Ice fishing: It’s really beginning – River Valley Outdoors
November 30, 2008
By BOB LAMB / blamb@lacrossetribune.com
Ice fishing? You have to be kidding.
“Not really,” according to a couple of bait shop operators in the Coulee Region.
While the majority of attention is on the Wisconsin gun-deer hunting season, which ends on Sunday, ice fishermen are beginning to dot backwater bays in search of early-season panfish.
Scott Gartner, at Bob’s Bait and Tackle on French Island, shook his head, adding that as far as he can recall, this must be the earliest “unofficial” ice fishing opener in the La Crosse area.
“It’s the earliest I’ve seen,” he said, adding that guys tiptoed onto the ice as early as last Friday.
“Guys are catching lots of fish, but not a lot of big ones,” Gartner said. “Early and late ice is always the best. They’re catching sunfish, perch, crappies and bluegills, but not a big old batch of fish yet. Click link below for full story!
Ice fishing: It’s really beginning – River Valley Outdoors.
Hunting safely doesn’t stop after the kill- The Daily Sentinel
November 30, 2008
By Jim Freeman
Published:
Saturday, November 29, 2008 1:27 AM EST
In big game hunting, months and months of preparation, practice and planning often come down to one, crucial moment of truth: the split second when everything comes together — you, the object of your pursuit, and your gun or bow.
Everything leads up to this moment, and it’s over in an instant. If you have invested time in target practice and selected your shot carefully, ensuring a swift and lethal killing shot, the payoff is in venison laying on the ground — and perhaps another year’s bragging rights back at the deer camp.
Experienced hunters also know this is when the fun part of the hunt is over and the hard part begins; perhaps not as many dwell on the thought that this part of the hunt may be fraught with risks and danger.
Expectation and excitement are an important part of the hunt and I’ve often heard hunters say, “When I stop being excited by the sight of a big buck I’ll hang up my guns and stay at home.”
However, hunters shouldn’t let their excitement cause a painful or perhaps even fatal accident.
Veteran hunters know the instant following the shot is a time to calm down, gather your thoughts and carefully consider your next course of action. This is especially important if you are hunting from a tree stand. Carefully and methodically unload your gun and safely lower it and any other items from the stand. Descend cautiously and then reload your gun. Click link below for full story!
The Daily Sentinel > Sports > Hunting safely doesn’t stop after the kill.
PERFECT DAY ON THE NORFORK
November 30, 2008
BY JOHN BERRY
To say that it has been a high water year is at best an understatement. We began the year with a hundred year flood. High water down stream prevented drawing down all the impoundments on the White River for a long time. Months later, when we were just beginning to make headway, we got hit by two hurricanes. As a result, there has been precious little wading for the entire year. I have been fishing from a boat. We have been catching fish but it is just not the same as wading.
On first day of a two day guide trip, we started on the White River at Rim Shoals. We landed six fish on the first drift and I thought to myself that it was going to be an easy day. The next three drifts yielded three fish. After that, we couldn’t buy a trout. When we stopped for lunch, we decided to trailer the boat over to the Norfork and try our luck there. The fishing was much better and we caught a little over thirty fish before dark.
While we were drifting, a fellow guide stopped to tell me that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission would be conducting test of an oxygenation system and there would be no generation for the next few days. I figured the fishing would be awesome and I decided to take advantage of the situation. When I got home, I went online and checked the South West Power Administration generation prediction schedule and it confirmed that the Norfork would be off. I also checked the fly fishing forum and verified that there was to be a test of the aeration system the next day. There were however conflicting reports as to whether the test had been postponed.
I answered the alarm at 4:00 AM. My fishing report was due and I needed to make a few changes and send it in before I started my day of guiding. I showered quickly, dressed and sat at my computer. As it was booting up, I called the dam and learned that they were running water on the Norfork. I was totally bummed out. I filed my fishing report, loaded my car and headed out. When I arrived at River Ridge Inn, my clients were waiting for me, excited by the prospect of wading. Just to make sure, I called the dam and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Norfork had been turned off at 5:00 AM. They had run about a quarter of a generator for one hour. Conditions were perfect.
