DEER NOTEBOOK: GF, EGF groups offer deer hide drop sites

Nov. 03–GF, EGF groups offer deer hide drop sites

Wildlife groups in Grand Forks and East Grand Forks again this year will be collecting deer hides from hunters to raise funds for habitat programs.

On the west side of the Red River, the Grand Forks County Wildlife Federation will be collecting deer hides at the following drop sites:

–Emerado, N.D.: Superpumper.

–Thompson, N.D.: S Quickstop.

–Grand Forks: True North Equipment, Gateway Drive.

–Grand Forks: Twin City Motors 1120 S. Washington St.

In East Grand Forks, the Min-Dak Border Chapter of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association will have collection boxes at the following locations as part of its Hides for Habitat drive:

n Orton’s Point Tesoro.

n Cabela’s.

n Sportsman’s Taxidermy Studio.

The MDHA chapter will be collecting the hides until the week of Thanksgiving.

According to Loren Abel of the MDHA chapter, volunteers will be scheduling one night each week throughout the drive to prep the hides at Pecka Trucking in East Grand Forks. For more information or to help with the hide prep, contact Abel at (701) 741-1147 or Jim Benson at (218) 773-7972.

— Brad Dokken

NDGF to sample deer for CWD

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department will continue its surveillance program during the upcoming deer gun season, by sampling hunter-shot deer for chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis from 13 units in North Dakota.

In addition, all moose and elk shot in the state are eligible for testing.

Game and Fish will collect samples from deer taken in the eastern portion of the state from units 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F1, 2F2, 2G, 2G1, 2G2 and 2L. Deer also will be tested from unit 3F2 in the southwest.

Every head sampled must have either the deer tag attached, or hunters can fill out a new tag with the license number, deer hunting unit and date the deer was shot.

Hunters can drop off deer heads at the following locations:

–Aneta: Aneta Meats Service.

–Bottineau: Mattern Family Meats.

–Cando: K Meats.

–Carrington: Barton Meats.

–Casselton: Casselton Cold Storage.

–Devils Lake: Game and Fish Department.

–Dunseith: Wayne’s Food Pride.

–Edgeley: Edgeley Meat Processing Plant.

–Enderlin: Maple Valley Lockers.

–Fargo: J Taxidermy, Jer’s Wildlife Taxidermy.

–Fordville: Dakota Prairie Wildlife Club

–Grand Forks: Bob’s Oil, Ted’s Taxidermy.

–Great Bend: Manock Meats.

–Gwinner: Stoppleworth Taxidermy.

–Jamestown: Game and Fish Department, Real Look Taxidermy.

–LaMoure: LaMoure Lockers.

–Langdon: Hickory Hut.

–Larimore: Glenn’s EZ Stop.

–Milnor: Milnor Locker.

–New Rockford: Risovi Taxidermy.

–Oakes: Butcher Block.

–Park River: Jim’s Super Value Inc.

–Reynolds: Weber’s Meats.

–Rolette: The Meat Shack.

–Sheyenne: Brenno Meats.

–Valley City: Valley Meat Supply.

–Wahpeton: J Taxidermy, Auto Value Parts Store.

–Walhalla: Walhalla Co-op.

–Wyndmere: Bridgemart Meats LLC.

Hunters should take moose and elk heads to a Game and Fish office. For information on where to drop off heads from unit 3F2, check out the Game and Fish website at gf.nd.gov.

— N.D. Game and Fish Department

NDGF prohibits baiting in five deer units

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is reminding deer hunters that hunting over bait is prohibited — even on private land — in unit 3C west of the Missouri River and units 3E1, 3E2, 3F1 and 3F2 in the southwest part of the state.

Hunting over bait is defined as placing or using bait to attract big game and other wildlife to a specific location for the purpose of hunting. Baits include but are not limited to grains, minerals, salts, fruits, vegetables, hay or any other natural or manufactured foods. The designation does not apply to the use of scents and lures, water, food plots, standing crops or livestock feeds used in standard practices.

In addition to the units where hunting over bait is no longer allowed on either private or public land, hunting over bait also is prohibited on most other public land in the state, including state wildlife management areas, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas, U.S. Forest Service national grasslands and all North Dakota state school, state park and state Forest Service lands.

— N.D. Game and Fish Department

NDGF outlines carcass transport rule in 3F2

Hunters who shoot a big game animal this fall in North Dakota deer unit 3F2 cannot transport a carcass containing the head and spinal column outside of the unit unless it’s taken directly to a meat processor.

The head can be removed from the carcass and transported outside the unit if it is to be submitted to a state Game and Fish Department district office, CWD surveillance drop-off location or a licensed taxidermist.

If the deer is processed in the field to boned meat, and the hunter wants to leave the head in the field, the head must be legally tagged, and the hunter must be able to return to or give the exact location of the head if requested for verification.

— N.D. Game and Fish Department

DNR updates Paul Bunyan,Bemidji small game closures

Small game hunting is closed from Friday through Nov. 24 on the Bemidji State Game Refuge in Beltrami County and from Friday through Nov. 17 on the Paul Bunyan State Game Refuge in Hubbard County, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said.

Incorrect dates are listed on page 105 of the 2013 Minnesota Hunting and Trapping Regulations Handbook. The online version of the handbook at mndnr.gov/regulations/hunting lists the correct dates.

— Minnesota DNR

Hunters should review trespass law, ask first

With Minnesota’s small game, waterfowl and archery deer seasons underway and the firearm deer season set to begin Saturday, DNR conservation officers say there is one sure way to avoid landowner concerns associated with trespassing: “Always Ask First.”

“Trespass is the biggest problem landowners have with hunters,” said Col. Ken Soring, DNR enforcement director. “It is critical for hunters to have good relationships with landowners, especially when you consider that in some parts of the state such as southwestern Minnesota about 95 percent of the land is privately owned.

“If hunters and other outdoor recreationists would just make it a standard practice to always ask for permission before entering any private land, those relationships would improve a lot.”

Trespass penalties range from a $50 civil fine to a criminal penalty of several thousand dollars, confiscation of vehicles and hunting equipment, and revocation of hunting privileges for two years.

Info: mndnr.gov.

— Minnesota DNR