Not sure how to interpret new otter regs from mi.DNR.With season for otter closing 3-31 and they are stating that incidental catches through the end of beaver season can be kept if you have leftover otter tags.Registration time line for otter will have long past so will you be able to register?Also will you need to have an incidental catch tag on the otter(s) after 3-31 along with any leftover otter tag(s) ? And who is to say that a blind set for beaver can not be said to have been set for otter,and there for be illegal? Poorly thought out reg!

Will those incidentals be charged to the 2020-2021 season,or the 2021-2022 season?

As I read it 2020-2021 as we are still legal until end of spring trapping season,at least that has been the rule.But another good question.I will try to contact DNR for some answers and will post them if I get any.

Do you guys get a headache every time you try to read and understand the digests for trapping, hunting and fishing? I do.

It is an attempt to protect the female otter that are carrying pups during the spring, as most females are. You can't have an effective beaver harvest without whacking otter....no matter what. The beaver are a nuisance in most areas of the state that need steady thinning. There is no beaver set that won't kill otter. The new rules pacify those types that may raise a fuss about pregnant otter being killed in those terrible steel traps, and by allowing any accidental otter catches to be kept they are utilizing the resource wisely. All those incidental catches turned in are usually just tossed in a dumpster after the pathology lab looks them over. Now they will be utilized. I see it as a win-win.

If you think about it female otter are almost always pregnant, no matter what season.

yes j.morse is right , I was at the fur meeting , it was one person from way down southern Michigan that was making a fuss about otters being pregnant, one person out of 40 , and they made the change for him

Thanks for the insight guys,sad to hear that they bent over for one opinion.How do we find out about future fur meetings?

Yes

If the world was perfect and I were King and everyone had to listen to me..........You could NOT be a policy making furbearer biologist unless you were also a licensed trapper with several seasons under your belt. Same with each specialty .....if your a waterfowl manager, you'd dang well better have bought a "Duck Stamp" and license, and USED IT for sevearl years. Michigan, as well as most states, has all maner of positions filled by college grads that were only, at best, pseudo outdoor types. Ditto for Game Warden jobs......You had better have been an active hunter, fisherman, and trapper before you even get past the round 1 interview process. I ain't holding my breath til it happens.Right now I know of at least one Michigan Conservation Officer that was hired and had never once hunted.

So..., if and when I catch an otter while after my usual beaver, I would tag it, then take it to a DNR station? Would it be like a normal catch? Or would you have to report it and have it registered as incidental? Maybe you would go through the process of a typical incidental catch, then just take it home afterwards?