Shrew Haven, here we come

[Homebru]

I'm with SteveO. I sure miss deer camp.  Used to be up in Onaway.
homebru

[northener]

Thanks for the ride along fellas, very enjoyable!

[Precurve]

It's going to be interesting to see what happens to your Shrew Haven traditions with those wolves around.  We have 600+ acres in north central Wisconsin and all thought it was cool when the wolves first showed up about a dozen years ago.  The lands been in our family for over 60 years and we have decades of pics of heavy buck poles.  However our group of 8-10 hunters has seen about 10 deer total, as a group, over the last 5 years.  Now we don't think they're so cool.

[Roger Norris]

Originally posted by Precurve:
It's going to be interesting to see what happens to your Shrew Haven traditions with those wolves around.  We have 600+ acres in north central Wisconsin and all thought it was cool when the wolves first showed up about a dozen years ago.  The lands been in our family for over 60 years and we have decades of pics of heavy buck poles.  However our group of 8-10 hunters has seen about 10 deer total, as a group, over the last 5 years.  Now we don't think they're so cool.

I tend to agree with you. Wolves are neat animals, but my hobby is deer hunting, not wolf watching. I suspect a real problem brewing in Michigans UP.

[Zradix]

x2

[2treks]

Nice trip you guys had. I love a good deer camp. The UP sure can make a guy dream about such things.
I delivered a stock Shrew to Ron yesterday and he was telling me about the wolf that was hanging around.

The wolves should drop in numbers this Friday when our first season opens up on em.
 They are cool animals and I don't mind em, but they sure can eat!

[Ray Lyon]

There have been wolves in the area since 2000 for sure, the year we moved the cabin to it's current location.  I had delivered a cabinet unit to the cabin in August and Ron was there to do a shooting demonstration at our local friends archery club.  We had a campfire in the fire pit outside the cabin that night and we were treated to listening to a wolf hunt.  Our local friend who was there (who spent time with the DNR wolf expert on many an occasion) explained the howls and then the call back to the den. Several years later, one of the other camp owners noted a den on the edge of the property and saw a couple of wolves outside of it.  Wolves are a highly skilled predator and I know that they'll have an effect on the deer herd. They do need to be managed and I hope the season that we have in place is not voted down by a general election ballot proposal, because that will mean they go unchecked other than those subscribing to the three SSS (shoot, shovel, shutup) mantra.  I'm sure some of the wolves that have been on the property the last 13 years have succumb to that treatment.  

I'm sure we'll learn more next year as we return for our annual pilgrimage. Wolves in the area is nothing new. Having snow on the ground for the first time in a lot of years was and I think that told us a tale of what we maybe didn't know in the past.

[Jack Rehacek]

Rodger, You are right on the wolf problem .I hunted west of Iron River last week and only seen 4 deer while sitting in the stand. There was plenty of wolf sign and even saw two ghosting alone a ridge. I even hunted down the grade from Rons camp and the deer sign was dismal to say the least compared to what it has been. I also have no desire to shoot a wolf ,but something has to be done.

[Jack Rehacek]

Ray, I have lived in the Iron River area on and off over the last 30 plus years, I don't remember the wolfs being this bad.

[Ray Lyon]

Jack,

That's good observation and of course living there is different than being a 10 day a year visitor.  As I mentioned above, I hope that we don't have the wolf season tool taken away from the DNR by the general population in a general ballot proposal.  Roger and Eric were in Utah two falls ago and the locals out there were begging them to shoot a wolf to fill their wolf tags they had purchased because they had decimated the elk herd, which in turn reduced the revenue they were receiving from hunters coming into their community.  We'll see how this unfolds in our area up there.  Hopefully, a good balance is achieved.

[Ron LaClair]

I've been hunting the area for 22 years and wolves have always been around but not in great numbers. They seem to come and go, some years we hear them and some years we don't. I think the wolves may have become a problem in some areas of the U.P. but not in our area as of yet.

This year it seemed to be just the one lone wolf that shared our hunting grounds and he made the deer a little nervous. We didn't see any sign that he'd made a kill but he did find the gut piles and cleaned those up.

To me the wolf is a natural part of a wilderness area. We humans are the intruders killing HIS food source. Most people see it the other way around..      

When I hear a wolf howl, it stirs something in me....it's hard to explain, but I like the feeling. I don't mind sharing the hunt with the wolf, but as I said if their numbers increase to the point they need to be killed so be it but I'll leave that job to the wolf haters. Having said that, Mother Nature is better at creating a balance than man ever will be.

   

[Ron LaClair]

A few pages back Roger showed all of you a picture of his Shrew Haven belt buckle made by Art Vincent of Cedar Ridge Leather Works.

Art called me awhile back and told me he had a new product that he wanted to give to the members of our Shrew Haven hunting camp and get some feed back from the guys.  Art, the fellows LOVED their buckles, you would have thought they were given a lifes membership to the Playboy Club..   :D          It was suggested that we set up a system at the gate so that only members that scanned their membership buckles could get in..      

