Last February, I brought you this story of a 17-year old boy who was suspected of shooting a bear at point blank range and killing it, leaving the bear’s three cubs to die from exposure. Officials found the bear on January 26 only three days after the boy had been in the area hunting. The kill was made with a 28-gauge shotgun.

Today, the boy pleaded to an admission of delinquency (similar to a guilty plea by an adult). The lad was sentenced to two years supervised probation, 100 hours of community service and was fined $500. The money will go to the state’s bear management program.

Officials say the teen was out rabbit hunting and shot the bear in the head while in its den.

Tom Remington

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has put together a plan to deer with the management of deer in heavily populated areas. You can visit the Game Commission’s website and view the entire plan here. Below is a list of some of their objectives.

1) Expand hunting opportunities and create an “Urban Deer Control Program” that allows for the taking of deer outside of the regular hunting seasons in developed areas, similar to the Agricultural Depredation Program (“Red Tag” program);

2) Discourage deer feeding and support local ordinances that prohibit deer feeding in developed areas with unacceptable levels of deer conflicts;

3) Develop a written agency policy on the use of deer fertility control agents, then review and update the policy as needed. While, no effective deer contraceptive program has been developed to effectively manage free-ranging deer populations, such as those in urban/suburban areas of the state, a comprehensive review of current literature and reports about ongoing studies needs to be conducted so the agency and the Bureau of Wildlife Management can be in a position to address the issue when it arises;

4) Increase availability of written, electronic, and web-based informational and educational publications and presentations concerning hunting and non-hunting deer management options in developed areas;

5) Create and develop a landowner/hunter database template to be used by communities and municipalities to identify available hunters; and

6) Provide an advanced hunter education course for hunters in developed areas.

Also available is the full agenda of the June 5 and 6 meeting of the Board of Game Commission. You can view the agenda here.

Tom Remington

Clark Allen of Jackson, Wyoming is a member of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission. He contends in a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency that oversees the National Elk Refuge outside Jackson, that elk were intentionally starved to death to further a political agenda. Refuge manager Barry Reiswig calls Allen’s accusations “ridiculous”.

Is this true? Are our officials doing this instead of using traditional methods of elk management like hunting and relocating the animals? I certainly hope not but it appears that a larger than normal number of elk, particularly calves, died this past winter while at the refuge. It should be noted here for those not familiar with the refuge, the elk are fed here and therefore the elk congregate in large numbers.

Hunters have long complained that they want more opportunities to harvest elk and the pressures put on management officials to maintain higher numbers for tourists and spectators are mounting.

With Allen’s letter to USF&W, hopefully it will prompt an investigation into the allegations. We cannot have officials starving game animals when there are far better methods of managing game herds.

For more on this story, go here.

*Previous Posts*

Politics and Wildlife Management – A Nasty Combination

Elk Number Objectives in Wyoming to Remain the Same

Wyoming Has Too Many Elk

Tom Remington

 

I have reported to you a few times (scroll for links to previous stories) about the ongoing debate in the affluent town of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Ridgefield is a small New England town located in the southwestern part of the state. A definate suburb of New York.

The town has an existing ordinance banning the hunting of deer anywhere within the town boundaries. Deer are overrunning the property, devastating the vegetation and Ridgefield now boasts the highest deer/vehicle collision rate anywhere in the Constitution State.

The Board of Selectmen in 2004 formed a committee to study what could be done about the deer problem. The committee returned saying the most effective and feasible way to deal with it is to open town property to hunting – mostly if not completely with bow and arrow hunting. A vote is necessary to overturn the town ordinance banning hunting.

And of course there are opponents to any kind of hunting and the debate and politics have raged since the announcement of the intent to open lands to hunting.

Tonight, Wednesday, May 31, 2006, voters will gather at the Veterans Park auditorium at 8 p.m. They will decide whether hunting will be allowed.

Proponents of the hunt are saying that the threat of the spread of disease is very high, that the costs to car owners and insurance companies is too high and that the deer are leveling expensive landscaping.

This is what the opponents have to say about hunting:

Opponents say that deer hunting is cruel, that bow and arrow hunting verges on the barbaric, and that hunting deer is not an effective way to reduce Lyme disease, which is carried by ticks that feed on a variety of mammals besides deer.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions and they have the protection of the Constitution to voice them as well. Their reasoning is skewed and hypocritical. They say hunting is cruel. Really? Watching deer starve to death isn’t cruel? Seeing deer collide with a human(s) in an automobile causing suffering injuries to both animal and human, isn’t cruel? Being witness to a member of your family suffering from Lyme disease spread by an over population of deer, isn’t cruel?

They say that hunting by bow and arrow verges on the barbaric. Really? Most people who spend more time, money and energy fighting more for the rights of animals than humans, also believe that abortion is an acceptible thing in our society. And that’s not barbaric? Progressive liberals often times have children or themselves for that matter, adorn themselves with tatoos and pierce their bodies with studs, chains and rings often in places I don’t want to mention. And that’s not barbaric? The very wealthy residents of Ridgefield hire butlers and nannies to raise their children. And that’s not barbaric?

Opponents say that reducing numbers of deer isn’t an effective way to reduce the threat of Lyme disease. Really? Statistics overwhelmingly show us that hunting to manage game populations, is the only long term effective way. Management of game populations, including deer, is essential to good health for the animals. How is this cruel, barbaric and not effective?

