Category: Hunting

Arkansas hunters take 157 alligators during 2022 season

By Randy Zellers
Arkansas Wildlife Weekly Newsletter

MONTICELLO — Arkansans looking for one of the state’s most exciting hunts wrapped up their efforts last weekend with the conclusion of the 2022 alligator hunting season. When first light began to break Monday morning, signaling the end of the two-weekend night-hunting-only season, 157 alligators had been tagged and reported to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

Mark Barbee, assistant regional manager in the AGFC’s Monticello Regional Office who coordinates the hunt, said the hunting went very smoothly, and that all successful hunters have been issued CITES tags to complete the federal requirements of their harvest. Alligator hunting is overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the AGFC must follow survey and harvest protocols each year to maintain Arkansas’s alligator hunting season.

Alligator hunting is by permit only in Arkansas. The AGFC issued 43 public hunting permits, with hunting allowed only in designated areas of the Dr. Lester Sitzes III Bois D’Arc WMA, Sulphur River WMA, Little River below Millwood Lake, Millwood Lake and the Lower Arkansas River Wetland Complex. All other public areas were closed to alligator hunting.

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Hunting

Safe Tree Climbing

By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)

Better safe than sorry.  We’ve all heard these words of wisdom, but unless we’ve had a good scare, or an accident, these words to the wise tend to fall on deaf ears.  And, falling on deaf ears may result in falling on the ground, if deer hunters fail to follow safety guidelines when hunting from trees.

One in three persons using treestands will experience a fall in their lifetime.  Still feel like gambling?

Recent designs in full body harnesses have made antiquated belts obsolete.  Certainly, with costs between $50 to $200, they’re not inexpensive but neither is a broken neck or back.

Any time you are above ground, you are in danger and need to protect yourself. Hunters need to use a Full Body Fall Arrest Harness System (FBFAHS) that meets stringent industry standards.

However, just wearing a harness is not enough. The second component in the safety system is a lifeline or safety line that attaches securely to the tree, and then connects to the hunter’s FBFAHS. This is an integral part of the safety system. It will support the hunter’s weight without breaking, and the inclusion of a Prusik knot allows a hunter to be connected during ascent and descent, as well as when sitting in the stand. The Prusik knot slides easily going up and down, but if there is a sudden fall, the knot tightens immediately, helping to prevent serious injury.

Help?  If you are stuck hanging onto a tree with no means to go up or down, you’ll need help.  That’s why a cell phone could save your life but it must be kept on your person.  No cell service?  It’s good to know that before you climb.  In that case, you’ll need someone on the other end of a two-way radio who can be contacted in the event of an emergency.  Hunting with a friend is another means to avoid catastrophe.

In your new safety vest/harness, you’ll want to tote a few essential tools, as well, including a sharp pocket knife and folding tree steps.  With a knife at hand, a climber can cut straps loose and tree steps can give you a place to stand during the recovery process.

Another option is one more device:  Primal Treestands’ Emergency Descender (wwwPrimaltreestands.com).

After just a few minutes of hanging in a treestand harness after a fall, the leg straps can interrupt blood flow to and from your legs, causing a deadly condition known as suspension trauma, which can cause pain, unconsciousness and even death within as little as 15 minutes.

The Emergency Descender lowers the hunter to the ground automatically and hands-free immediately after a fall. Even if a hunter is unconscious or injured, the Emergency Descender can provide an automatic and gradual descent to the ground.

It can be used with the hunter’s current full-body safety harness, as long as the harness meets ASTM standards for a fall-arrest system. The weight range for users is 120 to 300 pounds.

The Emergency Descender is small enough to fit into a coat or safety harness pocket, weighs less than 2 pounds and allows the hunter to be attached to a tree at 25 feet from the ground.

At a suggested retail price of only $50, the one-time-use Emergency Descender is an affordable, simple, life-saving system.

In addition, universal shooting rails are approximately $40 and can be added to a stand for insurance against falls, while doubling as rests to steady shots and I’ve installed one at each of my treestands.

It’s easy to learn how to use modern safety devices, and if you are at all confused, plenty of quality instructional videos are available online.  Be safe and live to hunt another day.

Hunting

Whitetails Unlimited Commits $30,000 To Tree Stand Safety

Whitetails Unlimited has committed $30,000 towards it’s Tree Stand Safety Initiative where a Hunter Safety Systems Ultralite Flex harness and Muddy Safe-Line will be awarded via a free drawing at each WTU event this year. In addition to the safe-line and harness giveaways, WTU field staff also takes 5-10 minutes during each event to inform attendees of the importance of tree stand safety. Hunting from elevated stands of all types creates an inherently dangerous situation because of something that pulls on us every day – gravity. While tripping over a root or rock and hitting the ground can cause injury, most of these injuries are relatively minor. However, a fall from a much greater height – like a tree stand – can result in a much more serious or life-changing injury, or even death.

