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Licensed hunters and landowners may now take feral hogs at any time, since a package of bills has been signed by Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment announced today.

Hunters or individuals with concealed-carry permits may take swine running loose on public land or on private land with landowner permission. Landowners may take hogs on their property at any time.

The law also authorizes animal control officers and law enforcement officers to shoot hogs running loose on private or public property.

“Feral swine are known vectors for diseases that are transmissible to humans, livestock and wildlife,” said DNRE Director Rebecca Humphries. “This change in the law gives us another weapon for dealing with this unhealthy situation.”

The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) is in full agreement with the new law.

“Three years of hard work by many partners has paid off,” said Dr. Nancy Frank, MDA deputy director. “The joint resolutions by both the Natural Resources and Agriculture Commissions sent us in this direction. This legislation is key to preventing an environmental and animal health disaster.”

The new laws take immediate effect.

By Glen Wunderlich

Remember to support our veterans in any way you can. Join a veterans’ organization; plenty exist even for those who have not served. Or, support your local VFW, or any of their many affiliates when they have dinners or other events.

A perfect example will be June 18th at the Perry, MI VFW/Amvets club at 601 N. Main 48872, Ph: 517-625-3154. (If you don’t know where it is, drive on Main Street and keep an eye on the west side for a most beautiful front yard with a howitzer pointing across the road. Honest, nobody else in the neighborhood has one. You really can’t miss it.)

The Perry Sons of Amvets will host from 5 pm to 8 pm a remarkably priced $8.00 dinner consisting of a 12-ounce Angus N.Y. Strip steak grilled to order for you. The dinner also includes a huge baked potatoe, several vegetables, salad and roll, coffee, tea and water (and sometimes even homemade desset but we never promise it.) The fact is that the Ladies Auxiliary often provides donated baked goods and such out of the goodness of their hearts and they only last so long. Hint: Get there early!

And, there’s a great tie-in to carrying on the great Michigan tradition of deer hunting with the annual Perry Youth Hunt Extravaganza. I won’t go into details of this event now, but 10 percent of the proceeds of the Perry Sons of Amvets dinners and other events go directly for funding prizes given to licensed youth hunters immediately following the close of the two-day Youth Hunt season in September.

So, there you have it. A great way to help out the community and a great deal for you. Also, mark your calendar because there will be a repeat performance on the Fourth of July.

POTTSTOWN, PA – The planting of food plots has become a big part of deer habitat management. Each year millions of dollars are spent on the planting of food plots. However, many hunters and landowners overlook the naturally occurring deer food plants already on their property that with a little care will produce an abundance of food for deer at little cost. The guidebook How to Manage Native Plants for Deer gives the reader the information he needs to locate and manage a wide range of native and naturally occurring plants that deer love.

Deer hunting is always better, and attracts deer from greater distances, when the total habitat is managed. Selecting and fertilizing native and naturally occurring plants is an easy way to improve land for deer, and compliments the planting of food plots.

Designed to be pocket sized and easy to read, this little guidebook makes an ideal gift for the beginning hunter or master of the woods. It’s everything needed to know about managing the food sources you already have on your property and in a 101-page guidebook that will fit in your hunting pack or in the glove box of your truck.

For more information about the J. Wayne Fears series of guidebooks, or to place an order, visit the Pro Tool Industries web site atwww.protoolindustries.net or call 800-708-5191 where you can also request a free catalog. Pro Tool Industries’ web site now offers a new retail store locator where visitors can find a nearby retail location carrying the company’s brands including the J. Wayne Fears guidebooks, Pro Tool Utility Knife Collection and the Woodman’s Pal.

Contact: Donna M. Uncapher
President & Marketing Dir.
Astraea Marketing Group, LLC
Phone: 484-686-8760
donna@astraeamarketing.com

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

Hunting for turkeys affords the birdwatcher in me an opportunity to digest the many sights and sounds of spring. No matter how early I rise to take a position afield for gobblers, the robins are already providing a feast for the ears with their merry melodies. I sure cannot think of a friendlier sound than the serenade of Michigan’s State bird, as I make my way along the trail. But, the undisputed king of the most magnificent of all bird calls has to be the Greater Sandhill Crane.

Their raucous trumpeting trill is unmistakable and can be heard for over a mile. Mated pairs of sandhill cranes call in unison, which explains why the sounds are so rapid. With their heads thrown back and beaks pointed upward, the female begins with two, higher-pitched calls for each of the male’s. The display provides a unique opportunity to distinguish the male from the female – an otherwise impossible task. As part of the calling session, the female raises her beak about 45 degrees, while the male does so at a vertical position.

