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Show fS&;3 flit's Your Wildlife J i V OT rl ' By Garth Carter jJ""10" 0B,Cer In times of low rainfall the beaver's many hours of hard work often save the lives of his wildlife companions. During drought situations like this year, beaver ponds offer free water to wildlife. Water is held in beaver impoundments im-poundments long after the passing storm leaves the area. Besides the mammals that benefit from the beaver's long hard work, fish and birds also utilize the habitat. The beaver ponds often harbor native trout, providing the aquatic habitats necessary for survival survi-val in dry years. Besides being resting areas during migration, beaver ponds also provide ideal nesting areas for Teal and Mallard ducks. However, although the beaver bea-ver often solves problems, he also creates them. Many farmers farm-ers are plagued with beaver attempting to dam irrigation water and state road personnel person-nel are often troubled with plugged road culverts. Here in Grand County the most . recent problem has been the beaver cutting trees around the Pack Creek Campground. Wildlife officers often cuss the pesky beaver because of the many hours spent controlling con-trolling beaver damage, but not this year, because the beaver ponds might save many wildlife lives. -gkc- Special hunts such as ante- lope, moose, bighorn sheep and buffalo require special permits. Persons interested must apply no later than 5:00 p.m. July 29. Applications may be picked up at any Division of Wildlife Resource office (Price, Cedar City, Vernal, Provo, Ogden or Salt Lake), from any License agent or at my home. Antelope application requires re-quires no fee with the application. applica-tion. Moose, bighorn sheep and buffalo require $100.00 with application which is refundable re-fundable if the hunter is not successful in drawing out. Open Bull Elk permits go on sale beginning July 25 and ending August 5th. An Open Bull permit is required before applying for special hunts. Application for special elk hunts and permits can also be obtained from July 25 to August 5. Open Bull Elk permit cost is $15.00 with an additional $10.00 required if an elk is drawn out on a special permit. -gkc- Wildlife officers (statewide) have began the annual preseason pre-season elk classification. This encompasses locating and classifying elk into cow, calf, and bull units to determine the production rate on Elk herd units. Bull to cow ratios also help in analyzing the hunting effects on herd units. ' -gkc- Deep Sea Eshermen-the drought might be to your advantage. During a recent fishing trip to Westport, Washington I discussed the subject with the captain of the Dart 1, Paul Ellsworth, an 11 year veteran of the charter service. Paul said that if the inlet rivers are low the salmon would probably run upstream late this year. In the fall growth occurs so rapidly fishermen fish-ermen would not only have higher catch rates but the average fish would be of a larger size. The skipper indicated that late August through early September would be ideal. An additional bonus to fishing this period is that this is the period when the large King Salmon harvest har-vest occurs most frequently. Vacationers take heed a deep sea trip costs approximately approxi-mately thirty-three dollars, with poles, hooks, bait, charter chart-er service and sea water all included. -gkc- Local fishing is bound to drop off soon with the water levels sinking and the water temperature rising. Oowah, and Dark Canyon Lakes have received above normal fish numbers. Don's and Hidden lake have not been stocked recently but still contain good numbers of fish. Water levels in Beaver, Medicine, and Oowah are far below normal. Fish per unit of water thus should be greater than in previous years, -gkc-- An Outdoor tip-always dry a tent thoroughly before folding fold-ing it for storage. The least bit of moisture can cause mildew in tents made of cotton (canvas, (can-vas, poplin). Synthetic fabrics may become stained. Check seams, which remain damp even after the panels are dry (Field and Stream, June 76). -gkc- Serving this area for many years as the local conservation conserva-tion officer is Sportsman of " the Week Dan Win bourn, who often helps orient me as to game locations and concentrations. concentra-tions. Thanks for your help Dan. i In establishing regulations governing the 1977 big game seasons, the Board of Big Game Control made it illegal for archers to use a mechanical mechani-cal cocking device, referred to earlier as a "Sure-Shot." By way of clarification, the ruling was made to prohibit the use of mechanical cocking devices on bows used for hunting game animals in Utah. "Sure-Shot" is a brand name of a Utah manufacturer and should not be construed as being the specific device which was banned as the cocking device is only one item in the company's line of sporting equipment. Board members made the ruling after listening to archers arch-ers at the annual public meetings meet-ings where many expressed their opposition to the use of the device. Those archers argued that the mechanical nature of the cocking system removed much of the "primitive" "primi-tive" aspect of archery hunting. |