It was just before dawn, as my clients and I carefully made our way up stream to the Catch and Release section of the Norfork River. The fog was so dense that we could only see a few feet in front of us. I looked down at the trail as we walked in. The only foot prints that I saw were the result of raccoons, great blue herons and a deer. It had been a long time since any anglers had walked here.
When we got to the Catch and release section, I quickly rigged the guys, one with a scud and the other with a zebra midge. Instead of the heavy flies, copious amounts of lead and long leaders of the previous day, we used size eighteen nymphs, 6X tippet and a tiny amount of lead. This made for easy casting. They both caught a nice fish on the first drift. This was an omen of things to come. We settled in and proceeded to catch one good fish after another. People started to arrive but it never really got crowded. One client was satisfied to stay in his original place all day but Tom wanted to move around and try different water. I took him to several places and he did well at each spot.
The fog didn’t burn off until around ten o’clock. The fishing was steady all day. Around noon, we waded back to the access and set up our lunch on a nice picnic table with a good view of the river. The sun had come out and it was warming up. There was no wind and the temperature was in the mid sixties. I shucked my wind shell and fleece jacket leaving a heavy flannel shirt that was just perfect. By this time, the guys had landed around a hundred trout between them.
After lunch, we waded back up stream and continued fishing. The fishing had slowed a bit but not by much. One of my clients caught a grand slam, (a brook, brown, cutthroat and rainbow trout all landed on the same day). We tried a variety of flies and were successful with all of them. We caught trout on black zebra midges, pink San Juan worms, orange micro eggs, and olive scuds to name a few. We did not try a single fly that didn’t catch a trout. We even landed a couple of large suckers. It was the most productive day I have ever had on the Norfork.
We fished until dusk. As we walked out, I drank in the beauty of the Norfork. Where else is there fishing like this? It had been a perfect day.
(870) 435-2169
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November Deer Harvest Second Highest Ever
November 30, 2008
Frankfort, Ky. – Kentucky’s modern gun deer season is now over statewide, tipping the total harvest past 108,000 deer. Even with several days of archery and crossbow hunting left this month, the November harvest of more than 88,000 deer has already topped every season but 2004.
“I thought we might kill 115,000 to 116,000 deer this season, but I think we’re going to do better than that,” said David Yancy, a wildlife biologist in the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources’ big game program. “If it’s a pretty typical December muzzleloader season, that’ll help us toward 120,000.”
The high harvest eases the minds of the state’s deer managers, who closely watched last year’s severe outbreak of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD). Kentucky Fish and Wildlife received reports of more than 4,000 suspected EHD cases last year. The state’s deer herd is estimated at 1 million animals.
“If EHD had an impact, the November harvest should be down,” said Yancy. “But it’s not down – it’s up. That tells me that EHD didn’t have a significant impact to statewide deer numbers.”
Overall harvest trends are a much better indicator of deer populations than single-year results, however. Kentucky’s total deer harvest has stair-stepped up and down only slightly since 2000, varying by fewer than 10,000 deer most years. “When you take a step back and look at that – that’s stable,” said Yancy.
Hunter harvest of male and female deer has also stabilized, with hunters taking a nearly even split of bucks and does each year. About 52 percent of deer taken so far this season have been bucks.
“We go into gun season usually slightly ahead on antlerless deer,” said Yancy. “Bowhunters are more willing to take antlerless deer – it’s a challenge just to kill a deer with a bow.”
During modern gun deer season, however, the buck-to-doe balance tips toward antlered deer. “Gun hunters are out there buck hunting,” Yancy said. “Some already have some venison in the freezer from early muzzleloader or bow, and others say ‘I can get my antlerless deer during late muzzleloader to fill my freezer.’ It shifts back in late muzzleloader season, and we end up with slightly more females taken.”
