DNR announces finalized rules for Minnesota’s first regulated wolf hunt this fall

Posted on July 12, 2012 by
Categories: Conservation, Hunting

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resource (DNR) has finalized rules for Minnesota’s first regulated wolf hunting and trapping season this fall and winter. There are several changes to what the DNR originally proposed in May as a result of input received since the proposal was announced.

“We changed the closing date for the late season from Jan. 6, 2013, to Jan. 31,” said Steve Merchant, DNR wildlife program manager. “We also tightened the wolf harvest registration requirement so we can more quickly close a zone based on harvest results.”

Another notable change is that the wolf range will be divided into three zones for the purposes of harvest targets, registration and season closure. The northeast zone and the east-central zone closely parallel the 1854 and 1837 treaty ceded territory boundaries. These zones will allow the state to allocate and manage wolf harvest in consultation with Indian bands that have court-affirmed off-reservation hunting rights. The northwest zone will be the other area open to wolf hunting. Only that portion of Minnesota where rifles are legal for deer hunting will be open for taking wolves. When harvest targets are reached in any zone, that zone will be closed and hunters will be able to continue to hunt in any other open zone.

The state’s first regulated wolf hunt will begin Saturday, Nov. 3. The target harvest is 400. The early wolf season will last up to nine days in the 200-series deer permit areas and up to 16 days in the 100-series deer permit areas. The late season, which also allows trapping for those with a wolf trapping license, will begin Nov. 24 statewide. Target harvests are 265 in the northwest zone, 117 in the northeast zone and 18 in the east-central zone.

The state’s inaugural wolf season will be conducted under a conservative approach that is consistent with the goal of ensuring the long-term survival of wolves, and addressing wolf and human conflicts. The state’s wolf population is estimated at 3,000. This year’s wolf season follows the transition of wolves from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act to state management this past January. The 2012 Legislature also passed and Gov. Dayton signed a bill providing additional direction and authorities for conducting a wolf season.

Merchant said the public comment period that ended June 20 was helpful, providing additional insights that helped determine the final decisions. The DNR received 7,351 online survey responses. The survey was designed to solicit input on specific management options for the hunting and trapping season.

“Of those who approved of the season, 82 percent of survey respondents said they supported the DNR’s proposed season structure and implementation of a limited fall hunt,” said Merchant. “That suggested our proposal was generally in line with hunter and trapper expectations.”

Other survey results included strong backing (75 percent) from those who supported wolf hunting for having both early and late wolf hunts. The DNR also asked hunters and trappers for their preference on notification and closure for ending the hunt when the target harvest quota is reached. Respondents overwhelmingly preferred that notification of closure be published by early morning, and that hunters and trappers be allowed to finish out the day’s hunt. The season will close at the end of the first full day for which closure notification is posted and sent to license holders.

Additional information about wolf management and the upcoming season is available online.

Details of the season
Consistent with state law, the state’s first regulated wolf season will start with the beginning of firearms deer hunting on Saturday, Nov. 3.

The season will be split into two parts: an early wolf hunting season coinciding with firearms deer hunting; and a late wolf hunting and trapping season after the firearms deer season for those with a specific interest in wolf hunting and trapping.

A total of 6,000 licenses will be offered, with 3,600 available in the early season and 2,400 in the late season. Late season licenses will be further split between hunting and trapping, with a minimum of 600 reserved for trappers. The target harvest will be 400 wolves for both seasons combined, and will initially be allocated equally between the early and the late seasons.

The early hunting only season will be open only in the northern portions of Minnesota where rifles are allowed for deer hunting. It will start on Saturday, Nov. 3, the opening day of firearms deer hunting. It will close either at the end of the respective firearms seasons in the two northern deer zones (Nov. 18 in Series 100 deer permit areas or Nov. 11 in Series 200 deer permit areas), or when a registered target harvest by zone is reached.

The late hunting and trapping season will begin Saturday, Nov. 24. It will close Jan. 31, 2013, or when a registered total target harvest by zone or total harvest of 400 in both seasons combined is reached, whichever comes sooner. The late season will be open only where rifles are allowed for deer hunting. The use of bait and electronic calls will be allowed.

