·                    2007 GFP Hunting, Trapping Handbook Available

·                    New Online Program for Volunteer Antlerless Deer Hunters

·                    Survey Notes Popularity of Fishing, Angler Attitudes

·                    First Phase of 2007 Avian Influenza Surveillance Complete

 

2007 GFP Hunting, Trapping Handbook Available

 

PIERRE, S.D.—The 2007 edition of the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department’s Hunting & Trapping Handbook is now available.

 

The 64-page handbook is packed with information about South Dakota’s hunting seasons and license requirements as well as a wealth of other information that includes a listing of state refuges, sources for maps and a sunrise-sunset schedule.

 

The handbook is available from Division of Wildlife offices and retail license agents. Listings for both sources can be found on the GFP Web site. Wildlife Division offices can be found at http://www.sdgfp.info/wildlife/GFPOffices.htm. License agents can be found at http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/Agents/Index.htm.

 

Handbook readers should note three areas that need clarification. On pages 22 and 45 the handbook incorrectly states that “Coated lead shot does NOT qualify as lead shot.” This sentence should be: “Coated lead shot does NOT qualify as nontoxic shot.”

 

Nontoxic shot is required for all waterfowl hunting and shotgun hunting for all game on most public lands. Approved nontoxic shot includes steel shot, bismuth-tin, tungsten-polymer, tungsten-matrix and any combination of tungsten-iron-nickel-tin-copper-bismuth.

 

Copper or other metal-plated lead shot has not and will not be approved as a nontoxic shot type. The thin layer of metal is easily eroded by a bird’s digestive system resulting in the same lead poisoning effect as that caused by non-coated lead shot. The bottom line is that hunters cannot use coated lead shot or any form of lead shot for waterfowl hunting or in areas ruled to allow nontoxic shot only.

 

On page 32 of the handbook, some dates are incorrect for the beaver trapping season. Beaver trapping is open year-round in West River except for federal land in the Black Hills Fire Protection District where the season runs from Nov. 3 to April 30. The East River dates in the handbook, Nov. 3 to April 30, are correct.

 

Poor reproduction on a hunting season chart on page 16 and 17 cut off some season dates. Those seasons include: pheasant and quail, Oct. 20-Jan. 6; cottontail and tree squirrel, Sept. 1-Feb. 29; ducks in the South Zone, Oct. 13-Dec. 25; Ducks in the High Plains, Sept. 29-Jan. 3; fall turkey, Oct. 1-Jan. 31; and mountain lion, Nov. 1-Dec. 31.

 

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New Online Program for Volunteer Antlerless Deer Hunters

 

PIERRE, S.D. -- An opportunity for hunters interested in hunting antlerless deer to list their names and contact information online has been added to the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department Web site.

 

 “Several times a year, GFP staff members are contacted by landowners looking to host antlerless deer hunters,” said GFP Wildlife Damage Management Program Administrator Art Smith. “Usually the landowners are looking for youth hunters, but requests for archery and muzzleloader hunters have been received as well.  In previous years, staff handled much of these requests, but this program allows the landowners to contact potential hunters directly.”

 

Youth, antlerless archery and muzzleloader deer hunters who are looking for private land on which to hunt antlerless deer add their names, contact information and up to three counties they are interested in hunting to a Web-based list. That list can then be accessed by landowners who directly contact the hunters to come out and hunt on their lands.

 

The landowners will be able to choose which license types they would be willing to have hunt on their land and the county where their land is located. Once selected, the system produces a list of hunters that match the landowner’s selection.

 

“We hope this program can answer a question asked of GFP each year by hunters: ‘Where can I find private lands to hunt antlerless deer?’ and another question by landowners: ‘I’m looking for a youth deer hunter to hunt my lands, do you know of anyone?’”  Smith added, “We still believe the best way to develop hunter/landowner relationships is through knocking on doors and talking with people. However, we also realize that times have changed and hope this program will help make those initial contacts easier.”

 

Information about the program can be accessed on the department’s deer Web page at http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/BigGame/DeerIndex.htm.

 

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Survey Notes Popularity of Fishing, Angler Attitudes

 

PIERRE, S.D.--Years of drought in South Dakota haven’t deterred anglers from their pursuit of fish.

 

New data released by the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department notes that anglers in South Dakota spent an estimated 2.2 million days fishing in 2006. According to surveys, residents accounted for 84.5 percent of those days of fishing.

 

The material for this year’s reports was gathered from 7,083 questionnaires filled out by anglers and compiled by Larry Gigliotti, planning coordinator/human dimensions specialist for GFP.

 

“We had a return rate on the surveys of almost 70 percent,” Gigliotti said. “A return rate that high is a pretty good indication of how important fishing is to South Dakotans and to the anglers who visit this state.”

 

According to the surveys, an estimated 1.6 million walleyes were caught in 2006. Anglers also reeled in an estimated 1.1 million yellow perch, 237,000 bass, 217,000 trout and 154,000 northern pike. Residents and nonresidents spent a combined $4.8 million on fishing licenses in 2006.

 

The survey also measures angler attitudes toward catching fish. “This is a complex process,” Gigliotti said, “but if we have an accurate understanding of anglers it helps us manage the resource.”

 

A series of six reports about the angler surveys, with a special emphasis on fishing in the Black Hills, can be found at the GFP Web site at this address: http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/fishing/Index.htm.

 

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First Phase of 2007 Avian Influenza Surveillance Complete

 

PIERRE, S.D.—South Dakota has met its goal for the first phase of its 2007 effort to test birds for avian influenza. As part of the summer duck banding conducted by the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department, 380 samples were collected.

 

The research is part of a surveillance plan to detect avian influenza in migratory birds in the Central Flyway. Last year, South Dakota crews checked about 1,000 migratory birds—both live-captured and hunter-harvested—for the disease. Nationally, more than 130,000 samples were taken.

 

“Results are still pending from this year’s data, but as of yet we have no report of any high path H5N1 birds in South Dakota or anywhere in North America,” said GFP Game Program Administrator Tony Leif.

 

The second phase of South Dakota’s 2007 collection effort will include samples taken from 380 birds harvested during the state’s regular duck season by a select group of hunters. The primary emphasis of this collection will be in the northeast and east central portions of South Dakota.

 

Samples are sent to South Dakota State University, Brookings, which has been contracted to do the testing by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

To learn more about avian influenza and other diseases associated with wildlife, log on to the GFP Web site at http://www.sdgfp.info/spotlight/AImonitor.htm.

 

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