Jake Baker stepped out to hunt on opening day Saturday to try his luck.
After only a few hours, he was loading up a beautiful buck in the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. Baker, a Colorado resident, moved to northern Michigan only a few months ago, and struck his best deer yet on M-22, just north of Port Oneida.
“That’s the best deer I’ve ever shot,” Baker said.
Baker shot an unofficial 9-point from 60-yards out.
“I personally have never cared (the size) because if it’s going to go on the wall, it’s just going to be on the wall. It’s going to be beautiful. I don’t care what the score is ... It adds a little character,” Baker said.
Baker paid an out-of-state tag ($140) and will have to cough up a little more if he wants another one ($190).
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Park Ranger Nate Mazurek stopped by and checked out the buck for himself, with all legalities being checked off. It was the first time Mazurek had seen a successful hunt during firearm season in 2025.
Baker has been hunting this area sporadically with a bow and had a spot mapped out during the preseason. He came the day or two before to make sure he had shooting lanes.
“I came there this morning in the dark and thought I was in the right spot, and I wasn’t. I had to shift down. I was nervous because if you shift, the deer might see it, but I hadn’t seen him yet. I did the shift, and about an hour and a half into daylight, I sat down for no more than five minutes in the right spot,” Baker said. “There’s a game trail that I mapped out two days ago, and I saw signs along this trail, and it was a really worn trail,” Baker said.
Baker figured that the deer were moving along that, and he was right.
“It was a 60-yard shot, right in the heart. This was great because I’ve had a couple of rough ones before, where you miss or you hit them in the butt. I’m happy he was down. It’s surprising, the deer probably ran 75 to 100 yards, even though his heart had exploded ... I’m happy that he didn’t suffer anything.”
Baker grew up hunting with his dad in Pennsylvania and admits he didn’t initially love it.
After college, there was an 8-year period during which Baker didn’t hunt at all.
“After moving to Colorado, I got back into it, and I started flying home to Pittsburgh, and then I was with my dad every year and fell in love with it again,” Baker said. “Hunting reminds me of my childhood ... I always like hunting by myself, and even if you don’t see a deer, it’s about what you do see (nature) ... Get off your phone.”
