Thursday 27th, may 2010

Roundtable membership meeting

The Sportsmen’s Roundtable will hold 4 meetings in June to generate discussion and input from our members.

Three of the four (6/1, 6/30, and TBA) will be open forums on DNR deer and smallmouth rules. The June 5th member meeting will have a more extensive agenda.

Please join us:

June 5th Member meeting agenda:

1. Public Access for Newport Base Reuse Plan-DNR should get 2,500 acres of natural areas including a 330 acre prairie.  All groups and individuals asked to write request letter to Army.   
2. Support letter for Atterbury/Putnamville Fish and Wildlife Area land exchange 
3. 14 Inch  Rule proposed for smallmouth bass
4. Deer Rules Proposed Changes and DNR survey results
5. Roundtable Open Forums on Deer Rules and Smallmouth Rule –Columbus, Jasper and Warsaw

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Results from deer hunting survey

The DNR Commission undertook a monumental review of all Indiana fish and wildlife rules that began in 2008 and included several public meetings, an open comment period by email, and a summary of all the comments, published in late 2009.  There were many substantive changes suggested for deer hunting that were then referred to a task force for further discussion.  Several Roundtable members participated in the task force discussion this past spring.  DNR then released the notes from that task force and created an online survey to get more input from deer hunters and interested citizens.  Over 10,000 Hoosiers commented on the survey and the results will be considered as the DNR staff drafts the proposed rule changes for Indiana deer hunting.  The draft rule then will go to the DNR Commission for preliminary adoption in July.  Public hearings will follow and a final rule will likely be adopted in late 2010 that will be effective for the season in 2011.

Please spend some time reviewing the survey and notes from the task force discussion, and share these with your organizations.  The Roundtable wants to hear from your group on priorities, concerns, and recommendations for these rules that will likely be in place for many years.  So, the old "speak up now, or forever live with it" applies.

Two out of three people responding to a recent Department of Natural Resources online survey said they use both archery and firearms to hunt deer, and 91 percent said they would be willing to harvest one or more additional antlerless deer if money were not an issue.

Respondents also expressed strong support for a variety of license packages, including a “sportsman’s bundle” that would include one archery, one firearms, one muzzleloader and one bonus antlerless license for $72. To purchase each of those licenses separately under the current setup would cost $96.

The survey, conducted by the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife, is part of a process to review and revise Indiana’s deer management strategy. After meeting with a stakeholder committee, the DFW asked deer hunters and landowners to complete the online questionnaire pertaining to deer season structure and equipment use.

A total of 9,516 responses were received.

“Because online surveys pose several problems in obtaining scientifically valid results, this questionnaire will be best served as a general indicator for gauging public support or opposition for various deer regulation alternatives,” said Mark Reiter, director of the Division of Fish & Wildlife. “The DFW will be using this information, along with input from a deer stakeholder committee and public input given as part of the administrative rule process, to promulgate a deer rule package.”

The questionnaire was available online from April 19-25. Questions were formatted based on suggestions and recommendations from the deer stakeholder committee to meet the objective of focused deer herd reduction in a strategically targeted manner that would more adequately balance ecological, recreational and economic needs of the citizens of Indiana.

Before being placed online, the questionnaire was reviewed by a social scientist from Purdue University’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources to ensure the integrity of each question.

The questionnaire was designed using an online provider (www.surveymonkey.com).

Slightly more than 93 percent of the survey respondents said they were Indiana deer hunters while 4.6 said they were not and just over 2 percent left the question blank.

Approximately 5,300 respondents identified themselves as resident license buyers; 2,600 as lifetime license buyers; 700 as landowners exempt from license purchase; 300 non-resident license buyers; 50 youth license buyers, and 10 military-exempt license holders.

Additional survey results showed that:
--Eight of 10 respondents said they use shotguns to hunt deer; 74 percent use archery equipment, 71 percent muzzleloader, 20 percent handguns, 19 percent rifles, and 10 percent crossbows. Of those respondents, 27.5 percent said they use only firearms, and nearly 5 percent said they use only archery equipment.

--Total responses favored the current opening date for firearms season. Moving the opening date one week later ranked second, with strong opposition to moving it two weeks later.

--Total responses strongly favored no change to the structure of firearms and muzzleloader seasons, and strongly opposed any choice with fewer days to hunt.

--Total responses supported all options for a strategically targeted antlerless-only firearms season, with most supporting a two-day October season.

--Total responses supported expanding the use of crossbows in the early archery season for hunters age 65 and older. Use in urban deer zones ranked second, followed by expansion into firearms season, and expansion into all of the early archery season.

--Respondents expressed strong support for several proposed license packages. The greatest support (75 percent) was for a reduced-cost bonus antlerless license available for early purchase, followed by a “sportsman’s bundle” mentioned previously (71 percent approval). Other options were two bonus antlerless licenses for $34 (66 percent approval) and three bonus antlerless licenses for $49 (58 percent approval). Fifteen percent of respondents did not support any of the license packages.

--Asked how many additional antlerless deer they would be willing to harvest if money were not an issue, nine percent said zero, 17 percent one, 32 percent two, 15 percent three, 9 percent four, and 17 percent more than four.

