- Hey, everybody.

Welcome to "Michigan Out of Doors."

Thank you so much for watching this week's show.

We do appreciate it.

Now we do wanna let you know, we have a shortened show this week because our PBS stations are pledging, but it is all brand new.

And I tell you what, you won't wanna miss this week's story, because we've got some great deer hunting action and some great deer hunting stories from the Sparta Buck Pole.

First time we've been there with cameras rolling and we had a great time.

So lots of good stuff on this week's show.

You stay tuned.

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 ♪ - [Jimmy] What a beautiful day in the woods.

♪ Some day our children all will see ♪ ♪ This is their finest legacy ♪ 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 ♪ ♪ Shinin' like a sportsman's dream ♪ ♪ It's a love of Michigan we all share ♪ - [Narrator] Michigan Out Of Doors is presented by... - [Narrator] 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.

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(pulsating music) - [Narrator] At Boss Shotshells, we make all our shotshells right here in Michigan and deliver them direct to your door.

(upbeat music) (country music) (people chattering) - [Woman] German potatoes.

- [Jimmy] Here you go, okay.

- [Woman] And then a vegetable local, all grown here.

Sloppy Joe, mac and cheese, taco salad.

And then of course we have to have some wonderful apple crisps from the apple ridge.

- [Jimmy] The night before the opener of the gun season is something special.

Deer camps and hunters gathering together is what it's all about.

- Alright Lord, well, thank you for everybody being able to join in opener night, pre-opener of the deer season.

We thank you for the blessing of having us, have the freedom to do this.

- That's awesome.

- [Jimmy] What a great group of folks.

This season, I would be tagging along with Joe Dietrich, a local farmer and avid hunter.

Our opening day found us with deer on us right away.

Joe has been hunting for most of his life here in this area.

- Well, it's been a family trait.

My grandpa did a lot of deer hunting back in the early '30 and '40s, and then dad hunted a lot and kind of just been a family trait.

So we've been doing it, I've been doing it since I've been 10 years old and so it's been 40, 50 years of doing this now so.

- [Jimmy] We were perched in a shooting shack this opening morning in quite a spot.

We had standing corn out a few windows with some lanes cut through it, we had a food plot in front of us, and some downed corn as well.

It was a perfect spot for deer to move through or for them to stay a little while as well.

We did have one borderline buck that moved through, but Joe was waiting for something a little bit bigger and he knew that there were a few good ones in the area.

We had a good sit and as we started to head to the truck, Joe summarized the morning hunt.

- [Joe] Well, it was a pretty good hunt and we probably see 12, 15 deers.

- [Jimmy] Yeah?

- Four bucks, one shooter.

He was about 300, 400 yards away.

A little too far, but it was a good morning.

Pretty typical.

It's always a good hunt.

- [Jimmy] And the shots we heard was that average amount for here.

- Yeah, I would say so.

Yeah, probably average.

It died off a little earlier, you know, by nine o'clock it was very little shooting.

It's warm, pretty windy, but there's still bucks chasing does, we see a couple bucks.

- [Jimmy] Yeah, we did.

- Chasing some does, so... - [Jimmy] Nice.

- We're gonna give it a little break and come back at it again tonight.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

Well, we had a few stops this morning to see how folks did and this very nice deer camp sits literally in the backyard of the owner's house.

- Yeah, that's my house right up front there.

I used to, years and years ago, I used to go up to lots and skinny all the time.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- And stay up there.

And the place I stayed up there actually wasn't probably as nice as this, but it had all gaslights, ran off a generator, everything else.

The older I got, I didn't have time to do that no more when I had kids and everything else, so we just built this out here.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

The next deer camp we went to felt more like a sports bar than a deer camp.

But hey, it was packed out, and everyone was having a great time.

- [Avid Hunter] They're not like they are up north.

They're more of a social crew.

Some of 'em have a kind of a cabin behind their house.

And another one we went to is a guy's got a, oh, it's an old barn.

He converted over just to kind of into a social room.

So usually on opening day, they got a couple of camps, they have dinners and a couple cocktails and a little celebration with friends.

- [Jimmy] Well, wouldn't you know that in between the visits to the deer camps in the area, we heard that Joe's son-in-law had a nice down and we got there just in time to track it down with the family.

