Deer stand mansions, tree-cutting and food plots: Hunters should leave the forest as you find it.

Deer stand mansion

This 20-by-18-foot deer “stand” was built on St. Louis County forestland.

I was always taught to leave the forest as I found it. Pack it in, pack it out. I know not everyone else feels this way. I’ve come across my fair share of trash and rouge structures in all sorts of wild places. It seems that foresters in Minnesota are seeing some extreme cases of these selfish hunters.

Apparently, hunters are building elaborate deer stands, cutting shooting lanes and planting food plots on public land. One deer stand on county land was a cabin 18 feet wide and 20 feet long. And, increasingly, some hunters are buying elaborate manufactures stands and leaving them in the woods all year.

“Multiply hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deer stands with the hundreds of feet of cleared forest for shooting lanes, and the total is adding up. Some of those shooting lanes are more than 30 feet wide and up to 700 feet long. In one area of county land near state land, it’s estimated that a group of hunters had cleared more than six acres of forest combined for their 47 shooting lanes.”

Shooting lanes cut by hunters on public land

Aerial photograph shows a deer stand built on county forestland with several shooting lanes cut through the woods.

It’s a shame that hunters feel they can take such liberties on public land. While these activities are perfectly legitimate if you own the property, you don’t. We own the land. Hunting is sustainable as long as we take efforts to maintain its pristine nature.

“In some areas, hunters have taken to clearing the forestland and planting clover and other farm crops to attract deer. While the ethics of food plots is hotly debated in the hunting community — some say it’s akin to baiting deer, which is illegal in Minnesota — county foresters say the plots are taking even more forestland out of production.”

The unfortunate outcome of this behavior is the measures public land managers will have to take to curb the bad apples. These selfish hunters scar the land and our image.

What are your thoughts about permanent tree stands and food plots on public land?

Filed under: Quick rant

Hunting News for July 10

Deer stand mansion

This 20-by-18-foot deer “stand” was built on St. Louis County forestland.

MINNESOTA – Deer stand ‘mansions,’ tree-cutting and food plots getting out of hand
It used to be that a deer stand was a couple of aspen saplings nailed between two trees, just a place for a hunter to see above the brush for a better shot at a trophy buck. But increasingly across St. Louis County forests, including on public lands, permanent deer stands have become a whole lot more elaborate — some far too elaborate for county land managers. And hunters are cutting more trees near those stands so they can see deeper into the woods. Some hunters are even planting crops on public land to attract deer to their stands. “We’re getting over-built. We’re seeing mansions out there — basically hunting shacks on stilts,” Bob Krepps, St. Louis County land commissioner, told the News Tribune. It’s not just a couple of boards slapped into a tree, but tree houses with stairways, decks, shingled roofs, commercial windows, insulation, propane heaters, carpeting, lounge chairs, tables and “even some with generators so they have electricity,” Krepps said. MORE

NATIONAL – In bear country, never walk alone
There is something visceral about a bear attack, a sense of dread that seems different from other potentially fatal occurrences in cars or aircraft. I first read about one in a Sports Illustrated article more than 40 years ago. Forever after, I associated the place where it occurred, the glorious mountainous preserve along the Canadian border called Glacier National Park, with a sense of foreboding. I’m not sure how much of this residual unease informed my reporting recently when I came to the park’s edge to examine the growing danger to bears from the spread of the backyard chicken craze. But I was fascinated by the wildlife managers’ view that it was not that people were too scared, it was that they were not scared enough. And they just do not know how to behave in bear country. MORE

MONTANA – OPINION: FWP actions cost eastern residents $20 million
Since the Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff and Commission proposed and implemented limited archery elk permits for the Missouri Breaks and 22 hunting districts outside the Breaks four years ago, eastern Montana communities have lost $20 million in economic benefits. In the face of a significant biological surplus in the affected hunting districts, more than 5,500 resident and 6,500 nonresident hunters have been denied the opportunity to archery elk hunt. MORE

PENNSYLVANIA – Research shows mountain lions headed this way
For years, people have wondered whether there are mountain lions living in Pennsylvania. They appear to be on their way. According to a story in the Journal of Wildlife Management, researchers tracking cougar movements found 178 verified instances of cougars in the Midwest between 1990-2008. That’s significant because they had previously been gone from the region for more than a century. MORE

