- Hey, everyone.

Welcome to "Michigan Out of Doors."

I'm Jenny Ciolek and we've got an exciting show headed your way this week.

I'll take you out for a goose hunt that happened a couple of weekends ago for opening day of the water fowl season here in the southern part of the state.

We had a great group of folks and a lot of excitement out there.

You won't wanna miss that story.

And Jimmy and Jordan have some other excitement in store for us this week.

- Well, that's right, Jenny.

We do have a couple more stories on this week's show after we see your opening day goose season, we're going to check out the opening day of the duck season in a different part of the state.

And we're going to show you some really good bow hunting action on this week's episode as well.

Make sure you stay tuned.

We're jam packed this week, all brand new.

I'm Jimmy Gretzinger and it's time for "Michigan Out of Doors."

♪ From the first spring rains ♪ To the soft summer breeze ♪ Dancing on the pine forest floor ♪ ♪ 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 will 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 ♪ ♪ From the Great Lakes to the quiet streams ♪ ♪ Shining like a sportsman's dream ♪ ♪ It's a love of Michigan ♪ We all share - [Jenny] "Michigan Out of Doors," is presented by... By Country Smoke House, 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 By DR Trailer Sales.

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With locations in Milan and White Pigeon, Michigan.

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

More information is available at DRTrailer.net.

- [Announcer] At Boss Shot Shells we make all our shot shells right here in Michigan.

And deliver them direct to your door.

(upbeat music) (light music) - [Brandon] Well, today's the opening day of 2025 water fowl season.

We're in southeast Michigan and we got a pretty good goose feed for this morning.

- [Jenny] You been scouting 'em?

- [Brandon] Yeah, last couple of days started to build up and I think we're up to quite a few hunters.

So, hopefully it's a good show this morning.

- [Jenny] Ha, ha.

How long do you think you've been water fowl hunting?

- Oh, ever since I've been 12 years old.

- [Jenny] Okay, and it's kind of escalated into a giant production for you.

- [Brandon] Yeah, yeah.

It's definitely ramped up over the last years.

You know, we're getting a full, nice big rig.

A bunch of friends and family that come out with me.

And it's what we love to do, it's our passion.

It's actually an addiction.

It's really what it is.

- [Jenny] And you don't guide or anything?

- [Brandon] Nope.

- [Jenny] You just do it for fun.

- [Brandon] Nope, don't guide.

I've helped out a few guides in the past.

But I just do it for friends and family.

You know, that's why I enjoy it.

I love watching kids come out.

I love youth hunts and just hanging out with all my family and friends.

That's what it's all about.

- [Jenny] One of Brandon's good friends is Jen Cook, who is enjoying the social part of the hunt after the setup was done.

- We are out here goose hunting.

We're goose hunting some honkers.

(chuckling) - [Jenny] And what's happening at the moment?

- Well, right now we're just kind of watching the sky.

Listening for the geese.

And sitting here doing some talking.

Seeing what all of our other buddies are going on for the day.

- [Jenny] All right.

- Mm-hmm.

- [Jenny] Brandon Bergen has a passion for getting new folks involved in hunting and fishing, and has a name for his group.

- [Brandon] Yeah, we call ourselves Reach the Limits Outdoors.

Just a fun club name.

We actually might end up being a hunting club later on.

But it's just a fun little name for us.

We just love to try to reach our limit, you know?

- [Jenny] It was time for all the hunters and Hank the retriever to get in place for the hunt.

Before things kicked off, Brandon gave a safety talk.

- All right guys, listen up.

We're gonna go over a little safety for this morning.

Make sure to shoot your windows.

Don't shoot over the top of anybody's head.

I want your windows right.

Got your 45s on each side.

Pick your bird on your side of the lane.

I don't want to hear anybody getting their ears rung.

When we call the shot, I'm gonna call it.

I'll say in the back or in the front.

Everybody shoot that side.

And then once the dog is out, there's no more shooting.

So when the dog is out on the ground, he'll pick up the birds.

We want to help when we can.

So, let's enjoy it.

Let's make some piles.

- [Jenny] As the guns were loaded, and eyes to the sky, a single goose snuck in and flew right over the top of us.

- Come right over the top of us.

(goose honking) (gunshot) Nice shot!

- [Hunter] Somebody rocked it.

