- Hello, everyone.

Welcome to "Michigan Out-of-Doors."

I'm Jenny Ciolek, and we've got an exciting show headed your way.

I'm out here on Saginaw Bay chasing after walleyes through the ice with an amphibious machine.

We are in the lap of luxury, and safety more importantly out here.

You won't wanna miss that story.

And Jimmy and Jordan have some other adventures in store for us this week.

- Well, that's right, Jenny.

We do have another story on this week's episode.

We're gonna sit down with the DNR and learn more about their e-licensing system for this upcoming deer season.

Actually gonna have the ability through the app to not actually have a physical tag to tag your deer with.

We'll learn all about that.

We also have a shortened show this week because our PBS stations are in pledge.

So, pledge early and pledge often.

I'm Jimmy Gretzinger, it's time for "Michigan Out-of-Doors."

♪ From the first spring rains to the soft summer breeze ♪ ♪ Dancing on the pine forest floor ♪ ♪ The autumn colors catch your eyes ♪ ♪ Here come the crystal winter skies ♪ ♪ It's Michigan ♪ Michigan Out-of-Doors - [Jimmy] What a beautiful day in the woods.

♪ Someday our children all will see ♪ ♪ This is their finest legacy ♪ Wonder and the love of Michigan ♪ ♪ As the wind comes whispering through the trees ♪ ♪ The sweet smell of nature's in the air ♪ ♪ From the Great Lakes to the quiet stream ♪ ♪ Shining like a sportsman's dream ♪ ♪ It's a love of Michigan we all share ♪ - [Jenny] "Michigan Out-of-Doors" is presented by.

By Country Smoke House, a sportsman's destination since 1988, featuring varieties of homemade sausage, jerky, brats, and gourmet entrees.

Holiday gift boxes can be assembled in store or online.

Details at countrysmokehouse.com.

By Angler Quest Pontoons, offering fishing pontoons designed by anglers for anglers.

Angler Quest Pontoons are built with a multifunctional layout to support a variety of fishing adventures.

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Mid-Michigan Ponds has been building and maintaining ponds and lakes throughout Michigan for nearly 25 years.

We combine biology and heavy equipment to make pondscapes that are sustainable and fishable.

More information at midmichiganponds.com.

(upbeat music begins) - [Narrator] Jay's Sporting Goods, trust the tradition.

(gentle music begins) - Frank's, we've been here 80 years.

80 years, yeah, Grandpa started in 1945.

We've been here 80 years.

I'll be here for, this is my 55th year, so yeah, yeah.

I'm hitting the old double nickels here in about a month, so, still kicking.

- [Jenny] Nice, all right, well, cool.

- It's been pretty good.

When you get that ice like that, man, we've had a great year and people really love ice fishing.

They come from all over the place, and we love to have them here and we love to fix them up, set them up for success.

But yeah, we've still got some pretty decent ice.

We're gonna make the little trip out today with my buddy Chad and the Wilcraft, that thing is pretty amazing.

And you're gonna like it, we're gonna have a good time.

- [Jenny] What is the Wilcraft?

- [Andy] It is a four wheel vehicle.

It floats, it's like a flat bottom boat with wheels on it, if you will.

I mean, it's a lot fancier than that, and a lot of better features.

I don't know all of them.

I've only been in it like twice, but I really like it and I'm definitely looking into seeing what I can do to put one in my garage for next year.

Yeah.

- [Jenny] What's the fishing been like then?

- [Andy] Fishing's been a little tough, and it's always tough until the middle end of February, and the bite is starting to get good, and of course the bite gets good when the ice goes to pack.

So we're at that position or that period of the winter time, and it could be 35, 40, it could be 14 like it was this morning.

So who knows, but it tightens up every night and guys are still poking out there, but you just gotta keep your wits about yourself and be wary of what's going on in your surroundings, that's for sure.

Yep, a couple of our buddies follow us out on sleds and they cross the crack real easy, no problem.

And just stay away from that sandbar.

