Manager's Updates - State of Michigan

Fennville Farm Unit Manager’s Update
2013 Season - Week of 12/15
Weather
Cold & snowy with wind – perfect goose hunting weather for the Farm. We continue to get excellent
weather. Right now we have about 8” or more of snow on the ground – more has fallen but the wind
has been blowing into ditches and drifts.
Waterfowl Abundance
More geese have moved in over the past week. I am estimating 8500 but it has been difficult to see
and count the birds on the Farm in the snowy weather, especially when they are sitting a distance
from the road as they are in spots today. Right now they are feeding in the corn strip right behind the
Farm headquarters. Duck numbers started to increase rapidly through the last week of the season
until now. If they keep flying the way they have been we should see a good 2-day split and hopefully
good numbers for the youth hunt.
Hunting Conditions
The corn strips are holding together OK. Snow is making it difficult for 2WD vehicles to get in and out
of the hunting spots. Bring your 4WD if you can.
Hunter Numbers
Hunter numbers were down last week, ranging between 1 and 8 parties through the drawing during
the weekday. The weekend proved to be busier with 29 and 22 parties on Saturday and Sunday,
respectively. Monday there were 4 parties and today, for the 11 AM draw, we had 20 parties and I’ve
heard some shooting so far.
Waterfowl Harvest
To date, we have harvested 405 geese, which exceeds the total number shot during last season.
Harvest has been good. Since last Monday, we’ve had 199 hunter trips and 128 geese shot, so
that’s a success rate of 64%. If more hunters would have been out last week our harvest would have
increased much more dramatically. But, the weather was bad so that drove participation down. My
rule of thumb is that a day where the roads are nasty due to snow and wind is a day that will be good
at the Farm (in other words, if I wake up and have to leave early in order to get here on time and drive
white-knuckled most of the way – that’s a good day to hunt).
What To Expect This Week
The weather seems like it will be OK for hunting this week. Sometimes these warmups like we are
due to experience on Thursday produce good hunting – especially if the rain on the snow produces a
thick fog.
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.