GRAYLING – Day one of firearm deer season started with excellent weather. The temperature at 31 degrees and no wind to speak of and snow that was anywhere from one to six inches provided great tracking. Jack Millikin, co-owner of Skip’s Sport Shop stated “no-excuses because of the weather-this is excellent hunting weather.” Missy Millikin said that they “were swamped” on Saturday and Sunday with hunters and families. Project Graduation ran a bake sale fund raiser at Skip’s Saturday and Sunday and the hunting crowd reported having a fantastic level of sales for their baked goods on a donation basis. The first deer came in at 8:28 AM, 23 minutes earlier than the first deer last year. As the day went on the weather held with just enough lake effect snow to keep it interesting.
The first deer was brought in by “Big” John Morin of Grayling. John is no stranger to the Buck Pole, but this is his first time with the first buck. His deer scored out at 32 ½ inches and weighed 107 lbs. For the next 22 minutes John was not only the first buck but was the largest rack. For 22 minutes!
Each deer is weighed, and the antlers are measured on a minimum of eight distances. Tom Coors, Buck Pole Volunteer, was doing the measuring. Last year Jack and Missy of Skip’s put up a canopy next to the Buck Pole because the weather was making it difficult to even record the antler length and weight. With the spitting snow they did it again on day one this year. The Buck Pole volunteers upgraded the scales with an early morning purchase from Tractor Supply. Last year the rain raised havoc with the electronic scales, so they are back to a mechanical system. Day one was fairly uneventful on the weather front.
Kane Murphy arrived at 9:50 with an eight-point 148 lb. buck. Had a photo of the deer in the field with the tag on but by the time he got it to town the tag was gone. Kane who got his deer on state land decided not to go out and look for the tag. He purchased a replacement. The rack measured 106 3/8 inches.
Mark Bess of Grayling arrived with buck number three at 10:15. His deer weighed 149 lbs and the rack measured in at 105 ¾ inches.
Bob Trudeau of Grayling arrived at 11:50 with a 150 lb buck measuring out at 117 3/8. The volunteers were getting spooked by the new scales as that the last three deep weighed in at 148 lbs followed by 149 lbs and then 150 lbs. They anxiously waited for the arrival of the next buck and its weight.
Max Thomas of Kalkaska arrived at 12:10 with the largest rack of the day so far at 134 ¾ inches. He said that he got it in Kalkaska County where the racks are always bigger. His deer weighed in at 135-pounds. If his antlers were ¼ inch longer his antler measurement would have matched his deer weight.
Jerry Pratt of Grayling arrived at 12:25 with a 115-pound eight point measuring out at 82 inches.
Brett Howard of Swartz Creek was next to arrive with an eight point 148 lb buck that measured out at 124 ¾ inches. He bagged his buck in Kalkaska County. So far, the two largest racks were gotten in Kalkaska County. The contest accepts bucks from all counties contiguous to Crawford County in addition to any locally gotten deer.
Some of the hunters are reporting very few shots and others are reporting many shots. Heavy snow has been the experience in the southern parts of Crawford County.
Ron Rakoczy rolled in a little after 1:00 with a fine looking eight point weighing 145 pounds and measuring out at 168 ½ inches. The biggest rack is now from Crawford County.
At 1:30 two bucks in a truck arrived. Naomi Kolka had a nine-point weighing 165 pounds, making it the heaviest buck so far and she was our first female hunter. Kevin Wakeley had an eight-point weighing 149 pounds and a measured rack of 122 3/8 inches.
At 2:25 Grant Hanson of Grayling arrived with an eight-point weighing 113 pounds. He said that after the first shot the buck bobbed up and down for some time making him wonder if he needed to shoot again. He was not going to hang his buck but his seven-year-old son, Cash, had visited the Buck Pole earlier and insisted he bring it in.
The snow came down just enough to make recording antler information a mess.
Mike Atwell brought in a twelve-point weighing 139 pounds and measuring out at 137 inches.
Matt Mahaney came in at 3:15 with a three-point weighing 102 pounds and measuring 49 ¾ inches.
