- Hey, everybody, welcome to "Michigan Out-Of-Doors."

I'm Jenny Ciolek, and we've got a brand new show for ya this week.

I don't have anything for you because I chose to go to a Monday night football game, in Detroit.

- Go Lions!

(group cheering) - But Gabe VanWormer was out in the woods with his longbow, and has an exciting bow hunt to share with us on this week's show.

You won't wanna miss that.

And Jimmy's got some other excitement for us too.

- Well, Jenny, that does look like a ton of fun there.

And yes, we do have a few more things on this week's show.

We've got a great venison recipe to go with that good deer hunt to kick things off, and we're gonna visit with the Great Lakes Hunting Retriever Club to see what goes into making a good bird dog.

Lots of good stuff on this week's program, you stay tuned.

I'm Jimmy Gretzinger.

It's time for "Michigan Out-Of-Doors."

♪ From the first spring rains to the soft summer breeze ♪ (wave rolling) ♪ Dancing on the pine forest floor ♪ (gentle acoustic music) ♪ The autumn colors catch your eyes ♪ ♪ Here come the crystal winter skies ♪ ♪ It's Michigan, Michigan Out-Of-Doors ♪ - What a beautiful day in the woods.

♪ Some day, our children all we'll see ♪ ♪ This is their finest legacy ♪ The wonder and the love of Michigan ♪ ♪ As the wind comes whispering through the trees ♪ ♪ The sweet smell of nature's in the air ♪ (gentle acoustic music continues) ♪ From the Great Lakes to the quiet stream ♪ ♪ Shinin' like a sportsman's dream ♪ ♪ It's a love of Michigan we all share ♪ (gentle acoustic music ending) - [Jenny] "Michigan Out-Of-Doors" is presented by: - [Smokehouse Presenter] By Country Smokehouse, a sportsman's destination since 1988.

Featuring varieties of homemade sausage, jerky, brats, and gourmet entrees.

Holiday gift boxes can be assembled in store or online.

Details at countrysmokehouse.com.

- [Jenny] By DR Trailer Sales.

From job sites to weekend adventures, we've got you covered, with locations in Milan and White Pigeon, Michigan.

We carry PJ, Big Tex, Diamond C, and more.

More information is available at drtrailer.net.

(gentle rhythmic music) (heavy rhythmic music) (machine clanging) - [Boss Presenter] At Boss Shotshells, we make all our shotshells right here in Michigan, and deliver them direct to your door.

(heavy rhythmic music ending) (bright energetic music) (bright energetic music fading) - It's opening day.

(laughing) (gentle acoustic music) It's good to be back in a treestand.

Been waitin' for this all summer long.

(bird cawing) As a bow hunter, all of us know how it is to get back in the treestand.

Gotta be thankful for that start of the 2025 season.

Couldn't start it any better than this.

What a pretty mornin'.

(gentle acoustic music continues) (water splashing) (bird calling) (water splashing gently) (gentle acoustic music continues) (clip clicking) The bow season started off with some cool mornings and warm afternoons, but the deer didn't seem to mind.

I was still seein' some pretty good movement nonetheless.

(gentle acoustic music continues) (gentle acoustic music continues) Three bucks came through back behind me here, right through the thick stuff.

And normally, they come right by this spot, but they swung that way just a little bit.

But the one is the biggest buck I've got on camera on this spot.

He's got a G3 that bends in on the right-hand side.

Comin' through late in the mornin', 9:00, on October 2nd.

Man, I hope I get a crack at him this year.

That is a beautiful buck.

(gentle acoustic music continues) (gentle acoustic music continues) (gentle acoustic music continues) There's three bucks right there.

(sticks cracking) (gentle acoustic music continues) I had a shot right there and he moved through it, and then he moved back into that opening and I had another shot.

I could have taken it, I was just lookin' for somethin' better.

I don't know if I've ever had a bigger six-point to hunt.

And he kind of went back that way and took the other two with him, so it took the temptation away from me.

(laughing) This was one of the best early seasons that I can remember.

I was seein' some nice bucks almost every time I went hunting.

Even when temps reached the mid-80s, the deer just moved back into their summer movements.

The only problem was they just weren't moving far from bed to feed and back again.

I dunno if I got much footage of it, but that big goofy buck just came out down there, and he crossed over and he went out to the bean field.

I wish I could have gotten better footage, but he came out way down there, and I have to come around my body to get to it.

(gentle rolling music) (gentle rolling music continues) (gentle rolling music continues) (gentle rolling music continues) Another day, another new spot.

The deer seemed to be comin' out this end of the field in the evenings, so I decided to set a new stand this mornin'.

I hunted back in these woods and decided to put a stand out here this mornin'.

So, I'm not very far off the ground.

I couldn't get very high in this tree, or else I'd lose my cover and I'd lose my shot.

