Carrie Underwood’s pledge to Humane Society riles hunting groups | Outposts | Los Angeles Times

Fans of “American Idol” probably are aware that Carrie Underwood has recorded a rendition of Motley Crue’s hit song, “Home Sweet Home.” It’s being used as a farewell theme each week for contestants leaving the show.

Also, the song is being released as a digital single and partial proceeds will benefit the Humane Society of the United States.

“I’ve always loved this song, and besides being very fitting for `Idol,’ to me, the title is also very fitting with animal rescue and finding animals their own homes,” Underwood said on her website.

Very well, but hunters across America, many of them country folks and fans of Underwood, might turn against her because hunters and the Humane Society are not on good terms  Click link below for full story!

via Carrie Underwood’s pledge to Humane Society riles hunting groups | Outposts | Los Angeles Times.

State adds spring hunting season to thin population of snow geese – Breaking News From New Jersey – NJ.com

by Brian T. Murray/The Star-Ledger

Forget global warming. An ex­plosion of snow geese is ravaging the Arctic tundra — and New Jer­sey is hoping it can help.

Beginning Wednesday, New Jersey, along with New York, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Vermont, will launch a month-long hunting season targeting the over­populating Arctic visitors.

Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerSnow Geese take off at sunrise from Merrill Creek Reservoir.

While licensed waterfowl hunters are able to shoot at the geese during the usual fall-to-spring wa­terfowl season, this year they are getting a bonus season to help re­duce the number of birds.

Hunters will have extended hours in the field, are free to load up with extra shells and can bring down as many of the white geese as fly into their sights through April 18.

Although only about 10,000 snow geese winter in New Jersey from fall to spring, according to Ted Nichols, a biologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, millions pass through here on their way to Arctic regions across Canada and Alaska to breed. And it is on that journey that all the problems occur — thanks to modern farming.

”It’s largely a man-made phe­nomenon,” Nichols said of the ex­ploding numbers. “Historically, they would winter in coastal marshes in the south, the southern United States and Mexico. During the spring migration, they used to stick to coastal marshes, feeding on the grasses.”

The limited food supply kept populations in check. But when the geese slowly discovered large delec­table fields of grain and corn throughout the United States they began to steer off their once-nar­row migration routes across North America. Richer foods became available everywhere, year-round, and as the geese became hardier and predators fewer, mortality rates dropped.

Large numbers of the birds are even wintering farther north than they did decades ago, including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and New England.

”They are stronger, healthier and returning to the Arctic in tre­mendous condition for breeding,” said Nichols. “They lay more eggs, about five or six, and hatch more young.”

And 5 million snow geese are too much for the Arctic to handle during the summer.

”They are grazing on the tun­dra, and the tundra grass is becom­ing denuded. … They are ripping up the grass by its roots, impacting the habitat for hundreds of other types of birds, as well as themselves,” Nichols said.

The geese are leaving what sci­entists call massive “eatouts,” or large, bare swaths of land that may never recover. Because some of the rarest migrating shorebirds also rely on that ecologically fragile Arc­tic tundra for summer breeding, the snow geese are under fire — lit­erally and figuratively — through­out North America.  Click link below for full story!

via State adds spring hunting season to thin population of snow geese – Breaking News From New Jersey – NJ.com.

Where to hunt spring turkeys without a quota permit in Florida

Tallahassee, Fla:

If you weren’t lucky enough to get drawn for a special-opportunity or spring turkey quota permit, don’t fret; there are numerous wildlife management areas (WMAs) that don’t require them.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) offers 37 public hunting areas statewide where hunters need only to “walk on” to hunt spring turkeys.

These hunts are made possible through the FWC’s partnerships with the state’s Division of Forestry, Florida’s water management districts, the U.S. Forest Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the National Park Service and Department of Defense, who contribute their lands to the state’s public-hunting system.

Hunters need only a hunting license ($17 for residents, $46.50 for a nonresident 10-day license), management area permit ($26.50) and turkey permit ($5 for residents, $100 for nonresidents) to spring turkey hunt on the following areas.  These licenses and permits are available for purchase at county tax collectors’ offices and at most retail outlets that sell hunting and fishing supplies. Also, hunters can purchase them with a credit card by calling 888-486-8356 or online at www.wildlifelicense.com.

The spring turkey season runs March 7 – April 12 in the South Hunting Zone and March 21 – April 26 in the Central and Northwest zones, unless otherwise noted below.  Shooting hours during spring turkey season on WMAs are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m.

