Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Director John McCamman announced today that Californians will soon purchase hunting and fishing licenses using a real-time automated system. Especially developed for DFG, the Automated License Data System (ALDS) is already in place at DFG license sales offices. The system will be piloted at select license agent locations beginning the week of Sept. 20, with full statewide implementation expected between November 2010 and early January 2011.

“This system is the largest of its kind in the world,” said Director McCamman. “This long-awaited, long-requested system will provide an unmatched level of service to our license-buying constituents.”

Unlike automated systems in other states, California’s ALDS is a real-time system.

“A real-time system gives customers immediate access to our license inventory which will eliminate the need to visit a DFG office or wait for high-demand products to be issued via mail,” said James Fong, chief of DFG’s License and Revenue Branch. “For example, a deer hunter will be able to go to his or her local license agent and immediately purchase any available deer tag rather than having to mail in an application or travel to a DFG office to make the purchase.”

ALDS will provide numerous advantages to hunting and fishing license buyers. License Agents won’t run out of licenses and stamps, for example, and customers will be able to easily replace lost licenses at any license agent for a reduced fee.

“The advantages of this system go far beyond convenience,” said Fong. “Not only will we be able to improve customer service, but we will be able to use the information in the database to better manage wildlife and comply with federal grant requirements which translates into more revenue for our wildlife management and enforcement programs.”

During the first year of ALDS, customers should be aware that new requirements exist. For example, items issued through ALDS will be subject to a three percent surcharge for system maintenance. Also, customers must provide some form of legal identification and a telephone number when they first make a purchase through ALDS. Customers are able to purchase licenses for other people as long as the licensee’s prior year license is provided along with a driver license number. Without the prior year license, the purchaser must provide the licensee’s date of birth, legal identification number and type, address and physical description. If the purchaser does not have all of the licensee’s personal data, they can purchase a license voucher that can be redeemed for a sportfishing or hunting license at any ALDS license agent.

The new requirements will ensure a complete and accurate customer database, reduce the risk of fraud, improve DFG’s ability to better manage resources, provide more equitable outdoor opportunities and meet federal mandates that require complete customer data. Although customers may experience a slower license sales transaction time the first year, the process will be quicker in the future, as the customer’s information will already be in the system.

The license agents in the initial pilot of ALDS include:

* Brown’s Sporting Goods – Garberville, Calif.
* Kalina’s Hardware – Malin, Oregon
* The Tackle Box – Salinas, Calif.
* H & M Landing – San Diego, Calif.
* *Big 5 – El Segundo, Calif.
* *Walmart – Susanville, Calif.
* *Sports Authority – Temecula, Calif.
* Broadway Bait, Rod & Gun – Sacramento, Calif.
* Herb Bauer Sporting Goods – Fresno, Calif.
* Dom’s Outdoor Outfitters – Livermore, Calif.
* Diamond Sporting Goods – Ukiah, Calif.
* Floyd’s General Store – Bakersfield, Calif.
* The Grant Boys – Costa Mesa, Calif.
* *Bass Pro Shop’s Outdoor World – Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
* Half Moon Bay Sportfishing and Tackle – Half Moon Bay, Calif.
* Newport Landing – Newport Beach, Calif.

*This location only.

Traditional hunting and fishing licenses will still be available at non-ALDS license agents until the system is fully implemented statewide. Fishing licenses also continue to be available for purchase online at www.calicensetofish.com. Hunting licenses are expected to be available for purchase online in 2011.

To find a license agent near you, or to learn more about ALDS, please visit the DFG website at www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing.

Commissioners adopted rules that would allow the use of electronic calls for bears, mountain lions and wolves, and traps and snares for taking wolves in areas and with bag limits and seasons to be specified by the commission. The commission will set wolf seasons and limits during the August meeting in Idaho Falls.

They also adopted depredation hunts on black bears and wolves, and a provision that would allow hunters to take wolves incidental to hunting over bear bait, and extended the mandatory check-in for wolf hunts to 72 hours to report a kill and 10 days to check the skull and hide with Fish and Game.

They rejected the proposed bonus point program after several commissioners expressed their reservation about the program and the lack of clear public support.

The commissioners adopted a chukar and gray partridge season that will run October 1, 2011, through January 31, 2012, with a daily bag limit of six birds and a possession limit of 12 of each. They also moved the sage-grouse and quail seasons opening to October 1, effective in 2011. Starting next year, the chukar, gray partridge, quail and sage-grouse season will open October 1.

The commission adopted a forest grouse season opening August 30 statewide, and changed shooting hours for all upland game at CJ Strike, Fort Boise, Montour and Payette River wildlife management areas to 10 a.m., during the pheasant season, including youth hunts.

