Hunting: ‘Deer audit’ recommends Game Commission release population estimates – post-gazette.com

By Ben Moyer

If you hunt deer, you’ve heard the question — possibly asked it yourself: “How many deer are in Pennsylvania?”

Some kind of answer may be on the horizon. The long-awaited “deer audit,” released Feb. 16 to the state Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC), says the Pennsylvania Game Commission should make public the deer population estimates it uses to set antlerless license allocations.

Titled “The Deer Management Program of the Pennsylvania Game Commission: A Comprehensive Review and Evaluation,” the nonbinding review of the deer management plan was conducted by Wildlife Management Institute (WMI), a non-political organization based in Washington, D.C. WMI has conducted similar reviews of fish and wildlife programs in 40 states and four Canadian provinces. In view of hunter discontent with the Game Commission's current deer program, LBFC commissioned the audit to determine if the program was scientifically sound.

“The PGC should publish the estimates of population size and age and sex structure …,” the audit states. “WMI does not agree that population estimates need to be shielded from the public. Doing so, in WMI’s view, has weakened the trust placed in the PGC by the public and has affected the agency’s credibility.”

The Deer Management Program of the Pennsylvania Game Commission

How many of the state's 800,000 deer hunters have read the audit isn’t known, but many who have appear to agree.

“I don’t see why making the population estimates public is a problem,” said Randy Santucci, southwest director for the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania. “Transparency in government is always positive. Yes, the trend analysis is there, but we don’t see any quantifiable data to support [the PGC's] qualitative approach. It’s all very abstract.”

In April 2008, Unified Sportsmen filed a lawsuit against the Game Commission alleging that the agency “improperly authorized the decimation of Pennsylvania’s deer herd.”

Jerry Feaser, Game Commission press secretary, admits that his agency has population estimates for each wildlife management unit, but maintains the estimates themselves are not the point.

“[The audit] is suggesting that we offer population estimates to the public. We will discuss that, but obviously it will reignite the controversy over a number, which, while satisfying that interest does nothing to further management,” Feaser said. “An exact number is irrelevant to the goal of this program, which is to balance hunting recreation with the impacts deer have on society and on their own habitat.”

Feaser said there’s a “pitfall” in focusing on numbers.

“We don’t have an estimated number of deer, we have a range,” he said. “[Exact numbers] draw attention away from the real issues. Tracking the trends is what’s important, and we do that.”

Despite WMI’s suggestion that PGC publish its population estimates, the audit commended the deer program in concept.

“All parties interested in deer management in Pennsylvania can be confident in the ability of the PGC to track deer population trends at the statewide and wildlife management unit scale through the SAK [sex-age-kill estimating model],” the audit states.  Click link below for full story!

via Hunting: ‘Deer audit’ recommends Game Commission release population estimates.

Kentucky Bass Forecast- Kentucky Game and Fish

Here’s a statewide look at how things are shaping up for bass enthusiasts throughout our state for the new season.

By Jeff Samsel

Dozens of streams that are large enough to float in canoes provide a wealth of opportunities to target mixed bags of black bass, which are normally dominated by smallmouths.

Kentucky, the black bass state. OK, maybe it doesn’t have quite the same ring as the Bluegrass State. Nevertheless, anyone who has spent much time bass fishing in Kentucky knows how fitting this nickname would be. Beyond boasting an enormous numbers of bass-supporting rivers and lakes, Kentucky offers outstanding variety to its black bass fishermen. Largemouths, smallmouths and spots (commonly called Kentucky bass) all inhabit various waterways, and fine bass-fishing waters range from small municipal lakes to the mighty Ohio River and vary in character from shallow and turbid to deep and clear.

Along with so many waterways comes an even greater need for proper management, and fisheries biologists with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) are working tirelessly to meet those needs. Black bass research biologist Chris Hickey heads statewide black bass management efforts; he works closely with district biologists, who monitor fisheries and carry out management plans for all species within their respective regions.  Click link below for full story!

via Kentucky Bass Forecast- Kentucky Game and Fish.

