New State Record Certified For Bull Elk With Non-typical Antlers; Taken On Public Access Land
February 15, 2010
Feb 15, 2010
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky has a new state record for a bull elk with non-typical antlers.
Harrodsburg resident Terrell Royalty’s 7×7 elk scored 372 6/8 in the Boone and Crockett Club scoring system, besting the old record of 367 7/8 taken in Harlan County in 2008. Royalty took his record elk from a wildlife management area in Knott County on Oct. 4, 2009.
“This new state record shows the quality elk hunting we have on our public lands,” said Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Commissioner Jon Gassett. “In addition to the great elk hunting on private lands, Kentucky boasts world-class elk hunting on public lands as well.”
A non-typical rack means the tines are not located in a typical location. Royalty’s elk had seven tines each on either side of its rack. The score is the totaled measurements of the main beams, tines, width and mass. The trophy could not be officially scored until after a 60-day drying period.
“I’ve hunted all of my life, I’ve had buck fever and all, but this bull was by far the biggest adrenaline rush of my life,” said Royalty, 52. “Once it hit the ground, I felt like I was being stabbed with a million needles and it lasted two or three hours. I was almost in shock.”
Royalty said he scouted the area with help from his friend Paul Moore, who participated in the 2008 cow elk hunt. “We started scouting well before the hunt and found this bull,” Royalty said. “Paul and I grew up together, and he helped me a bunch.”
The first week of the 2009 bull elk season started Saturday, Oct. 3. Royalty’s hunt proved fruitless for a day and half. Then, about 2 p.m. Sunday, Royalty, who was hunting with his best friend, Brad Smith, and guide Bob Hunter, heard a bugle.
“After we heard that bugle, we moved to get out front and downwind,” he said. “We tracked and tracked to stay out in front of this bull. About 5 p.m. or so, a cow calf came out and we cow called back and forth. Then, the one cow calf turned into about nine. The cows came out in twos and got older and bigger as they came out.”
The trophy bull then appeared in the clearing around 6 p.m. and bugled at another bull in the distance. “He turned broadside and everything was perfect,” Royalty said. “It took 15 minutes to get the right angle on him.”
Royalty, who estimated that he was 340 yards away from the bull, aimed his .300 Winchester Short Magnum rifle and shot only once.
Tina Brunjes, big game coordinator for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, was not surprised to learn the record had been broken. “Kentucky continues to produce new state records with regularity,” she said. “Each year drawn hunters can reasonably expect a chance to beat the state record.”
Applications for this year’s hunt are now on sale online at fw.ky.gov, the official Web site of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. It costs $10 to apply, and a hunter may apply only once. The drawing for the elk quota hunt is open to residents and non-residents. The deadline to apply for this year’s hunt is April 30.
Kentucky Afield Radio Live on MyHuntingandFishing.Com
January 25, 2010
Here at MyHuntingandFishing.Com we are proud to announce that as of 1/24/10 Kentucky Afield Radio is once again streaming live on Sunday evenings from 6 to 8pm. Hosted by Tim Farmer of Kentucky Afield Television, this program offers expert advice from Kentucky Fish and Wildlife personnel, tips from well-known sportsmen and women, as well as giving callers a chance to ask questions about their favorite subjects associated with wildlife-related recreation. If you have any questions at all about anything hunting or fishing call during the show toll free at 1-877-592-4868. Kentucky Afield Radio presently airs on the following stations:
- WFKY Froggy 104.9 Frankfort
- WKCM-AM 1160 in Hawesville
- WBGN-AM 1340 in Bowling Green
- WNBS-AM 1340 in Murray
- WLYE-FM 94.1 in Glasgow
- WLXO-FM 96.1 in Lexington
- WGOH Grayson – First Hour
Record buck on view this weekend – Springfieldnewssun.com
January 19, 2010
By Jim Morris, Staff Writer Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Area residents will get their first up-close look at the Stephens buck this weekend, Jan. 23 (4 to 9 p.m.) and Jan. 24 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) when Brian Stephens of Clayton and taxidermist Rick Busse of Piqua put it on display at the Cincinnati Hunting & Fishing Show, part of the Cincinnati Travel, Sports & Boat Show.
