Deer Park Lodge

A very sincere wish to you and your family...

... for a safe, healthy, and exceptionally happy holiday season and New Year.

Peace

Mike and Monica

Santa says, "It's good to have wood in the shed! Ho ho ho!"

It's a white Christmas!

Even though the thermometer is reading 5 degrees it is good to wake up this morning knowing we don't have to get out and snow-blow right away. Finally the snow has stopped. A week ago we barely had any and today we've got plenty. Not sure how much but it has to be over three feet. Thursday night alone we got a bunch - Newberry received zero, Wolf Inn area had about 1", Pine Stump got maybe 6" and, good ole Deer Park got 16+" of beautiful powdery snow.

Between cleaning out around the yard and helping a couple of neighbors get cleaned up, we spent the better part of the day moving snow around. We look like we normally do in the middle of winter already.  We were hoping the lake effect machine would slow down a bit but the seven day forecast isn't necessarily indicating that.

The lake froze over on December 5, I am hoping the winds keep the ice clear of snow so we have the makings for good thick ice. This much snow could put a damper on us getting out and fishing prior to Christmas.

Our deer season sure didn't improve through muzzle loading season. In fact, we don't know anyone up here that shot a buck during this extended season. We can only hope that the UP's harsh winter will be kind to our deer herd, and the winter kill will be very minimal.

We sure hear a lot of negative comments about the effects of the wolves having on our deer herd. We can honestly say that we just don't see the signs of a large Gray Wolf population up north here. I think around Engadine, Newberry, Hulbert and Seney things may be different, and maybe these animals are having an effect. We have a lot of coyotes up here and we are not sure what if any effect they will have on the herd. Obviously something, or a combination of things, has happened in the last few years to drastically reduce the amount of deer we have had compared to the past. Here's the DNR perspective on human, wolf, and winter impact on deer mortality on the Upper Peninsula.

The phone is starting to ring and we've been taking a fair amount of reservations for the winter.  We still have lots of openings in the cabins.  Give us a call if we can be of any service.  Until then, there's more snow to move and Christmas type chores to get done.  Be Well and Stay Happy!!!!

Call (906) 658-3341 or use the email form at the top of the page to let us know how we can help you.

 
Happy Holidays,
 
M & M

Sharing a blind with an owl

The 2009 deer season, throughout the Deer Park area, will go down as one of the worst in the past 20 years. Not sure what is happening with our deer herd, but the numbers are way down. I am sure the great weather all season long hasn't help. With warm days the deer have a tendency to move primarily at night. But still, the doe and fawn sightings were very minimal. Baits were getting hit on a regular basis, but there we only a few bucks seen during daylight hours.

We were one of the fortunate ones to put meat in the freezer this deer season. On the forth afternoon out I had a big bodied, but small rack, six pointer walk into one of my shooting lanes. I hunted rather hard for the rest of the season only to see three more does.

A couple of nice bucks were taken in the area. Neighbor Tim had a dandy nine pointer that he took over by Grand Marais and Larry took a real nice eight from his camp south of here. Dave, our cabin guest, was in the right spot first thing opening day and brought in a real nice eight also. The guys at Musky Lodge only hung two up and one of the hunters from Winterhaven was fortunate enough to take two eight pointers.  That's about it from this neck of the woods. Odd thing is there were very few spikes and four points seen during the season. It sure looks like last years winter was much harder on the herd than what anyone is saying. We'll hope that this winter is a bit kinder to the deer.

Sitting in the woods for hours at a time allows one an opportunity to see things that maybe you won't get another chance too.  For me this year, it was having a Pileated Woodpecker close to me for maybe 30 minutes tearing an old log apart. The noises this big guy made were really neat. 

Making no noise whatsoever led to the encounter I had with a Barred Owl on another night. Sitting in my blind, I caught this owl fly in and land near some bait I had about 80 yards away. In the process of bringing my binoculars up to look at it, it caught my movement and really gave me the stare down. After a minute or two of staring at each other I moved my hand a little and this bird took flight and cut the distance between us in half.  Another stare down, this time I move only a finger, (keep in mind I am sitting in a darkened enclosed blind with windows halfway down) and the owl flies towards me and cuts the distance in half again.

