Reaction mixed to Pennsylvania doe panel bill
It has been over a month since Rep. Mike Hanna introduced HB 2034, and other lawmakers are beginning to weigh in on the bill’s merits and its chance of passage.
Whitetail Deer
Bonus weekend kill down 4,000 in Ohio
Hunters harvested an additional 16,766 deer during the extra weekend of gun hunting, Dec. 17-18, according to the DNR Division of Wildlife.
Special Red Deer Hunting Season in Claiborne County, Jan. 14-22
Nashville – A special red deer hunting season is set to be held in Claiborne County on Jan. 14-22. The special red deer hunting season was established last spring in an effort to manage the small population of the exotic deer. At the December meeting of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission, an amendment to the proclamation allows for an expansion…
Muzzleloader harvest tops 15,000
Jefferson City – Hunters shot 15,238 deer during the muzzleloader portion of Missouri's firearms deer season, the second-largest muzzleloader harvest on record. Top harvest counties were Oregon with 314, Franklin with 285 and Callaway with 281. This year's muzzleloader harvest was up 18 percent from last year and fell just short of the record 15,907 deer checked during the 2009…
School daze: Deer cull halted
The bunny huggers are at it again. It seems Binghamton University, located not in Binghamton but here in Vestal (Broome County), has a deer problem. The deer apparently have found the university's nature preserve much to their liking and, as deer are apt to do, reproduced to the point where there are way too many of them. As a result,…
SD: Deer Seasons Reopen for Antlerless Harvest
PIERRE, S.D. – Big game hunters will get another opportunity to harvest antlerless deer as the East River Deer season and West River Deer season both reopen from Dec. 31, 2011 to Jan 8, 2012. All unfilled tags are valid for antlerless deer harvest only. Unsold licenses remain in some management units for the East and West River Deer seasons….
NY: 2011’s top news story: deer plan
Elizabethtown, N.Y. – It's perhaps not surprising that New York Outdoor News' top news story of 2011 has yet to see its final chapter. In the ever-changing world of white-tailed deer management, there may, in fact, never truly be a final chapter. But DEC's unveiling this year of a five-year deer management plan generated plenty of reaction and, in fact,…
Extended Deer Seasons
When is enough gun deer hunting enough? Should I deer hunt in southern Wisconsin during the Holiday Hunt, which closes Jan. 8? And during the landowner season, which continues through March 31? Or is it best to be a traditionalist and hunt during the nine-day season and then stop; maybe just hunt the first weekend of the regular gun season…
FBI shooting range is popular deer hangout
Quantico, Virginia (AP) – Call it a playground for Bambi and G-Men, where imaginary criminals are hunted and deer are the spectators. The 547-acre (220-hectare) FBI Academy, where some of America's best marksmen fire off more than 1 million bullets every month, happens to be one of the safest places for deer during hunting season. The property on the Marine…
Politicians enter the argument over deer
Depending on your outlook, of course, it is either a really good thing or a very bad development that elected officials — politicians — are trying to get involved in or interfere with wildlife management in Pennsylvania. And it's all about deer, obviously. Recently we reported that Rep. David Maloney Sr., R-Berks, was seeking cosponsors for a bill he plans…
PA: Bill to create a doe harvest panel
Harrisburg – At the behest of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, the Allegheny County Sportsmen's League and its wildlife-management consultant John Eveland, a state representative has written legislation that would result in fewer antlerless deer licenses being sold. Rep. Mike Hanna, D-Clinton and Centre, recently introduced HB 2034 that he said is "designed to focus the mission of the Pennsylvania…
PA: State is yielding lots more trophy bucks
Part 2 of 2 Harrisburg – Jack Reneau's first and only Pennsylvania buck was bigger than most he'd ever seen. The Ellwood City native shot a seven-point in the 1950s near Kinzua Dam. Convinced that it must be several years old, he had a biologist examine its jaw bone. That showed the deer was only 18 months old. "I couldn't…
PA: Westmoreland County buck may be a record
Greensburg, Pa. – Scott Fassinger's long-term goal is a big one: He wants to shoot the next world-record white-tailed deer. That's a tall task, he admits. And he should know. He's taken lots of record-book deer, so he knows what they look like. The resident of Upper Burrell in Westmoreland County has killed 13 bucks big enough to be worthy…