LOUISIANA – Duck zones taking shape
For the past 31 duck seasons, Louisiana hunters have taken to marshes, swamps, flooded rice fields and timber areas under what was a ground-breaking opportunity: a two-zone, two-splits-per-zone framework. Back then, after exhaustive work by state and regional waterfowl biologists, it was determined that Louisiana should be among the first states in the country to be afforded the chance to split their hunting areas. Throughout the 1970s, biologists’ mapping found Louisiana’s western coastal marshes attracted more Central Flyway ducks, while lands and waters in the state’s eastern parishes were filled with waterfowl migrating along the Mississippi Flyway. The Central and Mississippi flyways are two of the country’s four waterfowl flyways. The others are the Atlantic and Pacific, so named for the oceans that make up part of those flyways’ boundaries. MORE

Filed under: Morning roundup, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, National, Pennsylvania

Hunting News for July 9

Colorado Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep

Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep stand on a cliff overlooking Colorado 119 in Clear Creek Canyon in 2008. A large band of the animals adapted to and survived the Waldo Canyon fire. Photo by John Leyba, Denver Post.

COLORADO – Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep survive Waldo Canyon fire
Even after the Waldo Canyon fire swept through their Queen’s Canyon home, a large band of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep grazes on. Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Michael Seraphin said that while people usually expect a mass evacuation of animals during a wildfire — creeping into neighborhoods and ransacking garbage cans — most simply stay inside the fire’s perimeter. ”Their instincts are much better than people’s,” Seraphin said. “Animals that can run, will run, and animals that can fly will fly away from the flames, and animals that can burrow will burrow into the earth to protect themselves.” The herd of about 75 curly-horned animals scattered into three groups when the Waldo Canyon fire struck the eastern flank of Queen’s Canyon on June 26. MORE

IDAHO – Grizzly census relies on greasy, grimy fish guts
Grizzly bears have keen noses — far keener, in fact, than a bloodhound’s. The big bruins literally sniff their way through life, relying on their sense of smell to find distant mates and remote food sources. So, in the Cabinet-Yaak ecosystem of northern Idaho and Montana, researchers sprinkle a distilled essence of fish innards and bovine blood on logs surrounded by barbed wire. When the bears crawl over the wire to investigate the scent, they unwittingly leave DNA behind in clumps of hair, which will be analyzed to identify individual bears. MORE

NATIONAL – Fate of ducks tied to their habitats
One of the most reliable wildlife equations is water plus habitat equals ducks. So when 2011 was extremely wet and featured the second highest pond count recorded in North America, waterfowl managers expected lots of ducks this spring. They found them. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported a record 48.6 million ducks in the 2012 breeding survey of the U.S. and Canada. Wildlife managers and hunters have done many things right over the last 60 years, including programs like the Federal Duck Stamp to buy wildlife habitat and supporting responsible hunting regulations. MORE

Snowshoe hare

Snowshoe hare. Photo by Pennsylvania Game Commission.

PENNSYLVANIA - Rare hare protected by game commission
The Pennsylvania Game Commission recently took steps to protect the state’s snowshoe hare population by reducing their hunting season to less than a week and by restricting the hunting to only three wildlife management units in the northern part of the state. What’s surprising about the report is that the snowshoe hare’s range extends through Somerset and Cambria counties — although it has never caught on as a popular game animal in the region. Local hunters and wildlife officials credit the rabbit’s relative scarcity, shyness and preference for inaccessible terrain for the lack of hunting popularity. MORE

WISCONSIN – State will unveil deer expert’s critique tomorrow
A controversial evaluation of Wisconsin’s deer management efforts will be released with little fanfare Tuesday, posted on the state Department of Administration website, according to state officials. The low-key rollout of the report stands in contrast to the clamor raised by the work of the Texas deer expert who was hired for $125,000 by Gov. Scott Walker to address the concerns of deer hunters who charge the state Department of Natural Resources is mismanaging the state’s white tail deer population. MORE

MONTANA – Wolf trapping plan draws huge public response
The public response to the plans for this year’s wolf hunt in Montana has been staggering: A whopping 6,500 comments have been received on the proposal set for approval Thursday by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. That far outnumbers the 1,500 comments received on the 2011 wolf hunt plan and just about doubles the comments FWP took on last year’s hotly debated proposal to relocate Yellowstone National Park bison, agency officials said. MORE

UTAH – Get a bull elk permit starting July 17
More than 29,000 permits to hunt bull elk with a rifle or muzzleloader in Utah will go on sale at 8 a.m. on July 17. General archery elk permits will also go on sale July 17. General archery elk permits are not limited in number, though, so there’s no rush to get one. General archery elk permits will be available throughout both the general and extended archery seasons. MORE

VIDEO – Hunt Masters Show 3 teaser

Filed under: Morning roundup, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, National, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin

Hunting News for July 6

Deer return to wildfire area

Deer return to wildland fire area.

