Lansing — While you’re out hunting deer or small game, don’t miss the chance to bag a bird for Thanksgiving. Remaining fall turkey licenses are now available for everyone. Better hurry though, the fall season ends Nov. 14.
Purchase a license online or over the counter wherever DNR licenses are sold. Download the new Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app to buy licenses, look up regulations, get notifications from the DNR and much more.
The voluntary use of electronic harvest tags brings Michigan further into the digital age of hunting licenses. Electronic options have become more common around the country, and several states have developed electronic tagging systems for turkeys.
To use an electronic tag on your harvested turkey, you must use the Hunt Fish mobile app to buy. Paper tags are not an option for fall turkey when purchasing in the app. Find season dates, bag limits, and hunting regulations at Michigan.gov/Turkey.
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2024 Bear Management Cooperator Patch Available Now
Johannesburg, Mich. — The 2024 bear management cooperator patch is a great way to commemorate the recent bear season. Adult hunters, patch collectors and others can buy a patch for $7. Young hunters, 10 to 17 years old, who have a valid bear hunting license can get a free patch.
The Michigan Bear Hunters Association, in partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, coordinates Michigan’s bear cooperator patch program. Proceeds from patch sales will be used for black bear education and outreach.
Order patches online at www.mibearhunters.org/patch-program or send your name, complete address, and a check or money order payable to the Michigan Bear Hunters Association to: MBHA – Bear Patch Program, 10510 Fairgrieve Road, Johannesburg, MI 49751.
If the patch is for a youth bear hunter, please send a legible copy of a youth’s valid bear hunting license.
NWTF Holding Photo Contest
Edgefield, S.C. — The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is calling on photographers to enter the organization’s annual photo contest. Deadline for submitting entries is Jan. 10, 2025.
Photos may be entered in the following categories: live wild turkeys, live wildlife, scenic wild landscapes, and hunting/outdoor lifestyles.
Entries may be submitted online.
Citizens Can Aid in Future Planning at Van Buren State Park
South Haven, Mich. — To help ensure Van Buren State Park continues to meet the needs of visitors and the community, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking for public input on a new general management plan for this park in southwest Michigan’s Van Buren County.
Visitors, community members, stakeholders and others interested in sharing their opinions, ideas and experiences are encouraged to participate in an online survey, available through Nov. 24. Links to both the online survey and the project website are available at Michigan.gov/VanBuren.
The DNR uses general management plans to define a long-range planning and management strategy that protects a park’s natural and cultural resources, while also addressing recreation and educational needs and opportunities.
Additional information on the DNR’s general management planning process is available at Michigan.gov/ParkManagementPlans.
For more about the public survey or proposed plan, contact Debbie Jensen at JensenD1@Michigan.gov or 517-230-6837.
Bassmaster Elite Series is No Longer Pay to Play
Birmingham, Ala. — Professional bass fishing will never be the same. Ever. That’s a huge statement. In this case, it’s true. B.A.S.S. just announced that the Bassmaster Elite Series, heading into its 20th season, will no longer require entry fees. In 2025, competitors of the most prestigious tournament trail on the planet, for the first time ever in the history of B.A.S.S. competition, will no longer fish for their own money. No longer are Elite Series pros required to pay to play.
B.A.S.S. has long believed that the ultimate goal of the organization’s highest level of competition should be on par with other individual professional sports, like golf and tennis, which do not require pros to pay entry fees to compete. However, on the heels of record-breaking viewership of Bassmaster LIVE on FOX networks and Bassmaster.com, paired with strong long-term partnerships, this ultimate goal has been realized.”
Research: Milkweed Vital to Monarch Numbers
Chicago — A new study finds anyone with a green thumb, urban or rural, can help save monarch butterflies. Results from research conducted from 2020 to 2022 astounded Field Museum scientists.
“We encouraged participants who had planters on balconies, who had planters on rooftop decks, and we saw some of the most amazing things,” Karen Klinger, a Geographic Information Systems analyst said. “There was one participant who had a planter set on the condominium roof that had five large caterpillars in one photo.”
Researchers trained more than 400 volunteer community scientists around the Chicago area to observe their milkweed patches for monarchs. Those scientists made nearly 6,000 observations across 810 patches of milkweed in Chicagoland in four years.