Bighorn Sheep Season To Close In Hunting District 500 - By order of the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission, hunting district 500-20, which includes portions of Park and Sweet Grass counties, will be closed to all hunting of bighorn sheep, effective one-half hour after sunset on Tuesday, September 22, 2009. Hunters Must Be Mindful Of Conditions - Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reminds hunters that they have a responsibility to identify and abide by all fire restrictions in effect in the area where they are hunting. Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should - Montana's abundant opportunities to hunt, fish and ride Off-Highway Vehicles requires every user to willingly act responsibly to ensure others enjoy the same privileges that they do. TIP-MONT Works For Montana By Reducing The Most Common Violations - Montana hunters have the opportunity to take part in some of the finest hunting found anywhere. FWP Block Management Region Contacts - Hunters interested in obtaining access to nearly nine million acres of private lands enrolled in FWP's Block Management Program may contact the regional FWP office in the area where they plan to hunt, or check the "Hunting" pages on the FWP web site at fwp.mt.gov . 2009 Block Management Information - For the 2009 hunting season, hunters will have access to nearly nine million acres of land statewide through the Block Management Program administered by Fish, Wildlife and Parks. 2009 Antelope Season Update - While numbers remain robust in much of northeastern and eastern Montana—FWP Regions 6 and 7— the hard winter of 2008-09 clearly took a toll on animals in some areas. Consequently, antelope numbers statewide are largely at or below those seen over past few years. Migratory Bird Hunters Get HIP Again This Season - Everyone who hunts doves, ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, snipe, or coots in Montana must be "HIP" certified for the upcoming hunting seasons. HIP stands for Harvest Information Program. Waterfowl Hunting Safety Tips - Water is one hazard that waterfowl hunters face that land-based hunters don't. Serving Canada Goose - Folks who have "tucked in" to a meal of roasted, baked, or fried Canada goose sometimes have vivid, if not very appetizing, descriptions of the meal. Tips For The First-Time Canada Goose Hunter - If you feel the urge to make this your first year to hunt the Canada goose, it is not too late to make that fantasy reality. There are a few basics a beginning goose hunter will want to keep in mind. Reminder: Youth Pheasant And Waterfowl Hunting Weekend Coming Soon - Montana's young hunters will have a special opportunity Sept. 26-27, the weekend of the youth waterfowl and pheasant special seasons. Canada Goose Facts - Life expectancy - up to 20 years Weight - five to 13 pounds Nesting Location--smaller subspecies nest in northern Canada. Geese that nest in Montana are the larger nine to 12 pound subspecies. Eggs--geese generally lay about four to seven eggs, called a clutch Incubation--eggs hatch after about 30 days Young geese--called "goslings" Migration----Migrate as family groups. Large flocks are made up of many families and nonbreeders. Age at first nesting---two or three years. Duck And Goose Hunting Outlook - Montana duck and goose hunters can look forward to some good hunting beginning Oct. 3 in the Central and Pacific flyways. Montana's youth waterfowl season is Sept. 26-27. Can Hunting Be Good For Your Health? - Hunting can be a healthy workout for the physically fit, but couch potatoes who set out Oct. 25 for the general hunting season with a rifle and an elk license may risk cardiovascular and other health-related issues, say the managers of Montana's state employee benefits program. And they are doing something about the situation.
Off To Wyoming - I'll be in Wyoming next week, hunting antelope in Unit 61, one of the fabled Red Desert units. Oregon Fall Hunting Forecast Available - The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife released its fall hunting forecast today. Based on surveys by staff biologists, the report offers hunters a good look at what to expect this fall. Helicopter Crash Kills Idaho Fish and Game Biologists and Pilot - A helicopter carrying two Idaho Fish and Game fisheries biologists and a pilot crashed in Kamiah between 9:30 and 9:45 Tuesday morning, leaving three dead. $5,000 Reward Offered in Arizona Sheep Poaching - The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking for the publics assistance in finding the person or persons responsible for the illegal killing of a bighorn sheep lamb along Highway 88 (also known as the Apache Trail), northeast of Apache Junction, on Tuesday, Aug. 24. At the time the department received the phone call, the bighorn sheep, though mortally wounded, was reportedly still alive. A Note on Ammunition Shortages - I haven't been hearing as much about ammunition shortages as I was a year or so ago, but there are still some problems with supplies out there. Snow Goose Forecast Excellent ... For Eastern Hunters - Could a bumper crop of snow geese be in the offing for waterfowl hunters this year? Dr. Robert Rocky Rockwell, a biology professor at City University of New York and one of North Americas leading authorities on snow geese, thinks so. Environmental Protection Agency Rejects Lead Ban Petition - On Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency denied a bold petition calling for a ban on the production and distribution of lead hunting ammunition. What will we do with the breathing room this has given us? Colorado Small Game Seasons Kick Off September 1st - Small-game and upland hunters in Colorado can look forward to the debut of small game, fall turkey, and upland bird hunting seasons in the upcoming days and weeks. Time to buy my fall turkey tag. Kansas Regulations Finally Available - Months after the deer application deadline and draw have already been complete, the Kansas 2010 hunting regulations are finally available. Hunting Antelope in New Mexico, Part 2 - After the ranch owner finally agrees to honor his contract and let me on the ranch, I stumble through the next series of obstacles ... specifically, there's not really any antelope. Arizona Spring Hunt Regulations Available - The Arizona Game and Fish Department has released the 2011 spring hunting and drawing information for turkey, javelina, buffalo and bear. Electronic copies of the application form and regulation booklet are available online, but there is no online application process. Montana Confirms It Will Appeal Wolf Ruling - Montanas top wildlife official confirmed last week that his agency will appeal the recent district court ruling that returned the regions recovered wolves to the federal endangered species list. Joe Maurier, director of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, told a coalition of wildlife conservation and livestock groups that Montana has "a recovered wolf population and we will appeal." California Struggles to Understand Decline of Blacktail Deer - A new study is under way to determine why Black-tailed deer populations in some areas of northern California have declined over the past 20 years. Statewide, the harvest of black-tailed deer bucks has declined 46% from 1989 to 2009. Hunting Antelope in New Mexico, Part 1 - A surprisingly complicated story of Texas politicians, iPhones, Game and Fish wildlife managers, and Longhorn cattle. A little about antelope hunting as well.
