The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is one if the best-kept secrets in the United States. Over looked by many of the tourists headed for the northern Lower Peninsula or northern Wisconsin, the U.P. possesses a raw beauty second to none. Bordered on three sides by the Great Lakes Superior, Huron, and Michigan, it is a land of massive wilderness forests, hidden lakes, and wild rivers. Teaming with fish and wildlife, it is sparsely populated with some of the nicest people I've ever met.

For seventeen years my job took me from one end of the U.P. to the other. The many thousands of miles I drove took me on most of the blacktop and many of the dirt roads throughout the U.P. These travels and experiences, the many people, and the pictures I captured are the basis for this page. Coupled with current news and events, items of interest, and "deer news" when appropriate, we hope to use "What's U.P." as our weekly newsletter to you.

You will find this page updated by Sunday evening every week. Plus we will have a new trivia question to give you chance to win a free sample from best-venison and D & R Processing. We hope you enjoy it and stop back often.

Week of August 17, 2003

Weekly Ramblings
If any of you hunt outside of your home state you may want to check their policies on the importing of deer from other states or provinces. We recently were made aware that Michigan will only allow boneless venison trim (no whole carcasses) to enter the state from Wisconsin, Colorado, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, and Saskatchewan. That affects about 30 - 40 % of our customer base, which brought deer to us from Wisconsin. From what I am led to believe several other states have taken similar action. You may want to have a plan or processor lined up before hunting another state.
If you enjoy viewing deer right now is the time to see the bachelor groups. We usually take a ride the last 30 - 45 minutes before dark and check the alfalfa fields. We've counted as many as a dozen bucks together in the same field. Neat to see them in full velvet.
Michigan hunters, remember that antlerless permits for private land are now available over the counter. Area 055 in Menominee County has 17,000 available and the early antlerless rifle hunt opens September 20th, just be sure you have a place to hunt in 055 before buying your permits as most of this area is private land.
Have a great week. -
Dave & Ruth

Alert Bucks	The Blues Sisters Twin granddaughters: Ayla & Cora	Velvet Buck
Find the buck Wouldn't this make a nice jigsaw puzzle?	Road Trip Daughter Kaytee taking a break from our trip on the Goldwing	SW Wisconsin Limestone Formation

All correct entries will go into a drawing for a free package of our special
Chorizo Seasoning!
This seasoning is enough to season five pounds of ground meat.
[Winners limited to one per family or address per month.]