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 scat 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. 

Holly:
Hello, and welcome to Wild Talk. I'm your host, Holly Vaughn, and joining me as co-host today is our producer, Eric Hilliard. How does it feel to be on the air for a change? 

Eric:
You make it sound so terrifying. Is the ghost of Aldo Leopold haunting the studio? Is he going to jump out and scare me out? 

Holly:
Not that I know of. Man, if we could get Aldo Leopold's ghost in here for an interview, I think we'd be hitting the big time. 

Eric:
No kidding. While we don't have Aldo joining us today, we do have a great show lined up. Today's podcast will include your questions from our mail bag. We'll talking with hunting access program coordinator, Monique Ferris, about the HAP program, and the opportunities it provides to both hunters and land owners. 

Holly:
We'll end this podcast talking about how you can prepare for the upcoming hunting seasons. First, we'll be taking a look at what's going on around the state, right after this brief message. 

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, antlerless dear, and first pick at a managed waterfowl area. If you're one of the three lucky winners, not only do you get all 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 online at MI.gov/PMH. ... 

Holly:
Taking a look around the state, we'll start off in the southwest region. Summer is a busy time for all of our wildlife staff as it's when we do the bulk of our habitat work. In the southwest, our staff has been busy with many projects. One that takes up a fair amount of time is mowing. Wildlife managers that are managing state game areas use mowing in place of prescribed burns, which we talked a little bit about last month. They use those prescribed burns to set back natural succession, and to keep woody plants and shrubs out of open areas. Mostly grasslands, and upland field areas. 

Holly:
Ideally, we'd use fire to do this, but with thousands and thousands of state acres that we oversee, it just isn't practical to conduct these burns on a specific piece of property every single year. Managers use mowing as a tool in conjunction with prescribed burns to keep our grasslands, and prairies, and savannas healthy. Southwest state game areas have plenty of these types of habitats. Late summer can be a really beautiful time to view these grasslands as many wild flowers are blooming. Insects like dragonflies and butterflies are very active in those grasslands. 

Holly:
Take some time to go visit some of these areas. While viewing these grasslands and other forest and wetland habitats in southwest Michigan, you may really see some interesting wildlife. Eric, did you know that you can find bears, otters, eagles, ospreys, even bobcats and Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes in southwest Michigan? 

Eric:
That's pretty awesome. 

Holly:
They are all present in that area. The southwest region extends from the Ohio Border over to Lansing, and then up to Big Rapids, and the Mount Pleasant area. There's a wide variety of habitat types within that region, and a lot of opportunities for seeing some of this wildlife that you wouldn't necessarily except to be in southwest Michigan. Lots of people are surprised to learn that some of these species can be found in the region, but they can, so get out and enjoy some summer wildlife viewing in these last days of summer. Eric, what do you have from the northern lower region? 

Eric:
In the northern lower region, a lot of the wildlife division staff have been doing community outreach in the area. We're talking Beaver Island, Cadillac, Baldwin, and Higgins Lake, to name a few. We are so lucky to have so many people here in Michigan that are interested in learning about the outdoors, and learning about Michigan's wildlife. 

Eric:
The wildlife division even had a presence in the middle of July at the Alpenfest parade in Gaylord, where we represented the 100th anniversary of wild elk being reintroduced here in the state of Michigan. We had a DNR truck with a big birthday cake in the back with some elk antlers on the front. It was a really neat opportunity to make people aware that hey, this is the anniversary of elk here in Michigan, as well as promote that elk license plate that I've seen popping up on more and more vehicles as time goes on. Have you counted any elk plates yourself there, Holly? 

Holly:
I have, yeah. It's really great to see. It's a good looking plate, too. 

Eric:
Yeah, I like to see the ones where people personalize them a little bit. It's always nice just to see the elk plate in general, but I like to see what little fun things that people put in as a message that says a little bit of something about themselves in addition to their support for Michigan's wildlife and Michigan's elk population. That's a lot of fun. 

Eric:
Also happening in the northern lower region, the [inaudible 00:05:26] flooding in Midland county had a huge facelift over the last year or so. Now, the [inaudible 00:05:31] flooding is a wetland area in Midland County. It had some habitat work that was done there that is now all complete. Now, we just need some rain now to help fill it back up. Great plants have filled in the exposed mudflats, and it's now beautifully lush. Really, if you're a bird-er, it's a great time to head out to the [inaudible 00:05:47] flooding area, and check out all the birds that are there. Come this fall, as long as we get some good rains, it is going to make for a great fall duck season. 

