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MDNR Report
Elk Hunters Successful in Early Season
Michigan's early elk hunting season - which occurs between Aug. 28-31, Sept. 14-17 and Sept. 28-Oct. 1 - saw 69 state hunters, three Pure Michigan Hunt winners and three tribal hunters all take elk.
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IDNR Report
Reservations for Indiana's put-and-take pheasant hunts on DNR properties are being accepted until midnight on Nov. 24.
Put-and-take hunting reservations are selected on a first-come, first-served basis. All hunting days will start on a Saturday in mid- to late November.
Properties offering put-and-take hunts are Atterbury, Glendale, J. E. Roush Lake, Pigeon River, Tri-County, Willow Slough and Winamac fish & wildlife areas.
The cost for put-and-take hunts is $28 per person per slot, which is non-refundable.
Put-and-take pheasant hunters must register each day of their hunt at the property office. Registration begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. local time. Put-and-take pheasant hunters may begin hunting at 9 a.m. local time.
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IDNR Report
Upland bird hunters can apply now for the opportunity to participate in controlled-access hunts on private land through a relatively new DNR program called APPLE.
APPLE stands for Access Program Providing Land Enhancements.
APPLE offers financial incentives to landowners who allow controlled public access hunting on their land. Public hunting opportunities are made available through a reserved draw system.
The program is geared toward improving hunting opportunities for ring-necked pheasant, Northern bobwhite quail and American woodcock. The species available at each participating property can vary.
To apply, visit hunting.IN.gov and click on the "Reserved Hunt Info" link. Hunters can apply now through Sept. 23.
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MDNR Report
While you might be thinking about your next visit to the beach right now, with bird hunting season just around the corner, it's a great time to plan your fall hunting trip.
"Preseason planning for your fall bird hunt can really pay off," said Michigan Department of Natural Resources upland game bird specialist Al Stewart. "Michigan has millions of acres of huntable public land with excellent young forests that have made northern Michigan a destination for many."
You can find tools to get started on planning your fall bird hunting trip right on your mobile device. GEMS and Mi-HUNT are twoDNR-developed programs to help you build a public-land hunting itinerary.
Nineteen GEMS (Grouse Enhanced Management Sites) in the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula will be available to explore this fall. GEMS are large blocks of land managed for young forests, with winding hunter walking trails that provide added comfort to those unfamiliar with an area or those with mobility challenges.
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By BOB GWIZDZ, MDNR Report
Michigan’s Trapping Tradition, a Challenging, Time-Honored Pursuit
Anyone who has spent much time in Michigan knows that hunting and fishing have always played major roles in the states heritage. Michigan is, and has long been, known nationally for the quality of its outdoor recreation.
But one natural resources-based recreation coterie, which garners very little attention, is quick to point out that its members pastime is at least equally as important if not more so as anyone else's in Michigan history: trappers.
Trappers are the invisible men and women of outdoor recreation. You don't see them in blaze orange or towing metal flake-finished boats to the lake. But they are out there; often daily, participating in a pastime that brought a lot of folks to this part of the country in the first place.
The city of Sault Ste. Marie was founded as a fur-trading post, the first in Michigan, said Dale Hendershot, a 67-year-old retired diesel mechanic and past president of the Michigan Trappers and Predator Callers Association. Michigan trappers settled our state - they were the first ones in here, paving the way for others to come.
Trappers have certainly played a big role in Michigan history.