Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Turkey population and hunting tradition thrive in Michigan

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. Successful turkey hunter standing in a fieldMichigan 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

Hunting, Wildlife

A Furry Crown: What is Antler Velvet?

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

Hunting, Wildlife

Spring birding tours at Michigan’s Wetland Wonders

 Nothing says spring like the “conk-a-ree” call of a red-winged blackbird or the raucous sounds of a sandhill crane. Celebrate spring and explore Michigan’s Wetland Wonders with a birding tour at one of the Department of Natural Resources’ Saginaw Bay managed waterfowl areas.

trumpeter swanHighlights of the birding tours may include diving and dabbling ducks in full breeding plumage, trumpeter and tundra swans, osprey, bald eagles, sandhill cranes and many more. The tours, led by DNR wildlife biologists and technicians, will include a “sneak peek” driving tour into refuge areas that are normally closed.

Birding tours will be held on the following dates:

  • May 3 at 8 a.m. – Shiawassee River State Game Area 225 East Spruce St., St. Charles; 989-865-6211
  • May 10 at 9 a.m. – Nayanquing Point State Wildlife Area 1570 Tower Beach Road, Pinconning; 989-697-5101 Read more
Wildlife

Hawk Eggs Hatching: Watch on Cornell’s Live Cam

Ithaca, N.Y.–It was an eventful weekend for Big Red and Ezra, the Red-tailed Hawk pair nesting on a light pole high above the Cornell University campus. Two of their three eggs hatched Sunday, April 27. Viewers can watch at AllAboutBirds.org/CornellHawks to see the parents feeding two fluffy chicks and to watch the last egg hatch out.
In addition to the hawks, viewers can watch nesting Barn Owls, Barred Owls, Laysan Albatrosses, and other birds at AllAboutBirds.org/Cams.

Wildlife

Winchester’s Deadly Long Beard XR Turkey Loads

By Glen Wunderlich

At the end of a day’s session at the firing range, a friend plopped down a 12 x 18-inch turkey target thoroughly covered with shot from Winchester’s new Long Beard XR 12-gauge load.  “60 yards!” he exclaimed.

12-Gauge Winchester Long Beard XR, No. 5 Shot, 60 Yards

12-Gauge Winchester Long Beard XR, No. 5 Shot, 60 Yards

 

I knew right then that further review was necessary.

Winchester obliged by supplying some of its Long Beard XR copper plated, 3-inch loads of 4s and 6s and some test targets.  It was time for the testing to begin.

With a “scant” 1 ¾-ounce load of shot, it’s almost incomprehensible how science could make it more effective than much heavier loads.  A proprietary Shot-Lok compound insures the plated pellets’ roundness under impact in the barrel.  The result:  more pellets on target.

Since it doesn’t need as much costly shot to get the job done, the price of $23 for a box of 10 rounds is significantly less than other high-end shotshells.  Plus, the felt recoil seemed to be a bit less punishing – even with the added weight of an additional ¼ ounce of shot buffer material.  Winchester claims the load offers 10 percent greater penetration over standard loads beyond 50 yards and twice the number of pellets in a 10-inch circle out to 60 yards.

Here’s what I learned.  At 40 yards, a charge of #4 shot put 39 pellets on target in the head and neck. No. 4 Shot, 50 Yards I backed up to 50 yards and 16 pellets resulted in the kill zone.

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Ammunition, Firearms, Hunting, Wildlife , , ,

Michigan DNR: Wolf survey results indicate no significant change in state’s wolf population

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

Hunting, Wildlife

Hunters Can Save Tax Dollars and Reduce Vehicle Insurance Claims

By Glen Wunderlich

When residents of the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York were losing their gardens and ornamental landscape specimens to a burgeoning deer herd, it was time to act.  As many as 120 deer inhabit the two-square miles of preferred habitat, and subsequently, over-population has posed a real threat to drivers, as well.

Few options exist to control over-population of deer in such small communities across the nation.  Deer could be netted and euthanized, captured and surgically sterilized, shot with a sterilizing dart, or hunted.

The village has opted for an experimental birth control program by partnering with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).   In 2014 and 2015, highly trained staff from HSUS will capture, ear-tag and administer a long-acting form of the porcine zona pellucida (PZP) vaccine to approximately 60 female deer living in the village. Treated deer will be monitored for fawns to determine vaccine effectiveness and longevity for two to three years after initial treatment.

Mayor Peter Swiderski of the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson said, “Hastings is proud to be part of this effort, and more than 120 residents have volunteered to help in various aspects of this study, underscoring the broad support it enjoys in our community. We believe that, should this approach work in Hastings, we will be creating the only viable alternative to lethal methods currently examined and rejected by literally hundreds of communities nationwide that face a similar problem.”

At least, that was the plan.  Since then, HSUS agents Rick Naugle and Kayla Grams have pursued deer throughout the neighborhoods with little success.  They had tagged and treated just one animal within the first week. Their mission has proved problematic, because they can fire at deer no more than 20 yards away with their air-powered darts, and they are still learning where the animals are.

“It’s a slow process.   But next year, by the time we come back here, we’ll have everything figured out,” Naugle said.  In the meantime, more deer/vehicle collisions will occur.  Oh, and the cost of the experiment is reported to be approximately $30,000 funded by taxpayers and HSUS.

On another front, a similar challenge was being addressed by the town of Indian Hill, Ohio.  Police Chief Chuck Schlie of the Indian Hill Rangers Police Department reported a mere 8 deer/vehicle collisions in year 2013 – down from 44 in 1997.

Schlie said the village’s deer-hunting program, which is more than a decade old, is one reason for the decline.  “It has helped control the herd and has lowered accidents,” he said. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife
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