With an average height of four to five feet and a wingspan of seven feet, the Greater Sandhill Crane is Michigan’s tallest bird. The adults, after the summer molting period, are gray with a red forehead; the young do not have the colored forehead markings. Sandhills that appear to be a reddish brown have actually tainted their feather color by preening with plants and mud rich in iron and lose the color variation after the summer molt and return to the all-gray color.

Believe it or not, hunting of Sandhill Cranes is permitted in nine states of the Central Flyway in spite of opposition from the usual suspects. What makes hunting these magnificent creatures controversial is their similar appearance to Whooping Cranes – an endangered species. To help combat the possibility of accidental shooting of whooping cranes a more-than-substantial penalty is in place: A fine of up to $100,000 and/or a year behind bars. In Kansas, for example, an online examination must be successfully completed before a license to hunt is given. For your own enlightenment and amusement, the website is https://secure.ksfishandwildlife.org/crane.

In Michigan, we also have the all-gray Great Blue Heron, which is similar in appearance. In flight, however, the heron’s neck has a distinct bend in appearance, while the Sandhill Crane’s neck is straight.

In addition, Great Blue Herons are typically found in or near water, while the Sandhill Cranes can be seen in farming fields satisfying their omnivorous craving for young plants, grains, and small animals like mice and snakes. The Sandhill Cranes love the wetlands adjacent to short vegetation allowing for sight-hunting. Large feeding flocks can totally devastate newly planted fields of grain and are often seen later in the season cleaning up waste grain after harvest.

In 1934 only 17 nesting pairs were in Southern Michigan. By 1987 a total of 630 nesting pairs were reported in the Lower Peninsula and an additional 175 pairs in the Upper Peninsula. They winter in southern Georgia and northern Florida.

I have found them to be quite wary of humans but was able to capture several photos, as I was leaving my turkey hunting location this past week and neared their nesting site.

(Columbus) – Today, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) and other national and state based groups filed a formal petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to remove the Western Great Lakes wolves from the Endangered Species List.

The petition incorporates information regarding the wolves’ population status from similar petitions filed by the Departments of Natural Resources in Minnesota and Wisconsin in March and April, 2010. This information includes population numbers of 3,000 wolves now present in Minnesota, 460-500 in Wisconsin and 430 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This is a significant increase in wolf population from the 1970s, when they were placed under Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection.

Once removed from ESA list, the wolves would still be protected under the management plans of each state.

“The numbers of wolves throughout the region have clearly recovered and it is time for the states to regain their rightful management authority,” said Rob Sexton, USSA vice president for government affairs. “Though it’s already been a long road, the USSA and our partners remain committed to ensuring that this delisting happens.”

Joining the USSA in filing the petition are the Wisconsin Bear Hunters Association, Dairyland Committee of Safari Club International Chapters of Wisconsin, National Wild Turkey Federation of Wisconsin, Whitetails of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Firearms Owners, Ranges, Clubs and Educators Inc.

Two previous efforts by FWS to delist the Western Great Lakes gray wolves were reversed as a result of lawsuits filed by anti-hunting groups and some procedural mistakes made by the FWS in the waning days of the Bush Administration.

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs.

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

For some time now, I have been looking for a pistol load that will take deer cleanly at extended ranges. There are many choices in bottle-neck cartridges in single-shot pistols that’ll do the trick, but since my deer hunting has been limited to southern Michigan, all of them must be ruled out by law; only straight-walled cases are legal in zone III. The .357 magnum? Too wimpy. The .44 magnum? Not enough horsepower. The .45-70? Let’s get going!

First, let me define extended range: Beyond 150 yards to a maximum of 175 yards. No doubt, that’s quite a poke for most folks with any type of firearm, let alone a pistol. But, the Thompson Center Contender may be up to the task, but you’d better hang on.

Run-of-the-mill factory-produced ammo in .45-70 caliber doesn’t produce the velocity and/or lacks the aerodynamics to get the job done without lobbing the bullets into the target at such distance. Understand that any caliber can be sighted in for any range – say 175 yards – but mid-range trajectory will put a slow-moving bullet over the kill zone, which then calls for yardage estimates and varying degrees of altering the point of aim to compensate for the shot. Baloney! Plus, there’s the matter of down-range energy. If the bullet doesn’t pack enough punch when it arrives at the target (many consider 1000 foot pounds minimum), it might not expand properly and could result in less than terminal results.

That’s why I have chosen the new Barnes Tipped Triple-Shock bullets in the lightest offering of 300 grains. This new Barnes beauty is a tipped boattail design made of pure copper and the football design has three grooves cut into its circumference to minimize copper fouling by reducing the bearing surface in the barrel. I have used Barnes bullets for many years in handguns, rifles, and shotguns and have always been impressed with their 100-percent weight retention. I won’t use any bullets for deer that disintegrate upon impact like some other similarly appearing bullets do at higher velocities.

