Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/tag/hunting/)
According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the number of hunters is down this year about 4.5% compared to 2020. But at the Buck Pole in Mancelona, the turnout was better than last year.
More than 49,000 hunters applied to hunt Michigan elk in 2021, a record that is part of a steady decade-long rise, state wildlife officials say.
National declines of hunting license sales and the need for additional wildlife conservation funding have prompted proposals to fill the fiscal gap, including one that’s stalled in Congress despite bipartisan support.
Business is booming for game processors this hunting season.
To keep healthy this fall, deer hunters have more to worry about than just COVID-19 and the flu. On the beware list: a group of chemicals known as PFAS and lead from ammunition.
With turkey season and UP walleye season scheduled to start soon, the extension of the governor’s stay-at-home order with travel restrictions and ban on motorized watercraft use are worrying hunters and anglers. DNR has made adjustments for turkey hunters.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has canceled its in-person classes for outdoor safety certificates and is now offering only online courses.
A federal judge recently banned the Indiana host of a former hunting television show from hunting for 30 months after he illegally shot a trophy buck.
A proposal crawling through the Michigan Legislature would require a $25 stamp for pheasant hunting, with the proceeds earmarked to stock the birds on state-owned land and to improve their habitat.
Commercial hunting and fishing guides would need state licenses under a proposal pending in a Michigan House committee. Supporters say that would provide additional safety for hunters and anglers if guides must carry liability insurance and know CPR and first aid.