Vermont scales back on moose permits | The Burlington Free Press
July 15, 2010
Winning a moose permit has always been a game of chance, but the odds grew considerably longer Friday when 2010 permits were picked.
A successful effort to reduce the size of Vermont’s moose population prompted the state Department of Fish and Wildlife this year to cut the number of hunting permits from 1,225 to 765. About 11,000 people applied for the permits, which were chosen by lottery Friday morning in Waterbury.
The annual moose hunt, this year set for Oct. 16-21, was re-introduced in 1993 to help control a burgeoning moose population. Initially comprised of 30 permits, the hunt was expanded several times. Now, it will be contracted.
State moose biologist Cedric Alexander said the moose density is at a more manageable level and fewer hunting permits need to be issued. Click Link Below for Full Story!
via Vermont scales back on moose permits | The Burlington Free Press | Burlington, Vermont.
Crossbow good option for some hunters | Tulsa World
July 7, 2010
Read Kelly Bostian’s blog
THE COMING archery season will mark the first for Oklahoma in which a crossbow, previously legal only for handicapped or elderly hunters, will be a legal weapon for any hunter.
This spring, Oklahoma became the 14th state in the nation to roll crossbows into the column for legal means, and North Carolina is close to becoming No. 15.
Under the new Oklahoma law, crossbows can be used in any season when it is legal to use other forms of archery equipment. That means some hunters may be out there this summer looking to purchase a new crossbow for the season to come.
So what should we expect from this change? Daniel James Hendricks, CEO of the American Crossbow Federation and editor/publisher of Horizontal Bowhunter magazine, said it will have an impact, but probably a small one. He has dedicated the past 15 years of his life to the crossbow controversy.
“It’s just another kind of bow and arrow,” he said. “Regardless of what some people will call it, what they’ll tell you, it’s a short-range weapon that gives you one more way to help control the deer population and to get more people out into the woods.” Click Link Below for Full Story!
via Crossbow good option for some hunters | Tulsa World.
Black bears regain foothold in Wisconsin after 100-year absence- Wisconsin State Journal
July 1, 2010
By RON SEELY | rseely@madison.com
BARABOO — In the deep summer green of a hardwood stand in Devil’s Lake State Park, Bill Ishmael puts on his reading glasses and stares closely at the bark of a slender tree. Up and down the trunk run parallel gouges and scars. In several places the bark is punctured by deep holes.
“We’ll put this one down as a hit,” said Ishmael, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources.
The pronouncement, coupled with the damage to the tree bark, immediately causes one to become more attentive. Suddenly, the forest feels different. It becomes wilder, deeper, stranger. More mysterious and maybe just a little scarier.
All because this woods may now be home to a black bear.
This spring has marked the beginning of a new era in how the DNR thinks of black bears in southern Wisconsin. With multiple bear sightings coming to the agency every day, including numerous reports of sows with cubs, DNR wildlife experts now believe southern Wisconsin is home to its own population of black bears for the first time since the late 1800s.
And this week saw the beginning of efforts to scientifically gather data on the fledgling population as Ishmael and Becky Roth, also a DNR wildlife biologist, conducted the first bear bait station surveys undertaken in southern Wisconsin.
“This year was just crazy compared to the last two years,” said Roth of bear sightings. Click Link Below for Full Story!
via Black bears regain foothold in Wisconsin after 100-year absence.
Why Is Maine’s Moose Lottery and Hunt Disappearing? – DownEast.Com
July 1, 2010
By George Smith
You’d have to conclude that hunters are losing interest in Maine’s moose hunt, judging by the huge decline in applicants in the state’s once-popular moose lottery.
Since lottery applications peaked in 1994 at 94,532, applications from residents have declined by 50 percent and from nonresidents by 37 percent.
In the last two years alone, applications have decreased by a stunning 23 percent.
The number of applications this year was the lowest in the twenty-eight years of the state’s modern moose hunt. A total of 49,729 hunters applied this year for moose hunting permits, including 37,012 residents and 12,717 nonresidents.
More than 60,000 resident and nonresident hunters applied for permits in the first regular moose hunting season in 1982. An initial “experimental” season held in 1980 attracted 36,636 applicants. That lottery was closed to nonresidents.
