Archive for May, 2007

Blue Tongue disease in Mule Deer

Posted by on Tuesday, 29 May, 2007

I have heard of blue tongue disease outbreaks in central Utah. I have always believed this disease to be drought-related because mule deer seem to contract the disease when drinking from stagnant ponds when no fresh water is available. It appears the disease is spread by no-see-um gnats which may be more prevalent in stagnant ponds on drought years.

Here is an article from Wyoming that sheds more light on this disease which is fatal to deer.

HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE CLAIMED DEER DURING AUGUST IN NORTHEAST WYOMING

9/29/2006

SHERIDAN – Hemorrhagic disease has killed a number of deer in the Sheridan area this summer, but the Wyoming Game and Fish Department believes the disease has run its course and does not anticipate this should cause any concern for hunters this fall.

Beginning in mid-August, white-tailed deer carcasses were reported along the Tongue River in the Dayton and Ranchester areas northwest of Sheridan. The carcasses displayed the symptoms of hemorrhagic disease – either epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) or blue tongue. Blood tests conducted the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory in Laramie verified hemorrhagic disease as the cause.

Since the disease was confined to a relatively small area, the die-off will not impact upcoming white-tailed deer hunting in most of the Sheridan Region, said Lynn Jahnke, Game and Fish wildlife management coordinator in Sheridan. He believes there are still plenty of white-tailed deer hunting opportunities in the region.

“We believe the outbreak is largely over for 2006,” Jahnke said on Sept. 25.

Hemorrhagic disease outbreaks are not unusual in the Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska region.

“Conditions were ideal for an outbreak of the disease during August,” Jahnke said. “Recent cold temperatures slowed the spread of the disease as frost killed the ‘no-see-um’ gnats which spread the disease. Reports of dead deer declined after the first frost in early September.”

The viruses can cause spontaneous hemorrhaging in the muscles and organs five to 10 days after an animal is infected. Even with a hard frost the disease will continue to claim some animals that were previously infected for a couple of weeks.

Jahnke explained that during late summer, white-tailed deer were concentrated around water sources in the lowland environment of the gnats. The gnats spread the virus by biting infected and then uninfected deer. The last documented outbreak of the disease near Sheridan was in 1998. Although the disease has probably been in the region for decades, the first documented Wyoming outbreak was 1959 in Weston County.

Jahnke assured hunters they do not have to worry about getting the disease from eating their deer meat. “There is no human health concern from the hemorrhagic disease, ” Jahnke said. “Humans can’t get it and neither can most other wildlife.”

He added mule deer and antelope occasionally get the disease but are generally insulated from the infection because those species tend not to inhabit the environment of the gnats.
(contact: Warren Mischke (307) 672-7418)

-WGFD-

Arizona Mandatory Reporting for Bowhunters

Posted by on Wednesday, 23 May, 2007

Successful archery deer hunters must report harvest
By Tom Cadden, public information officer, Arizona Game and Fish Department
All archery deer hunters are reminded of a rule that went into effect in 2004. Successful archery deer hunters must contact an Arizona Game and Fish Department office in person or by telephone at 1-866-903-DEER (3337) within 10 days of taking a deer unless the deer has been checked through a mandatory hunter checking station.

Department analysis indicates that only about 35 percent of the successful archers complied with this requirement last year. The archery report-in process was put in place to gather data on archery harvest rather than go to a full draw system for archery deer hunts. Please report your harvest to help us collect this important data.  If you fail to comply with this rule, you could be cited by the department.

Arizona Muley Video

Posted by on Tuesday, 22 May, 2007

AZ

Courtesy – Arizona Game and Fish

Click below

Arizona Mule Deer Video

NRA warns about BLM shooting closures

Posted by on Friday, 18 May, 2007

Excerpt from NRA

 

Earlier this spring, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft resource management plan for Ironwood Forest National Monument that proposes to ban recreational shooting in the 128,000-acre Ironwood Forest National Monument. The Monument is currently open to dispersed recreational shooting but if BLM’s preferred alternative (Alternative C) is adopted, ALL recreational shooting will be banned.

