Outdoors: Irresponsible fee increases will push some to poaching
By BOB SAMPSON
sports@norwichbulletin.com
Posted Sep 30, 2009 @ 07:57 PM
I hate to do a “Perils of Pauline” kind of drama in this space. Unfortunately, because of the totally stupid actions our elected officials in Hartford who have passed 100 percent to even 300 percent increases in license fees, which they put into effect as of today, our world as hunters and fishermen has been put into a tail spin.
Why Gov. M. Jodi Rell and company picking on sportsmen to make up for their mistakes does not make sense. Is it because we pay to play and always have?
For this and many other reasons, people interested in the outdoors, such as campers, hikers, bikers, hunters, fishermen and bird watchers, who all will be paying double to use state lands, must check on the names of the politicians who voted for this fees increase, which effects us all (info@ctsportsmen.com, ctsportsmen.com, or cga.ct.gov) and write their respective legislators and demand they retract the Implementer Bill that hit us with those 100 percent fees increase.
Tell them the next time you pull a lever at the voting polls. their actions will be a factor, but do it in an intelligent and concise manner.
Back to what we prefer to do with this Norwich Bulletin space.
The small-game hunting season opens Oct. 17, the traditional third Saturday in October hunting-season opener and hopefully the fees increase won’t put too many hunters out of the woods.
Squirrel season opened Sept. 1, which is not a big deal in this part of the country, but for those of you who have had these bushy tailed rodents raiding bird feeders all summer, if you are not a hunter — who already would know — pass a course, buy an air gun and take care of the problem yourself.
But don’t waste them, get a recipe for squirrel stew and enjoy that these buck-toothed, small mammals are pretty good table fare when prepared properly.
One positive
One of the good things in my often overloaded e-mail box during the summer was that pheasant stockings (which were in jeopardy last year because of budget concerns) will take place as usual and, in fact, there were a few more dollars in the till, because a few more pheasant tags were purchased during 2008.
Bow hunters have been in the woods since Sept. 15, and a couple of friends, including Stan Polomski of Lisbon, already have tagged a deer or two.
Many bow hunters, such as myself, sent in for permits to take advantage of the late-January bow season and received, the now “old” state tyvek weather proof tags to place on the carcasses during transportation from the woods until they are butchered.
But like many all-round deer hunters who also send in for gun and muzzleloader permits, those tyvek tags did not arrive in the mail.
Reason is, the deer and turkey reporting system has changed dramatically.
Kill tags
This year, to save money, our “Deer/Turkey Kill Tags” are on the inside cover of the last page (No. 37) of the 2009 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide. If you are a hunter who uses multiple weapons and takes more than three deer per year, make a photocopy or go to www.ct.gov/dep/hunting to print additional copies on your home computer should you need extras. I plan to store them in water proof containers or zip lock bags so they don’t “melt” in your back pack during the first rainy day hunt.
There is an exception to this new system, which requires keeping the tags with the deer or turkey and reporting the kill within 24 hours.
Between Nov. 18 and Nov. 21, the first four days of the 2009 gun season for deer, they must be brought to one of the state deer check stations listed with your license and on the Department of Environmental Protection Web site.
Deer killed at any time other than those first four days of the gun season must be reported to the DEP within 24 hours via the Internet at the same DEP address noted above or called in toll free at 1-877-337-4868. This process registers the kill and helps biologists keep tabs on the deer population, again for management purposes in the future, so it is important to comply.
It is important for wildlife managers to receive valid, on-time deer-kill information in order to track deer kills across the state, so they can set appropriate seasons and bag limits in the future.
My guess is, because the “aggravation and cost factor” about this new license fees increase, license sales will decrease. The number of illegal hunters (poachers, many of whom would have otherwise been legal) will increase in these difficult times. Many deer hunters use the season to put a year’s worth of quality, high protein lean venison on their families’ tables, but because some would-be license buyers are being priced out of the legal side of deer hunting, the poaching side of this ledger will increase as dramatically as the reported deer kill will decrease.
This loss of legal outdoorsmen, which will certainly take place because of this unacceptable license fees increase, also will occur among fishermen. There is now a huge mess that has been caused by legislators who either do not know or do not care about Connecticut’s fisheries and wildlife resources, so do what you can via the Web to pressure these people into doing what is not only right, but necessary to preserve our fisheries and wildlife programs.
