Well, it’s official. We’re headed to South Africa. I think every red-blooded American male has dreamed of going to Africa, and We’re not any different. We’re excited to say the least. Our trip is in May and guess what? We need some people to go with me. Wanna go?

What we’ve done is work with one of our South African PH’s to secure three good blocks of time and some GREAT prices. You could do the whole trip for about the same price as a good whitetail hunt here in the states. It’s cheap!

But, there’s a catch…yeah, there’s always a catch. You have to be willing to let us film your hunt for our upcoming show. That’s not too much to ask, is it? If you agree to let us film you hunting, not only will you get a deal on one of the great packages below, but we’ll throw in an Impala and Blesbuck for FREE! So what do you think?

1. Rifle Hunt – Five Animals
   – 7 day hunt for a group 8 hunters
   – May 6-12
   – 5 animal hunt *Kudu, Gemsbuck, Springbuck, Mountain Reedbuck, Steenbuck
   – These animals can be substituted for animals of the same price on price list
   – $4,750 *all inclusive hunt (excluding air and tip)
2. Archery Hunt – Five Animals
   – 10 day hunt for a group 6 hunters
   – May 13-22
   – 5 animal hunt *Blue Wildebeest, Warthog, Kudu, Springbuck, Impala
   – These animals can be substituted for animals of the same price on price list
   – $6,000 *all inclusive hunt (excluding air and tip)
3. Archery/Rifle Combo Hunt – Five Animals
   – 7 day hunt for a group 6 hunters
   – May 23-30
   – 5 animal hunt *Kudu, Gemsbuck, Springbuck, Mountain Reedbuck, Steenbuck
   – These animals can be substituted for animals of the same price on price list
   – $5,000 *all inclusive hunt (excluding air and tip)

Learn the Basics of Turkey Hunting and Calling

It’s just about that time of year. I dusted off the turkey calls last night and thought a post on turkey calling may be in order. Wild turkey calling takes time and effort to learn, and knowing the basics of wild turkey vocalizations is crucial to being able to use different calls successfully. Wild turkeys make at least eight different calls, as well as several subtypes of calls that are season specific. You don’t need to know them all, just the major ones which are:

Cluck:
The cluck consists of one or more short, staccato notes. The plain cluck, many times, includes two or three single note clucks. It’s generally used by one bird to get the attention of another. It’s a good call to reasure an approaching gobbler that a hen is waiting for him.

Yelp:
The yelp is a basic turkey sound. It is often delivered in a series of single note vocalizations and can have different meanings depending on how the hen uses it.

Kee Kee Run:
The kee kee is the lost call of young turkeys and variations made by adult birds. It’s often associated with fall hunting, but can be used successfully in the spring. This is what it sounds like. A variation of the call, the kee kee run is merely a kee kee with a yelp.

Purr:
Purring is a soft, rolling call turkeys make when content. It can usually be heard by feeding birds. This is not a loud call, but is good for reassuring turkeys as they get in close to your position.

Cutt:
A series of fast, loud, erratic single notes is referred to as cutting. It’s a modified cluck and is a distinct abrupt call with a somewhat questioning nature. It can be heard at a great distance and is often used by a single turkey looking for companionship.

How to call Turkeys:
For successful turkey calling, you should use use multiple calls. The first step would be to start with a locator call, which are used to simulate loud noises or other animals that gobblers will respond to such as owls or crows. Use short locater calls and listen for a response. Once you feel that you have found a proper location with turkeys in your range, then it’s time to use your vocalization calls.

You should start off using your vocalization calls more quietly and then gradually increase volume. A soft “cluck”, “yelp”, or “purr” are good initial calls to use. This way you won’t scare off any nearby turkeys that you can’t see with a loud call. If you hear responses from a gobbler you have to be patient as many times they won’t close in on you right away. Wait at least 5 to 10 minutes before responding to a gobbler’s call. Be sure to keep trying to call a slow moving gobbler for at least an hour before you give up.

If you hear hens, you should respond to their calls with the same number of calls and the same vocalization. For instance, if you hear a hen cluck 5 times, you should respond with 5 clucks. This will encourage her to come towards your location. This will also help to lure gobblers that are in the vicinity of the hen. There is no secret to calling turkeys. Each turkey will respond to your calls in its own unique way. Turkey calling is an art that takes time and experience to master, so get out there and have some fun!

New Mexico Department of Game and Fish

ATTENTION HUNTERS: APPLY BY FEB. 3 FOR ORYX, WMA BEAR, SPECIAL TURKEY AND POPULATION REDUCTION HUNTS

SANTA FE — Wednesday, Feb. 3, is the deadline to apply for New Mexico 2010-2011 oryx licenses, bear Wildlife Management Area permits, population reduction hunts and special spring turkey permits. Online applications must be made before 5 p.m. Mountain Time on the deadline day. Paper applications must be delivered or postmarked on or before the deadline day.

To be eligible for the drawing, all hunters must obtain a Customer ID Number — online at www.wildlife.state.nm.us or by visiting a Department office in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Raton, Las Cruces or Roswell. Customer ID Numbers are free and are required whether applications are made online or on paper applications.

Online applicants are encouraged to apply early to avoid missing the deadline because of forgotten passwords or other computer-related issues at the last minute. Late applications will not be accepted. Drawing results will be available March 10 on the Department Web site, www.wildlife.state.nm.us, or in person at Department of Game and Fish offices. Results will be available by telephone March 25.

The Department expects to receive more than 18,000 applications for approximately 3,000 licenses and permits. About 16,000 of those applications will be for 2,215 available oryx licenses.

Hunters who held deer permits or elk licenses for the 2009-2010 season must have reported their harvest results before applying. Hunters who fail to report their 2009-2010 harvest results — successful or not — will have their 2010-2011 applications rejected. Harvest reports can be submitted online at www.newmexico-hunt.com or by calling toll-free (888) 248-6866.

For more information about big-game hunting in New Mexico, please consult the 2010-2011 Big Game & Trapper Rules and Information Booklet, available at all license vendors, Department offices, and online at www.wildlife.state.nm.us. Information also is available by calling (505) 476-8000.

“People using social networks will grow from 14 million in 2007 to 600 million
in 2012.” 

In the field hunters and anglers do our best not to be seen. We wear camouflage to conceal ourselves. But in the real world of  fast paced business and cutting edge change, outdoorsmen and women cannot hide in the shadows…Let’s face it, we all need to rethink the importance of social media and the benefits of this powerful tool. This is particularly important for us outdoor sportsmen and women as we try to connect with others who share our similar interests. 

Whether it’s hunting, fishing, camping, bird watching or just those who enjoy the great outdoors we all need to work together to help each other in this competitive market place. Hunters are a dying breed (no pun intended) as our numbers continue to shrink. But now, there are effective ways to pass on our valued traditions through our blogs and websites.

So what is social media?

• Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or business through social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 
• It is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic.
• The key is having a target audience and communicating with a message that connects with your audience through quality content. 

 Why should the outdoors-man or woman use social media? 

• The outdoor market is large and fragmented.
• This fragmented market offers opportunities for us niche bloggers to communicate and offer value to our readers.
• There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will easily give you large numbers of visitors, some of whom may come back to your website again and again. 
• Twitter and Facebook seem to be the most popular sites that allow you to gain followers and influence your target audience.
• If you are selling products/services or just publishing content for ad revenue, social media marketing is a potent method that will make your site profitable over time. 
• When it comes to the outdoor sportsmen we our a large an influential group that has not tapped into the power of social media.

Interesting Outdoor Industry Statistics:

• On a national level 34 million sportsmen age 16 and older spent more than 76 billion in 2006,    supporting 1.6 million jobs.
• If a single corporation grossed as much as hunters and anglers spend. It would be among    America’s 20 largest, ahead of Target, Costco and AT&T.
• Outdoors enthusiasts contributed more than $56 Billion to the U.S. economy through hunting & fishing supplies alone.
• More than the combined revenues of Microsoft, Ebay and Yahoo.
•  If they were a nation they would rank 57 out of 181 countries.
• Spending by sportsman benefits not only manufactures of hunting and fishing related products, but everything from local mom and pop businesses to wildlife conservation.

Those who ignore the value of social media usually fall into three categories:

1. Those who don’t know much or anything about social media,
2. Those who are interested but don’t know how to use it
3. Those who don’t believe in the value that a social media strategy can bring to any site or business. 
   • This is particularly true for the outdoor sportsmen.
   • Currently on Twitter there are 429 registered users under hunting and 1,259 under fishing. 
   • On Facebook there are 7,400 registered names under hunting with Hunting having 88,000 fans and fishing having registered over 2,000 and Fishing have over 153,000 fans.
   • Although these numbers are encouraging there is still room to grow and take advantage of the social media outlets that we have available.

90% of businesses in 2009 failed to gain significant value from social media (Community Marketing Blog). Despite November’s 2009 statistics of YouTube’s 6.75 billion streams (Nielsen Wire) and Facebook’s 2.6 billion visits (Compete.com) many businesses are floundering with inexperienced practitioners and poor guidance for effective social media marketing.

Content =Connection = Commerce

I hope you enjoyed this post and please comment or share your story how social media has helped you and your brand.

Thanks and be sure to get outdoors in 2010 and pursue your passion -

Chris Burget, Bulls & Beavers

It started as just a regular black bear hunt and it became an obsession.
I was guiding bear hunters in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains and a group of hunters from Wisconsin had sent us some trail cameras. We had six well-established baits spread over our hunting area and they were already getting hit hard even though it was only late April. I was excited to get the cameras out and early the next morning I made the rounds to see if we had any pictures. I was hoping for three or four. We had eighty. Hmmm… Who woulda guessed? One of our bears looked like a monster. It wasn’t a great picture and at first glance, isn’t very impressive until the next day when we noticed that he had been about 20 yards beyond the barrel and the tracks…. oh the tracks.

Our first glimpse of Toad

As the weeks went on we got pictures of him visiting most of our baits and we confirmed it… he was huge. We called him “Toad” and he was the type of bear you dream about. Not only was he big, but he was a deep chocolate color to boot. Our Wisconsin hunters were ecstatic. Not only because of Toad, but we had a nice blonde bear spotted for them as well.

This is Blondie and he was on the hit list too

So, our hunters showed up in mid-May and for five days they passed up bear after bear in their quest for Toad and Blondie, neither of whom showed up for the party. Hunters came and left all season and our two stars never made a showing, although they did continue to pose for our cameras. On the last day of the season we didn’t have any hunters so I hunted Toad’s favorite bait and he did come in, but it was after shooting hours. I sat in the stand watching him in the moonlight for a long time… drooling. The next two seasons were more of the same and he began to become a legend. Our hunters all left with nice bears, but not THE bear.

