West Virginia Wild

West Virginia DNR

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. – -(Ammoland.com)- Monday, January the 2, and the day New Year’s is celebrated by many throughout the state.

I had talked to two of my grouse hunting buddies the night before. The plan was to check the weather about 7 a.m. and make a decision about going grouse hunting that day.

I had already made my decision the night before. If the wind didn’t blow the dog off its feet and if the snow wasn’t over my knees I was going.

So, as planned, I checked the weather and made the calls. First response was that it was blowing pretty hard and when he was younger he would have gone. Second call brought the response that it was supposed to be nice the next weekend.

According to the weather channel, the wind was supposed to die down some around noon and the snow wasn’t really to start until about 5 p.m. or so. By the time I did a few things around the house, cleaned the kennel, got my hunting stuff laid out, it was noon. I loaded Snoopy, our young English pointer, and headed out to Preston County. I had hunted there a little before deer season and felt we had a good chance to find a bird or two before the snow started in earnest later in the afternoon.

As I drove east, the ground was covered with about an inch of snow on the higher slopes. Soon I was turning up the dirt road toward the top of the mountain where I wanted to hunt. The top of these mountains are laced with grapevines and dotted with autumn olive. In addition, there was plenty of sumac. All in all, there was sufficient food and cover for a mid-winter hunt. Snoopy was eager to go and finally I had the little bell fastened around her neck. I stuffed a few 28 gauge shells in my vest and dropped two in the AYA double.

Frank Jezioro & Snoopy Bird Hunting WV

The snow was picking up a little as we headed into the heaver cover. I decided to follow a little logging road through the woods as the road was lined with greenbrier, sumac and old slashing from the logging operation that went through there about five or six years ago. We hadn’t gone more than 100 yards or so when Snoopy really got busy. She knew there was a grouse there somewhere but just couldn’t pin down the scent swirling around in the wind. She was on the left side of the old road and I was concentrating on the logs and tree tops in front of her when the grouse went on the right side of the road. By the time I turned and located the bird it was about out of range and diving over the mountain.

I told Snoopy she was a good dog and that it was hard to pin these old birds when the scent was swirling around like that. Soon we crossed the old road and headed around the hill. By now the snow was coming pretty good and actually impacting visibility some. We were working toward a corner where the autumn olive was thick and interwoven with blackberry canes and greenbrier. Above all of it stood stag horn sumac. The heads of the plants were full and scarlet red. I could see song birds scurrying around ahead of us as they flew from the sound of Snoopy’s bell. One florescent red Cardinal really stood out against the snowy background. Snoopy was about 50 yards ahead of me and, just as she entered the tangle, she froze on an intense point. I moved toward her and, when I was about 10 feet from her, the snow-covered weeds under the sumac exploded with the thunder of grouse wings. The bird came out low and then started to hook to the right. I swung the gun, but was behind it when I fired the first barrel. The grouse continued on across the old road and this time I was just ahead of its beak when I pulled the trigger. The 1 oz. load of 7 ½s centered the grouse and it smacked into the hillside. Snoopy raced to the bird, scooped it up and raced back to my side. By now the snow was really starting to come down. We took a few minutes to get a picture or two and headed back for the truck.

Three grouse flushed and one in the bag after two hours of hunting made for a very satisfying afternoon.

As January moves on there will normally be days of snow and of sunshine. There will be cold and there will be warm afternoons. The wind will blow and it will be calm. The point is, there is a lot of good hunting and there is no more pretty time to be out than when we have a light covering of snow.

If you don’t hunt, it is still a nice time to be out even if you simply go for a walk or a hike.

The alternative is to be a couch potato and sit in front of the TV watching the Outdoor Channel. Me, I prefer to be out there doing it instead sitting around and talking about it.

GHG Pro Grade Wigeons

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

AUSTIN, Texas --(Ammoland.com)- High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Goose hunters enjoyed better decoying action near Dumas, Spearman and Amarillo with the snow and colder conditions.

Christmas Day brought four inches of snow on the High Plains which encouraged geese to decoy better.

Larger Canada geese are showing with frozen ponds in the northern states. Snow geese and Canadas are solid on roost ponds near Etter. Duck numbers continue to build in the Panhandle, with more mallards showing on playas. Many divers are hanging out on reservoirs and other deep water ponds. Feed lot ponds are good for gadwalls and wigeons. Recent snow runoff has put water in many dry playas. Outfitters have said hunter participation has been down. Prospects are good.

North Zone Duck: Duck hunters have taken good numbers of mallards in sloughs, creeks and river bottoms, especially with improved habitat conditions as of a result of recent rains, reported biologist Jared Laing. Colder weather and frozen waterways to the north have encouraged more mallards to cross the state line. Scouting has been crucial, said Laing, with birds moving about with more water on the ground. Canvasbacks and other divers have been steady on Lake O’Pines, Toledo Bend and Lake Fork. Backwaters around Sam Rayburn, Toledo Bend and the Sulfur River have produced good mallard shoots as well. Gadwalls and wigeons have been taken in shallow coves of lakes and reservoirs. Wood ducks have been steady at first light in wet timber. Hunting remained steady around the zone boundaries of IH-10 where some areas received 2-4 inches during the holiday weekend. Freshwater impoundments have held pintails, wigeons, shovelers and green-winged teal. Prospects are good.

South Zone Duck: The coast continues to produce steady duck shoots on the prairies, marshes and bays. Gadwalls, wigeons, shovelers and pintails have been steady near Eagle Lake, Garwood and Wharton. Most of the upper coast received 2-4 inches of rain over the holiday weekend. Sheet water has covered many dry rice fields which has encouraged ducks to work goose spreads. Bay hunters enjoyed steady shoots near Port O’Connor and Rockport. Solid shoots have come from the Lower Laguna Madre around Port Isabel and Port Mansfield. Pintails, redheads, bluebills, gadwalls and wigeons have made up the bags. Hunters in Trinity Bay have struggled the past few weeks as ducks are here today and gone tomorrow. Marsh hunters in Orange County have seen good numbers of gadwalls and teal throughout the season. Snow goose hunting has been good with wind and a low ceiling. Absent have been large concentration of small Canadas that take up the slack for call-shy specklebellies. Sandhill crane numbers are steady. Most cranes have been harvested by goose hunters in white spreads. Prospects are good.

Season/Bag Limits: The High Plains Mallard Management Unit runs Oct. 29-30, Nov. 4-Jan. 29, 2012. The North and South zones run Nov. 5-27 and Dec. 10-Jan. 29, 2012.

The daily bag limit shall be 6 ducks, to include no more than the following: 5 mallards (only 2 of which may be hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 scaup (lesser scaup and greater scaup in the aggregate), 2 redheads, 2 pintails, 1 canvasback, 1 dusky duck (mottled duck, Mexican-like duck, black duck and their hybrids are closed the first five days of the season in each zone). All other species: 6.

About:
The Mission of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (TPWD), is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Visit: www.tpwd.state.tx.us

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission

LITTLE ROCK, AR --(Ammoland.com)- There’s no shortage of waterfowl habitat across The Natural State, and while it’s good news for wintering waterfowl, the abundant water on the landscape is both a blessing and a curse for waterfowl hunters.

The increase in waterfowl habitat is good for the ducks because it provides plenty of places to feed and rest. But hunters may find that ducks are scattered in various locations.

Field reports from around the state indicate fair to good success among many hunters, but some of the same reports indicate good hunting success one day and then poor success the next. It’s likely a result of ducks having plenty of places to go to avoid hunting pressure.

The upside of the abundant rainfall is that most of the state’s wildlife management areas are full of water, providing ample opportunities for the state’s duck hunters. Current conditions are in stark contrast to last year’s duck season, when most areas had little available water, forcing hunters into smaller areas with more hunting pressure.

“During conditions like these, it’s important that hunters do some homework in the form of scouting,” said Luke Naylor, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission waterfowl program coordinator.

“We’ve seen in past aerial surveys that ducks often use non-traditional habitats during these conditions, so checking these types of areas can pay dividends for hunters willing to put in a little extra work.”

AGFC biologists are attempting to fly the state’s second round of aerial waterfowl surveys this week, but they’ve been largely unable to fly as a result of poor flying conditions, including thick fog in many parts of the state. Duck counts should be available next week pending completion of the survey flights. If weather conditions prohibit flights in the coming days, survey results may not be published until after Christmas.

Results from the November aerial survey may be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/AGFCaerialsurveys.
Several eastern Arkansas WMAs continue to have access problems as a result of high water levels. Details on road and ramp closures may be found in the capsule information in this report.

While this waterfowl report seeks to provide information that is as timely as possible, hunters should keep in mind there’s often a lag of two or three days between the time field reports are received and this report is published. Thus, actual water levels and percentage of flooded habitat may differ from what’s reported here. The AGFC encourages hunters to check stream gauges (links are provided at the end of this report) and physically scout potential hunting areas to determine actual field conditions.

To assist waterfowl hunters with the latest information, the AGFC provides links to sources on waterfowl location and abundance in Arkansas and other states. The links are available at http://www.agfc.com/hunting/Pages/HuntingWaterfowlReport.aspx#1.

This waterfowl report provides capsule information from agency staff in all corners of Arkansas and is updated each Wednesday throughout waterfowl season.

To receive the report each week on your computer, send an e-mail to arkansasoutdoors@agfc.com and type “Waterfowl Report – via Ammoland” in the subject line.

Sunrise/sunset tables are available at: http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/rs-one-day-us and in the Arkansas Waterfowl Regulations Guide.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

AUSTIN, Texas --(Ammoland.com)- High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Duck hunting has improved with recent rains and snow. The Panhandle received more rain early this week and snow is forecasted as well.

Good numbers of mallards, gadwalls and teal have been harvested, along with wigeons, mallards and gadwalls.

Goose hunting has been great, according to several sources, with best goose hunts coming over wheat and corn. Lots of Canada geese on Lake Etter. Snow geese have been mixed with darks. Outfitters have reported larger Canada geese have moved in to the region with freezing temperatures in the northern states. Prospects are good.

North Zone Duck:  Biologist Jared Laing said hunters have enjoyed good shoots for mallards in backwaters along sloughs, river bottoms and beaver ponds. Recent rains have drastically improved habitat in what had been a dismal first split of the season. Mallard action has been good along the Sulfur River and Red River bottoms. Gadwalls and wigeons have dominated the bag for the most part, but green-winged teal and divers have helped, too. Caddo Lake and Lake O’Pines are solid for divers, gadwalls and a few mallards. Lake Fork and Toledo Bend saw good shoots in shallow creeks and coves for mallards, canvasbacks, gadwalls and green-winged teal. Laing said the Neches, Sabine and Angelina rivers have improved with recent rains for mallards, gadwalls and wigeons. Hunting remains steady around the zone boundaries of IH-10 around Sealy, Brookshire, China, Winnie and Columbus. Lots of green-winged teal have filled the bag, along with gadwalls and shovelers. Prospects are fair to good.

South Zone Duck: Pintails, green-winged teal, gadwalls and shovelers continue to be the mainstay on prairie ponds near Wharton, El Campo, Eagle Lake, Garwood, Lissie and East Bernard. An influx of blue-winged teal moved through the region last week. Bay hunters enjoyed limits t near Port O’Connor and Rockport. Redheads have been steady and so have wigeons, pintails and gadwalls. Lower Laguna Madre hunters have shot steady limits around the Arroyo Colorado and Port Mansfield. Goose hunters continue to take advantage of a high percentage of juvenile snow geese. Foggy conditions last week yielded banner hunts. Specklebellies have become much tougher to decoy, most of the times skirting white spreads and snubbing boisterous calling. Sandhill crane hunters get their first shot Dec. 24, and numbers look good around roost ponds. Limited water has concentrated cranes in very large groups. Prospects are good.

Season/Bag Limits: The High Plains Mallard Management Unit runs Oct. 29-30, Nov. 4-Jan. 29, 2012. The North and South zones run Nov. 5-27 and Dec. 10-Jan. 29, 2012.

The daily bag limit shall be 6 ducks, to include no more than the following: 5 mallards (only 2 of which may be hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 scaup (lesser scaup and greater scaup in the aggregate), 2 redheads, 2 pintails, 1 canvasback, 1 dusky duck (mottled duck, Mexican-like duck, black duck and their hybrids are closed the first five days of the season in each zone). All other species: 6.

This service is provided to you at no charge by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

About:
The Mission of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (TPWD), is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Visit: www.tpwd.state.tx.us

Good Friends, Good Dogs, Good Hunting

Sportsman's Warehouse

USA --(Ammoland.com)- There is just something about a pointing dog that feels right, walking over a rise and seeing your dog standing tall in the cheat grass pointing wild birds is a feeling I will never get used to!

A group of friends and I took off up to Wyoming to hunt some of the vast expanses of land it has to offer.

We were going on an upland adventure chasing wild Chukars and Hungarian Partridge behind some good pointing dogs. Being from Utah we don’t have as many of birds so we were excited for the opportunity we had to go on this hunting trip so we could hunt these birds.

It was a bit colder than I am usually used to; temperatures were in the teens for most of the time and even dipped below zero for on one of the mornings! The first day action was fast and furious, we cut my new GSP pup “Sadie” a German Shorthair Pointer and my good friends Setter “Tug” loose and let them work the rolling hillsides. Within no time we had a covey of Hungarian Partridges pointed in a cheat grass and sage flat just above a small ridgeline.

The birds were hanging close to these small ridgelines and would bail off of them as soon as we flushed them, you had to be very quick on the gun or else they were out of range quickly. Being in Wyoming and the type of country was wide open with little trees where hunting usually calls for some bigger running dogs since you can see forever. Having dogs like the German Shorthair Pointer or a Setter that can cover some ground is critical for success. In two days of hunting we saw well over 400 birds and using about 300 shells we had the time of our lives!

After having fun chasing Chukars and Hungarian Partridges on the flats and ridges we decided to go chase some pheasants on some local WIA properties, my buddy James brought his young Springer “Boston” to get up some roosters for us! She is such a fun dog to hunt behind, so animated in her desire to find birds. We found a rooster that hit the ground running in the snow and went into a thick cattail wash; Boston hit that spot and nose to the ground and made a difficult retrieve on a wounded rooster.

In the end we covered a lot of terrain with our dogs, bagged three rosters, fifteen Chukars and about twenty-five Hungarian Partridges which we were really excited about.

Good Dogs, Good Hunting

It was one of the most memorable upland hunts I have ever been on. Being with good friends, good dogs, and with good hunting is very hard to beat.

About:
Josh Sutherland is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting in the Western United States. Visit: www.sportsmanswarehouse.com

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

AUSTIN, Texas --(Ammoland.com)- High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Goose hunters have enjoyed steady shoots for Canadas.

Outfitters have said goose numbers are solid, but hunter participation has been down. Best hunts have come over wheat and corn near Etter, Dumas and Spearman.

A few snow geese have been mixed with the darks. Peanut and bean fields around Abilene and Lubbock have held nice concentrations of dark geese.

Duck hunting has been fair to poor around Amarillo. Drought conditions have left little to no wet playas across the High Plains. Pheasant shoots have been fair. Numbers are down compared to a year ago. Sandhill cranes remain solid over plowed ground. Prospects are good.

