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Officials at the Divisional Forestry Office in Mugu have been dogged by a strange problem caused by a dog.

On March 28, the Division Forestry Office arrested four people for their alleged involvement in poaching. They were accompanied by a hunting dog, which was also arrested along with them.

The Division Forestry Bureau prosecuted the four individuals – Chyampa Tamang, Dawa Choden Tamang, Tashi Tamang and Chimek Tamang from Mugum Karmarong – on charges of poaching.

On May 26, the Mugu District Court decided to release Chyampa and her son Dawa on bail of Rs 70,000 each, while Tashi and Chimek were released on the general date.

No warrant was issued for the dog as he was not named as a defendant.

Forestry officials are now up a gum tree and perplexed as to what to do with the furry animal that has been in their custody for the past two and a half months.

Since the forestry office had only filed one case against four suspected poachers, the court did not rule on the dog, according to court officials.

Bidhya Raj Budha, information officer at the Mugu District Court, said the word ‘dog’ was not mentioned in the recorded poaching case.

“Then how can the court decide?” Buddha said.

Dawa Choorden in his court statement had said that he saw a ghoral (Himalayan goral, goat-antelope) grazing while he was on his way to the nearby water mill. He turned around and went to his house to get his hunting dog to kill the squirrel.

“Acorn rain” is still a couple of weeks away, but now is the best time to hunt squirrels in the Natural State.

The cool weather and urgency of fall keep squirrels active morning and night as they scamper through the treetops eating acorns. You can easily spot them as they shake branches, but stationary squirrels also give away their location with their catlike cries that screech through the oak and hickory forests.

If you are stealthy, you can get close to the squirrels without alarming them. Dominant male squirrels will often stand their ground and bark at intruders. Their swaying tails are easy to spot in the thick foliage. All of that makes hunting easy and relatively effortless.

Squirrel numbers develop in cycles, but they seem to be abundant almost everywhere this year thanks to favorable weather and abundant food during spring and summer. That means there are a lot of young squirrels in the forest. Those are the tender, mild-flavored ones that hunters prefer.

HUNTING BASICS

Squirrel hunting is wonderfully simple. You do not need special equipment or advanced knowledge. You just need a place to hunt and some time to learn where the squirrels hang out and what they eat.

When hickory nuts are ripe, for example, squirrels will abandon the acorns. A good beechnut crop also attracts squirrels, and you can never go wrong hunting in a pecan forest.

However, squirrels will migrate a long way overnight if a preferred food source comes online elsewhere. Spending a few hours in the woods each week will tell you what squirrels eat in a particular area.

EQUIPMENT

Shooting squirrels in the head with a .22 caliber rimfire rifle is excellent marksmanship and doesn’t harm meat unless you enjoy eating squirrel brains.

In the fall, headshots are difficult because the thick foliage often obscures the squirrels’ view. You’ll get much better results with a shotgun. A fully choked 20 gauge and 3/4 to 1 ounce load of No. 6 lead shot will hunt squirrels at all reasonable heights and distances.

Remember, you are observing the movement at the top of the tree. It may take a few minutes to watch a branch shake to figure out how a squirrel stands. Even with a shotgun, headshots are the best. Aim so that you cut the head and neck area with the edge of your pattern.

You will kill more squirrels if you blend into the forest. Wear camouflage clothing or muted tones. A hat will darken your eyes, as will shades with light-catching lenses like yellow or khaki.

stalking

Squirrels in the wild are not like the squirrels in your neighborhood that are used to interacting with people. They are more cautious, so you are not likely to approach a squirrel in the Ouachita or Ozark National Forests.

Wild squirrels usually go about their business in silence. They start feeding just after sunrise. If you hear leaves rustling loudly or see branches bouncing, get as close as you can.

The focus will take some time, so be patient. Take a few steps at a time, from tree to tree. Avoid going outdoors and watch your steps to avoid breaking twigs.

Dry leaves are a squirrel hunter’s bane, but dew will muffle crunching footsteps, as will hunting in a light fog or drizzle.

Squirrels that aren’t moving are probably eating. You won’t see them. Instead, listen for the sounds of squirrels gnawing or chopping hickory nuts or acorns. It is a slight harsh sound that mixes with other noises from the forest. It’s distinctive, but you have to train your ears to isolate it.

You will also see hickory nut chips, cuttings, fluttering from the leaves.

A shotgun blast will often send other squirrels within a large area running for cover. Stand still and they will often resume their activities after a quiet period.

Many hunters mitigate that element by using suppressed .22-cal. rifles They sound like airguns and you can often take out multiple squirrels from the same tree without causing a panic.

Using dogs is a very fun and effective way to hunt squirrels. Squirrels often freeze in a tree surrounded by dogs, but sometimes try to escape by running and jumping through the canopy. Experienced dogs follow them until they finally isolate and apprehend a squirrel.

SKINNING/DRESSING

To skin squirrels, I use a tool called Hunter’s Helper. Made in North Little Rock, it’s a metal frame that you can tie to a tree. They also make one bolted to a frame that slides into your vehicle’s hitch receiver. It makes the following procedure much easier.

