SCI Lansing Whitetail Night 2026
The evening of January 23rd was very cold with temperatures falling to -20F. However, the cold did not affect our attendance or member enthusiasm!
Eagle Eye Banquet Center did not disappoint with a hearty buffet dinner of braised short ribs and crusted salmon. Choices of several sides were available and the meal was topped off with white chocolate raspberry cheesecake!
The guest speaker, Dr. Jim Brauker, the CEO of Extreme Deer Habitat shared his findings from years of study regarding scent control. Effects of human scent in hunting whitetail deer and methods to control scent he presented were informative. Some of his information was so out-of-the-box it brought humor to the event.
Every successful deer hunter/huntress that attended received a ticket for a Grizzly cooler drawing. Raffle tickets were sold for two different drawings a .350 Legend and a Springfield .22 and were generously purchased by attendees.
The team of antler measures consisted of Jeff Swehla, Ron Lanford, Mike Leonard, Terry Braden, and John Kupiec. As usual the measures had a busy night.
The highest scoring antlers by category were impressive.
Michigan Firearm. Dennis Young: 154 1/8
Michigan Archery. Joshua Tolbert: 142 3/8
Michigan Crossbow. John Kupiec: 165 2/8
Out of State (Iowa): John Kupiec 165 2/8
Estate: Dick Lowe: 221 2/8
John Kupiec’ss deer season was an extreme anomaly taking two 13 point 165 2/8 bucks! What are the odds of that happening? A Holly Township Michigan buck killed with his crossbow on November 11th with double drop tines that would have even scored higher if the right tine was not broken off. John filled another tag with a stud on January 2nd in Clark County Iowa with his Johnston muzzle loader.
Check out the grip & grin pictures of both bucks and a trail camera picture of the Michigan buck before the tine was broken off. Very cool.
John serves as the President of the SCI MIC (Michigan Involvement Committee) and his commitment to SCI, Family, and Faith is admirable.
John recently completed taking the North American 29 hunting a Polar Bear is the Canadian Arctic. Successfully hunting the 29 Big Game Animals of North America takes a tremendous commitment and dedication of finances, time and strength both physical and mental.
Thank you John for everything you do for SCI and congratulations on this great hunting accomplishment!