North Zone Duck: The second-split opener was fair for most Northeast and Central Texas hunters. Any pond holding water held ducks, but those watering holes are few and far between. Reservoirs and lakes continue to hold the brunt of the duck population, but boat access has been limited due to record low levels on many waterways making boat ramps inoperable. Many hunters reported fair shoots on mallards and wood ducks in sloughs and rivers that are holding water. Caddo Lake and Lake O’Pines were fair for divers, gadwalls and a few mallards. The Sulphur River was fair for mallards, gadwalls and redheads. Hunting around the zone boundaries of IH-10 was good for shovelers, green-winged teal, pintails and gadwalls. Still, many more divers are holding on inland ponds than in years past, probably due to the lack of freshwater near coastal bay flats. Prospects are fair to good.

South Zone Duck: The second-split opener was solid along the coastal prairies and bay flats. Prairie hunters saw large groups of decoying pintails, shovelers, green-winged teal and gadwalls. The coast continues to suffer the effects of the drought, and only those with access to water wells have been able to re-pump freshwater impoundments. Bay hunters enjoyed limits near Port O’Connor, Rockport, Port Aransas and Port Mansfield. Jefferson County marsh hunters have shot steady limits of ducks despite a hypersaline marsh. Goose hunters have seen solid decoying action from a large juvenile snow goose flock. Dry conditions have many goose concentrations heading to water by mid-morning due to their inability to water in feeding fields. More flocks of Canada geese have moved to the coastal prairies with the recent cold fronts. Largest concentrations have been found around Wharton, El Campo, Eagle Lake and Markham. Sandhill crane hunters get their first crack at the large gray birds Dec. 24 and numbers are good, especially around roosting water. Reminder: hunters must possess the free sandhill crane permit to hunt. Prospects are good.

Season/Bag Limits:The High Plains Mallard Management Unit runs Oct. 29-30, Nov. 4-Jan.29, 2012. The North and South zones run Nov. 5-27 and Dec. 10-Jan. 29, 2012.

The daily bag limit shall be 6 ducks, to include no more than the following: 5 mallards (only 2 of which may be hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 scaup (lesser scaup and greater scaup in the aggregate), 2 redheads, 2 pintails, 1 canvasback, 1 dusky duck (mottled duck, Mexican-like duck, black duck and their hybrids are closed the first five days of the season in each zone). All other species: 6.

About:
The Mission of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (TPWD), is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Visit: www.tpwd.state.tx.us

Texas Migratory Bird Report No. 14

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

AUSTIN, Texas --(Ammoland.com)- Weekly migratory bird hunting reports are posted from early September through early February.

High Plains Mallard Management Unit: The recent cold front pushed more geese to the High Plains. Goose hunters enjoyed better decoying action near Dumas, Spearman, Etter and Amarillo. Limits of Canadas have been taken from corn and plowed ground. A few snow geese have been mixed with dark geese. A good juvenile hatch of snow should help when snows develop a feeding pattern. Specklebellies and Canadas continue to work in Knox and Haskell counties. Duck numbers continue to build in the Panhandle, with more mallards showing with the cool front, but water remains a premium. Few playas are wet, so most ducks have had to resort to feed lot ponds and larger reservoirs. Sandhill crane hunters have enjoyed great decoying action. Prospects are good.

North Zone Duck: The first split of duck season ended at sunset Nov. 27 and results across the region ranged from poor to fair. Lack of water was the culprit, as the region and the rest of Texas have been suffering from a record drought. Many areas of the North Zone did receive solid rain as the front blew through over the weekend, but backwater sloughs and bayous that are normally wet soaked up the moisture quickly. Gadwalls and wigeons have been taken in shallow coves of lakes and reservoirs. Divers are steady around Lake O’Pines, Sam Rayburn, Lake Fork and Toledo Bend, though boat ramp access has been limited. Hunting was good around the zone boundaries of IH-10, especially after the front as an influx of green-winged teal hit the coast. Freshwater impoundments have held pintails, wigeons, teal and shovelers and the weekend rains helped recharge freshwater impoundments. The second split opens Dec. 10.

South Zone Duck: Duck hunters along the coast enjoyed the best duck hunting in the state during the first split. The coast continued to produce steady duck shoots on the prairies, marshes and bays. Gadwalls, wigeons, shovelers and pintails were taken on the coastal prairies. Large wads of green-winged teal had been absent during the past week; however, wads of greenwings showed on the heels of the blowing north wind. Bay hunters enjoyed limits to near-limits around Port O’Connor, Rockport and Port Mansfield. More snow geese showed with the front, but large concentrations have been using isolated ranches with multiple roost ponds. A bumper crop of young snow geese have decoyed well over rag spreads. Rice fields have been best thus far. Specklebellies have readily decoyed, with unofficial estimates of 30-40 percent juvenile birds in the coastal population. Sandhill crane numbers are steady, but the season does not open in Zone C until Dec. 24. Hunters must possess the free crane permit to hunt sandhill cranes. The South Zone duck season reopens Dec. 10.

Season/Bag Limits: The High Plains Mallard Management Unit runs Oct. 29-30, Nov. 4-Jan. 29, 2012. The North and South zones run Nov. 5-27 and Dec. 10-Jan. 29, 2012.

The daily bag limit shall be 6 ducks, to include no more than the following: 5 mallards (only 2 of which may be hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 scaup (lesser scaup and greater scaup in the aggregate), 2 redheads, 2 pintails, 1 canvasback, 1 dusky duck (mottled duck, Mexican-like duck, black duck and their hybrids are closed the first five days of the season in each zone). All other species: 6.

About:
The Mission of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (TPWD), is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Visit: www.tpwd.state.tx.us

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

AUSTIN, Texas --(Ammoland.com)- Weekly migratory bird hunting reports are posted from early September through early February.

High Plains Mallard Management Unit: Decoying action has been solid for Canada geese over plowed, milo and corn. Strong numbers of birds have been seen near Dumas, Etter and Spearman. Good numbers of snows are on Lake Etter. Duck hunting has been hit-or-miss due to lack of water on playa lakes. Successful hunters have allowed ponds to rest longer between hunts. More ducks are using larger reservoirs than ever before. Sandhill cranes have readily decoyed over gray spreads. Prospects are fair to good.

North Zone Duck: Duck hunting remains fair at best. Lack of water in the region has encouraged ducks to keep heading south to find suitable habitat. More mallards have shown, but the brunt of the greenhead population has not arrived. Most sloughs and river bottoms are dry, but those with water are holding solid numbers of wood ducks. Gadwalls and wigeons have been taken in shallow coves of lakes and reservoirs. The diver population on lakes and reservoirs has been impressive since the drought has limited watering sources. Hunting remains best around the coastal zone boundaries of IH-10. Freshwater impoundments have held pintails, wigeons, shovelers and teal, but wildlife managers have had to pump water due to the dry conditions. More divers have been seen on the high ground since salinity levels are so high on the bays. The first split of the North Zone duck season ends at sunset Nov. 27. Prospects are fair.

South Zone Duck: The coast continues to produce steady duck shoots on the prairies, marshes and bays. Gadwalls, wigeons, shovelers, teal and pintails have been the species showing in bags. If you have water, you have ducks. Bay hunters have seen an influx of birds with limits of redheads, wigeons and pintails being the norm around Port O’Connor. Good numbers of birds were reported in Rockport and Port Mansfield, with pintails, wigeons and redheads making up the brunt of the bag. Prairie hunters are holding abnormally high amounts of diver ducks, probably due to the lack of freshwater near bay flats. Snow goose hunting has been solid in isolated areas with significant water to roost birds. A good number of juvenile snows have aided in solid decoying action over feeding fields. Specklebellies action has been impressive, with a bumper crop of young specks readily decoying over rice. Sandhill crane numbers are steady, though the large gray birds will not be legal to hunt until Dec. 23. The first split of the South Zone duck season ends at sunset Nov. 27. Prospects are good.

Season/Bag Limits: The High Plains Mallard Management Unit runs Oct. 29-30, Nov. 4-Jan. 29, 2012. The North and South zones run Nov. 5-27 and Dec. 10-Jan. 29, 2012.

The daily bag limit shall be 6 ducks, to include no more than the following: 5 mallards (only 2 of which may be hens), 3 wood ducks, 2 scaup (lesser scaup and greater scaup in the aggregate), 2 redheads, 2 pintails, 1 canvasback, 1 dusky duck (mottled duck, Mexican-like duck, black duck and their hybrids are closed the first five days of the season in each zone). All other species: 6.

About:
The Mission of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (TPWD), is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Visit: www.tpwd.state.tx.us

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Texas --(Ammoland.com)- Weekly migratory bird hunting reports are posted from early September through early February.

North Zone Dove: Grain fields of milo and corn have been the best producer in the Panhandle north of Amarillo. Mourning doves have been best in the afternoon on the edges of fields. Abilene hunters have had fair shoots in sunflowers. Red River hunters near Paris have seen fair shoots in milo, corn and soybeans. Many doves have found water around cattle troughs in the afternoon. Drought conditions have limited the amount of wet tanks and ponds, so any hole with at least a puddle of water have produced. The season runs through Oct. 23. Prospects are fair.

Central Zone Dove: Whitewings continue to dominate San Antonio fields of corn and milo in the afternoon as hunters have shot near-limits around treelines. High-flyers have trickled from South Zone fields near Uvalde. Katy, Hockley and Brookshire fields have been fair at best, and hunter participation has been scarce. Waller hunters saw better shooting this weekend as nearby South Zone fields were hunted, pushing mourning doves north to Central Zone fields. More whitewing showed around Sealy and Columbus over the weekend. Dayton and Beaumont fields have given up half-limits. The season runs through Oct. 23. Prospects are fair to good.

South Zone Dove: Best hunting came from traditional South Texas haunts in the Rio Grande Valley where whitewings have been good in milo, corn and wild sunflowers. Devine, Big Foot, Three Rivers, Fashing and George West enjoyed limit shoots. Hunters along the northern boundaries of the South Zone reported losing most of their birds just before the opener as high winds and rain blew through Wharton and Matagorda county fields, sending the brunt of the whitewing population to other pastures. The opener there was a lackluster one, but birds began trickling back by the end of the weekend. Mourning doves were solid near Palacios, Beasley, Lissie and Eagle Lake. The season runs through Oct. 30. Prospects are fair to good.

Waterfowl Migration: Teal season along the coastal prairies was arguably the best most hunters could remember, if you had ponds brimming with fresh water. Many hunters reported seeing more birds than ever throughout the entire 16-day season. A new wave of bluewings arrived last week which made the last weekend of the season just as fast as opening weekend. The largest concentration of birds were seen in Colorado, Wharton and Matagorda counties. Marsh hunting suffered due to low tides and a hypersaline environment brought on by the drought. The first trickles of specklebellies appeared this week. Teal hunters said they saw noticeably more big ducks like pintails and shovelers during teal season. Regular duck and goose season is set to open Nov. 5.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources

SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. --(Ammoland.com)- Hunters statewide can celebrate the beginning of dove season at noon Saturday, Sept. 3.

Long-awaited opening day is traditionally considered the beginning of the fall hunting season, and with the numerous wildlife management area hunts scheduled, it is the perfect opportunity to introduce children and grandchildren to the sport.

“Georgia has some fantastic public areas for dove hunters. In fact, many WMAs provide fields managed specifically for dove hunting opportunities,” says John W. Bowers, Wildlife Resources Division’s assistant chief of Game Management. “In addition to being the ‘kick-off’ to the fall hunting season, dove hunting is a prime time to introduce family and friends to hunting, as it typically is a fun-filled day.”

Most WMA public dove fields are quota only on opening day. As such, hunters are encouraged to review dove hunting rules and regulations to ensure the availability of the field they plan to visit.

The official 2011-2012 dove seasons are Sept. 3-18, Oct. 8-16 and Nov. 24 – Jan. 7. Shooting hours are noon until sunset on opening day (Sept. 3) of the first season and one-half hour before sunrise to sunset for the remaining two seasons. Sunrise and sunset times for each day are found in the 2011-2012 Georgia Hunting Seasons and Regulations guide or online at www.georgiawildlife.com .

The daily bag limit is 15 doves per hunter. Additionally, there have been some reports of white-winged doves in Georgia. White-winged doves may be harvested, but count toward the daily bag limit of 15.

Any autoloading or other repeating shotgun must be plugged to hold no more than three shotshells while hunting doves. As always, hunters must obtain permission from landowners before hunting on private property and please respect the land by cleaning up spent shells, leaving gates the way they were found and removing all trash.

Dove hunters 16 years of age and older must possess a Georgia hunting license and a free Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program Permit (HIP Permit). Those hunting WMAs also must possess a WMA license. Hunters may purchase licenses online at www.georgiawildlife.com , by phone at 1-800-366-2661 or at more than 800 license agent locations (list of agents available online).

For more information on dove hunting rules and regulations, public dove fields and conditions, or adult/child dove hunts, hunters should review the 2011-2012 Georgia Hunting Seasons and Regulations guide, available at www.gohuntgeorgia.com or at any Wildlife Resources Division Game Management office.

Updated and accurate harvest rate estimates facilitate the successful management of doves. As such, the U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Research Division and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in cooperation with several states, including Georgia, initiated a dove trapping and banding project in 2003. Hunters can participate in this conservation effort by examining harvested doves for bands and reporting band numbers to the USFWS by calling 1-800-327-BAND.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife Seeking Private Land to Lease for Public Dove Hunts: photograph by Chris Young.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Louisiana --(Ammoland.com)- The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is now seeking fields to lease from private landowners for the Sept. 3 opening of the 2011-12 dove season.

Since 1994, LDWF has leased fields for public hunting access on the opening day of dove season.

Suitable fields are recently harvested grain fields or freshly cut pastures that are 75 acres or larger. The fields should also be attracting large numbers of doves.

Lease payments vary based on the size of the field and range from $750 for a 75-acre field to $2,000 for fields over 500 acres.

The fields will be open to public dove hunting on Sept. 3 only and LDWF personnel will be present at the field to issue permits and monitor the hunt.

Hunters 16 years of age and older are charged $10 to hunt, while hunters 15 years of age and younger hunt for free.

Landowners seeking more information about the dove field lease program can contact Jeff Duguay at 225-765-2353 or jduguay@wlf.la.gov.

Arizona Dove Hunting Season Should Be Just Like The Good Old Days

Arizona Game and Fish Department

PHOENIX, AZ – -(Ammoland.com)- Arizona Game and Fish has turned back the hands-of-time for dove hunters, with the launching of the new 2011-12 Arizona Dove and Band-tailed Pigeon regulations that are now available online at www.azgfd.gov/dove.

“For those of us with a little gray hair, the upcoming September 1st dove season will feel like a hunt from the olden’ days, now that we can once again hunt on much of the open, undeveloped public lands within municipalities, such as Phoenix,” said Rory Aikens, a public information officer with the Arizona Game and Fish Department for the past two decades.

A number of changes have been made to the dove regulations that have removed many barriers to this Arizona hunting tradition, most notably:

• Hunting access re-opened to approximately a million acres of open uninhabited lands within municipalities
• Daily bag limit increased for white-winged dove to 10 birds
• Hunting hours extended until sunset statewide

The increased access is a result of two recently revised state laws. Those changes transferred the authority to regulate the use of firearms for the take of wildlife within municipal boundaries to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.

Because of these changes, dove hunters will no longer have to drive long distances to partake in this Arizona hunting tradition.

However, Game and Fish has taken a prudent approach in its deployment of these shifted authorities and has closed hunting in many well-defined, densely populated metro areas. The flip side of this for dove hunters, especially those in the Phoenix metro area, is you will now be able to easily determine where you can and cannot hunt doves.