- He came across the wheat field and Aubrey was hunting with me, but it wasn't quite shooting ours yet.

We could see him, we knew it was him.

And we heard a couple gunshots in the neighbors.

We thought I'll shoot.

- [Jimmy] Yeah.

- And lo and behold this morning there's a bunch of does running around and he came chasing one right by the miss campus back there and shot him once he fettered down and he stood up.

I didn't wanna take the chance so we put another one in him, he dropped right there.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

- Wanted the kids to come along.

- [Jimmy] How far was the shot?

- About 50 yards.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- Yep.

Should be chip shot so.

What do you guys think?

- I think it's big and heavy.

- [Jimmy] Should we put this on the TV show, guys?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- [Jimmy] Which TV show?

- Michigan.

- [Jimmy] It's time for?

- Michigan.

- [Kids] Out of Doors.

- [Jimmy] Well, it doesn't get much better than that.

What a great family.

Joe and I did hunt for a few more days, but never did catch up with one of those bigger bucks in the area.

But on the 17th, we caught up with a ton of nice deer at the Sparta Buck Pole.

This event draws some nice bucks and lots of prizes as well.

As the deer started to roll in, I learned a little bit more about this event.

- This is our Sparta Buck Pole.

I think our fourth annual.

So it's growing.

We have a lot of different options here for families to do.

You can go in and you can have a dinner.

We have a lot of different prizes.

And the prizes here are great this year actually.

- [Jimmy] Really?

- [Andy] Yeah.

- [Jimmy] Giving away lots of stuff?

- Yeah, it could be up to $1,500 for value on the first place for the biggest buck here tonight.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

- And they're all scored by commemorative bucks.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- Of Michigan.

So a little bit different than normal buck poles.

- [Jimmy] As the deer started to roll in, we got to hear some big stories.

- [Mike] My name's Mike Buckner, and I'm from Sparta, Michigan.

- [Jimmy] And Mike, tell me what happened with this nice buck this week.

- Well, you know, the funny thing about it is this, so a week ago, I just came back from hunting in Montana and we shot some mule deer and some white tails and we were at my dad's, and we were all getting ready to hunt and my boys didn't wanna sit in this blind.

And so I said, I'm gonna go sit in that blind.

And he walked out at 7:45 and about 85 yards.

So it was, I wouldn't have shot it if he wasn't as big as he is, you know, kind of thing.

- [Jimmy] Well, that's a dandy.

- [Mike] Yeah, it sure is.

- [Jimmy] Did you guys see many deer in opener?

- [Mike] I, as a matter of fact, I saw three different eight points, a couple of spiked horns and 12 does, opening morning, but the rest of the crew, I mean, we saw, sporadically, we saw probably a half dozen more does.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- [Mike] So, we didn't see a lot of bucks after that.

- Wal Smalley, Sparta, Michigan.

- [Jimmy] And tell me what happened on this hunt.

- He came in behind me.

I had to wait about 45 minutes, an hour, following a couple does, and finally he came out to where I could shoot him.

In between the brush he would run fast, seemed like he slowed down when he got where I couldn't.

Finally, I got a chance.

And I was shaking a little bit so I was kind of scared to take the shot, but it ended up pretty well.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

How far was he?

- [Wal] About 55 yards.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- But I thought he was like a six points, I didn't think he was as big as he is.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- My name is Ellie Ring and I'm from Michigan.

- [Jimmy] What town?

- Oh!

Sparta.

- [Jimmy] You're here from Sparta.

Okay, tell me about this buck.

What happened?

- [Ellie] The day after open season.

- [Jimmy] Yeah?

- And we had to, I shot it out the back door of the blind.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- We had to move the gun and all the stuff all around and out the back door.

- [Jimmy] Okay, and was he with some other deer, by himself?

- With a couple other bucks and one doe.

- [Jimmy] Okay, and how far was the shot?

Do you know?

- [Ellie] No.

50 yards?

- [Jimmy] 50 yards, okay.

And were you excited?

Tell me what happened in the blind.

Was anybody with you?

- Yeah, my mom and my dad.

- [Jimmy] They were both with you and did everybody get pretty excited after you shot?

- Yeah, we were all shaking really bad.

- [Jimmy] Is this your first deer?

- Yes, my first deer.

