- Hello everyone welcome to "Michigan Out of Doors" and happy New Year from all of us here at the show.

We are looking forward to 2025 and bringing you a bunch of new adventures.

But before we get there, we're gonna continue with our annual tradition, and we're gonna take a look back at our favorite stories from 2024, each of us chose one.

My favorite was a trip to the top of the Mackinac Bridge with my husband, and Jimmy and Jordan both chose deer hunts, not necessarily because of the bucks that were harvested, but because of who they were with on the hunt.

So make sure you stay tuned to this week's show.

I'm Jenny Silek, and it's time for "Michigan Out of Doors."

(relaxed music) ♪ 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 ♪ - [Hunter] 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 ♪ (duck quacking) ♪ 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 ♪ (upbeat music) - [Jenny] Michigan out of doors is presented by By country smokehouse, 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 By the Michigan Outfitter, committed to honoring and celebrating Michigan through their products.

Offering a variety of apparel, stickers and gift items for the outdoor enthusiast.

Learn more at themichiganoutfitter.com.

(upbeat music) ♪ Change my ways ♪ They told me I could leave soon ♪ ♪ If I could change my ways ♪ It's been three dark days ♪ Whoa!

I'm comin' home (water gurgling) (upbeat music) - [Jenny] For nearly 67 years, the Mighty Mackinac Bridge has been a gateway connecting Michiganders to the upper and lower Peninsulas.

Prior to opening on November 1st, 1957, travelers waited to board a car ferry to take them across the five-mile stretch of the Straits of Mackinac.

Last week, my husband and I were invited on a tour to the top of the South Tower of the Bridge, something only a handful of lucky folks experience each year.

25 nonprofit organizations are chosen from a list entries each year, and are awarded tower tour certificates to be raffled or auctioned off for charitable purposes.

A list of the organizations that were selected for the tour certificates is posted on the Bridge Authority's website.

As a member of the media, I was able to take the tour to share with our viewers.

So after a drive out to the South Tower and then a quick elevator ride up, I was looking down on the Straits of Mackinac.

I am on top of the Mackinac Bridge right now, and if you didn't know it before, you'll know it after you see the footage, this is why they call it "The Mighty Mac" when you get to be up here on top.

Holy moly.

(laughs) - [Patrick] Welcome to the gateway to Michigan's deer camps we're on top of the mighty Mackinac Bridge that back in the early fifties, many said couldn't be built.

It took a good team of people put together.

The leader in that team was Governor Soapy Williams, he created the Mackinac Bridge Authority in 1950, and the Authority took it upon themselves, led by Senator Prentice Brown.

Prentice Brown was the only senator to come from the UP, the United States Senator, I should add.

And they together created a Authority that was appointed by Governor Soapy Williams.

And from there they hired probably the world's best engineer, a gentleman by the name of Dr. Steinman, That was a complete genius when it come to engineering.

He designed the Mackinac Bridge, worked with the Bridge Authority, and the design of this bridge back then was very unique because there were so many skeptics here in the state of Michigan that said this bridge could never be built.

The design of this bridge with the open truss spans along with the center lane, the open grading, allowed the wind to come through and exit right off the bridge without putting the structural stress on it that the other bridges in the United States was havin' problems with.

With that bein' said, there was a team of iron workers that were formed, and the last thing you want to tell an iron worker is they can't build somethin'.

Not only will they build it, but they'll build it on time and under budget.

And that's exactly what happened here.

That construction team as a whole, the iron workers erected 71 300,000 tons of structural steel within three years.

If you look at behind me here, the main cable, inside that cable, there's 12,580 strands of individual cables, wire, that make up that cable, the drove, hand drove, 5 million rivets on this bridge in three years.

And it's unbelievable how they met that challenge.

They, along with the operating engineers, the carpenters, the laborers, the cement masons, the painters, put all this bridge together in record timing.

It's really something.

If you take, and you look to the south here, and I want you just to envision what this was like before this bridge was being built, there was blocks and blocks that were laid out for the deer hunters, because the lines would get so long, they had to wait anywhere from 10 to 12 hours, sometimes a night or two before they could cross the Straits of Mackinac to get into Michigan's sportsman's paradise here.

And it was just phenomenal, and you know, these college kids nowadays think that they really come up with somethin' about tailgating, if it wasn't for the deer hunters here at the Straits of Mackinac waiting to catch that ferry, we might not even have tailgating now, it was those deer hunters that created that.

- [Jenny] (laughs) That's awesome.

- [Patrick] And what was really remarkable about those deer hunters, when they'd wait in line, the camaraderie.

- [Jenny] Michigan's outdoors men and women have always loved traveling from the lower to upper peninsulas.