The 9-day late muzzleloader season typically adds another 8,000 to 10,000 deer to the overall harvest. Yancy hopes to see more deer taken in high-density counties, where doe harvest is especially important to keep the population in balance with available habitat.
“Counties like Jefferson, Shelby, Franklin, and from there north to the Ohio River – we would definitely like to see more deer taken, especially female deer in those counties,” said Yancy. ”That’s what it’s going to take to get them down to a Zone 2 level.”
Southeastern Kentucky’s Zone 4 counties are a different story. Deer populations are smaller than managers and hunters would like, due to the region’s mountainous, forested habitat that isn’t ideal for deer. The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted this year to restrict this zone’s antlerless deer harvest during late muzzleloader season to the final three days only. Hunters in Zone 4 may take only antlered deer during the season’s first six days.
“The point of it is to reduce kill on females and young deer,” said Yancy. “We thought we were being restrictive enough, but we weren’t. We’re trying to allow some opportunity, but not too much. We’ll see in the next 2 to 3 years how this affects Zone 4 populations.”
Late muzzleloader season for deer runs Dec. 13-21 statewide. For complete deer hunting regulations, pick up a copy of the 2008-09 Kentucky Hunting & Trapping guide, available at fw.ky.gov and wherever hunting licenses are sold
From first doe to final trip, special moments happen while hunting
November 27, 2008
By Mike Leggett
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, November 27, 2008
DEER CAMP — Six days, two hunts, three generations, one minor miracle and a circle unbroken.
It’s easy to be sappy and saccharine with Thanksgiving columns. I am thankful, for lots of things, but I’m not sure what sharing that with readers does other than take up space.
This year I got to be part of two different events, with totally different feels and objectives, that leave me with the feeling that hunting is bigger than all of us, that it’s going to continue despite misguided attempts to end it and that actually it’s in pretty good hands.
I started last week by traveling south of Yoakum to meet old friends from the Houston area for what we wound up calling “The Last Campfire Hunt,” and I ended the week with the best compliment an old guy can get from a very special kid.
Maurice Estlinbaum had called me several weeks ago to say that our old friend Sonny Elzner wanted to go deer hunting again — he hadn’t been in three years — and that we could meet at his place in Lavaca County for an old-timers’ get together. Sonny is 77, walks with a cane and is moving pretty slow these days. That hasn’t affected his basic personality, which is Bohemian hard head mixed with old-age stubbor Click link below for full story!
From first doe to final trip, special moments happen while hunting.
Hunters bag fewer deer in opening round of Deer Season | TheTelegraph
November 27, 2008
SPRINGFIELD – Hunters in Illinois are bagging far fewer deer compared to last year, data released this week indicates.
Ariel Foster, 17, of Bethalto, bagged a 10-point buck weighing 236 pounds on her third year of deer hunting with her father, Jim Foster, last Saturday in Macoupin County. The deer harvest is generally down around the state
Hunters harvested a preliminary total of 71,894 deer during the opening weekend of the 2008 Illinois Firearm Deer season, Nov. 21 to 23, Illinois Department of Natural Resources Acting Director Sam Flood said.
The preliminary total for the first three days of the 2008 firearm season compares with the first weekend harvest of 85,490 deer during the 2007 deer season. The top county harvest total was in Pike with 2,194 deer, followed by Adams (1,900), Fulton (1,878), Randolph (1,770), and Jefferson (1,650). The preliminary first-season figures reported for each county include those deer taken on special hunt areas within that county as well as on private land. Click link below for full story!
TheTandD.com | Hunting, fishing tradition out front at Thanksgiving
November 27, 2008
THE ISSUE: Hunting and fishing
OUR OPINION: Outdoor sports should be fostered as key part of holiday
Americans know the economy is deflated, waistlines are inflated and there aren’t enough hours in the day to spend quality time with their families. As a result, many are looking for ways to save money, eat better and simplify their lives.
According to James Earl Kennamer, Ph.D., senior vice president of conservation programs for the National Wild Turkey Federation, there is no better way to support your local economy, get a jump on your New Year’s resolution to eat better and know your food is fresh than to hunt locally and eat your catch.