Make a 1½-inch cut through the top layer of fur below the base of the squirrel’s tail.

Make two small cuts through the skin at the back of the hind legs.

Holding the squirrel by the tail, separate the hind legs from the fur.

Step on the tail and pull on the legs to remove the skin, then cut off the head, arms, and feet.

After skinning, open the chest with a knife from the throat to the cloaca and remove the viscera.

EATING

Squirrel has a rich iron flavor. Most people butcher their squirrels, batter them, and fry them.

I prefer to stew them in a slow cooker with carrots, potatoes, green beans, sweet corn, and other goodies. This method distributes the flavor and tenderizes the meat. It also ages well, so it tastes better with each serving.

Many other recipes are available on the Internet.

Squirrel hunting is more fun when you bring a youngster. The time together makes the experience memorable.

In 2019, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) received a tip through its stop poaching hotline that someone was poaching mule deer and pronghorn out of season in the county of Natrona. To find this perpetrator, wildlife investigators set up a sting operation.

According to the Casper Star-Tribune, Gary Lee Ferrier was selling $300 “trespass tickets” on social media to hunt on his property. So the investigators bought and spent a few days at Grazing Hills Ranch. For three days, deer and antelope carcasses were seen around the property and in burn piles. Ferrier also described his illicit activities directly to them and they were given what was called “organic beef” jerky.

After the trip, the WGFD forensic lab analyzed the jerky and found that it was actually an antelope. During a search of the ranch nine months later, officials seized 75 more bags of “beef jerky” marked for sale online. DNA evidence showed that the meat contained 18 different antelope and mule deer, but no trace of beef.

After the investigation concluded, the rangers teamed up with deputies from the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office. According to a WGFD press release, Ferrier was arrested in January 2021 and charged with 26 wildlife violations. When all was said and done, the court assessed $45,070 in fines and restitution. In addition, Ferrier’s hunting, fishing and trapping privileges are suspended in Wyoming and the 48 other states that are members of the Wildlife Violators Compact for five years or until restitution is paid.

In court, Ferrier pleaded no contest to nine of the 26 charges. These charges include killing a mule deer and male antelope without a license and during a closed season, being an accessory to the killing of other mule deer and male antelope without a license and during a closed season, two counts of wanton destruction of game animals. large game, and three charges for the sale of game meat. In exchange for her no contest plea, the district attorney dismissed the remaining charges.

An ex-girlfriend of Ferrier’s spoke to investigators and detailed in an affidavit in the case how most of the animals he killed rotted and spoiled in a shed without refrigeration, and then he simply poached another. Ferrier confessed in court that she sold the game jerky and illegal entry coupons to get out of a bad situation.

Regardless of the motive for the crime, it is unfair to take such a precious public resource. “Antelope Hunting Area 73 is an extremely busy hunting area near Casper,” Casper Region Wildlife Supervisor Brian Olsen told Cowboy State Daily. In 2020, the area had a hunter success rate of over 90% with over 1,000 males legally taken.

“The importance of a single tip to the hotline to stop the poaching of an individual made all the difference,” Olsen said. “He started the whole investigation. We are proud of our rangers for following a single piece of advice and stopping what could have been a significant negative impact on a local pack. But above all, we thank the person who made the call. His observations and information made all the difference.”

This fall and winter, Kentucky’s regular deer hunting seasons will very much be a repeat of that of 2020-21, as will precautions against the potential spread of debilitating chronic diseases.

Hunters in five far-western Kentucky counties (Marshall, Calloway, Graves, Hickman and Fulton) faced additional restrictions when those counties were grouped into a CWD Watch Zone after a white-tailed doe with CWD was identified in the county. of Humphreys, Tennessee. Parts of those five Kentucky counties were within 30 miles of where the infected doe was taken, the closest CWD find to Kentucky borders yet.

Chronic wasting disease is a deadly brain disease to which deer and elk are susceptible, and while the ailment has never been identified in the state, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife managers monitored closely last season to see if the disease could be occurring here. CWD not found.

Last year and again this year, additional precautions were put in place to prevent the potential spread of CWD should it occur in the surveillance zone.

Restrictions within the five-county zone include a ban on baiting deer during hunting seasons, as well as a ban on feeding grain or any treats such as salt or mineral blocks to wildlife. (Legitimate agricultural practices and planted food plots, as well as hanging bird feeders in residence yards, are permitted.)

Within the zone, deer taken during parts of the modern firearms season must be recorded at designated monitoring stations. This year there will be 13 check stations in the area that will be open and require deer to be checked on Saturday and Monday, Nov. 12-14 at the opening of the modern gun season, then Saturday and Sunday of the second and third weekends of the gun season.

One regulation that will affect many successful hunters in the watch zone is that no whole deer carcass may be removed from the zone. A whole deer killed in any of the five boroughs may be transported only within the zone.

Because CWD is caused by abnormal proteins known as prions that are associated with the brain, spinal cord material, and lymph glands of deer, any deer taken from the surveillance zone must be reduced to meat that has been boned from the carcass. Antlers can be removed on clean skull caps, but brain material is not allowed and whole heads are certainly not allowed.

