Public Hearings Set for Proposed Wildlife Rule Changes

Proposed rule changes affecting hunting and trapping seasons in New Hampshire for 2010 and 2011 will be discussed at three public hearings being held by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department on the following dates and at the following locations: 

Monday, April 5, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. - at N.H. Fish and Game Region 1 office, North Country Resource Center, 629 B Main Street, Lancaster, N.H. 

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. - at Keene High School, 43 Arch Street, Keene, N.H. 

Thursday, April 8, 2010, 6:30 p.m. - at N.H. Fish and Game Headquarters, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, N.H. 

Hunters, trappers and other interested constituents are encourage to attend the hearings and offer their input on the proposed rules. Public input is considered during the formulation of final department proposals.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department reviews the state’s hunting seasons every two years to ensure that they are in line with wildlife management objectives, including those identified in the state’s Big Game Management Plan. The big game plan guides deer, moose, bear and turkey management in New Hampshire through the year 2015. 

Some of the highlights of the new rule proposals, by species, include: 

Deer - In response to two preceding severe winters, Fish and Game is recommending a more conservative allocation of either-sex days for the coming season. In addition, the Department is proposing that archers, during the month of September, be restricted to the taking of antlered deer only. Of additional note, Fish and Game is proposing to eliminate the antler point restriction now in place in Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) A and to lengthen the current 9-day muzzleloader season in WMU A to the statewide standard of 11 days 

Moose - Fish and Game is proposing to issue 395 moose permits statewide for the 2010 and 2011 moose seasons. This represents a reduction from the 2009 allocation of 515 permits. This proposal reflects changes in the state’s regional moose populations relative to existing population goals. 

Bear - There are no proposed changes in the regional bear seasons, with the exception that Fish and Game proposes a reduction in the number of bait sites allowed per hunter in the Central Region, from two to one. This leaves the White Mountain Region as the only bear management region in the state that allows two bait sites per hunter. Fish and Game also proposes to eliminate the need for a special permit to take bear with hounds.. However, hound owners would still need a permit to run hounds. 

Turkey - Fish and Game is proposing the addition of four Wildlife Management Units (J1, J2, L and M) in the south and eastern parts of the state to the five-day fall shotgun season. This means that both the southwest and southeast portions of the state will be open to fall shotgun hunting for turkeys. This change reflects the continued growth of turkey populations in southeast New Hampshire. No other season changes are recommended to the wild turkey seasons. Recommendations for turkey registration stations, similar to those for deer, are also being proposed. 

Furbearers - Fish and Game is proposing to open the trapping and hunting seasons for certain aquatic furbearers two weeks earlier in WMUs A - F (northern N.H.), to facilitate ice-free trapping. In these units, the trapping season would start on October 15 instead of on November 1, when it opens in the rest of the state. The coyote trapping season is proposed to be extended to April 10. It currently ends on December 31 in the north and January 15 in the south. 

Small Game - Fish and Game is not proposing any changes in the small game seasons.

For further details, the complete wildlife rulemaking notice, with original and proposed rule language for these proposals and a number of others, can be viewed on Fish and Game’s Website at: www.wildnh.com/Legislative/Notices_summary.htm.  Once in, click onto Wildlife Rules for 2010-2011. Written comments must be received by April 28, 2010. Send comments to: comments@wildlife.nh.gov. Use the subject line “comments on wildlife rules or you can write snail-mail to: Executive Director, N.H. Fish and Game Department, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, N.H. 03301 or fax them at: (603) 271-1438.

I have always found that personally attending the hearings to be interesting and indeed a challenge. So, if you are able to attend any of the listed hearings, by all means do so.  

Bob Harris can be reached via e-mail at: outwriter2@aol.com

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