Announcer:
You know what that sound means, it's time for the Michigan DNR's Wild Talk Podcast. Welcome to the Wild Talk Podcast, where representatives from the DNR's Wildlife Division, chew the fat and shoot the skat about all things habitat, feathers, and fur. With insights, interviews, and your questions answered on the air you'll get a better picture of what's happening in the world of wildlife here in the great state of Michigan. 

Katie:
Welcome to the November Wild Talk Podcast. I'm your host today Katie Keene, and for the first time ever we have a guest host with us, I have Sandy Matzke with us today. I am pumped to have you, Sandy. 

Sandy:
Thank you Katie it's great to be here. 

Katie:
So you and I have worked together for a while, can you remember the year that we met? 

Sandy:
2004.

Katie:
A day you'll never forget. 

Sandy:
Exactly what I was thinking. 

Katie:
Oh my gosh, okay so how long have you worked for the DNR?

Sandy:
I've been at the Cadillac customer service center since 1999. 

Katie:
Oh my gosh, so what's your favorite part of the job? But Sandy you can't say, payroll, and you can't say all the dead stuff that we have coming into the lobby because I know you love dead critters.

Sandy:
That's a good question. I guess my favorite part of the job is assisting our customers. That is what we do. We are here primarily for customer service. I do customer service for the public as well as for our staff members. My favorite part is sharing the information that customers need. We want to be helpful, we want everyone to know the rules and regulations before they head out and anything we can do to make things easier for our customers is what we're all about. 

Katie:
Sandy you know we have people who come into the office just to see you. "Is Sandy here?" You are our customer service. 

Sandy:
I love our customers and over the years you get to be friends with people. Cadillac is a small town and we have a lot of contact with people so we really do become friends. 

Katie:
And you know secretly Sandy does hate all the gory stuff we bring in so we kind of have some fun with that. I think one time we did have an eyeball on the plate for you. 

Sandy:
I don't really appreciate that kind of stuff but I will help if I have to.

Katie:
You're so cute. Okay, so Sandy and I have got an awesome run down for you. We're going to start with a typical around the state segment that we normally do but we're going to make it a little different, we're going to hit on the internal workings of the division, how everyone is working on something related to Chronic Wasting Disease. 

Sandy:
In the interview segment we're going to talk to our Lieutenant here at the Cadillac customer service center, Lieutenant John Gersich. 

Katie:
And it's dear season so safety and regulations are all the questions that we coming at us, so we're going to send it back to you. 

Sandy:
And then Katie's favorite portion of the show-

Katie:
That's right the mailbag and then we'll finish up the end of the Wild Talk Podcast with a few minutes on deer carcass transport and deer check. So November Wild Talk Podcast, here we come. 

Announcer:
Deer hunters, are you ready to buy your regular deer license for this fall so you can harvest an antlered buck? Don't forget that if you want the chance to harvest two antlered deer you're going to need to buy that combination license up front. That will give you one regular tag and one restricted tag to use. If you only buy the single deer license you won't be able to buy that restricted tag later on. So if you want more buck for your bang, be sure to pick up the combination license. Visit MI.gov/deer for more information. 

Katie:
Alright, welcome back. You are at the part of the show where we're going to tell you what different locations of the state are up to, but we're going to get even more specific with the makeup of the wildlife division itself. However, everyone's work right now is touching Chronic Wasting Disease. So let's start with our policy and regs group. 

Katie:
Yeah this is all about deer regulations right now, literally months of work to gather, prepare and even to present multiple tines to the national resources commission, and also those public meetings. The details that they're working through are mind blowing. This is a special group of people here in the policy and regs group. We also have a public outreach and engagement section. This is the group that I work with. Think of all the products that are developed, all the communication with media and let's take a few steps back and remember when the August 9th deer regulation decisions were made. Working hand in hand with marketing and outreach division we had products developed and waiting for when deer regulations were decided because remember Chronic Wasting Disease elevated to a department wide priority. So it was no longer just within wildlife divisions house but this branched out within the whole department. 

Katie:
So think of all of the different hunting digests, the DNR emails you receive, YouTube videos, and even this Wild Talk Podcast. This all comes out of the public outreach and engagement section. 

Katie:
And we also have the wild life health section, can you say thousands of deer heads, pieces and parts, they're processing so many things but of course deer head testing right now is number one and the quickest turn around time possible. So they have multiple shifts working down there, many days of the week, with the intent of being able to turn around test results for deer heads as quick as possible. 