Eric:
Holly, that's what's going on in the northern lower. What's happening in the southeast? 

Holly:
Well, the habitat is the name of the game in the southeast as well. We just finished a huge project on Stony Island, which is a 52 acre in the Detroit River. It's part of the Pointe Mouillee state game area. It just got a huge facelift. Stony Island is just a little bit east of Grosse Ile, for those of you that know your Detroit River geography. 

Holly:
The Friends of the Detroit River have been really the lead on this particular project. They applied and were awarded a seven million dollar grant to improve wildlife habitat on and around Stony Island. The grant was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOA; and also the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. All habitat improvement activities on Stony Island were planned and completed with the approval of our wildlife division. 

Holly:
Over time on the island, high water, and waves, and ice scouring, have destroyed the protective shoals around the island. Those shoals help to protect the wetlands that are within the island. This work on Stony Island has restored the shoals, helping to protect the wetlands, and then they also provide extensive nesting habitat for birds, including common terns, which have been a state threatened species since 1978. Then, additional habitat structures were built for nesting turtles, hibernating snakes, mud puppies, which are an aquatic salamander, mussels, and even other birds. 

Holly:
Work on this project just wrapped up, and now similar habitat work is starting on neighboring Celeron Island, which is off the south end of Grosse Ile. This is also part of the Pointe Mouillee state game area, so big changes to those two unique islands in the Detroit River. 

Holly:
Upper peninsula, what's happening up there? 

Eric:
We're going to start off with Drummond Island, and the bear bait index. This is a survey that's used to detect trends in abundance of black bears on Drummond Island. Now, Drummond Island is its own bear management unit, and is accessible only by boat, plane, or a commercially operated ferry. This survey has been conducted for many years. During the survey, what happens is baits are hung out, and then checked in a week for a bear visit. All these baits are placed out, then staff go around and they check to see if those baits have been visited by a bear. Now, the annual proportion of baits visited by bears is then compared to long term visitation rates to help index bear abundance on the island. This is something that's been going on for a lot of years, and really helps us to understand how the population of black bears is doing on the island. 

Eric:
Also happening in the UP is we've had the spring fawn to adult survey. That was started a number of years ago. That happens in the spring, and the results from that have been compiled. The way that survey works out is wildlife staff drive up roads near spring breakout areas where deer are coming out of their wintering areas for the year. The staff try to identify every deer seen as either a fawn or an adult, or if they can't tell, then it's marked down as an unknown. They do that using binoculars and spotting scopes. 

Eric:
Then, what they do is they compile all that data. They analyze it. The results from that survey were just wrapped up here this last month. This year, wildlife division staff conducted a total of 39 surveys in the Upper Peninsula from March 16th to May 3rd. A total of 4,784 deer were recorded by surveyors during this period. They were able to identify 82% of those deer as either fawns or adults. Now, the target sample size of 400 to 500 deer was reached in all areas, which allowed us to calculate fawn to adult deer ratios. Surveys were run in all DMUs except DMU 42 and 117 due to staff limitations and access issues. 

Eric:
Now, in all of these areas, the fawn to adult deer ratios increased from 2016 to 2017. Additionally, the deer per mile index also increased from 2016 to 2017 in four of the six areas. These increases in fawn to adult deer ratios and deer per mile followed two mild winters, which were expected to result in increased survival in fawn production. Similarly, although the 2015 trial survey did not have the exact same method structure, or reach the target sample size in some of the areas, a quick comparison shows that the fawn to adult deer ratios increased in four of the five areas surveyed from 2015 to 2016. 

Eric:
We'll continue to assess the utility of this survey for informing deer management decisions as additional years of data are collected; but what we've seen so far is pretty promising. 

Holly:
That's good news, especially after the harsh winters that we had in 2013 and 2014. Good to know that we're seeing a few more fawns up there in the Upper Peninsula. That's good news. 

Eric:
Yes. 

Holly:
That's it from around the state. Stick around, next up is our interview with Monique Ferris. 

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. While the elk have been here for a century, this plate is only available for a limited time. Don't miss out. Visit MI.gov/Elk and click on the license plate for more information. ... 

Holly:
Today in studio with us is DNR Wildlife Division Hunting Access Program coordinator, Monique Ferris. Welcome, Monique. Thanks for joining us. 

