Hunting Archery Duck Deer

The application period for the 2007 spring wild turkey hunting season began Monday and runs through Feb. 1.

Applications can be purchased online at http://www.mdnr-elicense.com.

The 2007 spring wild turkey hunting season runs April 23 through May 31 and will last from seven to 31 days, depending on the hunt unit. Some hunt units have been expanded or eliminated. This year, more than 48,147 square miles are open to hunting and a total of 118,440 licenses are available through the lottery.

Hunters have three options:

1. The general limited quota hunt periods that include both public and private land

2. The private land limited quota hunt (Unit ZZ).

3. The guaranteed hunt period (Hunt No. 234).

“Hunters looking for the greatest hunting flexibility should consider Hunt No. 234, which includes all open areas except public lands in Unit ZZ (southern Michigan),” said Al Stewart, DNR upland game bird specialist.

All applicants who apply for the guaranteed hunt period (Hunt No. 234) as their first or second choice are guaranteed a hunting license. This license is valid for all open areas from May 7 through May 31, except public lands in southern Michigan (Unit ZZ). Hunters who purchase a license for this hunt during the application period will not be charged the application fee.

During the application process, it is important that you verify your customer ID (Michigan Driver License, DNR Sportcard or state of Michigan ID card) number. An incorrect customer ID number will cause you to become ineligible for a license.

“The current hunting regulations are established to maximize hunting opportunity while maintaining high-quality hunting experiences,” Stewart said. “We are able to expand hunting opportunities based on the success of Michigan’s wild turkey restoration program.”

What it boils down to is this: hunters, I think, are going to see more deer in the woods than they have in several years. I also have faith that those counties and lands off I-80, all the way from the Poconos to the western side of Pennsylvania, will have a substantial whitetail hunt.

Since some facts are required, understand that I base that claim on scouting and driving across the state in the last few weeks, including some intense scouting in the north central region, in Tioga County, and in the Montgomery-Berks county area.

I acknowledge my evidence is anecdotal evidence but when it comes down to it, that’s what deer hunters rely on. We base our scouting of whitetails not only on sighting deer, but on finding rubs, scrapes, scat and trails. With that, I’ve convinced myself that in those places I hunt, I’m finding evidence of more deer visiting my spots, certainly more than over the past two or three years.

I believe there is good reason for this as well.

Frankly, we’ve had a string of mild winters, and there is every indication that the herd, at least on the eastern side of the state, has not been stressed by starvation. I also believe that family size has remained strong over recent seasons. All summer and fall, I have seen does with two or three yearlings and the number of bachelor groups I encountered both here and in the north central region was significant.

Again, call me an optimist, foolish or what have you, but that’s what I’ve observed.

While this is good news, it doesn’t mean hunters are able to haphazardly enter the woods and spot deer. It’s not as it was in “the old days,” and it may never be that way again.

In addition, at the start of this season, hunters may have a hard time shaking bucks loose from cover. They might face antlered ones sitting tight during the shank of the day — not leaving cover to chase does.

The first peak of the rut occurred around the full moon in early November. That’s when I observed numerous wide racks pursuing does in the middle of the day.

Personally, I live in a rural-suburban zone next to the Green Lane Reservoir. I have a decent backyard with a number of fruit trees and other vegetation I planted to provide food for wildlife. A week before the full moon, I was finding piles of scat beneath my trees. I even saw a trio of deer standing on my sidewalk — on my sidewalk! — before dawn one day. My dog alerted me to their presence.

About the time of the full moon, I started keeping a close watch on my neighborhood. Early one morning I looked out a back window at 4 a.m. and there, in the middle of my fruit trees, stood five antlerless deer. I kept the lights off and soon was treated to the sight of an eight-pointer busting down the swale. He had one thing on his mind.

Since then, the rut, at least on the local level, has calmed down. It can easily pick up again, and probably will, but the high, first wave is over.

On the Thursday before the start of bear season, just about 10 days ago through the new moon, I took my dog hunting on a farm in Salford. We were chasing doves from one tree to the other, putting them in range for a young hunter I meet that day.