   

Art put my camp nick name on my buckle..      

   

[Mudd]

Ron quote..."Mother Nature is better at creating a balance than man ever will be."

I couldn't agree more Ron.

What God made and put together all those many years ago seems to have been working just fine and continued that way up until man came along and tried to make improvements on an already perfectly balanced ecosystem.

I once read a statement made by a famous native American that I can only paraphrase because of my memory but it went something like this....
__________________________________________________
"Our men did all the hunting and fishing. When not engaged in these activities we sat around the campfire swapping stories and making more arrows and occasionally another bow while our women took the game we brought in and skinned it, making food from the meat and turning the hides into leather or other useful pieces of clothing to keep us warm in winter. They also did all of the gardening and kept wood piles stocked, campfires burning.

Then white men comes along and tells us he wants to teach us his ways so our lives will be better"...lol


God bless,Mudd

[Easykeeper]

Originally posted by Ron LaClair:
I've been hunting the area for 22 years and wolves have always been around but not in great numbers. They seem to come and go, some years we hear them and some years we don't. I think the wolves may have become a problem in some areas of the U.P. but not in our area as of yet.

This year it seemed to be just the one lone wolf that shared our hunting grounds and he made the deer a little nervous. We didn't see any sign that he'd made a kill but he did find the gut piles and cleaned those up.

To me the wolf is a natural part of a wilderness area. We humans are the intruders killing HIS food source. Most people see it the other way around..      

When I hear a wolf howl, it stirs something in me....it's hard to explain, but I like the feeling. I don't mind sharing the hunt with the wolf, but as I said if their numbers increase to the point they need to be killed so be it but I'll leave that job to the wolf haters. Having said that, Mother Nature is better at creating a balance than man ever will be.

   

Great post Ron.

[Art Oneshot]

Ron, I know how important Shrew Camp is to all the guys who go and especially you.  However, It would be hard for anyone that doesn't partake of the annual gathering to understand the depth of meaning it has for everyone.

Even though I have never been, the stories coming from Shrew Camp have had special meaning for me..I wanted to just say a simple Thank You in my most humble way to all those who partake of this special "Brotherhood".  You bring me joy.

Shoot Straight and stay strong
Art
Cedar Ridge Leather Works

[Zradix]

Well said Art.

It's a good feeling just knowing some guys are sharing a hunting camp in the way they do.

...just knowing it's happening makes the world seem a little brighter in these times of political nonsense.

[tomwatson]

Sad to see a nice thread head in the other direction. I always joke with my friend who hunts in the UP, and complains about the wolves. I always say "are you jealous because the wolf is a better hunter than you are." Anyway, good post Ron, I love to hear the Shrew Haven stories.


Tom

[Ray Lyon]

Art, as Ron stated, the belt buckles are incredible. Thank you soooo much for your gesture.  I've got to find a new belt because my camo Browning hunting belt does not have a removable buckle option.  Rest assured I'll find the right belt to grace that beautiful buckle with. And before the other wisecracking camp members show up and say something about getting it a couple notches bigger to compensate for the food and libations I had at camp, I'll have them know that I stepped on the scale this morning and I was back to my pre-camp chubby weight again, so    :p    :p .

[Ray Lyon]

Originally posted by Zradix:
Well said Art.

It's a good feeling just knowing some guys are sharing a hunting camp in the way they do.

...just knowing it's happening makes the world seem a little brighter in these times of political nonsense.

The conversations and razzing that we have in camp are priceless.  The stories told year after year and incidents are laughed about time and time again. It's a very integral part of camp life.  Tim Cosgrove is just a funny, 'clumsy' guy. He'll take off out of camp to hunt and then come back in the cabin a couple minutes later saying he forgot something.  The joke in camp is after he leaves, how long before he walks back in the door (of course my first hunt of the year was up at camp as it's been a crazy October for me with work, kids and weather.  So when I drove back into camp to grab my bow and arrows that I left hanging on the outside bow rack, I was the recipient of a few wise cracks and laughs.) Well, after Roger took off to head home due to work commitments, Tim took over one of his stands that he was seeing deer regularly out of.  Tim was mulling over using the stand one afternoon and said out loud deadpan voice "I wonder if I can get up in the tree with my legs/foot bothering me because some guys put steps really far apart....oh, wait, Rogers a short/fat guy, I shouldn't have any problems".  Of course we joke about each other and no ill will was meant, but it's the good natured laughter that things like that create that makes the camp and sharing with friends who are able to laugh at themselves so special.  Laughter is really cool therapy, as is sitting around a woodstove, as is sharing a meal that's a ritual, as is sharing the Northwoods for 20 years with the same guys following in the footsteps of similar camps from the turn of the century.  

It's just way cool stuff. And we're blessed to have such a tradition.

[Hawkeye]

I realize your time in Shrew Haven isn't during the "hungry months" of the dead of Winter, but do you think there ever might be a time when the meat pole is not left alone by the wolves/bears?  

I know it is a different ball of wax, but our coyotes come into my yard regularly (their audacity drives my lab crazy!)