The closed to hunting boundaries are well defined in the notes section of the 2011-12 Arizona Dove and Band-tailed pigeon regulations. For the Phoenix metropolitan area, there is a map showing where you can and cannot hunt. The area is bounded by readily discernable roadways or waterways, such as the Gila River, and is available at www.azgfd.gov/dove.

At first glance, these regulations may seem more complicated than in years past. However, with this one-stop resource comes some complexities. Hunters need to thoroughly understand the notes section before they go hunting.

“A perfect example are the lands along the Carefree Highway corridor, between I-17 and US Route 60. These lands are primarily wide-open desert, but they fall within the city limits of Phoenix and Peoria. Before the law change, it was illegal to discharge a firearm within city limits, making hunting in these safe, open, unpopulated fringe areas also illegal – that is no longer the case,” said Aikens.

In addition to the closed area descriptions, hunters are reminded of the quarter-mile law, and while that is a minimum, responsible, ethical hunters will find an area where there is plenty of open space in all directions to hunt, in order to prevent any conflicts with other recreationists or homeowners, and to have an enjoyable hunting experience.

The early dove season opens on a Thursday this year, and runs from Sept. 1-15, statewide, with a 10-bird daily bag limit of mourning or white-winged dove. Printed copies of the dove regulations are anticipated to be available the first week of August statewide at license dealers and Game and Fish offices.

Dove hunters are reminded they will need a general hunting license and an Arizona migratory bird stamp. Both are available online, at Game and Fish offices and licensed dealers.

Overall, dove populations are doing well in Arizona. Many farms are growing grains, including corn, which are excellent dove attractants. Working a corridor in these areas will bode well for many hunters.

In addition, monsoonal rains have been adequate throughout the state bringing much needed new growth to desert flora, another excellent dove attractant. Finding a lone water tank in these newly opened desert areas could also provide some fast wing shooting action.

In either case, success will come to those that scout their areas the weekend before they go hunting, as much can happen between now and that 3 a.m. wake up on opening day.

For more information about the recent law changes, the Phoenix metro no hunting map, a PDF copy of the dove regulations, or to buy your hunting license and dove stamp visit www.azgfd.gov/dove. Basic season information, boundary description, and other field reference facts are available for smartphone users at www.azgfd.gov/m.dove.

Looking To Try Dove Hunting?
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has teamed up with local sportsmen-conservation organization to offer “how-to dove hunt” events that are designed for kids and for first-time hunters. These events are a great way to get a “hands on” experience hunting doves.

• Sept. 4-5, Juniors Dove Hunt – Robbins Butte Wildlife Area near Buckeye – Game and Fish actively manages the land, and due to the water corridor it is rich with mesquite trees, wildlife food crops, and nesting habitat that attracts an abundance of dove (white-winged and mourning) and other wildlife. Pancake breakfast provided, hosted by the Chandler Rod and Gun Club, for details visit www.azgfd.gov/dove.
• Sept. 10, First-time Hunters Dove Seminar and Hunt – East Valley (Phoenix/Mesa/Chandler) – This is for first-time hunters for kids and adults. A safety seminar will be held on Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. and the hunt will be held on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 5 a.m. Some loaner shotguns and ammunition are available. Hosted by the Chandler Rod and Gun Club, contact David Carson at dcarson@azgfd.gov.

For a listing of other hunting events for youth and new hunters throughout the season, visit www.azgfd.gov/outdoorskills.

Cooking Your Harvest
After the hunt, you will have harvested a game bird that provides a rich, lean red meat, and when not overcooked it is superb in a number of recipes. When the meat is filleted off the breastplate bone, it offers even greater recipe adaptation. The type of seasonings and side dishes you choose can customize these common methods listed below greatly:

• Kabobs (dove and veggies)
• Wrapped and stuffed (bacon and hot pepper are common)
• Grilled (hot and fast)
• Sauté (garlic, teriyaki, etc.)
• Diced in chili (slow cooked with tomato base)

Dove hunting is a deep-rooted family tradition. When done properly, dove hunting is very safe, challenging, exciting, and provides a great meal.

When the season is over, clean and oil your shotgun, but don’t put it back into storage – the fall small game hunting season starts up Sept. 30, with quail, squirrel and more.

To get the latest hunting news, sign up for the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s e-news at www.azgfd.gov/signup and select Hunting Highlights and Wildlife News.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Louisiana --(Ammoland.com)- The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission set the dates for the 2011-2012 early migratory bird hunting seasons at their July 7 meeting.

These dates, recommended by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, are tentative pending U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval.

The proposed dove season is broken down into a north and south zone with each zone having three segments and includes mourning, white-winged, Eurasian collared and ringed-turtle doves. The dove season in the south zone would go from Sept. 3-11, Oct. 15 – Nov. 27 and Dec. 17 – Jan. 2. The north zone would be from Sept. 3-18, Oct. 8 – Nov. 6 and Dec. 10 -Jan. 2. The daily bag limit for mourning, white-winged and fully dressed Eurasian collared-doves and ringed-turtle doves would be 15 in aggregate and possession of 30 in aggregate. However, there is no bag limit on Eurasian collared-doves or ringed turtle-doves provided that a fully feathered wing and head remain attached to the carcass of the bird. Fully dressed Eurasian-collared doves and ringed turtle-doves (those without a fully feathered wing and head naturally attached to the carcass) shall be included in the aggregate bag.

The following boundary divides the dove season zones: Beginning at the Texas-Louisiana border on La. Hwy. 12; thence east along La. Hwy. 12 to its intersection with U.S. Hwy. 190; thence east along U.S. Hwy. 190 to its intersection with Interstate 12; thence east along I-12 to its intersection with Interstate 10; then east along I-10 to the Mississippi state line.

Blue-winged, green-winged and cinnamon teal season would last from Sept. 10 – 25 with a daily bag limit of four and a possession limit of 8. Federal and state waterfowl stamps are required to harvest teal.

Rail and gallinule seasons are proposed to last 70 days. The first segment would be open from Sept. 10 – 25. The other segment will be set in August with the regular waterfowl seasons. King and clapper rails would have a daily bag limit of 15 with a possession limit of 30. Sora and Virginia rails would have a daily and possession limit totaling 25. Common and purple gallinules would have a daily bag limit of 15 and possession limit totaling 30.

Under the proposal, woodcock season would last 45 days from Dec. 18 – Jan. 31. A three-bird daily bag limit and a six-bird possession limit would be allowed.

Snipe season will be set in August.

Shooting and hawking hours for dove, woodcock, rail, teal and gallinules are tentatively set for half an hour before sunrise to sunset, except for a 12 noon start time on the first day of dove season on Sept. 3, 2011.

Extended falconry mourning dove season would open from Sept. 19 – Oct. 4. Extended falconry woodcock season would open from Oct. 27 – Dec. 16 and will reopen from Feb. 1-11. The falconry daily bag limit would be three and possession limit of six birds for all permitted migratory game birds during the extended falconry and regular hunting seasons. Extended falconry seasons for ducks, rails and gallinules will be set in August with the waterfowl regulations.

For more information, contact Jeff Duguay at 225-765-2353 or jduguay@wlf.la.gov .

Browning Firearms

Morgan, UT --(Ammoland.com)- For 2011, Browning will introduce the new Bird’N Lite Upland line of outdoor apparel that features a weight distribution system that incorporates shoulder straps, fully adjustable side straps and a padded adjustable waist belt to help distribute a load of birds higher and balances weight between hips and shoulder for more comfort.

A Browning Bird’N Lite Lite Jacket and Vest will be offered as well as a Pant and Bird’N Lite Strap Vest.

All are constructed of rugged, lightweight cotton/polyester shell fabric in Khaki color with Blaze Shoulder overlays.

Browning Bird n Lite Strap Vest

The Bird’N Lite Strap Vest utilizes the patented Bird’N Lite Technology load bearing system that distributes the weight of heavy loads, making walking all those miles while upland hunting much more comfortable. It features a front-loading blood proof game bag with load stabilizing strap.

Lined handwarmer pockets are behind shell pockets. Suggested Retail $140.00.

The Bird”N Lite Jacket features oversized shell pockets with internal shell loops and snap closures.

It also has lined handwarmer pockets behind shell pockets, a zipper front, water bottle pockets and front-loading blood proof game bag. A transmitter pocket with antenna loop is also featured. Suggested Retail $162.00.

All Bird’N Lite apparel will be offered with Pheasants Forever embroidery as an option. New Bird’N Lite Vest, Suggested Retail, $116.50 and Bird’N Lite Pant, Suggested Retail, $81.00.

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

LINCOLN, Neb. --(Ammoland.com)- The Nebraska Game and Parks Board of Commissioners on Friday voted to expand the grouse-hunting season starting in 2011.

This year’s grouse season will be Sept. 1 through Jan. 31, 2012. Regulations previously called for the season to open on the Saturday nearest Sept. 15.

By making the change, Game and Parks is providing more hunting opportunity for a lightly hunted species and is aligning the dove and grouse season openers on a common date.

The board also approved a revised Focus on Pheasants plan. The plan seeks to create new focus areas and incentive programs to promote habitat improvements and to work with biologists to maximize effectiveness of habitat program delivery within those areas.

Also, the plan hopes to continue researching the amount of habitat needed to establish and maintain a huntable pheasant population, and it will try to secure more pheasant habitat through U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs.

Commissioners also approved the funding of $254,383.60 for eight grants through the State Wildlife Grant (SWG) program, which addresses the needs of declining fish and wildlife populations. Game and Parks allocates part of its annual SWG funding, distributed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to other conservation entities on a competitive basis, with awardees required to provide a one-to-one match. The awarded projects must be deemed a priority in assisting Game and Parks in implementing the Nebraska Natural Legacy Plan.

In other action, the board approved:

• Six grant applications for $658,350 in federal funding from the 2011 Recreational Trails Program (RTP) apportionment. The funds will be used by Game and Parks to administer the RTP and for educational projects, for trail signage by the City of Wayne, trail construction by the City of Deshler, Game and Parks’ renovation of the Cowboy Trail near Norfolk, and renovation of the Bison Trail by the City of Lincoln.
• Rankings of two 2011 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant applications totaling $90,000. Final approval would come from the National Park Service. Projects include a park renovation by the City of Bellevue and a swimming pool renovation by the Village of Hildreth.
• An easement to the Rural Healthcare Network of Nebraska at Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area for designing and building a fiber optic network that will connect several hospitals and healthcare clinics and provide technology and capabilities to the hospitals and residents of rural Nebraska.
• Changes to the policy and procedures of the Nebraska Hunter and Bow Hunter Education programs.
• The relocation of 100 black-tailed prairie dogs from Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge to Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary in Rock County.
• Elected Mick Jensen, Chairman; Ron Stave, Vice Chairman; and Norris Marshall, 2nd Vice Chairman.

Pine Creek Cliffs. This is the place I had to visit ... awesome, isn't it?

Scottlindenoutdoors.com

Bend, OR --(Ammoland.com)- Psychologists say a quality life has many “peak experiences.” I just had one, so life is getting better by the day.

Got to the place I’d been craving to hunt all season on a crisp, 15-degree day … shirtsleeve weather, if the shirts were made of polypropylene and wool. But weather wasn’t the point behind the epic hunt … instead, it was the setting, the dogs, the birds … WOW!

We snaked along a small-but-raging creek, the bed a tangle of willow, alder, cattails and wild rye. The valley quail were in scattered bunches, their heavenly scent wafting upslope to Buddy and Manny when they were running the top bank, clouding in the thicket to tempt them when they were busting the brush.

Points were rampant, often followed by covey flushes then the suspense of sussing out singles. Three weeks away from the hunt, the pup soon glommed onto his job, working independently of his uncle. Buddy was his usual incredible bird-finding self, ghosting from brush patch to willow thicket, crossing the creek confidently to seek and ultimately fly valley quail from their streamside hiding places.

Manny backed, even brought a few birds almost back to me. I remembered a lesson from trainer Doug Burnett, and gave them back for a few minutes. Dead bird soon lost its allure and he raced to the stream for more live ones. He leaped cross-creek with abandon, bird scent beckoning.

A wild flush at my feet was quickly followed by a shot and Buddy was all over it. Then, silence. He didn’t return from where it dropped. I hustled over to find both dogs on point, a dead quail in Buddy’s mouth. One bird flew upstream and soon fell to the gun’s report. That triggered another flush from the same sagebrush, the cockbird rocketing downstream until it splashed it into the creek at my shot.

I caught my breath, looked at the robin’s egg blue sky, the massive stone pillars watching over us, two panting wirehairs at my side, and two brilliantly-colored quail in my hand. Time to go, as it couldn’t possibly get any better.

About:
Linden Media Mgt. LLC was founded in the personal experience of Scott Linden, a city slicker made good by fresh air and wild places. A mid-career epiphany/introduction to fly fishing pushed Scott off the edge, a tumble that now includes dog ownership, multiple shotgun purchases and fanatic bird hunting. For more details visit www.scottlindenoutdoors.com.

The vet recommended a week of rest ... like that was gonna happen.

Scottlindenoutdoors.com

California --(Ammoland.com)- Put yourself in my place. What would you have done?

I had high hopes on our return to Flying Double F ranch near Vale, Oregon, the next location for Wingshooting USA. And ultimately, we were rewarded. We redefined run-and-gun, covering miles of ranch property to hunt honey holes ranging from standing corn to streambeds, sagebrush slopes to CRP.

A week of rest? Whatever you say, boss!

We alternated host Jim Farmer’s pointers with Manny and Buddy in tandem, until the pup yelped and I scrambled down a ditch bank to unhook him from the barbed wire fence. A quick glance, no damage and back to the pheasants. Or so I thought.

Manny and Buddy tracked ringnecks up and down the ditch, through the fields, and into a cattail swamp where the one close bird snuck out and under a gigantic irrigation pipe.

We trekked up a steep, crumbly desert slope, huffing and puffing after a covey of chukars that flushed wild. Around the ridge and down a draw and there they were! Jim’s son James put the hurt on one, brought to hand by Buddy. The leavings doubled back, and on our return trip James flushed them, dropped one of the gray rockets while I did an artful pirouette and brought down another.

Sometimes on hands and knees, we snuck through the hardwoods and dog-hair-thick willows along Bully Creek. Valley quail escaped well in front of us until James called a covey milling nervously, pittt-pitting under a tall cottonwood. They broke left and jinked right, squirting through the leaves and over the creekbanks on both sides. One finally dropped to my shot.

Another sneak up a lava-bed slope and a big covey of valley quail ran like track stars, then flushed wild but in gun range. James doubled left and right and guess what? So did I.

Back at the ranch I had a closer look at Manny’s thigh. Yuck. Three inches of wide-open gash, loaded with weed seeds. No blood, but the slice went to muscle. Cleaned and slathered with antibiotics, and the Monday morning quarterbacking started. Why hadn’t I seen it when I picked him off the fence?

One sleepless night later, I decided consulting a nearby veterinarian was worth stopping our shoot. Manny was a trooper as he got his first stitches, with an audience in attendance, no less. The vet recommended a week of rest … like that was gonna happen. The Awesome Upland Road Trip was just getting into high gear.

Wingshooting USA Starts on Pursuit Channel New Year’s Day at 6:30 p.m.!

If you couldn’t get enough on VERSUS, here’s your chance. We launch on the Pursuit Channel Jan. 1, and air every Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST. Great hunting action, tips from the experts, fun and games and the most beautiful bird hunting places in the nation are all on Pursuit for 2011. On DirecTV that’s Channel 608. Pursuit is also carried by dozens of cable systems, so check your local listings. Watch and learn, enjoy the edge-of-your-seat points, shots, and flushes!