So if a doe gives me a good shot, I'm gonna take it too, so.

We'll see what happens.

That'd be awesome if that big one comes out.

(birds chirping) Those are both really pretty bucks.

One's a little wider with shorter tines, and one is narrower, but tall tines.

The bucks came out to feed early, but they now needed to close the distance.

Eventually, the two nicer bucks turned and started walking parallel to the wood's edge.

I was looking for an opening, trying to run the camera, and preparing for a shot if it presented itself.

(birds chirping) (camera rustling) (birds continue chirping) (Gabe exhaling) That got the old heart pumpin'.

That's where ya hunt with a stickbow, ya just have to give up that.

It's just all there is to it.

With a compound, I could have shot either one of those bucks I think, pretty easily.

It is what it is.

I choose to do this because it's hard, because it's a lotta fun.

But I see more deer comin' out down there, so I better pay attention here.

(birds chirping) (camera rustling) (birds continue chirping) (leaves crunching) (birds continue chirping) I think there's either five or six bucks out there.

They're just on the other side of this thick stuff.

They just got a run right in here and they'd be right in my shootin' range.

That big wacky-lookin' buck is in there too.

(leaves crunching) (arrow sliding) (airplane roaring overhead) Getting towards mid-October, with warm weather, I was thinking about sitting a field edge where I'd seen a number of bucks walk by already this year.

I figured, if nothing else, maybe I'd get a crack at a doe.

It wasn't long before the deer started moving and I spotted movement back near the bedding area.

(camera rustling) (leaves crunching) (airplane roaring overhead) (birds chirping) (leaves crunching) (birds continue chirping) (leaves crunching) (leaves continue crunching) (Gabe grunting) (arrow shooting) (leaves crunching) (Gabe exhaling) I am so blessed.

That's the buck I've been after.

You couldn't have asked for a better hunt.

It just amazes me how blessed I am to do this, to be able to hunt almost every day.

Just to have a little piece of property that I can hunt.

The landowners are so gracious to me.

And then to sit here and have a double-beam buck come in, and to zap him at five yards, 10 yards maybe.

I hope it got through his shoulder there, I know I hit shoulder.

(arrow shooting) It looked like it hit him pretty good.

Look at the sun goin' down here behind me.

(Gabe sighing) I think of the Bible verse talkin' about when I look at the heavens, the work of Your hands, the sun, the moon, and the stars that You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of Him?

(sighing) God creates all this, and yet, He cares about us.

He cares about me.

(sighing) Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth?

Unbelievable.

To watch that buck come all the way through this area.

He's eatin' on hickory nuts all the way through.

Ya know, he checked a scrape right down there, just about 15 yards away.

I thought about shootin' him right there, and I thought, "No, don't rush it.

He's just gonna come right here."

And I think I might've just killed the coolest buck I've ever killed.

(soft acoustic music) (sighing) I've been watchin' him all year.

I've got pictures of him in velvet, I got pictures of him with velvet fallin' off, I got pictures of him in hard horn.

Boy, I hope he's down right back there.

Ugh, that was a hunt to remember right there.

About 30 yards away, I see a white belly.

(leaves crunching) Look at the body on that buck.

(Gabe laughing) Ooh my goodness.

(Gabe sighing) Look at that neck!

Oh my gosh!

(soft rolling music) Unbelievable.

The buck that I was after.

I could sit here for an hour or two, just soakin' it all in.

I mean, I need to get 'em out of here, (laughing) but I'm definitely not in any hurry to do that.

What a day, what a day.

(soft rolling music continues) You couldn't ask for a better early season bow hunt, here in Michigan's outdoors.

(soft rolling music ending) - Well, whether you are chasing bear, grouse, squirrels, or pheasants, I tell ya what, having a good bird dog makes all the difference in the world.

In this next story, we're gonna visit with some folks that know just how to do just that.

(bird caller squawking) (gun firing) (gun clicking) (gun firing) (dog barking) - [Jimmy] Getting to see good dogs work is pretty cool.

A few weeks back, I was joining the Great Lakes Hunting Retriever Club to learn more about who they are and what they do.

- [Phil] This is Great Lakes Hunting Retriever Club.

We've actually been organized for 39 years.

Next year will be the 40th year for this club in the state of Michigan.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

- [Phil] There's 156 clubs nationally, and there are five hunting retriever clubs in the state of Michigan.

- [Jimmy] And you said you get together once a month, or?

- Every Wednesday night, every Wednesday night, we train.

- [Jimmy] And people are comin' from how far to be a part of your group here?

- [Phil] As far north as Frankfort, and sometimes Sheboygan.

(Phil laughing) We have members in Frankfort and Sheboygan, and then we have members that are down in the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek area that come up for Wednesday nights.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

So, a lot of camaraderie here?