- [Jimmy] First dear and it's a monster buck?

- Yeah.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

How are you gonna top that?

- I don't know.

Probably I'm not going to.

- Richard Versiuis, Comstock Park, Michigan.

- [Jimmy] And Richard, tell me what happened with this nice buck.

Did you shoot him today?

Yesterday?

- Opening morning.

Just seen it coming in, and watching a little bit in the summertime and that was it I guess.

- [Jimmy] So you kinda knew he was there?

- Yeah, I had him on camera a few times and... - [Jimmy] Nice.

- [Richard] Yeah.

- [Jimmy] How big a piece are you hunting?

- A hundred acres.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- [Richard] That he was on so.

- [Jimmy] And how far was the shot and all- - [Richard] Oh, it was about 125 yards.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- [Richard] So.

- [Jimmy] Perfect.

Good deal.

And any idea what you think he'll score?

- No idea.

- [Jimmy] He's a monster.

How many points?

- At 12 point.

- [Jimmy] 12 point, okay.

- [Adam] Adam from Walker.

- [Jimmy] Adam, tell me what happened with this nice buck.

- So Ethan and I went out state land, we got out there, we're in the blind at 6:00 AM.

We saw it chasing three doe and private about six, 700 yards away, about 9:00 AM.

We tried to make a move but it ran up into some trees.

And then old boy here had to go to work at two o'clock in the afternoon.

And at five I caught him running through the field with another doe and I just was able to grunt for get it to stop and take the shot.

I was just lucky but persistent.

- [Jimmy] How far was he away?

- 75 to a hundred.

I actually never measured it afterwards.

I was just so excited.

My buddy had to stop me to take pictures.

This is my first buck.

- [Jimmy] First buck.

- This is my, I've been deer hunting since last year and this is my first opening day.

And I used to do a ton of waterfowl.

My buddy got me into waterfowl hunting in 2020 after COVID.

Went crazy.

And then my buddy last year was telling me, you gotta get into deer hunting, you'd love it.

So I late season doe, shot a doe last year, and this is my first opening day.

- [Brock] I'm Brock Van Vliet and I'm from Sparta.

- [Jimmy] Okay, what happened with this nice buck?

- He walked out of the pines about 75 yards and double lunged.

- [Jimmy] Was he by himself?

- Yeah.

- [Jimmy] Okay, and which day was it?

- This was on Sunday.

- [Jimmy] Sunday morning or evening?

- Yep, about 9:00 AM.

- [Jimmy] Okay, did you hunt opening day too?

- Yes, I did.

- [Jimmy] And have you seen lot of deer this year?

- We had just does running around the whole day.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- That's about it.

- [Jimmy] And how many bucks have you shot before in your life?

- Two other ones.

- [Jimmy] Two other ones?

Okay, so you're an old pro at this?

- [Brock] Not yet, but hopefully later.

- [Jimmy] Well, that's a great buck.

Congratulations.

- [Brock] Thank you.

- [Todd] My name is Todd Johnson from Sparta, Michigan.

- [Jimmy] And Todd, what's your role here today?

- I am the announcer and one of the people that helped put the event together.

It's a great event that we've been doing now for three years and it helps our Sparta Sports Boosters out and we raised a lot of money for them tonight.

- [Jimmy] Yeah.

And does it take a lot to put something like this together?

- It does.

It takes quite a few different meetings.

We're trying to grow the event.

Last year, we had about 30 bucks, and hopefully this year we have more.

- [Jimmy] And there's a lot of prizes.

- Yeah, we do.

We have a lot of prizes, a lot of great sponsors that chip in, and we figure that if we have great prizes that really helps the hunters out and gets the hunters to participate.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

Well, good luck tonight.

- Thanks, Jim.

Thanks for coming.

- [Heidi] I am Heidi Schneider and I am from Kent City.

It was opening morning about 8:20.

He come in and he had a really bad limp to him.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- So I decided to shoot him and it's actually a pretty nice buck.

- [Jimmy] And how far was it?

Was he by himself?

- Yeah, he's by himself.

About 50 yards from me.

- [Jimmy] Okay, have you shot a lot of deer?

- Yes, yes.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- [Heidi] A lot of does, a lot of spikes, you know, all that stuff.