Katie:
But of course we also have different seasons going on. We just wrapped up bear season, so we have bear teeth and bear hair, elk heads, we have elk teeth, and soon we're going to have all the trapping seasons, so we're going to have heads, and skulls, and teeth coming in from that. 

Katie:
No we also have our research folks and we have two different specific CWD studies that are happening right now. One of them is in Southern Michigan and it's tracking the movement and survival of deer in Ingham and Clinton counties. This is partnered with Michigan State University. The other study is in the upper peninsula, also about deer movement but it's with Mississippi State University. Both of these studies are going to give us some great information about how deer move. This is obviously really crucial when it comes to a disease like CWD. 

Katie:
Now when you think Chronic Wasting Disease and deer hunting you might not think about budget and finance but I tell you what, our program support folks are going crazy in deer season also. They might not be hands deep in a deer but they're helping us to hire hundreds of seasonal folks to work our deer check stations and with more people is more vehicles, more paperwork, equipment. They have to purchase supplies, so it's kind of a crunch time for them also, not mention it's also end of the year budget. 

Katie:
Now we also have staff that are working on different aspects of hunter and user surveys. Think about when you receive that paper survey in the mail or maybe the link to fill it out online. So staff are entering that information, processing that, and building reports of all of that information that's coming in. 

Katie:
We have folks that are building special maps that we need for every time a deer management unit changes. Think about the new 16 county CWD management zone, and every different variety of map that has to be created to either hang up at your favorite licensed vendor, or to hang up at the different deer check stations. 

Katie:
All in all this fall is a big team effort when it comes to working together for CWD and this is a department wide priority. So it's not just the Wildlife Division but you can also think about law enforcement, marketing and outreach division, our parks and rec staff, fisheries divisions, forestry, everyone's got their investment into chronic wasting disease this year. 

Katie:
So that wraps up our different but same around the state segment where we're telling you what folks are doing right now, this month, when it comes to Chronic Wasting Disease, and our everyday activities. 

Katie:
Coming up next we're going to have that in depth interview with my friend Lieutenant John Gersich here in Cadillac so stick around.

Announcer:
The elk and bear draw has come and gone, but you can still enter the pure Michigan hunt and have a shot at both elk and bear along with spring and fall turkey, antler less deer, and first pick at a managed waterfowl area. If you're one of the three lucky winners, not only do you get all the those licenses but you'll also receive a hunting prize package valued at over $4,000. Get a $5 application or two, anywhere hunting licenses are sold or MI.gov/PMH. 

Katie:
Alright, we're at our interview segment, and we have Lieutenant John Gersich with us, he is also from the Cadillac customer service center. So John how long have you been in law enforcement? 

John:
Well a total of 34 years. I did five years working for a local police department, sheriff's department, and came to work for the DNR in 1989 so I have 29 years of service with DNR division. 

Katie:
Wholly smokes, so I asked Sandy this earlier and now I'll ask you, what is your favorite part of the job and please don't tell me it's sitting at your desk doing paperwork. 

John:
Well it's evolved over the years I would say initially when I was a field officer it was spending time outdoors, interacting with our outdoor user groups, getting to talk with the public and resolve issues, and problems. Today, you know I'm in an administrative position so I guess the enjoyment I get is especially working across the division, with the wildlife division and fisheries division, and solving their issues, and using our resources in law division to work effectively. I like to keep guys in the field and work efficiently but I still spend quite a bit of time on the phone answering questions for the public and providing information for them. And that's a daily part of my job. I still like the interaction with the community and with the public and other DNR employees.

Katie:
So speaking of the guys around the field, explain to everyone your coverage area and who your employees are, your counties, like where is your part of the state?

John:
Okay, well we go by the district four law division and we cover an 11 county area up in, primarily you could say South of Travers City up in Northwest Michigan from the lake shore, and say three counties deep. So what we see here is we have a lot of our outdoor resources particularly our rivers which in the fall brings all of our salmon and our steelhead runs in the spring. But we're also a large recreation area with a lot of the Manistee National Forest, 1,000 of acres of state land and our rivers and our outdoor resources and lake shore communities lead to a lot of recreational traffic especially from the Grand Rapids, Michigan area in the West side. 

Katie:
Okay John so let's dig into some specific deer season type questions. Especially it's November and this is what we're getting flooded in with right now, so when you think about all of the hunters that are hitting the field, over 500,000 out there with firearms, some people go right to safety. Could you tell us some quick stats about the season?

