In the Field: Furbearer Management

This time of year, many hunters switch gears and focus on furbearer management. This closely regulated opportunity offers many benefits to hunters and other wildlife. Michigan has 17 species that are classified under the ‘furbearer’ category. These include badger, bobcat, fisher, marten, fox (red and gray), coyote, weasels (least, ermine, and long-tailed), mink, raccoon, muskrat,…

Read More

2019 Michigan Pheasants Forever Convention

On January 12, 2019, Michigan Pheasants Forever members gathered to celebrate another year of conservation success. This event was held at the gorgeous Eagle Eye County Club in East Lansing, Michigan. The setting was right and the company didn’t disappoint. Guests were honored with the presence of Howard Vincent (PF President and CEO), Chad Bloom…

Read More

In the Field: #GivingTuesday

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving break with their family, friends and maybe even fit in some time to be outdoors. Thursday morning started off exciting for us. At about 7:30 am I received a call from my fiance, Mike, that he had just shot his biggest buck to date. If I must tell…

Read More

In the Field: Reasons to be Thankful

I’ve been mulling over what I should write for this week’s blog all day. Nothing seemed to fit quite right. And then I realized that I find this answer every single day when I come to work, answer an email, hear about people working together in the field, see the smiles of successful hunters and…

Read More

In the Field: Cooperative Leader Harvests Unique Buck

As hunters, we live for the moment we might get to harvest an animal that we talk about the rest of our lives. Each hunt is special but we all know and love those stories…the ones that we know will be told around campfires and to the next generation of hunters. Maybe it’s shooting the…

Read More

In the Field: …and Online with Michigan Grassland Habitat

I have spent quite a bit of time on Facebook searching for conservation-related pages that could help people connect with the Wildlife Cooperatives Program. In that time, I also came to realize that there are multiple, very active pages about deer, deer habitat and deer hunting. When I noticed a lack of online chatter about…

Read More

In the Field: Cooperative Communication Part 1

A wildlife cooperative is formed with the understanding that one’s ability to build and maintain relationships is key. Today we are going back to the basics and deciphering what it means to be a conscious communicator. In today’s world, communication is affected by both human communication (actual person to person exchange) and electronically mediated (phones,…

Read More

In the Field: Deer Rendezvous 2018

The Michigan Wildlife Cooperatives Program held it’s annual Deer Rendezvous event August 3-4. The Deer Rendezvous is put on as a free event to cooperative and QDMA branch leaders as an opportunity to reflect on the past year, discuss successes and challenges, grow as a community and set goals for the next season. The Crockery…

Read More

In the Field: The Cooperative Difference

Wildlife Cooperatives are not a brand new concept in Michigan. They do, however, hold their value. To help people understand where we have been and where we are going, let’s first start with the definition of cooperative. co·op·er·a·tive adjective 1. involving mutual assistance in working toward a common goal. “every member has clearly defined tasks…

Read More