Monique Ferris:
Thank you. Thank you for having me. 

Eric:
Yeah, it's great to have you here in the studio with us today. Let's kick things off right away and just kind of explain to us what exactly it is you do for the Wildlife Division; because your title might not necessarily say all the things that encompass your position. 

Monique Ferris:
You're right, actually. I am the coordinator for the Hunting Access Program, but it's actually a statewide responsibility. I've been tasked with managing the program and coordinating it down here in the southern lower peninsula; but also expanding it for the first time into the northern lower peninsula. I coordinate the program as a whole, but there's many other responsibilities that have: program outreach, budgeting and accounting, working with hunters. One of the most important, one is actually working and building partnerships around the state. 

Eric:
All right, great. Thank you very much for that description of the role that you play here in the Wildlife Division. How long have you been with us exactly, and where were you working before that? 

Monique Ferris:
I've been with the Wildlife Division for about two and a half years now working to coordinate the program throughout the state, which I'm very excited to be a part of watching this program grow as it has. In the last couple of years, we've nearly tripled the amount of properties. However, before that, I actually did work on HAP before. I was more of a local biologist for the central part of Michigan. I was part of the Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative, and I worked at Gratiot Conservation District. I also covered Saginaw and Clinton County, and I assisted HAP at the local level. It was really exciting to be able to see what it takes to run the program at the county level, and now being able to jump into this role to see what it takes to run it at a statewide level. 

Eric:
Great, great. Now, would you say that you ... have you always had an interest in wildlife from a young age? Is that something that kind of increased as you got older? How exactly did you become interested in a wildlife career? 

Monique Ferris:
Actually, I knew I wanted to work for the Michigan DNR ever since I was old enough to know what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was my science teacher, actually, in junior high, that really turned me on to biology, and got me excited about it. He was just an absolutely inspiring teacher. From there, when I finished my bachelor's degree, I started working for the DNR as the state park's outdoor explorer guide. I had some incredible role models in the Holly Recreation Area, the biologists there, and technicians. They really turned me on to the idea of working in particular roles within the DNR. 

Monique Ferris:
When I heard that this role was available, I was tremendously excited because it has to do with hunting. As you know, hunting tends to be declining here in the state. Hunting is really important to me and to my family, as a family tradition. We have deep roots that go back, and I wanted to help support Michigan's hunting heritage. I felt that working within this job, I could do just that, help to promote a program, and bring that program to hunters by increasing the amount of land, private land, that they can hunt on. 

Holly:
That's really exciting, Monique. Can you tell us a little more? What is the Hunting Access Program? 

Monique Ferris:
The Michigan DNR Hunting Access Program is one of the oldest programs for voluntary public hunting access in our whole country. We're pretty proud of that. This last year, we actually celebrated its 40th year in the southern lower peninsula. It's a program that provides lease payments to private land owners for them to open their land up for public hunting, so the general public can come and hunt on those lands. 

Monique Ferris:
There's a lot of benefits to being in this program, and we've had a lot of land owners in the program for just decades. It's incredible, but they love being able to provide access to their land to allow folks to hunt that maybe wouldn't have an opportunity otherwise. Also, just getting kids out there, too. We have options available for youth and apprentice hunting. There is just nothing better than seeing mom and dad out there with their kids, or a cousin, or brother, whatever it might be, mentoring the younger generation. 

Holly:
That's excellent, especially here in southern Michigan where a lot of the land is privately owned. It really gets people out and onto private lands, which is quite a benefit. How many and where are these lands located? 

Monique Ferris:
Well, it's actually interesting that you say that; how important it is to get people out, because one of the things the program prides itself on is providing private land access close to home. Meaning that we really try to focus on urban centers to provide these lands so that it's close by. You can get out of work and maybe be on a HAP property that evening, with the opportunity to hunt. We also focus in agricultural areas. If you go onto our website, MI.gov/HAP, you'll see that a lot of our properties are located around agricultural areas where farmers, perhaps are trying to use the program as a tool to reduce nuisance wildlife species, but allow areas of agriculture and surrounding wildlife habitat are really good opportunities to hunt. We have about two ... Well, as of this last year, we had about 200 properties statewide in the program. 

Holly:
All right, so I get this question quite a bit in the fall when people are planning their fall hunting trip. If I wanted to hunt a HAP property, how do I go about doing so? Do I need to call the landowner? Do I need to sign in? What do I need to do in order to hunt there? 