--Respondents identified the cost of additional licenses as the most likely reason they do not harvest an additional deer. Other factors influencing antlerless harvest include processing costs, and no need for an additional deer. Items not perceived to be a hindrance are lack of hunting time, deer herd ability to support additional take, and meat storage capacity.

For more information: Chad Stewart, Division of Fish and Wildlife, (812) 334-1137.

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Public Hearing for Wild Turkey and Ruffed Grouse Regulations, June 24

A public hearing has been scheduled for an administrative rule package that includes a number of potential changes to the regulations governing the hunting of wild turkeys and ruffed grouse.
 
The public hearing will be held on June 24 at the Wayne Township Branch of the Indianapolis- Marion County Public Library at 6 p.m. (EDT) which is located at 198 South Girls School Road in Indianapolis.

The DNR has proposed changes to the rule governing the hunting of ruffed grouse on public lands to a period of 6 weeks only.  The season length on private lands would remain unchanged.  Currently, grouse hunting occurs across all or portions of 25 counties from October 1 to December 31 (13 weeks) with a 2 bird bag limit. 

The DNR has also proposed the following changes to the wild turkey rule:

1) add 16 new counties in Indiana for the fall firearms season, including 7 in northern Indiana
2) open all counties (statewide) for fall turkey archery season
3) add 7 days to the early archery portion of the fall turkey season
4) add a second (late) archery turkey season to coincide with the late deer archery season (they would run at the same time and have a hunter orange requirement)
5) expand the fall turkey firearm season in the south for 7 more days (12 days total - includes 2 weekends); the firearm season in the north would be for 5 days, including one weekend  

The proposed rule language can be viewed at: http://www.in.gov/nrc/files/grouse_turkey_proposal.pdf

Public comments on these rule changes can also be sent to the Natural Resources Commission by going to the following website at: http://www.in.gov/nrc/2377.html  Scroll down to “Ruffed Grouse & Wild Turkey Rule Seasons” and click on the appropriate link to comment on the proposed rules; you must include your name and city and state of residence when submitting a comment. Comments can also be mailed to the following address:

            Natural Resources Commission
            Indiana Government Center North
            100 North Senate Ave., Room N501
            Indianapolis, IN 46204

The deadline for public comments is 8 am Friday, June 25.

All comments sent to the Natural Resources Commission regarding these rule changes will be provided to Commission members and Department of Natural Resources staff and will be publicly disclosed and searchable on the internet and in a paper docket as part of the final report.

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For more information: Steve Backs, Division of Fish and Wildlife, (812) 849-4586

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Mountain lion confirmed in rural Green County

A mountain lion has been confirmed in a rural part of Greene County east of Bloomfield as a result of a new Department of Natural Resources policy designed to systematically collect data and evaluate reported sightings of such animals.

Read DNR's press release on the sighting here.

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Smallmouth bass size limit

Change is always difficult and changing fish and wildlife rules and regulations is no exception.  Smallmouth bass fisherman across the state have expressed an interest in changing the smallmouth bass size limit from 12 inches to 14 inches in all rivers and streams; lakes size limit is already 14 inches.

The Indiana DNR has been reviewing this proposal for several years.  They would like to gather more data before making a decision.  This approach seems prudent, but the question remains: what is happening to the resource while studies are being conducted? It appears that most fishermen would rather err on the side caution and protect the smallmouth bass while biological data is being documented.

Several ISR Board members agree with Indiana’s sportsmen and believe that the 14 inch size limit is a good idea.  These board members have studied surveys from other states, Ohio and Pennsylvania included.  The Ohio and Pennsylvania studies concluded that all streams are different and in some cases the 14 inch size limit was beneficial.  None of the states found that the size limit actually harmed the fishery.

The DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife staff is a group of dedicated biologists that always have the best interests of Hoosier anglers in mind.  In their defense, they don’t have the time or manpower to accurately survey even a fraction of our rivers and streams.  In these conditions, an accurate biological decision might be difficult to acquire.

If you have an opinion on the proposed size limit change please contact Dean Shadley at shadleyds@verizon.net. 

ISR wants to gather as much information as possible from Indiana’s smallmouth fishermen and women.  Our function is to represent you in these discussions with the Indiana DNR.

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TAKE ACTION

Atterbury/Putnamville land swap
The Indiana Wildlife Federation has drafted a letter to the Midwest Regional Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in support of the land swap with a few stipulations.

We need as many groups as possible to sign on to the letter.

Click here to download the letter, and please contact IWF's office to add your group's name.

Learn more about the swap here.

Newport Chemical Depot
The Izaak Walton League of America is asking for support to encourage the U.S. Department of Defense to allow DNR to take control of 2,000 acres of natural land at the Newport Chemical Depot.

Click here to download the letter. Contact IWF to sign on.

The Newport Chemical Depot Reuse Authority website has more information on the full reuse project.

Please sign on to either or both letter(s) as soon as possible. We will send the Atterbury/Putnamville letter after discussing the issue at the June 5th Member Meeting.

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