Family-Outdoors

In Rapid City on the 24th of March (6-9 pm at Outdoor Campus) with the topic being the 2016-2017 state elk season. There will be discussion as well as tons of research findings, including: elk research Custer State Park elk management aerial survey information elk population models elk license drawing information, and information for landowners on damage caused by elk. Elk info can be found at  gfp.sd.gov/news/news/march/4. aspx If you can't make it, watch this online presentation:

Michigan’s early elk season is now over, leaving many happy hunters with full freezers and memories for a lifetime. “It was perfect! The hunt was above and beyond my expectations, very thorough and very professional,” said Dale Grelewicz of Twin Lakes. Grelewicz harvested his once-in-a-lifetime bull elk, with his wife Jeanne at his side, on  Aug. 26 .  The early elk season was made up of three, four-day hunts starting  Aug. 25 . Fifty state hunters had 12 days to harvest their elk, and 43 of them were successful in doing so. The early elk season is unique because it takes place during the rut, when calling can be effective, increasing the potential for some exciting interactions. “Throughout the season we have had excellent weather,” said DNR wildlife biologist Jennifer Kleitch. “Weather is always a big factor in hunting, and a hunt in late August, for large animals like elk, can sometimes be difficult if the weather is too warm and animals don’t move much.” Fo...

The  Department of Natural Resources  reminds hunters to check their 2015 elk license drawing results, now available on the DNR  website at   www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings . Two elk seasons will be held in 2015. The first season will run  Aug. 25-28 ,  Sept. 11-14  and  Sept. 25-28 . The second season will run  Dec. 5-13 . An additional season may be held  Jan. 13-17, 2016 , if the DNR determines the harvest insufficient to meet management goals. A total of 30 any-elk and 70 antlerless-only elk licenses have been issued through the drawing. Successful elk drawing applicants will receive detailed information about their hunt, including assigned hunt periods, elk management unit and type of license (any-elk or antlerless-only). Applicants are asked to be sure their mailing addresses are kept up to date with the Secretary of State. Elk hunters must attend a mandatory hunt orientation class prior to their hunt. Hunters can increase their o...

The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that applications for Michigan elk and bear hunting licenses are available now through  June 1 . There will be  100   elk licenses  and 7,831 bear hunting licenses available for the 2014 hunting seasons. Only Michigan residents are eligible to apply for an elk license. Bear licenses are available for both residents and nonresidents; however, no more than 2 percent of licenses in any bear management unit will be issued to nonresidents. Hunters can apply online at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings ,  at any authorized license agent or at a  DNR Customer Service Center . A nonrefundable $5 fee is charged at the time of application. Hunters may purchase just one bear and one elk application. Applicants may call 517-284-WILD (9453) by  June 1  for assistance with their application and may check their drawing results online at  www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings   beginning  June 30 ...

 (Photo credit: Odalaigh ) The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission finalized the 2014 elk hunting seasons at their April meeting in Oacoma. The Custer State Park elk hunting season will run from  Sept. 20-Oct. 5  with five “any elk” licenses available, one of which is set aside for a successful entrant in a raffle conducted by a nonprofit organization dedicated to big game management. The Custer State Park early archery elk hunting season will run from  Sept. 1-30  with four “any elk” licenses available. The Black Hills archery elk hunting season will have 92 “any elk” and 15 “antlerless elk” licenses available for the season running  Sept. 1-30 . Unit 7 for the archery season was also changed; with the area east of Interstate 90 being removed and placed in Unit 9 of the prairie elk hunting season. The Black Hills elk hunting season will have 420 “any elk” and 250 “antlerless elk” licenses available for the season that will run  Oct...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) North Dakota’s 2014 bighorn sheep, elk and moose proclamation is finalized and most season information is the same as last year. The bighorn sheep season will have five licenses available, one more than last year. Licenses in Unit B1 increased from one to two due to skewed male-female ratios caused by declining numbers of females. Unit B2, which was created to prevent overharvest of Sully Creek rams, has been immersed into B1 due to low numbers in the area. Similar to last year, collared rams may not be harvested in Unit B3. The season length has been extended to two months, and the new opening date corresponds with the peak of the rut to improve prospects of finding mature rams. A total of 261 elk licenses are available to hunters this fall, the same as in 2013. A total of 937 elk – including 701 adult cows – were taken out of the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park during the National Park Service’s reduction effort from 2010-201...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) Harvest statistics released by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department show overall hunter success during the 2013 season for bighorn sheep was 100 percent, 91 percent for moose and 50 percent for elk. The department issued three bighorn sheep licenses and auctioned one. All four hunters harvested a bighorn ram. The department issued 111 moose licenses last year. Of that total, 111 hunters harvested 101 animals – 85 bulls and 16 cows/calves. One additional license was raffled by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the hunter was unsuccessful in harvesting a moose. Harvest for each unit follows: Unit Hunters Bulls Cow/Calf Success Rate M5 5 1 4 100 M6 15 4 6 67 M8 15 14 1 100 M9 25 22 2 96 M10 51 44 3 92 The department issued 271 elk licenses last year. Of that total, 255 hunters harvested 127 elk – 77 bulls and 50 cows/calves. One additional licen...

