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By Louie Stout
Bow Hunter Gets Two Deer with One Arrow
When he’s not tending to his congregation at the United Pentecostal Church in Bourbon, Ind., Pastor Mark Cottrill is deer hunting.
He’s shot his share of deer during the 30-plus years he’s been hunting Indiana, but his experience Oct. 27 was one that few hunters can claim.
He wandered into the woods late afternoon that day and propped his bucket next to a tree. Unlike some hunters who prefer hunting from a tree stand, Cottrill likes sitting on the ground.
“I’ve always done that,” he said. “I’m completely camouflaged. I don’t like getting up in trees and I like hunting at ground level. I feel it’s more a challenge.”
Cottrill is not a trophy hunter. His family loves venison and he’ll take two or three deer a year.
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By Louie Stout
If you like to fish, now’s the time to be out there getting after coho, steelhead, muskies, yellow perch and crappie.
Fishing activity has waned with the depreciating weather but the action has been pretty good for those anglers willing to battle cooler, and oftentimes, wet conditions.
For example, Mike McNulty at Midway Bait in Osceola said anglers are getting limits of trout and salmon on the St. Joseph River while Jim Housman of the Tackle Box in North Webster said muskies are “going crazy” in Kosciusko County lakes and perch limits are being caught on Lake Wawasee.
Brian Hensley of Clear H2o near Edwardsburg said a lot of really nice bluegills are being caught in southwest Michigan lakes and Bonnie Kelley of Kelley’s Bait in Lakeville said the few anglers getting out are doing well on bluegill at Riddles, Pleasant and even Potato Creek.
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By Louie Stout
Scouting Rewards Ignowski with Big Buck
Dennis Ignowski saw the big buck from afar while scouting deer locations on public land in September. “He was headed right for one of my tree stands the day I was scouting,” said the Niles hunter. I made a mental note of that and waited until conditions were right during bow season.”
On Oct. 11, the first major cold front swept over Michiana. Ignowski checked the wind direction that evening and ventured into the woods.
Wind direction is key to deer hunters. They don’t want the wind blowing from behind their tree stands and wafting human scent in the direction of their shooting lanes.
The wind lined up perfectly.
“It was a pinch point off a swamp edge and I know the deer like to bed there,” he described. “The wind was right and I thought it was a good evening to see if he was around.
Ignowski climbed into the tree stand and waited for a while. Suddenly, his eyes caught some movement around 6:30 that evening.
It was that big buck.
“He was about 40 yards out and turned and was headed toward the swamp,” he said. “I figured it was shoot now or never. I took the shot and the arrow found its mark.”
The wounded buck bolted right by Ignowski before dropping dead 40 yards away.
“I started shaking and making cell phone calls to my wife, my dad and my friend (Tex Holmes),” said Ignowski. “Tex gave up his night and came out to help me get the deer out of the woods.”
The buck was a dandy 10-pointer that dressed out at 225 pounds.
“I’ve shot 55 deer over my lifetime, but this was the biggest overall and probably has the widest rack,” said Ignowski, whose family enjoys venison throughout the year. “It’s definitely going on the wall.”
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By Louie Stout
Coho Creating Good Early Run on St. Joseph River
For years we’ve talked about Skamania steelhead running into the St. Joseph River this time of year.
This year is no exception. The fall run is underway and anglers are catching quite a few fish from the Twin Branch Dam down to the mouth of Lake Michigan.
And while your neighbor may have been telling you about catching some nice “steelhead” from the river the past week or so, it’s likely that many of those fish he’s catching actually are coho.
The confusion is understandable. It wasn’t until the past couple of years that the fall fishery in South Bend was limited to steelhead.
But that’s definitely changed with solid stocking efforts of coho the past three years and a change in stocking schedules that are sending bigger and more numbers of coho into Hoosier waters this fall.