Michigan DNR announces EHD found in Muskegon County

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michigan State University Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health announced that epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) has been confirmed in a white-tailed deer in Muskegon County, which is the first county to have EHD hit this fall.

The disease is caused by a virus that is transmitted by a type of midge. A constant characteristic of EHD is its sudden onset. Deer can suffer extensive internal bleeding, lose their appetite and fear of humans, grow progressively weaker, salivate excessively and finally become unconscious. Due to a high fever and extensive internal bleeding, infected deer often are found sick or dead along or in bodies of water. The first, hard frost should kill the flies. Visit www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases for more information about EHD.

At this time, the DNR has received reports that about 25 to 50 deer have died in the area. It would not be surprising if more dead deer are found as farmers harvest their crops and hunters take to the field. This EHD outbreak is more in line with outbreaks that have occurred annually for the last decade in Michigan and appears to be localized.

DNR staff and volunteers will continue to monitor the situation and follow up on reports of dead deer so that the extent of this episode can be recorded and used in the formulation of management recommendations. Individual deer from other areas have been examined this year as well but none have been found positive for EHD.

Deer infected with EHD are safe to eat. EHD does not affect humans, so edibility of the venison is not affected by this disease. There is no evidence that humans can contract the EHD virus either from the midge or from handling and eating venison.

Anyone discovering multiple dead deer, especially in or near water, or those seeking more information can contact their local wildlife biologist at the nearest DNR office. Office locations can be found atwww.michigan.gov/wildlife under Wildlife Offices.

Because dead deer do not harbor EHD and cannot infect other deer, it is fine to leave carcasses where they are found. It is also fine to bury dead deer at a sufficient depth so that no parts are showing above ground. Carcasses are accepted at landfills that accept household solid waste.

New Antler Point Restrictions (APRs) for the Northwest Lower Peninsula of Michigan

 Michigan Deer Hunting Update

North Dakota Landowners Seek Doe Hunters

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is currently working with 18 landowners in

16 hunting units across the state who would like to host hunters with antlerless deer licenses in 2013.

Participating landowners are located in hunting units 2C, 2G2, 2I, 2J2, 2K2, 3A4, 3B3, 3C, 3D1, 3D2, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4B and 4E. 

The program is not intended for buck hunters, but designed to direct hunters with antlerless licenses to specific areas to reduce deer populations.

Interested hunters can get their name on a list of possible participants by accessing the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov. Hunters who do not have Internet access can call the department’s main office in Bismarck at (701) 328-6300.

Hunters will provide their address, hunting unit(s) where they hold valid antlerless licenses, and if using rifle, muzzleloader or bow. From this list the department will select the number of hunters landowners have agreed to host. These hunters will be sent the landowner’s name, phone number and any information relating to the landowner’s specific situation.

Hunters must have a valid 2013 deer gun license – the Game and Fish Department does not provide a hunting license with this program.

Not everyone who signs up will end up with a new place to hunt, because not everyone’s schedule will match up with a landowner’s, and more people will likely put their name on the list than there are openings. Currently, participating landowners have openings for about 170 doe hunters.

North Dakota’s 2013 regular deer gun season runs from Nov. 9-25. In addition, the archery season extends through Jan. 5, 2014; the youth season is Sept. 20-29; and muzzleloader runs fromNov. 29 – Dec. 15.

North Dakota Deer Season for Young Hunters Opens Sept. 20

Friday, Sept. 20 at noon signals the start of a nine-and-a-half day deer hunting season for youth ages 12-15.

Licensed residents ages 12 and 13, and 11-year-olds who turn age 12 in 2013, are allowed to hunt statewide, but only for antlerless white-tailed deer. Resident deer gun hunters age 14 or 15, and 13-year-olds who turn age 14 in 2013, with a “youth season” license, can hunt statewide for any deer, except antlerless mule deer in units 3B1, 3B2, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 4F. In addition, a special license is required to hunt antlered mule deer in those same units.

After opening day, hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Solid daylight fluorescent orange vests or coats, and hats are required for all young hunters and their adult mentors.

Each youth deer hunter must be under direct supervision of an adult while in the field.

In addition to the deer license, hunters must possess a general game and habitat license and hunting certificate.

The youth deer season closes Sunday, Sept. 29.

Changes abound in Michigan deer hunting regulations

It may be early September, but the first rounds of deer season – the Liberty Hunt and the early

antlerless deer season, Sept. 21-22 – are only two weeks away. There have been some significant changes made to deer hunting regulations for the 2013 season, so hunters expecting to go about business as usual this fall should take a few minutes to familiarize themselves with the rules.

