Once again, Hello! Hope all are surviving the cold and ice; it’s been brutal, hasn’t it? At night I can see a flock of turkeys roosting in the trees behind the house and I can only wonder how in the heck they don’t freeze up and fall off their limb. Anyway, this weather is a sure reason why the winter survival feeding of turkeys is so important. The North-Central Chapter stated at their 22nd annual banquet that between the end of 2018 and so far in 2019, they have distributed around 22 tons of shell corn for people to use in turkey feeders. Wow!

Here in the Clare area, we had roughly one to two feet of snow with ice under that. The turkeys are simply not going to find food in that. To sum up…Feed them, then hunt them in the spring, roast them! Yum!

There was a State Chapter meeting on February 3rd at Jay’s Sporting Goods.
1) The State Chapter officers were elected and are the same as before:

Gary Maas – President
Mitch Todd – Vice President
Dave Feusse – Secretary
Carol Maas – Treasurer

2) It was voted and approved to raise the annual dues to $15 per year effective March 2019.

3) It was voted not to be part of the MUCC as it costs too much for our limited budget for what we would get out of it as known from past experiences.

4) The amended by-laws were voted on and approved.

5) I’d like to restate here that Conservation Officer Steve Lockwood of the DNR has checked and the current turkey feeder that has been distributed by MWTHA in the past is acceptable. Putting 2” by 4” screening around the “dish” area would be even better; I have done this to my feeder and it works great with keeping deer out and turkeys can use it just fine. Other Officers in other areas may have other views but as I understand it Officer Lockwood checked with his superiors and we should be good to go (This discussion is continued in Item 6).

6) There was a wrap-up meeting for North-Central Chapter’s 22nd Annual Banquet at which Conservation Officer Sergeant Jon Wood was present. I took that time to ask him about the baiting ban and our turkey feeders, elevated stands or tree stands for turkey hunting and why is there no fall turkey hunt in the Clare area.

Sergeant Wood stated that he would check with his superiors and get back with me.
First, I want to thank Sergeant Wood for coming to our meeting and he did indeed call me back within two days.

After checking with his fellow officers and uppers Sergeant Wood stated that as long as deer and elk cannot reach the corn in the feeders we are good. That the law states that there is no feeding deer and elk, and does not say anything about feeding turkeys as long as the deer and elk cannot access the feed (See item 5 about adding screening)! As for our current feeders, he said we should be good, and that it can’t be stressed enough, as long as deer and elk cannot get to the feed!

On elevated stands or tree stands for turkey hunting, as well as, a fall season in Clare County, Sergeant Wood stated that about all he can do is take our thoughts on the matter and include them in his report to Lansing. I thanked him for his time for looking into these issues.

Finally, the North-Central 22nd Annual Banquet was a huge success. The food was great, the prizes were great and of course, the guns (36 guns I believe that were won by lucky folks) were top notch.

Mark March 7, 2020, on your calendars NOW for next year’s banquet and gun raffle. It’s a non-alcohol event and is fantastic for children (all kids get a prize when they play the FREE games), and the ladies (all ladies 18 years and older) get a FREE gift just for coming! You won’t get this kind of deal anywhere else! Watch for the banquet flier around December 2019 or early January 2020.