Michigan Department of Natural Resources photo

IRON MOUNTAIN — Anglers are reminded that every waterbody has it own characteristics that will make it difficult to judge early ice conditions.

“After we have the first cold nights, we start to see the early ice,” said Lt. Jacob Holsclaw, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources off-highway vehicle administrator. “There can be, and often are, cracks and changes in the ice thickness that you will not see.”

Check if a lake has inlets, outlets or narrows, is spring-fed or has currents, which can thin the ice, Holsclaw advised.

With warmer weather ahead, guide service Yooper Outdoors #906 has suggested on Facebook that good ice may still be at least two weeks away.

Michigan’s 10-day muzzleloader deer season opened Friday after a firearm season in which harvest reports were up substantially from a year ago in Dickinson County and surrounding counties. Also, archery deer-hunting season remains open until Jan. 1.

If you are hunting deer with a muzzleloading firearm during the muzzleloader deer-hunting season in the Upper Peninsula, you may only possess, carry afield or harvest a deer with a muzzleloading rifle, muzzleloading shotgun or black-powder pistol, loaded with black powder or a commercially manufactured black-powder substitute.

The DNR also notes that only certified hunters with a disability may use a crossbow or a modified bow during the muzzleloader season in the U.P.

A preliminary overview of the firearm season is on the agenda when the DNR’s Western Upper Peninsula Citizens’ Advisory Council meets Thursday, Dec. 12. The meeting will take place virtually in a web conference from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern time.

For meeting details or public comment instructions, contact Kristi Dahlstrom at DahlstromK@Michigan.gov or 906-226-1331. You can also find out more at https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/about/boards/up-citizens.

Wisconsin’s muzzleloader season continues through Wednesday, followed by an antlerless-only hunt Thursday through Sunday, Dec. 15. The archery and crossbow seasons are open statewide through Jan. 5.

The Wisconsin DNR reminds bear and turkey hunters that applications for the 2025 black bear and spring turkey hunting seasons are due by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. Hunters can apply for harvest authorizations or purchase preference points toward future drawings through Go Wild or an authorized license agent.

Wisconsin requires bear permit applicants to apply at least once during any period of three consecutive years to retain their accumulated preference points; otherwise, all accumulated preference points will be lost.

More information is available at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/newsroom/release/101071.