Toad standing in front of the bait barrel

A big bear will look long and short. That’s a big bear.

In 2007 we purchased a new hunting area in the Frank Church Wilderness and I knew that my chance to get this great bear was coming to an end, so I set our with a vengeance and hunted hard. I only put out one bait, but it was in a better area with thicker cover and much harder to get to. I figured that this would give him fewer choices and I hoped that he would feel more comfortable in the thicker cover and come in during the shooting hours. I hunted hard and I passed on a bunch of nice bears. Big ones, blonde ones, chocolate ones, red ones and even one that I called “frosted chocolate”.

I’d like to say that it ended with a hero shot of me and my bow and a big bear named Toad… but it didn’t. It did end with a BANG! though.

You’re probably asking yourself, “I thought this was about Blazing Saddles“, well, here it comes: Our bear hunting truck was an old piece of crap Toyota and it was on it’s last leg. On my final trip in to hunt Toad I was 20-some miles from the lodge when I smelled something burning. I was on an old logging road with overhanging brush, so I didn’t want to stop and burn down the whole forest, so I pushed on hoping to get to a spring that crossed the “road” a few miles below. Before long, the cab was full of smoke, my head was out the window and there were flames coming out of the passenger side floorboard. I was flying, desperate to make the spring. As I skidded around the last corner I tried to slow down, but the brakes lines had burned through I guess… uh oh. The only option I had was to run into a big willow growing out of the spring. That put a stop to things real quick.

I bailed out and tried fruitlessly to put the fire out, but soon realized that it was just too big, so all I could do was salvage what I could, back off, take pictures and try to put out any forest fire that might start. The smoke was incredible, the flames were huge and the tires blowing (I think it was the tires) were surprisingly loud. It didn’t take long for that old pickup to burn to the ground.

That old Toyota burned to the ground. It was impressive.

I’m surprised the firefighters didn’t show up

Once the fire was out, I put on my backpack and started a long walk back to the lodge. I didn’t take the roads so it was only about 15 miles as the crow flies, but it still took most of the day. I flew out the next morning to start a new adventure. My quest for Toad the monster black bear was over.

Last spring a friend of mine who hunts the same area showed me a picture of a huge chocolate bear at one of his baits. The legend continues… and since I’m not outfitting anymore, I just might re-kindle my obsession.

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All of these mule deer bucks were taken with one of our Outfitter Partners on the 2009 August archery hunt in Arizona.

33 inches wide and scores 200 P&Y as a clean 4 point typical buck

Giant 31 inch wide, 8×9 non-typical monster AZ mule deer scoring 220 P&Y

Impressive

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Prince of Wales Island, the third largest island in the United States, is the crown jewel of Southwest Alaska. Black bear grow to epic proportions. This is awe-inspiring gorgeous country. A temperate rain forest, this part of Alaska receives over 220 inches of rain annually. This is a land of snow covered peaks, emerald green cedar and spruce forests, dense vegetation and endless muskeg bogs. Fresh chrome colored salmon and steelhead crowd the many rivers crisscrossing the land. The numbers of Sitka Blacktail deer boggle the mind. There are no Brown bear on the island, so with no competition and an endless source of grasses, berries, and protein the Black bear here are numerous, and big. In fact, on POW the largest Black bear grow to rival Grizzly bear from the lower 48.

Extensive logging has created an incredible Eden for wildlife. Deer and bear numbers have soared in the wake of timber harvest. Something to make clear (no pun intended): a clear cut is anything but clear. The trees are cut anywhere from 5 to 15 feet above the ground and the slash left lying where it fell. The ground is fertile, and trees grow like weeds. What looks like an easily traversed clear cut is in reality a dense, tangled, impossibly impenetrable jungle of stumps and slash jammed with thick-as-grass 8’-15’ tall spruce and cedar.

A rifle would definitely make this easier, but that’s not the point. I was here to bow hunt for a trophy black bear, and nothing less would do. And I was here alone, hunting without a guide or hunting partner. There’s deep satisfaction to be found at the intersection between common sense and skillfully flinging razor tipped death sticks.

The hunt to this point had been a personal journey full of introspection and lessons in the humility that comes to one who hunts with a bow. Bow hunting is clearly not about killing. It is not easy. The distances must be intimately close, sometimes uncomfortable so. There is a bond that develops from understanding your prey. As an alpha predator, bears demand and deserve your respect. Not only can they quickly turn the tables to maim or kill, but they are wary to the point of seeming to possess a sixth sense to compliment their extraordinary sense of smell. They say that a bear has a sense of smell 800 times more acute than a human, and that they can not only smell your scent on the trail, but can tell how many days since you were there. A worthy quarry, with one swipe of its paw even a small 150 pound bear has the power to rip off an arm, or a head. And on POW, these are not small bears. A large bear here can grow to 500 pounds, and 400 pounders are more the rule than the exception. With this in mind, the dark end-of-day hikes back to the truck definitely reminded me that I was in bear country, in Alaska, and alone….

If you haven’t traveled on foot on the muskeg, let me tell you, it’s an unforgettable experience. The muskeg is a carpet of moss over bog. Sometimes you walk on top, sometimes not. Each step is an adventure. Even though it looks like the mossy equivalent of dead unwatered lawn, it’s not. Each step sounds like squish/suck/pop, as if you’re walking with suction cupped boot soles. With each step you sink an inch or two into the moss, into the ever present layer of bog water lying just below. And then there are the surprise holes…which innocently look like soft mud or another step on spongy moss until that weightless moment preceding a knee-jarring plunge. And though exhausted and soaked with sweat, I often found myself grinning ear to ear. This is awesome.

Hope springs eternal for the hunter. It only takes one chance intersection of game and hunter to make a successful hunt. I have to admit I wonder what will happen when (and if) I find myself 5-20 yards from a big bear: will I freeze? Get buck fever? Go brain-dead? Or find the hunter’s predator mind-set and do what needs to be done: stay calm, nock the arrow, set the release, smoothly draw back the bow, hold the tension of that deadly energy, find the magic fatal spot, center the pin, visualize the arrow slipping through the vitals, and then smoothly release the arrow to destiny. Time will tell. Hunting is part skill, part serendipity, and a large part being in the right place at the right time. Stay in the field and off the couch and it will happen. All I need is 1/5 of a second. An arrow traveling at 300 feet per second covers twenty yards in roughly .21 seconds. Just hope it happens on this trip.

Today I hunted hard. Put in the miles on the Beast (my rented 4×4 Ford F350 pick up) and on the soles of my Sta-Tuff rubber boots. Dusk found me surrounded by plenty of bear sign. Big bear sign. As I slipped over the bank to sneak into a ‘skeg clearing, I literally stumbled over bear scat the size of beer cans. Actually, bigger than beer cans. It takes a big bear to pass logs like that. It was fresh, so I knew two things: there was a big bear nearby, and if he was crapping turds bigger than bricks, he was most likely a very grumpy bear.

I set up in a clearing, let out my best imitation of a plaintive fawn call and had a revelation: I was alone, I had no idea where, when, or how a big bear would come tearing in looking for an easy meal, it was getting dark, and this was the first time in a lifetime of hunting that I was hunting with a sharp stick, on the ground, looking to match up with a 400+ pound predator. Sitting in a tree stand, spotting and then stalking, even hunting with a buddy or hunting with a high powered rifle, …that’s different. This thing about being at eye level, not knowing where he is, when he’s coming, or knowing his mood that changes the game. I have never been in deadly combat, and can only imagine that there the adrenalin and sensory acuity is ten times as intense….but for me this was definitely a moment of laser intensity. I realized that if things got “interesting”, there was no option for a “time out”. And no back up.

Its different hunting for bear. Hunting for deer, elk, wild pig, or antelope is challenging, but for lack of a better metaphor: these hunts lack teeth. Its different to bow hunt on the ground. There’s no separation. In a treestand, or in the company of a friend or guide, ……..there is a degree of separation. Alone, on the ground, there is no separation, only a tension, an awareness where every twig snap, branch break, bird call, has a larger meaning. Walking through dense cover not knowing where mister bear might be sleeping, lurking, lunching…adds a layer of adrenal excitement to a simple walk in the woods. There’s also the element of surprise. I have called from places where a bear could come to less than 30 feet before I even knew he was there. Hunting a predator brings my awareness to the greatest simplicity: be the prevailing predator.

We talk about the hunter’s senses being so keen. The mind becomes sharper too. Water splashing, a branch breaking, or the breeze whispering in the trees take on a greater significance. A soft breeze’s caress, unnoticed at any other time, looms large in the awareness of a hunter. Beyond the sensory, you realize that in addition everything has consequence: both external events and internal decisions. Every action, every choice has consequences. Go left, or right, or straight ahead. Choose to set your hidey spot at the center of a clearing, or against its edge. Choose to take an animal’s life, or let it live, or even the choice to pay attention to any of the cacophony of events in the woods, everything has consequences.

*********************************

After several days spent becoming familiar with the rhythm of the island the ubiquitous Sitka Blacktail began their annual birthing. This is why I had come. During the first two weeks of June the cycle of life jumps into high gear. As the helpless fawns are born the bears go into a post-hibernation feeding frenzy.

This particular morning I saw my first bear of the day as he ambled down an abandoned logging road. Calling as soon I was out of sight of the Beast and the bear, the bear came running back to within 20 yards. I had him dead to rights: the pin centered in the boiler room, close range, full draw, ready to release. But the bear was seriously rubbed (the coat would not have made a good rug), spotting a bear on the road just didn’t feel like the pure hunt I was after, and he was a three legged bear missing his right hind paw. For the record, he got along just fine on three legs, with no hint of handicap. I followed him into the woods, and at one point was within 15’ feet. We came to a mutual decision: time for each of us to move on.

Which brings me back to the beginning of my story. Within minutes of leaving the three legged bear I came to perfect set up overlooking a small drainage, quickly hid and started calling. Then it happened: a beautiful, large mature perfectly jet-black boar came to the call. He was so large that he appeared bow-legged, his belly seemed to drag on the ground, and he moved powerfully, effortlessly over the broken glen. His vibrant black coat glistened and rippled over hundreds of pounds of fluid muscle as if made of iridescent diamonds. He appeared like magic at 100 yards, and then with my staccato heart thumping he came straight to me, quickly closing to 60 feet. Excitement, exhilaration, heart pounding: physically and emotionally on the razor’s edge. I remember a lucid thought: what am I doing? If I just stop calling, he’ll stop coming. When a big bear is coming straight at you while you make the enticing sounds of defenseless dinner…I suppose it’s different for everyone, but for me, my mind was clear, but my heart was pounding trying to leap out of my chest. I do remember thinking that the sharp stick in my hand must be placed with great precision in a very small target area at a very small angle of arc with deadly intent. My world became very small. Every bit of my being was focused in the moment. The tree was in my way. I would not risk wounding or maiming this magnificent beast. He turned to go around the intervening rocks which would put him directly downwind of my scent. I silently raced to head him off, but he simply vanished. He must have winded me, and as quick as that, it was “game over”. As I said, the hunter is constantly aware that every single choice has consequences. This time it worked out for the bear. Had I not initially moved to the side, this would a very different story.

