Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Watch “Food Plot Guru” Free on MossyOak.com

WEST POINT, MS – The latest episode of “The Specialists” from Mossy Oak Capture features Mossy Oak BioLogic’s Austin Delano as he tells the story of his evolution from a kid who liked to hunt and worked on a farm to an industry-leading and highly respected GameKeeper.</d

Delano’s obsession for growing food plots and big deer started in 2004. A specific buck Delano acquired a picture of captivated his attention to the point of obsession. The picture was of the deer when he was an estimated 3 ½ years old and scored around 120 inches. The buck went on to survive another two years and grew into a true monarch of the the woods when he became a fully mature 5 ½ year old Alabama trophy, scoring in the mid-170 inch range.
“When somebody calls me a food plot specialist, or ‘The Food Plot Guru,’ it’s humbling and I guess I’m proud for someone to think of me that way, but I’ve just been doing this a long time and growing stuff is just part of who I am and what I do,” said Delano. “At the end of the day, I’m just a kid that loves to play in the dirt and watch stuff grow.”
Follow the story of “The Food Plot Guru” as he takes the viewer into a day in the life of a true GameKeeper. It’s available on MossyOak.com on demand and completely FREE. No membership or registration required.

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Wildlife

Michigan DNR’s new Wildtalk podcast: Raccoons, hunting access

On the DNR’s Wildtalk podcast, wildlife staff chew the fat and shoot the scat about all things habitat, feathers and fur. With insights, interviews and listener questions answered on the air, you’ll come away with a better picture of what’s happening in the world of Michigan wildlife.
In episode #3, find out more about the DNR’s Hunting Access Program, which helps people find land to hunt throughout the state. Later in the show, learn what you should do if you discover a raccoon in your attic!
Questions about something you heard on the podcast? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-WILD (9453).

Wildlife

Get Michigan’s wildlife – bear, elk, waterfowl and more – in K-12 classrooms

With the start of the school year fast approaching for many, don’t forget to include Michigan’s wildlife in your class plans.

The DNR offers a variety of wildlife classroom curricula at the elementary, junior high and high school levels, and each program is developed to fit current state educational standards. Better yet, they’re free to educators! Topics include:

    • Elk University. One hundred years ago, wild elk were brought to Michigan to re-establish the state’s elk population. High school students are put in the role of wildlife managers, while learning about this conservation success story through Elk University. These lessons also include Michigan history, forest management and social considerations for wildlife management.
    • A Year in the Life of a Michigan Black Bear. Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students have the chance to learn all about black bears in Michigan – from their life history to how the DNR manages populations – in this curriculum. Students also get to “follow” black bear movements in Michigan by looking at actual location data from collared bears.
    • Wondrous Wetlands and Waterfowl. Middle schoolers can get an introduction to wetland habitats with this program. These lessons have activities about wetlands and the ducks, geese and swans that live in Michigan, and give students an opportunity to look at how different land uses affect wildlife habitats, including wetlands.
    • Go Wild for Michigan’s Wildlife. This curriculum introduces elementary-age students to a variety of species found throughout Michigan and their supporting habitats. Materials include sets of Critter Cards for each student to keep; however, those sets are limited and are issued on a first-come, first-served basis to Michigan educators who register. All registered educators will receive an electronic copy of the Critter Cards to use.

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Wildlife

You Might be an Avid Hunter

By Glen Wunderlich

It’s time to get ready for deer hunting.  Yet, for keenly eager hunters the fact of the matter is that the time to prepare is perpetual.   Here are a few symptoms that cause deer hunters to earn the moniker of avid hunter. 

You might be an avid hunter, if you search for antler sheds after the final season has ended.  The practice of shed hunting can be so intense, some states now have seasons.  For example, in Montana Wildlife Management Areas it is illegal to enter a state WMA prior to its formal opening day.  From Feb. 1 to April 15, in Utah you must have an antler-gathering certificate on your person while collecting shed antlers or horns.  Other states have restrictions, as well, but in Michigan, anyone is still able to hunt sheds at any time without any formal requirements.  The art of finding them has benefits such as learning where some of the big bucks were, and more importantly, which bruisers made it through the hunting season.

Michigan Shed Antlers

You might be an avid hunter, if you scout for deer.  Cruising the back roads and two-tracks in twilight hours with good binoculars is an enjoyable pastime even for non-hunters.  Who doesn’t like to see whitetails when they haven’t been spooked and are going about their daily routines of survival? 

Michigan Springtime Buck

Early Morning Whitetails

Antlered bucks are another spectacle altogether and the avid hunter searches them out from afar.  A window mount and quality spotting scope allows one to peer into cover, and tests one’s ability to spot not only movement, but horizontal backbone lines and colors otherwise unseen.

You might be an avid hunter, if you take advantage of game cameras as part of your scouting efforts.  It wasn’t long ago, that film cameras were inside of trailcams; they’re now as popular as VHS tapes.  The sky’s the limit and high-end game cams now use wireless technology to transmit photos and videos to smart phones and computers.  It may seem like a lazy person’s tactic to use cameras for scouting, but they certainly minimize, if not eliminate the potential to stink up the woods with one’s presence.  For some the biggest challenge is to leave the cameras alone for any extended times.