The buck, when officially scored on Jan. 30, will have the largest main beams of any whitetail ever recorded. It will also be a nontypical record for muzzleloaders in Ohio.
The boat and travel portion of the Cincinnati show opened on Friday, Jan. 15 and will continue through Jan. 24. The show is closed today, but reopens Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. at the Duke Energy Convention Center on Fifth and Elm Streets.
The show features hunting and fishing seminars, including Joe Thomas, Frank Scalish, Tom Clay, Ryan Thomas and Tom Dietz.
For show schedules and other information, visit hartproductions.com.
via Record buck on view this weekend.
Wild hogs could be past point of elimination in Ohio – Dayton Daily News
January 11, 2010
By Steve Bennish, Staff Writer
Ohio could be past the point of being able to eradicate destructive wild hogs from the state, a federal wildlife specialist said.
The swine, popularly dubbed “Hogzillas” capable of growing to 500 pounds or more, have taken a foothold here as they have rapidly spread across the United States in a population explosion, a new survey shows.
So far, Ohio’s animals are apparently free of diseases that could harm people, said Craig Hicks, a wildlife disease biologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture based in Reynoldsburg.
But they remain a serious threat to native wildlife and the environment, and hunters should still use caution when harvesting them, Hicks noted.
“Their existence here can only wreak havoc on the natural environment,” he said. “We may be beyond the point of removing all feral swine from Ohio.”
In 2009, the first year of an ongoing program to test the wild hogs for diseases, Hicks examined samples from 14 swine killed by hunters. Tests came back negative for classical swine fever, swine brucellosis and pseudo rabies.
That doesn’t mean hunters shouldn’t be vigilant, he added.
As with deer or any wild animal, hunters should wear rubber gloves when handling raw meat and properly bag discarded pieces after field dressing, Hicks said. Hunters should also wash their hands and clothing. And, as with any pork product, the meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
The total number of wild Ohio hogs — a mix of farm escapees and much larger European boars that fled game hunting camps — is 500 to 1,000, according to estimates.
They’re in 26 of 88 counties including Belmont, Gallia, Guernsey, Lawrence, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Ross, Scioto, Vinton and Washington in the southeast.
They’re also in Adams, Brown, Butler, Darke, Preble and Shelby counties.
Reports also have located them in Auglaize, Champaign, Fayette, Logan, Mercer and Pickaway counties, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
As wild hogs have spread, they have developed permanent populations in more regions, said Jack Mayer, a scientist with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C.
In a Scripps Howard News Service report, Mayer said he’s tracked the spread of the pigs to 44 states. America’s wild pig population more than doubled in size and range in the past 20 years. Two decades ago, 500,000 to 2 million roamed the United States. Now the population is 2 million to 6 million. In 1982, they were documented in only 17 states.
Mayer said that when a wild hog community is large enough, it reaches a critical mass and gains what scientists say is a permanent foothold.
Twenty-one states fall into that category of having an “established” hog population. When the population is smaller, it can still be removed by hunting and trapping.
Twelve states have so-called “transitional” or “emerging” populations including Ohio, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Wildlife experts have said the hogs are increasingly running roughshod in rural areas, suburbs and even a few cities. They’re digging up cemeteries, gardens and lawns, causing car wrecks — and occasionally attacking people.
In 2009:
• A wild pig attacked a St. Petersburg, Fla., woman in her backyard in April, goring her leg. Seven months later, an Avon Park, Fla., driver was killed when her sports utility vehicle flipped after colliding with a wild hog.
• In Detroit, a wild pig wandered through downtown, making its way to the home of a family in nearby Warren, Mich.
• In September, in a Redding, Calif.-area subdivision, an estimated 100 feral hogs tore out landscaping and turned lawns into muddy messes.
