Why are sportsmen not voting?

by | September 30, 2026 | Current Issue | 0 Comments

Do Michigan sportsmen care about protecting and preserving our hunting heritage for future generations? It’s not too late, register and vote! It was like being hit in the face with a banana cream pie! I didn’t see it coming. What started as a casual conversation with...
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2026 Michigan deer hunting preview!

by | September 30, 2026 | Current Issue | 0 Comments

MDNR deer staffers have the latest information on deer populations and habitat conditions across the state, along with important items hunters should know this year... What To Know Hunters should know key regulations and recent changes in each region and be prepared...
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Bay De Noc’s Trophy Fall Walleye

by | September 30, 2026 | Current Issue | 0 Comments

The Season Isn’t Over...It’s Just Getting Good! The first cold front of November has pushed through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, leaving behind a sharp north wind and a thin layer of frost on the boat ramps. For most anglers, the season is over. Boats have been...
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Three Michigan standouts inducted into the Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame

by | September 30, 2026 | Current Issue | 0 Comments

On August 7, the Michigan Outdoor Hall of Fame officially inducted three new members. The ceremony was held at the Webber Center for Conservation and Education in Clare, Michigan, the home of the Hall of Fame. The three inductees were: • Jerry Dennis Award-winning...
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How deer replaced squirrels

by | September 30, 2026 | Current Issue | 0 Comments

The greatest cultural shift in American hunting—and what it has cost us... If an American hunter from 1955 stepped into today’s woods, one thing would astonish him (or her). It wouldn’t be crossbows, trail cameras, food plots or cellular scouting apps. It would be the...
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Hunters for Life provide great bear hunt

by | September 29, 2026 | Current Issue | 0 Comments

Son joins his father for a successful U.P. bear hunt John Cronk, a disabled veteran, teamed up with Mark Evans and Hunters for Life for a bear hunt in the Gwinn Bear Management Unit. A hunt John will never forget! Hunters for Life provides hunts for disabled hunters,...
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RECENT EDITIONS

Outdoor Weekend 2026

Outdoor Weekend 2026

by | Sep 1, 2026 |

We are once again excited to host a celebration of Michigan’s Outdoor Heritage, the first weekend after Labor Day, the annual kick-off to the fall season; it’s the 40th anniversary of the Woods-N-Water News Outdoor Weekend. This great event will take place Sept. 11-13...

Early teal

Early teal

by | Sep 1, 2026 |

Adozen years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave Michigan sportsmen a gift for which I’d been longing for decades – the opportunity to have an early teal season. I was introduced to September teal hunting in the late ‘70s, when I moved to Mississippi and...

Regain bass sanity: Use a jig

Regain bass sanity: Use a jig

by | Sep 1, 2026 |

After last month’s “Urchinmania” column, the texts from a couple of longtime pals got to be excruciating. Not in an annoying sort of way, but I got tired of even thinking about those spiky balls of soft plastic that have taken the bass world by storm. “How do you rig...

Zeus grows another 30-point rack

Zeus grows another 30-point rack

by | Sep 1, 2026 |

A white whitetail buck named Zeus that is part of the herd on display at the Deer Ranch in St. Ignace grew another huge 30-point rack during 2025 like he did the year before when 4 ½ years old. You may recall his photo appeared on the cover of Woods-N-Water News...