By Glen Wunderlich

With the recent and predictable news of the expansion of the Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) management areas in southern Michigan, the handwriting is on the wall.  The practice of deer baiting, as we’ve known it, is on the way out.  Certainly, the producers of carrots, beets, etc. will not be happy, as the convenience store/gas station demand is sure to drop in the affected areas.  So, you want change?  It’s here.

While baiting and feeding in the Lower Peninsula becomes less acceptable, food plots are a sure-fire means to increase one’s hunting chances in the fall, if you have access to private land.    One who works the land not only gains an advantage for hunting purposes, he has the ability to provide nourishment to wildlife throughout the year.  With the proper balance of perennial and annual plots, deer, turkeys, rabbits, pheasants, and other game animals may just call your habitat home.

Deer like variety in their menu.  To add to a whitetail’s choices before fall planting, I’ve chosen a small strip of land that can be an attraction until then by planting buckwheat.

Buckwheat Seed

Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum) is a warm-season annual forb that can provide several benefits to a whitetail food-plot program. Frost will kill it, so it’s important to sow the seed when the danger of frost is past. Likewise, in the fall the buckwheat leaves will vanish with the first frost, so it will only be available for the summer months, or even less if your plan includes planting more hardy species in August, such as brassicas.

The Quality Deer Management Associaiton notes that buckwheat produces well in poor soil and actually builds weak soil for future plantings. Buckwheat matures very quickly – approximately 10 weeks after germination and will begin to bloom within two weeks of germination. Crude protein levels in buckwheat forage are quite impressive, ranging from 15 to 25 percent in well-managed soils. The plant residue increases organic matter and releases a significant amount of phosphorus that will be available for your fall plantings, improving the nutritional quality while reducing fertilizer costs. If you have a relatively small area you’d like to experiment with and have no need for a 50-pound bag, locally Family Farm and Home sells buckwheat in bulk at a cost of approximately $1.70 per pound. If planting in marginal seedbed conditions, consider slightly increasing your seeding rate to account for reduced germination.

Once buckwheat is planted, its rapid germination and growth rate is an excellent weed suppression mechanism. It quickly forms a dense leaf canopy, suppressing many weeds due to the shading/smothering effect.

Many site locations require lime to increase the ph level so that plants can grow vigorously, but only a soil test will tell the story.  For best results, get the lime into the soil as early as possible – 3 months or more before planting.

In any case, time’s a wasting, if you’d like to reap the rewards of a fall planting.  For a good reference, check out Ed Spinazolla’s book, Quality Deer Food Plots or his website http://deerattraction.com/

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced today that a black bear recently shot and killed in Haring Township, north of Cadillac in Wexford County, is the same bear that mauled a teenage girl, Abby Wetherell, in that same township in 2013.

The DNR confirms a 9-year-old female black bear was killed April 30 by an individual, who wishes to remain anonymous, acting in self-defense. The individual let out a dog, which then immediately ran after what appeared to be a bear cub. The dog was stopped at the end of the tree line barking when the owner saw a bear appear and attack the dog. The individual went to assist the dog and the bear ran off. As the owner attempted to render aid to the injured dog, the bear retuned to the scene and approached the resident who then shot the bear. The situation was reported to the DNR and investigated. It was determined to be a justifiable killing of the bear. Read more

A show of companionship and survival will play out live before the public in a DNR webcam that offers a peek into the lives of a barn owl pair raising chicks. The webcam is at wildlife.IN.gov/8183.htm.

Barn owls are a state-endangered species. The pair on this webcam has been living in a DNR-built nest box inside a metal pole barn in southern Indiana since 2009. These owls have nested every year since 2009. Read more

GW:  I was given a sneak preview of the new Bass Pro Shops facility in Missouri and this will become a worthwhile destination for sportsmen and women for years to come. 

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Boone and Crockett Club commends Club member and Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris on his continuing conservation efforts and the upcoming opening of one of the largest, most immersive conservation attractions in the world – Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium. The 315,000 square-foot exhibit sits adjacent to Bass Pro Shops flagship store in Springfield, Missouri, and will soon serve as the new home to North American conservation when it opens later in 2016.In 2015, Boone and Crockett Club joined more than 25 of the country’s leading conservation organizations to contribute to the creation of the attraction. The nationwide collaboration brought together conservation leaders to discuss fun and engaging ways to motivate public appreciation for wildlife and conservation efforts. The attraction will highlight past successes and share important conservation messages to a national audience.

“The museum and aquarium continues the legacy of dedicated professionals and individuals who truly care about ensuring the future of wildlife through conservation practices,” said Morrison Stevens, Club president. “It will serve many generations to come with an immersive, educational experience that focuses on the benefits of long-term conservation and the positive effects on wildlife. The motto ‘Conservation had a beginning, but has no end,’ is fitting to describe the opportunity presented by this attraction.” Read more

GW:  This information is from QDMA’s Sam Leatherman and provides some facts we may not have known.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources provides an online interactive map that highlights the state’s 2015 wildfires and prescribed burns – each more than 10 acres in size – to help mushroom hunters in their quest for morels.

“Morel mushrooms are often found in locations where large fires occurred the previous year,” said Jim Fisher, resource protection manager for the DNR Forest Resources Division. “Each spring we get calls from people who are seeking details on those sites to hunt morels. We’ve enhanced the features of this map to give our customers the information they are looking for in a mobile-friendly, easily accessible package.”

The DNR’s interactive Mi-Morels map provides forest cover type information, latitude and longitude coordinates and state-managed land boundary information.

Morel mushrooms commonly sprout in locations burned by wildfires or prescribed burns with a tree canopy; grass or sunlit open areas are less likely to produce the tasty fungi. Read more