COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County’s new Michigan Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer says he will be having a busy firearm deer hunting season, which opened yesterday and runs through the end of November.
Nick Wellman has been a conservation officer for just six months. Wellman and the other DNR officer that is assigned to the county have to cover all of Branch County and possibly a bit of Hillsdale and Calhoun Counties. As a result, he’s says it’s hard to find everybody that could be doing things that are illegal.
Hunters can notify the state about any problems they discover by calling the DNR’s Report All Poaching (RAP) hotline at (800)292-7800.
Wellman grew up on a pig farm in Allegan County. He moved to the Coldwater area with his wife after landing the job with the state. Wellman graduated from the new DNR Academy, which is modeled after the Michigan State Police Academy.
