No second buck and other outdoor news

Posted on: March 14, 2018 | Bob Frye | Comments

Having a shot at a second buck, and second set of antlers, appealed to some hunters.

The thought og being able to take a second buck in Pennsylvania had some hunters, though not all, excited. That’s the power of antlers.
Bob Frye/Everybody Adventures

Pennsylvania hunters won’t have a chance at a second buck each year after all.

Recently, one of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s newest board members, Michael Mitrick of York County, suggested allowing a limited number of hunters to shoot a second buck each fall.

They’d have to pay for it. Mitrick’s idea was to sell only 10,000 of the licenses, but at $100 or so each.

That, he said, would raise $1 million for the cash-strapped agency, which hasn’t seen hunting and furtaking license prices increase since 1999.

The change would have been revolutionary. Pennsylvania hunters have been limited to one buck a year for more than a century.

The notion drew enormous attention, not all of it good.

So it’s dead in the water.

“No, that’s not on the table, and it was never on the table,” said commissioner Brian Hoover of Chester County. “It was just a discussion item, really. It was never meant to create controversy.”

Word from within the agency is that state lawmakers – the only ones who can raise license fees – didn’t like the idea either. They saw it as an end-around their authority.

Sunday hunting

Hunters around the country continue to push for expanded hunting opportunities on Sundays.

Some are getting it.

West Virginia lawmakers last week passed a bill allowing Sunday hunting on public lands statewide. Previously, Sunday hunting was limited to private property.

Gov. Jim Justice is expected to sign the bill into law.

Biologists with the state Division of Natural Resources are recommending adding two Sundays to antlerless deer seasons. One would be added in October, one in December.

The Division’s board has to approve that suggestion.

Meanwhile, in nearby Maryland, lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow Sunday hunting on public and private land in the statewide firearms, muzzleloader and archery deer hunting seasons.

And in Pennsylvania, the grassroots organization PA Sunday Hunting Work Group is pushing for expanded opportunities.

It’s taking deer out of the equation, though. Rather than asking lawmakers to simply end the prohibition on Sunday hunting, members are asking them to legalize hunting for some specific species on that day. That’s groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, pheasants, raccoons and waterfowl.

The idea is to garner support from hunters who oppose additional deer hunting.

Tree stands

Either tree stand hunters in New York are pretty safe, or there’s some missing information here.

Last year, for the first time, New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation included data on tree stand falls when measuring hunting accidents.

Hunters proved to be safe overall. They were involved in just 19 hunting-related shooting incidents statewide. Only one proved fatal.

That’s the second-lowest total for accidents ever.

To put things in comparison, there were 166 in 1966, 13 of them fatal. As recently as 1998, there were 98 incidents.

When it comes to tree stand injuries, the Department investigated 12. They involved six fatalities.

The department noted, however, the number of falls might be low. Its report “may not capture all tree stand incidents that occurred statewide in New York.”

World record

Tennessee claimed the world record non-typical whitetail in 2016. Now wildlife officials there are working to keep it.

it wasn't a second buck, but a first that got Stephen Tucker in the record books.

Stephen Tucker with his world record buck.
Image from Facebook

The record buck was killed by a hunter named Stephen Tucker. Hunting with an inline muzzleloader, he shot a deer scoring 312 3/8 inches.

That eclipsed the previous world record, taken in Iowa in 2003. It scored 307 5/8.

The Boone and Crockett Club accepted Tucker’s deer as the new record. Some, though, have questioned whether the state could ever produce such an animal.

Officials with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency say such “cluster racks” are unique, but not unheard of in their state. They put together a traveling exhibit of Tennessee cluster bucks for display.

Felt soles

Anglers who fish in Yellowstone National Park will have to check their feet.

Felt-soled waders are prohibited.

According to a story at gearjunkie.com, park officials are banning the footgear to keep invasive species out of their waters. Felt soles, which grip slippery rocks better, are also more likely to carry invasives from one waterway to another, they said.

Instead of felt, anglers are encouraged to wear rubber soles outfitted with spikes and studs.

Those who violate the ban face fines and jail time.

Some states – Maryland, Alaska, Missouri, Nebraska, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont — banned felt soles a few years back. Vermont later rescinded its ban.

None of the states that surround Yellowstone have bans in place.

Deer semen

Here’s weird politics on a whole new level.

According to a story in the Dallas News, a district court judge running for re-election received $87,500 in donations from supporters.

Nearly half came not as cash – not initially anyway, but as deer semen.

Deer breeders donated semen, in frozen straws, which was then auctioned off as a fundraiser. The straws were valued at about $1,000 each.

Fred Gonzalez, a Texas deer breeder who serves as treasurer of the Texas Deer Association, told the Dallas News that the group’s political action committee has received more than $975,000 in deer semen donations since 2006, and has given more than $885,000 in the same period of time.

Stores returning

Gander Mountain stores are gone. Gander Outdoors stores are coming.

"Hunters

Sixty-nine of them, this year.

Camping World, which bought Gander Mountain, announced that recently.

The first stores to open are to be located in Madison and Onalaska, Wis., Scranton, Pa., Mount Juliet, Tenn., Winston-Salem, N.C., Portage, Mich., North Charleston, S.C., Hermantown, Minn., Paducah, Ky., and Indianapolis, Ind.

Across Pennsylvania, others will open in Chambersburg, Greensburg, Johnstown, Williamsport and York.

Crossbows

Given the growing popularity of crossbows, this makes sense.

The National Bowhunter Education Foundation has an online crossbow certification course. At www.crossbow-ed.com, it meets or exceeds all state and international requirements for crossbow education certification. There’s even an Alaska-specific version, given that state’s certification rules.

Bob Frye is the everybodyadventures.com editor. Reach him at 412-838-5148 or bfrye@535mediallc.com. See other stories, blogs, videos and more at everybodyadventures.com.

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