IDAHO – Fire affects deer population
As residents slowly return to the site of the Charlotte Fire at Mink Creek, they’ll have some company — deer that are also coming back to pick up the pieces. At least half a dozen Mink Creek mule deer have returned over the last week to reunite with their lost fawns in the days after the fire that ravaged their–and many humans’–homes last Thursday. Toby Boudreau, regional wildlife manager for Idaho Fish and Game, said officers began scanning the area for wildlife on Saturday, after firefighters contained the massive blaze. Their initial findings, he said, were not good. “We were basically canvassing the fire area to see if we could find any fawns that were in trouble or needed our help,” Boudreau said. “We didn’t expect that we’d see a lot of burned animals.” MORE

TEXAS – Dove hunting changes could be coming
Resentment has been building for decades over the presumed injustice of allowing wingshooters north of San Antonio to open fire on doves on Sept. 1. Cries of discrimination persisted even when sections of extreme South Texas along the Rio Grande allowed afternoon wingshooting in the Special White-Winged Dove Zone during the first two weekends of September. Expanding the zone later did little to quiet the complaints. MORE

NATIONAL – Duck numbers reach new heights
Biologists counted 48.6 million ducks this spring in North America, a record high, while Wisconsin had 521,079 breeding ducks, just below the 10-year average. The news brought cheers as well as sobering caveats from conservation officials. ”The good old days for ducks are right now,” said Frank Rohwer, scientific director for Delta Waterfowl. The record count was released Tuesday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The service coordinates an annual survey of breeding ducks and habitat in the U.S. and Canada. The 2012 report comes on the heels of excellent wetland conditions and waterfowl production across much of the continent in 2011. MORE

Texas Nilgai

Hunting Nilgai in Texas

TEXAS – Hunting hooved devils in South Texas
Hunting isn’t a sport, unless we’re talking nilgai. To kill one of these species of nearly indestructible antelope in the United States, you go to the 160-year-old King Ranch in Southern Texas. It’s as regal as its name—at 825,000 acres, it’s one of the largest ranches in the world and as big as a national wildlife refuge, and it’s still run by descendents of the founder. If you want to hunt here, you pay $750 per gun per day, plus a $1000 if you take down a bull, $300 if it’s a cow. In the 1920s pioneering wildlife conservationist Caesar Kleberg imported the 300- to 600-pound beasts from Southeast Asia to feed the ranch’s cowboys. They call mature males blue bulls, as their gunmetal hides make them shine like fish on hooves. Their sharp, conical horns protrude from their skulls like your common devil. They graze on the Gulf of Mexico coastline and migrate at least 200 miles inland, picking through the salt grass dunes and oak motts and cactus flats. They are the freaks of all North American ungulates, and they’re trouble for Texas wildlife management. That’s because even though the population’s hemorrhaged to more than 30,000, carrying ticks that can decimate cattle operations, outfitters still charge thousands of dollars to hunt nilgai. MORE

Filed under: Morning roundup, Idaho, National, Texas

Hunting News for July 5

sunday huntingPENNSYLVANIA – Kathy Davis explains Hunters United for Sunday hunting
An overturning of Pennsylvania’s ban on Sunday hunting for most species of wildlife appeared possible last year, when state Rep. John Evans, R-Erie and Crawford, introduced a bill that would have given the Pennsylvania Game Commission the authority to permit Sunday hunting. A legislative action is required because Sunday hunting, with a few exceptions, is one of the few remaining “blue laws” in Pennsylvania. However, as happened each time the issue surfaced previously, legislators held a series of hearings across the state and opposition from various groups, including the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and the Keystone Trails Association, led to no movement on the bill. Kathy Davis, an associate director with the Quality Deer Management Association from Pittsburgh, in May launched Hunters United For Sunday Hunting. The goal is a lawsuit that would force the state to move regulatory authority from the Legislature to the Game Commission. MORE