“Hunters have hunted local game and provided savory, fresh turkey, venison, elk and fish for their families for hundreds of years,” Kennamer said. “Wild game is healthier, and pursuing it is not only a chance to get outside and exercise, but it’s an activity that can be done with the whole family — most of the time without ever leaving your home county. Click link below fo full story!
TheTandD.com | Hunting, fishing tradition out front at Thanksgiving.
The Morehead News – Marrowbone State Forest opens to public
November 27, 2008
Hikers, hunters and wildlife watchers have an additional 1,608 acres to wander in Metcalfe and Cumberland counties. Marrowbone State Forest and Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is now open to the public.
The Kentucky Division of Forestry and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources jointly manage this new area. Marrowbone is open under statewide regulations for all hunting and trapping seasons.
“The most cited reason people give us for choosing not to hunt is the lack of a place to go,” said Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jon Gassett. “We are aggressively seeking more public land for hunting, fishing and wildlife-related recreation. We will never have enough money to be able to purchase enough land outright, so we must be innovative in the ways we purchase, lease and acquire lands.”
Marrowbone State Forest and WMA is located west of Burkesville, off KY 90. The area has been an active stewardship forest for 30 years, and was named Kentucky Tree Farm of the Year in 2003. Marrowbone, which is Kentucky’s seventh state forest, has a primary mission of education and demonstration of sound forest and wildlife management practices.
“The Division of Forestry is pleased to once again partner with the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. This property will show the ability to have working forests while promoting wildlife and outdoor recreation, “said Leah W. MacSwords, director of the Division of Forestry.
The land was purchased for more than $1.3 million in late 2007 with funds from the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and the Forest Legacy Program administered by the U.S. Forest Service in cooperation with its state partners.
Marrowbone State Forest and WMA is strategically located near outstanding state facilities such as the Barren River, Dale Hollow and
Lake Cumberland state resort parks. Marrowbone State Forest and Wildlife Management Area is open to the public for day use only unless hunting regulations specify extended hours. Allowable activities include regulated hunting, hiking and wildlife viewing. ATVs and horseback riding are prohibited. For additional information and maps, please visit http://fw.ky.gov/kfwis/viewable/ViewableWMA.asp
The Morehead News – Marrowbone State Forest opens to public.
Disarming the Obama Administration – WSJ.com
November 27, 2008
Gun owners need not apply.
By BRENDAN MINITER
Article
Every president-elect vets his incoming staff and usually that vetting begins with a lengthy questionnaire. But one question asked on Barack Obamas questionnaire is raising hackles among gun owners and fans of the Second Amendment. Question No. 59 begins: “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun?”
The questionnaire goes on to insist that a gun-owning jobseeker “provide complete ownership and registration information,” and asks: “Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.”
South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint believes the incoming administration is biased against gun owners in its hiring. “The questionnaire already seeks information about illegal activity so there is no reason to ask this question unless the Obama Administration plans to use it to discriminate based on lawful activity,” he wrote in an email blasted out to supporters recently. The senator plans to follow up by introducing federal legislation making it illegal to discriminate against someone for the simple fact that they lawfully own a firearm. For Full Story click link below.
Disarming the Obama Administration – WSJ.com.
5 shooting incidents, 1 fatality in Wisconsin deer hunt
November 26, 2008
By ROBERT IMRIE , Associated Press
WAUSAU, Wis. – Five hunters were shot, one of them fatally, during the opening weekend of Wisconsin’s gun deer season, and the deer kill was down substantially from a year ago.
A 48-year-old Appleton man, Ronald Verhagen, died after a member of his hunting party shot him in the chest during a deer drive in Outagamie County on Sunday morning, said Tim Lawhern, safety administrator for the Department of Natural Resources.
The nine-day hunt that opened Saturday attracted some 630,000 hunters.
According to preliminary counts, hunters registered 133,828 deer following the first two days of shooting, down nearly 38,000 deer, or 22 percent, from a year ago, the DNR said. Full Story!
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