On January 2, 2014, I received a phone call from a land owner in northern Osceola County. He had planted four acres of corn, which produced a great crop. The corn was gone having been eaten by all of the wildlife and he had 57 turkeys picking on the stalks for food. He was allocated a supply of corn, always without charge.
This is being written during the third week in January. Winter came early with deep snow, ice that prevents access to the ground and brutally cold weather. As I write this it is 22 degrees below zero in Grayling.
The following article appeared in the COMMENTARY of the October 25, 2013 edition of Michigan Outdoor News. Although deer is the topic, it is just as appropriate to insert turkeys, grouse, woodcock, rabbits or hare.
-Jim Maturen
I am responding to the commentary by Quality Deer Management Association member Paul Plantinga that appeared in the August 30 issue of Michigan Outdoor News. In his article, he quotes statistics on the loss of hunters from Michigan and infers that the loss of deer hunters is due to our hunters leaving the state in a quest for large-antlered bucks. There is much more to the loss than he suggests.
I am writing this during the first week in February. The wind chill is -12 degrees and expected to remain there all day and for the next several days. It has been a brutal winter with record setting low temperatures and very deep snow. Unless a source of food is found many of our wildlife will not be here come spring. It is hard to believe that not one news media or any so called conservation organizations have expressed any concern.
The following is some of the activities of the Pere Marquette Chapter. It may include activities of the state chapter as well.
We held a chapter meeting on February 12. A discussion was held on pending turkey hunting regulations. As we always do we had a discussion what we can do to insure the future of the Wild Turkey throughout northern Michigan among other issues. A state chapter meeting was held on February 17 at Clare. Pending issues and concerns of individual chapters was discussed and where needed consensus was reached.
Because of the dramatic decrease in Wild Turkey numbers the entire northern lower peninsula has bee closed to fall hunting, except for fall area HA which includes Mecosta, Newaygo and Oceana counties. It drew our attention when Area J, which includes 5 counties in the very tip of the lower peninsula, was proposed for a fall season.
“The motto that we are managing our natural resources for future generations is hollow.”
According to the DNR “Licenses are developed to harvest the desired number of turkeys to meet the management goal. To help reach these goals hunters are encouraged to harvest female turkeys during the fall season.”
The Grant Gobblers MWTHA Banquet was a hugh success and a terrific event. There were many games, bucket raffles, guns won (Gold Star Guns out of Edmore), great food (Chris and Leeann Hesse of PorkNStien) and five scholarships given out. Congrates gentlemen another fine event. ... See MoreSee Less
In the April 2024 issue of Woods and Water News there’s an in depth article by Millard Holton about apple tree cultivation. This got me to thinking about lending some hard learned things about apple trees that we have. We have about 26 apple trees I’ve planted on my property for personal use and what hits the ground the animals get. Millard is right about the mice, etc. wanting to eat the bark on young trees, for this we put repellent granules around the base at the beginning of winter. We have lost a few to this before putting the repellent down; it’s worth it. Repellent is a small price to pay, replacing the tree and start growing a new one is needless tree growth time lost. Also, we found out we need to put 6 foot high chicken wire fencing around the young trees with supporting posts. Again, chicken wire cost vs tree growing time when you need to replace a young tree that was eaten to the ground by deer… your call! By the way, keep the fencing up permanently to avoid the tree being a buck rub. Losing an older producing tree is a tragedy. I’ve learned to plant the trees that come in dirt in roughly 5 gal containers; bare root trees never worked out real good for us. We make a fairly big hole for the new tree and we found the best results by mixing about 10 bags of top soil like material into the existing dirt as we have predominantly sandy soil. Thanks, Millard for getting me thinking about this, I’ll bet your cider was delicious. ... See MoreSee Less
MWTHA State Chapter is going to have a general membership meeting May 19th, 2024, at the Clare Jay’s Sporting Goods in the Outback Room at 12 noon. The meeting will address, not limited to, the Charitable Gaming License rules, after banquet reporting “musts” and elections. Hope to see you there; Happy Hunting in the up-coming Turkey season. Gary Maas / MWTHA Pres. ... See MoreSee Less
What a great time we all had at the 26th Annual MWTHA Banquet at the Clare Church of the Nazarene last night. We handed out three scholarships: (pictured left to right) presenter Mark Todd - Morgan Bowers from Clare HS, Jaiden Sharrow from Farwell HS and Blake Davenport from Harrison HS. Also pictured is a small part of the kids who lined up to go across the stage to pick out their free gifts, and pictured is lucky “Polly” who was the first picked for the women’s free raffle table and decided to take the gun which was about as big as she is, lol. And, of course, we had a delicious dinner catered by Mack’s on Main from Gladwin. I must give a special shout out to “Johnny” from the Church of the Nazarene for all his help - he’s the best. Ask around and you’ll find out this is a great family oriented banquet night out. Thank you to everyone who came and to all our sponsors and workers who helped make this event possible each year. Certainly couldn’t do it without your help and support. ... See MoreSee Less
It is that time of year again. The Grant Gobblers are having their annual banquet March 22nd at Grant Community Church, doors open at 5:30 PM. For more info call Chapter President Brian Heminger at 616-291-1626. Also, of course, the North-Central Chapter is having their annual banquet March 2nd at the Clare Church of the Nazarene, doors open at 5:00 PM. For more info call Gary Maas at 989-588-1193. We look forward to two great MWTHA banquets and thank you for your continued support. ... See MoreSee Less