WASHINGTON – More wolves found
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife reported last week that the state’s seventh wolf pack has been confirmed, near the Spokane Indian Reservation. Biologists used remote video cameras to document at least five gray wolf pups in southern Stevens County, near Huckleberry Mountain. An additional six packs are suspected to exist in the state. The agency also investigated a reported wolf attack on domestic sheep in northwestern Spokane County. A news release from the agency said officials are working with the rancher on compensation for the lost sheep. MORE

NATIONAL – Bowhunting whitetails: A hunt without scent control
The first step to understanding scent control is learning how animals detect scent. The second step is to understand how you broadcast scent while you are hunting, and what this means to your hunt.  For this post I want to simply describe what happens when you just play the wind and don’t take all the measures possible to control your scent. Traditional hunting wisdom says you have to play the wind.  So at home you step outside and check the wind direction.  The wind is not quite right for your best stand, so you weigh your options and come up with a stand location that doesn’t really have a lot of deer activity right now, but the wind is right. You decide to hunt there because of the wind, so you don’t muck up your best locations that are hot right now.  This is already limiting your potential for success, because you aren’t hunting where the majority of deer activity is at the moment. MORE

NEVADA – Petition to protect bears rejected
Nevada’s black bears are pretty much your average bears. That’s the conclusion of experts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who have rejected a petition to list the state’s bears as a distinct population deserving protection under the Endangered Species Act. Special status for the state’s bears was sought by critics of Nevada’s controversial bear hunt. “It’s the same black bears on either side of the California and Nevada state line, and there is no biological difference associated with this political boundary,” said Ted Koch, supervisor for the Nevada office of U.S. Fish and Wildlife. MORE

UTAH – Crews collar fawns to see why deer numbers drop
Newborn mule deer are well prepared to avoid ending up as coyote food. Upon birth, they carry little, if any, scent and instinctively hide in brush and fallen timber, lying still for long stretches. So, if predators have a hard time finding fawns, imagine how difficult it can be for humans. Utah researchers, trying to determine the impact of coyote predation, recognized the challenges of tracking down the newborns and turned to technology for help in getting a four-year study off to a solid start. In March, researchers and biologists captured 65 pregnant does on their wintering ground in Piute County. Radio collars were placed on their necks. Attention then was turned to the other end of the animal. Vaginal implant transmitters (VITs) were placed in the mothers-to-be before they were released. MORE

 

Filed under: Morning roundup, National, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington

Hunting News for July 3

Coyote hunting

Utah has established a coyote bounty program.

UTAH – State establishes coyote bounty program
Utah Department of Wildlife Resources officials have established a bounty on coyotes as part of a new Predator Control Program open to the public in an effort to assist its mule deer population. The Predator Control Program is part of the state’s Mule Deer Protection Act. The Utah Legislature passed the act during its 2012 session. Gov. Gary Herbert signed the bill into law on March 17, along with another bill adding a $5 fee on big game permits to help fund the predator program. Hunters who successfully complete an online training form and registration may receive $50 for every coyote taken under the rules of the program. The training and form will be available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/predators on July 1. MORE

NATIONAL – BLOG: In defense of food plots: A response to the whiners and bait bashers
I recently wrote a blog encouraging hunters and landowners to take a hard look at planting food plots to make up for shortages caused by hard freeze during early spring. I talked about how most of our soft mast crop had been wiped out on our New York hunting property, and how we would be improving the food production on our existing food plots through a weed control and fertilizing program. Also, we’ll add some additional food plot acreage to make up for a season without apples, pears and other forms of soft (and potentially hard) mast. I posted the article thinking I had done my fellow hunters and the whitetails they hunt a service. Boy was I surprised when some from the anti-food plot crowd jumped on my case. MORE

WASHINGTON – Governor’s tag hunter pleads guilty, banned from National forests
A Washington-based trophy elk hunter was sentenced to pay $5,000 for not being truthful about how he filled his Governor’s Tag in the state’s Blue Mountains and has been barred from chasing wapiti on any national forest land for the next two years. That after Tod L. Reichert, 72, of Salkum pleaded guilty last Monday in U.S. District Court in Spokane to misdemeanor charges of interfering with and giving false information to a U.S. Forest Service agent. Also pleading guilty in court that day, Jon C. Wick, 46, of Summerville, Ore., and Outback Outfitters for providing guide services outside of his special-use permit area and doing so without a special-use authorization. Wick is due to be sentenced in September; the charges carry a maximum penalty of up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine. The case caught some hunters’ attention several years ago but took awhile to bring to court. MORE