Despite the low odds of ever seeing him again, I went back later that evening. I knew without question that this was the bear and the hunt experience I had come for. Finding a better spot, and after calling for ten minutes, it wasn’t happening, so I took a moment to take some photos ……….and out of the corner of my eye noticed him coming fast. One again he held up at 20 yards, this time in a copse of small scrubby cedars. I knew that this time the shot would be perfect. There, at full draw, with my emotions and adrenalin at peak, ready to let an arrow fly, I was sure of the outcome. But then, as if by an act of bear Grace, the capricious evening wind swirled and my scent hit him like a Mack truck. All I saw was a black blur that slowed at 50 yards, then stopped at 80 to stare at my odious form. The let down was horrible. What words to use? Depressed. Devastated. Dejected. Disappointed. What followed were two hours of the lowest of lows. As Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. I had had an incredible experience calling in a magnificent large bruin, but now had been busted twice, had not released an arrow, and was left with an aching hollow bittersweet emptiness. But I also had been blessed with an incredibly perfect hunt.

The next day passed as if in a waking dream. I went through the motions, but the edge was gone. I tried in vain to call him in one last time, but my plaintive bleats were left hanging in the still air. All too soon it was time to leave. I had seen bear almost daily. Bald eagles, beaver, cranes, and deer were a constant part of the dense delicious fabric of island life. Four times my bow was at full-draw, twice I let a bear go, and twice the bear I wanted got the better of me. In a lifetime of hunting, this particular hunt helped define who I am as a hunter. For me, it is the totality of the experience that I seek. For me a trophy is defined not by the size of the animal, but by the quality and purity and effort of the hunt. I once heard it said that a discriminating hunter is guaranteed only great memories. I have those, full and rich, and they are more than enough.

When I returned a good friend asked how I would score the game. When I replied that the bears won, he grinned and said “it was a tie. No one got eaten, and everyone went home unharmed”. So be it. We each return to the field yet another day.

Did I mention that I’m going back in the fall? Stay tuned. There are more chapters to be written on this journey.

~ by Eric Newman

Those interested in hunting this magnificent island may want to contact Brent Dickenson at Thorne Bay Lodge. Although professional guiding is not allowed on the central part of Prince of Wales Island, Brent’s friendly and helpful lodge specializes in providing all you need for a memorable self-guided hunt. www.thornbaylodge.com

My buddy Kris Keller who runs Sulphur Creek Ranch invited us on a wolf hunt / scouting trip for elk season. There was one catch though. We had to help him build “a little” trail first. No problem. It was only a 3 1/2 hour ride from the trailhead, but by dark we still weren’t to base camp and a big storm was headed our way fast! Did I mention I had never been to this camp before? Kris told me to “…ride to the lodge, take a right, go to the top of the ridge and then take another right to the top of the next ridge. Once you’re there, head left down towards some lake looking stuff“. Easy right?

So, 4 hours later it was pitch dark and I was hoping we were at least getting close when the rain and hail hit… Hard. I was leading my mule and trying to track Kris’s horses (I could only see during lightning flashes after which I was blind), but their tracks were fading fast in the rain. Just when we were about to stop and make camp I spotted a flashlight a we were there. Relief, ’cause I hate long nights in the rain. Been there. Done that.

Kris and his crew helped us unsaddle and get our gear out of the rain and the saddles stashed under mannies. Camp was at a spectacular high mountain lake and consisted of a tarp stretched over our sleeping bags. Usually just fine this time of year, but we hadn’t been counting on a torrential downpour, so we spent the next hour tying down the tarp and digging ditches so we’d have a dry night.

I’m not going to go into details about the next two days because I’d rather forget. If you’ve never built trail with a Pulaski before, well… I don’t recommend it. ‘Nuff said. Even though it was hard work it was nice getting out of the office and in the evenings we fished the lake for some BIG trout. I’ve never seen such a well producing high mountain lake. Gonna have to go visit that lake again.

With trail building over, we headed back down to the lodge to start wolf hunting. This would be my first experience hunting wolves and we were all excited to get started. For the past week the wolves had been hanging out on the runway every night and hopes were high. We spent the next few days covering lots of miles on the horses. We worked a few bulls for my buddy Brent Martell who had an archery elk tag and looked over some pretty country, but we never caught up with the wolves. Oh well, so it goes more often than not when you’re hunting. All that means is that I still have a tag in my pocket. Now I get to try again.

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I’ve been a busy guy the last few years and haven’t gotten out hunting nearly enough. To be honest, I’ve felt like the plumber who has leaky pipes. It’s been frustrating to say the least, but for the last few months I’ve been working closely with Chris Burget of BullsandBeavers.com building and managing his website through my other business, WebDog Services and he invited me to hunt elk with him. His cabin is in one of Idaho’s best elk hunting units and I was looking forward to our hunt. We only had 1 1/2 days to hunt due to work obligations, but we made the best of it. Here’s the story:

I met Chris at the grocery store in Sun Valley on Friday evening and we bought $84 worth of snacks. The prices there were ridiculous. I don’t know how they sleep at night, but I digress. From Sun Valley, it’s about a half hour drive over a one lane, steep, dirt pass to Chris’s cabin on the river. Nice place, and sometime I’m gonna have to sample the fishing. We were both tired, so we B.S.’d a bit and hit the sack early.

Up the next morning in the dark, we wolfed down breakfast, jumped on the quads and headed up the road behind the cabin. Chris calls it his own “Private Idaho”, and it’s my favorite type of elk country. Big, sagebrush covered mountains with some pockets of timber. Great for glassing, but I didn’t have my Swarovskis with me because my dad had broken them in a horse wreck earlier, but that’s another story… Anyway, we were in elk right at first light and had a jealous herd bull all worried about his harem accross the canyon from us. Chris has had three knee replacements in the last year and wasn’t up to going after him so we sat and bugled insults back and forth at each other until he pushed his gals up into the timber. I could have killed that bull. He was there for the taking, and in a perfect spot for an ambush, but I wanted to call a bull in for Chris. He’s been archery hunting for twelve years and hadn’t gotten a bull yet, and after his knee debacle, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to hunt at all anymore.

We continued along, bugling here and there and on our third stop we had another bull answer us. I set Chris up about 100 yard in front of me and started my best imitation of a bunch of sexy cows looking for a bull. We stayed ther for about a half an hour and the bull continued to bugle at us but he wasn’t coming any closer. I think he was bedded down already ’cause he wasn’t putting much umph into his bugles, so we continued on towards him moving slowly and calling softly along the way trying to sound like a herd moving into the timber to bed down. At about 100 yards, I could tell that he was starting to get worked up, so I sent Chris out in front again and started some quiet, contented cow calling and he started coming in. I could tell that he was going to come in higher than I had expected so I moved up about fifty yards. I felt bad because I thought Chris was out of the game and that I had put him in a poor location, but not too bad ’cause I was gonna get this bad boy. He stepped cautiously out of the timber about sixty yards away and I quit calling. He hung up for about fifteen minutes and took a few slow steps towards me to about forty yards. I was just starting to draw my bow when SWOOSH… SMACK! Chris took a shot! I had been wrong, he wasn’t out of the game after all. The bull whirled and I could see Chris’ arrow sticking out of his boiler room. Good shot. He ran about 100 yards and started the “wobble” so I knew the easy part was over. Awesome!

Now here is where things get crazy. Chris was ecstatic and wanted to go check out his bull, but I had gone that route too many times with less than ideal results, so I suggested that we sit down and have a snack and talk about things for a bit. I kept Chris contained for about a half hour or so, and he couldn’t take it anymore so we snuck up and found his bull about 200 yards away, and there was a cow elk standing there at forty yards! Chris saw her first and motioned me up and stopped her with a cow call. Since I only had a day or so to hunt a cow was fine with me so I took a quick shot and hit a twig. CRAP! I thought it was all over, but as she moved parallel to me, I was able to stop her again in the next shooting lane with a cow call and this time I made a good shot and my T-Lock Broadhead made short work of her. Two elk in less than an hour with our bows! What a morning!

I showed Chris how to Eskimo Quarter his bull (the only way to fly) and then we went and found my cow, took care of her and hiked back to get the quads. Amazingly, with a little bit of fancy driving we were able to get the quads to both elk and were back at the cabin by 4:00. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about! I’ll take an easy pack-out any time.

Thanks Chris for a great hunt. I think we should do it again next year.

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I began archery hunting in 2005 out of necessity more than because I wanted to. Oregon is a draw only state for rifle, so it didn’t take me long to see that if I wanted to hunt more than once every 4 years, I’d better learn a thing or two about archery hunting. But, after calling in a bull that first year that screamed his lungs out at me every 30 seconds, I became addicted to the way of the bow.

Fast forward to this season, now an Idaho resident with the choice to hunt bow or rifle, and despite having been humbled in the act of bowhunting, I’ve chosen archery as my preferred method of hunting — especially for elk. After four seasons, I still only had stories and memories to show for my efforts. As this season was approaching, my brother and I talked ourselves up big and vowed that this would be the year we got the monkey off our backs.  We planned a 4-day hunt to kick off the season beginning on opening day.

The opener was wet — very unusual weather for Idaho’s elk archery opener. August is generally the hottest and driest month, but the rain was coming down as we found ourselves eying the end of the road for our first crack at the 2009 elk season. Lightning cracked seemingly all around us, but our anticipation could not be held back.

We set up on a huge flat bench that ran along a steep wall in a drainage we’d scouted earlier in the year. Our calls produced a couple lazy bugles, but nothing to get overly excited about. Eagerly, we eased to the next spot — near a big water hole that we knew elk frequent. Once we hit the ridge above the water, we could smell the elk. Fresh droppings, beds, tracks — the whole nine yards. We were in them. We set up and started off with some cow calls followed by a single bugle. Pretty soon, we’d located two herds below us as cows were mewing back and forth. Then a bugle came from one herd. Our hearts leaped — this was what we’d been waiting 11 months for! Another round of calling, and then from above us came the scream of a mature bull. I looked over at Todd and gave a fist pump. The wind was in our favor and I was on the uphill side from Todd meaning I would probably be getting a shot if this bull came in. And come in he did.  His bugles began to come closer and anticipation began to build. When the elk appeared, he had circled a little bit, and his antlers tipped the ridge just 40 yards from Todd — and then the wind shifted. Todd, who got a better look at this magnificent bull, said he’d come in with his nose in the air and as soon as the wind shifted, he was gone. After such a build up, it was hard to believe it was over so soon.

