Day 6 PlotWatcher Pro Captures All the Action

By Glen Wunderlich

With spring turkey season upon us, every hunter would like to be able to pattern the birds’ activity before deciding on an ambush site.  Scouting is a great way to begin, but finding time to hide and watch is difficult for anyone attempting to make a living.  That’s where assistance from the Day 6 PlotWatcher Pro camera comes in.

This compact trail camera is designed to perform surveillance work during daylight hours and is just the ticket to scout in absentia.  And, so far, I like what I’ve seen.

Imagine watching an entire field from sunrise to sunset through a review process that takes mere minutes.  Time is money and this camera pays dividends after the one-time retail price of approximately $250 is paid plus the cost of an SD memory card of $15 to $30 and eight AA batteries.

The PlotWatcher is a time-lapse camera Read more

QDMA Helps Establish Three Wildlife Management Cooperatives

The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) recently helped establish three wildlife management cooperatives that unite public and private hunting lands for better deer habitat and hunting thanks in part to a $50,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The three cooperatives – two in Oklahoma and one in Michigan – are built on and around National Wildlife Refuges and encompass nearly 65,000 acres of public and private hunting land.

 

Wildlife management cooperatives (WMC) are groups of neighboring landowners or property lessees working together to improve wildlife and/or habitat management programs. The grant to establish the three new WMCs was announced last September, and as of late March, all three Cooperatives have now been launched:

 

·  The Shiawassee Flats QDM Cooperative, which surrounds the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Michigan, was formed on March 12 and includes 25 individual landowners and 12,039 acres.

·  The Washita River Deer Management Association, which surrounds Washita River NWR in Oklahoma, was formed on March 26 and includes 12 individual landowners and 40,311 acres.

·  The Deep Fork Deer Management Association, which surrounds Deep Fork NWR in Oklahoma, was formed on March 28 and includes 15 individual landowners and 12,484 acres. Read more

PETA to Acquire Drones to Stalk Hunters

Norfolk, Va. — PETA will soon have some impressive new weapons at its disposal to combat those who gun down deer and doves. The group is shopping for one or more drone aircraft with which to monitor those who are out in the woods with death on their minds. PETA aims to collect video footage of any illegal activity, including drinking while in the possession of a firearm, a common complaint from those who live near wooded areas; maiming animals and failing to pursue them so that they die slowly and painfully; and using spotlights, feed lures, and other hunting tricks that are illegal in some areas but remain common practices among hunters. PETA currently has its sights on Australia-based Aerobot and its state-of-the-art remote-controlled CineStar Octocopter. Read more

Stop the Antis in Michigan

The Scientific Wildlife Management package (Senate Bills 288 & 289 and House Bills 4552 & 4553) will:

·         Establish a right to hunt, fish and trap in state law.
·         Allow the Natural Resources Commission to designate game species and issue fisheries orders.
·         Provide $1 million in conservation funding for fish and game management and research.
·         Provide free licenses to active-duty members of the military.

The anti-hunters, led by the Washington, D.C.-based Humane Society of the United States, are attacking this legislation because it means they won’t be able buy their way onto Michigan’s ballot to take away any more hunting rights. They’re even telling their members that it will lead to “dog, cat and horse” hunting, just as they lied about the wolf management law by telling people it would lead to “aerial gunning from helicopters.” And they’re repeating these lies to your legislators.

In 1996, hunters, anglers and trappers banded together and passed Proposal G to manage wildlife using sound science and defeat the anti-hunters’ attempt to limit bear hunting rights. In 2006, we were silent and the anti’s took away our rights to hunt doves. Now they’re back, like a wolf that’s lost its fear of humans, to attack your hunting rights one by one. What happens now is up to you.
Please call your state representative and state senator and tell them you support the Scientific Wildlife Management package. Don’t let the anti-hunters be the only ones your legislators hear from!

DNR encourages public to enjoy springtime baby animal sightings, but remember to leave wildlife in the wild

With the arrival of spring, wild animals are giving birth and hatching the next generation. Baby red foxes appeared in dens during the last days of March and the first days of April. The first litters of cottontails will appear soon. 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. Read more

Hankering for some ‘Chuck Roast

By Glen Wunderlich

It was incomprehensible to me that Wisconsin does not have a hunting season for woodchucks, but sure enough, it’s true.  State Representative Andre Jacque (R) from De Pere, however, has prepared a bill to remove the burrowing rodents from protected status.  That’s right.  They’re protected in Wisconsin, while in adjacent Michigan the season is open year-round with no limit.

Apparently, Wisconsin is short on qualified weather forecasters.  Or, maybe it has a soft spot for the varmints because the city of Wausau has a baseball team dubbed the Woodchucks.  The DNR can’t offer a reason for protection, either.

Predictably, Wisconsin’s chapter of the Sierra Club’s director, Shahla Werner, thinks hunting woodchucks (or, groundhogs in some circles) is just plain irresponsible, because she’s never heard of anyone eating them.  Read more

1 296 297 298 299 300 360