Now, this owl is only a few yards away and looking right in at me. The final move was really cool as the owl took flight it looked like his intentions were to come right in the blind with me. This bird flew right over top of me. That was the last I of saw of it. Not a sound by this owl as it closed the distance and then flew over. I didn't need to see deer that night, I was already blessed with a special encounter.

A few ducks remain on the lake. Small groups of Hooded Mergansers and a few mallards. We are seeing the eagles regularly as they must be trying to put on some extra fat for the long winter.  Saw a pine marten in the yard yesterday and a couple of coyotes while we were cruising the back roads the other day.
 
Thanks to Monica's cousins, over the Thanksgiving weekend we got the snow fencing up and the resort ready for winter. We did quite a bit of agate hunting. Monica continues to pick up all the good ones.
 
With the mild weather we have had Muskallonge Lake remains wide open. Typically we would be frozen over by now and we are starting to think about ice fishing. But not this year.  Maybe with the cold weather predicted for the next week we will start the freeze up.
 
That's the news from Deer Park Lodge.
Enjoy your day, stay happy and healthy.
 
Happy Holidays
 
Mike & Monica

No snow, no tracks, no deer... yet.

It's opening day of the Michigan firearm Whitetail Deer season. Ideally we would like calm winds and a small bit of tracking snow on the ground. Not today folks!  We have strong wind west to northwest and fairly warm temps.In fact we are coming off about 10 days of beautiful fall weather with the temps almost daily pushing into the 50 degree area. It could stay like this until Christmas as far as we are concerned. It does but a bit of a damper on the hunting though.  

 

Anybody seen this guy? Image courtesy Michigan Travel Bureau

My bow season was really poor. I saw only six deer during the 10-15 days I hunted, and nothing with horns on. There does seem to be a fair amount of hunters up visiting the area for the week so it will be interesting to see the results of their efforts. But the weather forecast does show continued mildness with above normal temps

The rain continues to have a positive effect on Muskallonge Lake. Slowly but surely it continue to inch up onto the beaches. The erosion off Lake Superior, down by the state park also continues. Sure hopes that slows down soon as the property around the maintenance buildings is getting eating up. We have seen this before in other areas, so hopefully the problem will cure itself and the big lake will start rebuilding the beach that it has destroyed over the last few years.
 
The boat ramp at the State Park has been extended and dug out. The DNR did a nice job and it should be adequate for most people launching boats for the next several years. The same can be said for the Perch Lake launch. Work was also completed at the mouth of the Two Hearted River but we haven't been down there lately to see the results of those efforts.
 
Not a lot seen in regards to unique or migrating birds. We have only seen a couple of flocks of migrating ducks on the lake. Lets hope this nice weather is slowing the migration down and not some other reason.  Our local birds have been very aggressive at the feeders and we are going through a 50 pound bag of sunflower seeds rather quickly.

It's time to go hunting. We'll do another report in a week or so and give you all an update of the successful deer hunters.

Be well and stay outdoors.

Mike & Monica

Fall colors, first snow, and one fine fish

Finally, the weather is getting back to a more seasonal mode. We woke up to a light dusting of snow on Sunday and before the afternoon was over we had over 2" of the white stuff all over the place. It was pretty cool to get the snow as the fall colors are really just peaking, but way to early in the year. Of course it hasn't stuck around very long but up until yesterday the cold temps did. The weather man tells us that every day should be an improvement and we'll go back to the mid-50's next week.

As I said, the fall colors are just now peaking and it appears they will stay with us for some time and there is still a lot of green trees in the woods. It's a great time to take a ride throughout the U.P. if you are so inclined.