During those four days, we called in three bulls, stalked to within 15 yards of one (Todd) and missed one at 40 yards (me). It was enough to leave us frustrated, but also optimistic that we were seeing bulls — and getting close. To us, it seemed it was just a matter of time.

The next weekend, Todd had previous engagements, so I went up the mountain by myself. I went to a new area — an area I’d shot three bulls from in previous years with my rifle. I knew the area, I liked it, and simply being there gave me a mental edge. I started up the ridge and was bumping deer every few steps it seemed. As I neared an old overgrown logging road, I bumped into a bull. As I started across a wide open flat, the bull spotted me and as he wheeled and ran, I thought I’d just missed a golden opportunity. Not willing to admit defeat, however, I got by the only tree nearby and started to call. I knew there was no way I could call that bull back across the wide open spot as he could surely see me — and he wouldn’t see any cows. After calling a few times, though, he answered back with a bugle, and off in the distance another bull answered him. You talk about a perfect morning, this was it. Being by myself, I was trying to utilize a camera mount on my bow given to me by Brian Piltz from Insane Archery rather than lugging my big camera around. The footage isn’t great because I was using a point and shoot picture camera, but I was glad to have the camera mount to capture some of the action.

The bull stood about 140 yards away and refused to come any closer across that wide open space.  I quieted and allowed him to wander off into the brush, and then using the brush to conceal my movements I began working my way closer to him. Pretty soon I could hear his footsteps as he sampled the mountain’s menu. Losing patience, I moved toward the sound just as the bull stepped out and caught my movement. I came to full draw and chose my spot. As I released, the bull lunged forward and I watched in disappointment as my arrow went in too far back.  There was no blood trail, no arrow, nothing. I began to question if I’d hit him at all. After giving him several hours, I followed his tracks as best I could, but pretty soon they mixed with so many other elk it was hard to tell what was what. Eventually I found myself on the next ridge over combing through the thick, viney brush that seems almost impenetrable. At this point many hours had passed since the shot, and worry was weighing heavy on me. I was picking my way through that thick brush when I spotted the tan body of an elk. The monkey has been evicted from my back.

My first bow kill – 2009 Idaho bull.

Wish he could have been there. My grandfather has had a big influence on my love for the outdoors.

This article by: BaseCampLegends.com

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Hello hunting friends…I’ve been out harassing a few of God’s tasty animals…well, one semi-tasty one and one that I don’t like to eat at all, so I had to call one of my many bear consumption sources who does think that bears are tasty too. The bear is my best spot and stalk bow bear yet. Hope you guys are doing well!

I think the turkey was blind, deaf and dumb to come into range of the blind with my two boys wiggling and giggling around in there but we managed to pull it off. It was a blast!

Sincerely,
Jerrod Lile
Trophy Taker, Inc

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Our Idaho black bear hunting Outfitter just sent us these trail camera pictures. They have their bait set up near their lodge in the Frank Church Wilderness. Looks like they have some great color phase action going on.

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Check out these pictures of the New Mexio Auction Tag Holder’s ram. We’re told that the ram was taken in the Wheeler Peak unit and scored 189 2/8.

15 3/8 x 41 and 10 years old.

We’ll post more information as we learn more. But for now, enjoy these pictures of a huge old bighorn. And be sure to check out the rest of our sheep and goat hunts.

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Andros South guide Fredlon with a big ‘cuda caught by Capt. Rick Grassett Photo: Rick Grassett

Capt. Rick Grassett, is a full-time fishing guide and outdoor writer based in Sarasota, FL. He’s a great host and a super guy, and as luck would have it he hosts a group at Andros South each year.

Here’s Capt. Grassett’s report from last week. Thanks Rick!

—

I spent the last week from Saturday, May 2nd through Saturday, May 9th, hosting a group of friends and customers at Andros South bonefish lodge on South Andros in the Bahamas. Nick Reding, Bob Harness and Bob Reynolds, all from St. Louis, MO, Frank Rhodes, from Auburndale, FL, Hal Lutz, from Parrish, FL and Jon Yenari and I, from Sarasota, met in Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday afternoon, May 2nd. We had a smooth, one hour flight over on a Lynx Air twin engine Cessna 402 and were greeted by managers Rick Sisler and Kateri Clay.

The weather and fishing were near perfect! I had an opportunity to fish with each member of the group and fish a variety of areas. Some days were better than others and some days were fantastic! Anglers fishing the vast sand flats to the south fished near Jackfish Channel, the Water Cays, Curly Cut Cays, Fish Key and the “airport flat”. Some of these flats are so big they go all the way to the horizon. Frank and Jon had a great day at the “airport flat” one day catching and releasing more than 50 bones. Hal and I fished the south end one day and had a great morning wading along a mangrove shoreline on a flood tide. We caught 15 or 20 fish before noon. Frank, Jon, Hal and Kateri went offshore one day and landed more than 30 mahi mahi (dolphin) to 12-pounds on flies and conventional tackle. Their first mahis on fly!

Several creeks – Deep Creek, Little Creek and Grassy Creek all cut through to the west side, crossing the ”Devil’s Backbone” ridge and open up into large flats and salt ponds with smaller creeks feeding into them. We caught lots and lots of bonefish to 6-pounds with most of them in the 2 to 3-pound class. Some were smaller and a few were even bigger. Another angler at the lodge, John from British Columbia, landed an 8-pounder one day. Bob Reynolds and I had a great day on a huge school over on the west side one day with guide, Fredlon. We waded and doubled and tripled for more than an hour. I also landed a 30-pound ‘cuda that day! Nick and I fished with Torrie one day and learned a lot about targeting big bonefish.

Jon Yenari from Sarasota, FL, with an Andros South bonefish Photo: Rick Grassett

Even though catching lots of fish out of a big school is a lot of fun, the most rewarding to me is stalking singles, doubles and smaller schools. A couple of the most rewarding fish I caught were tailing on a slick, calm morning when we had to wade like a “heron” and make a perfect cast to catch them! Top flies were Gotchas, Peterson’s Spawning Shrimp and variations of them. We also encountered lots of sharks and ‘cudas. Several ‘cudas, up to 30-pounds, were landed on flies and conventional tackle.

Bob Reynolds from St. Louis, Mo, with a nice South Andros bonefish
Photo: Rick Grassett

I hated to come back to the real world, but the good thing is that tarpon fishing is getting ready to take off back at home in Sarasota. I have already received several reports of tarpon being jumped and landed from Tampa Bay to Sarasota. I’ll be on the water this week hunting tarpon, which should get even better as we get further away from last week’s full moon.

Tight Lines,
Capt. Rick Grassett

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News from one of our Outfitters in Argentina:

“Just wanted to let you know that we are having a very good stag season so far. Ten days ago we shot the new #1 Argentina and South America SCI red stag at one of our ranches. The stag scores 279 CIC and 486 SCI.”

Well… ’nuff said. You can’t tell me you don’t want to go. Give us a call! (208) 991-HUNT

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Hog hunting in Utah you ask? Well, kind of…

For the past few years we have gone camping with my wife’s family in Utah during Easter weekend. Our traditional Easter camping spot is about a mile or so away from a big ranch loaded with exotic game including Russian Boar and I’m intrigued every time we drive down to camp. Our itinerary usually includes paint-ball wars, Easter egg hunts for the kids, hiking, riding four-wheelers, fishing and shooting clay pigeons. Just your average good ‘ole redneck-type fun. As you know, the weather this time of year can be marginal at best and this year was no exception. While we were staring at each other over the fire in the rain we naturally started talking about hunting, and that led to talk of hog hunting and since I almost always travel with my bow, before I knew it we were lining up a hunt. Works for me!

Now I’ve always been a fair-chase, wilderness archery elk hunting type of guy. The thought of chasing something around in a pen and shooting it isn’t hunting in my mind, so I had no illusions as to what I was getting into. My line of thought went about like this: It’s raining, cold, and I’m tired of sitting around. There are some great big, cool looking pigs just over the hill. I have my bow with me. I like to eat pork. Boar tusks are cool. Let’s go!

We loaded all the kids up, went and lined things up with the neighbor and went “hunting”. Even though the pigs were running in a huge area, they really weren’t that wild and it wasn’t too hard to get within 20 yards. It was really pretty anti-climatic to tell the truth. The best part about the whole thing was letting all of the kids join in on the blood trail and help with the whole process. They got a kick out of that.

In conclusion: I don’t really have a problem with people who hunt behind fences, but don’t call it hunting. It’s not, and if you don’t use the meat it’s just killing. I’ve got to say that it was a bit of a letdown, and I doubt I’d do it again. However, it did whet my appetite for some real hog hunting. Now I just have to figure out where to go.

I’d like to know what you think about hunting behind fences. Leave us a comment.

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Our Idaho black bear outfitter has had some good success on bears so far this season. Their largest of the year is this big chocolate bear was shot over bait within 1/2 mile of the lodge.

Ray Christenson with his 12 year old daughter as a sidekick, harvested this bear on the first day of their hunt. Glassing and still hunting in the morning to no avail he decided to sit on one of our baits at about 4:00 pm his bear arrived but only 12 minutes later. The bears back while on all 4’s was about 4-6 inches higher than the bait barrel. He measures 6′4″ nose to tail and weighs approx 375 400 pds.

Here are some bears that they’ve captured on their trail cameras that are still out there.

Learn more about this bear hunt.

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Gunmakers can thank a former New York senator and presidential candidate for an ongoing boom in gun sales, if you ask one local firearms vendor.

George Nemec, owner of Nemec’s Sport Shop & Farm & Garden Center in Warrensburg, said gun sales at his business began to increase about two years ago, after Sen. Hillary Clinton announced her intent to run for president. People were concerned about the possible impact of a Democratic president on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

“Handguns, shotguns, rifles — it’s every type,” Nemec said. “People are worried the government is going to take their guns away, or they’re going to tax them (guns and ammunition) to death.”

With a Democratic president in office and economic troubles fueling fears of rising crime, guns — and the rounds they fire — are a hot commodity these days.

