Post by shootsa410 on Mar 16, 2006 17:09:40 GMT -5
New incentive for turkey hunters
State to fit 300 birds with leg bands in study to estimate harvest rates
By P.j. Reilly - Woods & Water
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Mar 16, 2006 8:25 AM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - The hallowed leg band.
For bird hunters -- primarily waterfowlers -- shooting a bird bearing a leg band is akin to a deer hunter bagging a monster 10-point buck.
The leg band is the bird hunter's trophy because it can be as hard to come by as that 10-pointer.
The leg band is a metal ring clamped to the leg of a bird by a wildlife biologist in the name of learning about the life span and traveling range of that particular species.
A hunter shoots the bird with the band and then reports the number on the band to the appropriate wildlife agency.
The agency records the date and location of the kill for its records and the hunter gets to keep the band.
Some hunters place their leg bands in a prominent location in their homes, like a deer hunter would display the rack of a big buck.
Waterfowlers commonly clamp them to the lanyards holding their duck and goose calls so everyone they hunt with can marvel at their good fortune -- and because the bands make this cool jingling sound when you move about on a morning's hunt.
For spring gobbler hunters, the "trophy" typically is the beard and spurs of a harvested bird. The longer the beard and spurs, the greater the prize.
Beginning this year, some lucky turkey hunters in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York will have the opportunity to add a rare turkey leg band to their trophy cases as well.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), along with wildlife officials in Ohio and New York, are joining forces to conduct a four-year study to estimate the harvest rates of spring gobblers in each of the three states.
"Each state received 300 bands to fit to male turkeys this winter, before the spring hunting seasons," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "In Pennsylvania, we have banded 185 birds since trapping began in mid-January."
The Game Commission -- like the wildlife agencies in Ohio and New York -- is providing personnel and equipment to capture, band and release where caught 300 birds each year for the four years of the study.
Also, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the NWTF is contributing funds to cover equipment and bait.
In Pennsylvania, the Game Commission has allocated 50 bands for each of the six regions.
Each aluminum leg band will be secured to a male turkey's leg, and each band has a unique letter-number combination.
Each band is also imprinted with a toll-free telephone number with which to report a harvest or recovery of the banded bird.
"Perhaps the most exciting news for spring turkey hunters is that half of the birds being banded will also have information on the band indicating that a reward of $100 will be paid if the band is reported," Roe said. "Though the chance of harvesting a bird wearing a $100 band is low, the information being gathered is nonetheless significant."
Roe noted that the NWTF also is covering the cost of the rewards.
In Pennsylvania, 150 of the 300 tagged birds, 25 in each region, will be wearing these special incentive bands.
Duane Diefenbach, who is heading up the study at the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, said the study will enable his team to estimate reporting rates by comparing the number of $100 reward bands reported to the number of non-reward bands reported.
Reporting rate estimates help biologists determine harvests and may enable them to compare results from previous studies not using rewards.
"For many game species we have estimates of how many animals are harvested, but what we typically lack is knowing the harvest rate -- the percentage of the population taken by hunters -- because we lack population estimates," Diefenbach said. "This study, for the first time, will provide an estimate of harvest rates for turkey gobblers in Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.
"In addition to estimating harvest rates of male turkeys during the spring season, the research also will enable the Game Commission to estimate annual survival rates of male turkeys and provide a better estimate of the statewide population."
Mary Jo Casalena, the Game Commission's chief wild turkey biologist, said that the multistate approach provides a larger sample and, thus, a better understanding of the variability in harvest rates.
"This study will allow comparisons of harvest and survival rates among the three states, with their varying harvests, hunter numbers and hunter densities," Casalena said.
The bands being used for the harvest rate study are rivet bands -- an aluminum band that is secured using a stainless steel rivet.
Past research has typically used standard aluminum bands that are simply squeezed closed, but these sometimes fall off. That's why a sub-study on band retention rates also is being conducted.
National Band & Tag Company has donated a selection of standard leg bands to evaluate how well each of four different types stay on wild turkeys. The retention rates of standard butt-end aluminum, anodized aluminum, enameled aluminum and stainless steel bands will be evaluated.
Casalena said that hens caught during the trapping efforts won't be part of this study. Typically, biologists bait an area for turkeys, then use a rocket-launched net to capture a flock while the birds are feeding.
The Game Commission is taking the opportunity to gather breast feathers from both male and female turkeys captured during the banding study for the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory at East Stroudsburg University.
The feathers will be used to help build a forensic DNA database and will be placed in a long-term DNA archive for future studies.
Casalena stressed that birds captured during this study are being banded and released in the same location that they were captured.