In 1957, the founder of Michigan Outdoors TV, Mort Neff, was on hand to interview Governor Williams at the grand opening of the bridge.

It was a statewide celebration for sure.

- [Patrick] Well, there's, right now we're standing 552 feet above the Straits of Mackinac, and when you get down to the water table, you have another 200 feet of tower buried in caissons to get down to the the bedrock.

- [Jenny] Okay.

- [Patrick] Every year, this is probably the busiest bridge without a doubt here in the state of Michigan.

There's in excess of, I think it's 3 million vehicles a year that cross this bridge.

Just a year ago we had over 200 million crossings here on the Mighty Mac since November 1st, 1957.

- [Jenny] Oh wow, nice.

- [Patrick] And it's really remarkable how well this bridge serves the state of Michigan and the nation for transporting goods.

Well, it's also the gateway for all four seasons, the beautiful seasons that we have, the changing seasons that we have here in the state of Michigan.

From the snowmobiles, to the trout fishermen, to all the families that want to come up here and walk the beaches, and see wonderful waterfalls and Lake Superior.

But equally, the UPers like to come down and see the trolls in the lower Michigan as well.

So it really does work way, it serves as a gateway for both peninsulas.

And it's a wonderful thing, the Almighty Mac.

(upbeat music) - [Jenny] The Mackinac Bridge is one of Michigan's crowning jewels, and it was definitely one of the highlights of my career to tour the tower and to share it with my husband, Matt.

We couldn't be more grateful to do so.

So this is unbelievable, what a rare, super-rare opportunity to be able to come up here and just take all of this in from up here, and see the top of the bridge that we've driven over like thousands of times.

- Once in a lifetime.

- Yeah.

- This is amazing.

- Unbelievable, so we're very grateful and thankful that we were able to do this.

I thought my knees would be a little weaker when I got to the top, but it's really not that bad.

And my mom will be very happy to know that we made our way back down.

Hopefully, when we're done.

(laughs) (relaxed music) - [Jordan] Well, before the dear season even started I knew this year's opening day would be different than most.

With my wife and I expecting our third child in late November, I knew I'd need to be close to home just in case he decided to come early.

This gave me the opportunity to do something I haven't done in almost 20 years, and that's spend the opener with my grandpa.

So the two of us, along with my uncle, all jumped into one blind, hoping for the best on opening day.

- [Don] First deer hunting I was up at Dead Stream Swamp west of Holton Lake.

- [Dan] Oh, I remember that picture.

- [Jordan] That was your first deer.

- [Dan] Had cases stacked up higher than the deer.

- [Don] Well, those Charlie was with us, and we went and hunted out west of the Dead Stream Swamp with those other guys, they didn't really go and hunt.

- [Jordan] Oh, really?

- No.

- [Jordan] What year?

Do you remember?

- '59.

- [Jordan] So how many, I was trying to figure out how many seasons you've been deer hunting.

- [Don] Oh gee.

- [Jordan] A few.

- [Don] Well, '59 I deer hunted that year before that.

- [Jordan] So '58, so.

- [Don] So about 65.

- [Jordan] Wow.

- More than that, 67.

- Wow, have you hunted pretty much every opening day since then?

Or did you miss some in there?

- No, I think I made every one.

- [Jordan] What about you, Dan?

When was your first?

- [Dan] When I was 12.

- [Jordan] That was your first opening day?

- Yeah.

- [Jordan] Have you missed one since?

Probably did when you were younger, or no?

- I don't remember missin' one.

- [Jordan] So how many years for you then?

48-ish?

47?

- Yeah.

Yeah, but now I'm out without a gun.

- [Jordan] There's so much wisdom in this blind right now.

(Dan laughing) - [Jordan] All this deer hunting experience.

- Don't we need deer then?

(relaxed music) - [Jordan] You'd think we'd be seeing more deer.

Things started off pretty slow, but there was never a dull moment in the blind.

Between the occasional text from a successful friend or family member, and the countless stories from seasons past, the morning flew by.

And as we waited on a buck, one of the stories I enjoyed hearing the most from my grandpa was about the first time he saw a deer in this part of the state.

Something that's hard to even fathom nowadays.

- [Don] I was squirrel hunting southeast of West Fayette with a couple of guys.

I was sittin' there and there's a fence row, probably 30 yards away.

And I saw somethin' movin' up there, jumped over, I thought it was a dog at first, couldn't see.

Got to the fence, jumped over, then I knew it was the deer.

It's the first deer I saw down here.

- [Jordan] And that was when?

- [Don] Probably 1951, '52.

Well, back then, the real big bucks came from the UP.

- [Dan] Right here's a deer, couple of 'em.

- [Jordan] We saw a handful of deer throughout the morning, just not the buck we were looking for.