According to the Scripps Howard report, no national strategy or program exists to corral what is a cross-border problem. Without federal intervention and enforcement of laws that limit transporting animals, the battle against the pigs — which each year cause an estimated $800 million in property and crop damage and 27,000 auto collisions — could very well be lost, Mayer said.
The USDA’s Hicks said wild pigs are challenging to kill.
“They’re a pretty smart animal, and they learn from our mistakes,” he said. “They are prolific breeders. In our southern counties, trying to find them on a large tract of land can be difficult.”
via Dayton Daily News.
Clayton man’s 18-point buck might shatter records – Dayton Daily News
December 23, 2009
Big buck likely to be an Ohio record for nontypical deer killed by a muzzleloader.
By Jim Morris, Staff Writer Rick Busse sees a lot of deer. As a popular taxidermist located on the Miami-Shelby county line, Busse has handled some extremely large deer, including the famous Beatty Buck about this time of year in 2000.When Brian Stephens brought in the buck that he shot on opening day of the deer gun season last week Nov. 30, Busse figured it would be just another nice buck to mount. And then he saw it.“It’s the biggest thing to come through my door since the Beatty Buck, and that was nine years ago,” Busse said.The buck that is likely to have the name Stephens Buck is a huge 18-pointer with one main beam of its rack possibly the largest for any whitetail ever recorded – 35 inches. And once the antlers are officially scored, it is likely to be an Ohio record for a nontypical deer killed by a muzzleloader.The rack will be green scored by Boone & Crocket scorer Mike Wendel of Botkins today, Dec. 9. Once it has dried, 60 days from now, it will be officially scored. There’s a good chance it will measure out with a net score of about 235 inches.“The main beams — as far as my research has been able to come up with — are the longest main beams ever recorded on any deer in history,” Busse said. “Seeing a deer with main beams over 30 inches is rare. And I think the record is 33½. These are both over 34½.”Stephens, 39, lives in Clayton and works in software development for CS Stars. Having hunted every year since he was 12, he has become an experienced hunter and has seen plenty of deer. But he’s never seen another deer like this one and, in fact, it took some time to sink in once he downed the buck with his 50-cal. muzzleloader.Hunting in a group of six family and friends on his family’s farm in Highland County, Stephens climbed into his tree stand just before dawn. Not long after first light, he saw a doe followed by a buck with huge antlers walking toward him.“But I could never get a clear shot,” Stephens recalled. “They were walking slowly around in an area covered with trees. They were only about 50 yards away from my stand, but I never had a clear shot.”Stephens watched the doe and buck for most of the morning, hoping to get an opportunity that never came. Finally, they wandered off and Stephens decided to take a lunch break at their farm house. He ate quickly and then returned to his stand, hoping to get another glimpse at the monster buck. After seeing several deer, that chance came again.Just after 4 p.m. he saw the buck again, this time about 250 yards away and headed straight for him. When it reached a fence row about 80 yards away, it turned broadside to Stephens and his Thompson/Center muzzleloader. Stephens took his shot.“When the smoke cleared, I couldn’t see him, so I thought I had missed him,” Stephens said. “Then I saw it running and fall. I took a drink of water and collected myself. It was probably a half an hour before I got to the deer. When I saw the rack, I couldn’t believe it. I knew it was big, but I never imagined it would be like this.”The deer, estimated by Busse to be 5 ½ to 6 ½ years old, weighed 215 pounds after field dressing. It drew a big crowd when Stephens checked it in at the Rocky Fork Truck Stop.“It’s amazing how quickly word gets around. We were only there a few minutes. I even parked toward the back, out of the way, and people still crowded around it,” Stephens said.If the Stephens Buck turns out anything like the Beatty Buck, people will be crowding around for a look at those antlers for many years to come.Contact this reporter at 937 225-2409 or jmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
via Clayton man’s 18-point buck might shatter records.
