Outdoor News

S.D. nixes longer pheasant season
BROOKINGS, S.D.—Heeding the concerns of landowners and sportsmen’s groups, the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Commission decided against a proposal that would have lengthened the pheasant season to the end of January. The commission took the action at its April meeting in Brookings. The 2008 season will adhere to traditional dates, starting on the third Saturday of October and ending on the first Sunday of January. The commission heard testimony both for and against the proposal at a public hearing in Brookings. The department also received more than 200 e-mail and telephone comments about the proposal.

N.H. donates 550 pounds of meet to needy
New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Conservation Officers recently delivered approximately 550 pounds of processed moose and deer meat to the Littleton, N.H., Outreach Office of the Tri-County Community Action Program for distribution to the needy. The donation was the result of efforts by all the Conservation Officers in Fish and Game Law Enforcement District 3, which serves west-central New Hampshire. The donated moose meat and venison was confiscated during the fall 2007 hunting season in situations where moose and deer had been taken illegally. Conservation Officers had the meat butchered, packaged and frozen after it was seized. The pending court cases recently were resolved, allowing the meat to be donated.

Indiana offers apprentice hunting licenses beginning July 1
In an effort to help recruit new hunters, Indiana will allow individuals of any age to go hunting before taking a hunter education class, if they purchase an apprentice hunting license and are accompanied by a licensed adult while hunting. The licenses go on sale for the first time July 1. The initiative, which allows individuals to try hunting to see if it is a sport they wish to pursue without having to first invest a lot of time and money, has been done in other states as part of a nation-wide initiative to recruit new hunters.

Minn. anglers were to receive state record fish awards
Three Minnesota anglers who caught state record fish in 2007 were honored by the Department of Natural Resources April 5 at the 76th annual Northwest Sports Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
DNR Commissioner Mark Holsten presented the awards during a ceremony.