The Hog Blog

There’s a ton of stuff going on right now, and it’s all I can do to keep up.  Sometimes, having a real job is a pain… it sure gets in the way of the fun stuff, like blogging and hunting.

Anyway, here are a couple of quick releases I’ve just picked up.  One is from the CA Department of Fish and Game, and the other is from the Arizona Game and Fish Department.  Funny how they all use the same words, but change the order a bit.  Or maybe that’s just me…

First, the CA DFG is asking A-zone deer hunters in Monterey County, San Benito County, and San Luis Obispo County to bring in sections of the colon from the deer they harvest this season as part of an E.Coli research program.  Here’s the details:

Department of Fish and Game

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 7, 2008

Contacts: Dr. Andrew G. Gordus, Senior Environmental Scientist, (559)
243-4014 ext 239; Terry Palmisano, Senior Wildlife Biologist, (831) 649-2890; Harry Morse, Office of Communications, (916) 322-8962

DFG Hoping Hunters Can Help Start New Study on E. Coli and Wildlife

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is conducting a new study on how native wildlife affect E. coli presence in three coastal counties. The new study focuses on the bacteria, Escherichia coli 0157:H7 which can cause illness and death in humans. The study will help establish if the bacteria is found in wildlife in Monterey, San Benito and San Luis Obispo counties.

DFG is requesting A-zone deer hunters in those counties if they harvest a deer to take a six-inch segment of the deer’s colon to the special drop off locations listed below. Samples need to be kept cool and delivered to a drop off location within three days. There are no known health hazards to hunters collecting a small segment of deer colon when cleaning their deer.

“Hunter cooperation in this study is extremely important to the long term management of the deer herds moving between foothills and croplands,” said DFG Senior Environmental Scientist Dr. Andrew G. Gordus, who is heading up the study.

A special collection kit consisting of two latex gloves, two zip ties, two gallon-size ziplock bags, label and instructions are available to hunters upon request. For a description of how to collect the sample while cleaning a deer, go to www.dfg.ca.gov/news/docs/FieldSamplingProtocolForDeerHunters.pdf

Hunters normally clean their deer in the field. By taking the extra step of securing a small section of colon, the study will help biologists understand how native wildlife affect E. coli presence, enabling them to better manage deer herds in the vicinity of vegetable croplands.

The new study is designed to collect information over a three-year testing period. Plans are to collect a total of 2,400 colon or fecal samples over a three-year period for analysis from deer, wild pigs, elk, small mammals and birds across a variety of watersheds in the three coastal counties.

Specimen drop off locations and collection kits are available from:

● Bob Martin, Rio Farms, (831) 595-1554, King City;
● Kek Flores, Jackpot Harvesting, (831) 970-7073, Gonzales;
● Traci Roberts, Monterey County Farm Bureau,  (831) 750-5875,Salinas;
● Mike Silva, (831) 595-0102, Salinas;
● Monterey Fish and Game Office, (831) 649-2870, Monterey;
● On opening weekend Aug. 9-10, Camp Roberts and Fort Hunter Liggett Hunter Check Stations.

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Seems like a reasonable request.  Help ‘em out, hunters! 

Now, from the AZFGD…  In addition to the annual selection of leftover tags in AZ, they’ve got a bunch of javelina tags for youth hunters, all available on a first-come-first-served basis.  This is for a new fall hunting program that didn’t get a ton of promotion this summer, but it sure sounds like a great deal for the youngsters.  (I know, there are the anal retentives amongst you who are just dying to tell me that javelina aren’t really hogs, so this doesn’t really have anything to do with hog hunting, but just go with it, OK?) 

Anyway, here’s the press release:

Contact
Doug Burt, (623) 236-7215
Public Information Officer, AGFD

Arizona Game and Fish Department
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release July 31, 2008
5,000 Arizona hunting tags available by first-come, first-serve

PHOENIX – Sportsmen and sportswomen wishing to hunt big game in Arizona this fall can start applying for leftover hunt permit-tags beginning at 8 a.m. (MST) Monday, Aug. 11. For those who either missed the fall drawing or were unsuccessful in the draw, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has tags for deer, turkey and juniors-only javelina hunts, to be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Parents, grandparents, relatives, and friends of the family can take advantage of the many available juniors-only permits. There are more than 2,000 fall juniors-only javelina tags and 106 juniors-only deer tags leftover from the draw. This is a great opportunity to take a youngster outdoors and introduce him or her to the American tradition of wildlife conservation through hunting. These juniors’ hunts are structured to assure a fun, safe and satisfying family hunting experience.