Looking on the bright side

By Steve Miller Outdoor columnist

I am still waiting on circulation to return to my fingertips after spending a few days on the lake last weekend in frigid temperatures. As I wait to regain feeling, I also wait for warm weather to arrive.

By this time of year outdoors enthusiasts usually have a couple of adventures under their belts. Whether it is a hike, fishing trip or late-season hunt, February usually opens small windows of mild weather to break the spell of winter. This year, most outdoor-minded people are cursing the groundhog who saw its shadow and waiting for the ice, snow and wind to subside.

There is some good to come from the lingering arctic weather. Granted, this is not much consolation to those chomping at the bit to get outside, but the cold weather will improve future outdoor prospects.

Anglers should be the biggest beneficiaries of this long winter. As long as the water temperatures hover just above freezing, the shad population in the lakes will decrease. Shad die in water below 40 degrees and Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley will benefit from a massive shad die-off.

The immediate advantage of a shad kill is that anglers will encounter larger fish. Gamefish are gorging themselves on these dying shad and their girth will show come spring. In cold water, shad becomes almost completely paralyzed as they near death, and become prime targets for predators. Incapable of escaping, a large shad becomes a quick and easy meal for a predators.

Fewer shad should also result in a better spawn. The fry of this year’s spawn will have less competition as they feed on the same plankton as shad species.

There is an overlap between young threadfin, gizzards and young gamefish for the same plankton in shallow water during the spring and summer. Less shad should mean better population and growth rates of gamefish in future years.

All outdoorsmen will benefit from the harsh winters effect on insect populations. While the cold weather will not completely wipe out annoying insects, it may make outings more enjoyable.

Turkey hunters should see a reduction in ticks this spring. Hikers and campers will not be devoured by mosquitoes during summer evenings and early season bowhunters should be more comfortable in their tree stands come September.

All this time I spend inside allows me to reflect on the good that may come from this long winter. We may not appreciate it now, but come spring and summer we can all reap the benefits of these cold days. Until then I will wait – for the feeling to return to my extremities, the arrival of warmer weather and the opportunity to take advantage of the harsh winter.

via The Murray State News – The Great Outdoors 2-19-10.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources – The Value Of A Hunting And Fishing License

FRANKFORT, Ky. – For less than a single round of golf, you can fish all year long. You can hunt squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and coyotes all season for less than the cost of a tank of gas. Fifty dollars buys you the opportunity to take two deer – hundreds of dollars worth of meat when compared to grocery store prices.

As the new license year approaches, Kentucky’s hunting, trapping and fishing opportunities remain one of the state’s best recreational values. Families are pinching pennies wherever they can find them, and licenses offer an incredible value not only for a year’s worth of fun on the lake or in the woods, but for plenty of chances to bring home dinner at a bargain price.

“A fishing license is a great deal for families looking for cost-effective recreation,” said Benjy Kinman, deputy commissioner and former director of fisheries for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “Kids under 16 fish free and parents pay less than the cost of a night at the movies to fish all year long, or they may simply purchase a one-day license. Fishing gets everyone outdoors, away from the TV. Fishing is an enjoyable escape and creates lifetime memories.”

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife stocks more than four million fish each year into the state’s lakes, rivers and streams. The department builds and maintains public fishing piers and bank fishing access areas, enforces fishing and boating laws to ensure public safety and protection of fishery resources, and runs an expanding Fishing in Neighborhoods Program (FINs) to provide urban area residents with a place to fish nearby. License dollars create so much opportunity that Kentucky is known beyond its borders as a fishing destination.

Money from license sales produces many of the same benefits on land. Deer and turkeys, whose numbers dwindled in the early twentieth century, now thrive in Kentucky. The state routinely ranks in the country’s top five for Boone and Crockett trophy deer taken. A healthy elk population now roams eastern Kentucky, along with a growing number of black bears. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife continues its concentrated habitat efforts to stabilize and rebuild small game numbers statewide.

