that you take a peek around the new SimplyOutdoors.net too.  Please also check us out on Facebook, and make sure that you follow us on Twitter.

We’re excited about this new adventure, and we hope that all of you enjoy it as much as we are going to enjoy providing it.  And, if we get anything out of this whole adventure, we’ll at least have a sweet outdoor video library that all of us can look back on.

We are still intent on being the same down-to-earth site that all of you have grown used to…….with a slight botox injection!!  And you can still count on Arthur, and the rest of the guys, posting regularly on the blog.  We just wanted to start a new chapter, and that is what lead us to the new look.

Please let us know in the comments what you think of the new and improved site, and please take a minute to visit SimplyOutdoors TV as well.  There is one sweet teaser over there, as well as a brand new right-out-of-the-box video.

Enjoy!

Note: Our email address has also changed.  The address is now info@simplyoutdoors.net.  Please update your address book!!!