The significance of it may have gone unnoticed by many, but to hunters Monday, April 21, was a big day in Michigan – opening day of spring turkey-hunting season. Michigan annually ranks among the top 10 states in the union for wild turkey harvest – an almost astounding fact, as 100 years ago there wasn’t a wild turkey to be found in the state. Though experts believe the state was home to around 100,000 birds in pre-Columbian times, the population was wiped out by habitat destruction and unregulated hunting. Today, wild turkeys can be found in every county in the Lower Peninsula and in many places in the Upper Peninsula as well.

Early 20th-century attempts to restore wild turkeys in Michigan failed to bear fruit, but by mid-century, state wildlife officials had identified the Allegan State Game Area – 40,000 acres located within a 100,000-acre mixed hardwood and pine forest – as suitable habitat for the birds. The Department of Conservation purchased 50 birds from Pennsylvania, which was enjoying some success restoring wild turkeys. The birds were released at six sites in Allegan and others were released at additional sites, including areas of the northern Lower Peninsula. Thanks to those restoration efforts, by 1964 the wild turkey population in Michigan was estimated at 2,000. Read more

By Austin Delano

Antlers…they have fascinated man since the beginning. Going back thousands of years one can see mans’ love for “animals with antlers” etched and painted on the walls of caves. Antlers were a trophy in a different way before they were used to decorate the walls of our hunting camps and game rooms. Before modern civilization, antlers were used to make tools, ceremonial wear, and weapons just to name a few of the uses. So how do these intriguing bones grow? What are they made out of? How do they go from this soft looking, furry velvet to a durable set of rock-hard fighting gear? Read more

GW:  So science has it right again.  We didn’t kill ’em all.  But, we are sure to hear the cries of wolf from the Humane Society of the United States. 

The results of Michigan’s 2014 wolf population survey indicate no significant change in the estimated number of wolves in the Upper Peninsula compared to the results of last year’s survey, Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division officials said today. 

DNR wildlife biologists estimate there was a minimum of 636 wolves in Michigan this winter, with a confidence interval of plus-or-minus 42 animals. In comparison, the 2013 population estimate was 658 wolves, with a confidence interval of plus-or-minus 56 animals. Read more