You see that open water on the way out?

It's the whole top of the sandbar is open water right now.

Well, we've had a great year of ice.

It's still pretty decent, but it is that time of year where it's starting to deteriorate on the sandbars.

You know, the Sibine Sandbar, the Pinconning Bar.

I've said it a bunch of times on my reports and whatever just reminding people of the areas not to go or to be aware of, to keep you out of the water.

You know, this ain't the time of year to be swimming, that's for sure.

- [Jenny] We made our way out onto Saginaw Bay to find some of Chad's Walleye way points.

His ice fishing equipment has definitely evolved over the years.

- [Chad] I started out with an EXT four by four, oh, about four years ago, and then Tom invented this one, and I looked at it and I'm like, gotta have it.

So this is my first year with the Mammoth, wonderful machine.

- [Jenny] So how are they different from those earlier ones?

- [Chad] The earlier ones weren't four wheel drive.

They were a two wheel drive unit.

Some of them were belt driven.

I don't have much experience with those units.

I started finding out about them here four years ago and I was like, ooh, I've had an airboat, I've had an Argo, and these are right here are the way to go.

- [Jenny] Cool.

So do you see many of them out on the bay in the winter?

- [Chad] They're starting to pop up.

People are starting to find interest in them, and I think it's a great tool for the Bay, but they have their limitations.

They're not perfect, but.

- [Jenny] What are some of the key things to remember when you're operating this?

- [Chad] One is make sure your buckets are in, and they're on a strap that clips.

It's basically like a boat plug, I'd say.

- [Jenny] Yeah, okay.

- [Chad] It's got a rubber gasket on it.

You slide it down in there and it makes a seal.

- [Jenny] So if we go in the water in this thing, it's like a boat.

- [Chad] It's like a boat.

You keep your running gear up and that way it just turns into a big floatable tub.

- [Jenny] How do you maneuver it in the water?

- You drive it just like you would if you were on the ice driving it.

It goes forward, backwards, here's the pedal.

- [Jenny] What's propelling it?

- It's run on a hydrostatic motor is how he's got this all designed.

It runs hydrostatically, similar to a tractor.

- [Jenny] So what's, are the tires what paddles it kind of, when you're in the water?

- [Chad] The tires are what propel it, yes.

- [Jenny] Okay.

What is the primary reason you wanted to get one of these machines originally?

- Safety.

Safety.

Getting older, been doing this a long time.

Started with four wheelers, snowmobiles and airboats, Argos.

And we do a lot of it.

Me and my family, daughter, girlfriend, and it's just safe.

And you can come out here like you're sitting in your living room and ice fish.

- [Andy] He don't wanna come in.

- [Chad] He definitely don't.

We got some action here.

- [Andy] He ain't gonna like it, are you, buddy?

I can't see him, can you see him?

- [Chad] Yeah, bring him up, bring him up.

Let me get that for you, Andy.

- [Jenny] Woohoo!

Nice.

- [Chad] He's hungry.

- [Andy] He was hungry, that's for sure.

- [Jenny] Good deal.

So that's the first one you've caught in here, hey?

- [Andy] Oh, we'll need some pliers.

- [Chad] There you go.

- [Andy] Oh, got it, look at that.

Son of a gun.

- [Jenny] Hey, hey.

- That's what they look like.

- [Jenny] Yeah!

Andy, how often have you gotten out here this winter?

- I've been out maybe a dozen times or so between work and play and whatnot, other things going on.

And I made a trip out here with Chad about two weeks ago.

And like I said, he can't get rid of me.

If there's room in here, I'm going with him.

I really like it.

I'm not getting any younger and I like to be warm too.

And this is a pretty safe way to get out here and get after it.

- [Jenny] Well, Andy and Chad said the fish bite would turn on when the sun went down and that it would be a short window of activity.

Like clockwork, the sun hit the horizon, and the walleyes started snapping.

He just came cruising in fast, hey?

- He did.