Wingshooting USA Starts on Pursuit Channel New Year’s Day at 6:30 p.m.!
If you couldn’t get enough on VERSUS, here’s your chance. We launch on the Pursuit Channel Jan. 1, and air every Saturday at 6:30 p.m. EST. Great hunting action, tips from the experts, fun and games and the most beautiful bird hunting places in the nation are all on Pursuit for 2011. On DirecTV that’s Channel 608. Pursuit is also carried by dozens of cable systems, so check your local listings. Watch and learn, enjoy the edge-of-your-seat points, shots, and flushes!

About:
Linden Media Mgt. LLC was founded in the personal experience of Scott Linden, a city slicker made good by fresh air and wild places. A mid-career epiphany/introduction to fly fishing pushed Scott off the edge, a tumble that now includes dog ownership, multiple shotgun purchases and fanatic bird hunting. For more details visit www.scottlindenoutdoors.com.

Sage Grouse

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

GLASGOW, Mont. --(Ammoland.com)- Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) has developed a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed action of trans-locating up to 40 sage grouse from northeastern Montana to the Canadian province of Alberta.

In Canada sage grouse are classified as an endangered species, and Canadian wildlife officials say sage grouse numbers in southeastern Alberta have declined about 80 percent since 1970. In fact, fewer than 100 male birds have been observed annually on southeastern Alberta breeding display sites, commonly known as leks, since 1992.

Biologists say Alberta sage grouse numbers are continuing to decline. The proposed translocation is intended to counter further population losses or extirpation of the Alberta sub-population.

According to FWP Region 6 Wildlife Program Manager Mark Sullivan, the Montana sage grouse potentially would be captured in various locations in southern Valley and Phillips counties and then moved to suitable silver sage brush habitat in Alberta where the native birds are still found.

Alberta Sustainable Resource Development (ASRD), a ministry within the provincial government, is requesting up to 40 sage grouse from Montana to be translocated in the spring of 2011. All captured and released birds would be fitted with GPS radios allowing Canadian biologists to follow the birds and determine their survival and reproductive success.

Contingent on the first year’s success, more sage grouse potentially could be moved to Alberta in the future. Any additional translocation efforts would require separate environmental reviews.

Sullivan said the Canadian birds are often closely associated with the northern Montana sage grouse. Sage grouse habitat also has improved at the proposed transplant site. Modeling projections, based on decreasing oil and gas activity, show that habitat conditions will continue to improve well into the future, so the proposed translocation would be biologically sound, he said. Sullivan added that information gained from this study will also be useful in other areas where translocation may be considered.

Surveys show there are 202 known sage grouse leks just in FWP Region 6 alone. Sage grouse populations are monitored by counting male sage grouse on leks. Across FWP Region 6 there has been an average of 22.8 male sage grouse observed per lek over the past 10 years and an average of 20.5 males observed per lek over the past 20 years.

In the big sagebrush habitat of south Phillips and Valley counties, 21 sage grouse leks have been routinely monitored and average 37.5 males per lek over the past five years.

“Sage grouse numbers in northern Montana have been stable, and we are confident that the proposed translocation of these birds to Alberta will not harm the population here,” Sullivan said.

The Draft EA will be released for public review on Dec. 14, and the public comment period on the proposal will run until Jan. 14, 2011. A final EA and formal record of decision is expected to be completed on Jan. 21. If approval of the proposal is recommended, the FWP Commission will consider the translocation request when it meets on Feb. 10.

The Draft EA will be available online at: fwp.mt.gov . Printed versions of the document can be obtained by contacting the Region 6 office at (406) 228-3700. Written comments can be mailed to: Sage Grouse Comments, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, 54078 U.S. Highway 2 West, Glasgow, MT 59230 or to jelletson@mt.gov by electronic mail. Comments also can be made by going to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RTVVNZM

Scottlindenoutdoors.com

California --(Ammoland.com)- Greetings from California, the first leg of our third annual Awesome Upland Road Trip. Tad, Lynn, Buddy, Manny and I are traveling the west this fall, making shows for next year’s Wingshooting USA television series.

We’re getting tons of great hunting – exciting footage of valley quail, pheasants, sharptails, bobwhites … just about anything shootable (I even shot a mallard!) and I’m hoping you will enjoy the programs next year.

Scott Linden Bird Hunting with Manny

In the meantime, please visit my blog and find out where we are, where we’re going, and maybe you’ll be inspired to go there or somewhere, one more time this season.

Watch some videos, get some behind-the-cameras insights, add your comments, download the free Ultimate Upland Checklist, and possibly even learn something!

From California to South Dakota, there’s something for every upland hunter and bird dog enthusiast … guaranteed, or your money back!

About:
Linden Media Mgt. LLC was founded in the personal experience of Scott Linden, a city slicker made good by fresh air and wild places. A mid-career epiphany/introduction to fly fishing pushed Scott off the edge, a tumble that now includes dog ownership, multiple shotgun purchases and fanatic bird hunting. For more details visit www.scottlindenoutdoors.com.

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife reminds young hunters that the popular Take a Kid Hunting programs are in full swing for the fall 2010 season, and more excitement is on the way with Youth Pheasant and Upland Bird hunt day scheduled for Saturday October 30.

The Take a Kid Hunting Program offers youth hunters the opportunity for quality hunting experiences that are valuable in shaping their appreciation and enjoyment of hunting. The youth hunting programs provide special days when families, friends and more experienced hunters have the opportunity to share their hunting skills and outdoor knowledge with a new generation of hunters.

The shared knowledge and memorable Youth Day hunting experiences increase the likelihood of young hunters choosing to continue to hunt as they grow older.

Pheasant Hunt
The Take a Kid Hunting Pheasant Hunt allows properly licensed youth hunters to hunt on one of ten stocked Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) on Saturday October 30. The Division Fish and Wildlife will stock approximately 2,000 pheasants on the designated WMAs for both guided and non-guided pheasant hunts.

The popular guided pheasant hunts offered through a cooperative arrangement between the Division of Fish and Wildlife and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs are all filled and registration is closed. These hunts are offered on the Whittingham, Black River, Clinton, Assunpink, Colliers Mills, Millville, Peaslee and Winslow Wildlife Management Areas only. All pre-registered guided hunt participants must be accompanied to the check-in by a parent or guardian. Parents or guardians are welcomed and encouraged to follow the hunters through the fields.

The Flatbrook and Glassboro Wildlife Management Areas will be stocked with pheasants for youth hunters who are not signed up for a guided hunt on the other WMAs. Flatbrook and Glassboro will be open all day for youth to hunt pheasant under the direct supervision of a properly licensed, non-shooting adult 21 years of age or older. Additionally, the eight WMAs where the guided hunts are scheduled are open after 1:00 p.m. for all youth hunters. Plenty of stocked pheasants remain after the guided hunts on these WMAs and afternoon hunts can be productive and enjoyable for youth hunters.

Upland Bird Hunting Day
The Youth Upland Bird Hunting Day provides a great opportunity for hunters belonging to semi-wild preserves to introduce youth hunters to upland bird hunting without competition from adult hunters.

Youth hunters with a valid youth license, under the direct supervision of a New Jersey licensed, non-hunting adult 21 years or older, will be permitted to hunt on licensed semi-wild hunting preserves on this day. Youths may hunt for pheasant, quail and/or chukar from 8 a.m. to sunset on October 30.

Information on all of the Take a Kid Hunting programs is provided in the August 2010 Hunting and Trapping Issue of the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife Digest, which is available at license agent locations or online at www.njfishandwildlife.com/dighnt.htm.

Argentina Dove Hunting - Do you Have What It Takes

Sporting Classics Magazine

Columbia, SC --(Ammoland.com)- by Roger Pinckney: Down at the Plaza de Mayo, the Argentines are beating each other with sticks.

The Peronists have stormed their own headquarters and will not come out until they call a bomb threat on themselves.

We are a couple of miles away at El Aeroparque Jorge Newberry, and the pilots are on strike.

Argentine pilots have not been paid in two weeks, but we are flying LAN Chile. There is no great love lost between the nations. Argentines tell you they are the steak and Chile is the bone for the dogs. If I told you what the Chileans say about Argentines, they would not print it here. So LAN will keep flying, but late. Instead of shooting birds in Cordoba, we are wishing it wasn’t too early for Senor Jack Daniels.

Me and Claudette, my second trip, her third. Two hours later there is a stirring at the gate, an Airbus making ready to load. No jetway here, downstairs, across the tarmac and up a ladder. The guncase goes up the conveyor and thumps into the cargo bay.

Bringing your guns to Argentina? Not for the harried, hurried or the faint of heart. You send your outfitter the numbers six weeks in advance and he generates the papers on his end. Somebody meets you at the gate and escorts you to an office where special police check serial numbers and collect a hundred bucks a gun, more if they feel like it. A deal if you figure it by the page, the artistic flaring fancy wristwork in stamp, stamp, stamping each individual sheet half a dozen times. Argentines, weary of coups and threats of coups, keep a close eye on guns coming into the country.

We have a side-by-side and an over-under, two high-grade Merkel 20s. Merkel was among the German gunmakers who wound up on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain. The Reds consolidated all the companies into one grand firearms collective to make shotguns for high-rolling Comrade Commissars. When the wall came down, Merkel reorganized and moved into the western market. And that’s where we come in. We’re taking Merkels to a land where Benellis and Berettas rule. We will see how they hold up.

But we have to get there first. A bus from the estancia meets us at the Cordoba airport. We are late, but earlier than the sole Argentine flight, which delivers a contingent of Texans.

“What yall got in the box?” one wants to know.

“Merkels,” I say.

“Myrtles?”

This country looks like eastern Montana, broad flat fields, checker-boarded by fence-rows and hedgerows with a line of ragged blue hills in the distance, but the cowboys hanging around the crossroad cantinas wear berets, not Stetsons.

One town short, there is a barricade of tires, pallets and sections of drag-harrow, teeth up. Dour campesinos are standing around with sticks.

“Do not worry, senores,” the driver says, “it is only the farm protest.”

The campesinos thrust leaflets through the windows, wave us on.

We arrive at Estancia Los Chanares in time for lunch. Lunch is a serious undertaking in Argentina and will burn up about two hours. Fresh bread, an extravagance of salad, potatoes, steaks, ribs, dove breasts, wine, wine, wine and finally homemade ice cream and fruit cobbler. We waddle from the table and get introduced around.

Alex, a Columbian and lifelong hunting guide, runs the lodge. His wife, Jessica, a veteran restauranteur from Buenos Aries, runs the kitchen. Martin organizes the shoots, ramrods the bird boys and fixes the guns when they need fixing, which is more often than you might expect.

Most estancias offer shooting wintertimes to help spread out the pesos – and to thin flocks that can easily flatten a grainfield in an afternoon. But Estancia los Chanares manages crops for the birds, instead. The lodge is grand enough for any exiled ex-presidente, white stucco, fireplaces everywhere, formal gardens, swimming pool, red tile roof and red tile floors. The fields are angular and irregular, troublesome for agriculture but perfect for food plots. All around are rotten stone hills of impenetrable thornbushes – chanares – hence the name of this distant, obscure and excellent place.

We meet our bird boys at the first stop, Hugo and Juan, brothers in their early 20s, swarthy, beady-eyed and diligent. Two cases of shells, two field-seats, two coolers of water and Quilmes, the favored local brew, feed sacks for the birds and the empty shells.

They lead us to a makeshift blind strung between two thorn trees. They break out the shells – Orbeas made right up the road in Tucuman – and we break out the guns. Hugo and Juan tip boxes and the shells rattle into our vest pockets.

I learn a lot that day. You can only shoot one bird at a time. A ventilated rib is a radiator. Your gun will cool faster open and propped vertically against a convenient tree. Finally, don’t forget your shooting gloves. Splat – blood across my glasses. The new checkering has worn the hide right off my thumb.

“You boys got any band aids?”

“No, senor, but Martin will have them when he brings more shells.”

“More shells?”

“Si, senor, these two cases will not last you so long.”

Winter daylight comes late in these latitudes. Reveille at eight, a bounteous breakfast at 8:30. Alex and I linger over coffee.

“How many birds do you have?”

He smiles. “Twenty millions? Forty millions? Who knows? We have the largest dove roost in all of Argentina.”

We ride to the morning shoot with a new arrival, Harvey Alexander from London. He’s ecstatic.

“I can fly first class from London to Buenos Aires and shoot here for less than it costs me to shoot driven grouse in England!”

We find Hugo and Juan on a foot-trail atop the brow of a long hogback ridge. There is a brightening field on one side, thornbush tangle on the other. After the pickup rattles away we notice a sound persistent as distant surf, as if the earth itself is breathing. Millions upon countless millions of doves are cooing up the morning. Already the air is full of them and the green hills echo with the crackle of gunfire.

But how many doves can a man shoot? How many birds does a man want to shoot? Last year another Texan tried to figure it out. He shot 6,016 doves in 11 hours using three extended magazine Benellis. He kept three bird boys busy, two loading, one counting. Not sure of his shell bill, his hospital bill either.

A couple of hours into it, Claudette cusses. A fine screw in the forend hardware has worked itself loose.

“Y’all got a screwdriver?”

“No, senor, Martin will bring when he brings more shells.”

I sit crosslegged in tall grass and pull the forearm off the gun. The screw retains a cam that cocks the top barrel ejector.

“If we can’t get us a screwdriver, we won’t need more shells.”

“No problemo, senor,” Hugo says and pulls a battered jack knife from his jeans.

I baby the screw with a thumbnail instead. My nail splits, but the gun will shoot.

We break for lunch, I peel the forend again and pass it to Martin. He returns it with ceremonial flourish right at the table, along with an eyeglass screwdriver, custom ground to fit the fine Merkel screw. Back in business, for awhile anyway.

A couple dozen boxes into the afternoon shoot, the double bellers and slaps my already pulverized shoulder twice as hard as expected. I reckon somebody in Tucuman got careless with his powder dipper. Juan comes to my side, looks over my battered shoulder as I puzzle over the gun.

“It has fired twice, senor.”

He’s right. “Martin!”

On our way out of the fields, we pick up one of the Texans holding what’s left of a semi-auto. The receiver literally fell apart in his hands.

“I was hoping to shoot a thousand birds today,” he bemoans, “but damnit, all I got was seven-fifty.”

Nothing serious. An aluminum receiver with egged-out holes. The pins that secure the trigger group fell into the thorn tree leaves. Martin has a zip-lock of them back at the estancia.

I quiz Martin. “How many rounds been through that gun?”

He shrugs. “In two years, maybe fifty thousand.”

“Fifty thousand? How do your over-unders stand up?”

“They break hammers around sixty thousand. I can adjust them, but then they break springs.”

“What’s the absolutely toughest gun?”

“The Browning Citori, senor. But the firing pins erode . . .”

Clang, clang, bang. A wind is roaring down the Andes and every rattly piece of metal, every gate, every loose board for a hundred miles is picking up the lunatic rhythm. Clang, clang, clang. I ease out of bed and pad down to the great room looking for coffee. Harvey Alexander, the wandering Britt, is hooked over a Cuban cigar and his cell phone. The cigar works, the phone doesn’t.