Osceola turkeys inhabit these areas

• Arbuckle WMA – 13,531 acres in Polk County.  Season runs March 24-26 and April 7-9.  There are 10 no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on a first-come, first-served basis. Camping allowed only by permit from the Division of Forestry by calling 863-635-7801.
• Big Bend WMA-Jena Unit – 12,522 acres in Dixie County.  A no-cost, daily use permit is required and available at the check station.
• Big Cypress WMA – 565,848 acres in Collier, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.  Season runs March 7 – April 12.  Camping allowed.
• Bull Creek WMA – 23,646 acres in Osceola County.  Camping allowed.
• Devil’s Hammock WMA – 7,635 acres in Levy County. Season runs March 21-29.  There are 15 no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Green Swamp WMA – 49,768 acres in Polk, Sumter and Lake counties.  Hunters must have a quota permit to hunt the first weekend, but there are 200 no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on a first-come, first-served basis for the remainder of season. Camping allowed only by special permit from the FWC.
• Jumper Creek WMA – 10,552 acres in Sumter County. Camping allowed.
• J.W. Corbett WMA – 60,288 acres in Palm Beach County.  Season runs March 7 – April 12, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays only.  Camping allowed.
• Kissimmee River Public Use Area – 23,433 acres in Glades, Highlands, Okeechobee, Osceola and Polk counties.  Area is split between Central and South hunting zones.  When hunting the South Zone, the season runs March 7 – April 12. For camping information only, call the South Florida Water Management District at 800-250-4200, ext. 3019.  Management area permit not required.
• Lochloosa WMA – 11,149 acres in Alachua County. Camping allowed only by permit from St. Johns River Water Management District; call 386-329-4404.
• Log Landing WMA – 1,147 acres in Dixie County.
• Richloam WMA – 58,146 acres in Hernando, Pasco, Sumter and Lake counties.  Hunters must have a quota permit to hunt the first nine days, but those without one may hunt the remainder of the season, beginning March 30 through April 26.  Camping allowed only by permit from Division of Forestry; call 352-754-6896.
• Three Lakes WMA – 54,628 acres in Osceola County. Camping allowed.
• Upper Hillsborough WMA – 5,178 acres in Polk and Pasco counties. Wednesdays and Thursdays only. There are 75 no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on a first-come, first-served basis. Camping allowed.
• Upper St. Johns River Marsh WMA – 124,623 acres in Brevard and Indian River counties. Camping allowed.

Eastern turkeys inhabit these areas

• Apalachicola National Forest – 581,837 acres in Franklin, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties. Camping allowed.
• Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area – 86,140 acres in Franklin and Gulf counties. Camping allowed. Management area permit not required.
• Aucilla WMA – 47,532 acres in Jefferson and Taylor counties. Camping allowed.

Big Bend WMA:

• Hickory Mound Unit – 14,427 acres in Taylor County. A no-cost, daily use permit is required and available at the check station.
• Snipe Island Unit – 11,687 acres in Taylor County. Hunters must have a quota permit to hunt the first 16 days, but those without one may hunt the remainder of the season, April 6 – April 21.
• Spring Creek Unit – 14,600 acres in Taylor County.
• Tide Swamp Unit – 19,538 acres in Taylor County. A no-cost, daily use permit is required and available at the check station.
• Blackwater WMA – 191,148 acres in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties. Camping allowed.
• Eglin Air Force Base – 265,000 acres in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties.  Hunting and camping allowed only by permit from Jackson Guard Natural Resource Office by calling 850-883-1152. Only shotguns, bows and muzzleloaders are legal.
• Escambia River WMA – 34,476 acres in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Camping allowed.
• Joe Budd WMA – 11,039 acres in Gadsden County. Saturdays and Sundays only.  There are 20 no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on a first-come, first-served basis. Hunters may use bows and muzzleloaders only.  Camping allowed.
• Lower Econfina River WMA – 2,837 acres in Taylor County. Season runs March 21-29.
• Mallory Swamp WMA – 29,463 acres in Lafayette County. Season runs March 21 – April 5.
• Ochlockonee River WMA – 2,790 acres in Leon County. Saturdays and Sundays only. Only shotguns, bows and muzzleloaders are legal.
• Osceola WMA – 266,270 acres in Baker and Columbia counties. Camping allowed.
• Pine Log WMA – 6,911 acres in Bay and Washington counties. Season runs March 21 – April 5.  Camping allowed.
• Point Washington WMA – 12,414 acres in Walton County.
• Santa Fe Swamp Wildlife and Environmental Area – 5,627 acres in Bradford County. Only bows and muzzleloaders are legal.
• Steinhatchee Springs WMA – 20,909 acres in Lafayette, Dixie and Taylor counties. Season runs March 21 – April 12. There are 40 no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on a first-come, first-served basis to hunt the first nine days.
• Talquin WMA – 3,053 acres in Leon County. Saturdays and Sundays only.
• Twin Rivers WMA – 9,288 acres in Madison, Hamilton and Suwannee counties.  Season runs March 27-29 and April 17-19. There are 12 no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Upper Chipola River WMA – 7,377 acres in Jackson County. Camping allowed only by permit from Northwest Florida Water Management District; call 850-539-5999.