I went to the loading information from J.D. Jones of SSK Industries, the maker of my custom barrel for the light (for .45-70) bullets and set the powder scale at 54.5 grains of IMR 3031 powder. I have tested other bullets at near maximum loads in this rig and knew the gun could handle the pressure of the near-maximum load. Normally, I stay away from the real hot loads, for reasons related to safety and accuracy, but if I was going to push the load to 175 yards, it had to start off hot.

The chronograph pegged the projectile at 1670 feet-per-second (fps) and produced a whopping 1858 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle. Sighted in for a 150-yard zero, the bullet was at its highest point of 3.84 inches high at 75 yards and fell to 3.70 inches low at 175 yards – based on computerized ballistics. Not bad, but my preferred limits are 3-inches high or low to conform to my personal point blank parameters. However, there was still plenty of “whack-em” at 175 yards, which came in at a hefty 1029 ft-lbs of energy.

If I wanted to compromise my point-blank standards, this load has the muscle to get the job done; however, my next step will be to see if I can increase the velocity enough to flatten out the trajectory just a bit without signs of too much pressure. Options include changing powder or more powder, although there isn’t much room left for that – or changing primers. Of course, accuracy testing will be part of the experiment, too, because none of this horsepower stuff matters without real “gun control.”

Oh, yes. There’s one other annoying aspect of lighting off this hand cannon, but if I can find a chin strap for my hat, I’ll get over it.

The Natural Resources Commission has made it easier for hunters to take more antlerless deer in much of the Lower Peninsula by expanding the early and late antlerless-only hunts and easing some license restrictions.

Antrim and Oceana counties; the portion of Charlevoix County in Deer Management Unit 015; those portions of Muskegon, Mecosta, Isabella, Midland and Bay counties in Zone 2; and the portion of Arenac County east of M-65 have been added to the early antlerless-only season, Sept. 16-20.

Antrim, St. Clair, Macomb, Wayne and Monroe counties; the portion of Charlevoix County in DMU 015; and the portion of Arenac County east of M-65 have been added to the late antlerless season, Dec. 20 – Jan. 1.

The limit of antlerless licenses that hunters may purchase on one day has been raised from two to five for all DMUs in Zone 3, DMU 487 and DMU 452. In addition, the season limit of five private-land licenses in DMUs 486 and 041 has been eliminated.

Meanwhile, hunters in DMU 487 may now use a tag from a firearms license or a combination license to take an antlerless deer during firearms season.
“These changes will give hunters greater flexibility to take antlerless deer in areas where we want to increase the antlerless-deer harvest,” said Brent Rudolph the Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s deer and elk program leader. “All affected units either have deer populations in excess of our goals or include areas with disease issues or negative impacts on private property.”

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

From less than 100 yards, two deer stood and stared at us in disbelief, as Joe and I made our way to the portable blind for the May 3rd late-season turkey opener. We set our hen decoy about 22 yards away and sat with great anticipation, not knowing how the day was to unfold.

Five hours later at 10:30 am, two hens emerged from a wet, low area known to us as the safety zone. The lead hen was in no particular hurry and seemed content to forage her way in the direction of our plastic accomplice. I whispered to Joe to keep and eye out for a gobbler that I expected would follow the two to our ambush. Ol’ Tom never showed but it sure was exciting to have those hens within arm’s reach of our blind. Although we had several other hens in the vicinity that day, no gobbler showed.

For the rest of May, however, I must divide my time afield between more turkey hunting and food plot preparation. It’s a bit of a quandary, because operating a tractor and tearing up the ground takes place alongside some of our perennial legume plots, which are flourishing at the moment. Doing so, can’t be good for turkey hunting in the short term, but it’s a necessary evil for rewards later on.

If you want to enjoy the benefits of food plots this season, you’d better get going. Although farmers have caught a break with early season dryness and have planted much of their crops already, the first-time food plotter should set his sights on planting the first week of August or even next year. And, only good preparation now will make it happen.

The initial spraying of grass and weed fields should commence now. If you have a backpack sprayer, mix 2 cups of glyphosate (Roundup or generic equivalent) with 4 gallons of water; larger sprayers should be mixed in the same proportion. Then several weeks later, a second spray at half strength should kill most everything.

If you haven’t gotten a soil sample yet, it makes good sense to do so to ensure the proper nutrients are applied before seeding. (I took my soil samples to Meal and More in Morrice and they sent the samples to Michigan State for a nominal fee.) I found that my phosphorus levels were off the map, so adding more in a typical blend of fertilizer made no sense.

In most cases adding pelletized lime will help – especially if your ph level is below 6.5. The beauty of the bagged lime is that it is relatively inexpensive at less than $5.00 per 50 pounds. It is best to get it in the soil sometime before planting but it can actually be done the same day. Same goes for fertilizer.

