TWRA prepares for Tennessee’s first elk hunting season
October 28, 2008
By GEORGE THWAITES
KINGSPORT — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency continues to make preparations for the state’s first elk hunting season in 2009.
The status of the state’s elk restoration project was one of the issues covered during the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission’s October meeting, which was held Wednesday and Thursday at MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center.
“Kentucky’s program started a long time ago, and they’ve had hunting there for several years,” said Commissioner Buddy Baird of Rogersville. “Since I joined the commission in 2001, we’ve been trying to get an elk season. It looks like we’re hopefully to the point where we can do that, at least on a very limited level.”
TWRA Wildlife Chief Greg Wathen, who made a presentation to the commission’s Wildlife Management Committee on Wednesday, said the agency expects an extremely limited issue of elk permits for a five-day elk hunt next October. Click link below for full story!
TWRA prepares for Tennessee’s first elk hunting season.
Say goodbye to hunting rights – The Times-Gazette.
October 28, 2008
Stephen Griffin- The Times-Gazette.
As I have mentioned on occasion in my columns, I dearly love to go hunting. I have rarely been happier than the 30 years of spending that week following Thanksgiving living in a tent and sleeping on the ground with my dad in our Gallia County deer camp.
We arrived home after the last day of the season and much to my mother’s chagrin, all grubby and smelly, wearing the dirtiest clothes imaginable, but smiling like a Cheshire cat. While I have missed it terribly since Pop’s passing eight years ago, I firmly believe that those days are in great danger of vanishing forever – not only for me, but for all of you as well.
When Ohio’s deer season opens on Dec. 1, I hope to be afield somewhere here in Highland County in an attempt to put some of nature’s finest venison in my freezer for the winter. I plan to savor every sight, every sound and every smell of that whitetail hunt because after Barack Obama is sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2009, as I fully expect him to be, his administration will sound the death knell for all hunting and gun ownership by the end of his first term.
Before he began his run for the White House, Sen. Obama went on official record both in Illinois and in the U.S. Senate to state his belief and intentions concerning our second amendment.
Say goodbye to hunting rights.
Number of hunters in Massachusetts dropping – Berkshire Eagle Online
October 28, 2008
By Gene Chague
LENOX
Hunting statistics detailing five and 10-year trends were recently released by the Quality Deer Management Association. The data sources were: Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) and US Sportsmen’s Alliance.
According to the USFWS, 5 percent of the US population that was 16 years and older hunted in 2006, or roughly 12.5 million. In 1996, there were 14 million hunters so there was a loss of about 10 percent nationwide representing 31 states. It appears that Massachusetts had the largest percentage loss – 40 percent, followed by Washington at 36 percent and Rhode Island at 33 percent.
Some 19 states experienced increases in hunters: North Dakota gained 40 percent, followed by Tennessee up 29 percent, and Oklahoma at 27 percent. Some 73 percent of Americans approve of hunting while only 10 percent believe it should be illegal.
Deer hunters comprised 81 percent of the total hunters with 10.1 million in their fold. According to the QDMA, these figures highlight the importance of deer hunting and emphasizes that deer drive the hunting industry. The USFWS report showed deer hunting was nearly four times more popular than turkey hunting (the next most sought after species). Deer hunting is popular across the U.S. but in some places more so than others. For example, 96 percent of all hunting in Pennsylvania is for biggame and some 95 percent of the hunting in Maine, Michigan, New York and Wyoming is likewise. Click link below for full story!
Number of hunters in Massachusetts dropping – Berkshire Eagle Online.
Farmers, hunters protest deer-baiting ban – The Saginaw News Online – Michigan Newspaper – MLive.com
October 28, 2008
by Roberto Acosta | The Saginaw News
Tuesday October 28, 2008, 6:51 AM
Farmers say the state is stealing their livelihoods with a deer-baiting ban to battle a killer disease.
Hunters are up in arms complaining that the state is adding unfair rules for pursuing their game.
More than 70 hunters and farmers gathered in Frankenmuth during a heated presentation Monday from state officials on chronic wasting disease.
Economists estimate that deer bait sales bring in $50 million annually in the state.
Department of Natural Resources officials presented information on the disease and how to prevent its spread during the two-hour meeting at the Wallace and Irene Bronner and Family Performing Arts Center.
An hour-long question-and-answer session aimed heated dialogue from audience members toward the four-person panel.
“You’re taking away people’s livelihoods,” said Roy E. Stolz, a 51-year-old Blumfield Township resident. “You’re killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer. Click link below for full story!”
Farmers, hunters protest deer-baiting ban – The Saginaw News Online – Michigan Newspaper – MLive.com.
