Connecticut Opens Up 2020 Trout Season Early Today

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

We are very pleased to announce that Governor Ned Lamont has opened fishing in the Inland District, including trout fishing effective today (3/24/20). All other regulations for fishing, including, but not limited to, licensing, stamps, methods, catch-and-release areas, creel limits and length limits shall remain in effect. Anglers shall practice social distancing measures, such as remaining six feet apart. 

Early Opening of Fishing Season. Notwithstanding Section 26-112 of the Connecticut General Statutes and any associated regulations, effective immediately and through the remainder of the 2020 fishing season, unless earlier modified or terminated by the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, there is no closed season for fishing in the inland waters of Connecticut. The Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection may extend or modify the open seasons for inland waters fishing without notice and public hearing and issue any implementing orders she deems necessary consistent with this order. All other regulations for fishing, including, but not limited to, licensing, stamps, methods, catch-and-release areas, creel limits and length limits shall remain in effect. Anglers shall practice social distancing measures, such as remaining six feet apart.
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Pennsylvania Game Commission Releases Deer Harvest Report

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Buck harvest up 10 percent, overall harvest highest in 15 years.

Pennsylvania hunters posted their highest overall deer harvest in 15 years when they took 389,431 deer during the state’s 2019-20 hunting seasons, which closed in January, the Pennsylvania Game Commission reported today.

The 2019-20 deer harvest topped the previous year’s harvest of 374,690 by about 4 percent. The last time the total deer harvest exceeded this season’s total was in 2004-05, when 409,320 whitetails were taken.

The statewide buck harvest saw a generous bump of 10 percent, coming in at 163,240. In the 2018-19 seasons, 147,750 bucks were taken. In the preceding license year, 163,750 bucks were harvested. The largest harvest in the antler-restrictions era – 165,416 – occurred in the first year.

“One of the highlights of the 2019-20 deer harvest was deer hunters continue to experience antlered harvest success levels comparable to historic highs in the late 1990s and early 2000s,” noted Christopher Rosenberry, Game Commission Deer and Elk Section supervisor. “In recent years, about 17 to 18 percent of all hunters harvested an antlered deer, and we look for this trend to continue.

The antlerless deer harvest over the 2019-20 seasons was 226,191, which includes 10,461 taken with chronic wasting disease Deer Management Assistance Program permits. The 2018-19 overall antlerless deer harvest was 226,940, which was about 10 percent larger than the 2017-18 harvest of 203,409.

Except on Deer Management Assistance Program properties and in Wildlife Management Areas 2B, 5B and 5D, antlerless deer hunting with firearms doesn’t begin until the first Saturday of deer rifle season. That has limited antlerless deer hunting to seven of the rifle season’s 13 days.

Still, hunters took a good number of antlerless deer, mirroring the 2018-19 antlerless deer harvest.

“Keeping harvest pressure on antlerless deer is critical in our ongoing efforts to address the risk of chronic wasting disease (CWD), particularly in Disease Management Areas,” explained Rosenberry. “That hunters took over 10,000 antlerless deer with DMA DMAP permits illustrates the cooperation we need from deer hunters to help whitetails where CWD threats are at their greatest in Penn’s Woods.”

Across the 23 Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) used by the Game Commission to manage whitetails, the antlerless deer harvest decreased in almost half of them. The largest harvest declines occurred in WMU 2H, 39 percent, WMU 3A, 23 percent and WMU 1B, 20 percent.

WMUs posting the largest antlerless deer harvest increases were WMU 3B, 23 percent; WMU 4D, 21 percent; and WMU 4B, 20 percent.

On the antlered deer side of WMU-level harvests, the buck harvest dropped in only three units: WMUs 2C, 2H and 5D. The largest increases in antlered deer harvest were in WMU 2G, 29 percent; WMU 3C, 22 percent; WMU 4C, 21 percent; and WMU 3A, 19 percent.

The percentage of older bucks in the 2019-20 deer harvest remained amazingly high. About 66 percent of the bucks taken by hunters were at least 2½ years old. The remainder were 1½ years old.

“Pennsylvania deer hunters consistently continue to take 2½-year and older bucks over younger antlered bucks – by a two-to-one margin – in the Commonwealth,” said Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans. “If you hunted deer before antler restrictions, you know how significant this is. Most of us have waited a lifetime for deer hunting like Pennsylvania has today!

“The whitetail bucks roaming Penn’s Woods today are a product of an intensely managed deer herd,” Burhans noted. “But their existence also hinged on the willingness of deer hunters to sacrifice shooting spikes and small fork-horns for bucks with substantially more headgear!”