Department leaders said that the recession, high cost of the hunt, and lost interest on the part of hunters who have never won a permit are the reasons for the decline in sales.
They continue to deny that their decision in 2009 to stop printing and mailing applications to previous lottery participants, and instead to go to an online application process only, has made any difference. Clearly, it has. Click link below for full story!
The Canadian Press: World Cup hits South African hunting industry as foreign hunters stay away
June 23, 2010
By Eric Naki (CP)
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s hunting industry expects far less revenue this year because of the World Cup.
The number of soccer fans traveling the country means foreign hunters can’t get flights and Adri Kitshoff, chief executive of the Professional Hunters’ Association of South Africa, says inflated travel and accommodation prices have deterred them further.
“Many hunting outfitters have had up to 90 per cent cancellations, or postponements to 2011,” said Jokl le Roux, spokesman for Confederation of Hunters Associations of South Africa.
But Kitshoff added that, while he sees a “definite decline” in hunts during the World Cup, PHASA still recognizes the positive impact that the World Cup has on South Africa.
The Southern Hemisphere winter months of June and July are peak hunting months in South Africa. They are usually the slow season for others in the tourism industry, but because of the World Cup, hotels and others are charging high-season prices. Click Link Below for full story!
via The Canadian Press: World Cup hits South African hunting industry as foreign hunters stay away.
Kentucky Afield Outdoors: Women Post Big Year For Trophy Deer During 2009 Season
June 4, 2010
By Hayley Lynch
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Every year, during production of Kentucky’s annual hunting and trapping regulation guide, I get to peruse photos, letters and official scoring sheets from hunters who took Kentucky’s largest deer the previous season. I always enjoy seeing these incredible animals, all of them evidence of a healthy and thriving deer herd. These deer and the hunters who spend months or even years pursuing them put Kentucky in the top five states in the country for deer considered trophies under the Boone and Crockett Club scoring system. But this year, something else stood out.All of our previous trophy deer lists had one thing in common – the hunters were almost always male. In fact, in five years of producing our guide I had received only one trophy deer taken by a female hunter. But this year was different. Four of the 40 deer currently on the list were taken by women. Even more impressively, three of those women are teenagers. Andrea Davis, a 19-year-old hunter from Ohio County, took a 14-point buck with typical antlers that scored 165 1/8 in the Boone and Crockett Club’s official scoring system. She thinks this year’s results are part of an overall trend. She says more girls and women are hunting deer.“I’m seeing a lot of kids going hunting with their dads,” Davis said. “I think women are seeing what’s out there, what they can bring home.”Davis herself was hunting with her father Thanksgiving morning in Muhlenberg County when they heard antlers crashing near the edge of a Conservation Reserve Program field. They were on their way to a tree stand, but the sound of nearby deer changed their plans.“We just sat down right there,” Davis said. “We saw two does, but they busted us. Then we saw a 9-pointer. I was getting ready to shoot him, but decided to wait.”The wait paid off when the trophy 14-pointer stepped out of the woods. “All I could say was, ‘Horns!’” Davis remembered. “My dad told me, ‘Please don’t look at the horns.’ I braced my gun on a little sapling and took a shot.”The deer ran only 40 yards after the 20-yard shot from Davis’s .30-06.Sixteen-year-old Deirdre Bryant of Meade County shot her first buck on opening day of the 2009 season. The 22-point deer with non-typical antlers scored 196 6/8.“I’ve always wanted to get a buck because of my dad and my uncle,” Bryant said. “It’s always been in my family. And I’m not going to stop.”Two more female hunters round out this unprecedented year. Spencer County’s Michaella “Mikie” Monroe was just 14 years old when she shot the biggest deer taken in Kentucky for the 2009-10 season. The buck scored an incredible 219 5/8, putting it in the top 30 deer with non-typical antlers ever taken in Kentucky. Mitzi Mobley of Berea shot a 160 4/8 typical buck in Madison County.I hope these four women are a sign of even better things to come for Kentucky hunting. More women in the field may be one of our best chances to turn around a decline in hunter numbers. And with deer like these, it’s easy to see what’s in it for the hunters themselves.“I’ve hunted since I was 12 and the only bucks I’ve gotten have been spikes,” Davis said. “So anything can happen at any time.”The 2010-11 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, available in early July, will include a complete list of trophy deer from the 2009-10 season, as well as several photographs of the deer and their hunters. The guide will be available online at fw.ky.gov and wherever hunting licenses are sold.