For more information on spring turkey hunting, or to download management area rules and maps, visit MyFWC.com/Hunting. Brochures also are available at tax collectors’ offices in counties close to the wildlife management areas.

Illinois to hold nation’s first high school bass-fishing tournament – Norwich, CT – Norwich Bulletin

By Chris Young

GateHouse News Service

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. —

Illinois will make history April 24 when 400 boats take to the water all over the state for the first-ever high school bass-fishing tournament anywhere.

The top 54 teams will advance to the state championship May 8-9 on Carlyle Lake northwest of Centralia. Three boats from each of 18 sectionals will advance.

Qualifiers will be allowed a day of pre-fishing to practice on May 7.

Dave Gannaway, the Illinois High School Association’s assistant executive director in charge of the fishing series, said the interest in the tournament is surprising.

“We had to open up 18 sectionals to accommodate the huge interest,” he says. “Almost all of them are entering two boats, so up to six kids can fish from each school.”

“I thought we might get 100 schools and each of them would have one boat,” Gannaway says. “I thought we might need to have six or seven lakes open.”

Instead, he is organizing 18 tournaments at 18 lakes.  Click link below for full story

via Illinois to hold nation’s first high school bass-fishing tournament – Norwich, CT – Norwich Bulletin.

Calling in the gobbler’s girlfriend

By Joel Walters

I knew I was in for another hard morning when I heard the tree yelp of a hen barely fifty yards away and me in the middle of an open field setting out my decoys. Continuing to set my decoys, I silently cursed myself and simultaneously prayed that the gathering light would hold off long enough for me to go undetected. As I creeped back to my blind, the sound of the zipper opening and closing set two birds hardly 30 yards behind me into a fit of gobbles. Again I invented new insults acknowledging my stupidity as I edged into my seat and prepared to offer up a few weak yelps from my slate. The hen that had reacted to my decoys earlier resumed her raspy yelps and cackles much to the satisfaction of the numerous gobblers all around my setup and in the surrounding Robertson County hillsides.

Dawn broke and the birds were yet to hit the ground. I could only blame their tardiness on their awareness of a hunter in the area. Finally around 7:30 I heard the hen fly down and I set about trying to get her interested in my setup. Every time I would give a sweet purr or cluck from my glass slate, she would answer with her rusty screen door yelp, and in turn her boyfriends would respond to her with a lusty gobble. Movement to my right caught my eye as one of the gobblers set down 40 yards from my blind and quickly vanished into the cedars, giving me only brief glances through the vegetation of his blue head bobbing and weaving in search for his hen.

The morning dragged into midday with me occasionally calling and distant gobblers honoring my call. I felt confident that I would see turkeys if I set tight and were patient, having seen a hen the last two day who was obviously tending a nest near this very hayfield. It was difficult to muster patience at this point. The season was halfway over and I had only had one tom in gun range, but I had guiltily allowed my father to harvest it after only a few moments of soul searching. Now alone in my blind, feeling another precious day of my season burning slowly away in the gathering midday warmth, I heard the cranky yelp of a hen and scratching in the underbrush behind my blind. The leaves were coming on pretty good at this point in the spring and I couldn’t see her. Every time I would call, she would answer back with an agitated yelp. This pattern repeated for several minutes, all without me ever seeing the bird, when suddenly the ground shook with a mighty gobble. I continued to call aggressively which angered the hen to a fever pitch. She eased out of the tree line to investigate the mouthy hen in her territory, dragging along an attentive and strutting boyfriend behind her. He began to issue a half gobble in response to my decoy, as I cut him off with a load of Hevi-shot from my 870. Sometimes in turkey hunting success comes not from wooing a lovesick gobbler, but from ticking off his jealous girlfriend!

Tulsa World: Hunter safety instructor removed after ordering ‘liberals’ from class

By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer

Thirteen-year-old Lane Dunkley just wanted to go hunting with his grandfather.

What he got was a lecture on politics.

Dunkley and his father Daniel Reddy, who live in Tulsa, went to Broken Arrow Tuesday night for a hunter safety course normally required to get an Oklahoma hunting license.

The class was a reward of sorts. Dunkley, who wants to go hunting with his aging grandfather, was told he could only if he brought his grades up.

So he did – to a B-plus average.

But when father and son arrived at the lesson, the volunteer instructor, Kell Wolf, asked if any of the students voted for President Obama.

Reddy, a transplanted Californian – and ex-Marine – raised his hand.

According to Reddy and others in the room, Wolf called Obama “the next thing to the Anti-Christ” and ordered Reddy and Dunkley from the room. When Reddy refused, Wolf said he would not teach “liberals” and would cancel the course if Reddy didn’t leave.

