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Kentucky’s Anderson County Youth Deer Hunt A Hit With Kids & Adults

Kentucky Department Fish Wildlife

Anderson County, KY --(Ammoland.com)- The first annual Anderson County youth deer hunt was a huge success.

Anderson County Conservation Officer Phillip Crane, with the assistance of Franklin County officer Jason Wells, hosted a youth deer hunt in Anderson County during youth deer hunt weekend, October 9-10.

Twelve lucky youth from Anderson County and surrounding areas participated in the hunt and took six deer, despite extremely warm weather conditions.

Crane also received help from local sportsmen and landowners. He offers special thanks to Steve Hartley (Steve Hartley Outdoors), Kenny Nash, Jason Wells, Bill Spears, Scott Luna, Jimmy Mcguffin, Jeremy Abell, Brandon Carney, Adam Wells, Aaron Burkhead and family, Shane Mink and Mike Hockensmith. Crane says the hunt could not have happened without their help.

A big thanks to sponsors Kentucky Conservation Officers Association, Wal- Mart, Darnell/Burkhead Meat Processors, and Markwell’s Processing, and to Shannon Crane, Emily Wells and John Gilbert Peach for helping with the food. Crane offered thanks to the Anderson County Sportsman’s Club for allowing us to utilize their facility and firing range.

Crane says it was worth all of the time and effort to see the kids’ eyes light up after getting to participate in the hunt. It was a first for many.

“Our youth is the future of our hunting heritage, so please take a kid hunting,” said Crane. “You will not regret it.”

Read more in the KY October News Letter:

Kentucky Department Fish Wildlife Oct 2010 Newsletter

About:
The mission of the Kentucky Conservation Coalition is to organize outdoorsmen and women, conservation groups and their members so that their united voices can be heard on important issues impacting fish and wildlife management, wildlife-related recreation interests, and natural resource conservation in Kentucky. Our fishing, hunting, trapping, and natural resource conservation heritage is depending on it. We need to pass the things we hold dear to the next generation, and the time to act is now. To join the KCC and its many partners, including The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, please sign up for this FREE service by clicking here http://www.kycoalition.org.

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June Is Canada Goose Round-Up Time

June Is Canada Goose Round-Up Time

Kentucky Department Fish Wildlife

Kentucky --(Ammoland.com)- Wildlife Division staff from the Northeast, Bluegrass and Southeast regions, along with assistance from Fisheries, Administrative Services, Information and Education and some enthusiastic volunteers herded, corralled and/or tackled about 2,000 Canada geese during this summer’s banding campaign.

During the last two weeks of June each year, KDFWR staff from the various divisions work together to band birds from Kentucky’s resident Canada goose population. Often referred to as Giant Canada geese (Branta Canadensis maxima) and once thought extinct, these birds have been restored across all their former range in North America.

Banding is done during late June and early July when adult geese are flightless because of the wing molt and before this year’s young can fly. Biologists use a variety of techniques including Jon boats on Cave Run Lake, trucks, ropes and foot traffic on Minor Clark Fish Hatchery, and a combination of radio-controlled boats and kayaks on central Kentucky horse farms to herd molting adults and young geese into locations where they can be trapped and banded.

Once the birds are corralled, biologists begin the process of aging and sexing each bird before placing a uniquely coded band around the leg and releasing the bird back on site. In addition to placing new bands on birds without bands, we record the band number of other geese already wearing leg bands from previous years. Often John Brunjes and Rocky Pritchert will use this opportunity to teach new staff as well as anyone else who may be interested to learn how to age and sex a goose.

This is an excellent hands on opportunity that often leaves its participants a little greener than when they began. The information collected from over 20 years of banding resident geese allows the state’s waterfowl biologists to monitor harvest, annual survival and movements of Kentucky’s birds across the state and throughout the flyway and North America.

Over the years through banding, we have seen the importance of Kentucky’s resident Canada geese increase to the state’s waterfowl hunters. In 1990, less than 5 percent of Kentucky’s Canada goose harvest consisted of resident birds and 95 percent from populations that nested on the tundra regions of James and Hudson Bay.

Today, about 45 percent of the state’s harvest is comprised of resident birds and over 80 percent of our total harvest consists of both Kentucky resident geese and resident geese from our neighboring states and Ontario. Banding information has permitted biologists to set longer seasons for Kentucky goose hunters because of knowledge that there will be little impact on less abundant migrant Canada goose populations.

Much of this would not be possible without the annual Kentucky goose round-ups.

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