Discover the U.P.

It's a topic worth reiterating every ice fishing season - ice safety! Unfortunately every year, someone goes through the ice on an inland lake or great lakes bay. Stacy & Sammi from Delta County Search & Rescue gave a great presentation on ice safety at a recent women's ice fishing clinic held at Blade's Bait & Tackle. They go over gear you should take on the ice, how to check the ice,...

A visit to the Rocking Chair Camp, a traditional U.P. deer camp set in the heart of Michigan deer camp country, with almost 90 years of deer hunting stories, camp traditions and generations of hunters. This story comes 45 or so years after the last time its story was told. I sat down with the 2nd and 3rd generation to hear stories about their fathers and grandfathers, their own deer camp memories,...

I chat with Dan and Lindsay, organizers of Belgiumtown Big Buck Night, about how the event has grown in the last 8 years from a handful of people to a crowd of over 1000 in 2023. We talk about the volunteers and sponsors that make the event a success, what's new for this year, making this a family-friendly event, the importance of community nights like this to the hunting culture of the U.P., the...

I sat down with Joseph Heywood, author of the Woods Cop mystery novels to talk about the series and the latest book released last month; "Out of Service". Joe shares how he finds inspiration for his stories and characters from the months he spends riding with Michigan DNR Conservation Officers. One book scene comes from a patrol where Joe busted all his teeth while helping catch illegal pike spear...

FULL INTERVIEW with retired DNR Wildlife Biologist Jim Hammill to talk about whitetail deer management and biology here in the U.P. and the threats we are facing to our tradition and culture of deer hunting. Jim gives his ideas for deer hunting regulations, his thoughts on predators and we talk a lot more about habitat loss, the habitat work group and winter weather. We also talk about the decline...

On "Discovering" Episode 94 I interviewed Jordan Hoover about the Deer Management Initiative and the new deer hunting regulations the Natural Resources Commission voted on for changes to the 2024 deer season. None of the U.P. DMI's recommended regulations were approved by the NRC. This is my FULL INTERVIEW with Jordan Hoover who wrote the final U.P. DMI report that was submitted to the DNR. I will...

The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) recently voted on recommended changes for the upcoming 2024 Michigan Deer Season. The NRC rejected all of the U.P. Deer Management Initiative (DMI) team's recommendations. The NRC & DNR created this team (and one in the lower) for the purpose of improving deer management in the state and to hear voices from hunters and those outside the agency and stakeho...

Audio from a tour of the Slate River Forest Reserve, a beautiful and diverse 10,000 acre forest in Baraga County. The property was purchased by The Nature Conservancy in 2021. TNC Forest Managers give us a tour of this working forest and tell us about some of their forest management plans for timber harvesting, carbon sequestration, old growth and more. This is a longer audio version of "Discoveri...

Interview with Jordan Hoover of the U.P. Deer Management Initiative (DMI) team to hear about his experience, the process over the past few months and the recommendations they submitted to the Michigan DNR and Natural Resources Commission. The NRC will consider their update to the Michigan Deer Hunting regulations for 2024 based on the DMI recommendations. This is the full interview from the latest...

May whizzed by in a blur and I can't remember what I did yesterday. Oh, yea I can, I filmed 3 stories in one day! Thankfully not a regular day, yet it was still a fun day and I got plenty of fresh air and mosquito bites. Here's a look at what stories I have coming up in June for "Discovering" and the podcast and a few of my most frequently asked questions. Plus a question for you - what should I d...

Whew, I can talk. But there's a lot to talk about when it takes you 12 days to shoot a turkey. On today's episode I share my experience of spring turkey hunting, seriously hunting, for the first time. There aren't as many gobblers in the Upper Peninsula as there are in a lot of other places, but there are enough that you can hunt them in every county, even in the "high snowfall zone" that I live i...

My full interview with Dean Juntunen, who completed his lifetime goal of kayaking the entire Lake Superior Shoreline, and he is the first paraplegic to do so (as far as we know!). There are so many things he's seen on his journey that few have laid eyes on. Dean shares his adventures, his favorite spots along the Lake Superior shoreline, some of the challenges he overcame, how to do a kayak water...