I’ll bring you the results of the vote tomorrow. In the meantime, if you are a resident of Ridgefield, crank up that giant SUV and get on over to the Veterans Park auditorium and vote.

*Previous Posts*

When Politics Rules Deer Management

Connecticut Town to Decide on Deer Hunt

Tom Remington

According to the statistics for the 2005 hunting season, Pennsylvania set a new all-time record for fewest percentage of hunting incidents on record. With nearly one million hunters visiting the woods in the Keystone state in 2005, there were 47 hunting related incidents, including three fatalities. In 2004 there were 56 incidents.

Twelve of the incidents were self-inflicted with one being a fatality. The majority of incidents, 35, were the result of one hunter being shot by another.

For a breakdown on the statistics, visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s web site.

Tom Remington

Tentative dates have been set in New York for the regular waterfowl hunting seasons and the Youth Hunt as well. Each zone has dates for the youth hunt – ages 12-15. The western zone will run from October 8 through 9, 2006, northeastern and southeastern zones September 23 and 24, 2006 and the Long Island zone November 11 and 12, 2006.

The regular waterfowl hunting season dates have been tentatively set but need to be approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Here are the dates by zone.

Northeastern zone – Oct. 7-15 and Oct. 25 – Dec. 14.

Southeastern zone – Oct. 14-22 and Nov. 11 – Dec. 31.

Western zone – Oct. 21 – Dec. 6 and Dec. 26 - Jan. 7.

Long Island zone – Nov. 22-26 and Dec. 5 – Jan. 28.

Most of New York will run a Canada goose hunt from Sept. 1-15, with a daily bag limit of eight with the following exceptions:

Lake Champlain Zone – Sept. 5-25 five geese limit and Long Island zone, Sept. 5-30.

You can get more information at the New York DEC website.

Tom Remington 

Coming out of Texas for waterfowl hunters.

A meeting to discuss waterfowl hunting regulations and seasons will be held 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. June 6 in Perrytown, Ark., near Hope.

The meeting will be in the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Regional Office, 7004 U.S. Highway 67 East, Perrytown.

 

The meeting is part of 11 sessions around the state.

The commission conducts the sessions asking for the public’s opinion concerning proposals for the 2006-2007 waterfowl hunting seasons.

Comments may be either verbal or written.

 

Written comments may be submitted at any of the meetings or mailed by July 31 to the AGFC, Attention: Waterfowl Hunting Regulations Proposals, 2 Natural Resources Drive, Little Rock, Ark., 72205.

For additional information, call 1-877-777-5580.

Tom Remington

Kansas Wildlife and Parks is reporting that last season there were 20 hunting related incidents compared to 26 in 2004. None of the incidents were fatal. Upland bird hunting accounted for over half of the incidents that occured.

Tom Remington

How do you keep the masses happy? That’s the million dollar question as the ongoing debate in and around Yellowstone National Park over buffalo rages on. This morning Laura Zuckerman of Reuters News Service has an article about the ongoing debate over how to keep tourists, ranchers, park employees, government officials, animal rights groups, and my pet dog Fido, happy.

History shows us that humans nearly wiped out the buffalo many moons ago but efforts to save the species has worked. There are several ranches that raise domestic buffalo but Yellowstone hosts the remaining pure wild buffalo.

The buffalo carries a disease called brucellosis that if infected into cattle, causes pregnant cows to abort dead fetuses. This can be devastating to ranchers.

In Montana, officials there, in efforts to protect the billion dollar ranching industry, kill any buffalo that range outside of Yellowstone onto Montana land. This angers buffalo advocates and animal rights groups as well as those who want to see buffalo roaming everywhere including downtown Billings.

The Governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, once a rancher himself, is trying to broker a deal that would appease as many as possible.

Schweitzer wants to expand the range the herd may roam outside Yellowstone National Park and would pay ranchers not to graze their cattle on the same land. He also has proposed increasing hunting permits for buffalo to up to 500 annually from 50 to help cull a Yellowstone herd that last year numbered 4,900, a record high since it was established in the early 1900s.

“I’m trying to come up with a solution that actually makes sense,” Schweitzer said.

Sounds like a solid socialistic remedy to me!

What is troubling is to listen to the buffalo rights advocates when they say that tourists spend more money and bring greater revenue to the state because they want to come and see wildlife, including the buffalo. Their implication is, to hell with the ranchers. Let’s force the ranchers out in order to save the buffalo at the expense of losing our cattle farms – something this country doesn’t need.

It would seem that the best solution is to find the middle ground somewhere in an effort to control the spread of the deadly brucellosis disease. Let’s not just slaughter the bison because they roam outside the park. If the buffalo are leaving the park, it must be because they are searching for more habitat – meaning there are too many buffalo congregated in too small and area. As always, hunting is the best long term method of control animal populations. Give the hunters the chance to work with state wildlife officials.

Tom Remington

Former Illinois Department of Natural Resources chief, Brent Manning, was at his camp in Schuyler County and decided to take a walk and look for a turkey. Manning possesses a lifetime hunting license with the state of Illinois but did not purchase a $15.00 tag for  turkey.

Once he had shot the turkey, he called the wildlife officers and reported that he had illegally shot a turkey. He said it was “an honest mistake”.

Please! Are you kidding me? A man who wrote the game hunting laws and he simply forgot to buy a turkey tag?

He paid his $75.00 fine and went on his way.

Tom Remington