Monique Ferris:
It's actually really easy. You don't have to have contact with the landowner, unless they require a mandatory registration. The first step would be going online, if you have computer access, and visiting, as I said, MI.gov/HAP. There'll be two boxes, and you just want to click on the one that says, 'I'm a hunter, and I'm looking for hunting land.' What will pop up is the entire listing of properties that we have available throughout the state. It'll list the county, detailed information on how to get to the location. It'll have what type of hunting is allowed on that property, any special notes the landowner has. Like I said, if it's mandatory registration, there'll be a phone number there for the landowner. Most of the time, you just arrive at the property location and you sign in to the registration book. You'll want to sign in with your name, address, and the date that you're accessing the property; and also the time that you leave. Other than that, it's free to hunt. You just need to have your license to be legal out on the private land. 

Monique Ferris:
I would mention that if you are hunting for antler less, you would want to make sure that that's private land. The phone number you would enter is all nines. 

Holly:
Do all HAP lands allow the same types of hunting, or can people decide what kinds of hunting they want to allow on their property? 

Monique Ferris:
Yes, they actually can. That's the exciting flexibility that we have through the program. It really does appeal to landowners, because they can choose from a variety of options, and what type of hunting they can allow. That could be all hunting, deer only, turkey only. We also have youth and apprentice. In the northern lower, we have elk only in certain areas. We have small game. You could even do a combination of those. We really have a lot of flexibility, and a lot of landowners appreciate that. 

Eric:
I understand there's some changes happening with HAP this year. You want to go into maybe some of the new things that we can expect from the program? 

Monique Ferris:
Sure. The DNR is refocusing the program to address disease regions, such as CWD and TB, and using HAP as an important tool to encourage hunting in those regions. If you're interested in hunting, I would suggest going online and looking at properties in the new CWD region. We would be enrolling right now, if you're an interested landowner. That would be Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Newaygo, and Mecosta county. As well, we continue to enroll in the northern lower peninsula. Specifically, we have additional incentives for enrollment. If you're in the TB region, and that would be the four counties Alcona, Oscoda, Alpena, and Montmorency. 

Eric:
You're really looking for those people in the southwest and northeast lower peninsula, then. 

Monique Ferris:
Yes, those, the five counties that I mentioned in the central southwest portion, as well as the four counties in the TB region. We are definitely looking to enroll. I would suggest that you access the website. You can email DNR-HAP@Michigan.gov, or contact me. 

Eric:
Great, great. Now, how do you envision these efforts benefiting the deer herd? 

Monique Ferris:
Well, I really do think that this program in particular is important because it helps landowners manage wildlife populations on their property. I think that putting a program like this onto the landscape, especially in areas such as CWD or TB, help encourage more people to hunt on those lands. We're hoping to use this as a tool to help fight disease. 

Eric:
Monique, you've talked about how people can get more information if they're interested in enrolling their lands. There's certainly a financial benefit to landowners who want to enroll, so maybe we could talk a little bit about that, but also, is it one of those things where a landowner can investigate a little bit before they fully commit, and kind of get some of that information? How easy is that process for the land owner? 

Monique Ferris:
The process is actually very easy, and we do not expect any sort of commitment before they learn how much they can earn for enrolling their property. We have staff that will visit the property, do an evaluation based on what type of hunting they would be interested in allowing. Program payment is based on how many acres you're putting into the program, what type of hunting you want to allow, and also what kind of cover is on your land. We can help determine how much you could earn, and before you even sign anything, you would know that perhaps this is a way to help you pay property taxes. At any rate, it's a really nice incentive to have for allowing folks to hunt on your property. 

Monique Ferris:
Now, I do want to mention that you do need to have a minimum of 40 acres to be eligible. There needs to be some sort of wildlife habitat on the land, at least 5% in the northern lower, 20% in the southern lowers; whether that be brush, wetlands, woods. If you have that adjacent to crop land. You can actually earn up to $25 an acre to be part of the program. I would encourage you to contact local staff or myself to find out how much you could earn. 

Monique Ferris:
There are other benefits to the program I might not have mentioned. There's a liability protection. It's built into Public Act 451, and that provides a level of protection if anybody were to get hurt while hunting on your land. There's also support from our local conservation officers. They come out and do random checks on the property. A lot of times, folks are interested in that because it kind of provides that piece of mind. Then again, the local support from our conservation districts. We have somebody right in the office, maybe in your town, that can provide assistance on the program. 