John:
Well some of our concerns especially related to safety and our hunters as they move afield this fall, we have a slowly declining deer hunter population in Michigan and some of our other hunters are declining but still we have an avid force of hunters that will be entering the field. I know we always divert to deer hunting, we're seeing a lot of that shifting to archers today and crossbow use and when we look at our hunter safety statistics over the years they've been dramatically reduced and why I'd like to point out, that reduction, and it also holds true nationwide is mandatory hunter education. As we know in Michigan anybody born after 1960 now has to take hunter safety so we're getting a couple generations down the road now that have all for the most part had hunter safety which has led to a dramatic decrease in hunter incidents in our state and across the nation as well.

John:
Another factor that's probably very critical is the evolution of hunter orange, and the garments that people wear to day. In Michigan, again, we have to wear a jacket, hat, cap or vest when hunting with a firearm. There are exemptions to that such as waterfowl hunters, turkey hunters, some of the predator hunting has exemptions to that but the main thing, hunter orange and mandatory hunter safety training has led to a massive decline in hunting incidents. I could point out that if you looked at statistics back from the 1940s and 50s we would frequently have as many as 50 incidents, 10, 12 fatalities. Today we generally see no fatalities and last year we had eight incidents statewide, one fatality. 

John:
One of the things I'll point out and well there's always carelessness and there's always mishandling of firearms and crossbows but when you look at those incidents in detail, most of them involve careless use or accidental discharge leading to a self inflicted wound. Rarely is it actually mistaken game or a line of fire. Last year we did have two incidents, and one I might point out and I think this is a critical thing to look at, one last year involved the use of a crossbow and misidentification of the victim as game. It always surprises me that occasionally we will see an archery or crossbow incident because those are largely short range issues, but again people are moving around at that time of the year in camouflage, not wearing hunter orange, and just how quick something can happen. 

John:
Of course the classic deer drives. There was one incident last year involving a deer drive, where a stray round struck the victim but again going back to the proper safe handling of your equipment, and mandatory hunter safety and of course complying with hunter orange always reduces any of the incidents that are likely to occur. 

Katie:
So John what about tree stand safety, we hear so much about harnesses, but I feel like still every October we're going to hear about one soon where someone's falling out of a tree stand going up or down. 

John:
Oh absolutely. This is probably our number one injury area as our hunters move afield in the fall. Again, if you look at historically over my career possibly, there was a time when everybody just climbed up in a tree, pounded some two by fours, and some plywood up there and made a stand. Of course very unsafe, lots of falls. Today our equipment has evolved and again, as more and more hunters are taking the trees, now we allow firearms hunting from trees, which we didn't allow years ago, a lot of good commercial products out there now, a lot of good ladder stands, and a lot of good safe platforms that you can hunt on, and I highly recommend that you use commercial manufactured stands and ladders, inspect them every year, make sure they're well attached, and probably one of the biggest things, and this is advocated in many other states as well, the use of a safety harness when you go up into any type of an elevated stand. Use a safety harness, don't cobble anything together with a rope or belt or anything like that.

John:
While we don't track these I think most of our experienced hunters out there when you get to talking in a group, they all know a friend or family member possibly even themselves that had a fall, or a near fall, or some incident where maybe they came away lucky with a minor or no injury, or once again, when you start doing say for instance in our department, hunt from standing vehicle permits, and find out the real reason that they're now paralyzed, was a fall from an elevated platform. 

John:
So that's one of the things I think as far as injuries out there today, we don't track them, but I think our avid hunting community out there all has a story to tell about someone they know and something to think about before you go up. 

Katie:
John I have a question for you, when you approach a hunter in the woods, how do you want the hunter to react? I mean we're in the woods with a firearm, and you're an officer. What do we do? What do you want us to do when we see an officer coming?

John:
Well certainly don't panic, that's the bad thing to do. But it's at best a very uncomfortable dance from both sides of the fence on this one. People frequently they are nervous when approached by a conservation officer, in fact they may be doing nothing wrong but they're nervous and in some cases they may be excited, this is the first time they've ever ran into a conservation officer and we do have that problem and our officers that are well experienced in the field with a number of years have all had some sort of a near miss, or they've grabbed a barrel or taken away from somebody. 

