Stories by Mike Tontimonia

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Boating into new year with shows, options

Boaters! Start you engines. Yeah, sure, with a foot of ice on every lake, temperatures cold enough to freeze a bad word in midair, and stored boats deep in hibernation mode, it’s hard to talk boating. But that’s exactly what happens this week as the Cleveland Boat Show opens for a ten-day run of boats, [...]

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Great Lakes offers great opportunities for anglers in 2011

It will be interesting to see what the Great Lakes offer fishermen during the coming months. If last summer serves as a predictor, there will be good news and bad news depending on where, when, and what. For instance, walleye fishing in Lake Erie, the most productive of all the Great Lakes, has been on [...]

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Hunting deer is necessary to keep herds healthy

According to figures just released by the Ohio Division of Wildlife, hunters killed 21,064 deer during the two day bonus weekend gun season held Dec. 18- 19. So far this fall and early winter, 210,361 deer have been taken by archers and gun hunters, down slightly from last year’s 227,748 total for the same time [...]

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When deciding how to mount a deer, it’s wise to be picky

Whether it’s a 12- or 14-point monster, probably the trophy of a lifetime or a spindly fork horn, perhaps the very first deer taken by a beginning hunter, it may deserve a spot on the wall. According to Portage County taxidermist Paul Fedorchak, the only thing that ought to earn any deer a trip to [...]

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A few basics result in great pictures

Memories are forever. If however, a picture reminding one of that great memory exists, it’s even better. Thus, every hunter, angler, hiker and outdoor enthusiast ought to be armed and somewhat familiar with a decent digital camera. A camera small enough for a handy inside pocket and loaded with an unfilled memory card and fully [...]

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I still have a lot to be thankful for in life

On this week and day of Thanksgiving, we all have so much to be thankful for. As our family sits down to a bountiful dinner, I am given to thoughts about the last several months. Our family has been blessed in so many ways, with each blessing overshadowing the setbacks, injuries, and problems. Shoulder surgery [...]

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Best advice for a Western elk hunt: Plan ahead

Yes you can. That’s the answer to the most asked question about western big game hunting. You can afford a western elk hunt in a quality area, in a comfortable camp, experience a horse and mule pack trip just like you’ve read about and dreamed about and honestly expect to see elk. Our choice for [...]

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Elusive bull elk gets hunt started

If there had been a couple rows of letters above his image, the distant bull elk would have illustrated the cover of any respectable outdoor magazine. I had seen the same image more than once in my dreams but this was no sleep time show, this bull was the real deal and he was cruising [...]

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Western elk hunt: Getting there was half the battle, and a lot of fun

Columnist and outdoors writer Mike Tontimonia takes readers along on a high country, western elk hunt.

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Farmers and hunters can feed millions

by Mike Tontimonia FHFH is the acronym for one of the area’s most beneficial exchanges, one that encourages hunters to harvest more deer, a primary goal of Ohio’s game managers and farmers, and assures that the excess of venison, a great source of low fat protein, finds its way to the table of hungry persons. [...]

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Dream hunt’s one guarantee: To be memorable.

By Mike Tontimonia The distance between Northeast Ohio and a remote mountain top campsite: Considerable but doable. This week is a travel week involving three days in a diesel pick-up truck and another on horseback. We left Monday morning well before dawn with Topeka, Kansas in our sights. The drive The truck is capped and [...]

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Fall is time to prepare boats for winter season

by Mike Tontimonia It’s time. Time that is, to put boats and motors to sleep for the winter. Do it right and your boat will last for extra years. Do it wrong or don’t do it at all and watch that prized piece of gear deteriorate dramatically. Clean the boat inside and out, scrub it, [...]

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About Mike

Mike Tontimonia has been writing weekly columns and magazine features about the outdoors for over 25 years, a career that continues to hold the same excitement for him as it did at the beginning. Mike is a retired educator, a licensed auctioneer, and marketing consultant. He lives in Ravenna, Ohio and enjoys spending time at his Carroll County cabin. Mike has hunted and fished in several states and Canada from the Carolinas to Alaska and from Idaho to Delaware. His readers have often commented that the stories about his adventures are about as close to being there as possible. He is past president of the Outdoor Writers of Ohio and a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. Mike is also very involved in his community as a school board member and a Rotarian.