NORTH CAROLINA – Deer-harboring case: Protesters call for new regulations
A group protesting the prosecution of Mooresville resident John Rideout for unlawful possession of wildlife and holding wildlife in captivity left the Iredell County Courthouse with mixed feelings following a verdict declaring Rideout guilty on one charge Tuesday. The creators of a change.org petition titled “Stop North Carolina Wildlife Commission from Killing Tame Deer and Fawns” that has more than 31,000 signatures were part of a group of about 10 people who held signs with anti-N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission messages such as “Protect Animals from Game Wardens” and “Rehabilitated Animals have Rights to Live, Not Die” in front of the courthouse as Rideout awaited trial. Rideout’s legal struggle was the subject of R&L stories in April and May. MORE 

CANADA – CWD predicted to reach Calgary and Edmonton within the decade
Chronic wasting disease in deer continues its march westward from Saskatchewan, bolstering scientific predictions the animal affliction will reach the outskirts of Calgary and Edmonton within the decade. Even the current low levels of chronic wasting disease (CWD) are painstakingly monitored by the Alberta government because of its relation to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the neurodegenerative prion disease in cattle, and concern CWD found in deer, elk and moose may someday spread to humans. MORE

VERMONT – Hunting think-tank names new executive director
James A. Tantillo of Ithaca, N.Y., has been named executive director of Orion, The Hunters’ Institute, an organization that provides leadership on ethical and philosophical issues related to fair chase and responsible hunting. MORE

Filed under: Morning roundup, Canada, National, North Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Washington

Hunting News for July 2

Dove research

Researchers at the Nooner Ranch near Hondo, Texas collect information on white-winged doves.

TEXAS – Donated doves provide research opportunity
Texas hunters forsaking a meal of grilled or fried dove breasts last September will be reaping the benefits of their 1,700 bagged birds this season through research under way at Texas A&M. “Undergraduates are going over each bird to collect information that will provide an annual index of recruitment and reproduction that does not exist at a multi-state level,” said Corey Mason, dove program leader at the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. “With better information, we can provide better management. That is what this two-year study is all about.” The research being conducted at A&M is the first study of its kind on white-winged doves — one of the nation’s most popular migratory birds. Hunters at the Nooner Ranch near Hondo and two other locations in Texas, one near Midland and the other in the Rio Grande Valley, along with sites in New Mexico and Arizona, were asked last opening weekend to donate harvested birds for the study. The research is similar to “wing bees” conducted along migratory waterfowl flyways where waterfowl hunters donate one wing of their harvested birds as research material. Mason said Texas hunters donated 1,700 white-winged doves, with about 500 collected from their counterparts in Arizona and New Mexico. MORE

ARKANSAS – Some deer-plauged towns turn to hunting
When deer come to town, not everyone greets them with a “hi, y’all” and a bowl of snacks. Deer, the favorite game animal and target for hundreds of thousands Arkansans, can be a nuisance and a danger for motorists, especially in municipalities. Several Arkansas communities have turned to limited and tightly controlled hunting as a means to reduce the numbers of deer on their city limits. Urban deer hunts, they are called, and the procedures are within parameters of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. A factor in this deer-in-town issue are the residents who actually want them there, enjoy seeing them close at hand and even feed them. MORE

CALIFORNIA – Breeding population of ducks down
Not every plane flying low and at a flagging speed of 100 to 115 mph is dropping seed or spraying fields. In late April and early May, California Department of Fish & Game was in the air over the Sacramento Valley and other parts of the state counting ducks as part of its annual waterfowl breeding population survey. The results are in, and the overall breeding population — a combination of pairs and drakes — is down. However, the number of mallards are up 5 percent, and the habitat areas are good, so officials are looking for an above-average brood. MORE

Camo research

A recent study by students at Texas A&M-Kingsville tried to determine how much of an impact camo had on deer.