John:
Probably one of the most difficult situations that we approach in the field is the waterfowl hunting community. You'll come up maybe in waders, or you're in a boat, there's three people in a blind they've all got shotguns waiving in different directions, and going past everybody's heads and pointing at the officers inadvertently. 

John:
One of the things I guess we could summarize it by saying, be calm, there's no reason to be afraid or be nervous. The standard practice of handling a firearm, watch the direction of your mussel. Watch where your firearm's pointed. Lay it down, turn it away, point it away from yourself or the officer and your companion hunters. Comply with whatever the officer wants you to do, if they want to see your firearm, if they want to inspect your firearm or ammunition let them do it. The officer will give you instructions on what to do with the handling of your gun. Just good common sense practices. Watch your mussel direction and what you're doing with your firearm while you're engaging in conversation with an officer. 

John:
It's also going to take place now with crossbows, similarly. Crossbow's an awkward item and has a very deadly broad head there on the end of the bolt. And again, watch the direction. Where is it pointing, point it in a proper direction. Difficult circumstance may be officer approaches you, you're sitting in a tree stand 15 feet over their head, officer may want to have you lower or inspect your license, maybe come down. That's the thing, is quite often the officers when they're doing a license check, they may want you come out of your blind, leave your duck blind, come down from a tree stand. Just be compliant. Remember they're going to want to inspect your hunting license, possibly the ID that you used. There's going to be a little bit a transaction going on and some discussion so I guess get the gun or the crossbow out of the situation. 

John:
One of the things that are officers are increasingly running into today is, the CPL issue. They're carrying a concealed handgun. Again it's an awkward dance because under the law they need to announce that they are actually carrying a concealed weapon and provide the appropriate documents. One of the things that they should do if they're carrying a CPL is make sure the officer knows that right away, that you know, "I am carrying a concealed handgun, I am a CPL holder." Announce that so that comes out on the table up front. 

John:
Another thing that we may see, there's a large prevalence of handguns out there today. Some of our hunters may be carrying a non-concealed handgun. They may be hunting with a handgun, it could be in a shoulder rig, or a hip holster on their belt. If they're not carrying under the authority of the CPL those firearms do need to be exposed, not partially buried under a coat. Our officers are going to be looking for that. They're going to be looking for CPL violations. 

John:
So on the handgun issue lets get that right out on the table. If you've got a handgun on you, let the officer know right away and where it is. And of course, safety practices, keep your hand off it, unless directed to do so. 

Katie:
It' great that you brought up the CPL. That is one of the biggest calls that we get here at the customer service center this time of year. If you have your CPL can you carry it when you're archery hunting?

John:
Yes you can it is an exemption that's been granted under the CPL licensing, those laws are going to overrule the current DNR wildlife laws so if you are a licensed CPL holder you can carry that firearm while you're bow hunting. 

Katie:
But with a CPL you can't, right John?

John:
Correct. We can go into a variety of complicated issues there but in general if you're archery deer or bear hunting you should have your archery gear only and no other firearm with you in your possession. 

Katie:
Okay so now we're out hunting and we're still talking about the safety side of hunting. Talk about safety zones around buildings. You've got private property butting up to each other, where can folks sit on their own property?

John:
Okay, well this is a source of a lot of complaints each fall. Safety zones have evolved a little bit. I think most everybody in this state now, as an experienced hunter, is aware that our safety zone rules in Michigan are 450 feet. So just keep that I mind, 450 feet from any occupied buildings, or dwellings, or farm structures. Now, that relates today, and there's been some evolution in this, it relates today to firearms. A few years ago regulations were relaxed to allow you to hunt within that 450 foot safety zone with archery gear, and that was to allow targeting of deer populations in more of our urban areas and suburban areas with high deer numbers and in Michigan our lands continue to get divided into smaller subsets and it allows for that. So you can hunt with your archery and crossbow gear within the safety zone of 450 feet, say a neighbor's home or farm. But with firearms it still holds, 450 feet of an occupied building, dwelling, or any farm buildings or related operations. 

John:
Here's a very common question that our officers, and our offices deal with, can I target shoot within a safety zone? And you can. That was an attorney general ruling some years ago that safety zones are simply a law that was designed to deal with hunting not target shooting. So can I shoot within the safety zone? Yes. 

John:
A lot of times our officers end up handling neighbor disputes over noise and that sort of thing and think about courtesy, courtesy of your neighbors, adjacent property owner that sort of thing. It ends up in a lot of conflicts that we'd really rather not respond to, but think of courtesy also if you want to say target shoot within a safety zone. 