Fishing remains pretty good in the river. Last weekend I think everyone who fished caught some salmon.  The Cohos appear to be beyond their peak and are starting to wind down as a lot of dark or older fish are being caught. Monday my buddy Bob and I had a great morning down on the Two Hearted River, all by ourselves. I hooked into a beautiful 8 lb Steelhead that gave me a pretty good run for the money. Upon hooking it, the fish jumped out of the water a good four feet and then headed down stream as fast as the drag on my reel would allow it. Before long I was looking at the writing on the back of my spool through what little bit of line I had remaining.  I ended up chasing this fish downstream a good 200 yards before finally winning the battle.

After catching a fish like this I was ready to call it a day, as my fishing day was complete. Upon catching up to Bob, he was just putting his second fish on a stringer. We hung together and fished one of my favorite holes and really got into the fish. We both walked out with plenty of fish to fill the smokers. The surf fishing report have been just so so. This will surely be picking up in the near future.  Have heard a few reports of Menominee being caught.

The hunting seasons continue. Seems the number of bear taken in the past couple of weeks has not maintained the pace of the first two or three weeks. Deer hunting will be a struggle this year. One of our neighbors took a small basket rack 9-pointer opening day, and that is the only one we are aware of up here. Deer sightings and tracks are pretty rare as compared to past years. This weekend we have a large family here from the Soo that like to hunt birds and rabbits. They hunt pretty hard and we suspect they will take a fair number of small game.
 

Our store business has slowed considerably, thus we will be shutting the doors for a couple of weeks on Oct 24. We will reopen again on Nov. 12 for the next 10 days of deer season and then close the store up for the season. We will keep our cabins open, so let us know if you are thinking about a get-a-way up north for a few days.

Give us a call at (906) 658-3341 or use the email form at the top of the page to make your reservation.

Until then, enjoy the fall colors!!!
 
m & m

Black bears, blueberries, and fall colors coming.

The blueberries continue to be plentiful and in great shape. They are probably easier to pick now too because most of the berry leaves have fallen. It takes delicate hands now though, as all you have to do is touch the berries and they are ready to fall. Sure seems like all the birds have been filling up on the berries too. Guess they know what's good for them!

We just finished out three awesome weeks of weather. Yesterday was the first day since mid-August that we got some rain, and boy did we need it. Everyone riding bikes or four-wheelers out in the woods got extremely dusty. And these back roads were in rough shape between the dust and the chatter bumps. The rain did allow the road commission to get out and get them all graded yesterday. The near-term forecast looks like it'll be good for riding. From here on through the remainder of the fall the back roads should be in pretty good shape.

The bear hunters in the area are having pretty good success. Not surprising given the UP is home of the Michigan's highest density black bear population. The check in station at Pine Stump Junction is reporting 15 bears registered so far. I know the group of hounds men that come into the store regularly got three bears this past weekend, all over 200 pounds.

The people fishing both the mouth of the Two Hearted and the river itself have had pretty good success with salmon and a few steelhead.

Sunday we spent quite a bit of time on the river and brought back two nice Coho's.  We also saw a bunch of pink salmon in the river. Lake fishing has been on the slow side.But we have heard a couple reports of people catching nice meals of perch lately.

The color season is coming on quickly. It appears that the first week of October should be on track for prime color season.  We will try to do another blog report next week to keep you posted on the "colors". You can also check here for weather.com's foliage report.

We have several openings available throughout the month of October.  If you are thinking about coming up give us a call - (906) 658-3341 - and we'll do our best to work with you.  Until then, get outside and enjoy the weather.

Mike & Monica

The Summer is Setting. Must be Labor Day Weekend.

 

The Deer Park Lodge boat dock and a beautiful Muskallonge Lake sunset

Blueberries, blueberries and more blueberries! What a crop we have this year! They are everywhere up north here, and in great numbers. I think we will be picking berries up until October.  All the animals that rely on these natural fruits sure will go into the winter fat and happy.

Mother Nature is shinning on us this week and it looks like it will continue through the Labor Day weekend. We have finally put several nice days back to back which hasn't been the case most of the summer.  But for the past week and for several more days to come the weather has been "Way Nice". Check out this near perfect forecast.

Fishing has been O.K. but nothing special to report.  A few salmon are starting to be taken off the mouth of the Two Hearted River.  This will certainly get better in the next couple of weeks.

