Today, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced that a third free-ranging deer in Meridian Township (Ingham County) has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD). The deer was a 5-year-old doe. All three CWD-positive deer detected thus far have been discovered within a mile of one another.

“As we stated with the second positive deer, this news is not surprising,” said Dr. Steve Schmitt, DNR wildlife veterinarian. “The good news is that all three deer came from the same small area.” Genetic analyses carried out by Michigan State University’s Molecular Ecology Laboratory indicate that all three positive animals were related as part of an extended family. Previous research has shown that CWD often is transmitted within family groups because of their close contact.

Hunters are critical to helping the DNR understand the prevalence and geographic distribution of the disease.

“We have focused our efforts thus far in the area around the first case,” Schmitt continued. ”We need individuals who have always hunted in Ingham County and surrounding counties to keep hunting. The DNR can’t fight this disease without their support. Hunters need to have their deer checked and tested so we can determine if this disease is established over a broad area or just persisting in a local pocket.”   Read more

By Glen Wunderlich

Creating and planting wildlife food plots over the years has been a learning and rewarding experience. In most cases, the plots have been from less than an acre to multiple acres, allowing the use of my trusty 1948 Ford 8N tractor. While some may consider the little tractor under-powered – and, it certainly would be for larger work – it’s what I have. It has just enough horsepower, utilizing half of Henry Ford’s V8, to pull a 6-foot disk harrow under most conditions and has done an admirable job. However, creating a new plot site, much too remote and small such as this, would mean even the diminutive tractor would be too much.

The project actually began years ago, when I decided a tiny knob overlooking a swamp would be the perfect location for a secluded hunting hideout. The challenge was complicated by the fact that an old truck frame, complete with wheels and flat, dry rotted tires was discarded precisely on top of the tiny hill. Since it had been left there for so long, woody shrubs, vines, and trees had proliferated the area.

Rather than making a project out of removing the old iron, it was decided to build a hunting shack on top of the aging frame. Doing so meant a working path would have to be created to merely get to the location. With the laborious chore behind me, the functional shack was constructed and looks like a doodlebug right out of the Beverly Hillbillies – except for the non-functioning satellite dish.

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Now it was time to tackle the menacing poison ivy, autumn olive, wild berry bushes, and anything else that was green. Fortunately, a few good friends were willing to battle the brush and when the chainsaws and perfectly capable DR mower were put away, the plot site had been cleared.

That was last fall and since then, the wild plants grew back, as big and bad as ever, making visibility from the shack impossible, once again. As good as the DR mower is, it only mows brush down to about 5 inches or so, leaving problematic, tire-poking stubby growth everywhere. Since a clover mix was to be planted, it would be necessary to mow it throughout the years necessitating the removal of the tire spikes.

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Back for another attack – this time with the Stihl KombiSystem hedge trimmer – the brush was busted right down to the ground and treated with a strong mix of Roundup (41 percent glyphosate.)

With a hand-spreader, fertilizer and pelletized lime has been applied and during the first week of August the clover and brassica seed will be broadcast to finish the remote ground-cover food plot. After that, it’s sit back, hide and watch for the years to come.