Michigan DNR Seeks Public Participation at Southwestern Management Unit Public Meeting on Sept. 24
September 18, 2008
The public is invited to discuss local wildlife issues with Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Division Southwestern Management Unit staff at a meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Grand Rapids. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel, 255 28th Street SW in Grand Rapids.
The Southwestern Management Unit covers the following counties: Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, St. Joseph, and Van Buren.
The intent of the meeting is to introduce local staff, highlight wildlife habitat and other projects that are planned for the upcoming year, and provide a question and answer period for attendees. In addition, an update will be provided on the status of Michigan’s surveillance efforts for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in white-tailed deer.
“We feel it is important for residents to be involved with local wildlife issues. It is our desire to use the public meeting process as a way to provide information and exchange ideas with residents in the Southwestern Management Unit,” said Sara Schaefer, Southwestern Management Unit supervisor.
Individuals attending these meetings are requested to refrain from using heavily-scented personal care products, in order to enhance accessibility for everyone. Persons with disabilities needing accommodations for the meeting should contact Cindy McQueer at 269-673-2430, a minimum of five business days before the meeting. Requests made less than five business days before the event may not be accommodated.
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Fifty-one Fields Available For Public Dove Hunting In South Carolina
August 4, 2008
Fifty one public dove fields will be available across the state during the 2008-09 season through the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Management Area program.
The 2008-09 mourning dove season will run as follows: Sept. 1-6 (noon until sunset); Sept. 7–Oct. 4; Nov. 22-29; and Dec. 19–Jan. 15. Legal hunting hours for mourning dove season, except for Sept. 1-6, are from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset. For the 2008-09 mourning dove season, the daily bag limit is increased from 12 birds per day to 15 birds per day. This change is based on extensive analysis and recommendations from dove biologists from eastern states striving for a consistent mourning dove season and bag limit throughout the Eastern Management Unit (EMU). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurred with the increased bag limit and it is available for the 2008-09 dove season. Prior to this change, states in the EMU had an option of a 12-bird bag limit with a 70-day season or a 15-bird bag limit with a 60-day season. Some states in the EMU had previously selected the 15 bird/60 day option, and others (including SC) had selected 12 birds/70 days.Â
Hunters are reminded that mourning dove season will open this year on Monday, Sept. 1. Dove season traditionally opens on either the first Saturday in September or on Labor Day, whichever comes first. Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, seasons for migratory game birds cannot begin before Sept. 1. The state’s mourning dove season is set each year by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Board within a framework of regulations and timetables issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The number of hunters will be limited by a public drawing on three fields, the Evans Property field in Anderson County, the Draper Tract in York County, and Donnelly Wildlife Management Area in Colleton County. Hunting and hunter placement on all other public fields is on a first-come basis, beginning at noon.
For more information on the application process for these hunts, contact the DNR Clemson office at (864) 654-1671, extension 16 (Evans Property), the DNR Unit 2B office at (864) 427-5140 (Draper Tract), or the Donnelly Wildlife Management Area office at (843) 844-8957.
A county-by-county list of public dove fields and special youth hunts can be obtained by writing: DNR, Attn: Public Dove Fields, PO Box 167, Columbia, SC 29202, or by calling (803) 734-3609 in Columbia. The Public Dove Field List is also available at County Extension Service offices, Soil and Water Conservation District offices, local DNR offices.
Hunters participating in public dove hunts on DNR Wildlife Management Area dove fields should be aware of special regulations in place on these fields. Hunters may not take shooting positions on public fields before noon. Hunters will be restricted to 50 shells per hunt on all Wildlife Management Area public dove fields, and shooting hours will end at 6 p.m. on all public fields during the first segment of the South Carolina dove season (Sept. 1–Oct. 4).
A limited number of openings are available on eight special youth dove hunts scheduled for Abbeville, Newberry, Oconee, Orangeburg, Pickens, Sumter, Union and York counties. Participants are selected by pre-registration or drawing for all youth hunts with the exception of the Orangeburg County youth hunt, which has no pre-registration requirement.
Individuals who plan to hunt on these public fields will need a South Carolina hunting license and a Wildlife Management Area permit. Also, all persons hunting migratory birds (including doves) are required to have a migratory bird permit. Migratory bird permits can be obtained free-of-charge at all hunting and fishing license vendors.
DNR protects and manages South Carolina’s natural resources by making wise and balanced decisions for the benefit of the state’s natural resources and its people.
