Editorial: Legal limits to shining deer make sense

This is a editorial that I stumbled across which just made me a little furious. Apparently there are some areas in the United States that consider “Shining Deer” a legitimate recreational sport and from time to time that activity gets abused.

It is one thing to shine deer and it is another to use it as a way to shoot deer. Just like the third chapter states “And sometimes, one person holds the spotlight while the other aims the rifle. In early February, three teenagers with spotlights were arrested and charged with shooting deer, out of season and after dark, in Dodge County. The deer were left to rot”.

There is a fine line between shining deer and poaching and the general public just does not see that. They see someone shining a light into a field and they remember stories of people shining or jacking as it is also called and they start to get alarmed.
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Hall of fame honors visionary women

Mabel Osgood Wright, founder of Connecticut Audubon… (contributed photo / Connecticut Post)

Mabel Osgood Wright was destined to be exceptional. After all, the New York native attended grammar school with future President Theodore Roosevelt and published her first essay on nature in the New York Evening Post when she was 16. Yet it wasn’t her education or even her early foray into journalism that cemented Wright’s place in history. It was a fashion trend.
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County QDM rules are made permanent

In what will likely become the last quality deer management (QDM) survey administered by the Department of Natural Resources for Leelanau County, some 72 percent of hunters and owners of five acres or more supported the continuance of special rules designed to help younger bucks to survive hunting seasons.

A contingent of hunters from Leelanau County, including Leelanau Whitetails president Will Bunek, drove to Lansing last week to encourage the state Natural Resources Commission to extend QDM regulations.

“We really feel we have happy hunters in Leelanau County, for the most part, and it’s been good working with the DNR,” said Bunek.

Some five years ago, the NRC approved rules supported by Leelanau Whitetails protecting bucks with less than three points on one antler. At the time, only 64 percent of landowners and 67 percent of hunters supported the mandate. Surveys were authorized through a NRC policy allowing local advocacy groups to petition for special deer hunting regulations in their areas.

But the policy required two-thirds support by hunters and landowners to enact QDM rules. It wasn’t until after a Michigan State University professor explained that the 64 percent support level fell within the survey’s margin of error that the NRC agreed to the QDM rules.

The latest surveys, conducted after hunters and landowners viewed results of having QDM regulations in place, showed support had increased.

After viewing results of the survey as part of an all-day meeting, the NRC appeared ready to extend QDM rules in Leelanau for another five years. That’s when Bunek spoke up.

“I raised my hand and said, ‘All of the other ones have been indefinite,’” said Bunek. Instead, commission members agreed to dispense of requiring more surveys in five years, and made the program permanent.

“Now there will be no more surveys,” said Bunek. “It’s in.”

It’s been a long road for the Leelanau Whitetails organization, which sold baseball caps with its moniker starting about 2000 to raise money and awareness for their cause. They were asked by DNR biologists to provide more carcasses than antlerless permits issued in Leelanau for biological testing, a request that resulted in some resentment.

But through the five years of QDM, even Whitetails members who had little respect for DNR staffers when the process began grew to appreciate their hard work, Bunek said.

“When we started, some of us really lit into them,” said Bunek. “But all of (the DNR personnel) have been very good to work with.”

Bunek said Leelanau Whitetails members plan to meet within the next month to chart their next move. “You need to keep educating people, and tell them what (quality deer management) does and how it affects the deer population,” said Bunek.

DNR Conservation Officer Mike Borkovich hopes that hunters keep lines of communication open with area orchardists, some of whom opposed QDM because of fears it would lead to more crop damage.

“QDM should be helpful to orchard owners, because it means much more than growing bucks with bigger antlers. It also means keeping deer herd numbers at or below the carrying capacity of the land, something that benefits fruit growers. Deer numbers won’t increase because of QDM. In fact, it mandates that the herd stay in balance,” he said.

Leelanau County is home to two of the state’s five QDM areas. Spikehorns are protected on South Fox Island.