I leave my doubling Merkel on the gunrack and hornswoggle Martin out of one of the house guns, a Beretta Silver Pigeon 28. It’s only a year old, the checkering has worn right off the stock, but it functions flawlessly. And Brothers and Sisters, I am here to testify that you can kill the hell out of doves with a 28. I drop the first 16 straight. I tell you this not to brag, but only so you can share my astonishment. Forty yards, sixty yards, doesn’t matter. Deadly beyond belief.

Claudette is shooting the Merkel over-under and besides having to keep after the troublesome screw, she is dropping birds left and right. But the wind is still ripping. We are shooting from a hole hacked out of the thornbushes halfway down a steep ridge. Birds careening downwind are just an impossible blur. Upwind it’s a little better. Upwind or down, the birds can’t see us until they are right on top of us. But we can’t see them either and have only about two seconds to mount, swing and fire.

Maybe you never reckoned wingshooting an endurance sport, but here in Argentina it is. Three days and it shows.

Poor us, too tired to shoot anymore. We let the guns cool down one last time, crack a Quilmes. Back at the estancia, they have a fire roaring in the outside pit and the liquor is going down.

“The girls are coming out from Cordoba,” Alex announces.

“Who wants a massage?”

Eighteen hands in the air.

The bus is idling in the driveway. We powwow with Alex and settle our shell bill, painful at ten bucks a box. That’s the way they do it down here, turn you loose in a blizzard of birds and keep careful count. Between the two of us, we have downed a thousand birds, an affront, an insult, a mockery. But Alex acknowledges our sensibilities.

“We have a couple from Sweden who come every year. They enjoy themselves but will only shoot five hundred birds each,” he pauses, then adds, “a day.”

Halfway to the airport, there is a monumental jam of trucks and cars and buses. The campesinos are still at it. Our driver hooks a hard right and takes us cross-country. After three or four miles eating dust, we are clear of the campesinos and on the main road again.

Back at our Buenos Aires hotel we are met by a harried bell captain who passes us a printed notice:

“There are some issues of local concern that have prompted rallies at the Plaza de Mayo . . . ”

We wake next morning to a rumble as pervasive as ten million doves cooing, heady as a wind coming off the Andes. Fifty thousand campesinos have bolted the pampas and are heading to the Plaza de Mayo. Busloads after countless busloads. Musicians on the back of flatbed field trucks. Funky little Fiat sedans with blaring loudspeakers big as the cars. Meanwhile, the government has laid off their legions of clerks, paid them 200 pesos each to go protest the protesters.

Claudette considers the proceedings and then glances at the clock.

“We have a couple of hours to kill. Let’s slip off to some sidewalk cafe and get us one good last meal before things bust loose.”

Just a snack, a dozen poached shrimp on a bed of lettuce, tomatoes and avocadoes, home-baked bread and the obligatory local wine. Then a series of low concussive thumps comes rolling over the rooftops.

“Hey waiter, what’s all the racket?”

He wrings his hands, mops his brow and looks uneasily off into middle distance.

“Please do not worry, senor. It is only the tear gas bombs.”

Ah Argentina, I have what it takes to love you, a little money, a little Spanish, a little patience, and a great sense of humor . . .

Editor’s Note: Roger Pinckney happily reports a drop of lock-tight fixed the over-under and there was nothing at all wrong with the side-by-side. His hand was so swollen, it crowded the selector button to middle position allowing both barrels to fire simultaneously.

Sporting Classics Magazine Sept/Oct 2010

About:
Sporting Classics is the magazine for discovering the best in hunting and fishing worldwide. Every page is carefully crafted, through word and picture, to transport you on an unforgettable journey into the great outdoors.

Travel to the best hunting and fishing destinations. Relive the finest outdoor stories from yesteryear. Discover classic firearms and fishing tackle by the most renowned craftsmen. Gain valuable knowledge from columns written by top experts in their fields: gundogs, shotguns, fly fishing, rifles, art and more.

From great fiction to modern-day adventures, every article is complemented by exciting photography and masterful paintings. This isn’t just another “how to” outdoor magazine. Come. Join us! Visit: www.sportingclassics.com

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

AUSTIN, Texas --(Ammoland.com)- Weekly migratory bird hunting reports are posted from early September through early February.

North Zone Dove: This week’s front should bring new migrants to the region, however, as oft is the case, hunter participation slows down in October. Afternoon watering holes have produced lately with two weeks of dry weather. Lubbock and Abilene fields have produced good shoots in scouted fields. Fields near Paris and Red River County have scored around treelines and in soybean fields. The season runs through Oct. 24. Prospects are fair to good.

Central Zone Dove: Birds have been best over corn and milo, and around watering holes in the afternoon with the recent dry weather. Grain fields with gravel nearby have been steady during the past few weeks. Fields around San Antonio, Castroville, Hondo, Uvalde and Del Rio have been best. An influx of birds should arrive this week with the forecasted front. Fields around Hankamer, Sealy, Columbus, Katy and Waller have been fair to good. Dry weather has encouraged farmers to begin shredding fields of goatweed and croton and doves have been hitting those fields and picking up scattered seeds. The season runs through Oct. 24. Prospects are fair to good.

South Zone Dove: McMullen County hunters have enjoyed good shoots around goatweed and sunflowers. Harlingen, Brownsville and Laredo hunters have see mixed flights of whitewings and mourners in milo and sunflowers. Milo and sunflowers near Raymondville and Port Mansfield have been good in the afternoon. Bay City, Blessing, Danevang and El Campo fields have been best in the afternoon around shredded fields of croton and goatweed. More birds should arrive with the cool front forecasted for this week. The season runs through Oct. 31. Prospects are fair to good.

Waterfowl Migration: The Panhandle has good numbers of playa lakes brimming with water. The coast has adequate water but is drying. Pintails, shovelers, teal, gadwalls, wigeons and redheads are showing on the coast. More specklebellies and ducks should show up with the forecasted front. The Panhandle is loading up with teal, pintails, wood ducks, gadwalls and wigeons. The High Plains Mallard Management Unit runs Oct. 23-24 and Oct. 29-Jan. 23, 2011. The North and South zones open Oct. 30.

About:
The Mission of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, (TPWD), is to manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Visit: www.tpwd.state.tx.us

Meeting up with the Bridge Bird would prove a final, fitting salute to the place and the time and the many grouse that had given him the slip.

Sporting Classics Magazine

Columbia, SC --(AmmoLand.com)- Peter Grant turned off the road where the graveled surface ended. This spot had once been occupied by a house trailer, but the owners had long since towed it away, much to the betterment of the countryside.

Now the only view was of woods in every direction. He could have driven to where he was bound, but he’d always preferred to walk the last mile down the narrow dirt road.

Grant opened the rear hatch and shrugged on his vest, checked to see that he had a half-dozen cartridges in each shell pocket, and unbuckled the top of a canvas and leather gunslip. The gun he drew out had been built in London more than a hundred years before, sleek and elegant in its lines, with graceful triggers and hammers filed to a perfect mirror image of one another. It wasn’t the ideal grouse gun, but it was the most beautiful of those he owned, and the one he wanted to carry this day. Draping the gun over his shoulder, Grant set off slowly down the road.

It was an October day such as can only be found in northern Minnesota – cool and still under a brilliant blue sky, a few yellow popple leaves still clinging to their branches, fragrant with the smell of ripening wood fern and the occasional musky thread of stink left by a whitetail buck in rut.

It was all familiar, and Grant found himself treasuring the familiar more and more.

The woods on either side had once been productive grouse coverts, but now the growth was too old to be attractive to the birds. A dog might have found one that had strayed there for reasons known only to itself, but Grant had no dog. His old Brittany had died two years before. He had loved her fiercely through 11 seasons and a long retirement, and Grant no longer owned the energy to train and keep pace with a puppy.

And there was only one bird he hoped to meet that day.

At length, the road curved sharply to the west. That place, too, had once been a good covert, marked by a disused Minneapolis-Moline tractor that had sat there for years, slowly rusting toward oblivion. It was now gone, hauled off to some scrap yard or rescued by a collector who thought it could be restored.

A couple of hundred yards beyond the bend, Grant turned south again at the lane that led to the old farmhouse. Partway there he left the lane and walked a few yards into the woods, found the place he wanted, knelt and brushed leaves from a flat-set granite gravestone. “Laura Peterson – 1882-1898” was all the chiseled legend said.

Laura died nearly 50 years before Grant was born; was even four years older than the gun he carried. She had been 16 when she succumbed to tuberculosis. Grant knew this because he had once talked with some members of the Peterson family, old people then, who told him of their little sister. They described a spritely girl and the sadness they all felt when she died of a disease that was little understood and not treatable in any effective way. Grant had come upon the grave many years before and visited it every time he came to this place. No visit to the old Peterson farm felt complete without a few minutes of silent respect paid at the place where Laura slept.

From the beginning, Grant had felt her as a presence in these woods, lending some elegiac tone to his own presence there. At times, some lines from Thomas Gray echoed in his mind. At other times he simply felt certain Laura was looking kindly upon his roaming where she had roamed and didn’t think him an intruder.

After a while he put his hat back on and continued his slow pace down the lane. This brought him to the house. When he’d first begun hunting here, it was no longer occupied and hadn’t been since. Now it was teetering toward collapse under the weight of time and exposure to the elements and mindless vandalism. Grant had sometimes taken shelter there from rain. Once he’d shared the long, bare, dusty front room with a grouse that apparently had wandered in for the same reason. Grant sat quietly on the floor at one end and watched the bird pace nervously at the other, bobbing its head and keeping a watchful eye. In the end they had struck a truce, though the bird barreled out through the open front door the moment the rain subsided.

Today, he didn’t approach, preferring to remember the old place as it once had been.

The house faced a broad pasture, now much overgrown, that sloped south to the creek. The original path was obscured by the remnants of summer grass, but Grant knew the way. He slanted southwest, toward the bridge and the bird he wanted to find.

The Bridge Bird was something of a legend among the few who hunted this place, always referred to in the capital letters that denoted a given name.

The far end of the old timber span was screened by a narrow band of alder and brush that opened to the uphill woods beyond. It was a tiny piece of cover but ideal for a single grouse, and one was all Grant had ever found there. But one always was there, and Grant had often wondered how many generations had supplied the residents.

The Bridge Bird was thought to be especially cunning, able to elude any opportunity for a clear shot. Clear shots indeed were rare, but the reason had more to do with the environment than with any ubergrouse sensibility. Unless a hunter wanted to wade the creek either upstream or down, the bridge was the only access. The difficulty of negotiating the first few yards of cover and the ruffed grouse’s natural wariness gave the bird a clear advantage. It knew that some potential danger was at hand well before a hunter set foot upon the bridge and had only to scurry to the open side and take wing. Grant had heard more of them there than he’d ever seen.

Whether by sheer chance or the vagaries of fate, he had killed two or three Bridge Birds during the 30 years he’d spent trying to thwart their chances of a safe escape, and despite a grossly lopsided average, each one had been worth all the effort. To Grant, one Bridge Bird was as satisfying, or more, than daily limits taken under less trying conditions.

The Bridge Bird lived somewhere deep in his soul.

Moving as quietly as he could through the grass, Grant gained the near side of the bridge. Like everything around him, it spoke the consequences of age. The timbers and crosspieces were rotting, and the downstream side tipped lower than the other. But it was solid enough to support a crossing, and Grant stepped softly in his rubber-bottomed boots.

The creek ran glossy, deep and dark, fed by spill from an old beaver pond. Grant knew the water was cold enough to support trout, but he had never cast a fly upon it. At any time of year, this was a place for birds.

He stopped at the end of the bridge, dropped two cartridges into his gun, closed the action and cocked both hammers. He had traversed many an alder-brake without enjoying the trip; this one was no different. Holding his gun high in one hand and using the other to fend away the branches while still using them for support, he moved the first few yards with neither mishap nor an unexpected flush. But in this covert the unexpected could be depended upon.

Free of the alder tangle, Grant stopped and waited. The silence alone could sometimes prompt a grouse to flush, like any other ground-dwelling gamebird. Nothing. After a minute or two he pushed into the brush, moving slowly, feeling flutters and pangs in his chest and a familiar pain beginning to gather in his lower back. Too long on your feet, my lad, he thought, and kept moving ahead.

He was nearly out of the brush when the Bridge Bird lost its nerve and hammered up from the edge, angling right to left, into the open. It was a shot Grant seldom missed. He swung up the flight line, passed the bird, lifted his leading hand and fired into the treetops.

It felt like a fitting salute to the place and the time and the many birds that had given him the slip.

Back across the bridge, he hobbled up the slope and found a sunlit tree to lean against as he sat in the grass underneath. He dug out his pipe and tobacco pouch, filled the old briar and set it alight. Exhaling plumes of fragrant smoke like fumes from a censer, he sat for a long time looking at the bridge covert, hoping that as many generations of birds to come would find it, as had the many that came before.

At length he struggled to his feet and set off back up the hill. He would stop to have a look at the old house and pay a respect at Laura’s grave. Then he would make his way down the lane and along the road, knowing beyond all certainty that he would never see this place again.

Sporting Classics Magazine

About:
Sporting Classics is the magazine for discovering the best in hunting and fishing worldwide. Every page is carefully crafted, through word and picture, to transport you on an unforgettable journey into the great outdoors.

Travel to the best hunting and fishing destinations. Relive the finest outdoor stories from yesteryear. Discover classic firearms and fishing tackle by the most renowned craftsmen. Gain valuable knowledge from columns written by top experts in their fields: gundogs, shotguns, fly fishing, rifles, art and more.

From great fiction to modern-day adventures, every article is complemented by exciting photography and masterful paintings. This isn’t just another “how to” outdoor magazine. Come. Join us! Visit: www.sportingclassics.net

Ringneck Phesasant Stocking

Ohio Department Natural Resources

COLUMBUS, OH --(Ammoland.com)- More than 15,000 ring-necked pheasants will be released on 28 public hunting areas across the state this fall, as part of a seasonal effort by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Wildlife to enhance hunting opportunities for this popular game bird.

Ring-necked pheasants will be released on the evenings (after shooting hours) of October 22 and 29 in anticipation of the weekend’s small-game season for youth hunters. Releases will also take place on the evenings of November 4 and 12. The final release of the fall is scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, November 24, to increase pheasant hunting opportunities during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Although not listed in the 2010-2011 hunting regulations, pheasants will be released for the youth hunts on October 22 and 29 on Ringneck Ridge and Tiffin River wildlife areas. Hunters interested in hunting the Ringneck Ridge Area in Sandusky County will require a free permit from the Sandusky County Park District. For more information regarding the issuance of these free hunting permits, contact the Sandusky County Park Office at (419) 334-4495 or the Sandusky County Park District Ranger Office at (419) 637-2900.

Pheasant hunting season opens Friday, November 5 and remains open through January 9, 2011, with a daily bag limit of two rooster (male) birds. Statewide hunting hours are sunrise to sunset.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources ensures a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all. Visit the ODNR Web site at www.ohiodnr.com.

(Editor’s Note – A list of pheasant release dates follows)

Grouse by J C Harrison

Sporting Classics Magazine

Columbia, SC --(AmmoLand.com)- Among the many stones in my country canine cemetery are a select few which stand to their own.

Apart, as the dogs beneath them did, the moment they were born. They number only four and sooner than later now – when my own days are spent, and the better part of me lies there with them – I expect at most but six.

Could I live long enough to breed and have and hunt over another hundred, I know as a dog man there could be only a small few more.

A great and ancient cedar tree soldiers and shelters their graves and a small lamp collects the sun each day, to push aside the darkness from their nights.