“Through purchasing a license, you are contributing to the conservation and management of wildlife in Kentucky,” said Karen Waldrop, wildlife division director for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “License money pays for the restoration of species like deer and turkey, land acquisition, and the continued management of fish and wildlife habitat and populations.”

Education programs reach hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians each year through classroom conservation education, conservation camps, hunter safety courses, aquatic education and more. Since the department receives no tax dollars from Kentucky’s general fund, none of this would be possible without the support of license buyers.

Some of the most popular licenses include the annual fishing license, which is just $20; a resident combination hunting and fishing license for $30, which covers fishing, as well as hunting for small game and furbearer species; and a statewide deer permit, $30 for Kentucky residents, which in combination with an annual hunting license allows the holder to take two deer – one antlered and one antlerless, or two antlerless. Families will find a great value in licenses – a joint husband and wife fishing license is available for $36, and kids under 12 don’t have to buy most hunting licenses at all.

Sportsmen and sportswomen who fish and hunt for multiple species could find themselves paying up to $145 for the licenses and permits needed to take deer, turkeys, small game, ducks and geese, furbearers and all species of fish. This is why Kentucky Fish and Wildlife offers a Sportsman’s License. It’s a package deal that shaves $50 off the cost of buying those licenses and permits separately. The $95 Sportsman’s License, available only to Kentucky residents, includes a combination hunting and fishing license, a statewide deer permit, spring and fall turkey permits, a state waterfowl permit and a trout permit. It’s like having year-long movie tickets or a season pass to your favorite amusement park. The only extras hunters need are a federal duck stamp to hunt waterfowl, and an additional permit if they want to hunt at Peabody Wildlife Management Area or Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. A bear hunting permit, trapping license and an elk lottery application must also be purchased separately.

For complete licensing information, pick up a copy of the 2010-11 Kentucky Fishing and Boating Guide, or the 2010 Kentucky Hunting Guide for Spring Turkey & Squirrel, available online at fw.ky.gov and wherever licenses are sold.

Getting a good value for your money is more important than ever. Kentucky hunting, trapping and fishing licenses are still one of the best deals around. Fore more information, call Kentucky Fish and Wildlife toll-free at 1-800-858-1549, or go online to fw.ky.gov

via Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources – The Value Of A Hunting And Fishing License.

Purlear Man Wins NWTF’s Grand National Turkey Calling Championship

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Mitchell Johnston’s focus, talent and practice paid off Saturday, Feb. 20, when he won the top turkey calling title during the National Wild Turkey Federation’s National Convention and Sport Show in Nashville.

Hailing from Purlear, N.C., Johnston emerged from a preliminary field of 48 callers to win the Senior Division of the Wild Turkey Bourbon/NWTF Grand National Calling Championships.

“It’s very surreal. It’s obviously a dream come true,” said Johnston, who finished fifth in 2009. “The first phone call I made was to my wife because she didn’t travel here with me this year. As soon as I heard her voice, we both kind of lost it. It was a special moment. I mean this is the best feeling you can have as a turkey caller. It’s hitting a grand slam or winning the Super Bowl.”

Every February, callers from all over the nation flock to the NWTF’s National Convention and Sport Show to compete in the championships. At this year’s convention, sponsored by MidwayUSA , the calling championships had more than $25,000 in cash and prizes going to the top callers. Seats filled up quickly with onlookers wanting see and hear the terrific turkey talk.

In the Senior Division, callers are asked to perform a series of calls that imitate a single wild turkey hen. Some of these calls include the yelp, cluck and purr, kee kee run and tree call. A panel of seven expert judges score each call and the slightest mistake can virtually eliminate a caller from contention.

“Winning a title at the Grand National Turkey Calling Championships is like reaching the summit of a mountain. There is no higher place among the turkey calling’s elite,” said George Thornton, NWTF CEO. “The atmosphere in the room during the trophy presentation is electric. Raising the first-place trophy at these contests means that you have beaten the best callers in the world.”