Also remaining are more than 2,500 tags for general deer, 27 tags for muzzleloader deer, and more than 700 tags for archery-only deer. The majority of these tags are for Coues whitetail deer in beautiful southern Arizona.

Turkey hunters also have a chance at 354 remaining permits for a fall hunt on the Kaibab. These tags will go very quickly.

To apply for a tag, a paper hunt permit-tag application must be submitted by U.S. mail only, for delivery no earlier than August 11 at 8 a.m. (MST), to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Drawing Section, P.O. Box 52002, Phoenix, Ariz., 85072-2002.

Hunters with bonus points who are awarded a tag through the first-come, first-serve process will not lose their bonus points for the genus for which the tag is allocated per R12-4-107(G). Conversely, an unsuccessful applicant for a leftover tag is not awarded a bonus point.

Applicants must include their 2008 license number on the application request. However, a 2008 license may be purchased through the application request if needed. Additionally, junior hunters ages 10, 11, 12 and 13 are required to complete a certified hunter education class to participate in a big game hunt.

For a detailed listing of leftover permits, visit www.azgfd.gov/draw  or call (623) 236-7702. For those who qualify, there are military hunts available for Fort Huachuca. Call (520) 533-2549 for additional information.

For more information about the department’s hunter education course, visit www.azgfd.gov/education and click on “hunter education.”

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The Arizona Game and Fish Department prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, disability in its programs and activities. If anyone believes they have been discriminated against in any Game and Fish program or activity, including its employment practices, the individual may file a complaint alleging discrimination directly with the Game and Fish Deputy Director, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phx., AZ 85086, (602) 942-3000 or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4040 N. Fairfax Dr., Ste. 130, Arlington, VA 22203. If you require this document in an alternative format, please contact the Game and Fish Deputy Director as listed above or by calling TTY at 1-800-367-8939.
 

More stuff coming down the pike… with the rifle deer hunting season kicking off this weekend, I can just about guarantee there’ll be a lot more news and information coming up soon!

This just in from the DFG… no real news to regular Hog Blog readers, but I figured I’d pass it along.  The first rifle season for deer opens Saturday, August 9.  I don’t have a rifle tag for the zone this year, so I’ll stick with archery tackle until September. 

Department of Fish and Game

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 6, 2008

Contacts: Harry Morse, DFG Communications, (916) 322-8962
Craig Stowers, DFG Wildlife Management Branch, (916) 445-3553

First Deer Season with Nonlead Ammunition Requirements Opens Aug. 9

The first deer season requiring the use of nonlead ammunition in historic condor range opens Aug 9. The law requiring the use of nonlead ammunition in historic California condor range took effect July 1. The law covers major portions of the A-zone deer season from Santa Clara to Ventura counties.

“This is the first of several general deer hunting seasons where nonlead ammunition is required in this range,” said John Baker Assistant Chief of Enforcemnet of the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). “We expect all hunters to understand the importance of this law and follow the regulations.”

Under the new law it is illegal to use or possess lead projectiles (bullets) while hunting big game and non game species in the range of the endangered California condor.

Lead poisoning is a serious threat to wild condors. Lead bullet fragments have been found to be a potential source of this risk to condors. To protect condors from lead poisoning as a result hunting activity, hunters can no longer use or possess lead projectiles while hunting in condor range.

A list of certified bullets, packaged ammunition and a map of the areas encompassed by the ban along with commonly asked questions about nonlead issuesn are available at www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor.

Fire closures and restrictions may affect A-zone hunters on public lands. The U.S. Forest Service has implemented major fire restrictions on the Los Padres National Forest and is considering or implemented similar actions for the Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forests. In the Los Padres National Forest much of the Monterey Ranger District, including all forest roads and trails, are closed to the public for at least the next several weeks, according to District Ranger John Bradford. For more information on fire closures or fire restrictions go to: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/deer/fire.html.

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 Good luck to all the A-zone rifle hunters this weekend! Send me pix and stories of your success and I’ll make ya famous! 

Some of you may remember a couple weeks back when I posted up about a new program from the CA DFG (Department of Fish and Game).  The campaign provides resident sportsmen an opportunity to ask questions of the DFG, and get answers back in a weekly Q&A format. 

I posted the first one, I think, but haven’t done one since.  The questions seemed a little lightweight to me, what with the issues that sportsmen in this state have to face.  But I thought I’d put up one more, just to see what folks thing about it.  I’m not sure it’s offering as much value to Hog Blog readers as i’d hoped it would.  I’d like to see some meatier questions, but maybe folks don’t know they can ask them here.

Anyway, I’ll see what kind of feedback this one generates.  If I decide not to continue posting these, you can always find them online at the CA DFG website. 

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