Two guest columnists take a pro/con look at legalizing crossbows in New York State | syracuse.com
June 4, 2010
By David Figura/The Post-Standard
June 04, 2010, 7:55AM
SHOULD CROSSBOWS BE LEGALIZED IN NY? NO
By Gary Socola
Some people believe they cannot bowhunt because they cannot draw a bow weight of 60-70 pounds. Without knowing the alternatives, they believe the only recourse is the crossbow.
Not true.
In New York, the minimum bow weight for hunting is 35 pounds. Compound bows can reduce the holding weight by as much as 80 percent. Therefore, a 35-pound bow would have a holding weight of only 7 pounds.
Plus, equipment is available that allows all but the most severely disabled hunters to bowhunt with a Modified Archer's Permit. The permit allows a locking device to be attached to the bow to hold the arrow at full draw. The permit is available from the DEC for $5.
Many disabled hunters use these devices with their conventional bows to hunt each fall in this state.
A Modified Crossbow Permit is also available from the DEC for the most severely handicapped individuals.
Why would anyone need a crossbow if legal, adaptive equipment is available for a $5 permit from the state? People might say that they don't want to use adaptive equipment on their bows, yet they would use adaptive equipment such as a mechanical cocking device to cock their crossbow.
Crossbow proponents say their use will assist youth and woman hunters and will recruit new hunters. Not true. Click Link Below for Full Story!
via Two guest columnists take a pro/con look at legalizing crossbows in New York State | syracuse.com.
Hunting squeakers in the spring
May 28, 2010
By Hunter Mike
Kentucky’s spring squirrel season will be open June 5-18. This is a great time for hunters to get out and enjoy the woods. Hunters can also use this time to do some early scouting. June is a perfect time to hang tree cameras to monitor the antler growth on the bucks that are hanging around your property.
Hunting squirrels in the spring can be a challenge. Hunters that face that challenge will improve their skills by having many obstacles to overcome while stalking spring tree rats. Instead of hearing that too familiar rick-a-dee-rick of a squirrel cutting on a hickory nut, hunters will have to rely on sight to locate squeakers. With the summer foliage, this is a challenge in itself.
Calling
Calling is one of the most effective ways to locate squirrels in the spring, according to C&C Outdoorsman Keith Sutton. Some calls bark, some chatter and some imitate the distress call of a young squirrel. Most of these calls are not necessarily designed to bring the squirrel to you. They are designed to coax the squirrel into revealing its location. The calls make them move in the trees, or they might bark back at you. From personal experience, the distress call of a young squirrel is highly effective. I have bagged several gray, and fox squirrels that have come right to my position when I’ve used this call. When used properly, calls can help hunters see more squirrels than they would without calling.
Hunters should consider hunting aggressively during the first three hours after dawn. This is the coolest part of the day, and the time when squirrels will be most active. Truth be told, it’s more comfortable for us to be out there at this time as well.
Spring Food Sources
Squirrels won’t be munching on hickory nuts, walnuts or acorns at this time of the year. In the fall, finding these food sources is like finding a gold mine. In the spring, squirrels will thrive on leaf and flower buds, fungi and berries according to Sutton. Hunters must find these types of food sources if they want to find squirrels. Sutton suggests that mulberries are the X-factor for spring furry limb chickens. If you find a mulberry tree, you are likely to fill the daily bag limit.
Remember, squirrels like to forage on the ground to try and find leftovers from last fall’s nut crop. Don’t spend all of your time looking up in the trees. Scan the entire area. Many times during the deer season, we sit in our stands and watch squirrels come out of their tree dens. Keep in mind where these spots are and go straight to them on opening day.
Go to http://www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/ to check out the 2010 Spring Hunting Guide if you are uncertain of bag limits or any other regulations. Be safe and good luck!
Elk management plan moving forward in Va. – BusinessWeek
May 24, 2010
By STEVE SZKOTAK
RICHMOND, Va.
An elk management plan for Virginia will offer wildlife regulators several options to manage its small population of the Rocky Mountain native that has wandered over from Kentucky.