Every year Pure Michigan Hunt (PMH) winners get to spend their fall hunting seasons living out their dreams - pursuing elk, bear, deer, turkey and ducks in Michigan's outdoors. All three 2013 Pure Michigan Hunt winners recently harvested bear. Dave Gittins of Kawkawlin and Jim Bosscher of McBain both successfully harvested bear in the Cadillac area, using Wayne and Rob Nixon as their hunting guides. Gittins harvested a 450-pound bear on public land. "This is my first bear," said Gittins. "I'm still amazed at his size!" Bosscher harvested his bear accompanied by Jenny Olsen from Michigan Out-of-Doors TV. "Hunting is all about the experience and the friends that you are with that make the memories," said Bosscher. Jason Webb, the PMH winner from Westland, also harvested a bear on public land in the Lewiston area. Webb hasn't hunted for his elk yet - he's waiting to hunt the December elk season - while both Bosscher and Gittins have...

Like many Midwestern states, Michigan saw its elk herd dwindle to non-existence in the latter part of the 19th century.  A common misconception is that the abundance of game was far greater when grandma or grandpa were alive, but with An elk viewing station was recently installed  in northeast Michigan. From left to right:  Doug Doherty, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF); Joe Valentine, DNR; Mark Monroe, DNR; Dan Collard, RMEF; Scott Wheelden, RMEF; Meg Wheelden, RMEF; Brian Mastenbrook, DNR elk as with many other animals hunted for meat and/or sport, this simply is not the case.  In many cases, the re-introduction of extirpated species has come by transplanting animals from other regions. Missouri is going through this process now with its elk herd.  Elk were removed from the landscape in Missouri at about the same time as Michigan.  It has taken the state much longer to get around to bringing them back. Michigan began the process of reintroduc...

Results of the license drawing for the 2013 elk hunting seasons have been posted on the Department of Natural Resources website at  www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings . Two elk seasons will be held in 2013. The first season will run from  Aug. 27-30 ,  Sept. 13-16  and  Sept. 27-30 . The second season will run from  Dec. 7-15 . An additional season may be held  Jan. 15-19, 2014 , if the DNR determines the harvest insufficient to meet management goals. A total of 60 any-elk and 140 antlerless-only elk licenses have been issued through the drawing. Hunters can increase their odds of getting an elk license by applying for the 2014 Pure Michigan Hunt drawing. Each application is $4, and applicants can purchase as many chances as they like. Three lucky hunters will win a package of licenses to hunt elk, bear, turkey, antlerless deer and waterfowl. Only Michigan residents may hunt elk. Winning the Pure Michigan Hunt will not affect a hunter's elig...

The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that the application period to purchase a bear or elk hunting application ends June 1. Hunters can apply online at  www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings , at any authorized license agent or at a DNR Customer Service Center. A nonrefundable $4 fee is charged at the time of application. Hunters may purchase only one application for each species. Drawing results may be checked online at  www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings beginning  June 24  for both species. For more information on the application process and hunting of bear or elk, check the 2013 Michigan Bear Hunting Digest, the 2013 Michigan Elk Hunting Digest, or online at  www.michigan.gov/hunting . All hunting digests can be found online at  www.michigan.gov/dnrdigests , at local DNR Customer Service Centers, or at a license agent. Want another chance at a bear and elk license? Hunters can increase their odds by applying for the Pure Michigan Hunt...