Well, the weekend went pretty well. We got up to deer camp on Friday afternoon at about 4PM- we had a 2.5 hour drive and luckily, my brother in law Kevin and I were able to get out of work a little early to enjoy the beautiful day on Friday. Camp is a humble cabin set in the middle of the woods. It is heated by wood, and powered by generator. It has been home to many a deer hunter since 1963 when the camp was established. There has been updates and changes but from my understanding it is pretty much the same as it was back then.
We got to camp and got ready and went out to hunt that evening. We joked that we now know what it is like to hunt in the south- since the temps were in the mid 70’s and there was still bugs out. Something that you do not get to “enjoy” in Michigan very often while deer hunting.
It was great to be out in the woods with the rifle and watching deer. I dropped Kevin off at a stand that I had set up years ago on an oak flat. We call this stand “the producer” since it does not look like much but deer always seem to show up here to stuff themselves with acorns. I was going to still hunt the afternoon to get an idea of deer movement. Well as it turned out I could not get far… I was less that 100 yards from the stand and I started seeing deer. Since I knew I had a couple more days of hunting, it was hot and all the does I saw had little ones with them- I passed and was content in watching them feed around me. Some were as close as 30 yards. When I met Kevin at dark he had pretty much the same story. He had seen 10 does and one little 4 point. I had watched 15 does feed on the oak flats before moving off to the open fields to the southwest.
The next morning was more of the same for me. I watched does with little fawns feed on the acorns and fresh green sprouts that were showing up from the fall dew and increased rains as of late. Kevin decided to take a lone doe when she presented a shot. 
Kevin and his 30-06 did the job and she feel at the shot.
In the afternoon, we split and stacked wood to get the camp ready for the cold nights and days sure to come. We were able to get enough wood cut and stacked that should get us through the late fall and winter.
We made sure that the wood was covered to allow it to continue to dry and get ready to burn in the months to come.
It was a good thing that it was covered since that evening it POURED rain for about 3 hours. I got out of the cabin at about 4PM to hunt and it seemed like it was going to be another good afternoon in the woods. About 200 yards down one of the logging roads I saw a doe stand up from her bed. She was about 70 yards from me and I had her in the scope and was sizing her up- when a fawn stood up about 5 yards from her. They browsed on the ferns and acorns and then slowly moved off to the west. As I continued on I started to hear the rumble of thunder and noticed it was moving closer. I took one of the logging roads that bent back toward camp and thought I would still hunt it in. Well, lets just say I did not make it back before the rain started. I did manage to see another couple does with fawns and then when it was pouring rain I had a spike trot by me at about 15 yards heading toward the red pine stand to the front of the property. By the time I got back to camp I was soaked.
I had one morning left and hoped that the rain would stop (I hate hunting in the rain). When I woke before dawn I was happy to see that the rain had stopped. I quickly got my gear on, since I was running a little late, and grabbed my rifle and binos. I took off on a different logging trail and got about 50 yards from camp. I noticed a shadow moving in front of me and then another. I snuck in behind a large oak and waited for the sun to make its slow appearance in the east (behind me). The deer in front of me cooperated and feed on the acorns long enough for me to insure that they were doe, and were not with any fawns. I picked the larger of the two does and when she presented me semi broadside shot, I squeezed the trigger. When I came off recoil she was down and not moving. The 130 grain bullet had broke her down nicely and expended all of its energy within her. Perfect performance, in my book, from the handloads, that my brother had worked up many years ago.
Both of our does were not huge. But they will eat up nicely and provide food for both of our families for months to come. So far the season is starting out pretty well- lets hope it continues.
Marshall
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Hello. Finally was able to get into this and figured I would start out with a quick post. I currently live in Michigan and LOVE the outdoors. Things here are winding down for the outdoors, but I have started my winter scouting for deer, have been running my old black lab Casper and looking forward to another great year in the midwest chasing deer, pheasants, grouse, turkeys.