Featuring over 2000 acres of very diverse woodland habitat, including
cedar-shrouded swamps and rolling terrain cloaked in a mix of dense
conifers and hardwoods, the Legends Ranch near Bitley, Michigan, is the
brainchild of a worldwide hunter, Arthur Gutierrez Sr, who wished to create
a well-managed whitetail hunting paradise in 1998. The property is
surrounded by high-fence to assist in developing and maintaining great
genetics in very large-antlered whitetail bucks, and the Legends Ranch has
become well known for its outstanding trophies.

Due to the very spacious and mixed-habitat terrain, this is not a typical “shoot-a-pet” operation, because the deer are roaming around and doing whatever deer normally do, so it isn’t always a slam-dunk affair. The only advantage is that it offers the wonderful opportunity for a hunter to possibly encounter a very large buck. The bottom line here is that whitetails are whitetails and hunting is hunting. Also offered is pheasant hunting andspring turkey hunting.
To promote wildlife conservation and the hunting tradition with future generations, Authur Gutierrez Sr wanted to create a large facility to do so, which was accomplished in 2018. Offering 24,000 square feet of space, a
very tall ceiling and over 3100 taxidermy exhibits from all over the world, and except for two (“lost”) years during the pandemic, the Wildlife Center at
Legends Ranch has been going great guns ever since.
The Michigan Outdoor Writers Association (MOWA) recently held its
annual conference at the Pere Marquette River Lodge in Baldwin, featuring
plenty of activities including fishing, canoeing, hiking and bird watching,
which all certainly worked for me, but I put a priority on visiting the Wildlife
Center, something I have long wanted to do. Accompanying my wife,
Ginny, and me was fellow outdoor writer Bob Gwizdz and his wife, Judith.

When we arrived at the tall front entrance gate, Education Assistant
Alex Burner was there to greet us, and lead us to the Wildlife Center which
was a picturesque drive down a winding road through the woods featuring
a couple small lakes and a very diverse mixture of lowland and highland
habitat. Upon arriving at the Wildlife Center, we met Legends Ranch
manager Robert Sergi (Authur Gutierrez Sr’s grandson), and he and Alex
Burner would give us a highly enlightening tour. The first thing we walked
past just inside the front door was the full body mount of a whitetail buck
featuring a large non-typical rack with 70 points on each side!
Well folks, my first impression after walking through the front door
and gazing about was – “oh my”! Wherever I looked, on all walls and the
floor were lifelike wildlife taxidermist presentations, not to mention wildlife
artwork tastefully placed at frequent intervals. Most of the game animals
were taken on hunts around the world by Robert Sergi and his grandfather,
Aurthur. Some were donations, thanks to Safari Club International (SCI).
There were many full-sized body mounts from all parts of the world
featuring different types of deer, elk, moose, bears, lions, American bison,
cape buffalo and even an elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros and a 17 ft
tall giraffe (we discovered the most fatalities giraffes face in the wild is
caused by lightning strikes). What caught my eye were large alligators and
crocodiles literally towering over you on their tails in what is called an
impressive “scorpion-style” mount. There was even the actual mount of a
well-known man-eating tiger taken in India by a hunter. Yep, folks, a
closeup gander at some of those critters can truly give you some insight
into the reality of the food chain!

There was a display entailing the various snares used by poachers in
Africa, and the aftereffects caused by the many abandoned wire-snares injuring various forms of wildlife, some as large as elephants, which nearly always leads to a long and lingering death. The fact is that legal and controlled hunting places value on the wildlife, offers revenue to locals, not to mention most of the meat harvested by hunters goes to feed the locals.
There are a lot of misinformation put out by animal rights activists today about certain animals becoming instinct, and that hunting is a horrible thing by assisting extinction.

A case in point is regarding the elephant numbers inBotswana

which has a carrying capacity of 80,000 elephants but todayfeatures more than110,000 elephants, and such an overabundance can
have a very detrimental impact upon not only the available habitat but also
on the agriculture which the locals rely upon. This is a prime example when
in the eyes of locals, wildlife can quickly and easily lose value.
A major focus of the Wildlife Center is giving free tours to school
children, and their hope is to do this for up to 6000 kids a year, and all
expenses are covered, including travel. All a school must do afterwards is
submit a voucher. A regular series of Hunter Safety Classes are performed,
as well as special tours are arranged. Veterans are always truly honored at
the facility and there is a special section to recognize Purple Heart
recipients. Fundraising wild game banquets and auctions is also a regular
feature.
Our very personalized tour lasted about an hour and 15 minutes, and
Alex and Robert left no stones unturned while thoroughly explaining
matters. All was very informative, educational, and certainly enjoyable. I do
highly recommend it!
For more information, contact the Legends Ranch Wildlife Center at
www.wildlifecentermi.org or call 231-745-8000.