Kentucky’s First Bear Hunt In Modern Times Coming Up
December 11, 2009
Frankfort, KY – On Dec. 19, Kentucky hunters will make history. The first bear hunt in modern times will take place in Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties. The hunt is open to any Kentucky resident who purchases a bear hunting permit in addition to an annual hunting license, unless license exempt.
“The population has shown phenomenal growth from only a decade ago,” said Steven Dobey, bear program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “We’ve been monitoring this population and have been involved in research with the University of Kentucky for almost 10 years. Based on our research efforts, it’s clear that Kentucky’s bear population can support a sustainable harvest.”
Black bears were nearly absent from Kentucky for about 150 years after intensive logging in the 19th century took away much of their habitat. They gradually made their way back to southeastern Kentucky from Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee as oak-hickory forests matured once again. Kentucky’s bear numbers grew over time, as did public interest in a bear hunting season.
“The other driving force in this first bear season has been public interest and support from sporting organizations in Kentucky,” Dobey said. “In particular, the League of Kentucky Sportsmen played an important role in making this bear season a reality.”
“This season is particularly exciting because black bears are the first species to repopulate naturally in Kentucky,” said Rick Allen, president of the League of Kentucky Sportsmen. “I’m glad to see this season become a reality for Kentucky’s sportsmen and sportswomen.”
The bear harvest is limited to 10 bears total or five female bears, whichever limit hunters reach first. Most female bears are already denned at this time of year, which will limit the number of females available for harvest. Hunters must call Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s general information number at 1-800-858-1549 after 9 p.m. Dec. 19 to check if the harvest quota has been reached. If the quota has not yet been reached, the hunt will continue on Dec. 20 only.
The bag limit is one bear per hunter. Successful hunters must take their bear to one of the check-in stations set up in each of the open counties. Locations are listed at the department’s webpage online at fw.ky.gov, or hunters may call 1-800-858-1549 during regular weekday business hours prior to the hunt for check-in station locations. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife biologists will weigh the bears, take body measurements and biological samples for research, and attach a permanent tag to each harvested animal. Hunters must also Telecheck their bear before leaving the check station.
Hunters may not take female bears with cubs or bears weighing less than 75 pounds. A 75-pound bear is about the same size as an adult Labrador retriever. Baiting is prohibited, including garbage used as bait. For example, hunters may not shoot a bear feeding at a garbage can or dumpster.
The Hensley-Pine Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is closed to bear hunting, and a 12,500-acre area surrounding the WMA is open only to landowners, their spouses and dependent children hunting on their own property. Those boundaries are clearly delineated in the 2009-10 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, available wherever hunting licenses are sold and online at fw.ky.gov.
Hunters may also read about all equipment, licensing, hunter education and youth supervision laws in this guide. Hunter orange clothing is required for all bear hunters regardless of what hunting equipment they use, as the season coincides with late muzzleloader deer season.
Most Kentucky hunters haven’t taken a bear before. However, hunters can use some of the same techniques they use for deer hunting. Hunters should begin by scouting ridgelines for hard mast food sources such as acorns.
“In the fall and winter months, bears have only one thing on their minds and that’s putting on weight for the winter denning season,” Dobey said. “They’ll concentrate their activity almost exclusively around food sources.”
In eastern Kentucky, mountain ridgelines hold the highest concentrations of these food sources. Bears are predictable in their daily travel patterns. Hunters should search for trails worn into the ground, paw prints in leaf litter or even claw marks on trees, as bears feed extensively in trees as well as under them. Once hunters find a stand of acorn-producing trees and other signs of bear activity, they can set up tree stands just as they do for deer hunting. Ground blinds can also be used.
A bear’s sense of smell is even better than a deer’s, so there isn’t much hunters can do to cover up their scent. However, bears are also generally more curious than deer, as odors may indicate a potential food source. Since bears are trying to put on weight for winter denning, scent can actually work to a hunter’s advantage. Hunters should aim for the same vital area on a bear that they look for on a deer.
