Wolves, Science and Emotion

By Glen Wunderlich

When it comes to wildlife management, common sense dictates that such matters are best left to states’ control as opposed to that of federal agencies.  But, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) doesn’t agree and will stop at nothing to further its agenda against hunting and has filed a federal lawsuit to drag us all into the mud, once again.  This time around, its focus is on Michigan’s wolves. Read more

Sportsmen’s Organizations Defend the Scientific Delisting of the Western Great Lakes Wolf Populations

Washington, D.C. – Hunters and advocates for sustainable wildlife management are joining together to fight a legal challenge to the delisting of wolves of the Western Great Lakes.  The large collaboration is a unique endeavor for national and regional organizations who recognize wolves as recovered in the Midwestern United States and who strive to make certain that management of the predator species remains with state wildlife authorities.

The national hunter-conservationist organizations include the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF), Safari Club International (SCI), , and the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF); the regional sportsmen’s organizations include the Michigan Hunting Dog Federation, the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, the Upper Peninsula Bear Houndsmen Association, Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, and the Wisconsin Bowhunters Association. Collectively these organizations speak for those who hunt wolves, deer, moose, elk, and other game species and who seek to make sure that hunting remains part of sustainable management and conservation strategies for all wildlife. Read more

Don’t Miss Your Chance to Hunt Wild Turkey This Spring in Michigan

Didn’t have time to apply for a spring turkey license? Options are still available. The first is to purchase a Hunt 234 license, a statewide hunting license valid for all open areas, except public lands in Unit ZZ (southern Lower Peninsula). Hunters who did not apply for a license earlier this year can still purchase a Hunt 234 license until May 1. After May 1, Hunt 234 licenses will be available only to those who applied. Read more

Beavers: Not in My Backyard!

By Glen Wunderlich

When we think rodent, most of us may envision mice, rats, squirrels or 10-pound groundhogs.  But, what if rodents grew to 50 pounds or more and lived right here in Shiawassee County?  Well, lock your doors; they’re here!

Castor Canadensis is even known to kill humans, as evidenced this month when a fisherman in Belarus, Russia bled to death after being attacked and bitten by one, which severed an artery in his leg.  If you’ve yet to picture the beast, it also goes by the moniker of North American beaver.

Weeks ago I discovered a poplar limb cleanly stripped of its bark lying alongside the Osborn Drain near home.  Closer inspection revealed it had been chewed off by a beaver. I walked the edge of the waterway looking for more clues such as a dam or lodge but none was found, so I blew it off.

Weeks later, when a number of poplars were found chewed off at the water’s edge, my concern grew.

Poplar cut by beaver

Poplar cut by beaver

We’ve got enough flooding already with all the spring rain and a beaver dam would be less than welcome.  Oh, I know how useful the busy buggers are to the ecosystem by maintaining wetlands, but aren’t humans already required to do so by law?

A few years ago, the DNR had to remove them from the same drainage, because some homeowners’ needed a boat to get to their front door. Read more

1 37 38 39 40 41 60