NEWS, SPORTS, COMMENTARY, POLITICS for Gloucester City and the Surrounding Areas of South Jersey and Philadelphia

Letters: There Are No Quick Fixes
Letters: Our elected officials have let us down

NJ Black Bear News; PA Offers Mixed Bag of Seasons; Deer Chronicle

Florida Vacation HUNTING AND FISHING NEWS

Compiled by CNBNEWS.NET

 

In North Jersey, hunters moving in on black bears | Philadelphia Inquirer |

Two days earlier, the trio had made the nearly two-hour trek from Camden County to participate in the state's first black bear hunt since 2005. They took a week off work and bagged their first trophy on the third day. "We were crawling around all night to get this one," yelled Bonamassa, 43, an electrician from Mount Ephraim, as he jumped from the truck. His friend Chris Brennan, a carpenter from Bellmawr, had been waiting for hours around the swamp, near the Catfish Water Tower in Worthington State Forest, when the bear lumbered into sight. He hit it from 70 yards with a 12-gauge slug, Brennan said. The bear fell, got up, took another slug, and ran off. The group searched for the dying creature until nightfall, then returned in the morning and found it dead. "Four hundred thirty-two," announced a New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife official, who explained that before it was gutted, the animal's "live weight" was over 500 pounds.

read via www.philly.com

HUNTING AND TRAPPING OPPORTUNITIES FOR WINTER


HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe reminds hunters and trappers they still have a mixed bag of seasons from which to choose after the statewide firearms deer season concludes on Saturday, Dec. 11.  They include seasons for deer, snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, squirrel, cottontail, pheasant, coyote, fisher, bobcat, beaver and other furbearers, crows, doves and waterfowl. 


The statewide late archery and flintlock muzzleloader deer seasons run concurrently from Dec. 27 to Jan. 15. 


In Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) 2B, 5C and 5D, the late archery and late flintlock seasons run from Dec. 27-Jan. 29. In addition, all hunters with WMU 2B 5C or 5D antlerless deer licenses can use any legal sporting arm to harvest antlerless deer from Dec. 27-Jan. 29.


The small game seasons are as follows: squirrel, Dec. 13-23 and Dec. 27 to Feb. 5; ruffed grouse, Dec. 13-23 and Dec. 27 to Jan. 22; rabbit, Dec. 13-23 and Dec. 27 to Feb. 26; and snowshoe hare, Dec. 27-Jan. 1. In addition, pheasants (males and females) will be open from Dec. 13-23 and Dec. 27 to Feb. 5, in WMUs 1A, 1B, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4D, 5C and 5D. 


There is no pheasant hunting in the four Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas (see pages 22-23 of the 2010-11 Digest). Additionally, there is no dog training of any manner or small game hunting from the first Sunday in February through July 31 in the four WPRAs.


Hunters who participate in any of these seasons must have a general hunting license, which provides Pennsylvania hunting privileges through June 30.  Depending on the deer season hunters are participating in, they also must meet additional licensing and fluorescent orange requirements.


All antlerless deer taken by hunters in the late archery and special regulations area antlerless seasons must be tagged with an unused WMU-specific antlerless deer license harvest tag or a Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) antlerless deer permit harvest tag.


Flintlock muzzleloader season participants may harvest an antlerless deer with either a WMU-specific or DMAP-specific antlerless deer license/permit or general hunting license deer harvest tag. Buck hunting in the late seasons is governed by antler restrictions and limited to only bowhunters and flintlock muzzleloader hunters who possess an unused general hunting license deer harvest tag.


During the flintlock season, only single-barrel long-guns .44 caliber or larger and flintlock handguns .50 caliber or larger with a flintlock ignition system are permitted. The firearm must be an original or reproduction of a gun used prior to 1800.  Peep sights and fiber-optic inserts are permitted, as well as iron, open "V" or notched sights. A flintlock ignition system consists of a hammer containing a naturally-occurring stone which is spring-propelled onto an iron or steel frizzen, which, in turn, creates sparks to ignite the gunpowder.  Flintlock muzzleloader hunters may use “any single projectile” ammunition.


Hunters are reminded that firearms limitations for special regulations counties – Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia – remain in effect for the extended antlerless season in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D.  Those restrictions do not apply to those portions of Beaver, Berks, Butler, Lehigh, Northampton, Washington and Westmoreland counties contained in WMUs 2B and 5C, where firearms deer hunters may choose to use a rifle, shotgun or crossbow.


Hunters using archery or muzzleloader licenses, and hunting with those special sporting arms, are not required to wear fluorescent orange clothing while afield, but are encouraged to do so where the seasons overlap with late season firearms deer hunters. Special regulations area hunters must wear 250 square inches of fluorescent orange clothing, unless they possess an archery or muzzleloader license and are hunting with a bow, flintlock or crossbow.