TEXAS – Mannequins help students study deer, camo
Research projects in wildlife management can be fun, especially when they involve white-tailed deer, game cameras and mannequins. Dr. Scott Henke, Regents Professor and Chair of Animal Rangeland and Wildlife Science at Texas A&M-Kingsville, suggested the project to Brodie Carroll, a junior wildlife management student at the university. “He suggested a camouflage vs. street clothes project looking at whitetail feeding habits.” Carroll said. “We jumped on it.” With another undergraduate student, Michael Shipley, Carroll got to work. “Dr. Henke got us two mannequins and we dressed one in full camo and the other in street clothes,” he said. “And we got a few feeders and game cameras.” The street clothes consisted of blue jeans, a plaid shirt and a blue cap. “We did 10 days with each (camo and street) mannequin right out front of the feeder; along the brushline; and in the brush hidden like a hunter would be,” Carroll said. MORE

NORTH CAROLINA – 2011-12 was a good year for deer hunters
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recently announced statistics from the 2011-12 deer season, and they prove biologists’ predictions – a population stabilized at 1.35 million and a leveling of the harvest. The 2011-12 deer harvest was 173,553, the third-highest number since record keeping began in 1976. Evin Stanford, the commission’s deer biologist, said it was remarkable, considering hunter reports during the season. ”People complained about poor hunting, but the overall harvest didn’t change much,” he said. The harvest record of 176,297 occurred in 2008-09. The second-place harvest of 175,157 occurred in 2010-11. MORE

MINNESOTA – Plan to hunt wolves illustrates culture clash
Minnesota’s first managed wolf hunting and trapping season, set for this fall, will be more than just controversial. It also will be a cultural clash. American Indian bands around the state oppose the hunting and trapping of wolves on spiritual grounds, will prohibit wolf hunting on tribal lands and complain that the DNR and Legislature haven’t considered their views. ”The wolf is part of our creation story, and therefore many Ojibwe have a strong spiritual connection to the wolf,” Karen Diver, chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, wrote in a letter to the DNR this spring. “Many Ojibwe believe the fate of the wolf is closely tied to the fate of all the Ojibwe. For these reasons the Fond du Lac Band feels the hunting and trapping of wolves is inappropriate.” MORE

MONTANA – State looks for answers to block management woes
Hunters must still wait two months to learn what ranches and farms will join the Montana block management network, but its managers are already responding to kinks in the relationship. “As a program, we’re adjusting to a reduced amount of funding and a lot of uncertainty,” said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks landowner/sportsmen relations coordinator Alan Charles. “We aren’t seeing any expansion of the program. We’re just trying to hang on.” Last week, the Bozeman-based Rural Landscape Institute launched an online survey to learn what people like and dislike about the program. The answers might show why block management has hit a rough spot, according to institute director Matt Bitz. MORE

Filed under: Morning roundup, Arkansas, California, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Texas

Hunting News for June 29

Black bear

Black bear

FLORIDA – FWC approves black bear plan
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved a plan Wednesday to manage long-term conservation for the more than 3,000 black bears living in the state. The state’s bear management plan is credited with a resurgence in the black bear population.  In the 1970′s there were as few as 300 black bears in Florida. ”The Florida bear population is thriving.  That is the success story, but we still have a lot of education to do,” FWC Commission Chairman Kathy Barco said.  “Everyone loves bears, but not everyone wants them in their backyard.  When people call to say, ‘Relocate this bear,’ we need to help that neighborhood learn the ways to coexist with the bear – take care of your garbage, dog food and bird feeders.” MORE

NEW YORK – Federal wildlife funds caught in political swamp
The suspicion out of Albany is that the confusing mess regarding the state’s qualification for federal fish & wildlife funds this year is the result of election-year politics. In case you hadn’t heard, early this year the Department of Finance was empowered to raid all funds — including dedicated funds like the Conservation Fund — to solve problems elsewhere. But the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will not send the annual federal funding to New York’s Conservation Fund for fish and wildlife management if the dedicated fund is not protected against such raids. Early in the spring, legislation to correct the problem passed the Senate but never got out of committee in the Assembly. In the final hours of the 2012 legislative session last week it looked like something had to be done or we’d lose out on $10-$20 million in wildlife funds for this year. MORE

Arizona – Federal court rules for sportsmen and conservationists
In May, sportsmen were the winners when a federal judge ruled in favor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s conservation efforts in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. The NRA, along with several other hunting and conservation groups, has been active in supporting USFWS’s position since the suit was filed against it in 2008. MORE