Of the scores of pointing dogs that have bettered my life, they were the most virtuous. They are The Honesty Brigade. Within my heart, the warmth of their memory fuels a grateful, eternal flame.

I’ve had dogs that split the wind, that scorched the ground with hot, blistering speed, that would carry an edge until they knocked a hole in the horizon. Dogs so strong and driven they could bring a hard-and-ready walking horse to a lather in the space of an hour. Dogs so bold and independent that to break them required an agent and a contract. Dogs so brilliant they could put your heart in your throat with the savvy of a single find.

Glory dogs.
Dogs so handsome and fiery on birds they set the leaves aflame when they came to a stand. That carried you to mountain tops and lifted you on past the clouds. That churned up your heart and courage somewhere close to theirs, gave you to look trouble in the eye the breadth of your being, and never walk away. Dogs that made you to reach inside yourself, and find the same, never-say-die spirit and determination that sent them forever on – hard and on and away.

Home-run dogs. Dogs that put the bow in your sails. Dogs, should ever you want for an electrifying synonym of “inspiration,” you have only to say their name.

But dogs, all, whose genius walked a fine line. That, however great and thrilling, would now and then, this way or another, venture a lie. Small and white, or black and bright.

Nothing polite folk would notice. But evident to a dog man in a South Georgia minute.

Dogs that would ask you along, if you could manage where they’re going. That would hunt to the gun, except when it was great fun to hunt on their own. Old dogs who knew better, that would sneak a glance over their shoulder . . . see you weren’t up looking – and blow the birds out. Then whoa-up up proud as Patty – wind in their nose – and swear it was a stop-to-flush.

Dogs, whitleather tough, that would take a whipping, get up – shake it off – say to hell with you, Jack . . . and do-it-the-blazes over again. That kept you mumbling at night over the board of chess between brass and broke, wondering when and how ingeniously they’d call “Checkmate,” once more.

Flim-flam artists, when nobody but the Lord was watching, would filtch a bracemate’s point, then stand on a Bible it was a divided find. Dogs, when it suited ’em, could ignore a bird like it never crossed their nose.

But under the rarest moon, when you treat your wife right and rub down your horse when he’s ridden in wet, is born a pup that is chaste. Virginal as the Mother Mary. In my experience, at least, she will be female.

A girl pup that is betrothed to virtue from the moment she’s whelped. So it’s never in her to lie.

A pup that is easy to heart and ready to hand. That looks you in the eye, licks you on the nose and tells you she adores you as long as there is the breath to let it be.

A pup that’s born gentle and kind. That cares who you are and wants to know where you’re going. Cause she wants to go, too. That from the moment her heart started beating was born a bird dog. I mean, a bird dog.

A pup that is easy to heart and ready to hand. That looks you in the eye, licks you on the nose and tells you she adores you. And will. As long as there is the breath to let it be. That wherever you bide, so also will she.

A pup, grown to a lass, that from the day you show her a gamebird, knows it is her life’s calling. Her supreme reason to be. That it is the only thing that will draw her from your side, except that she will never allow herself to forget you are there. That you are meant to do it together. So that she promises herself faithfully to check back. Enough that where you are, always she will know.

A lady that’s born with a clock, set permanently ten-to-two. That keeps her true to the front, regardless how the land swings, steady as the day is long. That’s born with a compass, to point her where to go . . . to always where the birds are. That takes her, with needless a word, to where they will be.

She may be the fanciest dog in your kennel, or only a penny prouder than plain. It will not matter. Still you will cherish her. Where there is love, there is understanding. And the thing you will understand most is that she is infinitely special.

From the moment you ask her, she will heed your every word. You have only to show her what you want; only, softly, to ask. She will put her everything into pleasing you, and should she not . . . there will be only the once or twice she will fail. Because it will trouble her to the quick that she has disappointed you, and there shall not be the need to remind her again. For she is honest and will never again allow herself to forget.

From there, there shall be for all the days of her hunting life a season of joy and completion. You have only to go with her. She will show you, as reliably as the sun and the moon, the closest thing to Paradise.

There will be no need to direct her. She will know where to find it. She will take you to it on her own.

Let her hunt. When she is missing, you have only to look for her. When she stands, there will be birds. She will hold them for you. For as long as it takes you to come.

Upon occasion, they may leave. But they will jump of their own.

She’ll be waiting still, flagging an apology that they are gone.

You are the Master; her’s is to serve.

As humbly as you shall ever be reminded, she will bring you to consider . . . that for all its opulent riches, constancy is the greatest treasure the world shall know.

You will marvel time and again at how rarely she has happened. Of how naturally she came to be. At what little of it was because of you.

Over and over, you will thank the stars for the wonder of her. Time and again, you will ask of the Heavens, for just one day more.

Tragically, it cannot matter.

How short, how painfully, wonderfully, achingly short . . . the time shall be.

Until one day you will lift her gray muzzle and look into her dimming, ever-trusting eyes, and know it is gone . . .

There is nothing anyone can say, or do, to soothe the passing. As truthfully as she lived, you will know to the depths of your being, that it is the hardest loss you can ever know.

It will haunt your life. It will trouble your dreams. Nothing can truly help, unless it is to ultimately accept that there cannot be life without death, and to remind yourself of how empty your life would have been, had never she lived.

Bear her gently, gently to rest, my friend. Pay to her the greatest compliment a dog man can bestow.

Bury her softly, and thankfully, on Honesty Row.

Sporting Classics Magazine

About:
Sporting Classics is the magazine for discovering the best in hunting and fishing worldwide. Every page is carefully crafted, through word and picture, to transport you on an unforgettable journey into the great outdoors.

Travel to the best hunting and fishing destinations. Relive the finest outdoor stories from yesteryear. Discover classic firearms and fishing tackle by the most renowned craftsmen. Gain valuable knowledge from columns written by top experts in their fields: gundogs, shotguns, fly fishing, rifles, art and more.

From great fiction to modern-day adventures, every article is complemented by exciting photography and masterful paintings. This isn’t just another “how to” outdoor magazine. Come. Join us! Visit: www.sportingclassics.net

Serious Grouse Hunting: Book 1 - Ruffed Grouse Hunting Tips Revealed

AmmoLand Gun News

Manasquan, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- “Serious Grouse Hunting: Book 1” is about one thing: Improving your ruffed grouse hunting.

New tips on finding habitat and parsing the habitat you do find, walking-up grouse (with and without a dog), getting grouse to flush, the best ways to get a shot, gun and shell choices, modern gear pros and cons, and much more.

Serious Grouse Hunting takes a 70-year old conversation about grouse hunting and brings it into the 21st Century.

All bird hunters will enjoy this book, and those who aren’t yet Serious about grouse hunting will be after reading it!

Readers will:

• Improve grouse hunting abilities
• Understand countless new hunting strategies and age-old secrets with easy-to-understand illustrations and entertaining, down-to-earth explanations
• Learn how to harness the power of technologies like Google Earth to advance hunting skills
• Discover which time-honored grouse hunting tactics are now debunked

“We wrote this book for several reasons,” explained author Jay Kumar. “One is we love to grouse-hunt. Two is that we wish we’d read a book like this, and since no one had written one, we did. Three, the how-to info in the sport seriously needed updating. And a fourth reason is that we’re eternal students of the sport, and really want this book to start some new conversations about grouse hunting and upland hunting generally.”

“We’ll keep those conversations going at our website, SeriousBirdHunting.com. We just can’t get enough bird hunting info, and we know we’re not alone!”

Co-author Brendan Haines added, “As Serious Bird Hunters, we love hammering ditch chickens just like everyone else. But to us, ruffed grouse hunting is the pinnacle of serious bird hunting. If you hunt grouse, you may not agree with everything in the book but should learn at least one thing that will help you bag more birds. If you haven’t hunted grouse yet, reading this book will make you want to.”

“Serious Grouse Hunting: Book 1″ has 200+ pages with photos and illustrations. Available now for purchase at www.SeriousBirdHunting.com, the cover price is $29.95 – much cheaper than hiring a guide for the day and hunters will learn much more from the book. In fact, grouse books were selling for more than $20 two decades ago!

About the Authors – Jay Kumar and Brendan Haines
The authors don’t claim to be grouse experts, but are serious students of grouse hunting. Both are entrepreneurs who make sure those few precious months of grouse season are spent as much as possible in the woods.

Jay Kumar is a published author with a long and successful history in outdoors media. His novel, Dark Woods — an outdoor thriller called “Jaws in the woods” — was published by Berkley Books, a division of Penguin. The novel received stellar reviews on amazon.com and the publisher has requested another book.

While running a publishing company in Washington, DC, he was a senior writer for a few major fishing and hunting publications. In 2001 he started his own outdoors web-media company, BassFan LLC, which became OutdoorsFan Media, the largest group of websites covering competitive outdoor sports. He sold the company to Intermedia Outdoors in 2007. At the time, it was the first profitable web-media-centric company sold anywhere in the world. Jay also co-hosted and co-developed a weekly in-studio show on ESPN2 called “Loudmouth Bass.”

Brendan Haines is a successful entrepreneur in the outdoor advertising business, and was born to be a Serious Grouse Hunter. He was either a bird or a fox in a former life, has bird instincts Jay and probably some dogs would kill for, and also is a heck of a shot. He got real Serious about grouse at age 12 when he and his father bought a sweet Spanish 28ga SxS and Brendan began stalking the thunderbirds through the woods mano a mano. He’s an avid student of everything grouse and yes, is responsible for roping his buddy Jay into this crazy sport.

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

LINCOLN, Neb. --(Ammoland.com)- Good news for Nebraska grouse hunters this fall. The hunting season for this upland game species will be a month longer than in past years.

Grouse hunting season opens in Nebraska on Sept. 18 and runs through Jan. 31, 2011. This aligns the season with the close of pheasant and quail seasons and allows more opportunities for late-season mixed bag hunting of all three species.

Grouse may be hunted statewide, but a free special permit is required for hunting east of U.S. Highway 81 (east zone).

Approximately 90 special permits remain for hunting in the east zone. They are limited to one per hunter and available on a first-come, first-served basis. To request a special permit, call Game and Parks at (402) 471-5597, visit the Lincoln headquarters, or send a postcard to: Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Attn: Grouse Permits, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE 68503.

The postcard must include the following: name, address, date of birth, telephone number, and 2010 hunting permit number or lifetime hunting permit number. Residents ages 12 to 15 must submit a hunter education number. Those not required to purchase a hunting permit must provide documentation of such exemption.

The daily bag and possession limits in the east zone are three birds. The daily bag and possession limits west of U.S. 81 (west zone) are three and 12, respectively.

A Nebraska hunting permit and habitat stamp are required of all grouse hunters in the state, except residents younger than 16 years.

Nebraska hunting permits and stamps may be purchased at Game and Parks offices and OutdoorNebraska.org.

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

BELLVILLE, KS --(Ammoland.com)- The dove season opener on Sept. 1 signals the beginning of fall hunting, and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) land managers at Brzon Wildlife Area, north of Belleville, have planted fields to attract this popular game species.

Dove proso millet planted for doves has matured, and doves are already feeding on it. For the opening four days of season — Sept. 1-4— the area will be reserved for hunters 16 years old or younger and for novice hunters or persons who have not possessed any hunting license in the last three years. These hunters must be accompanied by an adult 18 or older. Regular adult hunters may hunt this area as long as they have at least one youth or novice hunter with them. The fields will be open to all hunters on and after Sept. 5.

The field planted specifically for dove management at Brzon is near the monument located on Fir Road, 8 miles north and 4 ½ miles west of Belleville. Several small ponds are located in the middle of the wildlife area and may provide additional dove hunting opportunities. Scouting prior to the season is always encouraged.

KDWP has been working to recruit new hunters for several years, and this Youth/Novice Dove Area is one of those efforts. Because hunter education classes can be difficult to work into busy schedules, the state of Kansas has made it easier to begin hunting without taking the class. Persons 15 and younger may hunt without hunter education as long as they are directly supervised by an adult 18 or older. In addition, anyone 16 years and older who has not passed a hunter education class may purchase a one-time “apprentice hunting license,” which allows them to hunt while accompanied by a licensed adult age 18 or older. The apprentice license is good for the calendar year.

During the dove season — and all migratory bird hunting seasons — a Harvest Information Program (HIP) stamp is required of all hunters who must purchase a hunting license. All shotguns must be plugged so they are capable of holding no more than three shells while hunting migratory birds. All hunters, trappers, and anglers must obtain permission prior to entering any private property, and if the property is posted “Hunting By Written Permission Only” or has signs or fence posts painted purple, a written permission slip signed by the landowner or his designee is required before entering the property.

This fall, take a youth or someone who has not hunted recently with you. Remember the slogan, “A little of your time….the time of their life! Pass It On!” For more information, contact Rob Unruh at 785-753-4971.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Issues Draft Impact Statement on Waterfowl Regulations

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on the setting of annual regulations permitting the hunting of migratory birds.

The Service uses the annual process to evaluate and establish a framework for hunting seasons and numbers of birds which may be taken in each of four flyways across the nation.

Waterfowl and other bird species are hunted for food and recreation through regulations set each year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in consultation with state fish and wildlife agencies.

The draft SEIS proposes to adjust the process for authorizing migratory bird hunting in accordance with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (Act) of 1918. The Act is the Federal authority under which migratory bird hunting seasons are regulated. The Act implements four treaties between the United States and Russia, Mexico, Japan, and Canada. Bird species protected by the Act include nearly all species native to North America, many of which migrate to and from the treaty nations. The Act prohibits the “take” of birds without a permit or authorization (e.g. hunting season).

The document published in the Federal Register on July 9, 2010, provides and analyzes alternatives for each of the seven components in terms of their potential impacts on migratory bird species, other wildlife species, special status species, vegetation, outdoor recreational activities, physical and cultural resources, and the socioeconomic/administrative environment. The draft SEIS proposes seven components of this action for which there are several alternatives. These include:

Recommendations on annual hunting regulations that rely on a well-defined process of monitoring, data collection, and scientific assessment. These recommendations are crafted through public review and valuable input on technical assessments or other documents related to proposed regulatory frameworks by established flyway technical committees and flyway councils. After final regulatory frameworks are adopted, each state selects its seasons within the federal frameworks. Duck regulatory packages set the framework of regulations that apply to the general duck hunting seasons. They include opening and closing dates, season lengths, daily bag limits, and shooting hours. Two alternatives regarding how frequently duck regulatory packages should be reviewed and adopted are presented in the draft SEIS. Proposed action concerning the subsistence hunting regulations process for Alaska. Regulations governing subsistence harvest of migratory birds provide a framework that enables the continuation of customary and traditional subsistence uses of migratory birds in Alaska.

Also included in the draft SEIS is a discussion of the impact of cumulative harvest of migratory bird hunting on national wildlife refuges.

The Service is requesting comments on the alternatives described in the draft SEIS and all agencies, organizations, and individuals are invited to provide comments along with any suggestions for improving the draft SEIS. All comments received before March 26, 2011, will be considered in preparation of the final SEIS. The draft SEIS may be found at: http://tiny.cc/efjln

Comments should be sent to Robert Trost, Pacific Flyway Representative, Division of Migratory Bird Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 911 NE 11th Ave., Portland, Oregon, 97232. Alternatively, comments can be sent by electronic mail to: huntingEIS@fws.gov. The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

About:
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

Scott Linden and Buddy Afield

Scottlindenoutdoors.com

Bend, OR – -(AmmoLand.com)- In someone else’s house, even Buddy’s on his best behavior. But when you hunt with someone else’s dog, everybody’s a critic … or worse.

