A Michigan hunter tipped off Michigan State Police when he discovered pot plants on public land recently. Over 4,000 plants were discovered in the grow operation after agents and police got done with the count.

The pot had a street value of over $4 million. There was also a camp located at the operation, with food and other supplies. As for those who were running the "joint"?

"Three suspects were immediately arrested and another three were captured in a forest a mile away with help from Enzo, a police dog. The seventh defendant was arrested Friday about five miles east of Gladwin."

Source: mlive.com

Here’s a buck that one of our staff members passed up this weekend. We are withholding his name to spare him from those who think he’s got it too good!

Dan Schmidt

The latest email photo chain includes these intriguing shots. They were apparently taken in Texas shortly after Hurricane Ike blew through earlier this month.  With flood waters filling wetlands and overloading swamps in that region, it is quite possible that the local deer herds were decimated by these brutal storms.

Our friend Adam Wogsland of Iola, Wis., brought this dandy 4.5-year-old buck to our offices yesterday. He arrowed the 150-inch 10-pointer the previous evening while hunting a patch of oak woods.

"I got set up in my tree stand around 5:15 p.m.," Adam said.  "At 5:30, I grunted three long grunts followed by a series of three short grunts.  Around 5:50 p.m., he came down a trail behind me, and I was able to stop him at about 6 yards and made a solid double lung shot.  He went around 75 yards and piled up.  I was about 30 yards off of a third-crop hayfield and 20 yards from a corn field.  He was traveling through an area that splits the two fields and has a couple of crab apple trees and a bunch of sumac trees."

Congrats to Adam on one mighty fine early season whitetail!

Note: Adam’s Cuddeback photo is of the same buck from last year. The photos below show a right-side shed found earlier this year and gives you a good idea of how much larger this year's antler was by comparison.

Here’s a huge buck that is reportedly living within the city limits safe zone of Sioux Falls, SD. Former D&DH associate editor Andrew Johnson lives in nearby Dell Rapids and reports hearing rumors about the big non-typical.

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Johnson said. “The biggest bucks in the state are within the city limits or in the park area between Brandon and Sioux Falls.” Municipalities are some of the best big buck hideouts in the country. If you can score permission on nearby hunting land, you can have a real shot at a trophy when the bucks begin to chase does in November.

Our bow season is already a week old here in Wisconsin, and it has been very
slow. Our temperatures have been consistently in the mid- to upper 70s, and
night-time lows have only dipped into the 50s. My deer sightings on stand
have been sparse. However, I did manage to take the early season edge off by
harvesting a plump 2.5-year-old doe on Saturday. This is the first year I
have shot an expandable broadhead in more than six years. On this hunt, I am
glad I did. I was using a 2-blade Rage that I had honed its blades to a
razor-sharp edge before the hunt. The doe only went 80 yards before expiring
... testament to the sharp broadhead and its 2+ inch cutting diameter.

Dan Schmidt, D&DH Editor

Jon Lacorte of Nikon Optics,  second from left, was part of a hunting crew that enjoyed an incredible week of bow-hunting in western Kentucky last week. The camp went five-for-five on Pope-and-Young-class bucks during their early season hunt.

I have seen some weird photos come across my desk over the years, but this
one ranks up there with the best, or should I say "oddest," of them.

The photo was captured by a trail camera set out by faithful D&DH reader
Greg Mariani. Greg writes, "We have been getting this same doe rooming our
property in central Wisconsin  since December 2007.  Can you by looking at
the photos let us know what you think the deer may have?  Could it be just a
parasite or mange?"

We are not 100 percent positive on this one, but it does appear that the doe
has some type of mange. This is rare with whitetails, but cases have been
documented sporadically across deer country. Parasite infestation can also
cause these types of hair loss and skin lesions. In many cases, the
parasites are transferred at baiting and feeding stations.

Dan Schmidt, D&DH Editor