|
| News |
|
| February Season Discussion Begins Anew |
| |
| By Nick Carter |
|
Posted Tuesday January 31 2012, 1:24 PM |
| |
|
|
Highlighted in gray are the Alabama counties with sample sites producing average fawn conception dates after Feb. 1. Average conception dates for surrounding counties are included for reference. Several counties included multiple sampling sites and dates. The dates presented here are the latest average conception dates from each county. Counties without dates on the map had either January conception or no data to present.
|
|
|
|
Enlarge Image
|
|
Deer season closes Jan. 31 each year, and each year hunters from south Alabama report postseason rut activity in the deer woods.
This year’s series of Conservation Advisory Board (CAB) meetings are just getting started, which means talk of an extended deer season will be at the forefront. There’s also a very good possibility the state legislature will weigh in on a February deer season and hunting deer over bait.
The difference this year? Proponents of a February deer season are now armed with DCNR data showing rut activity in southern Alabama after deer season ends Jan. 31.
This information was released to the public for the first time in the Alabama Extended Deer Season Committee Report issued in December. The committee was formed last year at the behest of DCNR Commissioner N. Gunter Guy Jr. to present the pros and cons of an extended deer season.
The report looks into some of the potential social, economic and biological impacts an extended deer season could have in Alabama. However, the only information in the report backed up by hard scientific data is the breeding information, which DCNR biologists have been collecting since 1995.
DCNR Deer Studies Project Leader Chris Cook, who was on the Alabama Extended Deer Season Committee, was instrumental in collecting and compiling the breeding data included in the committee’s report. He said the study strongly supports what south Alabama hunters have been saying for years, that the rut lasts well into February.
The study includes the sampling of more than 1,650 does from 81 sites in 42 of Alabama’s 67 counties. What it shows is average fawn conception dates later than Feb. 1 at 15 sites in 14 counties. Sites in south Alabama produced most of these late conception dates, although in some cases data collected from different sites in the same counties sometimes produced significantly earlier dates of conception.
South Alabama counties with sites producing February average conception dates were: Baldwin, Barbour, Butler, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Lowndes, Macon, Mobile, Pike and Washington. Monroe County showed an average conception date of March 4. Farther north, Limestone, Randolph and Walker counties also had sites with average conception dates in February.
Jerry Ferrell, an advocate for extending the hunting season and a Monroe County hunter, said all he wants is to be able to hunt the rut like the rest of Alabama’s hunters.
“We don’t see any full-scale running until Jan. 31,” said Jerry. “We don’t get to hunt the peak of the rut or the whole rut. We just get to hunt a little bit of the pre-rut.”
Although Chris agreed the conception dates show south Alabama hunters are missing out on a significant portion of the rut, he said he thinks better-informed decisions could be made with additional study.
Much of the report is a discussion of the variables that drive rut timing in different parts of Alabama. Chief among those variables are the genetics of an area’s population as determined by its stocking source. Conception dates across the state range from late October into March, and almost 80 percent fall within the current deer season.
Commissioner Guy noted in a foreword to the report that the document does not express a position taken by the department on the issue. However, the report is heavily weighted with bullet points outlining negative impacts of an extended season.
“I think all they’re doing is just reiterating what’s been said all this time,” said Steve Huffaker, of Bay Minette, who is a spokesperson for <www.extenddeerseason.com>. “If you look at the real data, it’s there. You take all the south counties that they did the data on, and every one of them has a February conception date.”
Steve said he’ll present a plan at CAB meetings this year. He’ll likely propose a Nov. 1 - Feb. 15 deer season south of Highway 80, which crosses the state east to west through Phenix City, Montgomery, Selma and Demopolis. Steve’s season would include archery through rifle seasons, giving it the same number of days as the current season, and he proposes it for private property only.
Steve also said he might propose shifting small-game season in his newly created south zone to appease small-game hunters. He said small-game season could open Oct. 15 and run through March 15, the day turkey season opens.
“I’m not going to really spend a lot of time with it,” Steve said. “Sen. Whatley from Auburn has pretty well told me he feels pretty certain he can get it done in the legislative body.”
Sen. Tom Whatley (R-Auburn), chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, said he will resurrect a bill he sponsored last legislative session that passed out of committee but never went to vote on the Senate floor.
The bill would have sidestepped DCNR’s regulative authority and extended deer season statewide through Feb. 13 via the state legislature. It would have also allowed hunting deer over bait.
Sen. Whatley said he is still working on the hunting bill he plans to introduce this year. He said it will include an extended deer season and the legalization of hunting deer over bait. This time around, he may break the state out into northern and southern zones.
DCNR has also produced a baiting report. Both reports are available at <www.dcnr.state.al.us/hunting>.
To view the full Alabama Extended Deer Season Committee Report or to view the Alabama Baiting Committee Report, go to <www.dcnr.state.al.us/hunting>.
Weigh In On The Issues
Join the discussion on the outdoors issues that matter to you by taking part in AON’s annual Rate Your Season Survey below. We will publish results of the survey as well as a selection of reader comments in the March issue.
Download, print and fill out the coupon below, and mail it to us at 1414 Golden Springs Rd., Suite 313, Anniston, AL 36207-6924. Fax it to (706) 342-2022. Or e-mail responses to <carter@aonmag.com>. The space at the bottom of the coupon is for you to share your thoughts on any outdoors issue you want to vent about. If you need more room, use another sheet of paper.
Click here to download your vote coupon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
|