You might be an avid hunter, if you’ve ever pulled weeds from you food plots. 

Brassica Plot a Month after Planting

Guilty as charged!   In some states, hunting in conjunction with food plots or even farm crops is illegal.  But, in Michigan, where an over-abundance of deer remain, growing food for wildlife is big business.  Oh how excited I was to see the little brassica plants and sugar beets emerge, after planting before the month-long dry spell of July! 

You might be an avid hunter, if your deer blind is warmer than your bedroom.  Deer blinds are as varied as guns and gear, but nothing has spurred their growth as Michigan’s relaxed rules allowing elevated-platform hunting with firearms.  Although some folks may frown on them, because of the decided advantage they give hunters, their popularity has many virtues.  Being elevated is self-explanatory but hunting in the bitter cold of December, when most hunters have given up on the idea, has produced some magnificent bucks for those seizing the opportunity.  If a hunter cannot be comfortable and is squirming around in a futile effort to keep warm, he’ll either stay home or go home empty handed after spooking the game.  And, there’s no better way to introduce youngsters to the deer hunting tradition than to take them along for an adventure.

Getting ready?  For the avid hunter, it never ends.

Hunting, Wildlife

Firminator ATV Unit

The original Firminator was a brilliant solution for land managers looking to maximize their time, energy and financial resources by incorporating all the necessary food plot implements into one unit. But as the popularity of food plots grew, so did the demand, from a broader and more diverse group.

There were those who realize the best hunting plots are designed less for agricultural efficiency and more to maximize “huntability” by taking advantage of natural cover, terrain, wind direction and deer movements. As a result, these plots are often irregularly shaped and sometimes well off the beaten path, down the narrow trails, in the bottoms or up on the smaller ridges – places not easily accessible by heavy equipment and implements. There were more than a few land owners/managers who simply did not have tractors or larger implements, even for larger or more accessible areas.

With the technology already in place, Firminator needed only to downsize. The Firminator G-3 ATV Model puts all the same features of their full size G3 implement into a unit sized just right for an ATV (four-wheeler or side x side). Though light enough to be easily pulled by a 500cc or greater ATV, its 800 pounds proves ample weight for the 16-inch ground turning discs to break up and dig into hard ground that other ATV harrows would simply bounce across the surface of. Its 3-inch square tubing steel frame can withstand anything you’d expose your ATV to, and more. The seed box, constructed of the same steel as three point models, feeds the Firminator’s precision ACCU-Seed delivery system. When you’re done seeding you can finish with the true agricultural grade cast iron cultipacker.

The ATV Model comes with a tow bar sized for a 1-7/8-inch ball, but also retains the 3 point hitch for use on a small tractor.

ATV MODEL SPECS:

    • Frame material: 3-inch square tubing
    • Weight: 860 lbs.
    • Discing width: 32″
    • Cultipacker width: 34″
    • Seed hopper: 34: x 14.5″ x 12 W
    • Seed capacity: 2 bushels
    • Disc size: 16″ (6 discs at 6″ spacing)
    • Tow method: 1-7/8″ ball or three-point hitch

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Wildlife

Jones Beach Legal Settlement Provides Safety for Endangered Birds

Based on a judicial order and settlement entered on August 6, the Piping Plovers that nest annually at Jones Beach State Park in New York will no longer face the risk of predation from feral cat colonies inside the Park’s boundaries. The plover, a small shorebird, is federally protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as a Threatened species in the Atlantic Coast region, and is listed as Endangered under New York law.

A lawsuit filed by American Bird Conservancy (ABC) in March 2016 alleged a violation of the ESA based on a concern that New York State Parks was not doing enough to ensure that feral cats do not harm the protected Piping Plovers and their chicks. Subsequent discussions between ABC and New York State Parks led to a settlement that provides protection to the plovers from cat predation.

Under the order and settlement, the cats currently living in colonies at Jones Beach will be humanely trapped and removed from the park by the end of the year to a sanctuary where they will be cared for. If the cats cannot be humanely relocated immediately, a limited number of cats will temporarily remain in a fenced area at the park. State Parks has also agreed that any new cats found in the park will be trapped and removed so new cat colonies do not exist at the park in the future. The agreement means that the plovers and their chicks will no longer face the possibility of predation from cats. Read more

Wildlife

Song Sleuth Birding App Now Available for Android

App helps users identify and learn bird songs

BOSTON, MASS (August 6, 2018) – Song Sleuth (www.songsleuth.com), the popular and powerful birding by ear learning tool and bird song identifier app, is now available for Android devices.

Developed by Wildlife Acoustics in collaboration with world renowned bird expert and illustrator David Sibley, Song Sleuth is a simple to use application that provides details and auditory learning tools to help birders of all levels identify birds by ear in the field or study them while at home.

