Scott Westphal of Wildlife Unlimited of Iron County accepts a $200 donation from Jill Ponozzo of Wild Rivers Realty & Associates, Inc.. The monies will be used for WU’s handicapped/disabled hunter trailer project. WU will display its new trailer on Saturday, Oct. 20, the in Iron River and Crystal Falls areas. It can be viewed at Angeli Foods--Riverside Plaza parking lot in Iron River from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and at the Jubliee Foods parking lot in Crystal Falls from 1 to 3 p.m. (WRR photo)

Dan Lazzeroni of Laona, Wis., is pictured with a 49.5 -inch muskie taken in Iron County. The muskie was live-released. (Ziegler photo)

By Bill Ziegler for the Iron County Reporter
IRON COUNTY—We are fortunate to live in an area with numerous fishing and hunting opportunities.
Fall is the season when hunting and fishing overlap, making it sometimes difficult to fit in all of the desired activities. Muskie enthusiasts and creel data indicate that muskie fishing success picks up in the fall.

Wildlife Unlimited of Iron County’s handicapped/disabled hunter trailer is completed and will be on display in the area on Oct. 20. (WU photo)
IRON COUNTY—Wildlife Unlimited of Iron County will display its new handicapped accessible hunting trailer Saturday, Oct. 20, in the Iron River and Crystal Falls areas.
The trailer will be on display for viewing at Angeli Foods - Riverside Plaza parking lot in Iron River from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and at the Jubliee Foods parking lot in Crystal Falls from 1 to 3 p.m. The public is invited to visit and observe how the WU hunter trailer can accommodate disabled hunters.

IRON RIVER.—North America’s waterfowl and other wildlife species face more and more threats every day: habitat loss, predation, pollution, disease, and more.
With Ducks Unlimited, we’re working hard to identify the factors that limit our wildlife populations or design conservation programs that insure healthy wildlife for the future.

Phylisha Sheldon, 14, harvested a big 10-point buck during the Michigan Youth Deer Hunting season while hunting with her dad, Don. (Sheldon photo)

Youth hunters and their Wildlife Unlimited of Iron County hunting mentor/guides gather at Crystella Ski Hill for a luncheon and to share hunting stories. WU completed another successful hunting program with area youth during the 2012 Michigan Youth Hunt weekend of Sept. 22-23. After the first morning of hunting, there were four successful youth hunters. At the end of the weekend, 14 youths had bagged their deer. (WU photo) More youth hunt photos on this week’s Outdoors page.
IRON COUNTY—Wildlife Unlimited of Iron County completed another successful hunting program with area youth during the 2012 Michigan Youth Hunt weekend of Sept. 22-23.
 Twenty-six young hunters participated in Wildlife Unlimited’s mentored youth hunting program. Youth were paired up with mentor/guides and set up across Iron County.

Two bull moose were sighted and photographed over the past weekend in the Amasa area. One was spotted by a visiting bear hunter, Claude McClaine of Munising. The other moose was caught on a trail camera by Scott Westphal. Send Your Outdoor Observations to
outdoors@ironcountyreporter.com

Jacob DeNell scouted the buck for at least a week and it kept coming in to the game camera at the same time four days in a row – about 6:45-7:15 a.m. On the day of the Michigan Youth Hunt, Jacob and his father saw the deer come in at about 6:45 a.m. and it was sparring with another buck. At the time, there was about five deer in the field, three of which were bucks, and he shot the nine-pointer.  He was hunting in the Brule River area. (DeNell photo)

CHANNING—On Aug. 25, the Sagola Township Sportsmens Club hosted its third annual Combat Pistol Tournament.
 Shooters from across the Upper Peninsula and Northern Wisconsin were all invited and many shooters from the local area also attended.
 The event was divided into four scenarios.

Kaylee Gill was 3 years old when she went hand-in-hand out to the deer hunting blind with her grandfather, Larry Pifke, in their matching red and black plaid wool coats. Now, at 12 years old, she not only went out to that same blind with her “papa,” but came home with her first deer. Pifke, who has been mentoring youth for many years during the Wildlife Unlimited of Iron County Youth Hunt, finally got to take his granddaughter on one of the youth hunts. They hunted on the family land, which had been set up with a WU food plot. On Sept. 22, Kaylee made one shot at 40 yards with her Grandma Shirley’s .243 Winchester to harvest the spikehorn. Kaylee is the daughter of Chad and Lisa Gill of Iron River, and she says she is ready to go out again during the regular firearm deer season. (Pifke photos)