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Mississippi Dove Hunters Have More Opportunity in 2008
June 30, 2008
Jackson- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved a more liberal season length and bag limit for dove hunting than what has been allowed in the past, according to the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks. Past federal frameworks have only allowed a 60 day season and 15 dove bag limit or a 70 day season and a 12 dove bag limit. A state had to choose one of the two options. Hunters will now be able to enjoy the longer 70 day season with the larger 15 dove bag limit.
Through the work of the states that comprise the Eastern Management Unit (EMU) dove technical committee, in which Mississippi is a member, it was determined there was no significant difference in harvest numbers among those states that chose the 60 day 15 dove limit or the 70 day 12 dove limit season packages. It was determined that the majority of the dove harvest occurs on the opening weekend with very little harvest occurring after opening weekend.
“Mississippi dove hunters will finally be able to have their cake and eat it too,” said Scott Baker, MDWFP Wildlife Biologist. “This coupled with our private dove field program will make a lot of hunters happy.” Â
Dove hunters looking for a place to dove hunt in a safe, family like atmosphere need to look no further than the MDWFP’s Private Land Dove Field Program. The MDWFP has partnered with National Sports Shooting Foundation (NSSF) to offer dove hunting opportunities on private property prepared just for dove hunting. Interested hunters need to log on to the MDWFP web site, MDWFP.com, for regular updates on field location and permit availability. Permits will available beginning on August 4. For more information the MDWFP’s Private Lands Dove Field Program, please contact Scott Baker at (601) 432-2229.
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Bear Hunting Licenses Still Available for Western U.P. Management Units
June 27, 2008
Department of Natural Resources wildlife officials today announced the leftover bear licenses for the third hunt period in the western Upper Peninsula will go on sale July 7 at all license agents and online through the DNR’s e-license system.
A total of 341 licenses — 201 for the Bergland Management Unit and 140 for the Baraga Management Unit — are available for the Sept. 25-Oct. 26 hunt period.
“This is an unusual situation,” said Adam Bump, DNR bear specialist. “We anticipate these licenses will sell quickly to those who applied for a different management area or hunt period and were not successful in the drawing.”
Results for the 2008 bear drawing will be posted on the DNR Web site, www.michigan.gov/dnrdrawings
, Monday, June 30.
The leftover bear hunting licenses will be available to unsuccessful resident applicants beginning July 7, 2008 at 10 a.m. EDT. Any licenses that remain unsold as of July 14, at 10 a.m., will be available for purchase by Michigan residents who did not apply for a bear license.
Hunters who purchase a leftover license are advised their preference points will be reset to zero.
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Long Winter, Cold Spring Hard on Mule Deer Fawns
May 29, 2008
Most adult female mule deer being monitored by Idaho Fish and Game biologists survived, but less than one third of fawns survived.
Fish and Game biologists have been monitoring nearly 800 radio-collared mule deer through the winter of 2007-08. Of 263 mule deer fawns monitored, only 30 percent - 78 fawns - survived to May 15. Overall survival for the 528 adult females monitored was 90 percent.
That means mule deer numbers are expected to remain the same or drop slightly this fall, but yearling buck number will drop significantly in most of southern Idaho, which in turn means a lower buck harvest.
“That’s not surprising, given the weather we’ve had,” big game manager Brad Compton told Fish and Game commissioners during their meeting May 22. But with the good female survival, and expected good forage this summer, biologists expect mule deer numbers to rebound quickly, he said.
At 30 percent, statewide fawn survival tied 2005-06 as the poorest survival rate since Idaho began monitoring fawns in 1998-99. A dry summer, followed by deep snow and delayed spring greenup contributed to higher than normal April and May fawn mortality.
Fawn survival in most of Idaho was in the 20-30 percent range, but varied from a low of 8 percent in the Palisades area to a high of 70 percent in the Boise River population management unit.
Statewide adult female survival was in the low-normal range, except for the Weiser-McCall area where it was 84 percent and the Middle Fork area where it was 80 percent.
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2008 Elk and Bear Hunting Application Period Now Open
May 6, 2008
The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that the Michigan elk and bear hunting license application period is now open, and hunters can apply for those licenses through June 1.
There will be 330 elk and 12,993 bear hunting licenses available for the 2008 hunting seasons.