Other changes will:

Prohibit shooting upland game birds from any watercraft.

Prohibit use of telemetry or other electronic tracking to hunt game, except for use with hunting hounds or other sporting dogs.

Allow collection and sale of up to six rattlesnakes a year; a hunting license is required and only four snakes may be in possession at any time.
They postponed action on a proposal to establish standardized rules for placement of traps and snares to their August meeting in Idaho Falls.

In other action, commissioners awarded one bighorn sheep auction tag to the national Wild Sheep Foundation, and one bighorn sheep lottery tag to the Idaho chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation.

The commission also approved several proposals to be submitted to the 2011 Legislature, including:

Auction tags for existing and new big game species.

Restrict collection of wildlife from the wild without a permit.

Discretionary authority to create a mentored hunt program.

Access Permit and fees for designated Fish and Game lands.
Other ideas to consider for possible legislation included:

Allow the use of credit cards.

Discontinue use of social security number as license identifier.
The commission also approved providing funds to the Animal Damage Control Board as recommended by Fish and Game in accordance with state law.

The Fish and Game Commission meets again August 16 in Idaho Falls.

The early “green-field” hunts in seven elk management zones – Palouse, Weiser, Lemhi, Beaverhead, Pioneer, Snake River and Owyhee-South Hills zones – are meant to help landowners reduce crop damage.

Early archery hunts also start August 1 in the Snake River elk zone, and controlled green-field hunts also open in the Dworshak and Hells Canyon zones.

The green-field hunts are open only outside the National Forest Boundary and within one mile of cultivated fields. They help reduce depredation problems and control populations causing crop damage by harvesting or discouraging animals in specific areas or portions of units.

August hunts, however, bring concerns about waste. Hunters have an ethical and legal obligation to salvage the edible portions of their kill. But meat spoilage is an important concern during typical hot August weather.

The key to preserving meat is starting the cooling process quickly. Game animals should be skinned immediately and quartered in most cases and transported quickly to cold storage facilities. Early season hunters may consider using large ice chests to keep game meat cool and clean. Removing meat from the bones also helps speed cooling.

When cutting up the elk carcass, hunters must be sure to preserve the evidence of sex. If the head or antlers are removed, evidence of sex in the form of testicles, penis, scrotum, udder or vulva must remain naturally attached to the carcass or parts thereof until it reaches the final place of storage or personal consumption, or a commercial meat processing facility. Antlers or horns removed from the head must be left naturally attached to the skull plate where size, point or brow-tine restrictions apply, and they must accompany the carcass or parts thereof.

Hunters must have a valid 2010 Idaho hunting license and tag in their possession, and they are encouraged to review the 2010 Big Game Rules for additional details.

The Sheldon hunt will be open for two weekends Sept. 18-19 and Sept. 25-26. This is a permitted hunt, with 75 permits awarded by random draw available for each hunt by reservation only. The hunt is open to both residents and nonresidents. The daily limit is two and the possession limit is four for sage grouse.

Permit applications are available in PDF via the NDOW website (www.ndow.org). Applications must be received by mail or in person by 5 p.m. on August 6 at the NDOW headquarters office (1100 Valley Road, Reno, NV 89512).

“The Sheldon Sage-Grouse Hunt is a popular hunt with only 75 reservations available for an early and late season. Last year the Department received 389 applications for the 150 available reservations,” said NDOW game biologist Shawn Espinosa.

Both residents and nonresidents must have an upland game stamp and either a hunting license or short term permit to hunt while hunting upland game in Nevada.

The Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge is in northwest Nevada on the Oregon border.

Although the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced in March that it would place greater sage-grouse on the list of “candidate species” across its range in the 11 western states and two provinces, Espinosa reports that sage-grouse populations in the Sheldon NWR do support a hunt season.

“Sage-grouse lek count data collected from the Sheldon NWR sage-grouse population has shown an increasing trend from 1999-2009,” he reports. “We are very concerned with sage-grouse populations in general and if we determined that sage-grouse hunting was having a detrimental or additive impact on that particular sage-grouse population, we would recommend closing the season as we have for many other hunt units in the state.”

NDOW also reminds hunters to remove one wing from each sage-grouse taken as part of a long-term study of the state’s sage-grouse populations.

“We are interested in collecting data from wings collected during the two 2-day seasons,” said Espinosa. “This information provides us with recruitment and nest success data. In addition, we also were able to collect a substantial amount of blood samples last year that were submitted to the USGS Wildlife Health Center. These samples were used to analyze the effects of west Nile virus in 2009. From 2005-2009 the Nevada Department of Wildlife has collected and average of 122 wings annually.”

