MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has proposed issuing 180 moose hunting permits in Vermont’s Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) E in the northeastern corner of the state in a continued effort to reduce the impact of winter ticks on moose in that area. No permits are recommended for the rest of the state.

The proposal was given initial approval by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board at its February 15 meeting and is now available for public comment.

The goal of the department’s 2023 moose harvest recommendation is to improve the health of moose in WMU-E by reducing the number of moose and thereby reducing the abundance and impact of winter ticks.

“Moose are abundant in WMU E with significantly higher population density than in any other part of the state,” said Nick Fortin, Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s moose project leader. “Winter ticks only thrive on moose, and higher moose densities support high numbers of winter ticks which negatively impact moose health and survival.” Read more

By Tera Baird

A covey of bobwhite quail taking to the wing is an unforgettable sight. The sound, startling and chaotic. Add a German Shorthaired Pointer named Rhett locked up like a stone staring nervously into hummocks of switch grass, followed by the dull report of a Baretta O/U .20 gauge on my shoulder, and it all makes for a treasured experience. And a pivot point in one’s trajectory.

I am a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Southeast. I have spent most of my career as a non-game biologist, and I was raised in a family that doesn’t hunt. So I’ve always felt a bit outside the realm of the hunting world. That changed when I had the opportunity develop further as a professional and participate in Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow (CLfT) at Charlie Elliot Wildlife Center in Mansfield, Georgia. The center is named after the renowned outdoor writer and the first director of Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The workshop, sponsored by the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation, is an intensive five-day hunting awareness and conservation education program designed for natural resource professionals who didn’t come into the profession through the portal of hunting. The workshop aims to give natural resource professionals a hunting immersion and encourages participants to explore and discuss the past and future roles of hunting in wildlife management. The goal isn’t to create new hunters but to foster a connection to a constituency we serve and provide that context for future natural resource leaders. Read more

By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Media Association (POMA)

The National Deer Association (NDA) has published a compilation of whitetail deer-hunting statistics for hunting seasons through year 2021 across the nation; the most recent season’s data for year 2022 will be available next year.  With Michigan’s new mandatory reporting requirements, a more detailed assessment is anticipated next year of how our state stacks up to 37 states in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast.

Nationally, the antlered buck (those 1½ years or older) harvest is at a record level, and Michigan’s buck harvest was 6 percent above the previous 5-year average.  The season was a record for hunters with the total buck harvest a whopping 3,041,544 which marked the first time it has surpassed 3 million adult bucks since 2009.

The top states for antlered buck harvest were Texas (449,933), Michigan (219,387), Pennsylvania (174,780), Wisconsin (158,236) and Missouri (40,855).  Michigan’s buck harvest is some 4 percent higher than each of the two previous seasons.

Comparing these totals to available hunting land, Michigan has one of the highest amount of bucks taken per square mile:  Interestingly, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Delaware all came in at 3.9 bucks per square mile – twice the national average.

The top states with the greatest antlered buck harvest per 100 hunters are Mississippi (74), South Carolina (65), Louisiana (58), Texas (58), and Georgia (55).  Michigan buck harvest totaled 39 bucks per 100 hunters.

One of the more noteworthy statistics relates to the age structure of bucks taken.  Again, Michigan has not reported these figures in several years but had been one of the states taking a large percentage of yearling bucks – those 1 ½ years of age.  Wisconsin hunters took 40 percent of its bucks as yearlings with Ohio, New York, Illinois, Maine, and New Hampshire close behind.  Nationally, it is encouraging that hunters are allowing bucks to mature much more than in past years.  Specifically, in year 1989 the tally of yearling bucks was 62 percent of the total kill, whereas in year 2020 the declining total has reached a scant 26 percent of all bucks taken.

On the other end of the scale are bucks of 3 ½ years of age or older taken.  Again, Michigan has not submitted these statistics but has never been among the leaders in this category.  Here are the nation’s top states in this regard shown as a percentage of total bucks taken:  Oklahoma (83), Louisiana (82), Mississippi (79), Arkansas (76), and Texas (71).

The antlerless harvest numbers are important in helping to balance each state’s buck-to-doe ratio.  Michigan’s antlerless take is a startling 25 percent higher than the previous two years at 191,252 or 3.4 per square mile; only Texas (402,515) and Pennsylvania (260,400) took more bald deer.

The sudden and significant increase in Michigan’s deer kill and that of other Midwestern states is no doubt a reflection of citizens’ new-found inclination to self-sufficiency courtesy of myriad governmental Covid-related dictates.  Empty store shelves inspired Americans to find a way out – way out in the wilderness, or any facsimile thereof.  Camping, fishing, hunting were all on the menu of first-time sportsmen and women.  Supply lines would become the direct responsibility of multitudes of outdoors people – many of whom were discovering or rediscovering their roots through hunting and fishing.  Some will have enjoyed the experience enough to carry on and only time will tell if the spike in participation morphs into tradition.