UTAH – Centerville pushing for hunting ban in most of city
A hunting ban that would cover almost the entire city is in the works in this southern Davis County city. Officials want to have an ordinance in place before duck hunting season starts in Octoberthat would prohibit hunting within city limits between Sheep Road on the west and Firebreak Road on the east. Under that scenario, hunting still would be permitted in the wetlands at Farmington Bay to the west and the foothills to the east. MORE

MARYLAND – Hunter kills coyote in rare daytime sighting
Roy Neal was out hunting groundhogs on his neighbor’s property on Dunk Freeland Road in Parkton midday on June 19 when he was surprised by a another animal. A coyote came out of woods into a field of soybeans 200 yards from where Neal was. ”The coyote was in the wrong place and I was in the right place,” said Neal, of Parkton, 65, who has hunted since he was a boy. “It took me completely by surprise.” ”It was just instinct to shoot it,” said Neal, who said he knows coyotes can “go after neighborhood cats and free-range chickens.” Neal, who has a valid hunting license and the $5 fur-bearer permit needed to shoot or trap coyotes, shot the animal with a small caliber rifle. MORE

NEW JERSEY – Hopatcong deer hunt draws mixed reactions
An ordinance allowing a bow-and-arrow deer hunt in addition to specialized fencing to control the deer population and keep them off borough residents’ property was met with a mix of views. At a special meeting held at the Hopatcong Seniors Citizens Center, the Borough Council Monday night discussed the initial draft of an ordinance introducing deer management through a controlled hunt. Mayor Sylvia Petillo said the idea was introduced several years ago, but was quickly shot down. As a result of the recent explosion in deer population, the hunt is being reconsidered. MORE

Filed under: Morning roundup, Arizona, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Utah

Hunting News for June 28

Woodland Caribou

Woodland Caribou. Photo by Idaho Fish and Game.

IDAHO – U.S. senators condemn caribou herd protection
A battle over the fate of a bi-national herd of caribou living in the Selkirk Mountains along the Canada-U.S. border has reached Capitol Hill, with two U.S. senators from Idaho slamming a proposed 1,500-square-kilometre protected habitat as “too large” and urging U.S. federal conservation officials to “consider a more practical approach” to saving the fragile herd. The northwestern state’s top federal politicians – Republican senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch – are criticizing a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan aimed at protecting the only caribou herd that spends part of its life in the Lower 48 states. In a joint letter sent last week to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Fish and Wildlife director Daniel Ashe, Crapo and Risch echoed concerns by Idaho snowmobile clubs, timber companies and tourism operators and called for the U.S. government “to balance the recovery needs of the species with the human needs on the landscape.” The tiny Selkirk herd of about 40 “mountain ecotype” caribou – a high-elevation offshoot of the more common woodland caribou found throughout Canada’s boreal forests – inhabits parts of southern British Columbia, northwest Idaho and northeast Washington. MORE

ALASKA – Arctic drilling: US setting policy to protect environment, indigenous people
The United States is set to unveil a five-year scheme for offshore oil and gas leases that it says will open more of the Arctic Ocean to exploration while protecting the environment and the livelihoods of indigenous peoples. The US is planning the move as Royal Dutch Shellprepares to sink two exploration wells in US Arctic Ocean waters – one in the Chukchi Sea betweenAlaska and Siberia and north of the Bering Strait, the other in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska. “We are currently in the final stages of a rigorous review of Shell’s proposal to drill exploratory wells … this summer,” said David Hayes, deputy secretary of the Interior, in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday, adding that he anticipated Shell would be granted permission to proceed. MORE

NEW YORK – Hunters continue to lose land access
According to a national poll, nearly a quarter of the nation’s hunters lost access to land within the past year, adding to the biggest concern facing the sport. In the results of a Southwick HunterSurvey.com poll released last week, 23 percent of the respondents said access had been restricted or their traditional hunting land had been placed off-limits in the last year. Hunting license sales have declined steadily since the mid-1980s, and finding a place to hunt is seen as the biggest challenge to hunting and hunter recruitment. More than half (52 percent) of the respondents who lost access said their time spent hunting last year was reduced as a result — a 7 percent increase over the previous year — while 11 percent said the lost land kept them from hunting altogether. MORE