Katie:
So you could be on your own property and hunt within just a couple yards of a building or structure but if you wanted to hunt within 450 feet of another person's you need to have their written permission right? You could do it, you just have to have their permission to do so. 

John:
Well correct, your own safety zone is your own safety zone, and in essence you can do what you want within it. But say you have a neighbor and you want to hunt within their safety zone and that may be entirely legal and permissible as long as you obtain that permission in writing. A little bit different than our other regulations as far as trespassing. You will have to obtain that safety zone exemption in writing from a neighboring property owner. 

Katie:
Good point, so let's talk about trespass real quick as we're talking about neighbors. So I shoot a deer on my property but it jumps over the fence, over into the other field and it's no longer on my property. What can I do?

John:
Very common occurrence especially during our archery hunts but could be during any season, as particularly as related to deer. Now remember the law offers no exemption for you to pursue your game onto other property. Private property rights are private property rights. You will have to obtain the permission of that property owner to enter their property and retrieve your game. 

Katie:
Okay. 

John:
Exemptions in our hunting laws, you are allowed to enter private property to recover your dog if your dog goes on someone else's property. You can enter that property without a firearm or bow, at most direct immediate direct route, and collect your dog, and move off the property but when it comes to recovering a deer, if one neighbor makes a stand that you're not entering the property to recover the deer you might have to call us and we can try to mediate the situation, but obviously everyone wants to see an animal recovered but you have no legal right to enter without permission. You can't take a deer of another so that property owner can't just tag the animal that you took. 

Katie:
I hear that question a lot too. 

John:
We get those complaints direct. Sometimes we take them through a local 911 dispatch center and most frequently today we receive them through our 1800 report all pouching line in Lansing. 

Katie:
So when can someone call this line? And they can text it now too, can't they?

John:
Yeah. As continued technological advancements are occurring, first off I'll back up. A frequent question is, where do I find that number? It's very easy. It's right on the front page of the hunting guide, it's right within the first few pages of the fishing guide, it's on a number of our publications, here's the easiest one, turns your license over, it's right on the back of any of your fishing, hunting licenses. Any of our license stock carries that 1800 number on the back. Today everybody's carrying around a phone. You could also look it up. Any of our DNR websites are going to have that available. That number is available almost any place today. But here's the nice thing about the [inaudible 00:26:36], technology is continuing to improve we're not running a 365 day a year, 24 hour a day actually dispatch center just as technologically advance as any of your local 911 systems. We actually bring on additional staff during the fall to handle the extra call load. Call load coming into our rep line in downtown Lansing, this will surprise you, is almost 40,000 calls a year. 

Katie:
Oh my gosh. 

John:
Obviously a lot of those calls are information sort of calls, and that sort of thing but actually complaints are less than that, but still, tens of thousands. Those calls can be distributed out from the dispatch center, again, 24 seven, 365, to the local conservation officer. 

John:
One of the things I've always noticed, and it was true when I worked in the field, everybody wants their local officer's number, personally, and they want him on speed dial but remember each officer isn't available 24 hours a day, 365. So what we always do is advise them to call the rep line with our officer numbers today afield we're pretty much as full staffing, somebody's going to be available to give you a call or actually respond to your complaint. Those calls are dispatched just like any other law enforcement agency. The officers all have in car computers today, they can be sent electronically, they're all carrying department issued iPhones. That information can move now in real time immediately. 

John:
We haven't had that capability till maybe in the last five to 10 years that's evolved, so technology is really catching up. You can make a call from Baraga to downtown Lansing and have that information turned around to an officer on a two track, right on their cell phone or right on their laptop. 

John:
We're getting increasing numbers of text complaints today. A lot of people, we're in the text generation they feel comfortable texting information, especially maybe when it involves the sort of call that they're uncomfortable calling in. 

John:
Today our officers are receiving GPS coordinates on bait piles, illegal blinds, illegal stands, illegal kill sites and they're able again to use their computers and their iPhones, and the technology that's available to respond with pinpoint accuracy to some complaints. 

Katie:
I was shocked last year when you showed me aerial photos and how easy it was to see, even a small pile of bait. Can you explain how that works and how easy it is to see so that people know, it's not going to go unnoticed.