- Woo-hoo!

- All right!

(murmuring) - [Brandon] So we're running about eight or nine dozen full bodies this morning.

I'm hoping they play that south wind and hook around the blind and come in.

I kinda put spreads on both sides, so they get a vantage point.

Because they're flying from two different roost sites.

So I kinda want to break up their opportunities to be able to see us.

This is a big field.

And at least give us more potential to get birds in range.

- [Jenny] We had a nice sized flock over the field up high and Brandon's decoy spread did the trick.

They turned on a dime and were headed our way.

(geese call honking) (geese honking) The willow branches the crew used to brush in the blind were definitely great cover, but created a challenge for this aging camera lady and my eyesight.

I was finally able to find them again and focus as they dropped into the decoys.

- [Brandon] Kill bird.

(gunshots) - [Jenny] Why do you like doing this?

This takes a lot of commitment.

- [Brandon] It does, it does.

I enjoy eating it.

So, almost every part of the goose I eat.

Legs, breasts, even sometimes the wings.

We'll make some crock pots, choose out of 'em.

On the bigger birds.

And I just, it's a big meal for my family.

You know, we'll make Italian sausage, breakfast sausage, we'll smoke the goose breast.

We'll make sticks out of 'em.

Hotdogs with cheese.

It's just, we enjoy doing it and we love eating it.

- [Jenny] But I mean, you can make a lot of meals out of a deer too.

- [Brandon] Yeah, I just love water fowl hunting.

You can talk.

It's not as quiet.

Everybody's cracking jokes and having a lot of commotion.

Just having a lot of fun.

So, instead of.

That's kind of how I like it, instead the quiet.

Yeah, the social aspect of the hunting, yeah.

(geese honking) Kill bird!

(gunshots) - All right!

- Woo!

- Nice shot!

- Yeah, woo!

(goose call honking) - Right behind this hide.

Three coming from behind us!

Three, guys, three!

(geese honking) - [Jenny] The last three birds that flew over the spread couldn't be fooled into landing.

The crew didn't have a chance to grab the downed birds laying in the field from the last volley before these birds came in, and they didn't like the looks of things.

Whoa!

- Yeah, second flock of the morning.

Sporting two jewelries.

Woo!

Yeah, that's an oldie.

That's awesome, Ken.

Heck yeah, guys.

- [Jenny] Wow, yeah.

- We got probably, ah, I'd say about 11, 12 right now.

Two flocks, we shot the whole flock the last group.

So, the three pack didn't like those dead bodies out there, but let's hope the next one works good.

- [Jenny] All right.

- Yeah, I can't wait.

This season goes all the way into December.

It's a very long, liberal season now.

It's definitely changed over the years.

Where it used to be two birds during the regular season.

Then it moved up to three birds.

And now it's five.

So, it's a very long, liberal season.

We're trying to get a lot of these migrators.

They're trying to get the population down and they're giving us access to do it here in the great state of Michigan.

(gunshots) Nice shooting, boys!

Nice shooting!

Most of the birds that we're gonna be hunting are migrators.

They're not locals, yeah, yeah.

- [Jenny] What makes them local versus a migrator?

- [Brandon] So, a local bird was born here in Michigan.

A lot of times these northern birds are coming all the way up from Nunavut, Canada.

So we've already gotten bands this year from there, which is about 700 to 1,500 miles up north.

So they travel down in these big flocks.

Every north wind push the birds come in and then they eat and then they go.

So, we try and get them as they're flying down to the warmer states for the wintering grounds.

And we're right in the great line here from Canada.

- [Jenny] Why do they like this field?

What are they doing here?

- [Brandon] So this is a cornfield.

So, it's just a cornfield.

It's very easy pickens.

You've got the food right up on top.

So, it's... the food source is available and it's a very big cornfield.

So, there's a lot of food for 'em.

(geese honking) Kill them birds, guys!

Kill 'em, kill 'em, kill 'em!

(gunshots) Nice shooting, nice shooting!

- [Jenny] And how long will they stay in an area like this?

Like the geese you saw here yesterday.

- [Brandon] It all depends on pressure.

Hunting pressure a lot of times.

If we let this feed build up to a couple thousand, or they could leave and find a better feed that's closer to their roost.

So it all depends on food availability and the hunting pressure.

