Family-Outdoors

Courtesy USFWS At last week’s meeting of the Natural Resources Commission in Saginaw, commissioners requested that Department of Natural Resources staff prepare (for information only, at the April 11 meeting) a formal recommendation regarding a wolf hunting season in Michigan. Upon the December 2012 classification of wolves as a game species, the NRC directed the DNR’s Wildlife Division to undertake a multi-faceted approach to developing a recommendation on whether a wolf hunt should take place, as well as the parameters of such a season. “Interest in this decision is, understandably, very high throughout Michigan,” said John Madigan, of Munising, who serves as chairman of the NRC’s Policy Committee on Wildlife and Fisheries. “We are continuing to look at various data and information and work with the DNR, other wildlife experts and the public in order to come to the best science- and management-based decision about the possible harvest of wolves in our state.” Madigan said the N...

. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Just like the return of the red-winged blackbird, another true sign of spring’s arrival is the annual reopening of the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Class “A” shooting ranges.  Public shooting ranges operated by the ODNR Division of Wildlife in District One will open for the year on February 27th.  Two different counties in central Ohio (Delaware and Fayette counties) offer rifle, pistol, shotgun, and archery ranges. Ranges are classified by the type of facilities offered and whether they are supervised.   A Class “A” range requires a shooting range permit for all persons 18 years and older. Shooters age 17 and under are not required to purchase a permit, but must be accompanied by and directly monitored by an adult (age 18 years or older) holding a valid shooting range permit. Range permits are available at all hunting and fishing license outlets and online at  www.WildOhio.com .  Permits are not sold at the ranges and...

A return to the deep freeze should send a lot of anglers to the ice this week. And they should be conscious of changing ice conditions.  Mild temperatures and rain have pounded away at what had been a pretty solid sheet of ice on lakes and backwaters. The deterioration is more apparent across the southern half of the state; with slow current winding through old stream beds. To the north, many ice anglers barely left their posts . Temperatures have been colder—longer. Ice came earlier and thicker. Ahead of the thaw late this month, reports on Clear Lake ranged from ten to 18 inches thick. That was thick enough for small towns to form there and on some of the bigger waters through the state. Just don’t call them ‘ice shacks.’ A lot of the shelters dotting the ice on Iowa’s big lakes could pull into a summer campground…except for the holes in the floor. “They’re really equipped with all the comforts of home,” admires DNR fisheries biologist Scott Grummer. “You see people f...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is implementing camping restrictions effective immediately on some wildlife management areas in western North Dakota and along Lake Sakakawea. Overnight camping is now prohibited on the following WMAs: Antelope Creek, Big Oxbow, Lewis and Clark, Neu’s Point, Ochs Point, Overlook, Sullivan and Tobacco Garden in McKenzie County; Van Hook in Mountrail County; and Hofflund and Trenton in Williams County. The following WMAs are closed to camping on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but open to camping Thursday-Monday: Audubon, Custer Mine, Deepwater Creek, deTrobriand, Douglas Creek and Wolf Creek in McLean County; and Beaver Creek and Hille in Mercer County. Game and Fish does not operate any official campgrounds, but most WMAs are open to primitive camping for 10 consecutive days. However, the agency does not have any staff manning the areas where people like to camp, and there is no registration ...