Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Goldfinch
Washington- A new study by U.S. and Canadian scientists has found that seabirds may be eating much more plastic trash than they have in the past, and that seabirds studied off the coast of Washington State and British Columbia are ingesting plastic at rates that are “among the highest” in the world. Read more
The Department of Natural Resources will offer a total of 708,650 antlerless deer licenses for the upcoming season after the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) adopted quotas at its regular monthly meeting last Thursday at Harsens Island. Read more
BOGART, Ga. — While heat and drought don’t cause hemorrhagic disease (HD), they set the stage for biting flies that spread the viruses to whitetails. The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) encourages deer hunters to look for the signs of an outbreak in late summer and report them immediately to authorities. Read more
JACKSON- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service recently completed their annual waterfowl population surveys on the breeding grounds to monitor waterfowl populations and to help set hunting season frameworks. Overall, North American breeding waterfowl populations increased 7 percent from 2011 to just over 48 million birds. Read more
West Point, MS – Native grasses and wildflowers have been around for thousands of years, providing valuable habitat for wildlife and crucial pollinator species. With population growth and development, these native species have dwindled in numbers, becoming scarcer. In hopes of encouraging landowners to incorporate native grass, forbes and wildflower establishment into their management practices and help restore native habitats to their original state, Mossy Oak Nativ Seeds has introduced five new native seed blends. Read more
By Glen Wunderlich
Whenever there’s a hyped-up advertisement for some purported “great” investment, there’s always a disclaimer along with it to the effect that there’s no guarantee of success based on past performance. On the other hand, a poor track record doesn’t necessarily indicate certain failure on another given gamble. So, too, it is with the farmer who rolls the dice no matter what.
With late-season food plot establishment a month away, hunters-turned-farmers will join the gambling contingent when they sow their chosen seed in August. Read more
Michigan and Ohio DNRs planning follow-up actions with partner agencies
Federal and state wildlife officials, working in conjunction with academic researchers, today announced six water samples taken from Sandusky and north Maumee bays tested positive for the presence of Asian carp environmental DNA in Michigan and Ohio waters. Read more
The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that applications for fall turkey hunting licenses are on sale through Aug. 1. Read more
Nearly wiped out in southern Michigan at one time, osprey (Pandion haliaetus) are now recovering within the state due in large part to the concentrated efforts of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Huron Clinton Metroparks, Detroit Zoological Society (DZS), DTE Energy and more than 100 volunteers. Read more
The same qualities that keep predators such as coyotes, bobcats and foxes at the top of the food chain also make them difficult to hunt. Not only are these predators intelligent, but they have remarkably keen senses that alert them not only to potential prey, but to the hunters in their area. Tink’s predator lures manipulate their unbelievable sense of smell to work in the hunter’s favor. Irrisistible to predators, these scents help to level the playing field a bit. Read more