WISCONSIN – OPINION: Go slow to ensure healthy wolf hunt

A wolf hunt in Wisconsin is justified because of the animal’s large and increasing population, as well as its threat to farm animals and pets. Yet the state Department of Natural Resources should proceed cautiously to ensure the wolf’s return is sustained. The Department of Natural Resources is proposing a quota for hunters to kill between 142 and 233 wolves out of a statewide population of about 1,000 in a fall hunting season. ”I’m personally very comfortable that there is nothing we are proposing that will harm our wolf population in any sustainable sense,” said Tom Hauge, director of the agency’s Bureau of Wildlife Management, in announcing details this month. MORE

FLORIDA – Merger means more wildlife officers
Officers who police Florida parks and forests will now focus more on hunting and fishing. Starting Sunday, 145 officers and staff from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services will merge with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Of those 145 sworn officers and staff members, 131 are from DEP and the rest from DACS. That makes more field-level officers available to respond to calls at Florida parks, forests, wildlife management areas as well as state waters, FWC officials said. In Brevard County, FWC will get six sworn officers from DEP, bringing the total FWC officers in the county to 33. MORE

Filed under: Morning roundup, alaska, Florida, Idaho, New York, Wisconsin

Hunting News for June 27

Black bear

Black bear. Photo by USFWS

ALABAMA – Black bear sightings increase
Alabama’s black bear (Ursus americanus) population was once rich across the entire state. Today, the majority are confined to the forested swamps of Alabama. Reports have shown bears have breeding populations in Baldwin, Clarke, Mobile and Washington counties. There have been some observational reports in other areas of the state. The black bear species that we usually see in Alabama is the Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus). Black bears require large tracts of timber with adjacent bottomland hardwood habitat. They prefer having thick timber nearby for shelter and to provide a wide variety of food sources. Black bears also require water near where they spend most of their time. Last but not least, they need a denning site in the area. New timber practices and commercial and residential development have caused a tremendous loss of habitat for the black bear in south Alabama. The black bear population in south Alabama today is restricted to only about 146 square miles. MORE

WEST – Heat-driven wildfires continue to consume the West
Already choking through one of the worst wildfire seasons in recent memory, Colorado found itself dealing with a new series of blazes this week, driven by a relentless heat wave that has threatened to further fan the flames. Near Manitou Springs, a rustic community of about 5,000 people in the foothills around Colorado Springs, the Waldo Canyon Fire, which began on Saturday, has forced thousands to flee their homes, tearing through about 3,500 acres by Monday morning, fire officials said.Over the weekend, with the fire closing in, 11,000 people were evacuated from the area, which was already bustling with tourists who had flocked to attractions like Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods to kick off the summer season. Explosive wildfires have burned across much of the West in recent weeks. In southwestern New Mexico, the largest wildfire in state history has burned nearly 300,000 acres. And in Utah, firefighters were nearing full containment of the Dump Fire, which forced thousands from their homes before evacuation orders were lifted on Saturday. MORE

Whitetail deer with bling

Whitetail deer with bling.

KANSAS – A whitetail doe with bling
Jamie Shirley shot these photos of a rather unique, but apparently very healthy, doe in her yard not long ago. She and her husband, Bill, are puzzled about exactly what the doe is wearing on her neck, and how it got there. Any ideas?Bill noted that some land managers put tubes around young trees to protect them from wildlife, often deer, but most of those tubes are much taller. MORE

MISSOURI – Managed deer hunt applications open July 1
The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) announces Missouri deer hunters can apply online for managed deer hunts beginning July 1. More than 6,000 hunters will have a chance to participate in 99 managed hunts from mid-September through January. The Missouri Department of Conservation holds an electronic drawing to determine who gets to participate in special managed deer hunts at conservation areas, state parks, national wildlife refuges and urban parks. The hunts are open to Missouri residents and nonresidents and help achieve MDC’s deer-management goals for the state while also providing additional hunting opportunities. Types of hunts include archery, crossbow, muzzleloader, historic methods and modern firearms – plus youth hunts and hunts for persons with disabilities. MORE

MISSOURI – US Dept. of Ag ends funding for CWD
When Missouri confirmed its first case of chronic wasting disease in a captive white-tailed buck at the Linn County Heartland Wildlife Ranch in February 2010, state and federal officials soon agreed on the need to kill all of the deer in an infected 800-acre pasture on the property. Yet it took nearly a year from the time the disease was confirmed at the commercial hunting operation for officials to move in and start killing all the game, according to a 2011 Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service report. MORE

 

Filed under: Morning roundup, Alabama, Kansas, Missouri, West