By BOB SAMPSON
sports@norwichbulletin.com
Posted Sep 30, 2009 @ 07:57 PM
I hate to do a “Perils of Pauline” kind of drama in this space. Unfortunately, because of the totally stupid actions our elected officials in Hartford who have passed 100 percent to even 300 percent increases in license fees, which they put into effect as of today, our world as hunters and fishermen has been put into a tail spin.
Why Gov. M. Jodi Rell and company picking on sportsmen to make up for their mistakes does not make sense. Is it because we pay to play and always have?
For this and many other reasons, people interested in the outdoors, such as campers, hikers, bikers, hunters, fishermen and bird watchers, who all will be paying double to use state lands, must check on the names of the politicians who voted for this fees increase, which effects us all (info@ctsportsmen.com, ctsportsmen.com, or cga.ct.gov) and write their respective legislators and demand they retract the Implementer Bill that hit us with those 100 percent fees increase.
Tell them the next time you pull a lever at the voting polls. their actions will be a factor, but do it in an intelligent and concise manner.
Back to what we prefer to do with this Norwich Bulletin space.
The small-game hunting season opens Oct. 17, the traditional third Saturday in October hunting-season opener and hopefully the fees increase won’t put too many hunters out of the woods.
Squirrel season opened Sept. 1, which is not a big deal in this part of the country, but for those of you who have had these bushy tailed rodents raiding bird feeders all summer, if you are not a hunter — who already would know — pass a course, buy an air gun and take care of the problem yourself.
But don’t waste them, get a recipe for squirrel stew and enjoy that these buck-toothed, small mammals are pretty good table fare when prepared properly.
One positive
One of the good things in my often overloaded e-mail box during the summer was that pheasant stockings (which were in jeopardy last year because of budget concerns) will take place as usual and, in fact, there were a few more dollars in the till, because a few more pheasant tags were purchased during 2008.
Bow hunters have been in the woods since Sept. 15, and a couple of friends, including Stan Polomski of Lisbon, already have tagged a deer or two.
Many bow hunters, such as myself, sent in for permits to take advantage of the late-January bow season and received, the now “old” state tyvek weather proof tags to place on the carcasses during transportation from the woods until they are butchered.
But like many all-round deer hunters who also send in for gun and muzzleloader permits, those tyvek tags did not arrive in the mail.
Reason is, the deer and turkey reporting system has changed dramatically.
Kill tags
This year, to save money, our “Deer/Turkey Kill Tags” are on the inside cover of the last page (No. 37) of the 2009 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide. If you are a hunter who uses multiple weapons and takes more than three deer per year, make a photocopy or go to www.ct.gov/dep/hunting to print additional copies on your home computer should you need extras. I plan to store them in water proof containers or zip lock bags so they don’t “melt” in your back pack during the first rainy day hunt.
There is an exception to this new system, which requires keeping the tags with the deer or turkey and reporting the kill within 24 hours.
Between Nov. 18 and Nov. 21, the first four days of the 2009 gun season for deer, they must be brought to one of the state deer check stations listed with your license and on the Department of Environmental Protection Web site.
Deer killed at any time other than those first four days of the gun season must be reported to the DEP within 24 hours via the Internet at the same DEP address noted above or called in toll free at 1-877-337-4868. This process registers the kill and helps biologists keep tabs on the deer population, again for management purposes in the future, so it is important to comply.
It is important for wildlife managers to receive valid, on-time deer-kill information in order to track deer kills across the state, so they can set appropriate seasons and bag limits in the future.
My guess is, because the “aggravation and cost factor” about this new license fees increase, license sales will decrease. The number of illegal hunters (poachers, many of whom would have otherwise been legal) will increase in these difficult times. Many deer hunters use the season to put a year’s worth of quality, high protein lean venison on their families’ tables, but because some would-be license buyers are being priced out of the legal side of deer hunting, the poaching side of this ledger will increase as dramatically as the reported deer kill will decrease.
This loss of legal outdoorsmen, which will certainly take place because of this unacceptable license fees increase, also will occur among fishermen. There is now a huge mess that has been caused by legislators who either do not know or do not care about Connecticut’s fisheries and wildlife resources, so do what you can via the Web to pressure these people into doing what is not only right, but necessary to preserve our fisheries and wildlife programs.