Spikes are also protected on Drummond Island and a QDM area in Iosco County. A QDM zone including portions of Dickinson County also protects bucks with less than 3 points on one antler.

written by: Allen Campbell

Leelanau Enterprise

Silver Sands salt marshes being restored

by: FRANK JULIANO

MILFORD — The salt marshes behind the Silver Sands neighborhood will get a $156,000 restoration later this year that will reduce the risk of wildfires and increase the beauty of the area. The program to remove 75 acres of highly flammable phragmites and replace them with spartina grass is part of an overall $804,000 grant to the state Department of Environmental Protection from the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

The grant announced Thursday will restore 726 acres of tidal wetlands along the shore, including a separate project at Sherwood Island in Westport, DEP officials said.

The local project was welcome news to Marsha Ziebell, who serves on the city’s Silver Sands Neighborhood Task Force. “The phragmites, because it is so tall, can cause a firestorm when it burns,” Ziebell said. “We’ve had those and they’re scary. We asked the DEP for a firebreak to protect the homes.”

Capt. Michael McDaniel of the Milford Fire Department said removing the highly flammable reeds would be a good measure. “We get quite a few fires like that each year.

“It’s a hollow-sheathed plant that gets very dry in summer, and some of those fires can get pretty bad,” the fire department spokesman said.

The salt marsh restoration is also important for the wildlife and for flood control, said Milan Bull, director of the Coastal Audubon Center at Milford Point.

“It is critically important,” he said. “As soon as you remove a monogamous stand of phragmites and replace.

Connpost.com

it with spartina, you see an increase, from no birds to a lot of birds and diverse wildlife. The spartina is a much better habitat.” Students from Connecticut College restored a portion of the marsh about 10 years ago, planting the spartina grass that ripples in the breeze to replace the cornstalk-like phragmites.

Since then, the DEP has restored 1,100 acres of marshland, said Bull. “Not many people realize it, but the DEP has played a leadership role in salt marsh restoration in the Northeast,” he said.

Greg Chasko, assistant director of DEP’s wildlife division, said the Silver Sands work will likely start in the fall and be completed by the end of the year.

The DEP has several specialized vehicles to do the work — low-ground-pressure vehicles with wide tracks that can be driven out into the marsh without damaging it or sinking. “One of those could drive right over your foot and you wouldn’t be injured,” the state official said.

Who’s Been Snooping In My Den?

State DEP Checks Up On The Welfare Of Mama Bear, Cubs

By

By Sean D. Elliot • Connecticut DEP biologist Paul Rego and assistants carry a tranquilized, radio-collared female black bear back to its den in the Tunxis State Forest in East Hartland on Wednesday.
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The wild side

It is perhaps surprising to learn that suburban sprawl works in the favor of some animal populations. Connecticut in general and the communities of Fairfield, Southport and Easton specifically have a considerable amount of open space and woodland, in which many animal populations thrive, but residential subdivision and commercial development serve to remove the predatory population from the ecosystems’ mix, making a suburban life comfortable one for a wide array of wildlife.
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Volunteers needed for piping plover monitoring

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners are seeking volunteers to monitor breeding piping plovers from April until September on Milford, Stratford, and West Haven beaches. A training and orientation session will be held on March 27 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center at Milford Point.

