Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Cutting Corners – Planting No-Till Food Plots by Todd Amenrud

I don’t really care for the terms “no-till” or “no-plow” when it comes to food plot products. I believe it gives many newbie’s a false sense of hope. It tells them that it’s acceptable to cut out an important step in the planting process and everything will be OK. The problem being – these types of products are often sold to those first-timers or food plot farmers that don’t have the equipment necessary to complete all the plantings steps according to the book. The more steps you skip in the planting process, the more you will sacrifice in attraction, yield and palatability to a point where you have a total failure. Is it possible to plant a food plot without working/turning the soil? Absolutely; however, if you’re going to skip this very important action, some of the remaining steps become much more essential and must be completed correctly. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Bushnell Introduces New Trophy Cam Essential

Overland Park, Kan – Bushnell, an industry leader in high performance sports optics for 65 years and a market leader in the trail camera industry, has introduced the Trophy Cam Essential. With a one-year battery life and fast trigger speed, the Trophy Cam Essential might be the most affordable and dependable scouting tool on the market.

The Trophy Cam Essential was designed for the hunter who demands performance and reliability at an exceptional value. Featuring 32 low-glow LEDs, a 6MP camera, video mode and Field Scan technology, the Trophy Cam Essential isn’t lacking functionality.

By day the camera captures high resolution color images before switching to black and white nighttime images. Alternatively, video mode records footage from the field in 1-60 second clips with audio. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

World-class birding now at your fingertips on Beaver Island

Beaver Island, the largest Lake Michigan island, will welcome birders from around the Great Lakes starting Friday, May 23, for a dedication celebration at the trailhead of the new Beaver Island Birding Trail (BIBT).

BIBT encompasses more than 12,300 acres of public land and four Little Traverse Conservancy preserves. Interpretive signage explaining DNR habitat management objectives and birds to be seen will enhance birders’ and non-birders’ appreciation of the island’s diverse habitats. Read more

Wildlife

Coyote Hunting Halted in Five North Carolina Counties

RALEIGH, NC- The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is notifying the public that a U.S. District Judge has issued a court order prohibiting hunting of coyotes in Dare, Hyde, Beaufort, Tyrrell and Washington counties, day or night, except under extremely limited circumstances. This notification is due to a lawsuit in which the Wildlife Resources Commission is alleged to have violated the federal Endangered Species Act by allowing coyote hunting in those counties where a non-essential experimental reintroduction of the red wolf is occurring. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

Spring season brings the next generation of wildlife

fawn in tall grassIt’s spring, and baby animals are out and about as wildlife is giving birth and hatching the next generation. Baby red foxes are being spotted, and the first litters of cottontails will soon appear. Great-horned owls have already hatched and are growing up in stick nests high above the ground. Mourning doves have made nests and some have already laid eggs. Soon there will be nestlings and baby critters all over the place – the natural cycle for population replenishment is at work.

The Department of Natural Resources encourages people to get outside and enjoy the wildlife sightings and experiences. Seeing wild animals raising their young is a magical moment, but it is important to remember to remain at a distance. Sometimes, unfortunately, the story has a different ending when people take baby animals out of the wild.
 
“Please resist the urge to try to help seemingly abandoned fawns or other baby animals this spring,” said DNR wildlife biologist Steve Griffith. “Some people truly are trying to be helpful, while others think wild animals would make good pets. In most cases, neither of those situations ends well for the wildlife.

fawn video thumbnail“We appreciate the good intentions of those who want to help, but the animals are better off left alone than removed from the wild,” said Griffith.  “The species that are most problematic are white-tailed deer and raccoons.

“Deer seem so vulnerable and helpless but really they stay still because that is a mechanism to let them be undetected. Raccoons seem cute and cuddly but they grow up to be mischievous and aggressive. It’s best to just leave them alone.” Read more

Wildlife

Want More Wildlife? Think Like A Farmer – by Austin Delano

One of the biggest problems with warm season food plots is weed competition. Some are grasses and some broadleaf weeds, but they are all an eyesore and steal moisture and nutrients from your wildlife plots. Here are two of the most common food plot weeds in the south. It seems to be giving a lot of food plotters problems this year in their fields across the country. Most anyone who has spent time farming or food plotting is familiar with Johnson Grass. If you don’t have any to deal with on your property, count yourself blessed. It is a notorious invasive weed that is very drought resistant, fast spreading, and can be tough to eliminate. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Record Grizzly Ignites Questions About Trophy Categories

MISSOULA, Mont.–News traveled fast when conservationists learned the largest grizzly bear ever taken by a hunter had been entered into Boone and Crockett records. Nearly as quickly, however, came questions about why grizzlies are distinguished from Alaska brown bears. After all, aren’t these technically the same species?
The Boone and Crockett Club announced the new record grizzly on May 5.
Soon after, an Anchorage, Alaska, newspaper headline chided, “Giant Grizzly is One for Some Record Books, But Not Alaska’s.” The article pointed out that Ursus arctos does in fact grow to 10 feet tall along the coast, much larger than the newly heralded 9-footer killed far inland near Fairbanks. Why all the fuss about this “alleged record-setting” specimen from upstate? Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Wildlife watchers love the view at Maple River State Game Area

common yellowthroatMay is American Wetlands Month, a month to appreciate and enjoy the wonders of wetlands. The Department of Natural Resources encourages residents to experience this amazing native ecosystem by visiting one of Michigan’s finest wetlands – the Maple River State Game Area.  

 

Nestled along both sides of U.S. 127 in southern Gratiot County, Maple River State Game Area includes farm fields, woodlands, grasslands and cattail marshes. It is a popular birding and wildlife viewing destination in the spring and summer.

 

The diversity of habitats at Maple River offers wildlife enthusiasts a wide variety of viewing opportunities. Visitors can go to flooded cornfields for dabbling ducks like Northern shovelers, Northern pintails and green-winged teal or check out the larger ponds and marshes for diving ducks like ring-necked ducks, hooded mergansers and ruddy ducks. Herons and egrets are common marsh visitors, as well as bald eagles, ospreys, grebes, coots, muskrats and moorhens. Prothonotary warblers may be found nesting in wooded swamps. Read more

Wildlife
1 … 276 277 278 279 280 … 380