John:
Oh absolutely. What we generally try to do is, we have department pilots and contract pilots that are experienced in this area, they fly all over the state, for a variety of wildlife survey issues and other issues that we can do from the sky better and cover more ground in more of a timely manner and with greater efficiency. What we try to do in baiting enforcement, we'll take the local officers up, get somebody with some area experience, that way it's a lot easier to identify where exactly you are and relay that information to the local officer. 

John:
We've spoke a lot about technology today and one of the things, and I believe last year when I was showing you photographs, we can do this as quick as, I would be up in the plane over flying a three, four county area over a few hours, we would take photographs and capture GPS coordinates from the sky actually able to come down at the airport, load that data to the local officers and by that evening they would actually have aerial photographs and GPS coordinates of those baiting locations. Very efficient operation. 

John:
I want to say one of the days flying in the Benzie, Traverse, Leland, Wexford area I recall it came up with 21 illegally baited locations, and we add that to the box of trick for our local officers to get down there on the ground and make those contacts with those people that are violating the law. 

Katie:
It was shocking to see the deer trails, you know the patterns are made very quickly so you can tell that, that bait pile wasn't just put down today, that this has been going on for awhile. 

John:
Oh right, some of these, not only are these bait piles and illegal bait piles been going on for weeks, they've been going on for years. These are traditionally locations that are baited year after year again with baiting being legal last year, and still being legal in many of the areas this year, some of the baiting violations are smaller in scope. Some of them are massive, I think one of the largest ones we had last year was a whole agricultural gravity box that was driven through a field, dropping tons of grain and sugar beets and our officer was able to deal with that on the opening day of the firearm season. 

John:
So, again, with the movement towards no baiting this will become a priority with my officers to work this. And it should be a priority with our public to be alert, be aware in the areas that are closing to baiting. We really need their information as far as things they may hear, they may have knowledge of, and like you said, it effects deer movements dramatically. Frequently cited that the deer start moving rather nocturnal only, and it's a public resource, these deer belong to everyone and we should have a level playing field for all the hunters and baiting and baiting violations take away from that and we're there to make it fair for everyone. 

Katie:
Well John we could ask you questions all day long, in fact this is kind of what we do to you all day long. We so appreciate you coming on for this interview. 

John:
Well thank you for having me, anytime and the more information we can get out there to the public the better and it makes my officers' job a lot easier as well, and they want to make sure that the public's well informed. 

Announcer:
Is it time to renew the license plate on your car or truck? When that moment arrives show your support for Michigan Elk and Conservation by getting the wildlife habitat plate at the secretary of state. 2018 marks the 100th year since the reintroduction of wild elk to the state of Michigan, and while the Elk have been here century, this plate is only available for a limited time so don't miss out. Visit MI.gov/elk and click on the license plate for more information. 

Katie:
Welcome back, what a great interview with Lieutenant John Gersich, hope you enjoyed that. Now it's time for the mail bag.

Announcer:
One, two, three. 

Katie:
Randy writes, "I live in Montcalm county, I don't hunt, and I don't let anyone hunt either, but I have a salt block in my backyard. The deer, birds, rabbits, possums et cetera lick it all the time. Can I leave it there with the new baiting laws? Thank you. Randy"

Katie:
Well Randy we're glad you asked. So, no you can longer have that salt lick out and I'll tell you why. So, Montcalm County is now part of the new 16 county Chronic Wasting Disease management zone and into effect immediately went a baiting and feeding ban for deer. So, even if you aren't intentionally feeding deer, if you are knowingly bringing them in, it would be illegal. So, in the salt lick, for instance, you said you're bringing in deer, therefore it would be illegal. 

Katie:
Now there's something you can do, you could raise that salt block in a manner that makes it elevated so it's no longer reachable by deer therefore other critters could still to it, but you've made it inaccessible to deer. That's the important key right there. And remember the difference between baiting and feeding, baiting in when you're hunting, feeding is basically recreational viewing. That is illegal in the 16 county Chronic Wasting Disease management zone. Thanks for that question Randy.

Katie:
Got another one in the mailbag here it's from Sean. "Hello, my friends and I are wondering if the DNR had any resources for us to either improve or land for white tail deer, like sapling give aways et cetera, for managing our 40 acres? He's going to go have some soil samples done but wants to know in the meantime what he could do." 