The most significant change is the addition of 12 counties in the northwestern Lower to those with antler restrictions. Beginning this year deer hunters in Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Missaukee, Osceola and Wexford counties will be restricted to bucks with a minimum of three antler points on at least one antler. The 12 counties join Leelanau County, which has had that regulation for a decade.

The rule was adopted by the Natural Resources Commission after hunters from the area petitioned for the antler restrictions and Wildlife Division officials at the Department of Natural Resources conducted surveys indicating that at least two-thirds of the hunters supported the change.

“The regulation will be in place for five years and we will evaluate support among hunters as to whether they would like to see it remain in place after that,” said Brent Rudolph, the DNR’s deer and elk program.

Hunters who opt for the two-tag combination license will still be restricted to one buck with at least four antler points on one antler if they choose to take a second buck.

The September early antlerless season and Liberty Hunt -- the former hunts for 100 percent disabled veterans and youth – will run concurrently as they did last year. Youths, 16 years of age or younger, may participate, as well as hunters with disabilities who meet one of the following criteria:

• Is a veteran who has been determined to be 100 percent disabled or rated as unemployable by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs;
• Has been issued a permit by the DNR to hunt from a standing vehicle;
• Has been issued a permit by the DNR to hunt using a laser-sighting device; or
• Is legally blind as defined by law.

September hunting dates have been whittled down significantly from several years ago, but they never had a significant impact on deer populations, Rudolph said.

“The early antlerless season is now two days and is open in much of southern Michigan, DMU 487 (the tuberculosis zone in the northeastern Lower Peninsula) and Charlevoix and Antrim counties,” Rudolph said. “Last year hunters took a little more than 6,000 deer in September. In southern Michigan, they took 4,500 antlerless deer in the early season compared to about 17,000 taken during the muzzleloader season. Overall, hunters took 110,591 deer in southern Michigan, so in terms of the number of deer taken in the early antlerless season, it was never a huge percentage of the take. Two years ago, we did have quite a bit of hunting in September, but there were relatively few hunters participating in those hunts.”

The Independence Hunt, Oct. 17-20, is restricted to those hunters with disabilities meeting the same criteria as for the Liberty Hunt. Hunters may take a deer with or without antlers.

Hunters participating in the Liberty or Independence hunts may use a firearms license, combination license or antlerless license. Youths may also use a mentored youth license. Hunters may take one deer, with or without antlers. All antler-point restrictions apply except for youths with a mentored youth license.

The change most likely to affect the most hunters is the creation of new deer management units (DMU) in southern Michigan. There are no antlerless permits for DMU 486, which includes most of southern Michigan, this year. Instead, there are a number of new DMUs which are made up of either single counties or small contiguous groups of counties. There is one four-county DMU (DMU 319) in central southern Michigan, three three-county DMUs, two two-and-a-half-county DMUS, and two two-county DMUS. All other DMUs in the Lower Peninsula are single counties.

DMUs were created based on consistency of deer numbers and other conditions such as the amount of agriculture damage, habitat conditions and urbanization, Rudolph said.

"Essentially, the idea behind the groupings was to provide the largest possible units to give hunters the most flexibility without having to buy multiple tags,” he said. “So we basically looked at how large we could go and still have consistent conditions within the DMU.

“After the last 10 years, we’ve finally seen stable, or in some cases decreasing, deer numbers in what was DMU 486,” Rudolph continued. “In addition, we saw several significant outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) last summer, so that makes this a good time to make this change.”

Last year the antlerless deer harvest in southern Michigan fell by about 15 percent. Accordingly, fewer antlerless permits will be available in southern Michigan this season.

“We greatly appreciated what people did on the ground reporting EHD losses,” Rudolph said. “It was widespread, so it’s hard to get a good handle on how many deer were lost, but clearly the drought and heat last year created optimal conditions for the disease. Outbreaks were highly localized; hunters just a few miles from some significant losses saw little or no change in numbers of deer. So we encourage hunters with antlerless permits to use their own judgment of what’s appropriate for their localized deer numbers.

“If you’re seeing a lot of deer, don’t worry. And, conversely, if you are in an area that was affected by EHD, it may be a few more years before you begin to see deer numbers again like you did before. Wildlife Division will be conducting research in a few areas hard hit by last year’s epidemic to help judge local recovery of deer populations.”

Antlerless permit allocations were cut somewhat in the Upper Peninsula, too.