Eventually, I headed towards a deep ditch on the farm, one that covers some sixty yards and is carved out at least twenty feet deep between two ridges. As we neared the spot, I heard the bounding crashes that denote exploding deer and sure enough, two bucks — one a spike, and the other a wide, eight-pointer — flew up the ridge. The bucks were surely taking a siesta at noon, and I felt strongly that the eight-pointer would have been working the countryside, if the rut were strong.

Earlier I said, I expect there to be a good harvest along the wooded zones that border I-80 across the state. Also around the November full moon, I had occasion to drive from Red Hill to Erie and back again over the course of three days. The number of dead deer I saw along the interstate was astounding. I talked to an archery hunter who made a similar trip after I did, and he bore out my observations, adding he had seen at least thirty deer from Williamsport east to the exit for the Pennsylvania Turnpike. What was doubly interesting was neither of us saw a carcass, or blood spill, on the Northeast Extension from the Pocono exit down through Quakertown. Perhaps the high, mid-road barricades and the fencing along this section of highway have deterred deer from making the crossing. Or perhaps the guy in charge of picking up dead deer in this area already made his stops. I don’t know.

While you can’t hunt a dead deer, the I-80 fatalities provide anecdotal evidence there are numbers of deer in that boundary region.

Whatever may be fact or fiction in these observations and findings, only time will tell. I am, however, going into this season with high hopes. And if you’re a whitetail hunter, that’s the best approach you can take.

BALTIMORE - The black duck hunting season kicks off Saturday, but hunters and bird-watchers might see less of the migratory bird this year.
About 13,000 were spotted in Maryland this year in a survey by the state Department of Natural Resources. That is about 9,000 less than were found in 2005 and 19,000 less than were found in 2004, said Bill Harvey, game bird section leader for the department.

The breed’s population in Maryland is probably less than half of what it was in the 1960s, Harvey said.

The decline may be due to an increase in logging in Canada, where the ducks live until fall, when they fly down the Atlantic coast as far south as Florida.

Some of the drop could have been caused by a mild winter last year, because the ducks do not migrate as far south when it is not as cold out, Harvey said.

Also, black ducks do worse as human populations increase, he said.

“We see black ducks mostly in areas where there aren’t many people, like Aberdeen [Proving Ground] and Assateague [Island],” Harvey said.

“When you get to areas where the shoreline is heavily developed you see few black ducks, but you still see mallards. Mallards can deal with it,” Harvey said.

Black ducks look similar to mallards, except for their dark brown hue. The two species can even interbreed.

The mallard population remains stable, with the department spotting around 200,000 of the birds each year.

Mallards are more adaptable and aggressive than black ducks, and can sometimes take over the black duck’s nesting areas, said Grace Bottitta, manager of conservation for the mid-Atlantic states branch of Ducks Unlimited, a nonprofit that works to conserve habitat for waterfowl.

Tennessee Muzzleloader Season Opens Saturday

The first segment of Tennessee’s Muzzleloader/Archery Deer Season opens on Saturday, November 4, and goes to Friday, November 10, in all three of Tennessee’s deer hunting units, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).
Hunters are allowed the following bag limit during this segment of muzzleloader season: Unit A – 5 deer, no more than one antlered; Unit L – 2 antlered (only one antlered deer per day) 3 per day on antlerless deer; and Unit B (East Tennessee) – 1 deer antlered only (Except either-sex during November 4-6).

For the exact boundaries of the different deer units consult a 2006 Tennessee Hunting and Trapping Guide, available where hunting and fishing licenses are sold and at all TWRA offices.

Muzzleloading firearms of .40 caliber minimum plus long bows, compound bows and crossbows are legal hunting equipment for this season.

Resident hunters ages 16 through 64 must possess, in addition to other appropriate licenses, an annual big game archery or an annual big game muzzleloader license, depending on which equipment is used. Lifetime Sportsman license, Junior Hunt/Trap/Fish, Adult Sportsman license and Permanent Senior Citizens license holders are not required to purchase additional big game licenses.

In addition to private lands, including public hunting areas, several wildlife management areas (WMAs) will be open to hunters during this muzzleloader season.

