Category Archives: hunting regulations

More States Turning to Night Hunting for Problem Animals

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North Carolina, Arizona and Tennessee are among the states that are allowing night hunting for problem species like feral swine, coyotes and mountain lions when existing hunting practices fail to reduce populations, says an article in USA Today.

Night hunting is allowed in 42 states, the article says, quoting data from the Indiana-based National Predator Hunters Association.

In the article, a coyote coexistence advocate is quoted as saying that hunting does little to reduce population levels of the fecund coyote. That’s a sentiment shared by many wildlife managers was well, regarding both coyotes and feral swine.

Read the USA Today article here.
PDF article on feral swine in New Hampshire Fish and Game’s magazine.

Photo: Feral swine piglet. If only they were all this cute. By Steve Hillebrand, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

More Disabled Hunter Permits Mean Fewer Elk in Montana

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The elk population in some areas of Montana is being reduced by the abuse of disabled-hunter permits, which allow the holders to take cow elk, says the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks commission chairman in a recent Associated Press article.

Look for the quote buried in the story’s seventh paragraph. This is mostly a story about the abuse of the permits, sort of a healthy people parking in handicapped spots story of outrage, but with disabled-hunter permits in place of the convenient parking space.

According to the article, the abused loopholes seem to be the ability walk 600 yards carrying 15 pounds and the ability to carry 25 pounds. Lots of people who are just out of shape, and not handicapped at all, can’t do these things and can get a doctor’s note to prove it.

Read the Associated Press article for more details.

Photo: Cow elk and calf, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Arizona Allows Night Hunting for Predators

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The Arizona Game and Fish Commission believes that reducing predators in certain game management units will boost struggling pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep populations. It signed off on a rule that will allow the use of artificial lighting during night hunts of coyotes and mountain lions.

Read the full press release here. (All the media coverage I’ve seen about this so far is just a reprint of the press release.)

The press release says that 41 other states allow night hunting of predators.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know which states? The closest I could find to a list is this list of coyote hunting regulations from the National Predator Hunters Association. It reveals that as of early 2011: in Florida you can hunt coyotes at night by the light of the moon, but need a permit for an artificial light; you can’t use lights affixed to a vehicle in Georgia; you can’t hunt coyotes on Sunday in Maine; and you must use a light when hunting at night in Indiana and Ohio.

The link pops up a Word document.

Photo courtesy of Arizona Game and Fish Commission

Iowa Repeals Lead Shot Rule

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The Iowa state legislature preempted a rule banning lead shot from the upcoming dove hunting season in Iowa. The state’s governor agreed publicly that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Natural Resources Commission had overstepped its bounds.

An article in the Des Moines Register describes both the debate in Iowa and nationally. Read it here.

A version of the story that ran in USA Today also includes a list of lead shot regulations by state.

See what happened when the Field & Stream blog reported the news, here.

Photo: Mourning dove, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service