So Reddy and Dunkley left, as did a few others.

Lance Meek, hunter education coordinator for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, said Wolf had been a volunteer instructor for “a long time, probably 15 years or more” and “from what we’ve heard and observed, had always done a great job. He worked with the kids really well.”

But when Meek received a call Wednesday morning – from someone other than the Reddys – he said he had no choice.

“I got the call at 8:30, and by 9 o’clock Wolf was no

longer a volunteer for us,” Meek said.  Click Link Below for Full Story!

via Tulsa World: Hunter safety instructor removed after ordering ‘liberals’ from class.

Catching the Shad Kill

Coyote hunt doesn’t sit well with neighborhood – Las Vegas Sun

By Jeremy Twitchell

Tue, Mar 3, 2009 (2 a.m.)

Beyond the Sun

* Sportsman’s Warehouse

A Henderson outdoors shop is bringing back an old Nevada tradition, but residents of a nearby rural neighborhood are feeling anything but nostalgic about it.

When residents of River Mountain Ranch Estates, a rural preservation neighborhood in southeast Henderson, caught wind of a coyote hunting competition March 13-15 sponsored by the new Sportsman’s Warehouse at 390 W. Lake Mead Parkway, they were immediately concerned about hunters tracking animals nearby.

The event’s organizer, however, said residents have nothing to worry about. Matt Judd, the hunting floor manager at Sportsman’s Warehouse, said the competition is governed by a strict set of rules, including one that states no hunting may take place within the Las Vegas Valley.

Judd said hunters will be heading to remote locations outside the Las Vegas Valley and to neighboring states to find coyotes in their natural habitat. Judd said every participating team will receive a map of the no-hunting zone as an added precaution.

“We don’t want to hunt neighborhoods,” Judd said. “In the hunting community, that sounds absurd because that’s not where the coyotes are.  Click link below for full story!

via Coyote hunt doesn’t sit well with neighborhood – Las Vegas Sun.

Hunting industry provides $336 million for wildlife – ESPN

Hunters and target shooters provide $336 million for wildlife and education in 2009

National Sport Shooting Federation

NEWTOWN, Conn. — When a target shooter purchases a box of ammunition or a hunter a new deer rifle, wildlife in America benefits.

Every sportsman and woman contributes to a system that has been responsible for supporting healthy wildlife populations of both game and non-game species for the last 70 years. The contributions, in the form excise taxes paid on sporting firearms, ammunition and archery equipment, benefit every state and have generated approximately $5.6 billion for wildlife conservation since 1939. The contribution for 2009 is a record — nearly $336 million, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which recently announced the Wildlife Restoration apportionment.

“We want all Americans to know about and value the support that hunters, recreational shooters and the firearms and ammunition industry make to wildlife conservation,” said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, trade association for the firearms and shooting sports industry. “With wildlife populations professionally managed and thriving, we can safely say that this is one investment guaranteed to not lose value.”

Species such as the white-tailed deer, Rocky Mountain elk, pronghorn, wild turkey and black bears have made significant population gains due to research and improved habitat funded by the Wildlife Restoration program.

In making the announcement, Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, “These investments, which help create jobs while protecting our nation’s natural treasures, are particularly important in these tough economic times.”  Click link below for full story!

via Hunting industry provides $336 million for wildlife – ESPN.

Troopers get jail, fines – Cheboygan, MI – Cheboygan Daily Tribune

By Mike Fornes

Cheboygan Daily Tribune

Cheboygan, Mich. -

Two Michigan State Police Troopers from the Cheboygan Post went to jail Friday after being sentenced for poaching deer while on duty.

Jeff Hadley and Don Bolen will also pay hefty fines, lose their hunting privileges until 2013 and serve 100 hours of community service time apiece.

Cheboygan County 89th District Court Judge Maria Barton sentenced Bolen to two days in jail with credit for one day served. Hadley, who fired his own hunting rifle to shoot a buck Nov. 12 while on patrol off Mograin Road in Benton Township, received a four-day jail sentence with credit for one day served.

“I would like to apologize to the court and to my family,” Bolen said before sentence was passed. His attorney, Michael Hackett, described the poaching incident as “a life-altering event; a career-altering event.”

“You broke the law while on duty, in uniform and while in a police vehicle as you were being paid by Michigan taxpayers to enforce the law,” Barton told Bolen. “This case violates the public’s trust. It is important for the community to know that everyone is accountable.”

Hadley’s attorney, Joseph Kwiatkowski, pointed out his client’s military service and two lifesaving incidents involving Hadlley diving into water to rescue a victim and entering a burning building to save the life of a firefighter  Click link below for full stroy

via Troopers get jail, fines – Cheboygan, MI – Cheboygan Daily Tribune.

« Previous Page