National Wild Turkey Federation’s Women in the Outdoors program is holding a symposium and awards dinner Saturday at the Cabela’s store in Lehi, 2502 W. Grand Terrace Parkway. A turkey-calling seminar with Utah champions Lynn Worwood and Jason Jarvis starts at 1 p.m. A turkey hunting and safety seminar starts at 2:30 p.m., and a clinic on turkey biology and habitat, taught by federation biologist Stan Baker, starts at 4 p.m.

A women-only “Outdoorsy” scrapbook clinic will be held at the store from noon to 5 p.m. Jamie Mitchell will show participants how to make a scrapbook from start to finish using pictures from hunting, fishing, hiking, etc. Preregistration is required for the scrapbooking event.

A Women in the Outdoors leadership workshop will be held at 5 p.m. The group’s Women in the Outdoors benefit and awards dinner starts at 6 p.m. The cost for dinner is $35 for two people. Call Tracy Jarvis at 801-754-1193 for more information.

Drought’s effect being felt at many waterfowl stopping points in Missouri and Kansas.

Migrating ducks may look at parts of Missouri and Kansas as more of a desert than an oasis this fall.

In a good year, marshes, wet river bottoms and sheetwater in fields make the region an inviting place for waterfowl to stop on their way south.

Not this year. Months of drought have seen to that.

With the duck season set to open in parts of Missouri and Kansas this weekend and next, experts say the landscape is the driest they’ve seen it in decades. And that doesn’t bode well for either the ducks or the hunters.

“I’ve been at Marais des Cygnes for 21 years and this is by far the driest I’ve seen it,” said Karl Karrow, manager of the Kansas wetlands located about 60 miles south of Kansas City. “We’ve never gone into an opening day with so little water in the hunting pools. We probably have 65 percent less water than we normally do.

“We just haven’t had the rain. All the major systems that other areas have gotten have bypassed us. The last time we really had a big rain was the 10th of July — and that’s a long time for a wetlands area to go without moisture.”

But Karrow isn’t alone in his misery. Many other wetlands areas in Missouri and Kansas are facing the same problems.

Even the expected rain this week won’t put a dent in the deficit, officials say.

•At the Four Rivers Conservation Area near Rich Hill, Mo., the drought also is drying up hunting opportunities.

Units 3 and 4, the open area where hunters don’t need reservations to hunt, have been hit the hardest. In good years, those units will have as much as 300 to 400 acres of water. This year, it’s down to 40 acres in Unit 4. Unit 3 is dry.

“Even in our draw units, our water is only 50 to 60 percent of capacity,” said Chris Daniel, manager at Four Rivers. “There definitely will be a reduction in hunting opportunity.

“It will take a lot of rain — and at a fast pace — for things to improve.”

•The drought may wipe out the duck season at the Montrose Conservation Area in west-central Missouri.

There, the lake is the lowest it has been in 20 years and tributary streams are equally low. Unless conditions change, officials say, there will be only three blinds available and there will be no pumping of water into wetlands units.

•The Neosho Wildlife Area in southeast Kansas also is thirsting for water.

The area has a total of about 350 acres of water in two hunting pools. But with the Neosho River low, pumping operations are in question.

“If we don’t get rain, it’s going to be pretty poor,” said Monte Monback, manager at Neosho. “We’ll pump as much as possible, but the Neosho River needs about six inches of rain.”

•The Schell-Osage Conservation Area near Schell City, Mo., also is feeling the effects of a long, dry summer.

The reservoirs that feed the wetlands were drained late last winter to allow for repairs. Following a summer of little runoff, they’re still extremely low.

Workers with the Department of Conservation are using portable pumps to flood pools, but there’s still far less water in hunting units than in a normal year.

•Truman Lake is low, meaning that many of the upper reaches that normally attract ducks will be without water.

•Private duck clubs also are feeling the water shortage. Karrow said that many of the clubs near Marais des Cygnes are dry. And Daniel added that many of the clubs near Four Rivers “are without a drop of water right now.”

What makes the situation worse at those areas is that relief from the drought, in many cases, hasn’t been far away.

