As I mentioned in previous stories, we live on a lake in the Hiawatha National Forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. On a spring day, my wife Linda, had taken the paddle boat and was fishing along shore. She was fishing with worms for panfish and bass. She had hooked a bass about a foot long and was reeling it in when a northern pike grabbed it. The pike was about three feet long.

I was working in the garage when I heard her yelling for me to bring a dip net. She was paddling for the dock with the pike in tow. The pike amazingly still had the bass clamped in it’s jaws. She maneuvered the boat and pike close to the dock. As the pike swam near the dock, I swooped it up along with the bass into the dip net .

As I lifted it free…

It promised to be a fun day for my wife Linda and myself. We were heading out on Lake Superior in our twenty-one foot Starcraft cuddy cabin. We were going to run up along the Pictured Rocks coast toward Grand Marais. It is a beautiful area with high colored cliffs, waterfalls, rock towers such as Miners Castle and Chapel Rock. We always enjoy the scenery and take too many pictures. Today was overcast so it would not be a good day for taking pictures. Yesterday I had checked the weather forecast for today. Prediction was for overcast conditions with two to three foot waves. Not ideal conditions, but we had been looking forward to today, it would be okay. Before the day was over I would regret not getting a more up-to-date forecast.

We were several miles out when conditions suddenly changed. The wind picked up from out of the…

   It was pitch dark as we returned from a day of military maneuvers. This was a tactical exercise, so no lights were allowed. Days begin early in the military and all I wanted was to crawl into my pup tent and go to sleep.

    The night before I had hurriedly erected my tent over a tarantula hole. We were bivouacking in tall weeds and brush. Tarantulas were everywhere. I had pounded the hole shut. Spread my poncho on the ground, since our tents didn’t have floors. Rolled out my sleeping bag and went to sleep.

    We were in Puerto Rico training on a National Guard base. This base no longer exists, but at that time it was tarantula paradise. Tarantulas holes were everywhere. These holes were easy to distinguish by the web that lined the holes. You could wiggle a piece of grass or stick and the entrance and they…

   I have owned many hunting dogs over the years. These included retrievers, pointers, and hounds. My first dog was given to me as a pup, by my grandmother. I thought that it had the look of a coon hound. I had friends that hunted coons with hounds and it sounded like fun. Actually Brownie was just a mutt. When he grew up he resembles a Labrador retriever only smaller and brown. Brownie was my buddy and companion growing up. He would protect my siblings and I, when we would ride our bikes past the neighbor’s dogs. He would never hesitate to tackle any dog that came after us regardless of it’s size.

    Having a pet was alright, but I wanted a hunting dog. Particularly a coon hunting dog. Brownie loved to hunt, but he never showed any interest in raccoons. I even took him hunting with other guys and…