 

It is critical for BLM to hear from NRA members, hunters, and recreational shooters during this meeting to stress how important recreational shooting is in Ironwood. Make no mistake; this is just the first step to banning all firearms and their usage on all public lands. If the federal government can ban shooting on a vast rural area like Ironwood Forest National Monument, it can and it will ban shooting on all public lands. They must be stopped now.

An extremist environmental group called the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) issued an “Action Alert” to its followers calling NRA members who attended the five (5) previous meetings “reckless recreational shooters. These “reckless recreational shooters” are the same responsible, law-abiding shooters and hunters who pay millions of dollars every year in Arizona for conservation projects and wildlife habitat through license fees, taxes on ammunition, firearms, and other firearms-related equipment.

Please send written comments to the BLM by Thursday, May 30, and let them know that recreational shooting is a legitimate use of public lands, and a legitimate and traditional recreational use in Ironwood Forest National Monument.

The growing campaign to ban recreational shooting on federal lands in Arizona and throughout the West is underway.

Written comments are due Thursday, May 30 and can be submitted by mail to Mark Lambert, BLM Planner, Tucson Field Office, 12661 E. Broadway, Tucson, AZ 85748, or sent via email to . To review the management plans; go to “http://www.blm.gov/az/LUP/ironwood/ironwood_plan.htm”

Arizona hunting license required

Posted by on Saturday, 12 May, 2007
All applicants must have a hunting license to apply for the draw. Hunters who don’t already have a license must purchase one as part of the hunt permit application process. If you purchase a license at the time of application, you will be charged immediately for the license in addition to the application fee(s) and any donation(s).NOTE: A $1.50 convenience fee will be added to the total price for each hunting license purchased..
Changes To Applications
Changes are NOT allowed (additional hunters, hunt choices, residency, etc) once an application has been submitted. Make sure you have information for all hunters before proceeding. Applications may not be withdrawn once submitted.

 

Arizona Mule Deer Application Deadline

Posted by on Saturday, 12 May, 2007

Arizona Game and Fish

The deadline to submit applications for fall 2007 deer hunts is Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 7 p.m. (MST). The new 2007-2008 Arizona Hunting and Trapping Regulations with drawing information for deer, is available for download from the link below.

2007-2008 Arizona Hunting and Trapping Regulations [ PDF, 8.85mb ]

Idaho Mini Coyote Eradication to save Fawns

Posted by on Thursday, 10 May, 2007

As Reported by the Idaho Examiner:

     Reducing coyotes on mule deer fawning range and managing other predators is one component of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Mule Deer Initiative. The initiative is a multi-faceted program aimed at increasing mule deer populations and public understanding of factors that influence mule deer populations across southern Idaho. The other five interconnected components of the initiative include: habitat, populations, communications, access and enforcement.

     “Research has demonstrated that focused coyote control during specific times of the year can improve mule deer fawn survival, especially when alternate prey – rabbits and mice – are low in abundance and deer populations are well below carrying capacity,” said Toby Boudreau, MDI coordinator for Fish and Game. Biologists are using radio-location data for mule deer from the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area to determine where mule deer does have their fawns. This information is then used to focus coyote removal before and during the spring fawning season.

     “Coyote removal efforts are conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services from December 1 to July 1,” Boudreau said. This is the 10th year that Idaho Fish and Game has funded and directed Wildlife Services to control coyotes on mule deer fawning ranges. The goal of the program is to remove 75 percent of the coyotes from a given area in an attempt to improve fawn survival.

     Fish and Game provides $100,000 a year to Wildlife Services to supplement predator control efforts in Idaho. In exchange, Fish and Game determines where Wildlife Services should spend hunting license and tag revenues to benefit wildlife. Predator control geared to benefit mule deer is based on an annual evaluation of mule deer populations, alternate prey, and environmental conditions.

For more information, contact Idaho Fish and Game at 208-525-7290.