(geese honking) Kill them birds, kill 'em.

(gunshots) (geese honking) Kill 'em on that side, guys.

Kill 'em on that side.

(gunshots) Got 'em.

(laughing) Woo!

- [Jenny] Brandon was having a great time with his group of friends and family today.

- [Brandon] I got a couple of my really good friends and family.

For family I have Brian and his daughter Avery.

And then I have one of my best friends, Tyler Cook and his wife Jen.

And I got my best friend Chris Stemmer.

Where I had my wedding at.

And his best friend Kenny.

And I have one of my best friends from college, his dad and mom are with us today.

So, that's our group.

- [Jenny] Okay.

So, what's the daily limit?

- [Brandon] Five per person.

So we have nine shooters today.

So, we're hoping to get 45 birds.

Kill bird.

(gunshots) Woo!

- Bandit!

- We're movie stars now!

- Hank!

- [Jenny] Hank was doing a stellar job retrieving birds this morning.

It's clear that his owner, Ken Bennett, has worked to train him well.

Every hunter had some success already this morning, and they were ready for more action.

What's happening at this end of the blind?

- A lot of, uh, killing.

- A lot of shooting.

A lot of shooting.

A great day so far.

- Yeah.

- [Jenny] Oh yeah, nice!

So tell me your name.

- Ken Obalaski.

- [Jenny] Okay.

- And Chris Stemmer.

- [Jenny] Okay.

- Brian Kline.

- [Jenny] Brian Kline?

- Kline, yeah.

- [Jenny] Okay.

- Avery Kline.

- [Jenny] Avery Kline.

- Jen Cook!

- [Jenny] Jen Cook and with Tyler Cook, right?

- Yep.

- Just make sure to pick up your trash, all right?

Go pick up your shotgun shells.

Pick up your wads.

Pick up any trash, food, drinks, anything like that.

We want to be respectful for these landowners because you know, if people start not respecting 'em then everybody loses access.

And we want to keep having this access that we have.

It's a great opportunity for outdoors men in the state of Michigan.

It's about 9:30 in the morning.

We had a great shoot this morning.

I think we're about three shy from our nine man limit.

We're gonna call it.

Then go get the birds piled up and head on home and clean some birds.

- [Jenny] What do you like making out of 'em?

- [Brandon] Oh, my favorite is snack sticks.

A nice smoke stick with cheddar.

But the hotdogs that we're starting to get are really, really good too.

So, yeah, that's my favorite thing.

- [Jenny] Well, with the pile of geese the crew had today there will be plenty of tasty hotdogs, jerky, snack sticks, and much more.

Congratulations to Brandon and the gang from Reaching Limits Outdoors for an incredible morning.

Their hard work and dedication to water fowling is keeping our outdoor heritage alive and well here in our great state.

- Well, as you can see, they had a great time down there in the southern part of the state.

Now we're gonna head a little bit further north for the opening day of the duck season.

I tell you what, this is a great time of the year to be a sportsman.

(light music) - [Jordan] A few weeks back I was able to spend a morning just outside of Ludington for the duck opener in this part of the state.

Hot and dry conditions were less than ideal, but we decided to give it a try anyway, hoping to get a few ducks to cooperate.

- Yeah, we're out in Custer, Michigan today.

We're down on a cattle pond.

Historically this has been a pretty good spot for us.

It's more of a loaf pond.

We'll get some generally first action wood ducks.

Maybe some loner geese, things like that.

And then throughout the middle of the day we're gonna see more of our larger groups of geese that we're gonna knock down.

We've knocked down a couple limits of geese earlier this year in this spot.

And duck opener, we're excited to get into some woodies and maybe some mallards.

- So what do we have?

Two dozen geese decoys across the pond?

- Yep.

- And then maybe a dozen and a half woodies.

We got some off this tree over here and then we have some over here, right?

- Yeah, and we kinda leave a nice little pocket in the middle.

It's not a huge pond.

We're only about 100 yards wide by maybe 56 yards across.

So, we don't wanna run six, seven, eight dozen decoys.

We want to give 'em a nice little pocket to land.

This open water here seems to be where they like to be when we've been scouting.

So, that's kinda how we had it setup.

- [Jordan] As is often the case when it comes to duck hunting, the action usually happens early and it happens fast.

