Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
DNR shares 2020 deer hunting preview, regional outlook
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has released its annual deer hunting preview just ahead of the 2020 seasons, opening with this weekend’s Liberty Hunt (Sept. 12-13) for youth and hunters with disabilities. Overall, conditions are looking excellent for the upcoming seasons, and hunters can expect conditions that meet or exceed 2019. Read more
COLUMBUS, GA — ? Hunt or fish in comfort, even in the coldest of conditions, with the help of the new G-Tech Heated Pouch in Realtree EDGE camo. Designed with precision, quality and care, the G-Tech Heated Pouch offers revolutionary portable hand warmth when temperatures dip, so you can stay out there longer, increasing your odds for success. For a limited time, you can buy one G-Tech Heated Pouch and get the second 50% off.
Using a lightweight, long-lasting battery, the patented G-Tech Heating Technology featured within the pouch heats your hands so you can create circulation that increases your entire core body temperature.
G-Tech’s Heating Technology, which is a flexible grip similar to a heated steering wheel, offers the fastest, hottest, most-concentrated heat directly to your hands. You can prevent the heat from escaping your hands by holding on to the Heated Handle Bar inside the pouch. The Therma-adjust button allows you to cycle through three different heat settings (high, medium and low). Read more
SALMON, Idaho (Sept. 8, 2020) — SneakyHunter Hikers Bootlamps – essentially, headlamps for your feet – eliminate many of the problems with conventional headlamps and hand-held flashlights. When wearing a headlamp, talking to your companions becomes an issue when you face them and inadvertently blind them by shining your light directly into their eyes, destroying their night vision for up to 45 minutes. Also, many hikers face depth perception issues when using a light source above the waist.
SneakyHunter Hiker Bootlamps are a unique invention, not a knockoff of a product already on the market, and are perfect for a myriad of outdoor activities by providing new solutions to common problems experienced with headlamps and flashlights. They stabilize your visual perception by keeping the light low to the ground. They place your lighting as far from your face as possible, offering more relief on your eyes. The lights operate using three AAA batteries and have three settings – white, for general hiking; red, for hiking with a soft light that will not spook animals; and green, which offers less eyestrain over time. You activate them by simply pushing the button on top – one click for white, two clicks for red, three clicks for green. The lid is rated as highly water resistant. They’re attached to your boot via an easy-to-use 18-inch long, 1-inch wide elastic cinch strap. The hook and loop strap is placed under your instep, and the two prongs on the front of the unit are slipped under your boot or shoelaces, resulting in a slip-proof attachment. The unit is made so that when it is mounted in the proper position, the light will shine where you’ll be walking. Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association
Attracting and holding wildlife requires a few basic ingredients: food, cover, and water. Fortunately, most Michigan deer hunters have little trouble locating habitat that produces at least one of these necessities, and therefore, whitetail deer. However, if one wants an edge, food plots can tip the scales. In the process of establishing these magnetic environments, things don’t always go as planned.
To minimize the use of herbicides is a worthy goal for many reasons; to do so takes work. Herbicides, such as glyphosate, have the ability to cut time afield, as opposed to tilling repeatedly from spring to planting time in August for fall food plots. Applying only one spray before planting would mean I’d have to count on my 72 year-old Ford 8n tractor to do its part.
The work began in early spring before the weeds were able to fight back. The old tractor has a weak battery that should have been replaced long ago, but my innate cheapness coaxes it to cooperate with the assistance of a trickle charger. Two of the tires need a shot of air. Check, check.
Out to the field where the 6-foot disk harrow would chop, cut, and pummel the weeds into oblivion – at least for a little while. The process would be repeated numerous times through spring and summer before the weeds gained an upper hand. Along the way, fertilizer and lime were broadcast
1956 Allis Chalmers IB with rigged spreader
and allowed to break down well in advance of planting time.
Unfortunately, my ATV is temporarily out of commission, so I called on another old tractor to step up. My 1956 Allis Chalmers IB is an industrial tractor, not typically suited for field use, but I’d have to give it a go to keep on schedule. After all, it’s the only machine I have that can power the electric motor of the spreader with its 12-volt configuration. With a bit of redneck engineering, it worked as planned – not counting the soft soil where the turf tires almost failed to plod through.
To seed the first part of August means a certain amount of management is in order to pull it off.
A look at turnip seed inside the hand spreader
One last disk operation in July followed by some finer grooming with drag implements made to “fit” the field were successful.
Then, it was time to wait for the weeds to germinate, so they could be zapped with the glyphosate. The idea was to get the field as “clean” as possible. Again, the old Allis was rigged with a sprayer sitting atop a carrier attached to the receiver. To make the sprayer fan out properly, it had to be at the correct height. Success was gained again and the job was complete on August 1st.
Once the spray was dry, I became the motor for a broadcast seed spreader strapped onto my shoulders and walked the plots and cranked the handle. Then, before the pending rain washed out our plans, my pal, Joe, pulled an 8-foot cultipacker behind the old Ford and pushed the seed into the soil.
The timing couldn’t have been better, as Mother Nature pitched in with the missing ingredient: rain. Although we’ve had some hot and dry weather since, enough of the precious liquid from above has made this attempt at farming a success, as evidenced by the healthy brassicas. Believe it or not, the seed had begun germinating in less than 48 hours and nothing will stop it now – except those nibbling deer. But, that’s the whole idea.