Each year, thousands of outdoor enthusiasts and NWTF supporters rally at the NWTF National Convention and Sport Show. The event features the Grand National Calling Championships, seminars from hunting pros, more than 550 vendor booths, top entertainers at evening functions and more.

The NWTF is a nonprofit conservation organization that works daily to further its mission of conserving the wild turkey and preserving our hunting heritage.

Through dynamic partnerships with state, federal and provincial wildlife agencies, the NWTF and its members have helped restore wild turkey populations across the country, spending more than $306 million to conserve 14 million acres of habitat for all types of wildlife.

For more information about the NWTF’s National Convention and Sport Show or the NWTF, visit nwtf.org or call (800) THE-NWTF.

New State Record Certified For Bull Elk With Non-typical Antlers; Taken On Public Access Land

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.

via Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources – New State Record Certified For Bull Elk With Non-typical Antlers; Taken On Public Access Land.

The Anahuac Progress- Hunting for sheds

By Larry Wilburn

Each spring, many collectors scour the brush and woodlots searching for the antlers that bucks drop off or shed. The shedding of the antlers is a natural occurrence that happens as the testosterone levels in the buck subsides and the chemical change causes the pedicle to soften and the antlers fall off. There is no set time when this occurs but its usually in early spring and does vary from area to area. The deer rarely sheds both antlers at the same time so its somewhat unusual to find a matching set. You can consider yourself lucky if you do find a matched set.

Just like collecting sets of antlers, shed collecting is rapidly catching on throughout the country. So much so that the North America Shed Hunters Club (NASHC) was founded in 1991 to record and recognize exceptional shed antlers that are found.

Found in 1996, the Texas state record single typical shed has 6 points and scores 84 2/8 points. The world record typical shed measures 104 6/8. The states top non-typical shed was found way back in 1899 and scores a whopping 144 3/8. If the other side matched it would be one of the highest scoring bucks of all time. The world’s largest non-typical shed scores 148. The most amazing find was the set of matched sheds found in Minnesota that scored an incredible 310 5/8 without any spread credit added in. Assuming the rack would have had a 20-inch spread the score would be 330 5/8. That would make that buck the highest scoring wild deer to ever walk the face of the earth.

*

The really big time shed hunters have turned to dogs to help find sheds. Labrador retrievers are especially popular as shed hunting dogs but most sporting breeds can be trained. After all, dogs like bones and that’s all that antlers are — an unusually shaped bone. Dogs are not the only creatures that like the bones. Mice and squirrels are particularly fond of the discarded antlers and will quickly eat the shed up to get the minerals that the antlers contain. In fact it’s unusual to find a shed in the woods that does not have chew marks.

I enjoy getting out and looking for sheds. It gives me an opportunity to scout for the next season. Finding sheds will let you know that bucks are using the area. The size of the sheds lets you know something about the quality of the bucks in the area. This is especially helpful if you are on a new lease that you are not familiar with. I have a few sheds in my antler collection but nothing like the hugh sheds I mentioned earlier. I have not scored any of my sheds but I do have one that has 11 points with 3 points that have been broken off.

The bucks have now started to shed their antlers around the state. Trail camera pictures that showed bucks with antlers last week show those same bucks with no antlers this week.

If shed hunting is something you might be interested in, the NASHC has a web sight, www.shedantlers.org. or you can contact the organization by e-mail at nashc@aol.com or by phone at 952-846-4754

via The Anahuac Progress.

The Outfitters’ Lament: Too Few Kids With Guns | By Mark Yost – WSJ.com

By MARK YOST

Harrisburg, Pa.

The Eastern Sports’ Outdoor Show is a sportsman’s paradise, but one where trouble is brewing.