It's just me today, and I'm giving you a peek under the ice and behind the curtain of what it took to produce the last two episodes of "Discovering" about beaver trapping. I've also decided someday I need to do a full-length documentary about the fur trade in the Great Lakes region. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I sit down with outdoor writer Richard P. Smith to get his thoughts on the 2023 deer harvest, the lowest deer harvest on record, here in the U.P. I interviewed him back in January for my "Discovering" episode about the 2023 deer harvest and only had room for a few of his comments. I wanted to share his full interview like I did with the rest of the sportsmen I interviewed. Artwork photo provided b...

I took advantage of the beautiful weather last weekend and went for a hike on a portion of the North Country Trail. I met up with a hiking group and the hike leader, Mark Roberts, V.P. of the Peter Wolfe Chapter of the NCT. While out there I interviewed Mark about the North Country Trail , new unit designation under the National Park Service, need for volunteers and what type of volunteer work nee...

December 2023 was the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act . The U.P. is an important place for the conservation of species and there are currently 15 species on the federal Endangered Species List that you can find here in the Upper Peninsula, including a venomous snake.  I talk to Scott Hicks of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the Act and its importance in the conservatio...

A chat with Brian Whitens of the 906 Outdoors show and Cooking Wild Seasonings . I started working with Brian back in 2019 when he was the producer/host of the “Discovering” program on WLUC-TV6. Brian took over for the show creator Buck LeVasseur back in 2012. With me as co-producer of the show in 2019, Brian had more time to pursue his other projects – 906 Outdoors and Cooking Wild Seasonings – u...

In this week's podcast, I talk to Gary Gorniak, president of the Straits Area Sportsmen's Club, about the 2023 deer harvest, our low deer population, wildlife habitat, and the impact of wolves on our deer population. Gary also runs the U.P. Wolves Only Facebook group, collecting wolf trail camera photos from across the Upper Peninsula. I had part of his interview on episode 72 of the "Discovering"...

For my latest episode of "Discovering" I sat down with Chad Stewart of the Michigan DNR Wildlife Division (via zoom) to talk about the 2023 Deer Harvest in the Upper Peninsula. We talk about the low numbers, what those numbers say about our deer herd in the U.P., what factors are influencing our declining deer herd, a lot about the Deer Management Initiative that is starting up soon, and more. Her...

I talk to George Lindquist of U.P. Whitetails of Marquette County about our declining deer herd in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The 2023 deer harvest was one of, if not the, lowest deer harvest on record with less than 17,000 deer (12,600) bucks reported harvested. What does that say about our deer herd that has been on the decline for years and what’s causing the decline? George has been a part of...

Before today's interview I talk behind-the-scenes stuff about filming ice fishing on Little Bay de Noc last Friday, ice conditions, last night's "Discovering" show, and this crummy winter weather. Then I interview Ed Eisch of the Michigan DNR Fisheries Division about the DNR's efforts to reestablish a self-sustaining Arctic Grayling population back to native Michigan streams. We talk about the Mic...

24-year-old hunter, Eli Schaefer captured what is probably the most incredible cougar video ever captured on a trail camera, right here in the Upper Peninsula . The video shows a large cougar killing a whitetail deer and dragging it away. I interview Eli about the whole experience. The Michigan DNR confirmed 24 cougar sightings in the U.P. in 2023 and Eli's cougar photo and videos will bring that...

The state of Michigan now has an official State Native Grain, one of cultural importance to indigenous people. Manoomin , the Anishnaabe word for Wild Rice, is an ancient species of grain producing grass native to the Great Lakes area. Roger LaBine , Tribal Elder for the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in the Western Upper Peninsula, started fighting for the protection of Wild Rice...

Bob Beaudry, one of three Pure Michigan Hunt winners for 2023, was the first Yooper ever drawn for the PMH in the 13 years the program has been going. Pure Michigan Hunt winners receive tags for everything you can hunt in Michigan - elk, bear, spring and fall turkey, antlerless deer, and the first pick at a managed waterfowl hunt area. Bob filled ALL of his tags last year. You couldn’t ask fo...