And as noon approached, we were thinking about changing spots when we were caught off guard by a nice buck right behind the blind.

- [Jordan] How far out?

- [Dan] Window open.

- [Jordan] How far out?

- [Dan] 20 yards.

- [Jordan] I don't see him.

- [Dan] He's right here, right here.

- [Jordan] I can see him, he's looking right at the blind.

Don't move.

Big shooter, for sure shooter.

Lookin' right at us though.

- [Dan] Hold still, dad.

- [Jordan] It's the five-by-three buck.

- [Dan] Okay, the tall guy.

- [Jordan] Oh, he's comin', he's comin'.

It's gonna be close to the blind.

- Where's he at?

- Right here.

- Say when.

- Hang on.

- [Don] Okay?

- [Jordan] Yes.

(rifle fires) - Hit 'em good.

- Let's go down, go down.

- [Dan] You hit him good.

- Think so?

- [Dan] Oh yeah.

- I couldn't really tell.

- [Jordan] I should have just stayed, I didn't realize he was comin'.

- There was another one back here, dad, buck.

- Yeah, I saw one back here when I saw him.

There was a little buck over there.

- [Dan] You hit him really good, I can't believe he made it to the cedars.

- [Jordan] I thought he was still back there.

(rifle fires) - [Don] I think we're about ready to leave the blind.

- [Dan] They're kind of slowing down.

- And then Jordan spotted a nice eight-point plus a smaller buck.

And after that, of course, he came out from behind brush stood still, and we took a shot at him.

- [Jordan] Made us kind of juggle all around the blind, but.

- [Don] Yeah.

- [Dan] Yeah, it was a little chaotic there for a minute.

- [Jordan] Yeah, made it work.

- [Dan] What was it from start to finish?

What was it, a probably a 45 second deer?

- [Jordan] It's amazing how fast a hunt can change.

We went from getting ready to get out of the blind to head back to camp, to getting out of the blind to go track.

- [Dan] Was he coming down this trail?

Should have been on one of these trails.

Either this one or that one.

You got the gun, so I'll go side you.

I would think that one.

- You got spots right here.

- Yeah, I'm sure he bounded.

Oh here, look at how good that one is.

(relaxed music) Look at how good this one here is.

Whoa, look at how big of a body he is, dad.

Look at how big a deer he is.

- [Don] I did hit him right, didn't I?

- [Dan] Oh, you hit him perfect.

Here, grab ahold of him.

How many point we got here?

Eight, five and three, what the heck?

- Yeah, just three there.

Boy, what a beautiful deer.

Thank you.

- [Dan] Nice shot.

- [Don] Thank you for all the help, you guys.

- [Dan] Well yeah, we got him.

Actually, dad hit him perfect.

We weren't real sure after the shot, ended up being perfect, just slightly behind the shoulder, good vitals.

He did come all the way into the cedars, which is probably 100 yards.

And then he made it up this little hill.

Surprised us a little bit, I didn't think he'd quite go that far, but job well done, did it.

- [Jordan] 87 years young, is that right?

- Pardon?

- [Jordan] 87 years young.

- 87.

- He'll be 88 in less than a month.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Easy game, isn't it?

- Yeah.

(laughs) - You have a long road, mister.

(relaxed music continues) - [Jordan] Every opening day is unique and the truth is, you never know how many you'll get.

But there's one thing they all seem to have in common.

when it's all said and done, what you remember most isn't the deer or the camp, it's the people you're with.

I might forget what this buck looks like one day, but I'll never forget the hunt.

And I can only hope that 50 years from now, I'm tucked into a blind or tree stand somewhere enjoying another opening day right here in Michigan's out of doors.

(upbeat music) (rifle firing) - [Jimmy] This year the gun opener would be pretty special no matter what happened, because I would be taking my wife, Missy, out for her first ever deer hunt as the actual hunter.

A week or so before the opener we made sure she was comfortable with the gun, and last week when we pulled into deer camp, some folks were doing the same thing, making sure the guns were on and dialed in.

Now I have been to this camp before in Clinton County, just north of Lansing for a youth deer hunt and for a rabbit hunting tournament as well.

These guys are so much fun, and when they asked if we'd like to hunt one of their stands for the gun season, well I jumped at the chance.

This place is special to say the least, mostly because of the people, but the little cabin that serves as deer camp is pretty awesome.

Just beside it this year was Lee VanCamp's tent camp.

So tell me a little bit about this tent, young fella.

- [Lee] I bought this tent used, it was made I think in '55 Sears Roebuck, Ted Williams tent.

I bought it used in 1975.

- [Hunter] Since the stranger danger?

- [Lee] And since then we have used it for deer camp and for huntin' and fishin' camps all over the country.

