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Show Hunting Section, Thursday, September 23, 7 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Page 1993 mm mWB S By JOHN BEST Herald Correspondent If IR come for 45,000 upland game : r t.u i i.. ihe forecast for the 1993 pheasant ...hunt is again only fair for the most popular upland game in the state. I Like most wildlife in Utah, pheasants were hit hard by the deep snow and cold weather this spring. Deep snows caused harsh .conditions for pheasants during the winter and the cold wet springs resulted in some broods being lost ; and other nesting being delayed by several weeks. V, For many years the biggest de- 'terrent to building large popula- -' tions of pheasants has been habitat. That is still the major problem for pheasants. The habitat stamp by all adult upland game hunters was instigated primarily to ! help improve habitat for upland game species. Although this pro-- : gram is working the results will be if '- A f; i f A 'J - ' i I V --.- . v v X J t, V ? 80,-00- '1 of pheasants j4 future To help stop habitat . loss the ' Division of Wildlife Resources has required upland game hunters to purchase an upland game stamp, v Consider it your donation to help , save disappearing upland game . Last year upland game stamp revenues produced $237,000. However, legislature controls that money and allowed the DWR to V spend only $108,000 for habitat i acquisition and improvement ' projects and information and education last year. The rest of the y money is still in habitat improve-!me- fund but has not been rej leased for spending. ;i Hunting groups like Pheasants Forever have also done an enor-- h mous amount of work in Utah to help preserve pheasant popula- iions. Their main work is in educa-- s tion and acquisition and preserva- tion of habitat for pheasants and l other upland game species. This group raises funds for projects that nt I" ' By JOHN MYERS Newspapers The air is thinner now. There's color in a few bushes and trees. Some flocks of birds look almost ftervous. Autumn, the greatest of times in the outdoors, is nearly upon us. But if you can't get out to catch a kingalmon or fool a mallard at the edge of a cattail swamp, here are some new books that will take you Knight-Ridd- er outdoors. HOUR BEFORE DAWN, byJennis Anderson, Voyageur Press (221 pages, $14.95.) " jfAn Hour Before Dawn" by Dennis Anderson, outdoors writer fop the St. Paul Pioneer Press, might seem familiar to regular readers of that paper. The book is another in the popular trend toward collection of a cola compiling umnists' best works and them. If you read the Pioneer Press Outdoor page you've probably read most of these columns, but some of them truly are worth reading again. The book is split, perhaps too abruptly, into two sections that might better be suited for two separate books. The first half includes columns On hunting and fishing and the characters and wonder of nature Anderson has encountered. He takes the reader from duck sloughs in Alberta and Alaska, to Dorothy Molter's cabin in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, to a rodeo in Montana. Anderson's writing has a folksy edge that tends to draw the reader tn. It doesn't always work, but svhen itdoes.it shines. I The second half of the book focuses on Anderson's g series of newspaper stories documenting the extent of illegal waterfowl hunting and its impact on the declining North American duck population. The stories appeared in the St. ?aul paper in 1988 and nearly earned Anderson the Pulitzer Prize. The story isn't new, but it remains newsy. Until the duck populations return to stable levels, evbe ery piece of the problem must illeand addressed, including legal gal shooting of ducks. WILD GOOSE COUNTRY, by award-winnin- and locating ptarmigans," said Larsen. The Hungarian Partridge hunt will be down from previous years. Wildlife officials say broods came late because of the cold wet spring which will result in many young birds during the hunt this ear. Hungarian Partridge can be found in the grasslands and sagebrush areas. The partridge feeds in the grasslands and generally will go to sage for cover and roosting. The dove hunt will continue through the end of September and has been very successful. Doves usually stay in the state until colder weather pushes them farther south Checking stations this year found an average of 5.5 doves per hunter. Two years ago the average was only 2.7. The better success is largely due to fair weather across the state this fall. Nationally the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service estimates there are 2Vi million dove hunters who will kill approximately 45 million doves during season. . Rex Infanger (left) of Pleasant Grove, BYU quarterback Steve Clements (center) and Ralph Johnson of Orem found pheasant hunting good last season in southeast Utah. range from building corn feeders to purchasing habitat for pheasants. The past six years of fair pheasant hunting has resulted in a de- crease of state hunters. Several years ago there were as many as 60,000 hunters. In the 1980's there were as many as 100,000 pheasant hunters. This year wildlife officials are expecting only 45,000 to enter the field on Nov. 6. The decrease is partly due to a change in attitudes toward hunting. However the biggest reasons is the low number of pheasants makes hunting difficult and often unsuccessful. The pheasant and California Quail season will run Nov. 6 through Nov. 21. One major change outlined in the proclamation will be hunting hours for pheasants. This year hunters are given an extra weekend to hunt but wildlife officials caution this extra weekend may be taken away if hunters aren't courteous and avoid trespass and landowner problems. According to Dave Larsen, upland game coordinator, the biggest concern with the extra weekend came from landowners. If their property and rights aren't respected, hunters will lose this extra hunting opportunity. This is a frustrating situation for hunters as well as landowners. The n DWR is trying to produce a situation for hunters and landowners by providing signs that say: "Private Property, written permission required before hunting." These signs are free of charge to landowners that don't charge access fees. The DWR will also