- [Phil] There is, yeah.

We always say that we kinda all give each other grief, and it's like havin' friends but different is I think what we mostly say.

- [Jimmy] Well, you could feel the camaraderie here for sure.

And it's always fun at events like this to hear the jokes back-and-forth about which breed is the best of the best.

- [Phil] There are a number of, it's typically retrievers, but there are a ton of different breeds of dogs, hunting dogs that can participate in the Hunting Retriever Club test.

So you'll get to see some pointing dogs tonight do this work too, so.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

And what's your personal favorite, what's the best breed out there?

- [Phil] I'm partial to the Labrador retrievers, but everybody can probably tell me different, so.

(laughing) - [Jimmy] And so Labs are probably the primary.

What are some of the main other breeds?

- [Phil] Labs, golden retrievers, Chesapeake Bay retrievers.

And like I said, we have some pointers that are part of our club too.

(gun firing) - [Jimmy] Did I see a Boykin sticker over there?

- [Phil] Yeah, oh yeah.

We have a Boykin.

The Boykin guy is here, so you'll get to watch a Boykin run.

- [Case] Tesla, she's a six-year-old Boykin spaniel.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

And they're kind of a smaller breed like that, right?

- [Case] Yeah, she's about average size for the Boykins.

She's a female, so they tend to be a little bit smaller, that 30-to-35-pound range.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- Males are about five pounds heavier, up to 40/45 sometimes.

So she's done this a lot.

Sometimes, she gets an attitude and doesn't wanna do it.

(Case and Jimmy laughing) - [Jimmy] No matter what breed you choose, the goal at these weekly events is to get your dog and the handler to move from one level to the next.

- [Case] They're started, seasoned, and finished.

Most of the time, most of the duck hunters would like to have a seasoned-level retriever, and just a dog that they can actually use to retrieve a duck that maybe was shot and isn't visible, so that their dog can retrieve it.

And they use voice, hand, whistles.

- [Jimmy] And how do you progress from one stage to the other?

- [Case] Just a lot, (laughing) a lot of training, and a lotta group training, and that's what our club's all about.

We try to make everybody better and kinda give everybody insight.

- [Jimmy] And then do you run some actual trials then too?

- [Case] Yes.

We have a regular hunt test, in Fenwick, every spring, in May.

And then we also do a Upland hunt, in March.

(bird caller squawking) And that's basically a flushing test for these retrievers, but they need to sit steady to wing and shot, so.

- [Jimmy] Having a place to do this kind of work can be hard to find.

But these guys here have a gracious landowner that lets them use this very nice piece of property.

- We've been pretty blessed on this Wednesday night program to have good grounds.

We started in Zeeland, on some county ground there, but then they sold it and so we couldn't go on that anymore.

And this is a club member's property here, and we've been very fortunate.

I mean, most of these guys, and myself included, we don't have property like this to train on.

So we come here once a week and we can set up whatever we want.

- [Jimmy] Well, it's a beautiful property.

- [Larry] Yes, it is.

Yup, yup.

- [Jimmy] Ya might think there'd be some real competition type atmosphere here, but you would be wrong.

They really all just want each other to get better.

- No, it's certainly a group effort.

I mean, I was the young guy once, and clearly, ya know, we benefited from Larry and Vern, and some of the other older guys that were around and had had a number of dogs.

And so now, you watch and you help these new handlers develop their young dogs to achieve success, right, quicker.

(bird caller squawking) (gun clicking) - [Jimmy] Well, after some prompting, the guys wanted me to take a stab at running one of their dogs.

And I have to say, having a great dog like this, well, it makes ya want one for yourself.

They also let my wife, Missy, take a stab at it.

And I know she would do well, knowing that she lives with a pretty hardheaded old dog.

- [Phil] Then, I say "heel."

- Heel, heel.

Heel!

Moses, heel!

Good boy.

Good boy, sit.

- [Phil] And then ask him to leave it.

- Leave it.

- Yup.

And then pet him.

- Good boy!

- Good job, Moses.

- Good boy!

- [Jimmy] Nice job.

(Phil laughing) Well, we had a ton of fun with these folks.

And this property also has some great water features for the dogs as well.

- Did alright.

He was a little hesitant at first to go in.

We haven't done much this summer, which is why we're here.

(laughing) So get a little pre-hunting season tune-up.

He knows better, he's just out of practice.

(laughing) So, yeah.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

Do you take him into the Upland woods too?

- [Shannon] I do.

He is my duck dog that would rather be pheasant hunting.

- Okay.

- So, (laughing) I actually work a lotta tower shoots with him.

He's picked up a lot of pheasants over the years.

He's nine now.

- [Jimmy] Well, special thanks to everyone for letting us in on their last night of training, as the hunting seasons are now underway.