There were lots of kids here with their families, walking the nearly 300,000 square feet of the State Farm Show Complex. They were checking out the newest fishing lures, gun blinds and camouflage clothing. But many of the outfitters who set up booths at the show and sell mountain-lion stalks in New Mexico, bear hunts in Maine and African safaris are worried that they’re in a dying business.

“Most kids wouldn’t know a deer from a dog,” said Jim Paine of Illinois Trophy Bowhunters, an outfitter in west central Illinois. “It’s sad.”

Indeed, many of the outfitters said that the majority of their clientele are 50-year-old men, a growing number of women, but very few kids. Most pinned the blame on one thing: video games.

“Why are they going to come out and freeze in a blind all day and maybe get one shot when they can sit in their living room and shoot all day long?” asked Brad Bowser, owner of a Linneus, Maine, guide service. Mr. Bowser’s daughter, Sienna, is 14 and hunts regularly, but she said that she’s an anomaly among her friends.

Video games are the easy villain, but the problem goes much deeper.

Since the 1920s, more people have lived in cities than on farms. There’s also the stigma of guns. In the 1950s, nearly every high school in New York City had a shooting team. Today, if you brought a gun to school you’d be expelled.

Then there’s economics. Many of these trips aren’t cheap and they’re often paid for with discretionary income. That means that when times are tough, often one of the first things to get cut from the budget is the annual hunting trip.

Robert Dunn of Dunn’s Sporthunting said one of his clients brought his three grown sons on an African safari. The cost was $79,000, with another $10,000 for airfare.

“These trips are not for the faint of wallet,” Mr. Dunn said.

Fishing is hurting, too. Tom DePersia, a boat captain from Marshfield, Mass., said that 20 years ago there were what he called “dock rats,” kids who hung out and begged to go out and work the charter boats. Many of them went on to become boat captains and deck hands as adults. Today, Mr. DePersia said, there are no more dock rats. “They’re all at home doing this crap,” he said, moving his thumbs and mimicking a video game controller.

He also blamed broken families. “A 10-year-old kid can go out and play baseball without his dad, but they can’t go hunting or fishing,” he said.

At his booth here, Mr. DePersia runs a continuous videotape of a 17-year-old kid hauling in a 1,000 pound tuna off Cape Cod, but the video is 20 years old. “We just don’t get kids like we used to,” he said.

The outdoor industry is aware of the problem and trying to fix it. Outfitters are offering father-son and father-daughter trips, but with little success. Of the hundreds of hunts he led last year in Maine, Mr. Bowser said, only a dozen or so included families with children. Mr. Dunn said he’s tried to get outfitters to offer half-price trips to kids accompanying a full-fare parent, but it’s been a tough sell.

Still, gun sports are trending younger in one way: It used to be that you had to be 13 or 14 to hunt, but some states have changed the law so that children as young as 5 can go out and hunt under adult supervision. Craig Cushman of Thompson/Center, a unit of Smith & Wesson, said the problem is the “kid bubble.” Thompson/Center sees kids hunting and shooting from age 6 to about 13, then loses them during their teenage and college years. A few come back in their 20s and 30s, but most never do.

Some are hoping that a proliferation of cable television shows featuring young, attractive female hunters will also appeal to a broader audience, especially girls. “The message is that it’s OK to have pigtails, wear makeup and shoot things,” said Kandi Kisky, who hosts “Whitetail Freaks” on the Outdoor Channel. Thompson/Center, trying to ride this trend, has a pink version of its Hot Shot, a single-shot .22 rifle designed for youngsters.

Ted Nugent, the rock guitarist and hunting advocate, thinks the problem is that even pro-hunting groups are too timid. “We need to be celebrating the utter joy and spirituality of hunting, not apologizing for it,” he said.

But the answer for many of these outfitters may not be hunting at all. Many here have started offering safaris that substitute cameras for guns.

“It very well may be the future of this business,” said Mr. Dunn.

Mr. Yost is a writer in Chicago.

via The Outfitters’ Lament: Too Few Kids With Guns | By Mark Yost – WSJ.com.