Katie:
Great question Sean, there's something that we have out there that if you search, DNR Landowners Guide you will get an actual guide that will have habitat types and different wildlife species, and how you can maintain your property. It's an awesome resource. When folks email us we can actually give you the direct link to things which is super handy in this case, but for the rest of you listening right now, just search DNR Landowners Guide. Something else for private land management suggestions, you can always tap your local conversation district. They're a great resource for forestry and wildlife benefits also. So thank you Sean. 

Katie:
Alright, I know we're all thinking deer this November but don't forget it's still fall turkey season and I just got a question from Bob. He writes, "Hello I'm trying to find out the reasoning why Wayne County is closed to turkey hunting for the fall season. I hunt across the street from Monroe County and have plenty of turkeys on my land. I'm not asking for permission, or any special treatment, I'm just trying to understand the process involved in the decision making of when an area is open and closed."

Katie:
Great question Bob. So we've got a couple questions here. One, county line delineations. So turkey units are set up using county lines. It's a common way to delineate a location that folks can know everyone can get a map and figure out where county lines are. So it's a common method but unfortunately, county lines aren't always going to be convenient and I totally understand this because I also live on a county line. One side of my road is one county, the other side is another and sometimes this helps you and sometimes this hurts you being in different counties like that. 

Katie:
So this is the other side of the question, but the goal of the fall turkey season is to reduce or maintain turkey populations. So there are places in the state where the fall season is closed so if you go to MI.gov/turkey you can see the fall turkey hunting map and see all those locations. So I too am in a location where fall turkey hunting is not allowed just as well as Bob. So thank you for that question Bob, I appreciate it. 

Katie:
It wouldn't be November without a classic deer parts email. And this is the type of email I seem to always open when I'm eating my lunch at my desk. And the day I got this email I was no joke eating marinara sauce with potato gnocchi, maybe it's always make out of potato I don't know, but it was red sauce with white stuff in it, that's what I'm eating and I open up this picture, and it's a picture of deer lungs and they have some spots on it. And Diane writes, "Can you tell us what these spots are on the deer? The officer at the checkpoint told us to send you the picture. Thank you for any help you can give us."

Katie:
Well, after looking at the picture we were able to determine it was pulmonary hemorrhage, and this is something that occurs because lung tissue is spongy and then when blood spreads it spreads in a round manner so it you know startles you because you see something round, but it's kind of common, it actually kind of shows in the end how you're deer ended up, it's always different because that's what we hear many times. "I've field dressed so many deer, I've never seen this before," well deer might always have died because you shot it but the actually way of death is always different if that makes sense. So Diane all is well, feel free to eat the deer, nothing is wrong. 

Katie:
Alright and I got one more question so glad we got this one, every common this time of year. It's November so even though firearm season is right around the corner, we've still got lots of days of archery season and someone asks, "Can I carry a pistol on my side when I'm archery hunting?" This is a pretty easy one. The only way you can carry a firearm with you, while archery hunting, is if you have a concealed pistol's license, or a CPL, that's it. So if this is something that means a lot to you, you can go through the steps to get a concealed pistol's license, or a CPL so that you can carry a firearm with you, during archery season, otherwise it's illegal. 

Katie:
And that wraps up the mailbag. So thank you and don't forget you can always be featured on the mailbag but you got to write us in a question. 

Katie:
Coming up next I'll have my friend Sandy Matzke with me, we are going to close out this November Wild Talk segment with a little deer nitty gritty, the details, deer carcass transport and deer check stations. So stay tuned. 

Announcer:
Fall is upon us and that means deer hunting. We at the DNR want to with all hunters a safe and successful deer season and we also want to thank hunters for staying informed on Chronic Wasting Disease so that together we can work to have healthy wildlife for current and future generations. Check out the 2018 Michigan hunting digest or visit MI.gov/CWD for important regulation changes and additional information and don't forget your actions matter. 

Katie:
Welcome back to the November Wild Talk podcast, but before we wrap this up, we have a segment about deer check and deer carcass movement. 

Sandy:
This gives me the opportunity to say go blue. 

Katie:
Stop it. Oh my gosh. She's just on and she's taking the show over.

Sandy:
Go blue. 

Katie:
You totally are. I'm just going to cut that off before it keeps going. 

Katie:
Alright so what we're going to do is top five things you should know for this deer season. So top five things you should know. 