The draft plan ranges from doing nothing to stocking elk for hunting and tourism in seven southwest counties. The plan is headed to a Game and Inland Fisheries committee on May 24 and to the full commission in June.
The director of the department's wildlife division said the plan is intended to offer several possibilities for commissioners to consider and the public to debate.
“We’re trying to make this whole thing more of a scoping document with options for restoration,” Bob Ellis said Friday of the report, which still needs some finishing touches. He said the final version could contain a preferred option.
Virginia’s native elk, a cousin of the bigger Rocky Mountain version, was hunted into extinction more than 150 years ago. A restoration plan involving the Rocky Mountain subspecies has been promoted by sportsmen’s groups and some officials in economically depressed southwest Virginia to encourage more tourism.
The farming community has spoken out against any additional elk in Virginia, which number 75-100. They fear crop damage and the spread of tuberculosis and brucellosis to domestic cattle.
In developing the management plan, Virginia wildlife biologists visited several states that have large numbers of elk, including Kentucky. More than 10,000 elk roam 16 counties in that state.
“Kentucky did it on the largest scale and they have seen some benefits after 12 years of having elk, not only for hunting but from viewing,” Ellis said.
The state, for instance, has developed viewing areas for visitors who want to look at the big, buff-colored deer. A lottery for a limited hunt attracts thousands of hunters. The lottery winners pay several hundred dollars each for a shot at an elk.
The management panel also looked at the experience of states such as Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas, which have smaller numbers of elk. Pennsylvania has approximately 600 to 700 of the animals and has had success with tourism and viewing areas.
“If you intend to have elk, you have to plan for that sort of thing,” Ellis said, citing traffic as an example.
The management group also talked to farm groups in southwest Virginia and coal interests, which own large tracts of land in the state’s southwest corner.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services took a stand against any expansion of the state's existing numbers when the proposal surfaced last year.
Virginia’s beef cattle industry, the state's No. 2 agricultural commodity by cash receipts, ships most of its animals to out-of-state feed lots. Infected herds must be quarantined.
Virginia has previously rejected moves to re-establish elk, with disease transmission a key concern.
Ellis expects the commission to take final action on a management plan in August.
via Elk management plan moving forward in Va. – BusinessWeek.
N.H. moose hunt lottery deadline is May 28 | SeacoastOnline.com
May 24, 2010
CONCORD — Want a chance to hunt moose in New Hampshire this fall? Then you better get moving! The deadline for entering the 2010 New Hampshire Moose Hunt Lottery is Friday, May 28, 2010. You may be one of 395 lucky hunters who will be drawn for New Hampshire moose hunting permits – a chance for the adventure of a lifetime.It’s easy to enter. Visit http://www.huntnh.com to apply online or print a mail-in application, or pick up a lottery application from any license agent. The entry fee is $15 for New Hampshire residents and $25 for nonresidents nonrefundable. Each applicant can enter the moose hunt lottery once each year. You don’t need a current hunting license to enter.Related Stories Wild turkey season gets under way in Maine N.H. opens moose hunt lotteryA word to the wise: If possible, do apply online; it greatly reduces the chance of leaving information off or making a mistake. Late or incomplete applications are not accepted. Don’t wait until the last minute to apply; every year we hear from disappointed people who missed out on the lottery because they ran into problems with their computer or Internet connection.Applications submitted by mail must be postmarked no later than midnight, May 28, 2010, to be eligible for the lottery. If submitting a paper application by mail on May 28, take it to the post office and try to have it postmarked while you are there; just dropping it in a mailbox does not ensure that it will be postmarked by the deadline.Take advantage of the bonus point system to improve your chance of winning. Unsuccessful applicants build up a point each year they apply. Don’t miss a year, or you’ll lose your points!New Hampshire continues to have some of the best odds in the nation for drawing a moose hunt permit. The overall odds of being selected in last year’s lottery were 1 in 22 for New Hampshire residents and 1 in 63 for nonresidents.Winners will be selected through a computerized random drawing on June 18, 2010.New Hampshire’s 2010 moose hunt runs from October 16 to 24. Find out more about moose hunting in New Hampshire, at http://www.huntnh.com/Hunting/Hunt_species/hunt_moose.htm.
via N.H. moose hunt lottery deadline is May 28 | SeacoastOnline.com.
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