Across the country, gun dealers are reporting a big uptick in sales of both firearms and ammunition. Requests for federal background checks for prospective gun buyers have surged since last fall, with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reporting a nearly 50 percent increase after the election of President Barack Obama.

Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, said gun and ammunition sales around the country have risen in recent months.

He said many are concerned a Democratic president and Democratic-controlled Congress will change gun laws and could potentially ban certain types of firearms, like those commonly referred to as assault rifles. Democratic lawmakers are generally viewed as less friendly to gun owners than their Republican counterparts.

“We’re hearing it around the country. People are concerned about losing their guns,” King said. “If they buy them now, they’ll be grandfathered if the laws are changed.”

Locally, gun dealers are seeing a number of trends when it comes to sales and purchases of firearms and ammunition.

Most said gun sales are up, while others said they are steady. Ammunition sales have risen dramatically, they agreed.

“We’re selling a lot of guns. It’s been that way since November,” said Kevin Zacharewicz, owner of Zack’s Sport’s in Round Lake. “Handgun sales are up; self-defense shotguns are up. People are worried about what’s going on financially.”

Zacharewicz said state government trends are also motivating sales in New York. The state Senate is now controlled by Democrats, which has many gun owners in the Empire State concerned about what gun-control laws might be pursued.

“There’s a lot of concern about the government and what they’re going to do,” said John West, whose family runs The Crossroads Country Store & Sport Shop.

At MacGregor’s Gun Shop in Queensbury, owner Scott MacGregor said he’s seen a “sudden influx” of customers wanting to buy “home defense-type weapons,” like shotguns.

Everyone interviewed by The Post-Star for this story agreed ammunition of all calibers has gotten tougher to find, as gun owners stock up. Prices skyrocketed in recent years as metal prices went up, which caused many gun owners to stock up in anticipation of rising ammunition prices.

There are also concerns that some larger calibers, or those used by military-type weapons, could be banned, restricted or taxed more heavily.

One northern Warren County resident found out recently the government is paying attention to such ammunition sales.

West said a customer of his recently stocked up on .223-caliber rounds, a caliber often used in assault-style weapons. The customer bought 1,000 rounds a few months ago through a mail order company.

Shortly after the purchase, he received a visit from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, whose interest was apparently piqued by a large-scale purchase of that caliber.

“His wife was home. He was at church,” West said.

“People are buying a lot of ammunition in bulk these days,” said Kathie Ferullo, owner of Discoveries USA, an outdoors outfitter in Warrensburg that sells guns and ammo. “For some types, we have to wait on a waiting list.”

The down economy is also causing people to liquidate some of their valuable assets, including guns.

West said his business hasn’t seen a big rise in gun sales, but it has seen a rise in people wishing to sell guns to his store for economic reasons. He said one man recently brought in an 80-year-old antique rifle to sell because he needed money.

“We’ve had guys come in with three or four guns to sell,” he said.

dlehman@poststar.com

From the Boone and Crockett Club:

Although the venerable .30-06 and .270 remain among the favorites, Boone and Crockett Club big-game records show that hunters with one of the various .300 Magnums are taking decidedly more North American trophies than any other caliber.

Surprisingly, the second-most-popular trophy-taker isn’t a firearm — it’s a bow.

Boone and Crockett compiled the data from its records book entries from 2007 through 2009. This three-year period of big-game trophies, fair-chase hunting and success in conservation and game management will be celebrated at the Club’s 27th triennial Big Game Awards, June 24-26, 2010, at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.

Here are the most commonly used calibers (Note: Records do not distinguish specific variations, i.e. .300 Win. Mag, .300 WSM, .300 Wby. Mag., .300 Ultra Mag, etc.) across all Boone and Crockett categories over the past three years, along with percentages of trophy entries credited to each:

The .300 Magnum appears among the top three calibers in 11 of the following 15 species recognized in Boone and Crockett trophy records. A bow or crossbow appears in 7 of these 15. Species are arranged by frequency of records book entries 2007-2009.

Most popular calibers by species include:

The Boone and Crockett Club system of scoring big-game trophies originated in 1906 as means of recording details on species thought to be disappearing due to rampant habitat loss and unregulated hunting. Science-based conservation efforts, led and funded by license-buying hunters, brought those species from vanishing to flourishing.

Boone and Crockett records remain a classic gauge of habitat and management programs.

In addition to its prestigious history and tradition, Boone and Crockett scoring is strongly associated with the highest tenets of fair chase and hunting ethics.

Sportsmen and women who have been struggling with the choices in this year’s presidential race may have found a ticket they can vote for with enthusiasm, when Republican John McCain introduced Alaska’s Governor, Sarah Palin, as his choice for a running mate. Palin is a solid choice for conservative values, second amendment rights and the heartfelt family traditions of hunting and fishing.

Palin became a fast-rising star in Alaska politics, after winning the mayor’s seat in her hometown of Wasilla, in 1996, defeating a three-term incumbent. A short ten years later, she became the first female and youngest governor of the state. This remarkable achievement was not unexpected to her fellow state champion basketball teammates, who nicknamed Palin “Barracuda” for her aggressive play as point guard for Wasilla High School.

Alaska is a state where individualists are treasured and Palin and her family fill that bill. Following her success on the basketball court, she became Miss Wasilla, then runner-up as Miss Alaska, and then moved quickly from beauty queen to first lady of the frontier state. Her husband, Todd, whom she refers to as the “First Dude,” has worked as a commercial fisherman, production operator for BP on the North Slope when he’s not straddling his snowmobile. Todd has won the Tesoro Iron Dog, the world’s longest snowmobile race, four times.

Maintaining the difficult pace of a presidential campaign shouldn’t be an issue for Sarah “Barracuda” Palin. She comes from good outdoor stock, with an inclination toward the long run. Her parents, Chuck and Sally Heath, hunt and fish but both have also completed marathons.

As a mother of five children, Bristol, Willow, Piper, Track and Trig, who was born in April of this year with Down syndrome, she is very familiar with heavy demands on her time and the mandatory machinations of multi-tasking.

She’s a lifetime NRA member, which compares well to the gun controlling inclinations of the Obama ticket.

Now, the big question that remains is how her favorite meal, moose stew, will serve on the Whitehouse’ china?

Copyright 2008 Bulls & Beavers LLC. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Women like elk hunting.

New research on hunter demographics shows more women per capita are attracted to elk hunting than most other kinds of hunting, according to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

More than 60,000 elk hunters today are female. Though still predominantly a male pursuit, new data shows that women compose 7.6 percent of all elk hunters. That’s greater representation than in turkey, duck, goose, dove, quail, pheasant, rabbit or squirrel hunting. In fact, among America’s most common game species, only deer hunting has a greater percentage of female participation.

“It seems a bit counterintuitive because elk hunting can be the quintessential ‘roughing it’ hunt. But, obviously, women are not intimidated by rugged country, large rifles, unpredictable weather and pursuing animals several times larger than they are,” said David Allen, president and CEO of the Elk Foundation.

Research data was obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

The Elk Foundation’s membership magazine, Bugle, has long carried a regular feature titled Women in Elk Country.

Articles explore many reasons why women hunt, from pure adventure to providing meat for their families. A special feature in the upcoming November/December issue will profile hunting gear and clothing made for women.

A basic Elk Foundation membership, which includes a subscription to “Bugle,” is $35. See www.rmef.org for more information.

Zimo

- Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 08/21/08

MISSOULA, Mont.—Hunters will chase wild elk this fall in almost half the states and provinces in North America. A comprehensive hunt forecast from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is now available for free at www.rmef.org.

“Forecasts are prepared annually for our members, but this year we’re making it available to the public. Elk and elk hunting opportunities are plentiful. In fact, nationally, elk populations are over 30 percent higher than 25 years ago, so it’s a great time to get out and experience elk country—and rediscover the ties between good conservation and good hunting,” said David Allen, president and CEO of the Elk Foundation.

This summer, the Elk Foundation passed the 5.4 million acre mark for elk habitat conserved or enhanced.

Here’s a condensed look at forecasts from the Top 10 states for total elk populations. To see all the state and province hunt reports in their entirety, visit www.rmef.org.

Colorado
• Estimated elk population: 292,000
• Bull/cow ratio: 26/100
With almost twice as many elk as any other state, and nearly a third of all wild elk in North America, Colorado is Elk Central. The Colorado Division of Wildlife estimates hunters will kill upwards of 50,000 elk this fall, with most units open to over-the-counter tags for the second and third seasons. Those holding tags in limited-license “trophy units” should find monster bulls. In the rest of the state, younger bulls will be prevalent, although a few savvy bulls grow old even in the hardest-hunted units. As for antlerless elk, Colorado is the land of plenty.

Montana
• Estimated elk population: 150,000
• Bull/cow ratio: varies by unit
Big Sky Country is overflowing with elk in a number of regions, which was apparent last year when the state extended the general five-week elk season by two weeks in a number of areas. This year, managers are trying to increase the kill by significantly increasing antlerless elk licenses, known as the A9/B12 tags, around the state. Some parts of Region 2 will offer new unlimited archery-only A9/B12 licenses. Also new this year, hunters no longer need a general elk license to purchase an A9/B12 license.

Oregon
• Estimated elk population: 120,000
• Bull/cow ratios: varies by unit
With Roosevelt’s to the west and Rocky Mountain elk to the east, Oregon boasts healthy populations of both species. Tag numbers will be much the same as last year, with minor changes to some antlerless hunts. The general archery tag went from either-sex to bull-only last year, but either-sex permits will likely become available later in about two-thirds of the units. In the northeastern corner, low calf recruitment, attributed to cougars, is a concern. If you’re willing to hunt the tangled rainforests of the west, tags are over-the-counter in most units.

Idaho
• Estimated elk population: 115,000
• Bull/cow ratio: varies by zone
Idaho issues about 6,000 nonresident permits on a first-come, first-served basis across its 29 elk hunting zones. Hunting opportunity abounds, but tags for some units were already sold out by mid-May. Also, elk permits have been reduced in the Pioneer, Salmon, Selway, Sawtooth and Island Park zones due to harvest and predation concerns. Idaho Department of Fish and Game offers two pieces of advice: 1. Stay mobile—if you find wolves or fresh sign in a drainage, move on; and 2. Check both state and federal restrictions on vehicle travel before packing up for elk camp.

Wyoming
• Estimated elk population: 95,000
• Bull/cow ratio: 15-29/100 for “recreational herds,” 30-40/100 “special hunts”
To put it plainly, Wyoming feels it has too many elk—about 12,000 too many. Part of the problem begins with the first shot on public lands that drives the herd over the next ridge onto private land, where they can wait out the season in relative safety. A substantial was seen this year in the Atlantic Rim area, where at least 80 animals out of a herd of 500 died from eating poisonous lichen. The only major hunting region that will see some adjustments is in the Gros’ Ventre, units 81, 82, and 83, which are experiencing low bull/cow ratios. The area will have a spikes-excluded season.

