Took a walk at noon today  and bumped into two self-proclaimed  missionaries in black suits and ties wanting to talk about whatever. Told them thanks, but no thanks. Shanny wasn’t in the least interested.

Most of my work and chores are caught up, so I thought I’d continue the DNR reports.

November 16 I drove from Gaylord to Traverse City to Meet CO Mike Borkovich, who saw two 18-wheelers get into an accident en route and was late as a result. His truck back was coated with blood from five illegal bucks and a pair of illegal does confiscated on opening day. Nobody was hurt in the truck wreck, which was all that mattered. Borkovich’s colleagues sometimes call him 36/24 –  meaning he seems to squeeze 36 hours of results out of each 24-hour day. I nicknamed him “The Force.” He works with remarkable intensity, which shows in his great PR skills and in his analytical abilities.

Jumping off, we wended our way through the orchards and hills of Leelanau County, which is one of the most beautiful and scenic in the state. Seven years ago Borkovich helped initiate voluntary Quality Deer Management.  The people in the county believe in this method. Like hunters in other counties they reported fewer deer and fewer does, but the bucks they were seeing and bagging were big and that’s what QDM aims for. Mike moved from taxidermists to meat processors to private hunting camps, talking and  extracting information and leads, analyzing things he heard. . People seemed remarkably happy to see him. The largest deer we saw taken was rough scored at 145 and he checked dozens over 100 in the first two days and took photos of each, all of which will go in the local newspaper, where he maintains good relationships.

Midday we were closest to a possible house-breaking and rolled in, but could not locate suspects based on the information we had, and we got there less than one minute after the radio report. We then checked minnow runs in various creeks including some with emerald shiners (Notropis atherinoides) also called blues and other things. The blue run spring and fall, and biologists aren’t sure why. The minnows are considered to be topnotch bait . The minnows congregate such that you can scoop 2200 – 2300 per gallon scoop and they sell at bait shops for $3.50 a dozen, so the potential  profit is quite enticing and this attracts rat activity. Mike makes several busts yearly, and gladly leaves deer enforcement to bust minnow thieves. He has caught some emptying the river with pumps! The main natural threat to the minnows are otters, whose feces litter the bank and are so full of fish scales the scat is silver.

We moved from there to a place where we looked to locate a felon’s blind, but it had been moved and we backed out of heavy cover to the truck to keep moving.

As sunset approached we turned up a paved roach toward a scenic overview and there encountered a male and female road hunting and trespassing. Mike has been “looking” for the male for three years and this night was the night. Both hunters got tickets.

We went to check another creek for minnow runs and ended up using flashlights to pick up small Petoskey stones. After leaving there we got a radio BOL for a man from another part of the state, who might be suicidal and might be headed to Sleeping Bear Dunes. We then commenced to patrol, looking for the vehicle, but no contact.

We were in and out of the truck dozens of times during the day and by the time I got to my room, I was gassed.

The rendezvous the next morning was at 0700. Mike immediately reported that the Troops found the potential sucide’s vehicle parked at Sleeping Bear at 0130 and put the K9 on the track at 0300, but so far no results. The Coast Guard out of T.C. was standing by to launch at first light. They couldn’t fly at night because nobody knew how or if the missing man was armed and what his intentions might be other than what had been reported.

We arrive at the parking lot and I see a huge  “SHAYNA”written in the sand by someone’s footprints.

The chopper came overhead at 0800 and within a few sweeps reported seeing a body face down. Borkovich earlier told me if this was the man, he’d probably be on a scenic overlook, facing the lake.

He was.

Troops, Mike, local EMS, and Leelanau County Sheriff’s Department, and National Park Service personnel met in the lot to organize what would come next.  Locating and examining the person for health condition.

Mike and a Troop officer named Bloom headed up into the dunes for a 1.25 – 1.5 mile hike. A steep and exacting one.

The K-9 officer Chris McKowski and her partner for the effort Peterson also headed for a rendevous in the sand.

EMS personnel went in from another location.

After awhile the victim was located, death established and a plan assembled to move the victim. The Coast Guard landed in the parking lot while the foot search went on and the pilot agreed to take the victim in a basket to Traverse City and transfer him to authorities there.

Plan made, the chopper’s swimmer roped down to prepare for the evacuation.

The chopper headed for T.C. with it’s sad cargo and all the rest of us resumed patrols. Suicide is a permanent solution for what is often a temporary problem. All this fall I have been amazed by all the chatter on radios in various counties of suicidal individuals. Is it the times? Not enough data or experience to judge. But it’s mind-jarring.

Mike tells me he works so many nights sometimes that his wife complains that she feels like she’s living with a vampire.

He also talks about chasing some guy who Forest Gumped it [ran in panic] into the woods.

Borkovich takes me to an apple orchard where the ground is literally covered with tons of apples and tons more hang on trees. The landowner can hunt over those fruits legal. 75 yards outside the orchard, if a hunter puts down a couple of gallons of bait, he’s illegal and will get a large ticket for baiting. Our baiting laws make some sense IF nose-to-nose contact is the way cervid diseases are spread. From my reading, the science is far from certain, and ironically, conservation officers who started years ago writing tickets for offenders intent of shrinking the herd for their own benefit, now must write tickets to people who feed deer to keep it alive and growing. It’s a strange full 180-degree turn. This of course simplifies the situation, but it does help make one stop and think.

Mike also tells me about a young man caught and convicted of taking deer illegally and when Mike later bumps into him the man is in tears. Everywhere he goes in the county, people are shunning him and greeting him with “You must be that asshole poacher!” The rejection is causing him to come apart emotionally.

We pass farms with maraschino cherry brine and the pukessence is second only to fermenting tapioca. Too much time in either fug will leaving you blowing cookies with industrial strength velocity.

We get a complaint of trespass and check into a blind set beside a grass runway. We interview a man who says he has permission, but he doesn’t and because it’s not clear what is private or township property, Mike decides to way and verify ownership before making a decision on what to do. No rush to judgment in this officer.

At dark we hear a call of a drunk in a beer store and we intercept him heading out of town running as high as 71 mph through an extremely curvy stretch and when he skids into a driveway we block him from behind and two county Deps arrive right behind us to take care of it and take the man to jail, where he belongs.

We cruise by a couple of places where illegal deer have been reported and take some photos of untagged deer hanging and Mike drops me 15 hours after picking me up.

Next in the series, Oscoda and Crawford Counties.

To repeat:  I do not reveal all details in these reports and no suspect’s identities because cases have not yet been adjudicated. I also leave out a lot of details most people might find extremely upsetting in their graphic reality. Enjoy the photos. Our COs work mostly alone in isolated places amongst many questionably human beings. Officers walk the talk, and deserve our respect. Over.