Be a good guest in the field, too. Let the dog’s owner tell you what to do, whether it’s feeding, doctoring or field etiquette. Ask about shooting wild flushes, or birds over a broken point.

Keep criticism to yourself. If your dog were better, you’d be hunting with him. Same for commands and discipline, which usually fall on deaf furry ears coming from a stranger.

Help a dog retrieve to his owner by turning away if he comes toward you. It eliminates confusion.

You can always offer praise. A scratch behind the ear or a stroke on the back are always welcome after the job is done. Until then, keep your mouth shut and your hands in your pocket.

And finally, don’t forget the other obligation of a good guest. A bottle of something old and amber-colored from Scotland for your human host ensures a return invitation.

PS: I’m now a contributing editor to Versatile Hunting Dog magazine. Watch for my column every month. If you don’t receive this great magazine, go to www.navhda.org and join today!

About:
Linden Media Mgt. LLC was founded in the personal experience of Scott Linden, a city slicker made good by fresh air and wild places. A mid-career epiphany/introduction to fly fishing pushed Scott off the edge, a tumble that now includes dog ownership, multiple shotgun purchases and fanatic bird hunting. For more details visit www.scottlindenoutdoors.com.

Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA –-(AmmoLand.com)-The Board of Game Commissioners today gave final approval to continue with three Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas (WPRAs) for the 2010-11 seasons, which is an effort designed to re-establish wild pheasant populations in Pennsylvania.

The Board also gave preliminary approval to create a fourth WPRA, which is to be designated the Hegins-Gratz Valley WPRA, and will need to be approved by the Board in June before taking effect. Wild caught pheasants will be released in this WPRA in 2011.

The agency’s Ring-necked Pheasant Management Plan seeks to restore self-sustaining and huntable populations of wild pheasants in suitable habitats, and specifically calls for the creation of four WPRAs by 2015. The agency is releasing wild-trapped pheasants into these areas, with a goal of achieving a density of 10 hen pheasants per square mile.

To give these wild pheasants the best opportunity to establish naturally reproducing populations, the Board has banned pheasant hunting or the releasing of any artificially propagated pheasants – including Game Commission-raised pheasants – within these WPRAs. Also, to limit disturbances to nesting hen pheasants, dog training of any manner and small game hunting will be prohibited in WPRAs from the first Sunday in February through July 31 each year.

“Working with major partners, such as Pheasants Forever, the California University of Pennsylvania and local landowners, we already have a jump-start on creating WPRAs,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. “These groups have invested in creating the necessary pheasant habitat in these four areas of the state.

“The Game Commission will continue to raise and release pheasants on public lands with suitable pheasant habitat each fall. And, should we receive additional revenues, we plan to increase our pheasant production level to 250,000 birds, as noted in the Ring-necked Pheasant Management Plan.”

For the 2010-11 seasons, the WPRAs will be defined as follows:

(1) Pike Run WPRA: The portion of Washington County, WMU 2A, bounded on the east by the Monongahela River, on the north by I-70, on the west by PA Rt. 917 to Swagler Rd. to Spring Valley Rd. to PA Rt. 2015 to Lone Pine Rd. to the intersection with Tenmile Creek in West Zollarsville, and bounded on the south by Tenmile Creek.

(2) Somerset WPRA: That portion of Somerset County, WMU 2C, bounded on the western side starting at the intersection of Coleman Station Rd. and Stutzmantown Rd. proceeding south on Coleman Station Rd., crossing SR 31, to Brotherton Rd., continuing south to Round Hill Rd., then east onto Wills Church Rd., then to Archery Rd. The boundary then follows Berlin Plank Rd. (US Rt. 219) south into the town of Berlin where it joins the Mason Dixon Hwy. (US Rt. 219) proceeding south to Pine Hill Rd. to Walker School Rd. then east on Maple Valley Rd., to Sawmill Rd. to the Cumberland Hwy. (SR 160). The boundary then follows the Cumberland Hwy. (SR 160) south to Salco Rd. and then proceeds north on Salco Rd. to Huckleberry Hwy. (SR 160) in the town of Berlin. The boundary follows Huckleberry Hwy. (SR 160) north, crossing SR 31, to the intersection of Roxbury Rd., then north to Shanksville Rd. The boundary then proceeds north to Stutzmantown Rd., then west to the beginning at the intersection of Coleman Station Rd.

(3) Central Susquehanna WPRA: Portions of WMU 4E in Northumberland, Montour, Columbia and Lycoming counties from the West Branch of the Susquehanna River south to the intersection with PA Rt. 642 and the West Branch of the Susquehanna River in Milton. The southern boundary is defined by PA Rt. 642 east from Milton to Mausdale, then north on PA Rt. 642 to just south of Jerseytown, proceeding east on Eyersgrove Rd. to Eyers Grove at PA Rt.42. Proceeding south on PA Rt. 42 to Mordansville, northeast of Mordansville along Robbins Rd. (Rt. 600) to Mordansville Rd. (Rt. 541), south on Millertown Rd. (Rt. 4011), then continuing east to follow Mount Pleasant Rd. (Rt. 4020) and Mount Pleasant St. (PA Rt. 4034) to Orangeville at the southeast corner of the WPRA. PA Rt. 487 lines the eastern boundary from Orangeville north to Maple Grove/intersection with PA Rt. 254. The northern boundary begins with PA Rt. 254 west of Maple Grove to the intersection with Winters Rd. (Rt. 459) proceeding west to the intersection with Austin Trail (PA Rt. 4039). Continuing west on Owl Rd. (Rt. 599), north and west on Reese Rd. (Rt. 578), and north and west on Trivelpiece Rd. (Rt. 576). Eagle Rd. (PA Rt. 4037) then continues northwest to the intersection with Whitehorse Rd./Whitehorse Pike (Rt. 661) heading west to just south of Sereno, and then south on PA Rt. 42 to Millville. From Millville, proceeding southwest on PA Rt. 254 to Jerseytown. Then northwest on PA Rt. 44, north on Swartz Rd., west on Shultz Rd., north on Ants Hill Rd., west on Wolf Hollow Rd., then north on Katy’s Church Rd. Crossing into Lycoming County and proceeding northwest on G Wagner Rd., west on Ridge Rd., crossing into Montour County, southwest on County Line Rd., south on Muncy Exchange Rd. (PA Rt. 1003), west on Hickory Rd. (PA Rt. 1008), west on Mingle Rd. (Rt. 433), west on Hickory Rd. (PA Rt. 1008) for the second time, and proceeding north on Gearhart Hollow Rd. (Rt. 441). Continuing west on Showers Rd. (PA Rt. 1010), crossing into Northumberland County, proceeding north and west on Pugmore Lane, north on Hockley Hill Rd. (PA Rt. 1011), west on Miller Rd. (Rt. 653), continuing southwest on Balliet Rd. (Rt. 664). Proceeding northwest and west on Schmidt Rd. (Rt. 564). continuing north on Susquehanna Trail (PA Rt. 1007), continuing west on Hughes Rd. (Rt. 655), crossing under I-180, proceeding south on Crawford Rd. (Rt. 507) to PA Rt. 54. Proceeding northwest on PA Rt. 54 to the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

(4) Hegins-Gratz Valley WPRA: That portion of WMU 4E in Schuylkill and Dauphin counties from Matterstown Road (Rt. 1007), to PA Rt. 901 at Taylorsville. The WPRA is bounded on the north by the Mahantango Creek. Beginning at the town of Pillow in Dauphin county, proceeding east on Market Street (Rt. 1026) to the Mahantango Creek, which is the Northumberland and Dauphin county border until entering Schuylkill county at Klingerstown. Continuing northeast along the Mahantango Creek in Schuylkill county to Taylorsville Road (Rt. 4039) at Haas, to Taylorsville and then proceeding south on PA Rt. 901. Proceeding south and southeast on PA Rt. 901 to I-81. Proceeding southwest on I-81 and then west on PA Rt. 25, then from PA Rt. 25, proceeding south and west on Dell Road and then northwest and west on Pine Drive (State Hwy. 4009), continuing west on Pine Drive, T593 and north on T592 to Pine Creek. The southern boundary then follows Pine Creek west along the northern side of Broad Mountain to Spring Glen. From Spring Glen, continuing west on PA Rt. 25, crossing into Dauphin county to Gratz, then proceeding southwest from Gratz on Specktown Road (State Hwy. 1014) to South Crossroads Road (PA Rt. 1009). Proceeding south on South Crossroads Road (PA Rt. 1009) to PA Rt. 209 and southwest to Elizabethville. From Elizabethville continue west on Main Street (PA Rt. 209), then turn north onto Botts Road (T462). At the first intersection, turn north onto Feidt Road (T461), then turn 24 east onto West Matterstown Road (Rt. 4008), turn north onto Matterstown Road (Rt. 1007). Turn right or east onto Berrysburg Road (PA Rt. 25) which turns into Market St. Turn left or north onto Lykens St. Turn right or east onto Mountain Road (T639). Turn left or north on PA Rt. 225 into Pillow on PA Rt. 225, ending at Market St. (Rt. 1026).

A native of Asia, pheasants were brought to North America back in the mid 1700s, but these early attempts to introduce pheasants to the continent were unsuccessful. It wasn’t until 1881, in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, that pheasants first became established.

During the early 1890s, Pennsylvania citizens purchased pheasants from English gamekeepers and released them in Lehigh and Northampton counties. For several decades, many other small releases were made across the Commonwealth to establish pheasants for sport hunting.

In the early 1900s, the Game Commission set aside a special appropriation of funds to purchase and propagate game. Pheasant eggs were purchased and given to agency refuge keepers, sportsmen’s organizations and private individuals interested in raising pheasants. The first stocking of pheasants by the Game Commission occurred by 1915.

Habitat loss, from urban/suburban sprawl, to changes in agricultural practices, had an impact on Pennsylvania’s naturally-reproducing pheasant populations. Additionally, budget constraints forced the Game Commission, in 2005, to reduce its annual pheasant stocking allocation from 200,000 to 100,000.

For more information on pheasants and the history of the agency’s pheasant management plan and propagation program, visit the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), select “Wildlife,” click on “Birds,” and the choose “Pheasant Home.”

Southern California Pheasant Shoot

California Outdoor Heritage Alliance

Norco, CA --(AmmoLand.com)- 1st Annual Pheasant Hunt at Raahauge’s Pheasant Club in Norco on Friday, March 19th.

The event, which will benefit the efforts of the California Outdoor Heritage Alliance (COHA), will not only offer a great upland bird hunt, but also an opportunity to meet and talk with members of COHA staff and Board of Directors.

The rolling fields of Raahauge’s Pheasant Club – some of the most beautiful in Southern California – are conveniently located close to Orange County and just a short drive from downtown Los Angeles.

The fields will be made up of five person teams with four birds provided per person (cleaned). Dogs can be provided (please bring a tip for the handler). The day’s activities include a catered Mexican lunch, raffle and auction.

Registration begins at 7:00 AM at Raahauge’s Pheasant Club, 5800 Bluff St., Norco, CA. Directions can be found at: Raahauge’s Pheasant Club or call 951-738-9212.

The cost is $160 per shooter through March 10th, $200 per shooter after March 10th. Valid hunting license and upland game stamp required.

Come and enjoy a fun day in the field while doing your part to support COHA’s important fight to protect your right to hunt today, and for generations to come.

Please send your registration in to: Gretchen Heffler, So. California Director of Development, 10 Shasta Court, Oceanside, CA 92057

Ph: 760-722-6697 Fax: 760-722-6695 gretchen@outdoorheritage.org

Sage Grouse

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. --(AmmoLand.com)- The Department of the Interior will expand efforts with state, local and tribal partners to map lands that are vital to the survival of the greater sage-grouse, a ground-dwelling bird that inhabits much of the West, while guiding and managing new conventional and renewable energy projects to reduce impacts on the species, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today.

Salazar made the announcement in conjunction with a finding by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that, based on accumulated scientific data and new peer-reviewed information and analysis, the greater sage-grouse warrants the protection of the Endangered Species Act but that listing the species at this time is precluded by the need to address higher priority species first. The greater sage-grouse will be placed on the candidate list for future action, meaning the species would not receive statutory protection under the ESA and states would continue to be responsible for managing the bird.

“The sage grouse’s decline reflects the extent to which open land in the West has been developed in the last century,” said Salazar. “This development has provided important benefits, but we must find common-sense ways of protecting, restoring, and reconnecting the Western lands that are most important to the species’ survival while responsibly developing much-needed energy resources. Voluntary conservation agreements, federal financial and technical assistance and other partnership incentives can play a key role in this effort.”

Adding the species to the candidate list will allow the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies an opportunity to continue to work cooperatively with private landowners to conserve the candidate species. This includes financial and technical assistance, and the ability to develop conservation agreements that provide regulatory assurances to landowners who take actions to benefit the species. One such agreement was signed last month in western Idaho, encompassing an area of over half a million acres.

“There is much we can accomplish for sage-grouse working with private landowners who care about the future of this iconic western species,” said Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland. “Voluntary conservation efforts on private lands, when combined with successful state and federal strategies, hold the key to the long-term survival of the greater sage-grouse.”

Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey, whose agency manages more greater sage-grouse habitat than any other government agency, said that the BLM will today issue guidance that will expand the use of new science and mapping technologies to improve land-use planning and develop additional measures to conserve sage-grouse habitat while ensuring that energy production, recreational access and other uses of federal lands continue as appropriate. The BLM guidance also addresses a related species, the Gunnison sage-grouse, which has a more limited range, and which is in the process of being evaluated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine whether it also warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act.

“Managing for sensitive and candidate species is nothing new to the BLM,” said BLM Director Bob Abbey. “Using sound science and effective on-the-ground coordination with our many partners, we will build on current accomplishments in managing for sustainable sage-grouse populations on our National System of Public Lands.”

The guidance, which supplements the BLM’s 2004 National Sage-Grouse Conservation Strategy, identifies management actions necessary at some sites to ensure the environmentally responsible exploration, authorization, leasing and development of energy resources in the priority habitat of greater sage-grouse.

Under the guidance, the BLM will continue to coordinate with State fish and wildlife agencies and their Sage and Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse Technical Committee in the development of a range-wide key habitat map. This mapping project, which is not intended to replace individual State fish and wildlife agency core habitat maps, will identify priority habitat for sage-grouse within each of the western states and reflect this across the known range of sage-grouse.

Greater sage-grouse are found in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, eastern California, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. They currently occupy approximately 56 percent of their historical range.

If trends since the mid-1960s persist, many local populations may disappear within the next 30 to 100 years, with remaining fragmented populations more vulnerable to extinction in the long-term. However, the sage-grouse population as a whole remains large enough and is distributed across such a large portion of the western United States that Fish and Wildlife Service biologists determined the needs of other species facing more immediate and severe threat of extinction must take priority for listing actions.

The Service will review the status of the species annually, as it does with all candidate species, and will propose the species for protection when funding and workload priorities for other listing actions allow. Should the status of the greater sage-grouse sufficiently improve as a result of the efforts to be undertaken, the Service could determine that the protection of the Endangered Species Act is not needed.

For more information about the Service’s finding on the greater
sage-grouse, visit
.

