A Season To Remember

One never expects to get an opportunity to hunt a private estate of 3,000 acres that truly practices Quality Deer Management. This past fall I had the privilege to hunt Legends Ranch in Bitely, Michigan, along with my brother-in-law Raymond Alatalo (US Navy) on a veterans buddy hunt, thanks to Trijicon and Legends Ranch.

While arriving on day one, we quickly unloaded our gear and headed out to our pre-scouted hunting area with our guide, Randal Flanery. We saw numerous deer and a couple nice bucks from our elevated blind. About a half hour before sunset, Ray made a great 125-yard shot on a giant nine-pointer with his Remington Model 700 in .270 using a Trijicon Accu-Point 3×9 Red scope.

On day two, we headed into some rolling oak ridges and after spending the day on stand I was able to connect at 153 yards with another beautiful nine-pointer. We found the terrain in the Big Rapids area similar to the rolling hardwoods in the Western Upper Peninsula, and the deer as wary as elsewhere.

The density of does to bucks was probably in the six to two range, which is far higher than our ratio on public or private lands in the Upper Peninsula. It was interesting to see all age classes of deer, especially bucks that are passed over, ensuring they mature.

I ‘d urge all hunters interested in a pre-rut hunt at Legends check them out at www.legendsranch.com.

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