We had a couple of ducks sneak in right off the bat and another group come in a few minutes later.

(gunshots) (murmuring) (light music) (duck calling) - Water fowl hunting was actually something that I got into a little later in life.

I'm from the Benzie County area.

I was born and raised a deer hunter.

That's what we did.

We had deer camp, we bow hunted.

We hunted with our guns, muzzle loader.

That was the family ordeal.

I ended up going to school at Saginaw Valley State University and some of my friends introduced me to water fowl hunting and I became addicted immediately.

It was an excellent area.

We used to go to a lot of the state managed game areas.

Your Fish Point, your Nayanquing Point.

Finding your own private spots.

And it was such good hunting, I just really grew to find a love for it.

And as we've gotten older, myself and Rick, we both have young kids.

And water fowl hunting is an extremely family friendly activity.

We take my four-year-old daughter down here.

You know, we take our kids down here all the time.

They absolutely love it.

So, it's just a really enjoyable way to spend your time here in the state of Michigan.

We absolutely love it.

(duck calling) - Kill 'em.

(gunshots) - Well, what happened there?

- We had four lined up.

They circled about, I don't know, four or five times.

And they didn't want the calling.

We just cut off the calling and they finally worked it in and knocked down all four of 'em.

- [Jordan] The ducks we did see were pretty willing to cooperate.

But the numbers in this part of the state seemed low to start the season.

And there wasn't very many birds in the air.

We knew the first hour would be our best chance, but we decided to stick it out for the rest of the morning in hopes that a few geese might show up later in the day.

- It's about an hour after shooting light here.

We were pretty down after we did our scout yesterday.

We had a bunch of birds in here about two or three days ago.

And we just saw a few handfuls.

And luckily, we were able to get all drakes here.

It's a mallard show within the last couple days.

We've been scouting all season, hadn't seen them at all.

So, a nice little bonus bird for us.

We got a nice drake woody.

So, this first hour, like I said, it starts to slow down a little bit.

We're on kind of a primary loaf pond.

We'd expect somewhere between 10 and 12 o'clock, some of those birds that are on those feed fields are gonna start coming back.

And they're normally pretty familiar and safe with this spot.

So, we're gonna hang tight and see if we can have some more luck.

- [Jordan] Although we did see a handful of geese, they had other plans.

Even though the hunting was a little slow, it was a great morning in the blind with lots of laughs and stories told.

Thanks to Josh for inviting me out.

It was a beautiful morning to kick off the duck season here in west Michigan.

(light music) - Well, it's always good to see some really good water fowl hunts and thanks to Jenny and Jordan for bringing us that.

Now we're going to head to the deer stand and see what the first few weeks of Jordan Browne's season looks like with stick and string.

(light music) - [Jordan] Like every deer season, this one started well before opening day.

Whether it's looking for shed antlers, or working on habitat improvements, I enjoy the work that goes on in the off season just about as much as the actual hunting season.

And after tackling a big CRP project this spring, there was still plenty of work to be done throughout the summer.

Well, I might have picked the worst day of the entire year to work on food plots.

It's about 95 degrees out.

Scattered thunderstorms coming through.

So now everything's muddy.

Working on two different food plots today.

One of them is part of the CRP program that I did a segment on earlier this summer where we planted a bunch of native grasses and trees.

We also did food plots as part of that.

So, working on one of those today and then working on a small food plot behind me which is actually not very big.

Less than half an acre, for sure.

Maybe a third of an acre.

But it's just in a perfect spot.

So, I've had a tough time getting it turned over.

So I actually brought a plow in.

Now we're gonna disc it out.

We're gonna put some fertilizer down and then bring a rototiller in to smooth everything back out.

Really hoping this one turns out.

It's in such a cool spot that if it grows well, it's going to be a great spot.

Looks like a little more rain starting here tonight but when you have three little kids at home, you kind of go with the days that you can, and today is a day we can get some stuff done.

So, I've got my uncle out here helping me.

We're buzzing around.

We're gonna try and get as much done as we can here.

Rain or shine.

- That always happens.

I think you should do it and I can tape you.

I'll tape.

- Eh, you look a little high.

That's better.

- [Kid] Jordan Browne, about the plant a bunch and a bunch of seed.

- A bunch, and a bunch, and a bunch of seed.

(child giggling) - [Kid] Daddy, you need to stop.