The session will review the biology of the piping plover and demonstrate how to monitor breeding pairs and chicks, provide updated volunteer and law enforcement information, and discuss changes to the 2008 program.
Atlantic Coast populations of piping plovers return to the Connecticut coast in March from their wintering grounds in the Gulf Coast. The cryptic nests of the federally threatened piping plover are extremely susceptible to human disturbance, predation, and tidal wash outs. To enhance the survival and productivity of birds breeding in Connecticut, an annual monitoring program is cooperatively sponsored by Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, the Connecticut Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy, and the Milford Point/Stratford Great Meadows Friends Group.
Volunteer monitors will observe and record data for nesting piping plovers at one of 5 locations: Milford Point, Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge; Milford Point, CT Audubon; Silver Sands S.P, Milford; Long Beach, Town of Stratford; and Sandy Point, West Haven. The primary duty involves assisting the Refuge with observation and data collection for nesting piping plovers and educating the public. Volunteers work 3-hour shifts from April until the end of the breeding season (usually in August) and must donate a minimum of 3 hours per month. The work can be very rewarding as volunteers will have the opportunity to positively impact nesting success for piping plovers in Connecticut.
Spend your summer days at the beach and help protect a federally threatened species! For more information on the training session, directions to the Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center, or to make reservations, please call Ava Kahn at (860) 399-2513. Reservations are suggested but not required. Please plan on arriving between 5:30pm and 6:00pm. Please observe the posted speed limits when driving through residential areas adjacent to the Center.

Stratford bard.com

Louisiana Wildlife Federation seeks to prohibit baiting for deer

By Chris BerzasWriter for the Daily World Outdoors

As the state of Mississippi wrestles in legislative debate over the prospect of hunting deer over bait, it seems that a Louisiana conservation association will actually be discussing the merits of discontinuing its long practice here.

Members of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation will convene this weekend at the Holiday Inn in New Iberia for its 69th Annual Convention.At this meeting, delegates will discuss and vote on approximately 20 resolutions that have been proposed for adoption by LWF affiliates. Members may attempt to garner legislative approval over resolutions that will be adopted.

Some resolutions may seek approval only through action of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission.

Other resolutions include debate on numerous outdoor subjects to include: hunter/angler recruitment; bullfrog conservation; defining legal firearms for the muzzleloader season; litter reduction and recycling; energy efficiency/reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases; hydrilla control; coastal restoration efforts; and others.

The deer baiting resolution will be discussed by the Migratory, Forest and Upland Wildlife Committee of the LWF and will be discussed at approximately 8:30 am on Saturday.

The resolution opposes the “practice of hunting over or within 200 yards of bait during any open deer hunting season” in Louisiana, and “would require the removal of any deer bait from within 200 yards of any hunting location at least 30 days prior to the opening of the deer hunting season.”

It’s amazing to me that there is some sentiment against the use of bait in hunting deer in Louisiana.

Many local deer hunters will tell you plainly that the use of a corn feeder on private lands does not necessarily make killing deer any easier.

Most Louisiana hunters who engage in baiting will admit quite readily that such is a way to attract deer to otherwise marginal habitat in Louisiana’s piney woods. Also, many hunters will use a deer feeder along with a greenfield which holds even more nutrition for the area’s wildlife.

If the use of food plots and greenfields are allowed, isn’t such “baiting” as well?

For the life of me, I really don’t see the difference.

I can’t imagine the negative safety consequences that could occur if hunters on some leases engage in hunting deer over natural foods such as acorns.

As an example, the proposed prohibition of baiting could put 12 hunters within less than 50 yards away from each other with rifles if they’re hunting on specific acorns even on 1,200 acres. Simply put, that’s where the deer will be at some time during the hunting season.

Another LWF resolution and one that deserves consideration is urging the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission to waive the $15 Wildlife Management Area Hunting Permit for small game hunting during the first nine days of the squirrel hunting season, “and that the Louisiana Legislature amend pertinent statute to authorize the Commission to take such action.”

Such a proposal may actually encourage more recruitment into hunting, as small game endeavors have taken quite a hit on Louisiana’s public lands.

Another LWF resolution and one that may seem quite controversial would urge that a”distinction be made between muzzleloading rifles and cartridge rifles with respect to the definition of firearms that are allowed to be used during the muzzleloader deer hunting season, and that only firearms that are loaded from the muzzle be permitted to be used during the muzzleloader hunting season for deer.”

This resolution reminds me of the debate over the use of crossbows as a valid archery endeavor. Some hunters evidently feel that certain “muzzleloaders” may not be primitive enough.

There are other resolutions to be considered in New Iberia this weekend – many more than can be listed in this short column.