(upbeat music continues) - [Jenny] The sun just went down too.

Nice job, Chad.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music continues) Get a few more.

- Might tighten the drag up a little bit.

- [Jenny] What's happening?

- [Andy] I think I got a little more positive hook sets this time, so let's hope he stays on.

Come on, sweetheart.

(upbeat music continues) - [Jenny] Woohoo!

This is a full service shack here.

- How wonderful.

- [Jenny] He's gonna pull some fish out of the hole for you.

- [Andy] Exactly.

- [Jenny] Nice.

- [Andy] Nice, beauty.

- [Jenny] Yeah.

Not so aggressive tonight, eh?

- Well he can come in and weld that one.

The first one swallowed it, but this one here is a little more, a little more laid back.

But sharp hooks, good guide.

- [Jenny] You got a fish?

- We got a winner.

(upbeat music continues) - [Jenny] Nice, look at that.

- [Chad] Saginaw Bay gold.

(upbeat music continues) - [Jenny] As expected, the bite was short and sweet.

And in the half hour after sunset, Chad and Andy found a few hungry walleyes to take their baits.

After a quick button up, the Wilcraft machine was ready to take us back to shore, safe and sound to enjoy another day in "Michigan's Out-of-Doors."

- In our next story, we are gonna sit down with the DNR and learn more about their new e-licensing and specifically the Hunt and Fish app and how it can change the way you deer hunt this year.

(upbeat music begins) Well, we are here today with Tom Weston from the DNR.

Tom, tell us a little bit about what you do and how long you've been working with the department.

- Sure, again, my name's Tom Weston with the Michigan DNR, my title's Chief Technology Officer.

I've been with the department off and on for about 20 years, but really full-time since 2014.

And what my group does is we manage the licensing system for the department.

- Okay, so walk me through, before we get to the e-licensing, which are kind of the main thing we wanna talk about.

What are the traditional, what are the ways that we can buy licenses currently here in this state?

- Okay, okay.

Today, really since 1995, we've got 1500 retail locations around the state, whether that's Myers, Dunhams, Dan's East Branch Outfitters, et cetera.

They've got a point of sale terminal and they've been issuing these tags every year since 1995.

In 2000, we came out with what we call our e-license site, really at the advent of the dot com era, and allowed customers to actually buy licenses, and kill tags, ORV and snow permits online.

We would email them their non-kill tags, like a fishing license, a base, a fur.

But if they've got a kill tag, we would actually mail that to them.

If they bought an ORV or snow permit, we would mail that to them.

- Okay, and that would take, how long is it?

I've done that before and I can't remember, is it a week to two weeks before you get your tags?

- Yeah, it's gotten slower over the years, and really last year, what we're seeing, it's anywhere from 10 to 15 days.

If you're buying a kill tag, really on our e-license website or on our new Hunt and Fish app, it's 10, 15 days before that kill tag actually shows up.

- And that's a problem when people do that four or five days before the season starts.

- Yeah, yeah, and last year, and it happens every year, but last year I had 2,700 deer hunters buy their kill tag five days before gun opener.

- Okay.

- And if they were planning on hunting opener, they didn't have those licenses in their pocket.

And that's where our new Hunt and Fish app comes into play with the new E-harvest digital tags is just making it easier for those folks to get a license.

- Okay, and yeah, walk me through, so I can go to point of sale and get my physical tag in my hand if I want to.

And that's probably gonna stay for a while.

- That's not going away.

- Okay, and then you can go online and get the stuff like you were just talking about, where they would mail you your kill tags, that kinda stuff.

So this new e-licensing, is that the proper term?

- We call it the DNR Hunt and Fish app.

- Okay.

- The Hunt and Fish app, it's a downloadable app.

We launched it in 2022.

In fall of 24, we did a pilot with Fall Turkey E-harvest digital kill tags.

- Gotcha.

- And had about 4,000 hundreds participate in that.

They bought the licenses online.

Pretty straightforward.

