Luke Rice, 6, of Crystal Falls shot his first turkey the morning of April 25. Luke was hunting with his dad, Ed, who called in the turkey for him to shoot with his Remington 870 youth model 20 gauge. Luke has been hunting with his parents, Ed and Eva, all his life, but this was his first hunt as the hunter, thanks to the new MDNR mentored youth-hunting program. (Rice photo)

CASPIAN—The first meeting of the season of the Iron County Audubon Society will be held on Monday, May 14, at 6:30 p.m. at the Iron County Historical Museum in Caspian.
 This will be a potluck, “so please bring a dish to pass and your own table service,” said a spokesperson.
 Show and tell will follow, “so be sure to bring any items that might be of interest.”
  Plans for the year will be discussed, and membership dues can be paid at this time.
 All interested persons are welcome to attend.

WATERSMEET—The annual meeting of the Ottawa Interpretive Association (OIA) will be held on Tuesday, May 22, at 9 a.m. at the Ottawa Visitor Center; corner of U.S. 2 and Highway 45 here.
 The public is invited to attend.
 The OIA is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1993 for the purpose of enhancing the educational and interpretive efforts of the Ottawa National Forest.

IRONWOOD—The Ottawa National Forest (ONF) is seeking comments on proposed OHV trail designations.
 As part of its continued efforts to provide for a high-quality, sustainable OHV trail system, the ONF is proposing to connect two state of Michigan multi-use trails on the eastern side of the Ottawa to provide a usable system for OHV travel, as well as providing a connection to the state of Michigan Bill Nicholls Trail near Mass City.

Stream fishermen will be packing up gear and bait for the opening day of trout fishing in Michigan on Saturday, April 28. Iron County boasts five blue-ribbon trout streams and miles of fishing enjoyment. Licenses and regulation booklets can be found at numerous area businesses. Online information is also available through the Michigan DNR. (Bill Ziegler photo)

CRYSTAL FALLS—The Iron Conservation District has announced its third county-wide recycling collection day will be held Saturday, May 5, from 8 a.m. until noon at the side parking area of the Crystal Falls Township Hall at the intersection of U.S. 2 and 141.
 This service is available to all Iron County residents.

CRYSTAL FALLS—Chippewa Sno-Kats Trail Club Inc. announces the cash prize winners in its recent annual raffle.
 In addition to cash prizes, numerous area businesses donated gifts and prizes, “which the club is truly grateful for,” said a spokesperson.
 “The list of those is likely too large to publish, but we sincerely thank each and every one.”

IRON COUNTY—Women seeking to improve their outdoor skills can now register for the 15th annual Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) summer program, held the weekend of June 1-3 at Big Bay Health Camp, located approximately 30 miles north of Marquette.
  Sponsored by the Michigan DNR, this BOW program offers instruction in more than two dozen types of outdoor activities, including kayaking, canoeing, fishing, mountain biking, fly-tying, geocaching, rock climbing, shooting sports, boating and birding.

The Wildlife Unlimited of Iron County 25th anniversary rifle was won by Karl Gaffron (left) of Three Lakes, Wis. at the annual fund raising banquet held at the Iron County Armory. The commemorative Ruger 77 Mag-Na-Ported 7 mm Magnum rifle tickets were sold by Larry Pifke and the firearm was presented to Gaffron by Pifke’s daughter, Donna Camps. Since 1988, with help and grant moneys, WU has generated $520,000 for education, fish and wildlife projects in Iron County.

Scott Westphal helps his Kinship buddy, Caleb Londre, hold his two prizes: a Savage Axis 22-250 rifle and a pellet gun. The youth was one of 46 who attended Wildlife unlimited of Iron county's banquet on April 14. WU helps fund the local Hunter Safety program.

IRON RIVER—West Iron County Hunter Safety program classes will be held at the WIC High School cafeteria.
 Classes will be April 24, April 27, May 1 and May 3 from 6 to 8 p.m.
 The field day will be on May 5 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Camp Gibbs Recreation Area.