For the current list, visit the LWF Web site at: www.lawildlifefed.org/newsPDFs/Res%20Book.pdf.

Some 10 thousand members and 25 affiliated groups comprise the Louisiana Wildlife Federation established in 1940.

The LWF is a conservation association which represents conservationists including hunters, fishers, birders, boaters, and others.

Residents rescue white-tailed deer

From The Lindsay Post in Ontario Canada:

It was a lucky rescue for a white-tailed deer that had been shot with a cross-bow bolt last month.

On Feb. 2, north-east of Nogies Creek, John and Elaine Fritz noticed that a doe was three-legged lame with a shaft protruding from her right side, just behind the elbow. Hunting season had been over six weeks earlier.

They contacted Bobcaygeon Veterinary Services and Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Rosseau, near Huntsville, and plans for a rescue were made.
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Connecticut’s Great Outdoors Accessible Online

News Report from Government Technology

Governor M. Jodi Rell announced today that the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is now offering more convenient services to the public by putting the sale of hunting and fishing licenses online and through the creation of a Google map feature that connects the public to Connecticut’s state parks and forests.

“A visit to the DEP Web site is now more rewarding than ever,” Governor Rell said. “From the comfort of your home, you can purchase your hunting and fishing license online or plan a visit and get detailed directions to one of our beautiful state parks or forests. There is no longer any need to mail in a license application or travel somewhere to buy one. We are taking the guess work out of deciding which state park to visit and how to get there.”

The new automated online sportsmen’s licensing system and the improved state park information are both available on the DEP homepage at www.ct.gov/dep. The state park information and Google mapping directions are also available at www.nochildleftinside.org.

“The new license system makes it simple for hunters and anglers to get the licenses they need to enjoy these activities in our state,” Governor Rell said. “In Connecticut, we have a great tradition of sportsmen enjoying the opportunity to hunt and fish in our great outdoors and this new licensing system will encourage more people to participate in these activities.”

“The new information and directions on our state parks will also encourage more people to get off their couch and away from their television and computer to spend time in our parks and forests. We’ve been trying to accomplish this goal through our nationally recognized ‘No Child Left Inside’ initiative. The new state park Google map feature is yet another incentive we are offering.”

“The Governor has challenged all state agencies to find new, innovative and more efficient ways to serve the public — and the new features on DEP’s Web site accomplish just that,” DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy said. “We sell about 200,000 hunting and fishing licenses a year. Putting this service on line is both more convenient for sportsmen and more efficient for our agency. It gets DEP out of the business of processing reams on paper applications.”

State Parks and Forests Google Map Feature

Connecticut’s state parks and forests are now showcased on a new DEP Web site feature that provides a full range of information on highlights and activities as well as easy-to-follow Google map directions. Visitors to this Web feature can select parks to “explore” by location or by activity. With a click of their mouse they can find out what is available at each park and they can then ask for a Google map and printed directions to the park of their choice. The Web feature includes information and directions covering the more than 130 state parks and state forests.

“The new Google map feature,” Commissioner McCarthy said, “makes it easier than ever to find out where you can go hiking, biking, boating, picnicking or swimming — and giving you precise directions on how to get to these parks. Connecticut is blessed with an outstanding state park system. We want to do everything we can to help more and more families discover our parks and spend time in them.”

Hunting and Fishing Licenses

Sportsmen may now purchase Connecticut fishing, hunting, archery, and trapping licenses, and print their actual “official” license in the convenience of their own home, from their own printer – or from any computer with Internet access. The system accepts payment by Visa or Master Card.

Customers can also make online purchases of all specialty permits, tags and stamps for specific species such as deer, turkey, pheasant, and migratory birds and seasons such as spring and fall turkey and deer.

For calendar year 2008, permits, tags, and stamps will be mailed next day to customers that make online purchases using their credit card. Starting in 2009, permits, tags and stamps will be printable from home computers.

DEP also plans a future expansion of this online system to point-of-sale “touch” screens for use at retail outlets and town clerks offices.

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