Discover the U.P.

May whizzed by in a blur and I can't remember what I did yesterday. Oh, yea I can, I filmed 3 stories in one day! Thankfully not a regular day, yet it was still a fun day and I got plenty of fresh air and mosquito bites. Here's a look at what stories I have coming up in June for "Discovering" and the podcast and a few of my most frequently asked questions. Plus a question for you - what should I do for my 100th episode?

Whew, I can talk. But there's a lot to talk about when it takes you 12 days to shoot a turkey. On today's episode I share my experience of spring turkey hunting, seriously hunting, for the first time. There aren't as many gobblers in the Upper Peninsula as there are in a lot of other places, but there are enough that you can hunt them in every county, even in the "high snowfall zone" that I live in. These birds are a lot smarter than I initially gave them credit for, and now I'm addicted.

My full interview with Dean Juntunen, who completed his lifetime goal of kayaking the entire Lake Superior Shoreline, and he is the first paraplegic to do so (as far as we know!). There are so many things he's seen on his journey that few have laid eyes on. Dean shares his adventures, his favorite spots along the Lake Superior shoreline, some of the challenges he overcame, how to do a kayak water rescue, plus we get into local river kayaking.

It's just me today, and I'm giving you a peek under the ice and behind the curtain of what it took to produce the last two episodes of "Discovering" about beaver trapping. I've also decided someday I need to do a full-length documentary about the fur trade in the Great Lakes region.

I sit down with outdoor writer Richard P. Smith to get his thoughts on the 2023 deer harvest, the lowest deer harvest on record, here in the U.P. I interviewed him back in January for my "Discovering" episode about the 2023 deer harvest and only had room for a few of his comments. I wanted to share his full interview like I did with the rest of the sportsmen I interviewed. Artwork photo provided by Richard P. Smith

I took advantage of the beautiful weather last weekend and went for a hike on a portion of the North Country Trail. I met up with a hiking group and the hike leader, Mark Roberts, V.P. of the Peter Wolfe Chapter of the NCT. While out there I interviewed Mark about the North Country Trail, new unit designation under the National Park Service, need for volunteers and what type of volunteer work needs to be done. We talk about the Peter Wolfe Chapter of the trail (which is the part of the trail I hike most), this crazy winter and good places to hike in the Western U.P. right now during our unseasonably warm and dry El Nino winter. This winter was a popular topic on the trail that day and we all agree we're going to get a huge snowstorm yet before May!(Artwork Photo Credit: Keith Meyers)