Now, I'm going for the big ones.

- [Jimmy] Very nice.

- [Alexandra] Alexandra Intgroen from Marne.

- [Jimmy] And tell me what happened on the hunt this year.

- I went out and I was in the shack with my boyfriend.

And it was funny, I was actually taking a video of him sleeping and snoring and I sent it to my sister.

I was like, look at a hunter in his natural habitat.

And I set my phone down and then I went to grab my drink to take a drink, and then I look out to the side and I see a couple of doe and I start hitting him, waking him up.

I was like, "Hey, hey, hey, there's deer, there's deer!"

And so then he peeks out the other window and see, he's like, there's another doe in a buck just wait.

And he pulls out.

And then I shot him like two hours after he bought my tags for me.

- [Kyle] My name's Kyle Janos.

I'm from Kent City, Michigan.

- [Jimmy] And what happened here?

Tell me about the hunt.

- I was hunting up north at my family's cabin and first time shooting two deer on opening day or let alone in general.

- [Jimmy] Wow.

- But this is my nine point I got in the morning, morning hunt, my biggest buck ever.

And then I shot a five later in the day.

We're in the three on one side, so.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

- It was a fun hunt.

- [Jimmy] So tell me about this, what happened, by himself or was he with a doe?

- He was by himself when I first seen him, but after I shot him, I've seen another deer run off.

And I don't know if it was a doe.

I'm assuming it was.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

How far was it shot?

- 75 yards, probably.

- [Jimmy] What kind of gun did you have?

- 30 on six.

- [Jimmy] Oh, big, big boy.

- Yeah.

- I'm Josiah and I'm from Sparta, Michigan.

- [Jimmy] Tell me about the buck.

What happened on the hunt?

- On the hunt, I was hunting with my mom, and I was getting bored.

It was like 9:50 and I grunted and that buck came in.

I forgot I bring back the hammer the first time he came through 'cause he was a muzz loader.

And then he got through and then I doe bleated and he came back in and I shot him single lunged to him.

He ran like 150 yards and then fell and then I had to shoot him again.

- [Jimmy] Have you shot many deer?

- [Josiah] Oh yeah, I think that's like my 17th one.

- [Jimmy] 17th?

- [Josiah] Yeah.

- [Jimmy] How old are you?

- I'm 12.

- [Jimmy] 12?

- Yep.

- [Jimmy] Well, congratulations, young man.

- Yeah, thanks.

- The gun season here in Michigan is pretty special and whether you're at a tent camp in the UP or a revamped barn just north of Grand Rapids, the opener just brings us all together.

It's a chance to tell old stories and a chance to make some new ones as well.

Special thanks to Joe for letting me tag along for a few days in the deer stand.

And there's still some more deer hunting yet to come here in our great state.

Get out and enjoy some time with your friends and family right here in Michigan Out Of Doors.

Well, hey everybody, thank you so much for watching Michigan Out Of Doors this week.

If you missed part of this week's show or maybe part of last week's show, you can always check us out online.

Full episodes of the show, they're at michiganoutofdoorstv.com.

We're also on YouTube.

You can check us out both of those places.

And I tell you what, make sure you are joining us over the next couple of weeks.

On next week's show, we're gonna see Jordan Browne's opening day from the west side of the state at a tent camp.

And then we're gonna also have some pheasant hunting for you coming up, some duck hunting, lots of stuff over the next several weeks.

Make sure you are joining us.

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

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By ShowSpan, producing consumer shows including the Ultimate Fishing Show Detroit.

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- [Narrator] 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.

(upbeat music) ♪ When I wander far away ♪ A dream stays with me night and day ♪ ♪ It's the road that leads to my home state ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ Changing seasons ♪ Paint the scene like rainbow trout in a hidden stream ♪ ♪ The white tail deer in the tall pine trees ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ I am, I am a Michigan man ♪ That's where I'm from ♪ And I'll show you my hands ♪ Lord above I love this land ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ From the Keweenaw ♪ Down to St.

Joe ♪ Kalamazoo to Monroe ♪ Sault Ste.

Marie and back again ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ I am, I am a Michigan man ♪ That's where I'm from ♪ And I'll show you my hands ♪ Lord above I love this land ♪ I am a Michigan man (singers sings in foreign language) (bright music)