Katie:
Number five, deer check stations, they're found at MI.gov/deercheck. There's a clickable map you can see it on any of your devices, smart phone in the field, your tablet, your desktop at work, click on the locations, get your hours of operation and even directions to get there. We have over 112 deer check stations this year. This is also where you're going to find the new deer head drop box locations. They're great for when you're traveling odd hours of the night, you can still drop off your deer heads 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There's also a list of partnering taxidermist who remove lymph nodes for you. So anywhere in the state, we encourage you to stop at any deer check station. We take the info about your deer, the county you're harvesting, the township, date of harvest. We age your deer and we take down the antler information. If you're in a county where we have deer head surveillance goals, we'll ask to take the head, again voluntary. 

Katie:
Now if you're in the 16 county Chronic Wasting Disease management zone, listen close, if you harvest in this area and have no plans to leave we hope that you'll visit and drop off a head within the area. We have over 50 locations right here alone. We're collection thousands of deer heads and we need your help to do it. 

Katie:
Not if you hunt in the CWD area but plan to travel outside the zone, say you're headed back home then you are required to visit a deer check station within 24 hours to register your deer. 

Katie:
Matzke when I say we're collecting heads, just as a heads up, it's deer heads. 

Sandy:
Oh thanks Katie. 

Katie:
I just wanted to make sure you're clear on that, when you show up and I say, "Can I take your head," you don't take offense to that. 

Sandy:
I'm glad that you're pointing that out because we kind of get lost in our own little world and we when say things like that, and people overhear us, they do think we're a little odd. 

Katie:
Like you're at the grocery store and someone says, "Hey whatchu been doing?" We're like, "We've been taking a lot of heads." Deer heads okay. 

Sandy:
People take it, they're a little offended sometimes, I don't know. 

Katie:
I don't know why. Alright, 

Katie:
Top things you should know, number four, if you get a wall hanger in the CWD management zone you can still have a wall hanger you just have two more steps. Stop and register that deer somewhere within 24 hours of take. You can even register it using your smart phone at one of the drop box locations. You'll leave with your deer head and a CWD tag but you gotta bring that head back to us, you're registered in the system. You can also visit one of the taxidermists that we have listed, who are trained to remove all that tissue that we need. 

Katie:
Matzke, do you know where all of our deer heads go?

Sandy:
Do tell Katie.

Katie:
East Lansing Michigan, home of the Michigan state Spartans, did you know our disease lab is partnered with MSU?

Sandy:
That's great Katie, it still doesn't change the outcome of the Michigan, Michigan State football game. Again, go blue. 

Katie:
Oh my gosh, don't push it Matzke. 

Sandy:
Thanks for having me Katie I enjoy this opportunity. 

Katie:
Moving on. 

Katie:
Okay what you should know number three, if you're in that 16 county CWD management zone but you want to transport your deer out, you need to do one of the following; one, you could present your deer within 24 hours of harvest at any deer check station. Remember go to MI.gov/deercheck we have over 112 locations, or you can transport a de boned or quartered deer with a clear skull cap just straight antlers, or a clean hide, or finished taxidermy. So unless you register your deer within 24 hours, there's no more movement of whole carcasses, spinal columns, and brain tissue. Times have changed, you can't just dump your carcass everywhere and anywhere, the best case scenario is your garbage at home or a DNR dumpster. If you have to, you can bury it deep enough so scavengers can't get to it but close to the kill site as possible. Our goal is to avoid long distant movement of carcasses. 

Katie:
And number two, keep hunting. Your actions really do matter. 

Katie:
And finally drum roll, the number one thing you need to know for this deer season, give yourself a pat on the back, you got yourself out in woods. You made hunting a fall priority and that can be a challenge in life. We are so busy. Take some pride in continuing your traditions. So any things are tugging us every direction and if you're the one who's keeping your deer camp, your house, your family motivated to hunt hats off. If you have someone you're getting into this lifestyle, give yourself a nod too. You are getting it done. 

Katie:
Matzke, how was it?

Sandy:
Go blue. 

Katie:
Stop. 

Sandy:
It was great Katie. It was great. Really, this is really important information and we get a lot of calls at the DNR customer service centers. If people still have questions call us Monday through Friday we're here to help, we're here to figure it all out for you. 

Katie:
Thank you for joining us for the November Wild Talk Podcast. We hope you had fun and we'll catch you next time. 

Announcer:
This is has been the Wild Talk Podcast, your monthly podcast airing the first of each month and offering insights into the world of wildlife across the state of Michigan. You can reach the Wildlife Division at 417-284-9453, or DNR-wildlife@michigan.gov.