Holly:
Again, if you are interested in hosting some hunters on your private land, get in touch with Monique, or email DNR-HAP@michigan.gov. You can also visit the Hunting Access Program website at MI.gov/HAP. Thank you so much, Monique, for your time. 

Eric:
Yes, Monique, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it. 

Monique Ferris:
Thank you. 

Holly:
Stick around. In just a minute, we'll be back with some questions from our mail bag. 

Announcer:
Hot off the presses, the new standalone Fur Harvester Digest is now available at MI.gov/DNRDigests. Fur harvesting regulations have been included in the Hunting and Trapping Digest in the past, but are now available as their own separate booklet. In addition to the Fur Harvester Digest, the Water Fowl Digest, Fall Turkey Digest, and Antlerless Deer Digest are also newly available. Download them at MI.gov/DNRDigests today.

Holly:
Welcome back to Wild Talk. I'm Holly, and hosting with me is our producer, Eric. We're going to continue this episode by answering some of your questions from our mail bag. ... 

Speaker 6:
[Singing 00:23:49]

Holly:
I got a letter from Nicole, and Nicole writes that she's been seeing a goose with an injured foot limping around near her apartment complex. It makes her sad to see, and she wonders if anything can be done for the goose. This is pretty common. Wildlife are able to adapt pretty well to some of these injuries that they get. My advice to Nicole was to just watch the bird, observe. Can it fly? Can it get to food? If so, human intervention really may not be necessary. It's very tempting when animals are hurt to want to help, but often times, like I said, wildlife can start to adapt to their injuries. 

Holly:
Birds especially that have another mode of transportation with their wings, they can often live with major injuries to their legs or feet, and they can survive for years. Even three legged deer can live long, full lives; especially in suburban areas where predators really aren't as plentiful. While it can be really, really difficult to see, sometimes they'll be just fine. 

Holly:
Sometimes, wild creatures do need help. The best people to contact to assist with orphaned or injured wildlife are wildlife rehabilitators. Our DNR offices really aren't equipped to deal with orphaned or injured wildlife, so we have a list available on our website. It's MichiganDNR.com/DLR. There, you can find a list of all of the wildlife rehabilitators around the state. They're organized by county. That is a really helpful resource to have when you come across injured or orphaned wildlife. 

Eric:
In those situations, those wildlife rehabilitators, they have the facilities necessary and the skills necessary that the person who emailed in, they don't have at their disposal to be able to help the wildlife, correct? 

Holly:
Exactly. That's exactly right. They have the training, and the resources that they need to be able to rehabilitate wildlife. It's always smart if you do find orphaned or injured wildlife, take it to a rehabber. Don't try and raise it yourself. 

Holly:
The next question that I got was from a fella named Jerry who has a raccoon up in his attic. He's wondering what he should do with it. If he can live trap it and release it elsewhere; while it can be really inconvenient to have wildlife in the house, it is actually illegal to live trap wildlife and then release it elsewhere without the proper permits. It can be dangerous to you, and also to neighboring wildlife. For example, if that raccoon were sick with distemper, or something like that, they could pass it on to other raccoons in the area. 

Holly:
Really, your best strategy is to call a nuisance control company. They are really the experts in wildlife removal. They can safely and quickly remove that animal from your property. They do charge a modest fee for their services. You can find a list at MI.gov/Wildlife, and look for the nuisance animal control directory; and that will get you to the people that can really help you in situations like this. 

Eric:
It is amazing how incredibly common raccoons in attics are. 

Holly:
Yes. 

Eric:
I had a raccoon in my attic a few years ago. For me, all of a sudden, I hear this sound; that it sounds like it's coming from my daughter's closet, that there's some WWE wrestlers in there, or something, tromping around destroying things. I went into her room, and there was nothing in there. I thought, 'Where is this sound coming from?' I went outside and I saw the raccoon had ripped the gable vents out of the attic on the side of my house, and it had gotten in there, and like actually poked his head out and was looking at me, and then went back into the house. 

Eric:
For me, it was a matter of going and getting a stronger gable vent to put in, and then I just poked my head up in the attic to make sure the raccoon wasn't up there the next day. Then, hurried up and went outside, and put in that new gable vent. He was never able to get back in. It's incredibly ... it's just amazing how resourceful raccoons are to try to find a place to live. 