The numbers are surprising: one out of three hunters who use an elevated stand will be injured. Those are not good odds. Any time you are above ground, you are in danger and need to protect yourself. Hunters need to use a Full Body Fall Arrest Harness System (FBFAHS) that meets stringent industry standards. Single-strap belts and chest harnesses have proven to be unsafe; and in fact, single strap belts can themselves cause serious injuries or death.

But just wearing a harness is not enough. The second component in the safety system is a lifeline or safety line that attaches securely to the tree, and then connects to the hunter’s FBFAHS. This is not just a hunk of random rope, but an integral part of the safety system. It will support the hunter’s weight without breaking, and the inclusion of a Prusik knot allows a hunter to be connected during ascent and descent, as well as when sitting in the stand. The Prusik knot slides easily going up and down, but if there is a sudden fall, the knot tightens immediately, helping to prevent serious injury. Read more

Hunting

Licenses still available for Michigan fall turkey hunting season

Going afield to hunt for small game or scout for deer season? Pick up a fall turkey license to have a shot at harvesting a wild bird for Thanksgiving.

Remaining fall turkey licenses are on sale now for everyone.

Purchase a license online or over the counter wherever DNR licenses are sold. Download the new Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app to buy licenses, look up regulations, get notifications from DNR, and much more.

Turkey hunting ?

Turkey season bag limits, regulations and hours at Michigan.gov/Turkey.
Hunting

NWTF Signs Expanded Forest Conservation Agreement With USDA/NRCS

(From left to right: Mark Hatfield, NWTF National Director of Conservation Services; Becky Humphries, NWTF co-CEO; Terry Cosby, NRCS Chief; Kurt Dyroff, NWTF co-CEO)

NWTF Inks Expanded Forest Conservation Agreement with USDA/NRCS

EDGEFIELD, S.C. — Building on 20 years of partnerships and collaborative conservation, the NWTF and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service are bolstering their joint agreement for the National Forestry Initiative (NFI). The new five-year agreement will provide $7 million in funding for conservation and additional forestry professionals to reach even more private landowners.

“Our work with forestland owners plays an important role in improving wildlife habitat and supporting climate-smart conservation practices,” said Terry Cosby, Chief of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. “In partnering with the National Wild Turkey Federation, NRCS looks forward to expanding our impacts and supporting even more forestland owners, especially in underserved communities.”

Over the last four years since the inception of the original agreement in 2018, the partnership has implemented conservation practices on more than 333,000 acres. Now, thanks to a new and enhanced agreement between the NRCS and the NWTF, the NFI is becoming an even more robust platform for promoting forest health and habitat conservation on private lands across the country.

Under the new fire-year agreement – which NWTF has dubbed NFI 2.0 – NRCS will contribute $5.3 million over the life of the agreement to implement volunteer conservation practices on private lands. This will enable the NWTF to bring much-needed forestry capacity and technical expertise across the country to work with private landowners, including landowners within historically underserved communities. Read more

Hunting

Safari Club International Foundation Commits $75k For Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation’s Wildlife Conservation Education

GoOTF

DALLAS –Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation, the leading provider of outdoor skill, safety and conservation curriculum to schools nationwide, will receive $75,000 from Safari Club International Foundation to support OTF’s Wildlife Conservation Unit in its Outdoor Adventures program in middle and high schools nationwide.

As part of its mission to protect the freedom to hunt and promote wildlife conservation worldwide, SCI Foundation has committed $25,000 in support per year for each of the coming three years.

“Safari Club International Foundation plays a vital role in protecting the future of hunting and wildlife through conservation and education,” said Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation Chairman Kyle Shidler. “At OTF, we’re educating the next generation of men and women who love the outdoors and want to see it protected. SCIF’s forward-looking generosity will significantly help us educate students across the country as to the importance of wildlife conservation.” Read more

Fishing, Hunting

Delta Waterfowl Promotes Miller to Communications Director

Bill Miller to head communications team at The Duck Hunters Organization

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — Delta Waterfowl has promoted a veteran outdoor communicator, experienced team manager and lifelong waterfowl hunter to the role of communications director.

Bill Miller, continuing a nearly 40-year career in communicating the outdoor experience, has been a longtime contributor and Duck Dog columnist for Delta Waterfowl magazine and the staff writer for the Duck Hunters Organization since 2019. His previous positions included executive editor at Revo Brand Group on their “50 Campfires” multi-media property and vice president of media development and production at North American Media Group where he oversaw editorial, art and production teams for 12 magazine titles and their TV/video production department.