Portions of 10 public hunting areas are open for bear hunting, though hunters should consult maps to ensure they hunt only within Harlan, Letcher and Pike counties. Excluding Hensley-Pine Mountain WMA, there are 29,651 acres of public land available to hunters within the three-county bear zone. Hunters must have landowner permission to hunt or retrieve downed bears from private land.
Application Sales Begin For 2010 Kentucky Elk Hunt Lottery
December 3, 2009
Dec 02, 2009 Frankfort, Ky. – Applications for Kentucky’s 2010 elk hunt lottery went on sale today. Applications cost $10, and give the purchaser a chance to win a bull or cow elk tag. Applications are available online only.You may apply by logging onto the homepage of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources at fw.ky.gov and clicking on the yellow “Buy Licenses Here” box on the right side of the page. If you wish to purchase a chance for someone on your Christmas shopping list, you will need that person’s social security number.Kentucky Fish and Wildlife issued 750 cow elk tags and 250 bull elk tags for the regular 2009 lottery quota hunts. More than 46,000 people applied for the 2009 hunts.Youth hunters 15 years old and younger may apply for the 2010 youth-only elk hunt at Paul Van Booven Wildlife Management Area. Youth may apply for the regular quota elk hunts and the youth-only hunt, but each application costs $10.You can only apply one time except those youth applying for the youth-only and regular elk quota hunts. The lottery is open to Kentucky residents and non-residents. The deadline to apply is April 30. The drawing will be conducted in May.Eighty-seven percent of those drawn for the 2009 bull elk hunt successfully harvested a bull elk during the current season.
State-Journal.com – The gift that keeps giving
November 30, 2009
By LEE MCCLELLAN/Kentucky Afield Magazine
Our family has a big Christmas celebration every year where everyone brings a gift, but doesn’t know who will get it. Some of the gifts are things you actually want; some of them are white elephants.You draw a number from a hat. Then, when they call your number, you pick a gift from the pile on a table. I’ve received a Chia Pet, a singing Christmas wreath and a ceramic pig. I choose terribly just about every year – and my gift picking ability is now a running joke.If you want to give someone who loves the outdoors a gift that he or she will actually like, then log on to fw.ky.gov – the website of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources – and click onto the Kentucky Afield Store tab.The “Kentucky Afield” television deer processing DVD is one of the most requested and popular items at the Kentucky Afield Store. This DVD shows you how to quickly and easily field dress, skin and debone your deer, and then convert your harvest into steaks and roasts.Now, in a unique holiday package, you get the deer processing DVD, a one-year subscription to Kentucky Afield magazine and the 2010 Kentucky Afield calendar all for just $15 – a savings of $8. This video alone costs $13 while a one-year subscription to Kentucky Afield magazine is $10.The Kentucky Afield calendar will include a list of Kentucky’s Top 100 typical and Top 100 non-typical deer. Log onto fw.ky.gov and click on the Kentucky Afield Store icon to purchase this special holiday package.There is an additional shipping and handling charge of $4.50 for the DVD. This offer is available only through the Kentucky Afield Store site.A unique stocking stuffer that will surprise the big game hunter in your family is an elk hunt lottery application. Each application costs $10, and may be purchased as a gift. Elk hunt lottery applications go on sale Tuesday, Dec. 1. Applications are available online only at fw.ky.gov.The resident Sportsman’s License is the perfect gift for the outdoors enthusiast who does everything. This license includes the combination hunting and fishing license, a trout permit, spring and fall turkey permits, statewide deer permit and the state waterfowl permit which also covers dove and other migratory bird hunting.This saves the purchaser $50 over buying each of these permits and licenses separately. This is one of the most appreciated gifts for the serious hunter and angler.A trip to the “Kentucky Afield” store at fw.ky.gov reveals other good stocking stuffers. Three caps featuring the Kentucky Afield logo superimposed upon the state of Kentucky are $16 apiece.The modern gun deer, rabbit or quail hunter in your family will appreciate the blaze orange hat, while the archery deer or waterfowl hunter will like the camouflage version. A plain version featuring the logo and state upon a tan background with a green bill is also for sale.Try some of these gifts for the hunter or angler in your family. These gifts will be used and appreciated throughout the year. Unlike a Chia Pet or a singing wreath.Hint, hint.
via State-Journal.com – The gift that keeps giving.