Holly:
Oh yes, with those little hands that they have, the little paws. They're able to get into places you wouldn't expect. Eric, what have you gotten in your inbox lately? 

Eric:
Yeah, so as a matter of fact, I recently got an email from Richard who says, "Dear DNR, on the Mi-Hunt map, it's obvious that state owned lands are a green color, and it appears that lands administered by the forest service as salmon colored. When looking at Iron County, I see some parts of the county are brown in color. What types of land does that color denote? It would be helpful if there were a legend telling what each color means." 

Eric:
This is a question that we get a lot. The Mi-Hunt application is incredibly powerful. You can use it to find the type of habitat that particular animals like deer, or turkey, or grouse might inhabit. You can really use it to help plan your hunt, and improve your odds of success before you go out and hit the woods. Believe it or not, there's actually a legend that there; but because this is a very powerful application, sometimes you have to do a little bit of clicking around to find the different options that you have. If you're on a desktop computer, it's already readily available. You'll see, it looks like three or four stacks of paper. You click on those, and those are the layers. The layer panel is actually where the legend is at as well. If you're on a mobile device, like a phone or a tablet, you might have to click the little fly-out on the left hand side of the screen that will bring that menu out into view. 

Eric:
Now, once you click on that tab, you'll see the different check boxes where you can activate the different layers. One of those is huntable lands. You can click on that little plus mark next to that, and it will drop down and show you all those colors, and what each of them means. Really, it's a great tool and a great resource that you just, ... sometimes it takes a little bit of time to look around and see all of the many options that Mi-Hunt has to help make you a more successful hunter when the season comes around. 

Holly:
It is a little bit complicated to use, but it's really, really beneficial. You can find a lot of information there. Definitely go check it out. 

Eric:
Yeah, and actually, if you go to Michigan.gov/MiHunt, you'll see below the graphic that you would click to activate the MiHunt application, there's some links for some tutorial videos. They're pretty short, and you can click on those and watch them, and get a really good idea of how Mi-Hunt works before you go ahead and dive in there to help plan your hunt for the fall. 

Holly:
Great. 

Eric:
Then, I also got fairly recently, an email from Cody, which is somewhat related to Mi-Hunt. 

Eric:
Cody says, "I have a hunting app on my phone. The two properties' coordinates below are in Otsego, Michigan, and are said to be owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division. I was wondering if these lands are open to the public, just like state game area land would be. Both pieces of property total 56.1 acres. I'm also attaching a screenshot. If you could get back to me and let me know, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, Cody." 

Eric:
This is another question that we get a lot as well. People will have hunting apps that have maps and show ownership of particular types of land, and they'll write and say, 'I saw this land and it says it belongs to the DNR, or it belongs to the wildlife division. Is this a piece of land that I can hunt?' In these situations, what we do is I always recommend that people go to Mi-Hunt to verify it and make sure that land is open to public hunting. The reason why I do that is because our Mi-Hunt map is updated continually. Any time that there's a new section of land that gets open to public hunting, it gets listed in Mi-Hunt. If there's a piece of land that is removed from public hunting, it will be removed from Mi-Hunt. You can verify pretty quickly whether or not the land that you're looking at is indeed land that you can hunt. 

Eric:
If you have a third party mapping application, or a hunting app that has maps, and it's indicating something that you believe should be open to public hunting based on that ownership; like it says DNR Wildlife Division, again, Mi-Hunt is always the best way to verify that. That way, you don't find yourself in a recreational trespass issue that's going to end up getting you in trouble. 

Holly:
Yes. Well, thanks for that, Eric. As we zip this segment to a close, remember: if you have questions about wildlife or hunting, you can call 517-284-wild, or email DNR-Wildlife@Michigan.gov, or you can stop by. Your question could be featured on the next mailbag. 

Announcer:
Hey kids, are you tired of waiting for mom, dad, or another adult to ask you to go fishing? You should ask them. Saturday, August 4th, is the perfect time to go as part of the second annual take an adult fishing day in Michigan. Grab your gear, find the perfect spot, and ask an adult to tag along. You'll both have so much fun on the water. Share your experience with us on social media using the hashtag, #TakeAnAdultFishing, and the DNR Fisheries Division just might send you a goody bag of fishing tackle. Hope to see you out there. ... 

