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Well, this is supposed to be a blog about whitetails. Wish I could see one. Seriously, the Michigan archery season is now a week old. And, in a word, it stinks. The weather has been dismal. Tonight was the first really good night in terms of weather and I had one incredibly frustrating evening.

On the way into a stand that we've been saving for the perfect situation -- a night like this -- my cameraman and I spotted my stand in a tree. A tree that we did not hang the stand in. That's right, someone had not only taken our stand and climbing sticks, they'd actually repositioned them for their own use in another area. And this on a parcel we were told was not being hunted. Welcome to Michigan. With more than 300,000 bowhunters, finding your own space is almost impossible. Yes, it's frustrating. Yes, I'm steamed. But what can I do? Not hunting simply isn't an option.

Tonight was not the first time this season that things have gone awry. Two nights ago, a couple of friends hunted a new piece of ground that looked very promising. Again, we were told by the landowner that we would be the only ones hunting. Wrong. Upon arriving at the land, we saw a truck parked in the lane. Moments later, two hunters showed up on their ATVs and began covering the property in search of a small buck they had shot. As you can imagine, that spot just fell way down on the list of potential areas for tagging a mature buck.

So what's the gameplan? Well, the first thing I plan to do is sacrifice a weekend morning and "scout" for other hunters. Places that are being hunted will be crossed off the list. Those that aren't will get my full attention for the rest of the season. You can't kill a mature buck in an area where one doesn't live. And I can promise you that any areas being heavily pressured this early in the season no longer have mature bucks living on them. My goal is to find that one area that's not being pressured. I will then speed-scout the place, find the most likely funnel that I can and hang a stand. Then I'll return only when the conditions are right. Unfortunately, that means I likely will not be hunting any "good" areas for another three weeks. Yes, it's tough to wait that long. But not waiting means I'm going to ruin my odds before I really have a chance.

Stay tuned. Something good is bound to happen right?

Tony Hansen, Michigan