Only Michigan residents are eligible to apply for an elk license. Bear licenses are available for both residents and non-residents; however, no more than two percent of licenses in any bear management unit will be issued to non-residents. Hunters may apply online at www.michigan.gov/dnr, at any authorized license agent, or at a DNR Operations Service Center. A nonrefundable $4 fee is charged at the time of application.
Applicants may call 517-373-1263 prior to June 1 for assistance with their application and may check the drawing results online at the DNR Web site beginning June 23 for elk and June 30 for bear. See the 2008 Michigan Elk and Bear Hunting Guides for more details about the application processes.
The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural resources for current and future generations.
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2008 Hunting Season Set In CWD Management Zone
May 4, 2008
Regulations subject to legislative review
MADISON – Hunters in areas of southern Wisconsin where efforts are underway to control the spread of the Chronic Wasting Disease will have a new season framework under a proposal the Natural Resources Board adopted at its meeting in Madison on April 23. The season framework must still pass legislative review.
The board approved combining the two previous CWD management zones (the “herd reduction zone” and the “herd eradication zone”) into a single zone with consistent regulations, season dates and firearm rules across the zone.
Other highlights of the season proposal include:
- Establishing interim deer population goals that are 20 percent below the population goals that were in place in 2001 in the affected deer management units.
- Establishment of a season structure that is similar to the rest of the state.
- Allowing use of rifles in the entire combined CWD management zone except for metro units.
- A late firearm season, dubbed a “holiday season,” that provides additional hunting opportunities.
- All seasons in the CWD Management Zone would be unlimited Earn-a-Buck (EAB) with prequalification except during two antlerless only seasons in October and December.
Full details of the rule adopted by the NRB (pdf) are available on the Natural Resources Board pages of the DNR Web site. The 2008 Deer Management Unit map is also available.
EAB requires a hunter to first shoot an antlerless deer before shooting a buck. Prequalification was introduced two seasons back and has proven popular with hunters. Prequalification allows a hunter to harvest an antlerless deer in any of the state’s (**correction** hunters do not earn buck stickers in herd control units) EAB or CWD units and receive a buck sticker good in the current year or in the coming year in any EAB unit anywhere in the state.
Other regulations adopted but not in effect until 2009 are a prohibition on importing whole cervid (deer, moose and elk) carcasses from areas within other states or provinces where CWD is found into Wisconsin and transporting whole carcasses from Wisconsin’s CWD management zone to elsewhere in the state.
The seasons adopted by the NRB in part include recommendations forwarded by a citizens CWD stakeholder group convened to advise the department on potential future CWD management strategies.
The CWD Zone deer hunting seasons are unlimited Earn-a-Buck except where noted and are as follows:
- Sept. 14 –Jan. 4, 2009: Archery
- Oct. 11-12: Youth hunt (Youth hunters are required to use their gun buck deer carcass tag to harvest an antlered deer during this hunt in all units, including CWD and EAB units. Youth hunters may earn a buck sticker if they shoot an antlerless deer in a CWD or EAB unit during this hunt.).
- Oct. 16-19: Early firearm, antlerless only
- Nov. 22-30: Traditional fire arm season
- Dec. 1-10: Muzzleloader firearm only
- Dec. 11-14: Late firearm, antlerless only
- Dec. 24-Jan. 4, 2009: Holiday firearm season
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Keith Warnke, 608-264-6023
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2008 Nonresident Deer Applications Now Available
April 28, 2008
Application may be downloaded and mailed or made directly online
PRATT — The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks has announced that 2008 nonresident deer applications are now available online at the KDWP website, www.kdwp.state.ks.us. To apply directly online, click “License/Permit Sales” on the home page, then “Begin License/Permit Purchase.” To apply by mail, click “Other Services” at the top of the page, then “Publications” in the left-hand menu. “Application 2008 Deer Nonresident” should appear on this page. Click this link to download the application.
The 2008 Kansas archery deer season will run Sept. 22 through Dec. 31. The urban antlerless-only white-tailed deer archery season (Deer Management Unit 19 only) will run Jan. 5- 31, 2009. The urban firearm deer season (Deer Management Unit 19 only) will open Oct. 11 run through Oct. 19. The Muzzleloader-only season will open Sept. 22 and run through Oct. 5. The season for youth and persons with disabilities will run Sept. 13-21. The regular firearms deer season is Dec. 3-14. The extended white-tailed antlerless-only season will run Jan. 1-4, 2009.
Mailed applications for nonresident deer permits must be postmarked no later than June 2. For more information, phone 620-672-5911.
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