A good dog does take a lotta work, but the rewards, well, they are well worth the effort, right here in "Michigan's Out-Of-Doors."

(gentle rolling music ending) (warm acoustic music) Well, everybody, we are here once again, at the Applewood Kitchen and Bar, in Greenville, Michigan.

Jim, what are we cookin' here today?

- So, I'm sure like all the viewers, you always have a plethora of ground game of some sort, whether it be venison or bear.

- Okay.

- And I know in past episodes, we've tried to figure out some things we can do with it.

And this is my take on like a Mexican torta.

We're gonna first start off, we're just gonna kinda... If you're gonna do anything with a bun, I think it's kind of like extremely important to toast it.

- Okay.

- To warm it through as much as ya can.

(pan clicking) - And this is straight venison, that's not a mixture or anything?

- Nope, that is straight venison.

- Okay.

(pan clicking) - So that's what we're gonna do, we're just gonna toast that up.

We're gonna let this pan heat up with just a little bit of oil.

- So you're gonna cook the onion right with the burger itself kind of?

- We're gonna cook the onion and pepper down first.

And it's gonna look like a lot, but remember, we're cookin' this down substantially.

(vegetables sizzling) - [Jimmy] So is that about a half an onion or a full onion there you're usin'?

- That's about a half a large onion, yeah, and about half a medium-sized green pepper.

And like I said, we're just gonna let this cook for a minute.

Alright, so now that we've cooked those vegetables down, we're gonna kind of push 'em to the side.

- [Jimmy] And bring in the venison?

- And then we're gonna add the venison.

We're gonna get some of that oil down there.

(venison sizzling) We're gonna hit the venison with some salt.

And then we've got this combination of spices here.

And we've got some ancho chili powder, some chipotle chili powder, some red chili powder, and garlic powder, and cumin.

- Wow.

- And so now that we've got most of that cooked down, some of that water's evaporated, this is when we add some cheese.

And this is Monterey jack.

You can add whatever cheese you want.

If you don't want cheese, don't add cheese.

- [Jimmy] Cheese usually makes everything a little better.

- I agree.

And the more fat the better, ya know?

And then what we're gonna do is we're actually gonna turn the heat off.

(button beeping) And we're just gonna blend this in.

- [Jimmy] Hmm.

- And so the last part of this dish, I'm a big fan of mayonnaise.

- Okay.

- I just am, I'm not ashamed to admit it.

(Jimmy laughing) So we're gonna make a flavored mayonnaise, or an aioli if you will.

And this is chipotle puree.

And this is one lime that's been juiced.

(rolling rhythmic music) And this is maple syrup.

Anytime ya have somethin' super spicy, it's always a good idea to add somethin' sweet.

And ya got the mayonnaise.

(rolling rhythmic music continues) - [Jimmy] What's the name of this dish?

- This is going to be a venison torta.

- [Jimmy] Venison torta.

(rolling rhythmic music continues) It does have a hint of sloppy Joe to it though.

- Yeah.

(rolling rhythmic music continues) - [Jimmy] Man, is that good.

(crowd chattering) - Thanks for joining us this week with "Michigan Out-Of-Doors."

Tonight, the Lions are huntin' the Bucs.

On next week's show, we're gonna be hunting ducks and geese.

Make sure you stay tuned for that.

If you wanna see where we are, check us out online.

- Well, that's right.

Online is a good way to kinda see what we're up to.

And of course, you can always do that on our website, michiganoutofdoorstv.com.

Instagram, Facebook, also good ways to see what we're up to on a day-to-day basis.

Now, make sure you are getting out and enjoying everything our state has to offer.

It's a beautiful time to be a sportsman here in the great state of Michigan.

We'll see ya right back here next week, on your PBS station.

- [Jenny] "Michigan Out-Of-Doors" is presented by: - [GreenStone Presenter] Get away from it all, to your own place.

With GreenStone's recreational land loans, we'll help you finance acreage of any size so you can own your own place in the great outdoors.

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- [Jenny] By Great Lakes Firearms and Ammunition, a family-owned-and-operated firearm manufacturer, in Sparta, Michigan.

Offering a wide variety of calibers and colors backed by lifetime warranty.

More information available, at glfallc.com.

By SAAB, providing defense and civil security products and services for over 85 years.

And now part of the Grayling community, with our new advanced munitions facility.

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By Morgan Composting, a family business located in Michigan.

Morgan Composting offers a variety of products, all powered by Dairy Doo Organic Compost for homeowners and farmers.

To learn more about all the product options available for your food plots, visit dairydoo.com.

(tractor rumbling) Closed captioning brought to you by Double D Ranch Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) foundation, working to make hunting and fishing accessible for those with disabilities.

(gentle rolling music) (bright rhythmic music) (bright rhythmic music continues) ♪ When I wanna fight (light ascending music)