“Song Sleuth is one of many tools that can help identify a bird, but its true benefit is helping people become better birders by familiarizing them with known birdsongs in a logical, familiar way,” said Sibley.

The app features detailed information and recordings on over 200 North American birds and guides users to identify birds in the field by their song.  Song Sleuth’s ability to identify birds by their song in real-time is based on Wildlife Acoustics’ decade-long development of algorithms for wildlife study.  Its software is similar in concept to what is used in speech recognition software, but specifically tailored to the unique acoustical characteristics of bird songs. Read more

Wildlife

Boone and Crockett Club: Toasting the Conservation Legacy of the North American Sportsman

MISSOULA, MT – The Boone and Crockett Club, the oldest hunter-conservationist organization in North America, has entered into an agreement with Michigan-based Prestige Imports LLC tonationally distribute a line of spirits that will carry the Boone and Crockett Club name including a straight bourbon, straight rye and American blended whiskey.

“Tradition comes with age,” said Ben B. Hollingsworth Jr., president of the Boone and Crockett Club. “American-made spirits and an outdoor lifestyle are both traditions closely tied to one another. The social aspects of hunting and fishing are very strong. Sharing the day around a fire back at camp after time spent in the field or on the water make the memories complete. After 131 years, we’re proud to now offer a label that speaks for the North American sportsmen and these traditions.”

The Boone and Crockett Club was founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt assembled a group of fellow sportsmen to become the first organization to promote the conservation of wildlife on a national scale. He named this new coalition of sportsmen after the hunter-heroes of his day, Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. Read more

Wildlife

Brazil Launches National Alliance for Zero Extinction


Bold commitment to map and conserve “last frontiers” for 230 birds, turtles, and more

Washington – Brazil has established itself as a world leader in biodiversity protection, becoming the first nation in the world to adopt the global Alliance for Zero Extinction(AZE) framework to identify and map sites holding the last known populations of highly threatened species.

The Ministry of Environment of Brazil published an ordinance in July 2018 recognizing AZE sites as an official tool to implement nationalpolicies for protection of the country’s threatened species.

Brazil is home to nearly 150 critical sites that are together the last frontiers for more than 200 endangered species. “The main goal is to put a spotlight on the last refuges of the most threatened species in Brazil,” explained Ugo Eichler Vercillo, Director of Species Conservation and Management for the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil. “It will help to promote the integration of public policies and private actions at these sites.” Read more

Wildlife

Revising the Endangered Species Act

By Glen Wunderlich

The intent of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 was to protect critically imperiled species from extinction. Administered by two federal agencies – the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Commerce Department’s National Marine Fisheries Service – it’s been manipulated and perverted to the point that some officials in Congress are pushing for change. That very notion has ruffled some feathers.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) has proposed draft legislation that would amend the ESA potentially providing states greater authority to address struggling wildlife issues within their borders. However, taking any controls out of the hands of D.C. bureaucrats is a tall order. However, but who is prepared better to analyze, restructure, and implement change than the people on the front lines – those whose very living depends on such successes? Rather than drastic measures foisted upon citizens that, in effect, are never-ending, a more sensible approach would be more proactive measures to avoid the perils of listing in the first place.

“We must do more than just keep listed species on life support,” Barrasso said in a recent statement on the bill. “We need to see them recovered.” Amen. But, we also need to be able to define the term “recovered” and to allow states to manage wildlife in a way that is sustainable. Of course, funding mechanisms must be returned to the states or else any mandates would be worth only the paper upon which they are written.

The ESA has often led to a heavily burdened U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a host of species that end up in the courts with activist judges pushing agendas that have no basis in science-based outcomes.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama described the types of judges that he would nominate to the federal bench as follows: “We need somebody who’s got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenage mom – the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that’s the criteria by which I’m going to be selecting my judges.” Presto! We get one Beryl A. Howell as the chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia who not only previously said protecting our border is racist but ordered the Western Great Lakes wolves to be reinstated to ESA listing, despite the fact that they had fully recovered for over 10 years!

Now other animal-rights groups want to manage our Lake Sturgeon by placing them on the ESA in an effort to stop our citizens from fishing for them. Never mind that our Michigan DNR has a viable plan in place and has been working this plan for years in a successful endeavor to bring them back. Oh, and the funding? Just thank a fisherman or woman who buys the licenses. That’s sustainable use, my friends.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, (R-Alaska), released a statement on recent proposals by the Department of the Interior to address longstanding issues with the ESA, as follows:
“These proposals are another step toward establishing a regulatory environment that will allow the responsible use of our public lands and produce better outcomes for fish and wildlife,” Murkowski, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, said. “In Alaska, we have seen firsthand how the arbitrary application of these laws can foster uncertainty and hamper economic opportunities without delivering the promised environmental benefits”.

The FWS’s proposal would ensure that all threatened species would receive the level of protection that is appropriate for each species. This approach would free-up limited resources for more targeted and efficient recovery of threatened and endangered species. Meanwhile, the proposed rules for the ESA were published recently in the Federal Register, opening a 60-day public comment period.

Animal Rights, Wildlife
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