John St. Pierre ow Berwick responds to his name being called in the Maine Moose lottery that was drawn in Oquossoc. Photo by Portland Press Herald.
MAINE – Moose lottery: Now they’re in the hunt
The 31st annual Maine moose lottery hadn’t been under way half an hour, and two longtime, never-before-drawn losers in the audience had finally become winners. “I got it!” Ronald Dionne said on his cellphone to his wife, who called him from Grand Isle in Aroostook County, where she had heard his name announced on the radio. Wayne Jones of Jefferson was the other. A change last year in the laws governing the state’s moose lottery increased the odds for entrants who had never won a moose-hunting permit despite entering the lottery and purchasing the maximum number of extra chances each year since 1998. Those passed-over applicants were growing increasingly frustrated with the state’s only big-game lottery. “When the lottery was in Presque Isle we were out to dinner and saw the commissioner and the deputy commissioner. Changing the lottery was all we talked about,” said Ron Tremblay of Sanford, who has won permits twice, but came Saturday hoping Dionne, a hunting friend, would finally be selected. MORE
KANSAS – Some worry that new rule for sandhill-crane season might endanger whoopers
Like it or not, Kansans will see a new structure to the sandhill-crane hunting season this fall. The Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission voted Thursday night to approve a measure that will liberalize the season by setting the shooting hours at sunrise to sunset. That is a change from the half-hour after sunrise to 2 p.m. hours that had been in effect. That regulation was imposed in 2005 in an effort to make sure that hunters could clearly distinguish their targets and not mistakenly shoot an endangered whooping crane. The first regulation change came on the heels of a nationally publicized incident in 2004 in which a party of hunters mistakenly shot three whooping cranes, killing at least two of them (the other was wounded and flew off but its ultimate fate was never known) when they mistook them for sandhill cranes. MORE
COLORADO – Forest service bans discharge of firearms
Due to extremely dry and windy conditions on National Forest System, U.S. Forest Service officials increased fire restrictions to Stage II for the Arapaho Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland on Friday, and will begin restricting the discharge of firearms on forest lands on Monday. The restrictions will be placed on the Boulder, Canyon Lakes, Clear Creek and Sulphur Ranger Districts and Pawnee National Grassland. MORE
AUSTRALIA – NT hunters push for legalized croc safaris
Australia’s fearsome saltwater crocodiles were hunted almost to the brink of extinction mid-last century. But since they became a protected species in 1971, the population has bounced back – so much so that the federal government is now considering legalising crocodile safaris. In the Northern Territory, where hundreds of the man-eaters are fished out of Darwin Harbour every year, the Government is pushing for a two-year trial that would allow 50 of the biggest crocs to be hunted. But some conservationists, including the father of the late “Crocodile Hunter”, Steve Irwin, oppose the plan, as do animal welfare advocates, who fear the crocs would not be killed humanely. MORE
Of the 30 fawns collared this spring in the north, 26 (87%) are alive. Last year that number was just 40%.
WISCONSIN – Researchers track deer, predators
The white-tailed doe galloped across the gravel and into the lush green roadside growth. Fast on its heels was a fawn, about one-third the size but every bit as nimble – and just as conspicuous. Wisconsin deer of all sizes are wearing their summer coats of red. The pair scrambled in front of my vehicle as I visited the Aldo Leopold Foundation near Baraboo last week. The sighting – boldly colored deer – and the location – near The Shack of the revered conservationist – focused my thoughts on deer management. Wisconsin researchers have completed capture of fawns for a study of predator impacts on deer. The Department of Natural Resources is hosting a pair of appreciation cookouts this week for project volunteers. In addition to a meal, there will be a presentation of data gleaned over the last 18 months of deer research. Among the data: Only 6 of 30 (20%) fawns radio-collared in the northern study area in spring of 2011 survived through April 2012. Predation was the leading cause of mortality (16 fawns: 5 to bears, 5 to unknown predators, 4 to bobcat, 1 to coyote and 1 to unknown canid), followed by human hunters (3), unknown causes (3), poaching (1) and vehicle collision (1). MORE
NATIONAL – Feral pig population explodes in US
Until the shot rang out, the air was so quiet the circling bumblebee sounded like a chain saw and the woodpecker its construction crew. Clambering down from the 16-foot-high deer stand, hunters walked over to the pig wallow they had been staring at for the last four hours. A large boar rushed past at a speed unimaginable for an animal its size. The hunt was on. Fast, smart and dangerous, the wild boar was once the most prized hunter’s catch in ancient Greece. Now it is becoming a popular target of hunters in the United States. An explosion of wild pig populations has become such a nuisance that hunting seasons are being flung wide open for wild hog across the nation. MORE
NEW YORK – It was 1953: What were they thinking?
Back in 1953, a New York State hunting license cost $2.25. It was $2.25 for fishing, and $3.75 for a combination license, a savings of 75 cents. A big game tag was another $2.25. So, for six bucks you could get after all legal game and fish. Not bad, although a pack of Luckies was just 20 cents back then, a gallon of gas was about the same, a new house could be had for less than $10,000, and a new car for about $1,700. In terms of real money, a license today probably is less expensive, I think. MORE
MICHIGAN – Several changes for deer hunting this year
Michigan’s Natural Resources Commission has adopted several changes to deer hunting programs and regulations for the coming season. Additional deer management units offer antlerless licenses in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula, reflecting higher deer numbers, according to DNR deer and elk program leader Brent Rudolph. License quotas in them, he said, will be low. Open DMUs and quotas will be listed in the 2012 Antlerless Deer Hunting Digest. Antlerless license applications go on sale July 15 at license agents and online at www.michigan.gov/huntdrawings. MORE
