A Mule Deer Retrospective
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Category: Wildlife
Goldfinch
Archery Opener Like Christmas Once Again
By Glen Wunderlich
To be or not to be afield, that is the question: Whether it is better to hold off during archery’s early season and wait for the rut or to take part in opening day.
There are those trophy hunters that would never begin hunting the archery deer season until the third week in October so as not to run the risk of messing up a chance at a more careless buck later on. Their rationale may even make a fair amount of sense.
To me, however, opening day reminds me of Christmas morning when I was a boy. My parents would remind me not to get up too early so they could sleep in. I knew Santa Claus had dropped off the presents, just like he had done faithfully in prior years. Maybe just a little peek toward that decorated conifer that graced our living room by the picture window. That’s all it took. “Mom! Dad! Santa was here! Get up! Get up!” That sleeping-in thing never went past 7am.
Over five decades later, little has changed. The “presents” are still under the trees and, if nothing else, October 1 means time to peek into the whitetails’ world.
My hunting partner, Joe, decided on a half-mile walk Read more
Pondering Priorities
By Glen Wunderlich
As a lifelong Michigan resident, getting prepared for the brutality of winter seems to be a never-ending exercise. It seems like the fruit trees just recently escaped a late frost and now we are protecting our tomatoes from an early one. And, if that’s not enough, hunting season brings its own set of priorities. Choices, choices. Read more
Michigan Deer Hunting Prospects
The 2013 Deer Hunting: Status and Prospects report – available for download below – provides information about resources and approaches for preparing for deer season each year, some background on deer in each region of the state and perceptions on hunting activity up to this point in the season.
For more information about deer hunting seasons, opportunities and resources, visit www.michigan.gov/deer.
The Humane Society of the United States Gets Low Marks
For two years, the independent nonprofit watchdog CharityWatch (formerly the American Institute of Philanthropy) has given the Humane Society of the United States a “D” grade. This spring, for example, CharityWatch reported that HSUS spent as little as 50 percent of its budget on programs and spent up to 48 cents to raise every dollar.
That’s now changed—but not by much. HSUS now earns a “C-minus” grade. CharityWatch finds that HSUS spends as little as 55 percent of its budget on programs, and spends up to 42 cents to raise a dollar.
Natural Fast Food Video
How to Make a Mock Scrape – Mossy Oak Pro Staff
In this video, Dave shares how he likes to make mock scrapes in his home state of Kentucky. Dave likes to moves parts of existing scrapes to make active scrapes near his stands.
Flextone Introduces The New Mouse Trap Game Call
New Roads, LA- Flextone® Game Calls, the industry leader in natural game sounds introduces the new Mouse Trap to their 2013 predator hunting line-up. Read more
National Wildlife Refuge Closures Impacts Michigan Facilities
The federal government announced yesterday that all National Wildlife Refuges have been closed and all public access, public programs and fish and wildlife management operations on the refuges have been suspended until the government resumes operations. At this time it is not known when operations will recommence. Read more
Fall Plowing – Leave Food And Cover For Wildlife
Fall tillage practices, even reduced tillage techniques such as disking and chisel plowing, can eliminate waste grains and crop residue that provides important food and cover for species such as pheasants, quail, partridge, turkey, and deer. Studies of harvested untilled crop fields show wildlife consume 55-85 percent of the waste corn and soybeans between fall harvest and the following spring. Read more