For more information about the BLM’s efforts to conserve sage-grouse
habitat, visit

Pheasant Chicks

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA --(AmmoLand.com)- Sportsmen’s organizations with approved propagation facilities can augment local ring-necked pheasant stockings and increase localized recreational hunting opportunities by raising day‑old pheasant chicks supplied free-of-charge by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Applications to participate can be downloaded from the agency’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), by clicking on “Self Help,” then “Forms & Programs” and then selecting “Pheasant Chick & Egg Program.” In order for Game Farm superintendents to plan and set hatches to accommodate requests, the Bureau of Wildlife Management must receive completed applications by March 31.

“To restore self-sustaining and huntable pheasant populations, the Game Commission is committed to creating Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas, as outlined in our pheasant management plan,” said Calvin W. DuBrock, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management director. “While we strive to create these areas, we continue to urge interested clubs to participate in our pheasant chick and egg programs, which provide wonderful opportunities to get young people involved in raising birds. In addition to learning about the food and habitat requirements of pheasants, they’ll have the chance to see the chicks mature into adult game birds, and to help increase hunting opportunities.”

In 1929, the Game Commission began the propagation of pheasants on an extensive scale with the establishment of two game farms. Over the next six decades, to off‑set the increasing demand for pheasants from hunters, three other farms were placed into operation, and the day‑old pheasant chick program was implemented and made available to sportsmen’s organizations, 4‑H clubs, farmers, and other cooperators for rearing and releasing on areas open to public hunting.

In 1959, the number of pheasant chicks distributed to cooperators reached 229,685, an all-time high, in addition to the more than 88,500 pheasants raised and released by the agency at its four game farms. Unfortunately, cooperator participation has dwindled significantly over the last few decades. In recent years, only a dozen or so clubs have participated; raising and releasing 3,000-4,000 birds.

Because of budgetary constraints, the Game Commission was forced, in 2005, to reduce its annual pheasant stocking allocation from 200,000 to 100,000. The Game Commission released 100,000 adult birds again this past season, and expects to keep pheasant production at 100,000 until additional financial resources are made available. However, as part of the agency’s pheasant management plan, the agency intends to increase that stocking effort to 250,000 birds, should increased funding become available.

DuBrock said that the agency provides, free of charge, day-old pheasant chicks to clubs entering into an agreement with the Game Commission to raise birds and promote recreational hunting on lands open to public hunting. Gender is not determined as the chicks are boxed for distribution, but are generally at a one-to-one male/female ratio. The number of chicks received depends on the size of the club’s facility. The agency will provide enrolled clubs with plans for a brooder building, covered pen, and guidelines for rearing pheasants.

“The agency also offers enrolled organizations technical assistance and advice at the club’s facility, and a training session and overview of agency game farm operations can be scheduled during the off‑season from January through March to assist in development of the club’s program,” DuBrock said.

To be eligible to receive pheasant chicks, a sportsmen’s club is required to have a minimum of 25 square feet of covered pen space available per bird. In addition, 72 square inches of floor space per chick is recommended in the brooder building. All feed and expenses incurred in the work of constructing covered pens and raising pheasants will be the responsibility of the club. All pheasants propagated by organizations must be released on lands open to public hunting.

Pheasant chicks can be raised at the cooperator’s facility or by a designated caretaker with the proper facilities.

“Youth who participate in raising birds can help release hen pheasants in early September in areas where hens are protected from hunting and where habitat is sufficient to provide food and cover,” DuBrock said. “These birds can provide good dog training opportunities and releasing hens early also provides additional room in the pen to finish growing out the males for the hunting season.

“Maximum recreational opportunities can be attained by releasing male pheasants as close to the opening of small game season as possible, and no later than the end of the second week of the season.”

Game Commission pheasant hatches come off once a week during the month of May, and the chicks for clubs will be scheduled into those hatches. Game farm superintendents will send notification to approved organizations when chicks will be ready for pick‑up.

The Game Commission requires a complete report of the production and release results. Renewal applications will not be processed unless a complete report has been filed for the prior year.

In addition to the cooperating sportsmen’s club program, the agency also sells surplus day-old hen pheasant chicks and eggs in lots of 100 chicks for $60, or 300 eggs for $180. Early requests receive top priority and orders are processed until the last scheduled hatch, which usually is the first week of June. While day-old hen pheasant chicks may be purchased by anyone, pheasant eggs will be sold only to licensed game propagators. Both eggs and chicks must be picked up at the supplying Game Commission game farm.

The pheasant is native to Asia. Recorded attempts to establish pheasants in North America date back to the mid 1700s. These early attempts were unsuccessful; it wasn’t until 1881, in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, that pheasants first became established.

During the early 1890s, Pennsylvania citizens purchased pheasants from English gamekeepers and released them in Lehigh and Northampton counties. For several decades, many other small releases were made across the Commonwealth to establish pheasants for sport hunting.

In the early 1900s, the Game Commission set aside a special appropriation of funds to purchase and propagate game. Pheasant eggs were purchased and given to agency refuge keepers, sportsmen’s organizations and private individuals interested in raising pheasants. The first stocking of pheasants by the Game Commission occurred by 1915.

For more information on pheasants and the history of the agency’s pheasant management plan and propagation program, visit the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), select “Hunting Home” from the “Recreation” drop-down menu then click on the pheasant photograph.

Image: Wheelersgamebirds.com

National Wild Turkey Federation’s Convention & Sport Show

Des Moines, Iowa – -(AmmoLand.com)- Do dogs run the show at your house?

They do at ours! Upwards of 40 different sporting dog breeds will be the top attraction at Pheasants Forever’s National Pheasant Fest 2010, being held February 26-28 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.

Bird Dog Parade
What the heck is Wachtelhund? Italian Spinone? Holy Cannoli! The National Pheasant Fest tradition of kicking off the event with the Bird Dog Parade began in Des Moines in 2007. This year, upwards of 40 different breeds of bird dogs will help us celebrate Pheasant Fest’s return to Iowa with the largest Bird Dog Parade yet. From Boykins to Brittanys, German Shorthairs to German Longhairs, Goldens to Gordons, Labs to Llewellins, Springers to Setters, Wachtelhunds to Weimeraners, if it hunts, you’ll find it in the Bird Dog Parade. The parade begins at 12:30PM on Friday, February 26th in the main lobby at the Iowa Events Center.

Bird Dog Bonanza
Come Flushers, Pointers and Retrievers! An entire section of the National Pheasant Fest 2010 show floor is dedicated to our favorite hunting partners. This Bird Dog Bonanza is presented by Native® performance dog food & SportDOG®. There will be seminars / demonstrations throughout the weekend from the world’s foremost dog trainers, such as the Native performance dog food Pro Staff (including Iowans Steve Ries, Todd Sterrett and Sue Barnes), SportDOG’s legendary Tom Dokken and Rick Smith, and Lyle Steinman of Country Vet and Zoom Dog. Ask the experts personally by bringing your bird dog questions to the Bird Dog Panel Q & A, and check out kennels, trainers, breeders and more dog exhibitors at the “Bird Dog Alley.”

“The seminar speakers for the ‘Bird Dog Stage’ at Pheasant Fest are the absolute top names in the bird dog world,” said Brad Heidel, Director of Special Event Sales for Pheasant Forever. “These trainers bring years of experience, and we are very excited to present them to show attendees.”

Attend National Pheasant Fest 2010

The Country’s Largest Event for Upland Hunters, Sport Dog Owners and Wildlife Habitat Conservationists, combining a national outdoor tradeshow, wildlife habitat seminar series, and family event complete with puppies, tractors, shotguns, and art.

Adults – $10 Daily * Ages 6-16 – $5 Daily * Ages 5 and Under – FREE

Weekend Special – $30 (Includes Pheasants Forever membership & hat, over $80 value)

For additional information about Pheasants Forever, visit www.PheasantsForever.org

Quail Hunting

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA –-(AmmoLand.com)- The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave preliminary approval to close the bobwhite quail season statewide beginning with the 2010-11 seasons. However, under the proposal, quail could be hunted on regulated hunting grounds, and hunters would be allowed to release captive-raised or propagated quail for hunting on public and private lands by permit.

“We have significant evidence that bobwhite quail populations have declined dramatically in the state since 1966,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director.

“We also are concerned that the continued release of pen-reared bobwhite quail may have negative impacts on remaining isolated quail populations. The first step toward recovery of the Northern Bobwhite is to close the season statewide.”

Roe noted that Game Commission staff currently are working to complete a state bobwhite quail plan that carefully reviews the status and trend of Pennsylvania’s quail population, restoration potential, and management practices.

“Given the diminished status of wild quail populations, and our ongoing work to complete and implement a bobwhite quail management plan, we believe the timing is appropriate to close the quail season,” Roe said.

Wisconsin DNR

MADISON, Wi – -(AmmoLand.com)- Thanks to the new Mentored Hunting Program that took effect last fall, youth hunters aged 10 and 11, as well as youth ages 12 through 15 may now participate in the 2010 youth turkey hunt.

Under the Mentored Hunting Program, youth ages 10 through 15 may hunt without first having completed hunter education so long as they do so with a qualified adult mentor and follow the rules laid out under the Mentored Hunting Program.

Youth ages 12-15 who have already completed hunter education may hunt during the Youth Hunt while accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older. Each youth must have a valid spring 2010 turkey harvest permit, license and stamp.

Youth ages 10 through 15 are allowed to hunt on April 10 and 11 in the Turkey Management Zone their permit is valid for, regardless of the time period their permit is issued for, and may harvest only one male or bearded turkey during the two-day hunt. A youth who does not successfully harvest a turkey during the two day Youth Hunt may use their unfilled permit during the time period and in the zone for which the permit was issued. All other spring turkey hunting regulations apply. More information on the Spring Turkey Youth Hunt and the hunting mentorship program is available on the DNR Web site.

The youth hunt was created in 2007 to provide youth with an opportunity to hunt turkeys and gain valuable hunting experience by working closely with an experienced mentor before the regular season opens.

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks

PRATT, KS —-(AmmoLand.com)- The hunting seasons may be winding down, but many waterfowl hunters are still enjoying late-season hunting. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) reminds hunters who did not purchase a Harvest Information Program (HIP) stamp during the fall of 2009 that certification is still required for all migratory bird hunting. Any hunter who is required to have a hunting license must also purchase a HIP stamp to hunt ducks, geese, mergansers, coots, doves, rails, woodcock, snipe, and sandhill cranes. HIP is an annual program in which hunters provide information that helps biologists manage North America’s migratory game bird populations.

HIP is based on a voluntary survey of selected migratory bird hunters in the United States. When HIP stamps are purchased, state wildlife agencies collect information from hunters, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) randomly selects a sample of those hunters and asks them to provide information on the kind and number of migratory birds they harvest during the hunting season. Those hunters’ reports are then used to develop reliable estimates of the total harvest of all migratory birds throughout the country. In this way, hunters serve as biologists’ eyes and ears in the field, helping to improve wildlife conservation efforts and protect the hunting heritage.

To comply with HIP, hunters must identify themselves as migratory bird hunters and provide name, address, and date of birth when they purchase licenses — something most hunters do already. They must do this in every state in which they hunt migratory birds. Hunters are also asked to voluntarily answer several questions about their hunting experience during the previous year’s season. Answers to these questions are not used to compile harvest estimates but help the USFWS select hunters to survey.

Kansas relies on hunting license vendors to collect this information when selling HIP stamps. Therefore, migratory bird hunters need to make sure that their vendors get them signed up for HIP when they purchase their licenses. When a hunter is properly signed up, KDWP provides proof of participation. Hunters must carry proof of their participation in HIP wherever they hunt migratory birds. Hunters who hunt migratory birds without proof of participation in the HIP program can be ticketed or fined.

A Kansas HIP stamp costs $2.50, to cover administrative costs. USFWS receives no income from this program. USFWS uses names and addresses provided by hunters for survey purposes only, and all contact information is destroyed immediately after processing each year.

A 2010 Kansas hunting license, in addition to state and federal waterfowl stamps and the HIP stamp, is required to hunt waterfowl in the remaining seasons this winter. Waterfowl and HIP stamps purchased for these seasons expire June 30, 2010. Remaining seasons include the following:

Ducks

• High Plains Zone (west of U.S. 283) — Jan. 23-31; and
• Late Zone — Jan. 23-31, 2010.

Geese

• Canada geese — Nov. 11-Feb. 14 (daily bag three);
• White-fronted geese — Feb. 6-14 (daily bag two);
• Light geese —Nov. 11-Feb. 14 (daily bag 20);
• Light Goose Conservation Order — Feb. 15-April 30 (no bag or possession limits).

Shooting hours for all species are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. For complete hunting regulation information, consult the 2009 Kansas Hunting and Furharvesting Regulations Summary, available wherever licenses are sold or online at www.kdwp.state.ks.us.

Snow Goose Migration Routes

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(AmmoLand.com)- The NJ DEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife plans to implement a Conservation Order (CO) for light geese in 2010.

This will be the second consecutive year that a CO has been authorized in New Jersey.

The CO time frame is February 16 through April 10, 2010. Under the CO, light geese can be taken with no bag limits outside of the traditional hunting period, while also allowing the use of electronic calls and shotguns loaded with up to seven shells.

A Conservation Order is a special management action authorized by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that is needed to control certain wildlife populations when traditional management programs are unsuccessful in preventing overabundance of that population. This action is granted under the authority of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

The intent of the CO is to reduce and/or stabilize North American “light” (greater and lesser snow geese as well as Ross’s geese are collectively referred to as “light” geese) goose populations that are above population objectives. In the Atlantic Flyway, greater snow geese are the most abundant light goose population.

Why we need a Second Special Snow Goose Season!

For more information on the Conservation Order, including license, permit and reporting requirements, visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2010/snowgeese10.htm on the division’s website.

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(AmmoLand.com)- The NJDEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife has canceled the scheduled stocking of pheasants for Tuesday, December 22, 2009 on all Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) in the central and southern region of the State due to excessive snow cover from the weekend storm.

The pheasant stocking scheduled for northern WMAs for December 22 will not be affected.

Division personnel are working to clear parking lots and roads on the central and southern WMAs to provide hunter access for the next scheduled stocking of pheasants for December 24. A decision to stock pheasants for December 24 will be made on Wednesday, December 23 and will be based on the progress of the snow clearing work. Updated pheasant stocking information will be posted on the Division’s website at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/smgame_info.htm on December 23.

If birds are stocked for December 24, the pheasants from the canceled stocking will be added to the December 24 allocations for all affected WMAs. If stocking for December 24 is canceled, the pheasants from both canceled stockings will be added to the two scheduled stockings for December 29 and 31.

Due to the inability of stocked quail to endure the effects of this record snowfall, quail stocking for both December 22 and 24 have been canceled. The decision on stocking quail for December 29 and December 31 will be based on snow depths prior to the scheduled stockings.

Updated quail stocking information for December 29 and 31 will be posted on the Division’s website at http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/smgame_info.htm . If snow depths decrease enough next week for quail to be stocked, the birds from the canceled stockings will be added to the December 29 and 31 allocations for Greenwood and Peaslee.

Hunters are advised that the ability of personnel to clear roads within the WMAs may affect the location of stockings.

Affected Wildlife Management Areas are:

• Central Region: Assunpink, Colliers Mills, Fort Dix, Howardsville, Manahawkin, Manasquan, Medford and Stafford Ford.
• Southern Region: Dix, Glassboro, Heislerville, Mad Horse, Millville, Nantuxent, Port Republic, Tuckahoe and Winslow
• Quail stocking: Greenwood and Peaslee.