Holly:
We'll wrap up this month's podcast with ideas about how you can prepare for the upcoming fall hunting seasons, which are right around the corner. 

Eric:
Where did the year go? Are we already talking about, 'Hey, fall season is,' ... It's out. 

Holly:
I know. August is here already. It's nuts. The first elk hunt starts August 28th, and those elk hunters that were selected for licenses this year, they get to hunt the big year of the 100th anniversary of the elk reintroduction in Michigan; which is really pretty awesome. Then, early goose and early teal season starts September 1st, and then bear season starts shortly thereafter. Really now is the time to start preparing for those hunting seasons. 

Holly:
For brand new hunters, taking a hunter education class is required in Michigan. However, new hunters may hunt on an apprentice license for two years. After that, hunters must take hunter ed. The apprentice license is kind of like a trial license. This allows them to hunt for a year or two, and just kind of get their feet wet, and feel whether hunting is right for them. The apprentice license, you do have to go out with another adult if you are an adult, or if you're a junior hunter, you do have to go out with an adult on that license. A licensed adult takes you out for your hunt. 

Holly:
You can find information about these apprentice licenses, and mentor youth hunting licenses at MI.gov/MentoredHunting. After those two years on the apprentice license, though, you do need to take hunter education courses. Those classes are structured in a couple of different ways. Students can sign up for a two day instructor led class, or they can take the bulk of the class online; and then attend a three to four hour field day session where you learn to handle firearms, and take your hunter ed exam. Then at the end, you get your hunter ed certificate. This is actually how I took hunter ed, and I found it to be a really efficient way to take the class. You can move at your own pace. 

Holly:
You can find classes all around the state, and you can find a list of those classes at Mi.gov/LearnToHunt. Also on that Learn to Hunt page, you'll see tips for those things that you need to do to really become a great hunter, learning about what gear you should purchase, maybe classes you could take to improve your skills, outdoor skill classes. You can find their information about apprentice hunting and mentored youth hunting. You can also find the hunting rules and regulations, license information. There's also great info about where you can find public hunting land. Eric, can you tell us a little bit more about some of these web pages, and web apps that can help hunters find great public places to hunt? 

Eric:
Sure, and aside from those initial questions of what gear do I need? What types of firearms do I need? One of the next questions that people always ask is where can I hunt? People are afraid of maybe trespassing on somebody's property. We've got some really good tools that are available so that people can be legal out there, and can find just how close hunting land is to them. We have hunting land all over the state, millions of acres to pick from. If you go to Michigan.gov/MiHunt, that's Michigan.gov/ M-I-H-U-N-T, one of the first ones that you see when you go to that page, you see the MiHunt interactive map at the very top. You see the grouse enhanced management sites, which are some intensively managed sites throughout the state, both in the northern lower peninsula, in the upper peninsula, for those that are interested in grouse hunting. 

Eric:
Then finally, on that page, you have the managed waterfowl hunt areas. That's the wetland wonders explorer that we have. Each one is a little bit different, and gives you a little bit different information. If you're just looking for general hunting land, let's say you want to go out squirrel hunting, or deer hunting, a good place to start is that Mi-Hunt application. 

Holly:
Not only are those locators good places to find places to hunt, but in the spring and summer, the gems and the wetland wonders are also really great places for bird watching, or just getting out and enjoying a nice walk on a beautiful trail, or in a nice wetland area. 

Eric:
Oh absolutely, those gem sites especially. I've been to some in the northern lower peninsula, and there's just some really great walking trails out there. If you're a birder, that would be a great place to go. 

Eric:
Looking at the Mi-Hunt application, once you fire it up, you can zoom in and see all the public hunting land that's available in your area, and what type of land that you're hunting on. If you zoom in far enough, and you turn on the cover type layer, what you end up getting are hunt cover type maps. You get an overlay and a cover type is basically what type of habitat is here? What type of forest is here? Depending on the species that you're hunting, those cover type maps are going to be crucial to know, 'Okay, if I want to hunt deer, am I going to find deer here? Am I going to find turkeys here? Am I going to find grouse here? Is this a good place for squirrels? All that information can be found out by looking at those different cover types. 

Holly:
That's my favorite aspect of the Mi-Hunt app is you can see what you're going to see on the landscape once you get there. You can look at the different habitat types that you're going to find once you get there. That can really help you plan your trip even more. If you're hunting pheasants, you know that cover type map will take you right to where the grasslands are, or for woodcock, a nice young stand of aspen can get you right in the ballpark of what you want to hunt. 

