Manager's Updates - State of Michigan

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Fennville Farm Unit Manager’s Update 2013 Season - Week of 11/17 Continued What To Expect This Week If we have the weather we expect then I think we’ll see more birds and better hunts. Higher party numbers as well with the Thanksgiving weekend approaching. REMEMBER THAT THERE IS A 5:30 AM DRAW ON THANKSGIVING rather than an 11:00 AM draw – we did this so that you can hunt in the morning and eat roast goose for Thanksgiving in the afternoon (seriously, the last couple years we’ve had dismal participation on Thanksgiving and we’re hoping this turns that pattern around). Upcoming Events THE THANKSGIVING DAY DRAWING IS AT 5:30 AM instead of 11:00 AM. Trapping on the Farm Unit is by permit only. We are trying to continue allowing trapping while preventing negative impacts to our primary function: waterfowl hunting. You may contact the ASGA HQ or Farm Unit to get the permit.
Fennville Farm Unit Manager’s Update 2013 Season - Week of 12/8 Weather COLD! SNOW! This ought to (and seems to be) bringing geese into the area. The Farm accumulates more geese as it freezes up north and snow covers the picked fields. Waterfowl Abundance Geese continue to trickle in slowly. We are loaded with ducks right now and had a really good last week of the duck season. Hunting Conditions Some of the corn strips have deteriorated but cover is still sufficient in all the areas I’ve seen. Hunter Numbers Hunter numbers have been down with parties mostly in the teens. We had 1 party through the draw yesterday (and a few that came in later through reissue) – they harvested 5 geese though so hunter success has been decent. Waterfowl Harvest We are up to 282 geese as of Monday. We’ve harvested 225 ducks through the drawing which is actually better success than we’ve seen in past years. This is nowhere near the total duck harvest for the Farm as most of our duck hunting takes place after the goose hunt on Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, & Sun and we were also open early during the duck season before the goose season started. Currently, we are at 19 geese per 100 hunter trips but adding in the ducks brings us up to 1 bird per every 3 hunter trips which isn’t that bad for a goose hunt. Really, what we saw over the last 2 weeks was hunters focusing on ducks and not paying as much attention to the geese which is part of why the goose harvest has been below average and the duck harvest above average. What To Expect This Week Nothing out of the ordinary, just come and hunt. We are expecting cold weather and snow which should help success. Upcoming Events The Farm Unit is closed on Christmas (but the rest of the Goose Management Unit will be open). December 28th is the PM Youth Hunt so hunters through the 5:30 AM draw will hunt til noon – the youth hunt drawing will be at 11:00 AM with lunch probably provided by Macatawa Bay Waterfowlers – our local chapter of the Michigan Duck Hunters Association.
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Manager's Updates - State of Michigan

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