print the name, address and phone number on each sign. Another popular upland game hunt is the cottontail rabbit. Cot- Michael Furtman, NorthWord Press, (160 pages, $39) At first glance, "Wild Goose Country" may appear to be just another in a long line of "coffee table" picture books that have capitalized on our insatiable appetite to capture a bit of nature and keep it in our den. But "Wild Goose Country" deserves much more than just a first glance. It's expertly photographed, tightly written and style. presented in an To be sure, the book centers around the dazzling photography of Lynn M. Stone and Scott Niel-soboth accomplished wildlife photographers. But lots of books have nice pictures, and it's almost hard to miss with a subject as grand as our grandest waterfowl . "Wild Goose Country" excells beyond average picture book caliber by combining great photogratext to phy with tell the story of all kinds of North American geese. eye-catchi- n, trying different areas. One of the reasons for a decline in rabbit populations is that following peak cycles with large populations, diseases become more prevalent. Tularemia is one of the common diseases that affects cottontails. This disease is also harmful to humans. Tularemia can be 1989 Layton is1991 Terry 18' - SERVING UTAH COUNTY SINCE 1959 tontail hunting should be good this year, but declining. According to Larsen rabbits are cyclical, and cottontail are beginning a downward trend. Some areas will notice the down turn more than others. Larsen suggests scouting and LalUw fulfill EE Best of all, the book has heart. It's something a scientist or even a birdwatcher alone couldn't have brought to this subject. It took someone with an intimate knowledge of all that surrounds the goose biology, management, nature, lore, tradition, farming, the hunt to make "Wild Goose Coun- good deal on a great tire.' A 57.95 72.95 31X10.50R15 33X12. 50R15 LT7.50R16 The information isn't new, and Furtman didn't do the research. But he has compiled it well. 104.95 120.95 106.95 106.95 113.95 105.95 LT23585R16 LT24575R16 LT8.75R16.5 Furtman wanders some in "Wild Goose Country." He too often and too quickly vacillates between flowery prose about days in the field and cold, hard text-boo- k facts from the lab. The transitions are a bit abrupt. And Furtman's writing style can get a bit preachy at times, sort of like listening to Marty Stouffer rant at the end of a "Wild America" TV show. Then again, we all should take a lesson now and then, and Furtman isn't a bad choice for teacher on this subject. 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Economy 21.95 22.95 23.95 29.95 31.95 32.95 33.95 34.95 31.95 155R12 155R13 165R13 $2,500 $3,700 $6,900 $8,200 ' & Mud Terrain 103.95 137.95 M f.F A iSl $095 84.95 Economy 22.95 24.95 25.95 31.95 33.95 35.95 37.95 P15580R13 P16580R14 P18580R13 P19575R14 P20575R14 P21575R15 P23575R15 $2f500 71.95 82.95 91.95 85.95 86.95 QUALITY USED TIRES DTR Economy All Terrain Terrain ! XMr V AWR All try" work. P MUM P20575R14 LT23575R15 $2,200 1973 Holiday 19...... 1978 Wilderness 18' TIRE DEALER YOUR HOMETOWN Fall Clearance Sale With On Target Prices - find the birds participate in this hunt. "We are not sure of the numbers of birds anymore because we dis . win-wi- rMILLER TRAILER Sri LES 1970 Aljo 18' 1971 Nomad 18- The Ruffled Grouse, Forest Grouse and Chukar Partridge hunts are all expected to be average. Hunters will find good success with Ruffled Grouse in the aspen and brushy vegetation zones. Ruffled Grouse show a strong affinity to a dense brushy vegetation along stream courses. In winter, aspen buds are an im-- , portant food source. Forest Grouse o including the Blue and Ruffled Grouse are found throughout the'" coniferous zones of the state. In" winter they are one of the few species of wildlife that stay in the high mountain ranges. early. One of the least participated hunts is the white ptarmigan. This hunt will probably be the same as in other years, according to Larsen, with fairly good numbers of ptarmigans in the Uintah drainages. Only a handful of hunters with enough energy to go up and Herald photoRod Collett ooks to ta!ie you outdoors : willing to hike the Uintas the DWR is providing a pamphlet on habitat season on Gambles Quail will be Nov. 6 through Dec. 31. The band tailed pigeon hunt was disappointing this year. Most hunters found pigeons had gone south ed ; cottontail rabbits during warmer months of the year, it is wise to wear a pair of gloves to keep external parasites from crawling on your skin. Carry cottontails on a game carrier rather than in a game vest or pocket to avoid getting any external parasites on you. When you dress rabbits, it is a good idea to wear a pair of rubber or surgical gloves to avoid the possibility of any potential infections. If, while dressing your rabbits, you notice one in which the liver, lungs or spleen are covered with tiny white discolorations or one in which the liver or spleen is notice- ably swollen, wash your hands with strong soap and hot water and rinse in disinfectant and discard the carcass. Do not feed the entrails of the rabbit to your dog or leave them where domestic cats or dogs can get them. The Gambles Quail population in the southern part of the state looka very good, according to Larsen. He says the spring rain in Washington County has helped this species of upland game. The ! slow in coming. Declines in upland game, espe- cially pheasants, are mostly related to habitat loss. Development is gobbling up prime habitat. Better farming methods and more machinery leave fields $ clean with no cover for game. Habitat loss combined with heavy 0 hunting pressure of 60,000 to hunters meticulously combing the fields that are available, result . in a desperate threat against the -- - - . i , ed ; continued our surveys alter recent budget cuts. This bird is spread all over the Uintas and for hunters infected animal. When handling Many of the upland game hunts have been successful during the J 993 season in Utah and are now rawing to a close. " ' However, the best hunt is yet to 1j transmitted to man by the bite of a tick, a deerfly or from dressing an 109 E100 756-760- 1 IM. 375 N. Main 798-741- 6 161 W. 374-280- 0 300 S. $1 1 A - "oB"1" 8mith Orem cots J jfei M' S Monday-Frida- Saturday i |