And the boys decided we should dig it out this year and use it one more time.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- So we got it out, and put it together, get the tarps on it, you gotta tarp it up and Keep it dry, but.

- [Jimmy] Okay.

And you got a carpeted floor?

- [Lee] Yep.

- [Hunter] Recliner for him to sleep in.

- [Jimmy] Yeah, this does not look like standard deer camp bed here.

Well, the night was settling in and the cards came out.

The night before the opener is always special, The Kurens family that owns this place puts on quite a party.

Well, the smoked wings may have been the draw the first night, but as the night wore on, folks made their way to bed with high hopes.

Missy and I were in a good spot and we were seeing deer as soon as the sun came up.

They were in kind of a bad spot for the way we were set up, so after a little jostling in the blind, and taking the camera off the tripod, and resting it on the window sill, we had what looked like a good buck heading our way.

- Oh, he's a good deer.

- [Jimmy] He's walking.

- [Missy] I know.

- [Jimmy] Just wait.

Let me know when you're gonna shoot.

- [Missy] I will.

- [Jimmy] All right.

- [Missy] I gotta get steady.

- [Jimmy] Do you want me to scope in a little?

There you go.

(rifle fires) - [Missy] Did I get 'em?

- [Jimmy] I don't know.

Did he look like he jumped?

Now, we did not see that the buck actually was down, but Missy felt good about the shot.

What happened there?

- Well, we're out here hunting, and this big buck comes in, but we're trying to figure out how to get in this little window and I can see him, but Jimmy can't see him.

(laughs) - So, I think I got a good shot at him, I don't know, I had it right on him, so hopefully- - He kicked like he was hit, but, and then I lost him as soon as he started runnin' towards the corn.

- So he looked like a really good one, I hope I got him.

- [Jimmy] That is a good buck, we'll just give him a little bit.

Well, a few minutes later, as we looked at the footage, I happened to look up and saw this nice buck standing at about 40 yards.

So we swapped the gun and the camera and I tried to get on him before he left the food plot.

- [Missy] He's walkin' away.

- [Jimmy] Shoot.

- [Missy] Gone.

- [Jimmy] You got him?

- [Missy] Huh?

- [Jimmy] Got him?

- [Missy] Yep, yep, yep.

(rifle fires) - I gotta- - [Missy] Gotta catch you breath.

- Gotta calm down.

Okay, this is probably the best spot in the state of Michigan.

Thanks to PJ and all the crew for lettin' us do this.

We have been covered up in deer from the minute it got light.

We're in Clinton County, and were on a little food plot surrounded by corn.

And it's been a heck of a morning.

So, we had a buck that came in from the worst possible spot for us to actually get footage of him, but Missy saw a really nice buck, big rack, I don't know what how shaky the footage is, but she made I think what looks like a really good shot, he mule kicked.

And I think we got, I couldn't see it on camera, but lookin' at the footage, I think we saw him drop.

So while we're doing that and dinkin' around, right behind us is a nice eight-point.

So we're lookin' at him for a couple minutes, I actually had time to text Bob, one of the guys we're huntin' with, and I'm like, "Is this a shooter for here?"

And he said, "Yes."

And about that time the deer runs to the back of the food plot and was gettin' ready to walk out, so I don't know what kind of footage we got of that.

You said you were on him?

- [Missy] Uh huh.

- Yeah, it looked like a good shot, he mule kicked a little bit as well and just ran into the woods, so.

- [Missy] yeah, I saw him kick.

- Whew.

(Missy laughs) - What a morning.

(relaxed music) Holy cow!

- [Missy] One, two, three, four, five.

- [Jimmy] Nice.

- [Missy] Not too- (laughs) - [Jimmy] Look at that.

- [Jimmy] Way to go, young lady.

- Thank you.

- [Jimmy] Boy, he's got some nice big tall tines.

What a buck.

(Missy laughing) - [Jimmy] First buck, first deer.

- Yeah, had a good teacher.

- About a 100-yard shot.

That was awesome.

The morning couldn't have gone any better.

Missy was able to tag her first deer, we had another one yet to track, it was one of the best opening days I can remember.

Not sure I could have scripted it any better.

Yeah, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, an 11-pointer.

(both laughing) - [Missy] Oh, nice, wow.

- What a nice buck.

- Thank you so much for joining us this week for "Michigan Out of Doors."

Once again, happy New Year to everybody.

We look forward to 2025 and bringing you some all new adventures.

And if you'd like to see what we're up to and where those adventures take us, you can check us out online.

Our website is MichiganOutofDoorsTV.com.

Or you can find us on social media platforms at Michigan Out of Doors TV.

If we don't see you in the woods or on the water, we'll see you right back here next week on your PBS station.

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