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MDNR Report
Thomas Steele III, 23, of Chelsea is serving a 60-day sentence in the Marquette County Jail after pleading guilty to intentionally sabotaging a hunter’s tree stand.
Steele recently pleaded guilty in Marquette County Circuit Court to misdemeanors of aggravated assault and hunter harassment under a plea agreement.
Additionally, Steele must reimburse the victim’s medical expenses for injuries sustained in a fall from his tree stand. He must also serve a one-year probation term.
Steele’s hunting privileges were revoked for an undetermined amount of time. With Michigan a member of the Interstate Wildlife Violator’s Compact, Steele’s right to hunt will also be revoked in nearly all 50 states.
“Hunter harassment is real and taken very seriously,” said Dave Shaw, chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division. “Most hunters respect the land and each other and take pride in an ethical hunt.
“The DNR hopes that by sharing the details of this case, we can bring awareness to the consequences of this person’s unethical and dangerous behavior and know that it will not be tolerated.”
Incident details
The harassment began in October 2020 on state hunting land in Marquette County.
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MDNR Report
Scott Meisterheim
Scott Meisterheim, 55, Kalamazoo faced a pretrial in Kalamazoo County earlier this week on 10 counts of illegal deer hunting, on which he was arraigned for earlier this month. He is currently serving 18 months’ probation for aggravated domestic assault in and is due back in court on the DNR charges in February.
A Kalamazoo man who admits that he’s “not the most ethical hunter,” was in court Wednesday for a pretrial hearing related to illegal deer hunting.
Scott Kevin Meisterheim, 55, was arraigned earlier this month in the 8th District Court of Kalamazoo County for the following 10 charges, sought by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources:
- Taking white-tailed deer outside of lawful hunting hours (one count).
- Hunting white-tailed deer with no license (two counts).
- Uses the deer hunting licenses of another (two counts).
- Taking an overlimit of antlered white-tailed deer (two counts).
- Transporting/possessing untagged antlered white-tailed deer (three counts).
The DNR requested additional charges for illegal bait, failing to immediately validate/attach kill tags and using another’s (hunting) license.
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MDNR Report
Michigan Wolf
Wildlife biologists from the Michigan DNR released their findings of the latest Michigan gray wolf survey.
The survey, conducted in early 2022, shows the wolf population in the Upper Peninsula remains stable, as it has for more than a decade.
“These results show a continued trend of statistical stability, indicating that gray wolves may have reached their biological carrying capacity within the Upper Peninsula,” said Cody Norton, the DNR’s wolf specialist. “Wolf presence has only been confirmed twice genetically in the Lower Peninsula in recent times; in 2004 and 2014.”
The survey, which is conducted every other winter, covers the U.P., including Drummond, Neebish and Sugar islands, with Isle Royale excluded. The wolves on Isle Royale are managed by the National Park Service.
Completing analysis of the field data collected during the DNR’s 2022 wolf survey was delayed during the past year as wildlife biologists focused on updating the state’s Wolf Management Plan.
The plan was updated using all pertinent social and biological scientific knowledge on wolves to date.
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MDNR Report
Michigan Stocked 7.8 Tons of Fish Last Fall
Anglers will soon benefit from the 624,205 fish - which collectively weighed 7.8 tons - that were stocked by the Michigan DNR at 85 locations across the state.
“It was another outstanding fall fish stocking season that will provide enhanced fishing opportunities throughout Michigan,” said DNR fish production manager Ed Eisch. “When added to our successful spring and summer stocking efforts, that brings the total for 2022 to more than 17 million fish stocked in Michigan’s waters.”
The number and type of fish stocked vary by hatchery, as each facility’s ability to rear fish differs because of water supplies and temperature. In Michigan, there are six state and three cooperative hatcheries that work together to produce the species, strain and size of fish needed by fisheries managers. These fish must then be delivered at a specific time and location for stocking to ensure their success. Most fish in Michigan are stocked in the spring.
Fall 2022 fish stocking consisted of four species of fish: brook trout, Eagle Lake and steelhead strain rainbow trout, walleye and muskellunge.
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By Louie Stout
Team Captain Carrie Balk with Kale Parr (left) and Collin Balk
Three Rivers High School Principal/Three Rivers Bass Fishing Team Captain Carrie Balk poses with Kale Parr (left) and team partner Collin Balk after they won the Michigan TBF Junior State Championship.
It was the school's first year as a bass fishing team.
Not all kids want to sit around and play video games, says Carrie Balk, Three Rivers High School principal.
She found out first hand. When her son Collin approached her last year about starting a Three Rivers High School fishing club, she decided to investigate the possibilities.
“I sent out a survey to gauge students’ interest and heard back from more than 90 kids,” said Balk. “That’s three times as many that are on our football team so I decided I better look into it.”
Not only was the Three Rivers Wildcats Bass Fishing Team formed, but 40-some kids stayed active throughout the summer.
If that weren’t enough, son Collin and buddy Kale Parr won The Bass Federation Junior Division State Championship at Wampler’s Lake. That earned them a spot in The Bass Federation Junior World championship at Kentucky Lake where they finished fourth.