New Mexico
• Estimated elk population: 70,000-90,000
• Bull/cow ratio: 40/100
Big antlers need forage, and forage needs moisture. In the north-central hunting units of the San Juan and Sangre de Cristo mountains this year, snowpack has been better than in years past. And with quite a few nontypical Boone and Crockett bulls coming out of New Mexico, this year could be another for the record books. While the north is doing well, southern portions of the state are hurting a bit with continued drought conditions. In the southwest, bull/cow ratios are in the range of 50/100.

Utah
• Estimated elk population: 60,000
• Bull/cow ratio: 30/100
Big. Bulls. You’ll find them here as Utah wildlife managers enlist more than half of the state’s elk range in a limited-entry hunting system. The result? Hunters last year killed the pending No. 2 bull elk in the world for Pope & Young and a new state-record rifle nontypical that grossed 434 Boone and Crocket points. Hunters should expect nothing less from this season. Limited-entry elk permits have increased from 2,090 in 2007 to 2,447 for 2008.

Washington
• Estimated elk population: 58,000-60,000
• Bull/cow ratios: 12-20/100
Washington assesses its management objectives at the herd level and recognizes 10 specific herds throughout the state. The elk population breaks down to about 50/50 between Roosevelt’s elk west of the Cascades and Rocky Mountain elk to the east. Bull permits for both the west-side general season and east-side controlled hunts should be very similar to last year, with the exception of the Blue Mountains, which have gone up due to improved bull/cow ratios.

Arizona
• Estimated elk population: 15,000-20,000
• Bull/cow ratio: 15-25/100
For those lucky enough to hold a bull tag, Arizona should continue to uphold its status as a land of giants. Populations and ratios of mature bulls remain strong across all traditional big bull units. Those with cow tags have a great chance to enjoy success as well. For all the tagless unfortunates, there’s something new. Arizona is offering over-the-counter-tags in several units around the state, with a cap on nonresident participation. Also new this year is a November opportunity for bowhunters.

California
• Estimated elk population: 11,400
• Bull/cow ratio: 25/100
Only one state is home to all three remaining subspecies of elk. Tule elk, native only to California, number 3,800. More than 6,000 Roosevelt’s thrive in the coastal forests of northwest California. And in the northeast corner of the state, a booming population of 1,600 Rocky Mountain elk features some of the largest wild bulls on the planet. The La Panza and the Grizzly Island tule populations have almost 80 bulls per 100 cows, and crazy nontypical racks abound.

Access the Elk Foundation’s hunt forecast directly here.

About the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Snowy peaks, dark timber basins and grassy meadows. RMEF is leading an elk country initiative that has already conserved or enhanced habitat on over 5.4 million acres—a land area equivalent to a swath three miles wide and stretching along the entire Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico. Most work occurs on public lands. More than 561,000 acres have been opened or secured for public access including hunting, fishing and other recreation. Get involved at www.rmef.org or 800-CALL ELK.

The active hunt for a grizzly sow and two cubs fizzled Monday, with state wildlife officials unable to locate the animals on a trail in Far North Bicentennial Park that has been the site of two maulings in recent months.
Fish and Game biologist Rick Sinnott heads out to hunt the bear that mauled Feliz.

But Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists remain determined to bring down the sow and plan to pepper the Rover’s Run trail — which remains closed following the most recent attack Friday — with motion-activated cameras that will alert them when the bears return, said area biologist Rick Sinnott. If caught, officials plan to kill the sow and try saving the cubs.

“There’s at least the potential to catch them, but, that said, our primary goal here is going to be to shoot the sow, and if we can catch the cubs after that, I think we’ll try to do that,” Sinnott said. “But it’s not as easy as people think.”

There have been five reported confrontations between brown bears and people in the park since mid-June. All but the most serious — an attack on 15-year-old Petra Davis in late June — likely involved the same sow, and the same bear may have been involved in that one as well, Sinnott said.

The most recent attack came Friday, when Clivia Feliz, 51, was left with a partially collapsed lung, a torn arm, and puncture marks on her head and neck after jogging up on the bears on Rover’s Run.

The patrol Monday — using biologists as shotgun-wielding bait — spanned the trail and turned up tracks from some single bears, but no cubs. The sow and her cubs may have left the area, but they’ll be back, Sinnott said. The department plans to mount as many cameras as it can borrow along the trail and creek, then check the images daily until the sow is located, even if it takes the rest of the season, he said.

Relocation is not an option for the sow because dense brush won’t allow an aerial search. Darting from the ground at short range is dangerous, because the tranquilizer can take up to 10 minutes to knock a bear out, Sinnott said.

Even when they are relocated, grizzlies often try to return to their turf, said Capt. Burke Waldron, operations commander for the Alaska Wildlife Troopers, who have assisted the hunt.

“Relocating bears, brown bears in particular, historically has very low success rates,” Waldron said. “Bears are very territorial and they will do whatever they can to the point of killing themselves to try returning to their home territory.”

If and when the bears are spotted back along the trail system, Fish and Game will place a culvert trap to ensnare the sow, then kill it. The cubs, about 40 pounds apiece, were born earlier this year and are too young to survive on their own, Sinnott said.

Officials are looking at facilities in the Lower 48 that might need grizzly cubs so they can try saving them if they can catch the animals, Sinnott said.

“There’s a very limited time frame to rescue those cubs and if we can do it safely we’ll try, but if it’s a three-ring circus in there, then we’ll just have to put them all down,” he said.

Anybody who follows the endlessly volatile wolf issue–and it’s hard not to follow it with all the news coverage–knows the greens won a big victory last week. Judge Donald Molloy of the U.S. District Court sided with Earthjustice and 12 conservation organizations and essentially relisted, albeit temporarily, the wolf as an endangered species.

So, what now? That’s the question I’ve been asking people on both sides of the debate this week, and I might have the answer, a way to quickly get the wolf debate behind us. Does that sound good?

Actually, everybody generally agrees on the current options before us, but nobody will say which option they’ll pursue. It’s complicated, of course, and we must keep in mind that Molloy’s ruling doesn’t overturn the proposed rule to delist the wolf. It more or less says the wolf is endangered while the courts decide if it is, or not, whereas over the last four months, the wolf has been off the endangered species list and under state control while the legal battle over delisting rages in the background. If agencies prevail in the main case, Molloy’s ruling would merely go down as an aggravating delay for agencies in implementing hunting seasons and state management.

This leaves agencies with three choices:

• Appeal Molloy’s decision to relist the wolf in addition to continuing to fight the main legal battle over delisting.
• Ignore Molloy’s ruling and concentrate trying to win the primary delisting case, forgetting about wolf hunting seasons for this year and perhaps next year, too.
• Suck it up, meet with the greens, and have a little “out-of-court settlement” to resolve the wolf issue right now.

I asked both the Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the federal agency in charge of endangered species programs, and Chris Smith, chief of staff for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, what their agencies plan to do. Both dodged that question but didn’t rule out any of the three options.

I called Suzanne Asha Stone, northern Rockies representative for Defenders of Wildlife, and Doug Honnold, managing attorney for Earthjustice, self-acclaimed as “the nation’s leading environmental law firm,” which is handling the case for the 12 conservation groups, to ask them what the agencies would have to do for them to accept delisting and withdraw the lawsuit. Keeping in mind that Stone only speaks for her organization, not the other groups, and that Honnold can only speculate on what his clients might decide, both gave me the same answer.

The two major sticking points are lack of what’s called “genetic connectivity” and Wyoming’s totally unacceptable wolf control plan. Neither Stone or Honnold would guarantee that fixing these two problems would make wolf delisting litigation-proof, but I strongly suspect resolving them would keep us out of court.

The first point, Wyoming’s dual-status plan that declares the wolf a “predator” (Wyomingish for vermin) in 90 percent of the state so, as Honnold says, “it can be killed by anybody anywhere” needs to go away. Radical pro-wolfers are probably loving Wyoming right now because if the state doesn’t give up on dual status, it may hold up delisting for decades allowing the wolf to reclaim its entire former range throughout the western United States. Already, we have indications of wolf packs forming in Washington and Oregon. Soon, Colorado greens will have their dream come true, wolves in Rocky Mountain National Park to control elk numbers. All thanks to Wyoming.

“It’s going to take the other two states (Idaho and Montana) and other interested parties to push Wyoming to develop a safety net instead of a free-firing zone,” Honnold speculates. Even though the FWS had earlier rejected Wyoming’s plan, “when (former Idaho Governor Dirk) Kempthorne came into office (as Secretary of the Interior), the Wyoming plan that had been unacceptable became magically acceptable.”

And, of course, gave Judge Molloy another good reason to enjoin delisting, giving Wyoming exactly what it did not want–more wolves and more federal control. Altogether now, can we all say “self-defeating insanity”?

The Nation of Wyoming has to be a team player and along with the other states give in to the greens, regardless of how much it hurts. Those bruised egos eventually heal.

Addressing the second point, genetic exchange, also seems easy enough. By definition “genetic exchange” means wolves moving back and forth between the three recovery zones (Yellowstone, central Idaho and northwestern Montana) without being whacked. Even though the Yellowstone wolves have prospered, they have done it in genetic isolation.

Like it or not, it’s a numbers game. As I write this commentary, we have somewhere between 1,500 and 2,200 wolves running around the northern Rockies, but not many of them making it from one recovery zone to the other without getting in trouble and being “controlled.”

Collectively, the three state management plans call for killing down the population to about 1,100 wolves. Based on the science he has read, that number minimizes the change of genetic exchange, says Honnold, and Judge Molloy agreed with him and his clients.

“At a population level of 2,000 wolves, we are likely to have genetic exchange if we can maintain it for two years or more,” Honnold says. “If there were a commitment to maintain a population of 2,000 wolves, I think these genetic issues would be solved.”

That’s the winter population, he adds, not the spring population, which includes the new crop of pups, many of which don’t make it to their first birthday.

The recovery plan and delisting documents call for a minimum of 30 packs or 300 wolves. But the greens believe–and again Judge Molloy agrees–this is not enough to facilitate genetic exchange.

So now, I’m scratching my head. How hard can this be?

We have roughly 2,000 wolves, a tolerable but probably not ideal level for agencies or the livestock industry. I say go with it and move on. It sure trumps any alternative we currently face, such as years of expensive litigation while wolves continue breeding and the real possibility of the greens prevailing in court and keeping the wolf an endangered species for a long time.