Those hunting in the late seasons also may take coyotes with either a general hunting license or a furtaker license, 24 hours a day, from July 1-June 30, including Sundays, as per specifics listed on page 77 of the 2010-11 Hunting and Trapping Digest.  The bag limit is unlimited, and hunters may use electronic calls and can pursue coyotes without wearing fluorescent orange in most instances.  Also, trappers can take an unlimited number of coyotes until Feb. 20.


Trappers also may use cable restraints for foxes and coyotes from Dec. 26 through Feb. 20.  In order to participate in this season, trappers must have passed a mandatory cable restraint certification program, which was developed and implemented with the assistance of the Pennsylvania Trappers Association. 


Furbearer hunting seasons continuing through the winter months, include: red and gray foxes, until Feb. 19, including Sundays; raccoons, until Feb. 19; bobcats, for those with special permits, from Dec. 18-Jan. 9; and skunks, opossums and weasels, until June 30 (certain restrictions apply during the spring gobbler season, so please refer to page 77 of the 2010-11 Digest). 


Furbearer trapping seasons include: beavers, Dec. 26-March 31 (bag limits depend on WMU, which is outlined on page 77 of the 2010-11 Digest); minks and muskrats, until Jan. 9; raccoons, skunks, opossums, foxes and weasels, until Feb. 20; fishers, for those with special permits, from Dec. 18-23; and bobcats, for those with special permits, from Dec. 18-Jan. 9. 


“Trappers seeking new locations to place sets are encouraged to contact any of the agency’s six region offices for contact information for landowners looking for relief from nuisance beavers,” Roe said.  He also recommended trappers review the various “Field Officer Game Forecasts” available online (www.pgc.state.pa.us).


Crows may be hunted on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until April 10.

 

Dove hunters also will have late season opportunities when dove season reopens Dec. 27-Jan. 1. Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset, and the daily limit is 15.


Waterfowl hunters have plenty of hunting opportunities to pursue from December into March. Hunters can take Canada geese and white-fronted geese during the following upcoming seasons: Atlantic Population Zone, Dec. 21-Jan. 29; Southern James Bay Canada Goose Hunting Zone, Dec. 13-Jan. 26; and Resident Canada Goose Zone, from Dec. 18-Feb. 19.


Statewide snow goose season runs until Feb. 19, after which the conservation season runs from Feb. 19 through April 16.  In addition to all required licenses, conservation season snow goose hunters must obtain a free permit from the Game Commission website.  Snow goose conservation hunters also may use electronic calls and decoys, as well as hunt from one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset.


Ducks, sea ducks, coots and mergansers may be hunted in the Lake Erie Zone until Jan. 1; in the North Zone, until Jan. 4; in the Northwest Zone, until Dec. 30; and in the South Zone until Jan. 17. 


For details on waterfowl bag limits in each of the zones, please consult the Pennsylvania 2010-11 Guide to Migratory Game Bird Hunting, which is available on the agency’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) by clicking on the “Migratory Game Bird” in the “Quick Clicks” box in the right-hand column of the homepage.


In addition to a regular Pennsylvania hunting license, persons 16 and older must have a Federal Migratory Bird and Conservation Stamp, commonly referred to as a “Duck Stamp” to hunt waterfowl. Regardless of age, hunters also must have a Pennsylvania Migratory Game Bird License to hunt waterfowl and other migratory birds, including doves, woodcock, coots, moorhens, rails and snipe. All migratory game bird hunters in the United States are required to complete a Harvest Information Program survey when they purchase a state migratory game bird license. The survey information is then forwarded to the USFWS.

     

 DEER CHRONICLE AIMS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS


HARRISBURG – Does the moon affect the rut in Pennsylvania? How old do bucks get in Pennsylvania? Have you heard about the new Pennsylvania record buck? Where is the deer program headed for the next 10 years?


If you are curious about the answers to these questions, take a moment and visit the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) and you’ll find answers to these and many other questions in the “Pennsylvania White-Tailed Deer” section. In particular, check out the latest issue of the “The Deer Chronicle.”


“Two years ago, we started ‘The Deer Chronicle’ as a means of getting timely information out to the public,” said Dr. Christopher Rosenberry, Game Commission Deer and Elk Section supervisor. “The Chronicle is an easy read with short articles on topics ranging from antlerless deer license allocation recommendations to field observations of deer biologists in Pennsylvania.


“In addition to the Fall 2010 Chronicle and all previously-published issues, there are numerous other publications on every aspect of the deer management program in the White-Tailed Deer section of the website. We regularly hear questions and concerns regarding the deer management program. In recent years, we have covered many of these issues in publications that are available in this section of our website.”


The Game Commission’s deer section can be accessed by clicking on the “White-Tailed Deer” photo button on the agency’s home page. Once on the deer page, visitors can find publications covering topics such as the deer management plan, deer biology, deer hunting and harvest reporting, antler restrictions, living with deer, and research publications and reports.

Comments