OH: No fatalities experienced during gun deer season
Last fatality in gun season was in 2009 Columbus – There were no fatal gun accidents and six non-fatal incidents during the recently ended seven-day, deer gun season, the DNR Division of Wildlife reported. The last fatality occurred in 2009. Typically, the first day of deer gun season experiences the most hunting pressure, said Matt Ortman, DOW hunter safety…
OH: Deer gun harvest drops 14 percent
Columbus – Ohio hunters took 90,282 white-tailed deer during the state's popular, week-long deer gun season, which ran Nov. 28 through Dec. 4, according to the DNR Division of Wildlife. In 2010, hunters checked a total of 105,034 deer during the same time period. "Hunters clearly took advantage of the weather as the week progressed. They trimmed the deficit from…
ID: Don't forget to report on deer, elk, pronghorn tags
Hunters who have not yet filed their mandatory hunter reports might be getting a phone call. Fish and Game is calling a random sample of hunters who have not yet filed their required reports. It includes only individuals whose hunts closed by December 1. Calls will be made in the evenings through Friday, December 23. At least three attempts will…
MN: No jump for final deer hunt
Muzzleloader kill mirrors slow start to firearms season St. Paul – Muzzleloader deer hunters killed fewer animals this season than they had since 2002, and the 7,018-deer take was off 22 percent from last year. The kill was similar to 2009, and "this turned out to be about an average muzzleloader year," said Lou Cornicelli, wildlife research manager for the…
A quick check on deer
Another firearms deer season is in the bag. My little group had a pretty darn good year, but that, of course, is a small sample size. Statewide, the numbers show a deer season that was – from a harvest perspective, anyway – a little worse than last year. Firearms hunters last year killed about 174,000 deer. This year's take of…
IL: Firearms deer hunters meet DNR expectations
Springfield – Luke Michael Tilly may eventually discover the deer hunting depression that goes with setting the bar extraordinarily high at such an early age. Translation: At 12, Tilly may never again kill a buck like his first. But why should he care? The 10-pointer Tilly took in Peoria County on Nov. 18, the opening day of firearms season, was…
Stopping Deer by Their Noses
A couple of weeks ago I was catching up on some reading when I came across Tony Peterson's article "To Stop or Not to Stop" in the early October issue of Illinois Outdoor News. Peterson gives some good advice on when it's a good time and when it's not a good time to attempt to use bleat-like vocalizations to stop…
IL: Poaching charges involve ‘trophies’
Springfield – High-dollar antlers are causing legal and ethical problems for hunters who covet and pursue them. Two separate major deer poaching cases came to light in a one-week period earlier this month, putting focus on the "trophy" aspect of hunting in the state. In total, eight hunters are facing multiple charges. DNR announced on Nov. 7 that it has…
AR: Deer, bear, turkey and elk hunters must be at least 6 years old
LITTLE ROCK – There is now an age limit for big game hunting in Arkansas. No, there is no cap on senior citizens going after deer, bear, turkey or elk. But children must be 6 years old to hunt these species of big game in the state, whether or not they have completed a hunter education course. The rule was…
IL: State’s deer hit neutral
Springfield – Slowly, but surely, Illinois' deer population is reaching equilibrium. There have been a lot of factors, but a better harvest sex ratio is a primary factor. "I would have to say the sex ratios of our harvest the last couple years have been really, really good, and that has gotten us where we are," said Paul Shelton, upland…
PA: New USP president now a lobbyist on deer issue
Harrisburg – Pittsburgh businessman Randy Santucci took over as president of the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania Oct. 10. On Oct. 11 he was in the Governor's Office here meeting with three advisers of Gov. Tom Corbett, talking about the "deer problem" in much of the northern tier. Santucci, who had been very involved in the group's failed lawsuit against the…
Deer bill, NRB appointees up for Senate hearing May 5
Bass culling, bear bills up for Senate committee vote May 5 Sportsmen who have been following the progress of the bass culling bill, bear hunting bill, deer hunting bill and the appointment of three new Natural Resources Board members might be interested to know that the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environment will meet on Thursday, May 5 beginning…