And, please, let’s not do the is-there-a-number-between-1,100-and-2,000-that-might-work approach. The greens have an ace in the hole, and Molloy flopped another ace for them, so right now, they have the winning hand. Let’s pick up on that and fold.

Stone tells me the decision must be based on science, but that’s exactly what Bangs says. They simply have different views of the available science, which will probably always be the case. And assuming judges keep agreeing with the green view of the science, wolves will be on the endangered species list.

The agencies have already said that having 1,100 wolves is enough, scientifically, to declare the wolf successfully recovered, so 2,000 wolves would only be more recovered, right?  It might be more wolves than agencies think we need, but less than we’ll have if we don’t get out of the courthouse soon.

“We need to bring the stakeholders to the table and develop an acceptable plan,” Stone proposes. “Montana did a great job in their plan in bringing all the stakeholders together, but this needs to be a region-wide effort. There are people on both sides who are willing to work together for a good outcome.”

Bangs, on the other hand, has little optimism of any such agreement ever happening, not now at least, because his experience tells him people can’t be rational about wolves. “Wolves will eventually wear everybody out, but right now, emotions are too high. It will work out eventually.”

But do we want “eventually”? How many wolves will we have by then? How many millions will be spent on wolf control that hunters would pay to do?

“Wolf management has nothing to do with reality,” Bangs reminds me. “A rational person could sit down and figure this out in a minute. If this were any another animal, this would already be a done deal, but people aren’t rational about wolves.”

“It’s a mess, “ he admits. “And it’s getting expensive. More wolves do more damage. If you want more wolves in more places, you keep the wolves on the endangered species list.”

Is anybody in Wyoming listening?

Bangs also accused me of being “too rational” (which hasn’t happened too often) in suggesting agencies and greens could settle their differences. Nonetheless, I persist in believing we could resolve the wolf issue by the end of next week. All it would take is the agencies collectively deciding to maintain a population of 2,000 wolves (the status quo) instead of 1,100 and pressuring Wyoming to commit to plan something similar to plans written by Idaho or Montana.

This is doable, folks. In fact, it looks easy.

By Bill Schneider, 7-24-08

The region has an estimated 2,000 grey wolves. They were removed from the endangered species list in March, following a decade-long restoration effort.

Environmentalists sued to overturn that decision.

“There were fall hunts scheduled that would have called for as many as 500 wolves to be killed,” said Doug Honnold of Earthjustice, who had argued the case for 12 environmental groups.

Only 11 people showed at a public hearing Wednesday to gather comment on a proposed state rule that would designate the gray wolf as a species in need of management.

Only four of those that showed said a word, and none complained about the change from endangered to “in need of management” so much as small details of the rules.

“I was hoping for a little better turnout,” said FWP Gray Wolf Coordinator Carolyn Sime.

Billings Montana- Outfitters and hunters oppose the prospect of killing elk, fearing that too much culling could shrink herds and suggest vaccinating cattle or eradicating the disease in bison.

There is no effective brucellosis vaccine for wildlife, and cattle vaccines are only 60 to 70 percent effective.

Humans are susceptible to the disease, but cases are rare and usually limited to those who work with infected cattle.

An estimated 95,000 elk populate the greater Yellowstone area.  The Yellowstone region’s elk herds out number the herds of bison.

A prospect to reach a regional brucellosis plan may be uncertain since differenct states of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana have to deal with there own issues that pertain to both wildlife, region and predator issues.

Fewer ponds could be partly to blame. While down from last year, though, the breeding populations are above the long-term average.

The number of ducks is down again across the United States, and hunters may see the effects during the fall hunts.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released its preliminary report Monday on mid-continent breeding ducks and habitats, based on surveys conducted in May and early June.

Total duck populations were estimated at 37.3 million breeding ducks on the surveyed area. This estimate represents a 9 percent decline over last year’s estimate of 41.2 million birds but remains 11 percent above the 1955-2007 long-term average.

One of the most important elements in duck breeding success is the amount of water present in portions of prairie and parkland Canada and north-central United States. Total pond counts for the United States and Canada combined showed 4.4 million ponds, a 37 percent decrease from last year’s estimate, and 10 percent below the long-term average.

The Fish and Wildlife Service spring surveys provide the scientific basis for many management programs across the continent, including the setting of hunting regulations.

Here are some survey statistics:

• The mallard population was 7 percent below last year. (An estimated 7.7 million mallards were on traditionally surveyed areas this spring, compared with last year’s estimate of 8.3 million birds.)

• For the second straight year, redheads stayed above 1 million birds (66 percent above the long-term average).

• Green-winged teal populations were similar to the 2007 level and were 57 percent above the long-term average.

• Scaup numbers appear to have stabilized at similar levels for the last eight years, staying at 3.7 million in 2008, similar to the 3.5 million surveyed in 2007.

• The number of breeding canvasbacks was down 44 percent from 2007; pintails down 22 percent; gadwalls down 19 percent; and northern shovelers, down 23 percent.

• American wigeon numbers, at 2.5 million, remained similar to 2007 levels and the long-term.

• Blue-winged teal populations did not change significantly from 2007. They remain well above the long-term average, up 45 percent.

Statesman staff – Idaho Statesman

Hunters can shoot up to 75 wolves this fall under a tentative quota unanimously approved Thursday by the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission, despite pleas from some that a wolf hunting season is premature.

The public has until July 18 to comment on the tentative quotas, as well as the commission’s decision to reclassify wolves under state law to a species in need of management, instead of an endangered species. A final quota adoption is slated for Aug. 5.

Lisa Upson with the National Resource Defense Council said they agree with the concept of a wolf hunting season as a management tool. But with the animals coming off of the endangered species list only last February, she’s concerned that the state doesn’t have enough long-term information on their viability to start a hunting season now.

She argued that the state needs to ensure that wolves are truly a recovered species, especially when it comes to genetics. She added that Montana is still learning about wolves’ existence in the Treasure State, including their breeding seasons and the effects of a harsh winter.

In addition, Upson and others noted that the state currently is party to a lawsuit brought by 11 environmental groups, who are seeking an injunction to halt the delisting of wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Bob Lane, an FWP attorney, said he expects U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy to rule on the lawsuit within the next week or so.

“I urge you to proceed cautiously, and don’t change the wolves’ status or implement a quota,” Upson said.

But Jim Anderson of Deer Lodge argued that a compromise was reached with ranchers, who didn’t want any wolves here, when the animals were reintroduced to the Rocky Mountains back in the mid 1990s, and that included the ability to manage their numbers. He called Thursday a “day of celebration” for the recovery of wolves in Montana.

“We owe it to the ranchers of Montana to make sure to honor that contract and agreement they came to at that time, and I’m wondering if we’re doing that today,” Anderson said. “Wolves are at the point where we’re near the capacity of wolves with the range in Montana, and we need to begin to manage wolves.”

Public hunting of wolves has been long been a part of Montana’s wolf conservation and management plan; the state took over management of the wolves from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after the animals’ delisting in February.

Earlier this year, the FWP Commission set the hunting season to run from Oct. 26 to Dec. 31, in three hunting management units. The season will be similar to that of mountain lions, in which the season ends when the quota is reached in each management unit.

Ken McDonald, FWP wildlife administrator, said the 75 wolves under the tentative quota that could be shot represent 18 percent of Montana’s 422 wolves. He said models show that without the hunt, wolf numbers would grow to 497 by the end of 2008, including 52 breeding pairs in 98 packs. Currently, Montana has 39 breeding pairs in eight packs. The minimum population for Montana to retain management of wolves and keep them off of the list of endangered species is 100 wolves with 15 breeding pairs.

McDonald added that their model showed anywhere from 115 to 160 wolves could be shot and still have a healthy population in the state, but FWP decided to go with a lower quota just to be on the safe side.

“We felt that it’s a new thing for us, having a wolf season, so we felt it was important to take a conservative approach,” McDonald said. “There are some uncertainties about what the effects of hunting will be, so a slow approach gives us the ability to learn as we go.”

One of those uncertainties is what impact hunting will have on livestock depredation. Carolyn Sime, Montana FWP statewide wolf coordinator, noted that last year about 75 wolves were shot for preying on livestock or otherwise died — like being hit by vehicles — and she’s not sure if that will change.

Commission Chairman Steve Doherty also voiced concerns over whether the population is robust enough to withstand both hunting and diseases, but FWP officials said they are comfortable they’ll be able to maintain the population at current levels.

“Another unknown is how effective the hunters will be, how quickly they’ll fill the quotas and things like that,” McDonald added. “This is just a one-year quota, so we’ll be able to step back, see how it goes and monitor the populations as well as the harvest effort.”

But Anne Carlson, a scientist with Defenders of Wildlife, said while she’s not anti-hunting regarding wolves and believes it can be an effective management tool in the future, she still thinks hunting is premature.

“How many animals do we hunt when statewide, their population is less than 500 animals? She asked rhetorically. “… It’s imperative to proceed with great caution.”

By EVE BYRON – Independent Record – 06/14/08

E-mail comments to fwpwld@mt.gov or mail comments to FWP n Wildlife Division, Attn: Public Comment, PO Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today opened a 30-day public comment period on a proposal to add one national wildlife refuge to the list of areas open for hunting during the 2008-09 season and increase hunting opportunities at six other refuges.

The Service today also published a final rule that opens Cape May National Wildlife Refuge (New Jersey) to fishing, makes minor administrative changes, and modifies existing regulations.

Initially proposed in July 2006, the hunt program changes were withdrawn because of a lawsuit and subsequent court decision requiring some refuges to revise Environmental Assessments to incorporate cumulative impact analyses. Refuges named in the lawsuit have completed the revised assessments, as have the seven refuges included in today’s proposed rule.

The proposed rule, published in the June 11, 2008 Federal Register, would open Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota to migratory bird and big-game hunting. In addition, the rule increases hunting opportunities to include migratory birds and upland game at Agassiz and Blackwater national wildlife refuges, in Minnesota and Maryland, respectively. At the Whittlesey Creek (Wisconsin) National Wildlife Refuge, big-game hunting would be permitted.

Hunting opportunities at three refuges in Louisiana (Bayou Cocodrie, Tensas River and Upper Ouachita) would be increased because land has been added to the refuges. No regulatory changes, however, are proposed for Bayou Cocodrie. The rule also adds a turkey hunt at Upper Ouachita.

The Service also proposes removing Stillwater Wildlife Management Area (Nevada) from the list of areas open for hunting. The land has reverted to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation management after expiration of a 50-year agreement under which the Service managed the land in partnership with two state agencies.