“The past winter lingered,” Rudolph said. “We had late heavy snowfalls, enough that we thought it might have impacted the herd – especially in the western U.P. – so we reduced antlerless permits.”

For additional details on regulations, DMUs, antler point restrictions and other hunting questions, please see the 2013 Hunting and Trapping Digest.  

Related articles

• South Dakota and Michigan Deer Hunting Information and Deadlines (midwestdeerhunting.blogspot.com)
• Minnesota Deer Hunting News Roundup (midwestdeerhunting.blogspot.com)

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Outdoor Report

Wild rice on northern lakes is ripe and will be harvestable for the next few weeks.

Last week northern Wisconsin was very wet with heavy rain on multiple days and some areas also experienced winds of 50 mph or more with the rain. Water levels in some area are very high. Meanwhile, the west central part of the state remains very dry and fire danger remains high in many counties, with burning permits suspended in some areas.

The Lower Wisconsin River continues to be at fairly low levels for the fall. However, there have been some big fluctuations in the past week, caused by discharges at the Prairie du Sac dam. The river has come up or dropped down as much as one foot in 36 hours, so paddlers are urged to take that into account when choosing sandbars for camping.

Musky have been the highlight of the past week in Northwoods fishing and action was very good. Nearly all anglers were reporting sightings, follows and strikes. Artificial baits have provided most of the action. Largemouth and smallmouth bass have also provided some very good action, northern pike fishing remains excellent and panfish activity has been sporadic with some decent crappie and bluegill found suspended around deeper water cover.

Lake Michigan trollers have been reporting decent catches with a mixed bag of large rainbows, coho, and chinook. Fishing pressure has remained steady on harbor piers with some chinook reported at Sheboygan, Port Washington, Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha. A few chinook were caught near the mouth of the Pike River, but there were no reports this week of salmon moving up rivers.

The early goose and dove hunting seasons opened last weekend and some hunters did very well on doves during opening weekend, especially in the Columbia County area. Some goose hunters reported success, while others reported that it was pretty hard to locate geese due to the late farming season. Few fields have been cut so the birds are still spending time in retention ponds and elsewhere.

Whitetail bucks are starting to shed their antler velvet and the red coats on deer are starting to turn to the darker winter color. Fawns are also changing, their coats are starting to turn dark and they are beginning to lose their spots. Cooler weather is increasing deer movement, especially during the day, so drivers should beware.

Coyotes have been very vocal over the last several weeks, enlivening quiet nights with their barking, howling and yipping. Family groups have established rendezvous sites where family groups will meet to socialize and prepare for hunts. Coyote pups are especially vocal this time of year and will readily respond when howled at by a human.

Some of the late summer-early fall flowers that can be seen now are large-leaved aster, native sunflowers, evening primrose, goldenrod, and jewelweed. Wild rice on northern lakes is ripe and will be harvestable for the next few weeks. Numerous regulated wild rice lakes have opened in the last week. Search the DNR website for wild rice for information on what lakes are open and harvest rules.

Michigan Antlerless deer application results now available; remaining licenses go on sale Sept. 10

The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters to check their antlerless deer drawing results and availability of remaining licenses at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings.

All remaining public and private-land antlerless deer licenses will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis beginning Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. EDT. Licenses will be sold until quotas are met.

Licenses may be purchased online at E-license, at any authorized license agent or at a DNR Customer Service Center.

A number of new, smaller Deer Management Units (DMUs) have been created in southern Michigan, replacing the large multi-county DMU 486 that has been in place for the past few years. Several of these new DMUs range from two to four counties in size; DMU 308 (Barry, Calhoun and Eaton counties), DMU 311 (Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties), DMU 319 (Clinton, Gratiot, Ingham and Shiawassee counties), DMU 332 (Huron, Sanilac and Tuscola counties), DMU 339 (Kalamazoo and St. Joseph counties), DMU 341 (Kent and Ottawa counties and those portions of Muskegon County in Zone 3), DMU 354 (Mecosta and Montcalm counties), and DMU 361 (Newaygo and Oceana counties and those portions of Muskegon County in Zone 2). Watch the new southern Michigan DMU video to learn more.

Hunters also are reminded to apply for the Pure Michigan Hunt ($4 per application) as many times as they would like. Three winners will receive a prize package valued at over $4,000 that includes an elk and bear license, rifle and crossbow. Visit www.michigan.gov/puremichiganhunt for more information. To purchase Pure Michigan Hunt applications, visit E-license.

For more information, see the 2013 Antlerless Deer Hunting Digest, which can be found at local license agents or online at www.michigan.gov/dnrdigests.