Fast forward to last year, we offered e-harvest digital kill tags for spring Turkey and fall Turkey, the numbers increase of hunters purchasing them.

But the big news this year is that if you have our Hunt and Fish app and you buy a deer, a bear license, fish or Martin, otter or bobcat kill tags on the app, we're not gonna mail you any kill tags.

They're all digital on the phone.

- Okay.

- All digital on the phone.

- So how does that work?

So I shoot my deer and then walk me through what I do from that on the new system.

- Sure.

- Yeah, how does that work?

- So you shoot a deer.

Just like last year, you would tag it immediately.

If you have the Hunt and Fish app and you've got your combo tag on there, maybe your single deer, maybe a doe tag, you're gonna pull up the app, you're gonna find your license, you're gonna hit validate, and we're gonna ask you the same exact questions we ask when you tag an animal with a durable tag, if it's a buck, it's date of harvest, gender, left right antler points, you hit submit, that's it.

- [Jimmy] Okay, so that is, so there's no physical tag to put on the deer.

- [Tom] No physical tag.

- [Jimmy] You just filled out the information on the app and then you still have to report your deer, right?

That's a separate thing.

- Yes, and the big thing is a lot of folks will say, well, geez, I hunt in the UP.

There's no cell service where I hunt.

You can validate your tags without cell service.

- Okay.

- And when that phone wakes up to cell service, it'll upload the information.

- Okay.

- Tagging, as long as that deer, bear, fur bearing animal stays, you're personally attending to it.

You shoot a deer in the 40 acres behind your house, you shoot a deer, you validate it on the app, you hang the deer in your garage, you're in the house eating dinner, you're fine.

- Okay.

- You're at deer camp someplace, the deer's on the buck pole, you're there, fine.

- Okay.

- You're driving your deer downstate to a processor to take it home.

Don't need to tag it.

- Okay.

- Well when that animal leaves your possession, all we ask is that you write the license number you used to harvest that animal, put it on some durable material, you know, duct tape, whatever, and attach it to the animal.

- So if you are at camp, you're home, you're driving anywhere, you don't have to have a tag unless you're gonna, I'm gonna give a deer to you or you're gonna take it into the processor the next day or whatever.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Yep.

- Okay, and then is there law enforcement issues with that?

I mean, it seems like when you hear, well, you don't have to tag anything anymore, does that set off some alarms?

- Sure.

- I mean, how do we make sure people aren't just?

- Sure, sure.

You know, like back in 2000, we were the first state to sell licenses online.

That was a big change for everyone.

Right now, 25 states are doing this.

- Okay.

- You know, our bordering states, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio all have similar programs.

It'll be different for customers not actually tagging that deer where they're dragging it out of the woods.

- Yeah.

- Because there is a lot of cool things that happen when we get to notch that tag.

- True.

- Right, on the physical tag, I always get a kick outta doing it, but it's new to us, just like it's gonna be new to the hunters in Michigan.

So really the first year it's educational.

We're gonna work with the hunters.

If a conservation officer encounters you in the field and maybe you haven't tagged it yet, they're gonna help you through it, it's pretty straightforward.

But the first year is really educational.

It's just getting the word out.

And the biggest goal for us is just make it convenient for hunters.

Make it easy for them to get a license.

If they prefer to continue with buying their licenses at Jay's or whatever retailer they use, fantastic.

If they like these paper licenses that we send them in the mail.

- Yeah.

- Buy early, but those sales channels are still there.

But the beauty about the Hunt and Fish app is, you can tag those animals offline.

All our regulation books, fish, small game, deer, bear, they're all on the phone.

And as long as you got battery power to that phone, you can view the regulations.

- Okay, so yeah, so you would, if you go down to your local store and buy your physical tag, you have to have your fishing license with you when you're fishing, correct?

- Yes.

- But if you buy them either online, they're gonna send you like a PDF of that and then you would?

- Yep.

If you bought them on our web-based e-license site, we're gonna send you, after you bought your fishing license, we're gonna send you an email with a PDF attachment.

