The Wildlife Center at Legend’s Ranch in Bitely, Michigan has an amazing program to introduce hunting to those who may not have the opportunity otherwise. The Wildlife Center is a facility that has lots of goals for conservation and introducing the many aspects of hunting to those that visit it.
The Wildlife Center is a 24,000-square-foot facility that has a lot of animals (over 3,000) from around the world. The goal of this non-profit is to promote conservation efforts and introduce hunting. Visitors to the Wildlife Center are given a walk-around tour introducing conservation and the guides discuss polar bears, lions, elephants, and the conservation efforts of all animals in between. You will see lots of animals that you might not see otherwise. They also sell snare art that promotes the use of humane hunting means in Africa by repurposing these traps that are used indiscriminately. To showcase this gallery, the facility offers game dinners monthly and local school field trips to allow exposure to the world of hunting.
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My daughter was privileged to hunt on a learn-to-hunt trip through the local SCI chapter. They have a youth hunt held in August. We unfortunately could not go with the larger group due to school but that allowed us to have a truly unique experience. As part of this hunt, my daughter, Violet, was instructed to ensure she was comfortable shooting a rifle before going into the field to hunt.
Part of the hunting experience at The Wildlife Center was learning to age deer, both does and bucks, over the four days that we spent hunting at the facility.
For the hunting portion of the trip, the guides and the staff emphasized the sacrifice of the animal for food. Everyone gathered around the fire at the end of the day to celebrate, share experiences, and then have a wild game dinner together.
It was an amazing part of the hunt because every day local youth and their parents arrived. These local individuals were chosen by applying and telling their stories of their pursuit of hunting. As a new hunter, it was uplifting for my daughter to share this experience with a variety of individuals who did not often have the benefit of a hunting mentor.
In addition, for the multiple-day Learn to Hunt participants, we had the opportunity to tour the breeding facility where they talked about how they breed large bucks and talked about the genetics of the animals. The antler growth from year to year at this facility was amazing. The kids also learned how to cook deer heart from a world-class chef. The food on this trip was one of the highlights and I highly recommend going to one of their wild game feasts if you are ever in the area.
I cannot over-emphasize what an amazing facility and experience, The Wildlife Center Learn to Hunt program they have at this location.