Cheyenne Bottoms in central Kansas, typically among the hardest hit by the drought, received adequate rainfall this summer and has plenty of water in its marshes. It already has attracted 100,000 ducks.

Portions of northwest Missouri also have received rain, and managed marshes such as Bob Brown and Nodaway Valley have water.

But a band along the state line from the central part of both states south is suffering.

In the past, Karrow and other employees of the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks could pump water from the Marais des Cygnes River to make up for the shortfall. But even that isn’t a possibility now.

“The forecasts are calling for some rain, but we’ll need a lot of it,” Karrow said. “We’re so far behind, we’ll need significant rain to make a difference.”

But Karrow and others are holding out hope that this will be the case.

They’ve seen rapid turnarounds before — periods where heavy November rains wiped out the frustration of months of drought and resulted in outstanding duck hunting.

“We have good moist-soil food in the pools,” Daniel said. “If we could get the rain to flood that food, this area could be very attractive to ducks. But right now, we just need the precipitation — and a lot of it.”

It’s deer season in Michigan-- not just for hunters, but for drivers, too.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department reporter nine car/deer crashes in a four-hour span of time Thursday night. But Sergeant Bryan Huttenlocker says these accidents are far more common than most think.

We probably get about a dozen a day,” he says.

But it’s this time of the year, as the leaves change colors, that car/deer accidents spike.

“In October and November, with all the deer hunters, the deer-car accidents do greatly increase.”

The strong correlation between Michigan’s six-week hunting season and car/deer crashes is two-sided. The hunters both help and hurt the situation.

“The deer are still going to run [regardless]. They’re just more susceptible to run when the hunters are pushing them. On the other hand, hunters actually help minimize, or help keep the population down,” Huttenlocker says.

Most people assume the highway is where you’re most likely to hit a deer. But Huttenlocker says the most dangerous place is off the beaten path. Rural or county roads are prime spots for deer to roam, and he says speeding on those roads this time of year is unwise.

“You shouldn’t be driving high speeds this time of the year, you really need to keep your speeds down.”

Huttenlocker says sunrise and sunset are when deer are most active, and drivers should remember that when driving during those times. But no matter what time of the day it is, he wants to remind drivers to keep alert and don’t swerve for deer.

That way, you can leave deer season to the professionals.

Archery season, which started in September, ends Oct. 22.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has added something new this year: crossbow season.

“A crossbow season has been established for private lands,” states Tony Young, media relations coordinator with the FWC, “created for any hunter who’d like to use a crossbow or continue using a bow.”

“The most common game to take during crossbow season will be deer and wild hog,” says Young, who adds that crossbow season does not apply to wildlife management areas, only private land.

Immediately following the five-day crossbow season is muzzleloading gun season, formerly known as primitive weapons. In the Central Zone, which includes Clay County, muzzleloading season is Oct. 28 to Nov. 5.

Many hunters find muzzleloaders a challenging way to hunt deer. According to Young, for deer-hunting muzzleloaders firing single bullets must be at least .40 caliber and you may not use muzzleloaders with self-contained cartridge ammunition capabilities or possess modern firearms during muzzleloading gun season.

The general gun season here in Clay County opens Nov. 11 and closes Jan. 21.

Avid turkey hunters have until Tuesday to apply for a FWC “special opportunity” spring turkey hunt for the sought-after Osceola turkey. In this program, large tracts of land with healthy turkey populations are made available to a limited number of hunters. Hunters apply for specific hunts and are selected by random drawing. You can apply multiple times to increase your chances, although each application submitted will cost $5. Details are available at www.myfwc.com/hunting. The Osceola turkey is a subspecies of turkey found only in Florida, normally in the lower two-thirds of the state. Clay County is on the northern border of the Osceola’s range. Although none of the special-opportunity hunts are in Clay, there is a number of locations in the Lake George area.

What we do have here in Clay County are three significant wildlife management areas: Camp Blanding, Jennings Forest and Bayard. Each area has different regulations, requirements and bag limits, all available on the MyFWC Web site noted above. If you don’t have the opportunity to hunt on private land, these WMAs offer hunters excellent access.