March 2008 page 10 Updates

24 March

Spring Turkey

From the MDC website.

April 16, 9:45 a.m.—A 13-year-old boy dressed in camouflage and carrying a turkey decoy stopped in dense cover to pull his call out of a pants pocket. A hunter 45 yards away saw the movement and fired. The boy fell to the ground and yelled, “Don’t shoot anymore!” The boy then ran to the nearest house and called for help. The shooter fled and has not been identified. The victim had 26 pellets lodged in his body.

From last week in north Missouri.

April 18, 7:45 a.m.—A group of four hunters split up to hunt separate ridges. Two headed northwest, and two went northeast.

The first pair of hunters sat down facing west in front of small trees when they heard birds. The other group also heard turkeys gobbling to the west. Thinking that their buddies were farther north, the second pair unknowingly moved toward them and sat down in front of a large tree—40 yards east of the first pair of hunters.

When one of the first pair of hunters heard a turkey behind him, he looked behind the tree. As he moved his head, his father—one of the second pair—fired. The pellets struck his 39-year-old son in the head, body and arm.

No shot here.

Safety Rules from the MDC.

Identify a turkey’s head and beard before aiming.
Never shoot at sound or movement. Assume it is another hunter until you can clearly see a turkey’s head or beard.
Wear hunter orange when walking through the turkey woods.
Use hunter orange to identify your hunting location.
Wrap an extra hunter orange vest around game when carrying it.
Dress defensively. Never wear red, white, blue or black while hunting turkey.
Stay calm and rational. Never let excitement, nerves or panic rule your behavior.
Learn distances; 30 yards is the limit for a clean kill.
Be sure of your target and what lies beyond.

Kansas CRP Meeting

"Comments on haying and grazing of Conservation Reserve Program land will be accepted at a public hearing Wednesday in Hays...Public comments can be submitted both electronically and by regular mail. They must be received by April 22...Comments can be sent to MHG EAs, Geo-Marine Inc., 2713 Magruder Blvd., Suite D, Hampton, Va. 23666-1572, or online at public.geo-marine.com...Special-projects coordinator Mike Corn can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 129, or by e-mail at mcorn@dailynews.net..."

Government to take comments at meeting on CRP haying, grazing, 3/23/2008, by Mike Corn, Hays Daily News.

Hunters you now have the information available to research and take action.

CRP & Conservation Groups

The point to keep up front is CRP is a national program and rules apply across state lines. What changes are influenced in any one state will cascade to all others.

"All 18 agricultural producers (farmers) who spoke at a Thursday hearing criticized new Conservation Reserve Program rules...counterproductive to good haying and grazing...At issue are the length of the primary bird nesting season, when CRP land can't be disturbed, and how often producers can graze and hay on their CRP property...a settlement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a lawsuit filed by the National Wildlife Federation [The group that has been more effective than others for hunters] in late 2006 imposed more restrictive rules. It lengthened the nesting season by two weeks, ending Aug. 1. Under the settlement, grazing on CRP land was set at every five years (increased by 2 years) and haying at every 10 years (increased by 5 years)...FSA's proposed changes would revert rules for managed haying and grazing on CRP land back to the more lenient rules...Two wildlife biologists said the longer nesting season better reflects the time when upland game birds have finished nesting, as well as the three weeks they're still in their brood and their flightless chicks are vulnerable...45 percent of pheasants are still in brood [when landowners want to hay/graze]...Dan Hare, a wildlife biologist for Pheasants Forever [finally PF gets a word in], agreed it's a delicate issue, but said Aug. 1 is the better end date for the nesting season from a biological standpoint..."

Ag producers blast new CRP rules, by Peter Johnson, Great Falls Tribune [Montana] Staff Writer, March 21, 2008.

The FSA takes input from anyone, however it is the farmer and agricultural lobbies that have been getting the most face time and media coverage, not conservation groups.

Wheat & CRP

"...The American Bakers Association [lobbying in Washington] favors slashing acreage in the federal Conservation Reserve Program to free more land for wheat production..."

When wheat shortage hurts bakers, it hurts everyone, Dan Morgan, 03/23/2008, Morning Sentinel, Kennebec, Maine.

21 March

First MAHA Hunt

This hunter did work for his deer with preseason scouting and it paid off on the third farm he hunted. He hunted one of least densely populated whitetail regions by bow. He also traveled from several states away to get the hunting he cannot achieve in his home state. With all that may have seemed to work against him he tagged a deer most of us would be proud to have. Congratulations on your hard earned buck and thank you for taking the effort to send in your picture.

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