Thoughts on Hunting - June 25, 2007

Today, we spent way too much time driving around the U.P. looking for various sled dog kennels and not finding them. We did stumble on Sled Dog Lodge owned by Jim Warren where I will be staying this winter, thanks to Tom. I left a note on the white board outside the cabin since no one was around, and we used the outhouse (thanks Jim).

Newberry was beautifully hot today: 87 arid, freckle-popping degrees, and I soaked up as much of it as I could. Ah! Made me homesick for summer in Idaho.

We then went to Oswald Bear Ranch eight miles north of Newberry, which was the highlight of the day.

When I first heard about the bear ranch, I envisioned something far different than what we found. I pictured bears caught in the wild and kept in small cages, like a zoo.
In fact, the bears at the ranch have been raised by the Oswald’s on their 80 acre habitat. An informational plaque hung along side of one of the enclosures reported 2,000 black bears killed annually in Michigan by hunters every year. Aside from touring the grounds of the bear ranch – home to some 30 grown bears – we also got to enter the enclosure of two cubs rescued from Minnesota. Patton and Dakota Joe, the five month old cubs, were just as playful and content as any cub could be. Dakota thought Sophie’s arm tasted really good, and she also liked chewing on the Valley Road Outfitters hat Tom gave me before we left. Sorry Tom.

I left regretting once again that I ever switched majors as an undergrad from Biology to English. Organic Chemistry couldn’t have been that scary. Being in an enclosure with those bear cubs reminded me of when I was a zookeeper, petting a jaguar knocked out for surgery whose paws were bigger than my hands.

My best souvenir from the bear ranch was priceless: a pretty significant bite on my right thumb from Dakota. Amazingly powerful jaws for something so young. She barely broke the skin, but my thumb nail was numb an hour afterward from her vise-like jaw grip. Ouch.

Chris and I marveled at the hairy beasts. I can’t imagine killing one of them.

Mark, the guy we rented our cabin from, said it is legal in Michigan to bait deer. He said hunters will throw out giant piles of sugar beets and apples, waiting until the deer come up to eat, and then BAM!

How is this a sport? I’d even go further to say let them hunt with bows and arrows instead of guns – separate the men from the boys, for sure.

Anyway, the rest of the day we drove around Tahquanmenon Falls, stopped at the Berry Patch to eat some pasties (an odd Yooper concoction consisting of potatoes, rudabega, onion, wrapped in flour pastry like a pot pie. When we first saw signs for them, however, we thought everyone in the U.P. was wearing the things instead of eating them! Quite yummy.) Now we’re heading back to our cabin where we will stay for awhile. We’re tired of driving!

Tomorrow, we will mill around the cabin, perhaps rent a canoe, maybe do some laundry in town, and stay out of the truck. The dogs will appreciate it. Every morning, before I’ve even had any coffee, I swing the cabin door open wide and take the dogs on a ½ mile puppy run with Sophie and Elise before we’re even out of our pajamas. It’s a great way to wake up; I wish I could wake up this way every day.

I can’t wait until winter.