Appreciate Michigan
Michigan
I speak for myself on this because I think I/we take Michigan for granted and all the comes with her. We have so much land and water to access that is open to the public. Hundreds of thousands of acres to roam around on and an unknown quantity of rivers, lakes and ponds to access at no charge.
Wife and I are in Texas right now and looked to be heading home soon and there is about 15 % open to the public land here and the rest is private and fenced. I did find access to pick up some knapping rock one day but I nocked on several doors before I got the green light. It was like begging for some stones, lol.
I only come here to visit my Marine buddy who was shot in Viet Nam and paralyzed. We have had some good visits but now it time to head back north depending on the weather.
I mentioned to my wife just this morning how fortunate we have it in Michigan and being here in Texas makes me appreciate Michigan that much more..
I agree, we are lucky to live in a state that has so much access to public lands and water. A friend once told me " we live where other people come to go on vacation ".
Couldn't agree more. Michigan's not perfect, that's for sure. But compared to many other states, we live in a sportsman paradise.
So when you coming home JERRY?
I love Michigan and chose to come home over a career in the Navy. But if I had a chance to moose hunt every year,, That could possibly make me forget about any other hunting. The guys I hunted with in Alberta can hunt moose, bear.... whitetail and mule deer... and even elk ....... That is a hunters dream. Michigan is beautiful and is more of a fishermans dream to me..... We have AWESOME public access to hunting land but deer hunting is pretty much it here in Michigan... and some bear hunting when you can draw a tag.
March 26th in time for hunter safety:)
I agree,,, I have a home in Wisconsin and another one in the western UP,,,, my friend from Colorado, could not believe all the trout water I fish, with no one else around,,,,,,,
I like MI because of its fishing, and grouse hunting,,,,, deer is what it is, but you have to like big woods, and be realistic in what you can expect,,,,,,,
I could easily live out west, too crowded for me, and to each its own.......
The UP is appreciated by those who know, and to have to explain it, would be a waste of time,,,,,,,,
Razor, I got to the know U.P. pretty good as my dad lived in Crystal Falls for 26 years and I spent some time with him up there. Wife and I also bicycled around lake Michigan which included that long stretch of highway 2. We saw every inch of that roadway, lol
Texas is about the only state I would/do pay to hunt. I like hogs and I would rather kill 1 hog to 5 deer since I've killed a bunch of deer. Sitting in a tree isn't hunting and in Texas I get to hunt hogs by just going for a walk in the bush. Way more fun. And the quail in Texas this year were at all time highs, a once in a life time event so if you like bird hunting pray for a good spring and plan on hitting Texas for a few days next year. Hunting is a privilege not a right and the folks in Tx fought and paid for the land they have so if they want to charge me to hunt there I'm fine with that.
MI over all is better for hunting and fishing than a lot of states but it truly can claim to be have the best Smallmouth fishing in North America.
World class Muskie on Lake St. Clair.... a real chance at a 10-12 pound walleye in the spring on the Detroit River. Salmon charter industry on Lake Michigan.... Trout streams, steelhead, smallmouth, inland lakes and rivers everywhere, awesome ice fishing on Saginaw Bay and Lake Gogebic..... the list is endless for fishing here.... but I am just a novice fisherman.... some of my buddies at work are SERIOUS about it.
killin: That's Ok if they want to charge to hunt. I have hunted varmit a few times down here for nothing. I guess I was referring to the over land/ water availability down here. It just isn't available.
Big Bear: when I was younger I lived on the trout streams but hardly hit the big lake and I live three blocks from Lake Michigan. I did do a lot of surf fishing though.
Yep, Texas has hardly any free public land compared to MI that's for sure. We got ours when the timber barons and other industry leaders gave their land back to the state. Texas, not so much. It still has value for oil and cattle plus in the past 40 years the new commodity, recreational hunting for inches of bone. Think I've hunted maybe 10 or 12 different ranches down there and all the owners put a lot of money toward what they had. Cattle and the D-10 Cat with anchor chain from a battleship stretched between two of them changed TX for ever. If Tx wasn't managed by the land owners it would be way uglier than it already is and be bare of game. Providing water is something we in MI never consider but its life down there and man provides it.
MI gets by pretty well on it's own. we are lucky.
Dont forget Duck hunting on the St. Clair Flats area and the turkey hunting too.
All good things... How about giant lakers off Stannard Rock ??