Wolf hunting licenses will be $30 for residents and $250 for nonresidents. Nonresidents will be limited to 5 percent of total hunting licenses. Wolf trapping licenses will be $30 (limited to residents only). A lottery will be held to select license recipients. Proof of a current or previous hunting license will be required to apply for a wolf license. The application fee will be $4. A wolf season regulation booklet is being developed.

Season structure

  • The early wolf hunting season (legal firearms or archery) will be concurrent with the deer season and open only in that portion of the state where rifles can be used to hunt deer.
  • The early season dates are Nov. 3-18 in 100 Series deer permit areas (northeastern and east-central Minnesota) and Nov. 3-11 in the rifle zone portion of 200 Series deer permit areas (central and northwestern Minnesota). The early season will close before those dates if the target harvest by wolf zone is reached sooner.
  • No trapping will be allowed in the early season.
  • The late hunting and trapping season will open Nov. 24 statewide. It will close Jan. 31 or when the total target harvest by wolf zone is reached, whichever is sooner.
  • Licensed wolf hunters will be responsible for checking each day to assure that the season is still open.
  • Landowners and tribal authorities may close land under their control to wolf harvest at their discretion.
  • The bag limit is one wolf per licensee.

Licensing

  • A person cannot purchase both a wolf hunting and a wolf trapping license. A person with a hunting license may take a wolf only by firearms or archery; a person with a trapping license may take a wolf only by trap or snare.
  • 3,600 licenses will be available for the early season and are only valid for the early season.
  • 2,400 licenses will be available for the late season (at least 600 trapping) and are only valid for the late season.
  • The number of hunting licenses offered to nonresidents will be capped at 5 percent for both the early and late seasons.
  • Licenses must be purchased prior to the opening day of the respective seasons.

Application process

  • Application materials will be available online in mid-August with a $4 application fee.
  • A person must have proof of a current or previous hunting license to apply.
  • Trappers born after Dec. 31, 1989, need a trapper education certificate or proof of a previous trapping license to purchase a wolf trapping license.
  • The application deadline will be Sept. 6; online winner notification will be no later than Oct. 14.
  • Licenses will be available for purchase no later than Oct. 15.
  • Groups of up to four individuals many apply as a single group and may assist another licensed wolf hunter, but may not shoot or tag for each other.
  • Applicants can apply for only one of three license types: early wolf hunting, late wolf hunting, or late wolf trapping.

Registration

  • All animals must be registered by 10 p.m. of the day of harvest (can be done electronically at ELS agent, online or by phone).
  • Harvest registration information/reporting will be available online and via a toll-free phone number.
  • Harvest registration must identify the zone in which the wolf was taken.
  • Carcasses must be presented for collection of biological data.

Season closure and notification

  • The season for each wolf zone will close at the end of legal shooting hours on the day for which hunters and trappers are notified that the closure will occur.
  • Notification will be available via a toll-free phone number and DNR web site indicating whether the season is open or closed in each wolf zone.

See also http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/mayjun12/wolves.html

Deer stands, tree-clearing and food plots getting out of hand

Posted on July 9, 2012 by
Categories: Environment, Hunting

It used to be that a deer stand was a couple of aspen saplings nailed between two trees, just a place for a hunter to see above the brush for a better shot at a trophy buck.

But increasingly across St. Louis County forests, including on public lands, permanent deer stands have become a whole lot more elaborate — some far too elaborate for county land managers. And hunters are cutting more trees near those stands so they can see deeper into the woods.

Some hunters are even planting crops on public land to attract deer to their stands.

“We’re getting over-built. We’re seeing mansions out there — basically hunting shacks on stilts,” Bob Krepps, St. Louis County land commissioner, told the News Tribune.

It’s not just a couple of boards slapped into a tree, but tree houses with stairways, decks, shingled roofs, commercial windows, insulation, propane heaters, carpeting, lounge chairs, tables and “even some with generators so they have electricity,” Krepps said.

One deer “stand” discovered on county land was a cabin 18 feet wide and 20 feet long. And, increasingly, some hunters are buying elaborate manufactured stands and leaving them in the woods all year.

When a stand is abandoned, much of it is left to rot in the forest. But plastic, metal, shingles and other materials aren’t biodegradable “and really leave a mess in the woods,” said Jason Meyer, who manages forests in the southern half of St. Louis County.

