January, 2008 - Wildlife Management Pro

Emergency Wildlife Feeding of Deer and Pronghorn

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is planning to start emergency feeding operations for big game animals in the Gunnison Basin as soon as possible. Mule deer will be targeted because they are most impacted by adverse weather conditions. However,feed and hay will also be provided to bighorn sheep, pronghorn and elk.

Providing feed to wildlife requires a major undertaking and many personnel hours, and the DOW is seeking volunteers to help with the emergency feeding effort. DOW wildlife managers are now working on the logistics of the operation. While some feeding will start as soon as material is available, the effort will increase as feed, specially formulated for deer,becomes available from a mill next week. Continue reading Emergency Wildlife Feeding of Deer and Pronghorn

Duck Hunting Drives Land Values Higher

How many duck hunting camps are there are around Greenwood? “Hundreds,” Henry Flautt says. He then explains to how duck hunting has driven land values around the Delta to record levels. “It’s unbelievable.”

It wasn’t always that way. We are sitting in a duck blind that Kenneth Thompson’s family bought for 50 cents an acre in the 1930s so their son could have a place to hunt. The land had been cut over and nobody wanted to pay the taxes on it. So it sold for pennies at a tax sale.

Fast forward to present day and currently the land is worth thousands of dollars an acre – simply as a place to hunt teal, gadwall, and mallard. Heirs of Atlanta’s Cox family just purchased thousands of acres in Carroll County. The Gaylord’s, Oklahoma City’s publishing family, recently purchased a huge tract of Delta land. Their sole purpose: to hunt ducks. Continue reading Duck Hunting Drives Land Values Higher

Bear Permits and Harvest to Increase in Utah

On January 8, the Utah Wildlife Board increased the number of permits to hunt bears in Utah this spring and fall. Board members raised the total number of permits from 248 last year to 299 for 2008.

Based on past success rates, about 15 more bears should be taken by hunters in Utah this year.

Bear management plan

Bear management in Utah is guided by the state’s Black Bear Management Plan. The three major goals of the plan—keep the percentage of female bears taken by hunters below 40 percent; keep the average age of bears taken by hunters above 5 years old; and keep the adult survival rate above 78 percent—were all met in 2007. Continue reading Bear Permits and Harvest to Increase in Utah

First Budweiser Sharelunker of 2008

Tyler Goetzman of Willis caught the first Budweiser Sharelunker of 2008 action with a 13.06-pound largemouth bass from Lake Conroe January 13. The 15-year-old was fishing a tournament when the fish took a Rat-L-Trap in six feet of water. The fish was 24 inches long and 20.25 inches in girth.

This is only the fourth time in the Budweiser ShareLunker program’s 21-year history that the season’s first entry came in January. Lake Conroe has now produced 12 ShareLunkers and ranks fourth in the number of entries from public waters, behind Lake Fork, Lake Alan Henry and Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Goetzman’s fish is number 442 in the list of ShareLunker entries.

Wildlife Diversity Conference Focuses on Endangered Species

Attwater’s Prairie Chicken Photo

The Houston Zoo will host the third Wildlife Diversity Conference January 17-19. Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Executive Director Carter Smith is scheduled to speak at the event. Other speakers from a variety of academic and conservation organizations will speak on a range of topics including Attwater’s Prairie Chicken Recovery, Kemp’s Ridley Turtles, the non-game reptile and amphibian trade in Texas, the Texas Plant Recovery Initiative, coastal prairie restoration, black bears in East Texas and more.

“The Texas Wildlife Action Plan provides a road map for addressing priority species and habitats in need of conservation attention,” said Mike Berger, Ph.D., TPWD Wildlife Division director. “As we move from planning to implementation, we need stakeholders and others that know how to get things done on the ground to attend and participate in this conference.”

For a schedule and a complete list of speakers, visit the Wildlife Diversity Website.

Texas Outdoor Partners Meeting

A coalition of about 50 hunting, fishing and conservation groups banding together under the name Texas Outdoor Partners will meet this Wednesday in Austin. The group will discuss various issues affecting hunters, anglers and conservation in Texas, including “taking a close look at the future of Fund 9 and brainstorming overall conservation funding options in general,” according to Kirby Brown of the Texas Wildlife Association, who is helping lead efforts to organize the new umbrella group.

Brown said the meeting will include staff from the Texas Senate and House of Representatives, including the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House, as well as new TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith and other agency leaders.

Elk Hunting in Colorado

Colorado is known to be one of the most gifted places when it comes to elks, deers, hogs, and many other hunting targets. The most aimed animal, however, is the elk and hunting elks have been one of the tourist attractions of Colorado.

What made Colorado become a name in terms of hunting are their famous hunting grounds. These hunting grounds are most often view decks to some of Colorado’s vistas. Because of this, hunting becomes more worth the trip- enabling you to taste both of Colorado’s finest, the beautiful views and the hunting experience. Continue reading Elk Hunting in Colorado