Any deer caught in the watch zone, including bow and crossbow deer outside of gun seasons, must be tagged prior to removal from the range. Hunter-made tags must include the hunter’s name, address and phone number, the sex of the deer, the date and county in which he was taken, and the Telecheck confirmation number. Therefore, the Telecheck must be performed before moving the channel.

The KDFWR website, www.fw.ky.gov, has a wealth of information on CWD. Full details of this season’s regulations will be posted there.

Last year, KDFWR staff sampled and tested 7,547 deer and 55 elk for CWD statewide. A total of 4,347 deer assessed came from the five-county watch zone alone. Again, none of those samples showed the presence of CWD.

• • •

The last of Kentucky’s spring hunting seasons, spring squirrel season, concluded Friday at the close of hunting hours.

Maybe there were two or three people in the entire state who were hunting bushy tails yesterday, but maybe not. Entering seriously overheated weather, the non-traditional late-spring season that usually takes place in the sweltering steam of breezy forests doesn’t attract much turnout.

That is the final season for fur or feather hunting until the so-called “fall” hunting seasons begin in late summer. First up are the familiar creatures, the same arboreal rodents that were on the hunting menu: squirrels.

Traditional squirrel season begins on the third Thursday in August throughout the state of Kentucky. It’s probably just as sweaty and miserable in the woods at the time, but even though the popularity of small game hunting has faded, hunters still maintain a level of fidelity to hunting squirrels during the traditional season. That’s especially with regards to the early days of the season before other “fall” seasons vie for attention.

Seasons that start in late summer are often labeled fall seasons because their dates extend into fall or even well beyond. The traditional squirrel season currently runs through February, dwarfing parts of all three seasons.

Kentucky’s spring squirrel season is precisely contained within spring, but without much to spare. The season ended yesterday, while spring ends on Monday. Sure enough, something else follows. That makes Tuesday the first day of summer.

There are those who love summer as the main season of the calendar, but those of us who yearn for cooler days appreciate autumn and the conditions it will bring three months from now.

For those, when it comes to cooler temperatures, lower humidity, and the eventual appearance of golden foliage, it’s a long way off, but the arrival of summer on Tuesday is the longest day of the year. That means that starting on Wednesday, the days start to get shorter.

Steve Vantreese is a freelance outdoor writer. Submit outdoor items by email to [email protected] or call 270-575-8650.

Practice makes perfect. This saying is very true regarding our ability to make a good killing shot at an animal with a rifle. Our hunting ethic dictates that we respect the animal enough to know our limits and capabilities when considering a shot.

There is no substitute for turning on time. This can be as easy as dry firing your rifle at home. This allows you to practice your body position, trigger, breathing, and tracking. Live rounds are even better, so spending time at your local range is imperative. On the shooting range, be sure to practice shooting from all positions, not just from the rest of the bench.

Bench shooting is great for properly zeroing your rifle, but it bears little resemblance to real-world small game hunting situations. To really practice, you should work on prone, sitting, kneeling, and standing shots without the use of a break. But what’s really important is learning how to shoot well off makeshift breaks like canes, tree branches, fence posts, and fallen logs. I have killed many, many squirrels and rabbits with a .22 and I bet I used an impromptu rest on over 90% of the shots I took.

When shooting, your focus should be on the shot alone. I like to go through a short checklist in my mind right before I take the shot.

In a tragic event in the early hours of February 8, an Oregon man saw a black bear near his home and then accidentally shot his brother while carrying a gun to defend them. According to the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, the man apparently turned the gun on himself before deputies arrived.

“Upon arrival, officers located a male deceased from an apparent gunshot wound,” Deputy Sheriff Travis Snyder stated in the incident report. “While he was searching the rest of the residence, a second deceased male was located with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

Authorities seem understandably baffled by the event and are releasing few details at this time.

“Based on the investigation, the caller is believed to have taken his own life after calling 911 to report the accidental shooting,” Snyder stated. “This case is still under investigation and will be referred to the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office. The detectives from the sheriff’s office were assisted by detectives from the Oregon State Police.”

Placer, Oregon, is an unincorporated community 20 miles north of Grants Pass and a few miles from Interstate 5. Founded around gold mining but now considered a ghost town, the chain of homes and properties in its Large majority follows along Grave Creek into mountains and vast BLM timberlands.

With such scant information and no witnesses, it’s hard to speculate on the full picture of what transpired here. Oregon is home to an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 black bears, according to ODFW, and allows limited-entry hunting. Based on the location, it is very likely that there was a bear on that particular property, although the Sheriff’s Office does not show any recent reports of bears causing trouble in the area. Panic can lead to terrible mistakes, and gun safety should never be ignored. MeatEater sends its condolences to the family of these men.

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be out of date. Look at the timestamp in history to see when it was last updated.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation announced that the squirrel hunting season ends this month.

“Oklahoma squirrel season is open statewide through January 31,” the department announced on Facebook. “All you need is a hunting license (unless you are exempt).”

The daily limit of squirrels that can be hunted is as follows:

• 25 foxes and gray squirrels combined per day
• 50 in possession after the first day

Click here for more information on hunting licenses and regulations.