Some of the nation?s finest hunting can be found on national wildlife refuges, as well as excellent opportunities for fishing, wildlife photography, wildlife observation, environmental education and interpretive programs. More than 300 national wildlife refuges currently have hunting programs and more than 270 refuges have fishing programs.

To view the final rule, visit: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-12188.pdf

To view the proposed rule, visit: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-12193.pdf

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.

Bird populations are down due to harsh winters, drought. Biologists say spring weather and nesting success are crucial for them to recover.and they may take years to rise

Southwest Idaho’s chukar population has taken a dive in the last two years due to harsh winters and drought, and it might take that many years for populations to recover even under improved weather and nesting conditions.

That’s the word from Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologist Andy Ogden.

This could be a pivotal year for chukars because they typically live only two years. A high proportion of Idaho’s chukars are already 2 years or older, and if adult birds don’t reproduce this spring, most won’t be around for another nesting season.

If that happens, it may take four or more years to recover chukar populations.

Last winter, deep snow hit southern Idaho’s chukar habitat, but weather conditions probably were not severe enough to repeat past population crashes when heavy snow was accompanied by frigid temperatures.

“This is fortunate because late fall 2007 chukar populations were already very low due to extremely poor summer reproduction,” Ogden said. “Some chukar populations (including Lucky Peak, Arrowrock and Garden Valley) likely declined even further this winter due to snow levels, while other populations where snow levels were less extreme (Brownlee, Hells Canyon and Owyhee) probably fared better.”

For maximum winter survival, chukars need significant fall “green-up” of perennial bluegrasses coupled with germination of cheatgrass seeds.

Those high-value foods allow chukars to gain weight during winter so hens have fat reserves for spring nesting season.

Biologists believe that vitamin A found in green vegetation is vital for triggering the chukars’ reproductive instincts. In the deserts of California and Nevada, upland birds won’t attempt to nest without sufficient green-up of vegetation stimulated by winter rainfall.

Without significant fall green-up, chukars survive on seed heads of dried grasses and forbs, which can nourish the birds through winter but not enough to add body fat needed for nesting.

Idaho had good green-up last fall, so chukars should be in good shape for spring nesting season, Ogden said.

Ideal chukar production conditions include a rainy spring with no snow that produces maximum growth of leafy green vegetation and lots of bugs.

For best production, that’s followed by dry weather in early June when the chicks are hatching to increase their survival during the critical first few days of life.

“It is too early to know how spring production will fare and predict the fall chukar hunting picture given that last fall’s population levels were the result of reproductive failures, not winter weather,” Ogden said.

F&G does its annual chukar surveys in late summer by flying over the same areas year after year and comparing chukar counts.

Even with above-normal nesting success this spring, it may still take two nesting seasons to return to normal chukar populations.

But Idaho has been in this situation and recovered from it fairly quickly.

During the 1992-93 winter, the Brownlee area had heavy snow for over a month and not enough wind to clear snow from ridge lines.

Chukars crowded into riparian areas along streams and reservoirs, and many were too weak to fly across reservoirs, so they became an easy meal for predators. Chukars died by the dozens that winter.

Biologists counted 78 birds per square mile in the Brownlee area before the 1992-93 winter and a record-low 18 birds per square mile the following fall. Chukars rebounded to 88 birds per square mile after two nesting seasons.

By Roger Phillips – rphillips@idahostatesman.com

The Smoky Mountain elk herd, once facing dire odds, could witness its best year yet in 2008, researchers say.

The number of elk could top 100 for the first time in the Cataloochee Valley on the eastern end of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Researchers expect as many as 25 calves could be born in the coming weeks, the best calving season since the elk were reintroduced into the valley in 2001.

The news comes as researchers conduct the final year of an experimental reintroduction, which will determine whether the elk remain in the national park.

“This should be a monumental year for the Smoky Mountain herd,” elk researcher Joe Yarkovich wrote in a recent progress report. “Many of the younger females were old enough to breed last fall and we are expecting to have more calves hitting the ground in 2008 than any other previous year.”

Once nothing more than an entry in the history books, elk returned to the Smokies as an experiment. Eastern elk were driven into extinction by overhunting and habitat loss in the 1800s, leaving behind no trace other than namesakes — Banner Elk, Elk Park.

Most of today’s Smoky Mountain elk are cousins brought in from Canada and Kentucky through the experimental reintroduction. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Friends of the Smokies and the Great Smoky Mountains Association covered the $1.1 million price tag to reintroduce 52 elk to Cataloochee — 25 in 2001 and 27 in 2002.

The future of the herd appeared in jeopardy as late as 2005, as its population lingered around the mid-50s mainly because of coyotes and black bears killing calves. The national park extended the experiment’s deadline three more years, and the result has been impressive.

“We’ve had better breeding success, better calf survival and better male-female ratios,” said Bob Miller of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. “We’re really beyond worried about them going extinct.”

The herd witnessed a turnaround as cows adapted and protected their calves from predators. The elk also received help from human hands, as particularly troublesome bears were relocated to another side of the park. The bears would later walk back to Cataloochee, but the relocation bought the calves enough time to survive. Between 80 and 85 adult elk now call the valley home.

“I think we’ve shown that the herd can grow, and they all seem to be in pretty good health,” Yarkovich said. “We’ve still got a ton of public support for it, and as long as the herd keeps growing I think the program’s going to be a success here.”

Later this year, the University of Tennessee will provide the park research information to help determine whether the elk stay or go — whether the experiment failed or proved successful.

“Officially I can’t tell you the herd is here to stay, but things look pretty bright for our future,” Yarkovich said.

By Scott Parrott
Times-News Staff Writer

Commissioners say that’s still more than five times the minimum that would trigger an ‘endangered’ listing.

BY ROGER PHILLIPS – rphillips@idahostatesman.com

Edition Date: 05/23/08

JEROME — Idaho’s wolf population could be cut in half under wolf hunting rules approved Thursday by the Idaho Fish and Game commission. But the final word rests with a federal judge.

In setting wolf seasons and rules, commissioners set a wolf “mortality limit” at the 2005 wolf population, which was 515 wolves. That would keep wolves within F&G’s management goals, which call for between 500 and 700 wolves.

“That’s the maximum, and I’m not sure we’re going to get there,” F&G director Cal Groen said.

F&G wildlife bureau chief Jim Unsworth said the success rate for wolf hunters would probably be lower than black bear hunting, which is around 5 percent. There are about 20,000 bears in Idaho. Bears can be hunted with hounds and baited, both of which will be illegal for wolf hunting.

F&G estimates there are 738 wolves, which could grow to 1,063 after the spring breeding season. That number is derived from annual wolf population growth based on the current population estimate, which commissioners described as “very conservative.”

F&G commissioners unanimously approved wolf hunts to run from Sept. 15 through Dec. 31. They said they don’t expect their decision will provide ammunition for groups wanting to return wolves to federal protection because Idaho has about seven times more wolves than required to keep them off the endangered species list.

A lawsuit filed in Montana by environmental and animal-rights groups is expected to go to court next week. They want a federal judge to stop Idaho and other states from managing gray wolves immediately, and to restore federal protection for the predators under the Endangered Species Act.

The mortality limit differs from a hunting quota, which allows hunters to take a specific number of animals. Unsworth pointed out that 515 is the lowest F&G would allow the wolf population to drop from all mortality, including hunting, poaching, accidents, natural death and wolves killed due to livestock depredation.

Biologists had recommended maintaining about 600 wolves after the 2008 hunting season, but commissioners said they set the minimum lower to protect elk herds, reduce predation on livestock and increase hunting opportunity.

Commissioners said if the wolf population drops to 515, there would still be more than five times the minimum of 100 wolves that would trigger relisting under the Endangered Species Act.

“This is very conservative, and we are well within our rights,” commission chair Cam Wheeler of Ririe said. “I think the state has done everything right on this wolf issue, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with protecting our hunters and our elk herds.”

Wheeler said a federal order to stop the hunt could have “tremendous impacts” on big-game herds because the wolf population would grow unchecked. “We think we have a responsibility to speak for our hunters,” he said.

Ralph Maughn of Pocatello, president of the Wolf Recovery Foundation, said the decision will make Idaho more likely to lose in court. His group is not part of the lawsuit.

“Their comments all along have generally been hostile toward wolves,” Maughn said. “The commission judges things politically, and I think they know they’re going to lose the lawsuit, so they’re playing to the crowd.”

Mark Bell of Boise, president of the Idaho Sportsmen’s Caucus Advisory Council, said hunters will be pleased that the commission is allowing them to kill more wolves.

“I think wolves need to be managed just like any other predator, and I think Idaho manages bears and cats pretty well,” Bell said.

Commissioners said that even with the lower number, they doubt hunting would significantly reduce wolf populations, particularly in the backcountry and wilderness areas.

The state is divided into 12 wolf management zones, and each zone will have a quota that would end hunting if it was reached. Wolves that preyed on livestock or pets could still be killed. F&G also would adjust the quotas in each zone prior to the hunts to account for other mortality.

“It’s going to be very adaptive, and we’re going to learn a whole bunch in the first year,” Unsworth said.

Wolf populations have increased about 20 percent per year since the animals were transplanted to Idaho from Canada in the mid-90s. Idaho now has about 82 packs between North Idaho and Interstate 84.

Despite a growing wolf population, statewide elk harvests have remained stable in the last five years with hunters killing about 20,000 elk annually.

But F&G officials said wolves are affecting elk herds in some areas, and big-game managers have had to reduce elk hunting in those areas to adjust for increased wolf predation.

Steve Nadeau, F&G’s large-carnivore biologist, said each wolf kills 14 to 18 elk annually, based on research done in Idaho.

The debate between how many wolves should be allowed to exist in Idaho has been hotly debated since the mid-90s. Wheeler called wolves the “toughest issue F&G has ever dealt with.” Groen added that setting a season is “great history in the management of wolves.”

Commissioners stuck to hunting seasons and rules and did not follow the suggestion of several groups to set aside wolf viewing areas where hunting wouldn’t be allowed.

“The bulk of the year is exclusive for viewing,” commissioner Randy Budge of Pocatello said. He added that establishing a viewing area could set a precedent, and other groups could pressure the department to add nonhunting viewing areas for other species as well.

Roger Phillips: 373-6615

One of the most favorite past times of many is the hunting of upland game birds. Most of the places that people choose to do their upland hunting is chocked full of an abundance of wild birds, as well as acre after acre of beautiful private land for your hunting pleasure. Vast amounts of private acreage, and excellent habitats, all complement the experience of hunting .

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Discover more about Upland Game Birds here

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