About 69 percent of the antlerless deer harvest was adult females; button-bucks comprised 16 percent and doe fawns made up 15 percent. In the 2018-19 seasons, adult females comprised 66 percent of the antlerless deer harvest.

Bowhunters accounted for about a third of Pennsylvania’s 2019-20 overall deer harvest, taking 145,908 deer (74,190 bucks and 71,718 antlerless deer) with either bows or crossbows. The 2018-19 archery buck harvest was 54,350, while the archery antlerless deer harvest was 56,369; unseasonably warm weather and rain impacted many fall bowhunting days in 2018.

“That bowhunters added 35,000 more deer to the overall archery deer harvest suggests bowhunters continue to improve their harvest success,” Rosenberry said. “Overall, though, bowhunters still are responsible for about a third of the statewide overall deer harvest, which is similar to the 2018-19 seasons.”

The muzzleloader harvest – 29,604 – was up from to the previous year’s harvest of 23,909. The 2019-20 muzzleloader harvest included 1,260 antlered bucks compared to 1,290 bucks in the 2018-19 seasons.

North America's most abundant bird......

Posted by Wayne G. Barber    &    Photos by Wayne G. Barber(R)

MOURNING DOVE

Adapted to a variety of open habitats, these doves also raise a lot of youngsters—as many as six broods a year in warmer climates. So even though they ordinarily lay only two eggs per clutch, a pair can produce up to a dozen offspring every year. Estimates of their population range as low as 100 million and as high as 475 million. They started mating two weeks ago and every day 4 to6 and when a storm is coming it's swells to 16 at the ground feed that I put out. Very passive with all the others and some come up to my window if I over sleep. After they feed I observe them hunkering down close by in the dry oak leaves facing the morning sun to keep a little warmer.

Hello, my name is Oscar.

Hello, my name is Ester.

Brownville Food Pantry For Deer ~ The Pantry Is Full Again. Thank You! 2...

LIFEGUARD AND RANGER POSITIONS AVAILABLE AT STATE BEACHES, PARKS, AND CAMPGROUNDS

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

DEM recruiting college and high school students, senior citizens, and retired military personnel to fill lifeguard and ranger positions during the 2020 recreation season

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PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is actively recruiting qualified lifeguards and rangers to fill seasonal employment positions at state beaches, parks, and campgrounds during the 2020 recreation season. Rhode Island residents, ages 16 and older, are encouraged to apply.

Full-time lifeguard positions are available at all state swimming areas, including saltwater beaches such as Misquamicut, Roger Wheeler, and Scarborough, non-surf beaches such as Goddard, and freshwater beaches such as Burlingame Campground and Lincoln Woods State Park. Flexible, 20-hour workweeks are available for lifeguard positions at our busiest swimming areas. Hourly rates for lifeguards were raised in 2019 and range from $13.25 to $16.25 an hour, based on location and position level. All lifeguard candidates must have successfully completed courses and hold valid cards in lifeguard training, first aid, and CPR including infant, child, and adult.

 

DEM also is seeking park rangers and facilities attendants to work at recreational sites across the state. Park rangers are instrumental to a safe and fun experience at DEM properties. They give directions to beachgoers and park users, help with crowd control, provide security checks for facilities, and are the first responders in the event of emergency. Hourly rates for park rangers range from $10.50 to $11.60. Applicants for facilities attendant and park ranger I positions must be 16 years of age or older, and applicants to park ranger positions at levels II and III must be 18 years of age or older.

 

For a complete list of seasonal employment opportunities and to apply, visit www.riparks.com/employment.  Most positions are full-time and include weekend and holiday hours. Applications must be completed online. Paper applications will not be accepted. The State of Rhode Island is an equal opportunity/diversity employer.

With 30 percent fewer teens seeking jobs than 20 years ago, DEM is looking to recruit active senior citizens and retired military personnel who might want to work part-time work to make up for the lack of younger applicants.

 

With only 52 full-time employees managing 25 parks and preserves, eight saltwater beaches, and dozens of other properties, DEM’s Division of Parks and Recreation relies hugely on seasonal employees. Every year, it hires between 400 and 450 “seasonals” to fill essential summertime positions such as lifeguards, park rangers, beach managers, facilities attendants, groundskeepers, laborers, and nature educators.

 

Rhode Island's natural and public assets are magnets, attracting more than 9 million Rhode Islanders and tourists a year. They're also an engine that adds an estimated $315 million to the economy, generating nearly $40 million in state and local taxes and supporting nearly 4,000 jobs a year.