I don’t want to belabor the Natural Resources Commission’s latest decision on the practice of baiting and feeding deer in Michigan, but I have to say that reading follow-up articles on the subject and listening to other hunters talk about it has been interesting, to say the least.One of the arguments used by both NRC members and hunters in their…
“It’s summer time and the livin’ is easy. Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high….” Those words are from one of my favorite oldies tunes and these hazy humid days, quiet mornings and glass-calm waters covered by cottonwood fluff make me recall it every day.But when I clicked on my computer to check my usual weather sites before heading…
One of the benefits of living toward the south end of Lake Michigan is how our fishing gets started earlier in the year than “up the coast.” Okay, maybe when our fishing peps up we catch 2-pound cohos and when the northern ports start popping, they do it with double-digit kings. In my book, a 2-pounder now, is better than…
Michigan hunters – especially those who live in the southern part of the Lower Peninsula – should weigh in during the comment period for the Department of Natural Resources’ Hunting Access Program (HAP) before the June 8 deadline. The DNR is seeking to increase the program from its current 8,000 acres.The program was created to increase hunting opportunities, particularly in…
Precautionary closures protect human health; relocation of oysters helps prevent further damage to commercial industry Louisiana officials announced precautionary closures of two oyster harvesting areas on May 13 that are receiving large amounts of freshwater intrusion from the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway and from the Mississippi River. Officials also announced that oysters in some areas east of the…
Back in the late 1960s, Michigan stocked the first salmon in Lake Michigan as an experiment. The experiment was a bright success. Those initial coho salmon were followed by brown trout, king salmon, steelhead and Atlantics. Those programs proved successful, as well.But cohos started it all and for many Michiganders, cohos remain their favorite.Sure, the kings are bigger, the browns…
I’ve been disappointed reading many of the comments left by hunters in response to articles published in statewide news media about the meetings on the Lower Peninsula deer baiting ban. So many of those commenting seem to have no concern for anyone else but themselves.Hunting seems to be like everything else these days – infected with the prevalent “hooray for…
Simple pleasures are what makes life worth living. And I’ll admit, one of my simple pleasures on a hot day on the lake (when I’m not out there professionally) is to boat a big salmon, hand the rod to one of my fishing partners to be reset, then hoist a cold brew from the cooler.Michigan, like most states, doesn’t have…
While just about every other state that is home to feral hogs is looking for ways to get rid of them and spending millions in the effort, Michigan, it seems, is looking for ways to increase its pig population. The “sport swine industry” is working with the state legislature on regulations that will stop a Department of Natural Resources order…
Those of you enamored of all things Great Lakes might want to check out the online magazine called Eddies, a quarterly publication of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation: www. fws.gov/eddies. The current issue is dedicated to Great Lakes fisheries conservation. Articles include past and present information about lampreys in the lakes, how…
With hunters and snowmobilers fighting to maintain their right to use the Huron-Manistee National Forest, and hunting property being nibbled away here and there around the state, it is quite nice to see what’s happening in southeast Michigan’s Washington Township right now. In February, the township board, on the advice of a committee formed a year ago, voted unanimously to…
I heard a news report on the radio the other day that said a poached wolf had been found in Chippewa County. It struck me as curious because I’d never tried poached wolf – I’ve always had mine roasted. I’m just kidding, of course, and while I merely rolled my eyes at the strange wording in the news report, I…
It must have been a warm day just before the first lake-effect snows turned the world white for the winter. It must have been during the time my wife lit the fireplace for atmosphere rather than extra heat.That’s when the invitation must have been given to me to come to Marquette and Munising for a week of “silent sports.”Perhaps it…
Have you ever noticed that when certain interest groups whine about the use of public forests, it’s always the hunters who are shoved to the side?Think about it – when was the last time you were at a meeting about forest improvement or discussing trails in a group when you heard a hunter stand up and say, “I think this…
I remember when I got my first Penn 9M reels decades ago. They were “hand-me-downs” from an elderly friend who grew too old to captain his own boat and became one of my regular fishing partners. I was excited, because they were the first “real” reels on my boat. With them, I could hook onto any fish in Lake Michigan…
With all the problems facing our state right now, you have to wonder about a guy who would waste our time with an idea like that being proposed by State Rep. David Agema. Agema (R-Grandville) is seeking to divert 80 percent of the cash generated by the Michigan Natural Resource Trust Fund. He has proposed three bills that would put…
Gun hunting and snowmobiling could be outlawed on over 66,000 acres of the Huron-Manistee National Forest if the regional forester in charge of managing those public resources decides that’s the best management strategy for the area. The H-MNF is presently undergoing a court-mandated review of the Huron-Manistee Land and Resource Management Plan.The Forest Service approved the plan in 2006, but…
By the time you read this, Governor Jennifer Granholm may have already signed a law to allow the state Natural Resources Commission to establish Michigan’s first moose hunt. The governor has signaled her intent to sign a bill put before her as one of her last items of business as she leaves office, but you never know. For the good…
I walked into the barn room and was taken back by the stark emptiness This is the room where I finish the furs I take from my trap line. At the beginning of the season there are just a few pelts, but more are added each day. Soon, the room seems crowded with the dried skins of coyotes, raccoons, muskrats…
Helena, Montana (AP) – A federal judge has reinstated protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho, saying the government made a political decision in removing the protections from just two of the states where Northern Rocky Mountain wolves roam. The decision halts wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho this fall. Montana wildlife regulators last month set the wolf-hunt quota at…
Traverse City, Mich. (AP) – A 3-foot-long Asian carp discovered in a Chicago waterway near Lake Michigan appears to have spent most of its life there and may have been planted by humans who didn't know what type of fish it was or the environmental risk it posed, researchers said Thursday. Tests of chemical markers in the bighead carp suggest…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said earlier this afternoon that it has no plans to restrict waterfowl harvest quotas for the 2010 hunting seasons due to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Waterfowlers across the country have been monitoring the habitat damage the oil leak is causing in the Gulf, and with good reason. Waterfowl, shorebirds, neo-tropical…
DNRE Report Gladwin, Mich. — A Gladwin man was sentenced recently before Judge W. Clayton Graham in 92nd District Court in St. Ignace on one count of illegally killing a gray wolf. Michael Greaves, 47, was found guilty and ordered to pay $500 in fines and costs, along with $1,500 in restitution. His hunting privileges were also suspended for one…
DNRE Report Gaylord, Mich. — The Department of Natural Resources and Environment will host an open house on Tuesday, July 27, to provide information and receive public comment on proposed forest management treatments for 2012 in the Pigeon River Country Management Unit. The open house will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Pigeon River Country Headquarters office,…
DNRE Report The Department of Natural Resources and Environment will hold a pair of meetings to provide information regarding recently proposed antler restrictions for deer hunters in Deer Management Unit (DMU) 487. Meetings are scheduled for: — June 22, 7 to 9 p.m., at the Harrisville Township Hall, 114 S. Poor Farm Rd. (located off of M-72, two miles west…
Lansing — Now that most fishing seasons have opened, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment reminds anglers that the use of salmon eggs or minnows for bait is restricted in some waters as part of a strategy to slow the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS). Anglers who purchase spawn or minnows for bait should make sure it is certified…
