KINROSS -- If I were Tami Beseau, I'd run right out of my office at
the Chippewa County Airport and hop the first Mesaba Airlines jet
to Las Vegas.
The self-described "born and raised Yooper gal" and 47-year-old
mother of three took a 7-point buck on the opening day of the
firearms deer season. Six weeks earlier, she killed a bear after she
was among the successful applicants to win a tag in the bear lottery.
But what should really convince her that she's on a winning streak
is the 6-by-5 bull elk that she took Dec. 8 in the northern Lower
Peninsula after she was among 168 people to get an elk tag out of
33,800 who applied.
The success rate in the bear lottery is about 20% on a statewide
average. In the elk lottery it's only 0.49%.
Lisa Jackson, the lottery hunt drawing coordinator for the
Department of Natural Resources, said that a handful of people get
both bear and elk tags in the same year, mainly because the kind
of people who apply for one tag are likely to apply for the other,
"but the odds of getting both are minuscule."
Beseau moved from Strongs in the Upper Peninsula to Belleville in
the southern Lower when she was 18 and couldn't wait to get away
from home. One weekend, when she was back in the UP visiting
family at Strongs, she worked as a waitress in a local bar for a
couple of days to pay for some unanticipated car repairs. "This
young guy was there and asked me for a date, but I told him,
'Sorry, I live 365 miles from here.' He said, 'Hey, so do I,' and that
was how I met my husband, Steve. His family was from the UP and
had moved downstate to the Detroit area."
Beseau said she and Steve decided to move back to the UP
because "it was a great place to raise our kids (Steve Jr., 26; Holly,
23, and Derek, 20). If my kid wanted to spend the night at Johnny's
house, I didn't have to do a background check on his parents
because I already knew them.
"This whole hunting thing never came into play until I married Steve
in 1978 and we moved back north," she said. "He started hunting
rabbits and squirrels with a .22, and then he met an older
gentleman, Jim Patrick, who had moved up from Lapeer and got
Steve into deer hunting.
the Chippewa County Airport and hop the first Mesaba Airlines jet
to Las Vegas.
The self-described "born and raised Yooper gal" and 47-year-old
mother of three took a 7-point buck on the opening day of the
firearms deer season. Six weeks earlier, she killed a bear after she
was among the successful applicants to win a tag in the bear lottery.
But what should really convince her that she's on a winning streak
is the 6-by-5 bull elk that she took Dec. 8 in the northern Lower
Peninsula after she was among 168 people to get an elk tag out of
33,800 who applied.
The success rate in the bear lottery is about 20% on a statewide
average. In the elk lottery it's only 0.49%.
Lisa Jackson, the lottery hunt drawing coordinator for the
Department of Natural Resources, said that a handful of people get
both bear and elk tags in the same year, mainly because the kind
of people who apply for one tag are likely to apply for the other,
"but the odds of getting both are minuscule."
Beseau moved from Strongs in the Upper Peninsula to Belleville in
the southern Lower when she was 18 and couldn't wait to get away
from home. One weekend, when she was back in the UP visiting
family at Strongs, she worked as a waitress in a local bar for a
couple of days to pay for some unanticipated car repairs. "This
young guy was there and asked me for a date, but I told him,
'Sorry, I live 365 miles from here.' He said, 'Hey, so do I,' and that
was how I met my husband, Steve. His family was from the UP and
had moved downstate to the Detroit area."
Beseau said she and Steve decided to move back to the UP
because "it was a great place to raise our kids (Steve Jr., 26; Holly,
23, and Derek, 20). If my kid wanted to spend the night at Johnny's
house, I didn't have to do a background check on his parents
because I already knew them.
"This whole hunting thing never came into play until I married Steve
in 1978 and we moved back north," she said. "He started hunting
rabbits and squirrels with a .22, and then he met an older
gentleman, Jim Patrick, who had moved up from Lapeer and got
Steve into deer hunting.
Beseau's elk field dressed at 580
pounds, and she said that while "the
hide and horns of the animals are a
bonus, I really do it for the meat we put
in the freezer. I'm very careful about
the shots I take. I'm a very humane
person, and I don't want to have to
shoot anything twice." Beseau said her
husband has been extremely
supportive, even though it means
taking more than his share of razzing
about his wife's successes from other
male hunters, "but he handles it with no
trouble. He just kind of sighs and
shrugs it off."
The 7-pointer she took this fall was her
10th buck, and it also was her first
experience of field dressing a deer,
because "I got it early in the morning,
the guys were probably going to be
staying in the woods until dark and I
was all alone. So I decided to do it
myself."
But she prefers leaving things like that
to her husband, saying, "Pulling the
trigger is the easy part. But when it
comes to the other stuff, I'm just a girl."
pounds, and she said that while "the
hide and horns of the animals are a
bonus, I really do it for the meat we put
in the freezer. I'm very careful about
the shots I take. I'm a very humane
person, and I don't want to have to
shoot anything twice." Beseau said her
husband has been extremely
supportive, even though it means
taking more than his share of razzing
about his wife's successes from other
male hunters, "but he handles it with no
trouble. He just kind of sighs and
shrugs it off."
The 7-pointer she took this fall was her
10th buck, and it also was her first
experience of field dressing a deer,
because "I got it early in the morning,
the guys were probably going to be
staying in the woods until dark and I
was all alone. So I decided to do it
myself."
But she prefers leaving things like that
to her husband, saying, "Pulling the
trigger is the easy part. But when it
comes to the other stuff, I'm just a girl."
Tami Beseau of Kinross had an amazing
Michigan fall, killing a 150-pound black
bear, left, a 7-point whitetail buck,
above, and a 6-by-5 bull elk, far left. She
was lucky just to get tags in the lotteries
for both the bear and elk seasons.
(Photos courtesy of TAMI BESEAU)
Michigan fall, killing a 150-pound black
bear, left, a 7-point whitetail buck,
above, and a 6-by-5 bull elk, far left. She
was lucky just to get tags in the lotteries
for both the bear and elk seasons.
(Photos courtesy of TAMI BESEAU)
Eric Sharp
Published December 14. 2006 3:00AM
Published December 14. 2006 3:00AM
"Jim had a real good area for deer, and when he
stopped hunting, he gave it to us. Steve
encouraged"me to hunt, and I loved it. I had more time
for it than he had, too, so a lot of times I've been deer
hunting and called him at work and said, 'I got one.
We've got some work to do when you get home tonight.' "
stopped hunting, he gave it to us. Steve
encouraged"me to hunt, and I loved it. I had more time
for it than he had, too, so a lot of times I've been deer
hunting and called him at work and said, 'I got one.
We've got some work to do when you get home tonight.' "
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Lucky lady a three-time winner - Outdoors Magazine 2006
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