After a light disking in July, a final spray of glyphosate is applied once the weeds begin to emerge about two weeks later. We use broadcast spreaders for lime, fertilizer, and seeding. But, if you want the best results, some type of rolling or cultipacking will improve germination rates. The rest is up to Mother Nature.

We prefer legume plots for creating a haven for turkeys in the spring, when the remnants of the previous season’s annual plots are but a memory. It’s a beautiful sight to see the lush green clover and alfalfa as soon as the snow melts. But, beware: Legume plots require maintenance, too. There’s plenty of mowing and two doses of 6-24-24 fertilizer each season. Fortunately, the cost of fertilizer has come down the past two years, but at approximately $18 per 50 pounds and 150 pounds per acre applied twice a year, legume maintenance is not as inexpensive as most do-it-yourselfers would think.

Brassica plots which include turnips, biologic, and rape don’t take as much maintenance, but they are only good for one fall and winter season. However, they pay big dividends, when the snow gets deep and other food sources get scarce.

Whatever food source you may choose, you had better get to it. And, for a tremendous reference guide, get Ed Spinazzola’s book, Ultimate Deer Food Plots. For the beginner or expert, there’s plenty of information on the subject at www.deerattraction.com.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment reminds hunters that applications for Michigan elk and bear hunting licenses are now available through June 1.

There will be 230 elk licenses and 11,742 bear hunting licenses available for the 2010 hunting seasons.

Only Michigan residents are eligible to apply for an elk license. Bear licenses are available for both residents and nonresidents; however, no more than two percent of licenses in any bear management unit will be issued to nonresidents.

Hunters can apply online at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings, at any authorized license agent or at a DNRE Operations Service Center. A nonrefundable $4 fee is charged at the time of application. Hunters may purchase just one application for each species.

Applicants may call (517) 373-1263 prior to June 1 for assistance with their application and may check their drawing results online at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings beginning June 21 for elk and June 28 for bear. Also see the 2010 Michigan Elk Hunting Guide and 2010 Michigan Bear Hunting Guide for more details about the application processes.

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

For many, the turkey season is winding down; for others like me, the late season for private land hunters begins Monday, May 3rd – and, since last August, I have anticipated another session of hide and seek for the wily Tom. That’s when I got my hands on one of the newest and highly touted calls on the market – The Ring Zone from HS Strut.

The Ring Zone call looks like most slate calls but its surface is ceramic and boasts a scientifically proven technology to reproduce the sounds of a hen turkey – all verified by an oscilloscope. Even though I believe it more prudent to spend more time scouting than calling, this new call is sure to get at least a mild workout opening day.

Last weekend, I was afforded an opportunity to sneak to my observation post with the aid of Mother Nature’s silencing rain. Before dusk, I set up a spotting scope for detail work but relied upon the naked eye and binoculars for the task at hand. My goal was to pinpoint an area that turkeys were using to enter the destination field of perennial legumes so that I would know where to place my blind.

Movement caught my eye within minutes at 170 yards. Upon further review, however, my compact Leupold binoculars confirmed a lone sandhill crane out for breakfast. It poked and prodded its way through the spring clover and alfalfa taking full advantage of the night crawlers’ and worms’ propensity to avoid death by drowning. Had they only known it would be death by digestion, maybe they’d have stayed underground.

A distant gobble made sense of my efforts, while a menacing crow dive-bombed the feeding crane, which ducked the airborne attack. When the swooping crow landed atop a white pine, it commenced to coordinate a meeting of its brethren with a “look-here” call. Sure enough, more black demons arrived shortly thereafter and joined the slimy feeding frenzy.

While the cranes, crows, and robins gorged themselves, it made for interesting entertainment and passed the time. But I didn’t get outdoors at 5:30 am for just any bird watching; it was the elusive turkey I came to see. And, then it happened. From the southern edge of the property, a lone hen marched into view. In a double-time walk, she proceeded to cross the entire field in front of me with two other females behind her in single file. They were on a mission, never stopping for a bite and disappeared beyond view.

I had no intention of calling for practice and that’s why the myriad calling devices remained home. It doesn’t make sense to educate the quarry. I’ll do it for real when it matters.

I watched as the crane slowly lifted off and wondered how difficult it must have been with a belly full of worms. In front of God and me, two robins made robins, while those same turkey hens returned to get in on the worms’ misfortune.

With the unsuspecting crows less than 50 yards from me, I knew my motionless surveillance was good. The three turkeys – one of which was a bearded hen – were in no hurry this time. By 9:20 am, they were content to preen themselves – probably for the big guy that had yet to show.

But, that’s just fine for now, because the hunt is just beginning.