The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) protects, restores and manages fish and wildlife, and promotes fishing, hunting, and boating safety. NDOW’s wildlife and habitat conservation efforts are primarily funded by sportsmen’s license and conservation fees and a federal surcharge on hunting and fishing gear. Support wildlife and habitat conservation in Nevada by purchasing a hunting, fishing, or combination license. For more information, visit www.ndow.org.

New for the 2010 season in the Gunnison Basin are elk licenses that are specific for Game Management Unit 54. These licenses are available for purchase over-the-counter but with caps on the number available. There will be 500 either-sex licenses available on first-come first-served basis. General over-the-counter bull tags are no longer valid in Unit 54 during second season.

Hunters who wish to hunt in this unit during second season are advised to buy their licenses well before the start of the season.

Cow elk over-the-counter with caps licenses also are available in Game Management Units 25 and 26. These units are located north of I-70, approximately between Gypsum and Yampa.

Anyone who wants to hunt bears during the regular rifle season must hold a deer or an elk tag for the same manner of take, the same season and the same unit in which bear will be hunted. To properly manage bear harvest, all bear licenses for Colorado are area specific and limited in quantity.

To buy a license by phone, call 1-800-244-5613, or go the DOW’s web site at: http://wildlife.state.co.us/ShopDOW/AppsAndLicenses.
Hunters are encouraged to go on-line to buy these licenses.

Leftover licenses for all of Colorado go on sale Aug. 10. For more information go to http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/BigGame/Leftovers/.

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

Entries in this year’s first Super Hunt and Super Hunt Combo drawing must be received at the Fish and Game headquarters by May 31 with the drawing set for June 15.

The Super Hunt is a fund-raising drawing for 40 big game tags. The tags are handed out to winners in two drawings. Entries are drawn for elk, deer, pronghorn and moose tags. Winners can participate in any open hunt in the state for deer, elk, pronghorn or moose. That includes general hunts and controlled hunts.

Hunters may purchase any number and combination of Super Hunt and Super Hunt Combo entries.

The first Super Hunt entry will cost $6. Each additional entry purchased at the same time will cost $4 each. The Super Hunt Combo entries work the same way.

The first one costs $20, and each additional entry purchased at the same time will cost $16.

The first drawing is in June when entries are drawn for eight elk, eight deer, and eight pronghorn hunts as well as one moose hunt. One Super Hunt Combo entry also will be drawn that will entitle the winner to hunts for one each elk, deer, pronghorn, and moose.

The entry period for the second drawing is June 2 through August 11.

The second drawing is in August with two winners for elk, two for deer, two for pronghorn and one for a moose along with another Super Hunt Combo winner.

Winners can participate in any open hunt in the state for deer, elk, pronghorn or moose, including general and controlled hunts.

Entries can be purchased online at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/superhunt/, at license vendors and Fish and Game offices, by phone at 800-554-8685 or 800-824-3729, or by mail at: IDFG License Section, P.O. Box 25, Boise, ID 83707.

Money from the sale of entries supports the Access Yes! program, which compensates landowners who provide hunter and angler access to or across private land.

For information about this program contact local Fish and Game officials or visit the Website at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/ifwis/huntplanner/accessyesguide.aspx.

2010 Nonresident Deer and Elk Tag Quotas
As of:April 30, 2010
 

Applying for special big game hunting permits and licenses is a lot easier these days for the growing number of hunters who apply online at fwp.mt.gov . Click ” Apply for a Permit or License .”

Internet applicants receive instant confirmation that their applications are accepted and accurate. To avoid the one slip-up that can’t be detected, applicants should double check their desired hunting district numbers before and after entering them. Once submitted, the application can’t be changed.

Applicants will need a MasterCard or Visa credit card. A convenience fee of $1.25, plus two percent of the total purchase, will be added to the purchase price.

For those who don’t own a computer, Internet access is available at Montana’s 80 public libraries and 30 branch public libraries. Paper applications are available at all FWP offices and from most license providers.

Additional information about FWP’s $5 SuperTag lottery is also available online on FWP’s SuperTag Web page. The SuperTag chances are available for bison, moose, sheep, mountain goat, deer, elk, antelope, and mountain lion hunts.

Appl # Hunt # Result

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247590 ELK BONUS POINT ELK BULL Bonus Point Earned

247592 ROCKY MTN GOAT BONUS POINT ROCKY MOUNTABonus Point Earned

247589 DEER BONUS POINT BUCK DEER Bonus Point Earned

247591 DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP BONUS POINT DESERT Bonus Point Earned

247594 ROCKY MTN SHEEP BONUS POINT ROCKY MOUNT Bonus Point Earned

247593 MOOSE BONUS POINT BULL MOOSE Bonus Point Earned

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