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N.H. Hunting Report - October 20, 2006 Greetings, hunters! We have an exciting weekend coming up, with the start of moose season on October 21 (by lottery only) and the youth deer weekend. Early reports from the archery season tell us there are lots of deer in the field! The first-ever fall shotgun turkey season ends today. Fish and Game issued more than 500 permits for the new season; we'll provide more details in an incoming issue. Pheasant hunters should note that the Short Falls Road stocking site in Epsom has been closed for the season. The N.H. Hunting Digest is your best source for hunting season dates and details; click here (and then click on the orange icon) to download, or pick up a copy at Fish and Game offices and license agents statewide. Click here to buy your N.H. hunting license online -- right now! _____________________________________
Young deer hunters will have their own shot at success the weekend of October 21-22 in New Hampshire's 8th annual youth deer hunt, when young people statewide have the opportunity to go deer hunting under the supervision of an adult mentor. Accompanying adults must be licensed hunters and are not allowed to carry a firearm. Young hunters took 326 deer during their weekend last year, a 4% increase over the previous year. (To read more about the youth deer hunt, including additional guidelines, click here.) Comments about New Hampshire's upcoming Youth Deer Hunt posted recently on the New England Sportsman's Network message board included the following:
Early reports from the archery deer season indicate lots of deer in the woods this fall. The archery deer kill through October 15 was the highest it has been in the past nine years, with most counties showing significant increases. "The numbers suggest that the state's bow hunters are taking advantage of cooler weather, better visibility and more abundant deer," said Kent Gustafson, Fish and Game's Deer Project Leader. "Muzzleloader and firearm deer hunters should expect a similar good season ahead." New Hampshire's muzzleloader deer season is October 28-November 7, and the firearms deer season opens November 8. For a chart of statistics gathered to date from New Hampshire's archery deer hunt, with comparisons to this point in the season in previous years, click here and scroll down. For more on deer
hunting in New Hampshire,
click here.
There's still Unit M Special Deer permits left, but they're going fast. As of October 19, 1,000 permits remained to be issued. Permits cost $13 and are sold first-come, first-served, online (click here for online license and permit sales) or at Fish and Game headquarters. They are valid for taking one additional antlerless deer in Unit M during the archery, muzzleloader or firearms seasons. For details, Unit M boundaries, or a print-and-mail application, click here. Fish and Game Bear Project Leader Andy Timmins reports that as of October 9, a total of 233 bears (157 males, 76 females) have been reported. Bait hunters harvested 140 bears, still hunters/stalkers have taken 77 bears and hound hunters have registered 16 bears. This reflects an unofficial tally for the bait hunter harvest, as that part of the season has ended. Currently the bear harvest is 47% below the 5-year in-season average of 438 bears for this time period. We are 34% behind last year's take for this time period. The current harvest is nearly equal with the 2002 harvest at this point in the season (that year a total of 338 bears were harvested statewide). Regionally, 48 bears have been taken in the North, 74 in the White Mountains, 64 in the Central, 21 in Southwest-1, 22 in Southwest-2 and 4 in the Southeast regions. As in most years, the White Mountains region has the highest regional harvest tally, which is consistent with Fish and Game's management goal to reduce the bear population in that region. The decline in bear harvest continues to appear mostly related to an increase in food abundance this year. Plentiful blackberries, mountain ash berries and beechnuts, coupled with locally average crops of acorns and apples, are keeping bears from traveling greater distances for food. Bears are spending more time feeding in remote, higher elevation habitats rather than valley bottoms, making them less vulnerable to hunter harvest. Recent mast surveys by Fish and Game staff suggest that bears are feeding in stands of beech and oak. These species will be predominant food sources for bears the remainder of the season. For more on bear
hunting in New Hampshire,
click here. Chronic wasting disease (CWD), a brain disease that is fatal to deer, elk and moose, continues to be a concern for deer hunters and managers in New Hampshire. Annual monitoring efforts from 2002 through 2005 have not detected CWD in any New England state. New York and West Virginia are the most recent states to find CWD-positive deer, bringing the total number of U.S. states and Canadian provinces where the disease has been found to 16. Prevention of CWD in New Hampshire remains a top priority. Hunters are reminded that regulations prohibit the importation into New Hampshire of hunter-killed deer, elk and moose carcasses or parts of carcasses from the 16 states and provinces where CWD has been found, except for de-boned meat, antlers, antlers attached to skull caps with all soft tissue removed, upper canine teeth with all soft tissue removed, hides or capes with no part of the head attached and finished taxidermy mounts. For a Q&A
on CWD-related efforts
and guidelines in New Hampshire, click here.
Help out the needy by sharing all or part of
your fall harvest with the New Hampshire Food Bank. Once again this
fall, they are collecting donations of whole or processed game animals
for distribution to more than 350 food pantries, soup kitchens,
homeless shelters and group homes statewide. Last year the Food
Bank's "Hunt for the Hungry" program took in nearly 900
pounds of donated deer, bear, moose, duck and other game meat. The
program offers packaging instructions and can pick up your meat
donation. To donate game, call food bank operations manager Michele
Garron at (603) 669-9725. If you're donating a whole deer or moose,
you can bring it to Lemay & Sons Beef in Goffstown (603-622-0022),
and they'll process it for the food bank at no charge. For previous New Hampshire hunting reports, click here. Click here to get this free monthly in-season report by email.  A
User-Pay, User-Benefit ProgramResearching, managing and restoring wildlife are funded by your license dollars and by the Federal Aid in Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program. Your purchases of hunting equipment, sporting firearms and ammunition make a difference to New Hampshire's wildlife resources and this state's way of life. Click here to learn more.
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