By DAVID RAINER

Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Beginning on Monday, August 30, the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division will offer a one-click solution for those who want to hunt feral swine at night.

The new law that allows nighttime hunting of feral swine and coyotes went into effect on July 1, 2021. When the 2021-2022 licenses become available Monday, hunters can choose from a variety of all-access packages, including the “Hog Wild” package that gives hunters all the license privileges needed to take advantage of the new nighttime hunting opportunities.

“When the nighttime feral swine and coyote hunting license was passed, it seemed like a good idea to create a new license package,” said WFF Assistant Director Fred Harders. “In that package, residents and non-residents will be able to click one button and purchase a small-game license, a bait privilege license, which would allow folks to use bait while hunting feral swine at night, and the nighttime license. We felt that those three licenses would be what most people would like to purchase. Read more

Don’t forget to grab your reserved waterfowl hunt application, available through Aug. 28. Applications are $5, and hunters may apply only once. Drawing results?will be posted Sept. 20.

Reserved hunts will be held both mornings and afternoons of the Middle Zone Oct. 2-3 waterfowl season opening weekend and the following weekend, Oct. 9-10, at Fish Point State Wildlife Area and Nayanquing Point State Wildlife Area.

In the South Zone, reserved hunts will be held both mornings and afternoons of the Oct. 9-10 opening weekend at the Harsens Island Unit of the St. Clair Flats State Wildlife Area, Pointe Mouillee State Game Area and Shiawassee River State Game Area. Reserved hunts also will be held both mornings and afternoons Oct. 16-17 at Harsens Island and Shiawassee River. Read more

Tucson, AZ – Safari Club International (SCI) and Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) are proud to announce their official support of sustainable predator management in North America, management which plays an essential role in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

SCI and SCIF adopted this position following extensive support for research on the dynamics between large carnivores and their prey, and SCI’s involvement in numerous lawsuits and legislation on predator issues. These issues revolved around state and federal species recovery efforts, delisting decisions for predators, states’ authority to manage wildlife, and the American freedom to hunt.

SCI and SCIF have adopted a position on this issue given the significant public interest and attention predators and their management garners. Unfortunately, much of that attention is the source of widespread misinformation about a subject of real importance to hunters and conservationists. As government bodies worldwide take an increasingly active approach to restricting hunting, it is more important than ever that SCI and SCIF convey the truth about hunting both prey and predator species. Read more

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — A new habitat modelling technique will allow The Duck Hunters Organization to produce maps of breeding waterfowl habitat conditions like never before. As first published in Delta’s “Fall Flight Forecast” media release earlier this month, The Duck Hunters Organization believes the innovative strategy marks a vast improvement in accuracy and precision over conditions maps of its kind.

“We’ve produced conditions maps in the past, but nothing ever on this level,” said Mike Buxton, Delta’s waterfowl programs manager and engineer of the new mapping technique. “Most duck production conditions maps are pretty rudimentary — they chart out these large ‘blobs’ of general areas based on direct observations and sometimes even educated guesses. It simply isn’t feasible to have enough staff spread across the entire breeding range to accurately gauge conditions firsthand throughout the year.”

Buxton’s mapping technique, on the other hand, relies on a series of complex computer models. While he won’t reveal all of his tricks — the innovative software strategy required considerable effort and a number of map iterations to perfect — precipitation as well as groundwater estimates are central to his computer modelling. Read more

Feature update allows in-vehicle dog tracking

OLATHE, Kan./August 19, 2021 – Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN), today announced a free software update for its Tread powersport navigator that offers hunters and dog handlers embedded technology to help track sporting dogs after pairing Tread with select Garmin GPS dog systems (sold separately). Users will now be able to see markers on Tread’s navigation display for each of their dogs within tracking range. What’s more, Tread’s directional cues will help owners easily locate their dogs to help follow their every move.

With this update, users can pair Tread with the following Garmin dog tracking devices:

• • Alpha 100/200i
  • Astro 320/430/900
  • PRO 550 Plus

Read more

SALT LAKE CITY — Several years of ongoing drought conditions and the extreme drought this summer have decreased mule deer populations across the state. Here are a few things people hunting deer and elk this fall should know.

Drought impacts deer by decreasing their body fat (because there are fewer plants and available food sources on the landscape). If the does have poor body fat and nutrition, it leads to smaller fawns, and those fawns have a decreased chance of surviving. If an adult deer has too little body fat at the beginning of the winter — especially a severe winter — it will often not survive the winter months.

The current deer population in Utah is roughly 320,000 deer, which is the lowest total number of deer in the state in several years (although not as low as 2010 or the early 2000s). While hunting bucks doesn’t impact the total population growth rate, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has decreased the total hunting permit numbers for the last several years in order to better manage to the buck-to-doe ratios outlined in the management plans. Read more

GW: Good for a crow hunter, too.
NEW HAVEN, Mo. – ALPS OutdoorZ, premiere manufacturer of extreme-duty hunting packs and gear for big-game hunters, has released a new, professional-grade dove belt just in time for the 2021 upland season.

The new Deluxe Dove Belt is built to work with any dove hunting style or environment. A key feature is the two “hold-open” shell pockets that flank the hunter’s torso. Use one pocket for live cartridges and the other for empties. The pockets are supported by a rugged, two-inch web belt with a tough SR buckle that is fully adjustable for an optimal fit and comfort.

In addition to the shell pockets, the Deluxe Dove Belt comes with a large game pouch for bird storage. The pouch features a TechMesh bottom to provide air flow on those warm, early season hunts and to promote fluid drainage and easy clean-out. A separate water bottle pocket is included and also comes with a TechMesh bottom for condensation drainage. All pockets can be removed and adjusted for custom performance and easy cleaning.

The Deluxe Dove Belt is made of durable 600D fabric in either Brown or Mossy Oak® Shadow Grass® Habitat™ camo. Overall weight is 1 lb., 12 oz. Read more