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At its regular September meeting, held Sept. 11 in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission voted unanimously to endorse deer management changes proposed by the 21st Century Deer Steering Committee, and send the proposals to statewide public hearings. Wildlife Department officials expect hearings on the proposed changes will be conducted in either December or January.
The changes, recommeded by the 33-member committee of wildlife professionals, hunters, farmers and ranchers, mainly focus on maximizing antlerless hunting opportunities and harvest. The group also recommended reducing the total season buck bag limit from three to two to improve overall herd health and balance buck-to-doe sex ratios.
Antlerless harvest is the key to controlling population numbers, and these recommended changes will not only help address overpopulation in certain areas, but should also work to improve buck-to-doe ratios, said Alan Peoples, wildlife chief for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.
"Fortunately, the growth of our herd hasn^t reached the point where it is unmanageable," Peoples said. "By taking an aggressive approach now, especially in the area of antlerless harvest, we hope to be able to curb growth and improve herd health.
"Overharvest of bucks can decrease overall herd health, a trend we have identified that concerns wildlife biologists. The problem is especially acute across northern-tier counties."
Specific key deer management recommendations include:
• Increasing the aggregate statewide bag limit to six deer, no more than two of which can be antlered.
• Adding archery antlerless hunting opportunity from Jan. 1-15.
• Expanding antlerless harvest options for Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) cooperators.
• Creating a statewide Landowner Deer Permit (LDP) to be available to private landowner or agricultural lessees with at least 100 acres which will provide them with additional antlerless harvest options.
• Rezoning deer management zones based on habitat types and social considerations.
• In management zones deemed appropriate by the Wildlife Commission, three-day, post-Christmas, antlerless only firearms hunts will be offered. Deer taken during this hunt would be bonus.
• In management zones deemed appropriate by the Wildlife Commission, the bag limit could be increased to two antlerless deer during the primitive and/or modern firearms season.
• Increasing information and education efforts to better communicate with hunters and landowners about deer management issues.
Following public hearings on the deer management recommendations, Wildlife Department staff will present the results, along with specific hunting regulation change proposals, to the Wildlife Commission for approval. If any of the changes are approved by the Commission, they would go into effect next year, during the 2001-2002 hunting season. Watch for information on times and locations of upcoming deer management public hearings, as well as other future deer management developments, on the newly-created Deer Section of the Wildlife Department^s web site –www.wildlifedepartment.com
In other business, the Commission voted to give all Wildlife Department employees a $2,000 annualized pay raise, effective October 1. They did so only after discussing the Department^s current funding situation and history of employee pay raises, with several Commissioners expressing concern over the agency^s ability to fill vacancies without additional funding. As a part of the pay raise action, the Commission also approved $2,500 annual increase retroactive to July 1, 2000, for employees in the executive compensation plan as approved last year.
In other action at the September meeting, the Commission approved a resolution establishing the 2000-2001 waterfowl hunting seasons. Wildlife Chief Alan Peoples said duck and goose populations look excellent, and he expects another outstanding season. Waterfowl Hunting Regulations are now available at license vendors throughout the state.
Several presentations also were made at the meeting. Commission Chairman Harland Stonecipher and Dr. Fred Guthery, head of the Bollenbach Chair at Oklahoma State University, presented each member of the Commission with a copy of Guthery^s landmark quail management book, On Bobwhites. Stonecipher also announced that Guthery and the Widlife Department will co-host a quail management meeting Thursday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Ada Technology Center (formerly called the Ada Vo-Tech). The meeting will focus on habitat improvements landowners can implement to improve quail populations, but hunters are encouraged to attend.
In a second presentation, Peoples recognized Paul Odom, III, as the 2000 Oklahoma Landowner of the Year. Odom, who owns the 640-acre Niles Canyon Ranch at Hinton, has spent five years intensively improving the fish and wildlife habitat on his property. Much of his efforts have focused on control and removal of Eastern red cedar, an invasive species that can outcompete native grass and timber. In his Director^s report, Executive Director Greg Duffy pointed out that last year^s Oklahoma Landowner of the Year, Veraman Davis of Tahlequah, recently won the National Landowner of the Year Award.
Two housekeeping measures were also addressed at the September meeting. The Commission approved a process whereby the Department can sell gravel, slate or other quarried rock from wildlife management areas, and in another matter, Commission members accepted an internal audit report of employment practices presented by Duffy.
The Commission^s regular October meeting will be held Monday, Oct. 2, at 9 a.m. at the Wildlife Department^s headquarters in Oklahoma City. Highlighting the meeting will be an informational presentation by a member of the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America, a national hunter advocacy group. The WLFA representative will discuss national and global trends concerning hunting rights, and discuss pending legislation at both the state and national level.
Uploaded: 9/17/2000
Uploaded: 9/17/2000