Eric:
Yup, absolutely. Maybe even you're like, 'Well gee, I don't know what type of species are in this particular habitat.' You can do some web searches, or let's say maybe you're just like, 'Yeah, I've got a friend of mine. He says he's been grouse hunting before. I've never been, and I've heard about these grouse enhanced management sites that I see here.' Those, we're telling you specifically like 'Yes, you can find grouse in these locations if you go here, because the habitat is specifically managed for grouse.' But if you look, there's a total of 18 sites currently. I believe we have a 19th one coming on this fall. 

Holly:
Yes. 

Eric:
If you click on those locations, you find one close to you. Again, we have locations in the upper and lower peninsula. Looking at Cedar River, it's approximately 4.5 miles northwest of Cedar River in Cedarville Township, Menominee County. If I click on the little details button, what I get is a little overview of that area; where it's at. You get a breakdown of how many acres of huntable land, so for the case of Cedar River, there's 3,083 acres of huntable land, eight miles of hunter walking trails. That's a lot of trail that you can go out and easily access quality grouse hunting land. 

Eric:
Then, there's also a PDF map that you can click to download, and it shows you all those cover types that we talked about that are in Mi-Hunt. You can see where the aspen is, other upland deciduous, upland conifers, grassland, shrubs, crops, wetlands and bogs, lowland conifers, lowland deciduous, rocks, and sandy soil. All of those cover types are listed on that map. It's a really great resource to be able to get out there. All the trails are marked, and you can go out with your dog. You can go out with your friend. Again, even if you're not hunting this land, maybe you're a birder in the spring and you want to go out and just walk some great trails that are out there; this is a perfect resource for that as well. 

Holly:
Those nice aspen stands that attract grouse and woodcock also attract things like golden winged warblers, and blue winged warblers, and some of those rarities that we don't get to see very often in Michigan. 

Eric:
That's right, so again, if you're a birder, get out there, enjoy it. If you're a hunter or if you're new to hunting, or if you've been hunting for a long time; again, the gems locator is an excellent resource. 

Eric:
Then finally, going back to Michigan.gov/Mi-Hunt where we saw the Mi-Hunt map, the gems map. We also have the managed waterfowl hunt areas map; our wetland wonders locator. If you open that up, what you get is you get all of our wetland wonders locations throughout the state of Michigan. When the map initially loads, what you're going to see is the seven areas that have a hunt draw. These are areas that are managed for waterfowl. You go in, in the morning, you submit your name for the morning draw. There's also an afternoon draw. Now, you can go there with your hunting party. Your name is drawn, and then you get to pick from locations within the area to go out and set up for the day, and hunt. It's a really great place to go if you're maybe not familiar with waterfowl hunting. You're like, 'Jeez, where should I go?' This is a great place and a great opportunity for you. 

Eric:
In addition to that, there's a tab at the top where you can switch to locations without a hunt draw. These are managed areas. They're in the lower peninsula and the upper peninsula that are waterfowl areas that are managed, but there's no hunt draw. All together, there are 15 locations, seven with a hunt draw, eight without. Check out the wetland wonders locator if you're looking for a good place to do some waterfowl hunting. 

Holly:
Those, of course, are great places to find really interesting birds, too, in the spring and summer. Pointe Mouillee is one of my favorite places to go to do a little birding. You can find some real rarities there. It's right on the migratory path. We've seen some white pelicans that turn up there every year. American avocets are there. There's really some unique birds that turn up. There have even been ibises, which are birds that are generally found in Florida; that have turned up in Point Mouillee.

Eric:
That's just a testament to how good these areas are, right? 

Holly:
It really is. 

Eric:
When birds from Florida have heard about it from the other birds, and they're like, 'We're going to go north to Michigan,' like we usually hang out down here but Michigan is the place to be right now. I do know that's some quality area right there. 

Holly:
Exactly. As you prepare for the hunting season this year, keep these tools in mind. We hope you have an excellent autumn hunting season. 

Eric:
All right, well that wraps up the show for today. Thank you everybody for joining us. It's been a pleasure. 

Holly:
Absolutely, and don't forget to tune in September 1st for our next episode of the Wild Talk podcast. 

Announcer:
This 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 517-284-9453, or DNR-Wildlife@Michigan.gov. 

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