All of this may or may not be appropriate on private land, depending on a hunter’s personal ethics, Krepps said. But the tax-forfeited land that makes up nearly 1 million acres of St. Louis County Forests is public land, supposedly open to anyone to hunt.

“What they are doing by building these palaces is claiming a piece of public land as their own. That’s not right,” Krepps said. “A lot of these cross the line of what’s appropriate. … If I’m out walking and come across one of these buildings on posts, am I going to feel welcome to hunt there? Probably not. And if I do, there’s likely to be a fight. That shouldn’t happen on land that belongs to everyone.”

There’s a range of what people might agree is acceptable, said Mark Kailanen, who manages county forests in the northern half of St. Louis County. No one would argue with someone standing on a rock and few would protest a few 2-by-4s in a tree. But deer hunting should involve at least a chance of the deer hearing, seeing and smelling the hunter to keep it a fair chase hunt, Kailanen said.

The hunter, Kailanen said, should be outdoors, not indoors.

Technically, because they are on public land, the stand should be available to anyone who wants to use them. Realistically, that doesn’t happen.

“They lock the doors when they leave,” Krepps said.

Shooting lanes increasing

Last month in Eveleth, St. Louis County commissioners got an earful from Krepps and his staff at a County Board workshop, and some commissioners appeared genuinely shocked at what they saw — including cabins on stilts and aerial photographs that showed massive “shooting lanes” where hunters had cut trees and brush to better see deer on public lands.

Multiply hundreds, perhaps thousands, of deer stands with the hundreds of feet of cleared forest for shooting lanes, and the total is adding up. Some of those shooting lanes are more than 30 feet wide and up to 700 feet long. In one area of county land near state land, it’s estimated that a group of hunters had cleared more than six acres of forest combined for their 47 shooting lanes.

“They are taking public land out of timber production and it’s adding up across the county,” Kailanen said. “The real impact of this may not be realized until 40 or 50 or 60 years from now, when those trees would have been harvested.”

Several counties, national forests and state wildlife management areas already ban all permanent deer stands. And Blandin Paper Co. in Grand Rapids has staff in the woods physically removing all permanent stands from its land — anything that could harm tree growth into the future.

So far, Krepps is just making the County Board aware of the problem. But he hopes to come up with new county land regulations that will place some sort of limit on deer stands while banning any timber cutting for shooting lanes.

“Right now we have nothing in the books regarding deer stands. I’m thinking we should get something in place in time to get it into the” 2013 state deer hunting regulations booklet, Krepps said.

“We may need to come back and ask for additional authority to do what we need to do,” Krepps told the County Board.

County Commissioner Peg Sweeney of Proctor said she wants to see an ordinance allowing the land department to remove the worst violators. Every tree cut simply to allow one hunter to see deeper into the woods is fewer trees sold to mills and less revenue for county taxpayers.

“This has gone too far,” Sweeney said. “I really think we need to develop a policy to let you remove these abuses.”

Commissioner Steve O’Neil of Duluth agreed.

“If you need more tools you should definitely come back” to the County Board for action, O’Neil told Krepps.

Commissioners Steve Raukar of Hibbing and Keith Nelson of Fayal Township said they would rather see more education against the large stands and shooting lanes on county land, directing Krepps to work with the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association to get the word out.

Food plots a growing concern

In some areas, hunters have taken to clearing the forestland and planting clover and other farm crops to attract deer. While the ethics of food plots is hotly debated in the hunting community — some say it’s akin to baiting deer, which is illegal in Minnesota — county foresters say the plots are taking even more forestland out of production.

Moreover, the seeds planted may not be just one crop, but may bring in invasive, non-native species that could damage the native forest and spread.

“We’re just not going to tolerate these at all. We’re going to rip them out,” Krepps said.

Mark Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, said his group stands ready to help educate hunters on public land hunting rules, especially against cutting trees. But Johnson said rules, and personal ethics, vary greatly on how elaborate stands should be. The association has no formal stance on the issue, he said.

“We really want people to know that cutting trees on public land is not acceptable,” Johnson said. “I don’t think a lot of our members are out doing that. But we want to help educate everyone out there that our ability to continue to use these public lands depends on our actions out there.

“It seems like we are seeing a lot of these public land managers forced to take increasing action because of the bad apples out there who just go too far.”

Via: Duluth News Tribune