Brassica foliage trimmed by deer. Plants less than one month old.
If you harvested an otter during the 2019 trapping season you can now schedule an appointment at a DNR furbearer registration station to bring your otter in to be sealed.
2019 otters must be registered by Oct. 2, 2020. Read more
This year, 57,162 hunters applied for either a preference point or bear license, and 7,080 bear licenses were awarded.
Check drawing results and get the information you need to be ready for bear season at Michigan.gov/Bear.
By Rachel Coale
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Difference between a great day in the forest and a scary one comes down to planning
Ron Swanson, a fictional character from the quirky TV comedy “Parks and Rec,” is known for his firm ideas about enjoying the outdoors: “There is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing and means of transportation.”
We’re inclined to agree with the spirit of his statement, although we don’t recommend hitting the trail in stormy weather.
Preparing for everything from a bee sting to a bear sighting is the best way to have an enjoyable adventure, especially if you’re heading into the wilder side of Michigan’s public lands – state forests.
State forests are rugged areas with few amenities, smaller crowds than other outdoor attractions and more to explore. How much more? Michigan’s state forests, at 3.85 million acres, have more than six times the space of our state parks and game areas combined.
State forests are mostly located in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula – “knuckles north” on your trusty Michigan mitten hand-map.
For some, these areas are a peaceful place to connect with nature, while for others, they offer a thrilling challenge to hike, mountain bike or horseback ride.
Here’s the lowdown on preparing for some of the hazards you might face on a state forest adventure. The list includes all-around tips for newbies who are just getting started and reminders for veteran outdoor enthusiasts to restock their kits. Read more
Muzzy Pheasant Farm
1210 N. Durand Road
Corunna, MI 48817
The Flint River Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation presents this event, which includes a safety orientation, clay bird shooting, a mentored pheasant hunt, and bird cleaning and preparation.
The cost is $50 and includes two birds released per person, lunch and an orange hat. Register online at NWTF.org/Events.
Contact Steve Sharp at 517-930-0947 for more information.
Although this is an outdoor program and proper social distancing of at least 6 feet is required, participants still are encouraged to wear face coverings as an added precaution.
DANVILLE, Ala. — There are all kinds of hand warmers available on the market, but none compare to Hunter Safety System’s new Heated Muff Pak. It works by heating coils with any USB battery. It can heat up in less than two minutes and lasts for up to five hours depending on the battery charging capacity.
The USB battery powered heating system gently provides warmth and comfort for your hands while you enjoy the cozy, ultra-soft polar fleece lining of the muff’s interior. Whether you are in a treestand hunting, outside at a sporting event or waiting in line for concert tickets, the Hunter Safety System Heated Muff Pak will keep you comfortable in the most extreme weather conditions.
The new Muff-Pak has been ingeniously designed with four pockets to keep important items right at your fingertips: two zipper pockets and an accessory pocket in the front, and a large mesh bellow pocket on the back. The web belt makes it portable so you can take it anywhere you go and it adjusts to accommodate multiple layers of clothing with adjustment ranging from 34 inches up to 49 inches. An included 11-inch expansion strap brings the maximum adjustment length up to 60 inches. Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association
After receiving an email from Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) reminding me of my last chance to be heard on various conservation policies, I dared to peek into the matter before blowing it off. Since MUCC’s annual convention has been canceled, its board and staff have invited all members to review and to vote on myriad resolutions, which have the potential to become not only proposals, but hunting regulations, if adopted by the Natural Resources Commission (NRC). While the survey itself is not a voting document, the results will be aggregated by region and provided to delegates and representatives who will represent all of the Individual members in various regions – a virtual conference, if you will.
Here is one example – and, an important one for us all that will be put on the table: MUCC will support a three-year trial of a regulation that would include an antlerless tag with combination license (3 tags total), which will include two bucks and one antlerless deer in units where antlerless harvest is valid.
If ever Michigan is to reduce the over-abundance of whitetail deer, it will have to change its policies, because the status quo has failed. For too many years, our deer herd has been managed for sheer numbers; however, nobody has ever found the “off switch” to our self-inflicted predicament of too many deer.
Part of the challenge has been to convince the older generation of hunters to take antlerless deer; I’m not sure it has ever sunk in. However, as a new generation of hunters enters the hunting community, the appeal to manage the herd for health and balance may become more genuine, if tags are at no additional cost. Obviously, that doesn’t necessarily mean that this one step will get Michigan’s deer herd to numbers that will significantly reduce vehicle/deer collisions or will it necessarily reduce crop damage substantially for farmers, but it certainly could help.
Each deer tag filled has the potential to minimize costs to consumers, because each vehicle that avoids a collision with a deer saves on average approximately $3,000 each. Oh, but Glen, insurance pays for the damage. True. But, we must remember that ultimately the consumer pays in increased premiums. Insurance companies are building skyscrapers with our premiums that are inflated to cover expenses. And, if you drive a vehicle, you pay. If you don’t drive a vehicle, you still pay the rates, which are buried in the cost of doing business for those that drive anything anywhere.
The proposal may not go far enough to significantly alter outcomes, though. Why not give an antlerless tag to a hunter that purchases only one tag for antlered deer in affected areas? And, if that’s too far-fetched, maybe cutting the cost to $10 or even $5 for an antlerless tag would keep the momentum going in the proper direction.
One thing is for certain: If we keep on doing what we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting the same results.