Bear Killed in Self-Defense – Outdoors – Chattanoogan.com
October 26, 2008
Bear Killed in Self-Defense
posted October 24, 2008
A deer hunter in Harlan County, Kentucky has been under investigation after he killed a black bear with his muzzleloader. However investigators have ruled that the hunter was justified shooting the animal in self defense after the animal came too close to his hunting blind last Saturday morning.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Conservation Officer Shane Amburgey said, “The bear came right to his blind and almost stuck his head inside when he shot it. We found blood from the bear within a foot of the blind.”
No charges were filed in the case.
Another hunter at the scene, 31-year-old James Forester of Cumberland, shot the bear a second time, in an attempt to protect his friend. Investigators found the dead 250-pound male black bear approximately 700-800 yards away. The incident occurred around 9 a.m. Oct. 18 on Black Mountain, located near Gap Branch in northeastern Harlan County.
Wildlife Biologist Steven Dobey, black bear program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, said bears rarely approach people in such a direct manner unless they smell food. Amburgey said Koger did not have food inside the blind with him.
“It is likely this bear was investigating the blind out of pure curiosity,” Dobey said Click link below for full story!
10/24/2008 – Bear Killed in Self-Defense – Outdoors – Chattanoogan.com.
Plan to modify hunt rules pleases few – News – inRich.com
October 25, 2008
By ANDY THOMPSON
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
The Board of Game and Inland Fisheries yesterday received the results of a 15-month study designed to identify and reduce conflicts between landowners and Virginia hunters who hunt with dogs.
And in the overflow crowd of more than 100 people — from raccoon and deer hunters to landowners to representatives of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — almost no one seemed satisfied with what they saw.
The most contentious proposal would alter Virginia’s “right-to retrieve” law, which allows hunters to enter private land to retrieve their dogs without the property owner’s permission. Virginia and Minnesota are the only states with such a statute.
Almost 30 speakers from various interest groups addressed the board at Game and Inland Fisheries headquarters on West Broad Street in Richmond. The vast majority were hound hunters voicing their dissatisfaction with any modification of the law. Many saw it as the beginning of a “slippery slope” toward taking away what they consider a birthright and a way of life. Click link below for Full Story!
Plan to modify hunt rules pleases few – News – inRich.com.
Virginia game board accepts proposals on hunting dogs | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
October 25, 2008
By Lee Tolliver
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 23, 2008
RICHMOND
The state game department today accepted a list of 11 proposals designed to curtail conflicts between land owners and outdoorsmen who use dogs to hunt deer.
But many in the crowd of 145 said the proposals had more bark than bite.
“I think the goal was to find peace among the groups, but all of the groups seem deeply disappointed in the process and the proposal,” said Tom Evans, representing the Virginia Deer Hunter’s Association and two other pro-hound hunting groups. “This has produced no obvious gain and has done nothing more than sharpen the conflicts.”
None of the proposals — the result of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ 15-month-long “Hunting with Hounds in Virginia: A Way Forward” study — will become law immediately, nor will they become an immediate part of new hunting regulations.
Instead, C.T. Hill, the game department board chairman, ordered wildlife officials to put each proposal in a group for either administrative, regulatory or legislative concern. Each then will be studied and put out for public comment before any further action is taken. Click link below for full story!
Virginia game board accepts proposals on hunting dogs | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com.
Fishing with droppers
October 25, 2008
By John Berry
One way to improve your catch rate is to fish more than one fly. When I first took up fly fishing, lo these many years ago, one of the first things I learned was to fish a dropper. Back then it was a popper on top and a bream killer below. We would cast the rig into a bream bed. If we did not get any action immediately, we would gently twitch the flies and would be immediately rewarded with a strike, usually on the bream killer but sometimes on the popper. From time to time, we would get a bream on both. Now that was exciting. One bream would go one way and the other would head in the opposite direction.
I found that the same technique also worked for trout. I found droppers to be especially effective when fishing soft hackles. To rig them up, I would start with a seven and one half foot 4X leader on a floating fly line. I generally prefer a nine foot four weight fly rod for this type of fishing. I tie on a one and one half foot section of 5X tippet to the leader with a surgeons knot. I then tie on a two foot section of 6X tippet to the 5X tippet using a blood knot. I make sure that the tag ends of the blood knot are at least four inches long so that I will have plenty of material to work with. I trim off the 6X tag leaving the larger 5X tag. I tie a soft hackle (lets say a partridge and orange) on the four inch long 5X tag. I tie another soft hackle (a green butt soft hackle) to the end of the 6X tippet. I could conceivably tie on additional sections of tippet and additional flies.