Wolf sightings have really been up the past two weeks.  Several folks have seeing wolfs close to the main roads. After coming close to extinction a hundred years ago, there seem to be pretty healthy populations now. Learn more about our Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) here.

Gotta run - the campground's rocking for the weekend. Got boats to float, a store to tend, and tall tales to tell. Hope to see you soon, this is a great place to be when things quiet down. Give us a call and we'll set you up: (906) 658-3341

Enjoy the weekend everyone!!

Mike & Monica

Prime time: Fish! Berries! Vacancies! Weather!

The weather has turned to fabulous. Mid to upper 70"s light wind and so far very few bugs.  Last night we were star gazing, it was so nice out that we had a hard time getting inside for bed. Check out this beautiful forecast!

 

Blueberries are in good supply and ready for the picking. If you have the energy and the back to take it, your bucket of berries is readily available. The good news here is that the picking is just going to keep getting better. Just think about all the things you can bake with fresh blueberries!

Fishing is still good, and his heating up on multiple fronts. Yesterday's reports varied from several pike, one being over 34", some nice smallmouths, to a nice batch of pumpkinseed bluegills being caught.

 

Here's a Muskallonge beauty. Clem was in a canoe by himself without a net. This fish was 44 1/2" long and weighed 24 pounds. AWESOME!!!!

Prime time cabin availabilities - snap 'em up quick!

Cabin openings due to cancellations are once again available during the prime-time of the summer. Our large cabin, which can sleep up to six in now open from August 22-29. This is a great deal for a family, two couples, or four to five friends. 

Also available during the same dates are cabins 6 & 8.  Number 6 has views of the lake from the large kitchen window. Both cabins have queen size beds and of course your own private bath.  Check out the rest of the web-site for more information. If either of these is of interest to you give us a call at 906-658-3341.

It's a great time to be up north. Come on up and enjoy what we have left of summer. The blueberries and fish are waiting. And don't forget about the agates!

Cheers,

Mike & Monica

Sweet deal for a family or group! Call fast!

    

We just took a last minute cancellation and will be happy to make someone - a family, two couples or a group of friends - a whale of a deal on our two adjoining one bedroom cabins - number 6 & 8 - for next week, Sunday, August 1st through Saturday, August 8th.

Give us a quick call at (906) 658-3341 and take advantage of a great opportunity and a sweet deal.

These two cabins are set up duplex style with a suite door in between. Each cabin has a queen size bed with a day bed setup with large pillows to double as a couch, and a private bathroom with shower. The well-equipped kitchens each have a small dining table. Everything you and your family or group need to settle in for a cozy week in the U.P. woods.

First come, first served! Call (906) 658-3341

Cool summer, but lakes and woods love the rain. Blueberries, too!

It's been a cold, wet and foggy couple of weeks here at Deer Park Lodge. Summer temps just haven't gained the strength to rule over the coolness of Lake Superior. Each time the winds start coming off the big lake it seems like the thick fog is close behind. 

On a positive note for the area (but probably not for tent campers), we have picked up more rain this summer than many in past years. Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful day and between 4 and 5 o'clock we got hit with four tenths of and inch of rain. But the woods and lakes really need it so we won't complain.

The weather has been good for the continued growth of the blueberries.  We are already picking, and it seems like in a week or two there will be tons of berries throughout the area and plenty for everyone. Head on up and bring a bucket. Think jam, pies, crisp... here's a million ideas.

The weather has made it a bit difficult for the fishermen. Not only finding a good day to get on the water, but also getting the fish to cooperate.  We did have a cabin guest go out yesterday and within an hour hook two large smallmouth's and a nice pike.  Got a report in the store of some nice brookies being caught in the upper parts of the Two Hearted River.  The water depths are really fluctuating in the river due to the rain.

Hopefully August will bring us some nice steady sunny weather.  Being in the U.P. is still a great place to be to enjoy a bit or R & R and vacation time with the family.  We hope to see you up north.

Give us a call or drop a line, we'll be glad to get you set UP.

Mike & Monica