“Bill has equal passions for hunting, conservation, and communication,” said Joel Brice, Delta’s chief conservation officer. “With all of his amazing experience in the outdoors and the business of communications, he told me the one thing he felt he lacked before coming to Delta was a truly worthy cause to work toward. He says he has found it with us, and his outstanding, enthusiastic, take-on-any-task work ethic here proves it.” Read more

Hunting

National Hunting and Fishing Day’s 50th Anniversary a Good Time to Take Stock

Anniversaries are always a good time to take stock. Saturday, September 24, marks the 50th anniversary of National Hunting and Fishing Day. Were it not for two important conservation laws, there might not be much to celebrate in the out-of-doors today.

The Wildlife Restoration Act (Pittman-Robertson) became law in 1937, requiring firearms and ammunition manufacturers’ excise taxes on select goods to fund conservation. Congress added archery gear to the mix 50 years ago. The Sport Fish Restoration Act (Dingell-Johnson) did the same for fishing tackle, coming along in 1950. The two laws combined have done more for conservation and fishing and hunting than one can fully comprehend.

Right out of the chute in 1937, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources put Pittman-Robertson funds on the ground in what is today’s Ogden Bay Waterfowl Management Area in the Great Salt Lake. That piece of public land provides an enormous amount of waterfowl habitat—and public hunting opportunity. The bar had been set high from the start, and a cascade of successes followed through the years. Earlier this year, Pittman-Robertson funds paid for the acquisition of the 84-sqaure-mile L-Bar Ranch in northern New Mexico adding to and quadrupling the size of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish’s Marquez Wildlife Management Area—public land where rocky mountain elk, mule deer, and Merriam’s wild turkey abound. Read more

Fishing, Hunting

Oh, My Hunt!

By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)

Having had a great experience at the Rifle River Recreation Area in Ogemaw County earlier this year, I made sure to reserve a primitive campsite – in fact, the same one used in May – but this time for Michigan’s small game opener plus a bit of fishing.  It is a special time of year, because the final two weeks of stream trout fishing is combined with the beginning of hunting season.  Another trout breakfast will suit me fine,

Eating Like a King

but how would one locate good habitat for bushytails?

Planning a hunting trip to a new area has never been as exciting as it is today thanks to Mi-HUNT.  This eye-opening site is beyond my wildest imagination with its educational offerings that display approximate boundaries of public and private-land hunting.  Unlike my county maps I’ve carried with me for decades, Mi-HUNT has up-to-date information on not only roads, trails, recreational facilities, etc., but cover types.

It is the feature of cover types that really separates Mi-HUNT from conventional printed maps.  With color-coded features one can locate the following habitat:  Aspen, Oak, Upland Deciduous, Upland Conifer, Grass, Shrubs, Crops, Wetlands, Bogs, Lowland Conifers, Lowland Deciduous, Rock, Sand and Soil.  That about covers it for Michigan habitat types, but it gets much more interesting – especially for the squirrel hunter in me that requires mature nut trees.

Once oaks are located on the map, actual dates when trees were planted in specific areas can be determined with a click on the “identify” icon.  It shows nine levels of growth from low-density saplings to high-density logs along with the year of origin and the total acres involved.  (Private property is excluded from this feature.)  Can you believe that I’ve located high-density-log oaks planted in the year 1889?  Many are dated to the early 1900s, as well, and it all spells bushytails to me.

Oaks, Vintage Mossberg .22 Rimfire and Sub-Sonic Lapua Ammo: a recipe for success.

Once habitat is located on the map, the issue of actually getting to the site can be determined by the extensive mapping of various trail types including hiking, horseback, motorcycle, and ATV and UTV approved.

For those that may require help navigating the site, several YouTube videos are available for reference:  quickstart for desktop and laptops, quickstart for mobile users, and showcasing the identify tool – all accessible from the Mi-HUNT site.  These videos were updated in 2014 and demonstrate the versatility of accessing detailed information.

Additional features including aerial imagery show roads, lakes, rivers and hybrid imagery.  If you are familiar with Google Earth, some aerial photos can hide certain terrain, if the particular photo was taken when leaves were on the trees.  However, “leaf off” views are available with another click that shows imagery acquired in 1998 with color-infrared film.

Long ago, when the yellow pages of the phonebook were relatively new, its slogan was “Let your fingers do the walking” and never before has the sage advice become more appropriate than today.  I can only wonder what Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark would think of such technology, as they followed the stars and mapped their journey across the country.

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus Calls on U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to Rescind Waterfowl Import Ban

OTTAWA – Today, Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus Co-Chairs Bob Zimmer, Member of Parliament for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, and Ken McDonald, Member of Parliament for Avalon, sent a letter to the Honorable Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, expressing concerns with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s decision to ban the importation of hunter-harvested wild game birds from Canada into the United States and requesting that this ban be rescinded.

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Hunting
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