- Okay.

- And folks will just print that off.

- Okay, and then you've got the app where everything, so I just wanna make sure that you can clarify.

There's a difference between if you're doing it online versus you're doing it with the app.

- That is correct.

- Okay.

- So if, for example, for you, if you download the Hunt and Fish app today, or let's say next week, whatever licenses you bought at a retailer, they'll be present on the app.

- Gotcha.

- Okay, but the key for us this year is, whenever a customer buys a kill tag on the DNR Hunt and Fish app, it is a digital kill tag.

- Okay.

- They will not be sent any paper, it'll be all digital.

- And I know when you first did the Turkey one, you had to try to put some sort of a tag on it that you, and that was a nightmare.

I tell you what, in theory it sounded good.

But then, so it's nice now that you're saying, okay, you don't actually have to tag that animal.

- Yeah, the first year out we asked for a lot of information to be written on a piece of duct tape.

- Which worked good until I drug it through the wet grass and all that stuff washed right off.

- Yes, yes.

So now our wildlife conservation owner has been changed for bear, deer, and fur bearing animals.

That, again, when it leaves your possession, you're not attending to that animal, just write the unique license number.

- Okay.

- That was used to harvest it on a piece of durable material and attach it to the animal.

But again, if I get a buck this year, which I hope, and I give it to my buddy to take to a processor or he's taking it downstate, it left my possession, I'm not attending to it anymore, I'm gonna write my license number on some material and attach it that way everything's covered.

- Gotcha.

And really at the end of the day, you're just trying to make it easier for people to buy licenses.

- Yeah, yeah, I mean, since we rolled out the app in 2022, we've got over 300,000 folks who bought a license on there.

We've got 600,000 downloads on the app right now.

- Wow.

- So it's just a way to, just making it easier for folks to get out and enjoy the Michigan outdoors.

- [Jimmy] Well, I've been using the Hunt and Fish app now for a couple years and I have to say, it works a lot better than I thought it would.

You may wanna check it out.

- Thank you so much for joining us this week for "Michigan Out-of-Doors."

Make sure you stay tuned in upcoming weeks.

We've got a lot of great things headed your way, including Big Buck Nights East and West.

We've already videoed Big Buck Night East in Novi.

And on Thursday, March 12th, we'll be in Grand Rapids at the Ultimate Sports Show filming Big Buck Night West.

If you're in the area, make sure you stop by.

If you'd like to see where we are on a daily basis, you can always do that online.

- Well, that's right, online is a good way to see what we're up to.

You can check us out on our website, our social media platforms is a good way to see what we're up to on a date today basis.

There's a lot going on right now.

Get out and enjoy everything our state has to offer.

And if we don't see in the woods or on the water, hopefully we'll see you right back here next week on your PBS station.

- [Jenny] "Michigan Out-of-Doors" is presented by.

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- [Jenny] By Great Lakes Firearms and Ammunition, a family owned and operated firearm manufacturer in Sparta, Michigan.

Offering a wide variety of calibers and colors, backed by a lifetime warranty.

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By Saab, providing defense and civil security products and services for over 85 years, and now part of the Grayling community with our new advanced munitions facility.

Career opportunities are available.

More information as saabinc.com By Show Span, producing consumer shows that include the Ultimate Sports Show in Grand Rapids, over 350 exhibitors, outdoor gear, boats, seminars, Lake Ultimate and Big Buck Night.

The Ultimate Sports Show at the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.

Closed captioning brought to you by Double D Ranch Foundation, a nonprofit 501-C3 foundation, working to make hunting and fishing accessible for those with disabilities.

(upbeat music begins) ♪ When I wander far away ♪ The dream stays with me night and day ♪ ♪ It's the road that leads to my home state ♪ ♪ I am a Michigan man ♪ Changing seasons paint the scene ♪ ♪ Like rainbow trout in a hidden stream ♪ (ethereal chime swells)