P.J. Reilly's e-mail address is preilly@lnpnews.com
State to fit 300 birds with leg bands in study to estimate harvest rates
By P.j. Reilly - Woods & Water
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Mar 16, 2006 8:25 AM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - The hallowed leg band.
For bird hunters -- primarily waterfowlers -- shooting a bird bearing a leg band is akin to a deer hunter bagging a monster 10-point buck.
The leg band is the bird hunter's trophy because it can be as hard to come by as that 10-pointer.
The leg band is a metal ring clamped to the leg of a bird by a wildlife biologist in the name of learning about the life span and traveling range of that particular species.
A hunter shoots the bird with the band and then reports the number on the band to the appropriate wildlife agency.
The agency records the date and location of the kill for its records and the hunter gets to keep the band.
Some hunters place their leg bands in a prominent location in their homes, like a deer hunter would display the rack of a big buck.
Waterfowlers commonly clamp them to the lanyards holding their duck and goose calls so everyone they hunt with can marvel at their good fortune -- and because the bands make this cool jingling sound when you move about on a morning's hunt.
For spring gobbler hunters, the "trophy" typically is the beard and spurs of a harvested bird. The longer the beard and spurs, the greater the prize.
Beginning this year, some lucky turkey hunters in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York will have the opportunity to add a rare turkey leg band to their trophy cases as well.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), along with wildlife officials in Ohio and New York, are joining forces to conduct a four-year study to estimate the harvest rates of spring gobblers in each of the three states.
"Each state received 300 bands to fit to male turkeys this winter, before the spring hunting seasons," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "In Pennsylvania, we have banded 185 birds since trapping began in mid-January."
The Game Commission -- like the wildlife agencies in Ohio and New York -- is providing personnel and equipment to capture, band and release where caught 300 birds each year for the four years of the study.
Also, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the NWTF is contributing funds to cover equipment and bait.
In Pennsylvania, the Game Commission has allocated 50 bands for each of the six regions.
Each aluminum leg band will be secured to a male turkey's leg, and each band has a unique letter-number combination.
Each band is also imprinted with a toll-free telephone number with which to report a harvest or recovery of the banded bird.
"Perhaps the most exciting news for spring turkey hunters is that half of the birds being banded will also have information on the band indicating that a reward of $100 will be paid if the band is reported," Roe said. "Though the chance of harvesting a bird wearing a $100 band is low, the information being gathered is nonetheless significant."
Roe noted that the NWTF also is covering the cost of the rewards.
In Pennsylvania, 150 of the 300 tagged birds, 25 in each region, will be wearing these special incentive bands.
Duane Diefenbach, who is heading up the study at the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, said the study will enable his team to estimate reporting rates by comparing the number of $100 reward bands reported to the number of non-reward bands reported.
Reporting rate estimates help biologists determine harvests and may enable them to compare results from previous studies not using rewards.
"For many game species we have estimates of how many animals are harvested, but what we typically lack is knowing the harvest rate -- the percentage of the population taken by hunters -- because we lack population estimates," Diefenbach said. "This study, for the first time, will provide an estimate of harvest rates for turkey gobblers in Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania.
"In addition to estimating harvest rates of male turkeys during the spring season, the research also will enable the Game Commission to estimate annual survival rates of male turkeys and provide a better estimate of the statewide population."
Mary Jo Casalena, the Game Commission's chief wild turkey biologist, said that the multistate approach provides a larger sample and, thus, a better understanding of the variability in harvest rates.
"This study will allow comparisons of harvest and survival rates among the three states, with their varying harvests, hunter numbers and hunter densities," Casalena said.
The bands being used for the harvest rate study are rivet bands -- an aluminum band that is secured using a stainless steel rivet.
Past research has typically used standard aluminum bands that are simply squeezed closed, but these sometimes fall off. That's why a sub-study on band retention rates also is being conducted.
National Band & Tag Company has donated a selection of standard leg bands to evaluate how well each of four different types stay on wild turkeys. The retention rates of standard butt-end aluminum, anodized aluminum, enameled aluminum and stainless steel bands will be evaluated.
Casalena said that hens caught during the trapping efforts won't be part of this study. Typically, biologists bait an area for turkeys, then use a rocket-launched net to capture a flock while the birds are feeding.
The Game Commission is taking the opportunity to gather breast feathers from both male and female turkeys captured during the banding study for the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory at East Stroudsburg University.
The feathers will be used to help build a forensic DNA database and will be placed in a long-term DNA archive for future studies.
Casalena stressed that birds captured during this study are being banded and released in the same location that they were captured.
P.J. Reilly's e-mail address is preilly@lnpnews.com
Man I need a hunting season soon.