I fish this rig basically the same way that I would fish a solitary soft hackle, except that when the fly hits the water and I strip a bit of line to sink the fly into the film, I do so with a bit more pressure to ensure that both flies sink. I never know which fly the will take and occasionally the take both resulting in a double.
Another way that I fish droppers is below a large dry fly. I was introduced to this technique several years ago when floating the Madison River in Southwestern Montana. We banged the bank using a hopper with a dropper. We tied the grass hopper on to a nine foot 4X leader with a simple improved clinch knot. We then tied a two foot section of 5X tippet to the bend of the hook. To finish off the rig, we tied a small pheasant tail nymph to the end of the 5X tippet. We set the hook any time the hopper sank or moved unnaturally. All of the fish seemed to take the small nymph. I do the same technique here. I prefer to use large foam hoppers as they float like corks and do not require dressing. To fish larger flies like grasshoppers, I prefer a medium fast six weight nine foot fly rod with a weight forward floating line.
The final way that I fish droppers is with nymphs. I am particularly fond of them in high water. I think that they significantly improve your chances of catching fish under these conditions. I rig them much like I do when fishing hoppers. I tie a two foot 5X tippet to my normal high water fly (usually a brightly colored San Juan worm). I tie a brightly colored egg fly to the other end of the 5X tippet. My regular leader tippet combination for fishing San Juan worms in high water is twelve feet long. This additional two feet makes it quite long. This length not only complicates landing the fish but makes the rig a bit more difficult to cast. The rewards can be great, however. This is a killer technique that has accounted for a lot of great fish in high water.
The problem that I encounter with fishing with droppers is that they are illegal in Catch and Release waters in the state of Arkansas. I have never really understood this law. I sometimes think it was an attempt to outlaw treble hooks in Catch and Release waters. They now allow trebles in the Catch and Release section below Bull Shoals Dam but no droppers. It is not logical. Droppers cause no more harm on trout than a single hook. As a member of the advisory board for the Trout Management Plan for the White and Norfork Rivers, I brought this point up but have heard nothing back on allowing droppers in Catch and Release areas. Therefore be careful and legal and do not use droppers of any kind in Catch and Release areas.
When fishing in non Catch and Release areas, try using droppers. It will double your chances of catching fish and double your fun catching them.
(870) 435-2169
berrybrothers@infodash.com
www.berrybrothersguides.com
Pheasant season expected to be one of the best – Salina Journal
October 23, 2008
by Todd Flory
Salina Journal
With pheasant season starting on November 1 and quail season beginning on Nov. 8, area hunters will soon be gearing up to hunt. And, if Randy Rodgers’ predictions are correct, hunters could be in for a special season. “There is a good chance this will be our best pheasant season in 20 years,” said Rodgers, wildlife biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. “North central and northwest Kansas are looking pretty darn good,” Rodgers said. “Northwest in particular is looking very good.”
Of course, Rodgers said, the amount of birds will vary a great deal from one area to the next. The weather plays a large role in the amount of birds in a given year. Rodgers said the northeast part of the state would not have many birds because of too much rain at the wrong times of the year. In the southwest part of Kansas, Rodgers expects bird populations to be down by about 40 percent, due to some extremely dry conditions in the spring. “If you drew a line…from say, Scott City to Dodge City, and extended that line a ways, anything south and west of that line would be in an area where bird numbers are down,” Rodgers said. Full Story
salina.com – an online service of the Salina Journal.
Elk play high stakes – The Denver Post
October 23, 2008
LEADVILLE — From my perch on a slope beneath the western brow of the Mosquito Range, I can see seven peaks above 14,000 feet in elevation. But not one single elk.
It is a marvelous vista that includes Colorado’s three tallest — Elbert, Massive and Harvard — each with a rapidly shrinking drizzle of snow barely clinging from a week-old storm.
Mountains don’t move, but apparently most of the elk have, beating feet for higher ground to escape hunting pressure and, perhaps, unaccustomed heat. A chilly 18 degrees at daybreak is vaulting toward bikini weather, a balmy 63 degrees by midafternoon.
All the elk in the countryside soon will be shaded up in dense timber, provided they haven’t reached that destination
With the state’s highest peak over his shoulder, a hunter keeps a vigil in the upper Arkansas River drainage. (Photos by Charlie Meyers, The Denver Post )
already. A three-quarters moon that cast a night-light glow over the upper Arkansas River Valley allowed animals to graze by night, snooze by day, a practiced strategy when hunters are prowling about.
Absent nighttime cloud cover, deer and elk are free, by the light of the silvery moon, to set whatever schedule they choose. This second hunt period that began Saturday and ends next Sunday — most popular of four segments — thus far has not been blessed with what most might consider good hunting weather Full Story
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