By T. Edward Nickens

It's a little odd that Stevens Recreational Camp was established just a month after the stock market crash of '29. Maybe it's because Drummond Island is so remote, the news hadn't yet arrived to the big deer woods of Michigan. Maybe it's because the U.P.'s "Yoopers" lived so close to the land they were more likely to put stock into a big garden and a centerfire rifle, things more tangible than a bank statement.

Or maybe it's because Opening Day of deer season in Michigan was coming up, and nobody much cared about anything else. That's what I figured. That's what I found.

The largest U.S. island in the Great Lakes, Drummond Island, Michigan is a part of the United States only because of a wrong turn taken by a U.S. and British survey ship after the War of 1812. But it's no accident that I headed to Drummond in mid-November to check out one of the Upper Peninsula's most historic-and intriguing-deer camps. You can read the story of the camp's history and heritage in an upcoming issue of Field & Stream. But the hunting was unforgettable, as well.