Outdoor News Daily

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) annual survey of upland game populations will soon be under way with state wildlife biologists and conservation officers driving more than 200, 30-mile routes statewide from August 1-15.

The August Roadside Survey, as it is called, is the DNR’s main tool for determining whether the fall pheasant populations will be up or down from the previous year, says Todd Bogenschutz, upland wildlife research biologist for the DNR.

Routes start at sunrise on mornings with heavy dew and are run primarily on gravel roads because of their lower traffic volume. A heavy dew causes hen pheasants to move their broods to the gravel roadsides to dry off before feeding, allowing them to be counted easily. Routes are run over the same roads each year so that the information is comparable with previous years.
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Hunting clubs interested in hosting a youth pheasant hunt this fall are encouraged to begin making plans now, according to Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe.

The Game Commission will release 15,000 ring-necked pheasants statewide prior to the opening of this special youth season, which was developed to provide young Pennsylvanians more opportunities to be successful afield. To encourage more hunting clubs to get involved, Roe has pledged to provide an extra 1,500 birds for clubs that host a youth pheasant hunt.

“The future of hunting is directly related to the continuing participation of young Pennsylvanians,” Roe noted. “Our goal is to make hunting a priority among all the other activities and recreational opportunities that vie for a teenager’s time. It’s truly a challenge for the Game Commission, as well as Pennsylvania’s one million hunters.
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MADISON – Hunters, trappers and spearers are reminded that applications for harvest permits for fall wild turkey, Horicon and Collins goose zones, sharp-tailed grouse, bobcat, otter and fisher, and 2009 Upriver Winnebago System sturgeon spearing season are due August 1.
Fall turkey

There will be 95,700 wild turkey permits available to hunters for the fall 2008 turkey hunting season, an increase of nearly a thousand over the 2007 fall season. Permits remaining after the drawing will go on sale beginning at noon on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008. Because the number of leftover turkey permits for the fall season is only a quarter of spring sales, DNR customer service and licensing officials do not expect computer problems with fall sales. In addition, the agency has been working with the private vendor that handles permit sales to make changes to the computer system to better handle high sales volumes, and backup plans are in place to avoid having hunters have to wait in line as they did last spring. Additional work continues by the licensing system contractor and DNR staff to ensure that the problems that caused last spring’s computer crash are not repeated.
Horicon and Collins zone Canada goose
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North Dakota’s pheasant harvest in 2007 was the highest in more than 60 years, according to statistics released by the state Game and Fish Department.

“To sum it up, we had an outstanding hunting season last fall,” said Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor. “We carried a large breeding population into spring. We predicted a good number of broods and chicks last summer, and they were there. And good fall weather brought out the hunters.”

In 2007, North Dakota had 107,574 pheasant hunters, the first time the state has surpassed the 100,000 mark. Resident and nonresident hunters were both at all-time highs. The number of resident hunters increased to 71,870 (up from 68,216 in 2006) and the number of nonresident hunters increased to 35,704 (up from 31,633).
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MADISON – Hunters have until August 1 to apply for one of 875 sharp-tailed grouse hunting permits available for the 2008 season.

Four sharp-tailed grouse management units (pdf; 35kb) have grouse permits available in 2008. The number of permits available by unit are: 700 permits for Unit 2; 50 permits for Unit 8; 100 permits for Unit 9; and 25 permits for Unit 10. Sharp-tailed grouse units use the same boundaries and designations as deer management units (DMU). The 2008 sharp-tailed grouse season runs Oct. 18 – Nov. 9.
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