I need to tie my shoe.

- [Jordan] Why don't you tell me what we're out here doing today?

- [Kid] Uh, planting seeds.

- [Jordan] What kind of seeds?

- I don't know what they're called again.

Cedar?

- [Jordan] Food plot.

- Food plot, okay.

- [Jordan] And we're doing some clover and some brassicas.

- Mm-hm.

(light music) - Well, it's October 5th and it is unseasonably warm, but I am happy to be back in the tree stand.

It's like 80 degrees tonight.

Last night was like 90.

So, it's a little bit cooler tonight.

I'm really excited about the spot that I'm in.

This is a food plot that I put a lot of time and effort into this year.

And the results have just been incredible.

It's the best food plot I've ever established and it's not even close.

I have actually never killed a buck out of a food plot, so I've been doing 'em for a long time.

Shot quite a few does out of food plots, but never have killed a buck.

So, maybe we'll change that tonight.

Put a lot of work into the property this year.

Planted about 1,200 trees earlier this spring.

Followed that up with 11 acres of native grasses and established two new food plots as part of a bigger CRP project that we've been working on.

A lot of little things that we've done here and there and of course with the CRP, the first year there's a lot of maintenance.

So we had to mow all the grass down, which took a long time.

We had to do that twice.

Just a lot of work that goes into it.

So, maybe for the first time in my life, October wasn't something I was waiting for.

It kinda snuck up on me.

And I'm excited that it's here.

Kind of hard to believe, really.

Everything seems to be going by so fast anymore, that I hardly blink and deer season's here.

So, really just happy to be back out here.

Coming into the 2025 deer season, I was focused on one buck in particular.

A deer I knew well from the year before, that I had found both sheds to and seen a handful of times leading up to season.

As the trail camera pictures started rolling in, he was really the only good buck I was getting pictures of.

So, I focused all of my attention on him.

Well, it's October 7th.

Back out tonight.

It's actually Jenny's birthday today, so maybe some good luck.

As you can see, I'm sitting in a blind which is something I very rarely do with a bow and arrow.

Not because they're not effective, necessarily, I just like sitting in a tree stand, so.

I'm hunting one area, basically for one buck.

And when he's in here, he tends to do the same thing.

We have a big north wind today.

We had about a 20 degree temperature change.

And it just, the north wind makes it really tough for where he's been.

So, I decided I'd sit in an area where I might see him.

And you never know, coin flip.

He's probably not gonna walk past this blind but he has before.

Especially last year.

I got some footage of him from this blind.

I could have shot him out of this blind last year.

So, it's possible.

I don't think it's likely.

But we might see him.

I was able to get in here pretty easy.

I can outta here pretty easy.

And my wind's much better for this spot than the alternative, so.

Sit tight, see what happens.

About a half hour before I ran out of light, I spotted the buck I was hoping to see on the other side of the field.

As predicted, he didn't come anywhere near the blind I was in.

However, this would be the first of several encounters I would have with him.

And as October comes to a close, I'm still trying my best to catch up with him.

Hopefully this story will have a good ending.

But only time will tell.

(light music) - Thank you so much for joining us this week for "Michigan Out of Doors."

Make sure you come back in upcoming weeks, because we've been busy with a lot of footage for ya.

We'll be out on an upland hunt.

We'll check out some sturgeon and the classroom information.

And we'll give you another update on how bow season is doing.

And we'll be getting ready for opening day of firearm deer season.

If you'd like to see where we are and what we're up to, you can always check us out online.

- Well, that's right.

Online is a good way to kinda keep track of us.

If you wanna see what we're doing on a more day to day basis you can check us out on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

That's a good way to see where we're at and what we're up to.

Lots of good stuff happening around the state.

Make sure you are getting out and enjoying everything our state has to offer.

And if we don't see ya in the woods or on the water, hopefully we'll see ya right back here next week on your PBS station.

- [Jenny] "Michigan Out of Doors," is presented by... - [Announcer] Get it away from it all.

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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.

Closed captioning brought to you by Double D Ranch Foundation.

A nonprofit 501 C3 foundation working to make hunting and fishing accessible for those with disabilities.

(light music) ♪ When I wander far away ♪ A dream stays with me night and day ♪ ♪ It's the road that leads to my home♪ (bright music)