Kentucky waterfowl season dates and limits | The Courier-Journal
November 24, 2009
Ducks, coots and mergansers: Statewide Nov.26-29 and Dec. 7-Jan.31. The daily duck limit is six, including no more than four mallards (one hen), three wood ducks, two redheads, one pintail and one black duck. The bag may include two scaup and one canvasback. The daily coot bag is 15. The daily merganser bag is five, including no more than two hooded mergansers. Possession for ducks, coots and mergansers is twice the daily bag.
Canada geese: Nov.23-Jan.31 statewide except in the Northeast zone, where the season is Nov.26-Jan.3 and Jan.19-31. Daily bag is two, possession limit four.
White-fronted geese and brant: Statewide Nov.23-Jan.31. Daily bag limit is two white-fronted geese and two brant. Possession limit four of each.
Snow geese (including Ross’ geese) regular season: Statewide Nov.23-Jan.31. Bag limit 20 per day. No possession limit.
Snow geese (conservation order season): Feb.1-5 and Feb.8-March21 in the Western, Pennyroyal/Coalfield and West-Central zones; Feb.1-March 31 in the Eastern zone. No limit.
Youth water hunt: Feb.6-7 in the Western zone. Regular bag and possession limits apply to all species.
Kentucky license and permit requirements
Resident hunters ages 16-64 must have an annual hunting ($20), combination hunting/fishing ($30) or one-day hunting ($7) license along with a Kentucky waterfowl permit ($15) and a federal migratory bird stamp ($15).
All hunters ages 12-15 need only an annual youth hunting license ($5).
Resident seniors 65 and older and disabled hunters of any age need a Kentucky senior/disabled license ($5) and a federal migratory bird stamp.
Nonresidents 16 and older need an annual ($130), one-day ($10) or five-day ($40) hunting license along with the state waterfowl and federal migratory bird stamps.
State hunting licenses and waterfowl permits are available at all license outlets and at www.fw.ky.gov. The federal migratory bird stamp is available at post offices.
Indiana waterfowl season dates and limits
Ducks, coots and mergansers: Ohio River zone, Nov.28-Jan.24. South zone, Nov.25-Jan.14. The daily duck bag is six, including no more than four mallards (two hens), three wood ducks, two redheads, two scaup, one black duck, one pintail, one canvasback and one mottled duck.
The coot limit is 15, and the merganser limit is five (two hooded mergansers).
Canada geese: Ohio River zone, open through Jan.31. South zone: Nov.25-Jan.28. Daily limit combined zones is two geese.
Snow geese, brant and Ross’ geese: Open in all zones through Jan.29. The daily limit is 20 for snow geese and Ross’ geese.
White-fronted geese: Open Jan.31. The daily limit is one.
via Kentucky waterfowl season dates and limits | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal.
Reward Offered For Information On Weekend Poaching Of Three Elk In Bell County
November 18, 2009
Frankfort, Ky. – Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife law enforcement officers are seeking information about the weekend poaching of three young bull elk in Bell County and are offering a reward for the information.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Dr. Jon Gassett has authorized a reward up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who shot and killed the three elk Saturday on top of Redbird Mountain, located off KY 66.
State Fish and Wildlife officers say witnesses saw an elk fall, then spotted two more dead elk as they approached the first animal. The witnesses also saw two other persons approach the downed elk, then turn and leave the area.
The officers immediately opened an investigation and recovered several pieces of evidence, including ballistic evidence.
Persons with information are encouraged to contact Bell County state conservation officer Sgt. Ray Lawson at (606) 499-3520, or the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife poaching hotline at 1-800- 25-ALERT.
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