Printed Muzzleloader Antlerless Deer Permit Applications Available

Vermont’s muzzleloader season antlerless deer hunting permit applications are on Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s website (www.vtfishandwildlife.com), and now printed applications are also available from license agents statewide. 

Hunters applying online for an antlerless permit will do so through the online license sales system as if they were purchasing a license or a tag using their conservation ID number.  Landowners who do not have a Conservation ID number will need to create a profile through the online license sales system to apply for a landowner application even if they do not intend to purchase a hunting license.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/28/Printed-Muzzleloader-Antlerless-Deer-Permit-Applications-Availabl

https://vtfishandwildlife.blogspot.com/2018/06/printed-muzzleloader-antlerless-deer.html

Fish and Game Stocks New Hampshire’s Remote Ponds with Trout

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department completed its annual aerial stocking of remote trout ponds Friday. Every year, Fish and Game contracts a helicopter to stock remote ponds, from the Sunapee Region to Pittsburg. During this one-day event, nearly 50 remote ponds are stocked with brook trout fingerlings from the New Hampshire Fish and Game operated hatcheries.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/27/Fish-and-Game-Stocks-New-Hampshire%25E2%2580%2599s-Remote-Ponds-with-Trout

https://nhfishgame.com/2018/06/27/aerial-trout-stocking/

Camping Season is Here

One of the summer past times is taking to the road and taking the family on a camping trip. We typically try and get out a few times a summer and spend these trips on the lake as well. This then entails doing some fishing, hiking and whatever else the area offers.

We had gotten a puppy in the last few months and this would be her first trip ever camping and being outside all the time. She took to it very well and enjoyed playing in the sand at the little beach that we had right on our site.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/22/Camping-Season-is-Here

Why Did The Turtle Cross The Road…And Here’s How To Help

Driving through Embden the other morning, I passed several snapping turtles laying eggs along the sandy stretch of the road. Their shells were covered in mud and to their advantage, they looked like large rocks strewn along the roadside.  Further up the road, I pulled over to help a medium-sized snapping turtle cross a busy trucking route.  A trucker coming from the other direction had stopped oncoming traffic and leaned out his cab to tell me he’d been seeing a lot of turtles on the road lately.  This one was lucky.

We have seven species of turtles in Maine.  Some, like Blanding’s and spotted turtles are only found in the southern part of the state where traffic density is highest. Road mortality is a significant threat to both Blanding’s and spotted turtles, which are protected under Maine’s Endangered Species Act.  The most common turtle species seen crossing the road are painted and snapping turtles.  Both species range throughout the eastern U.S and take 10 years or more to reach breeding age. Although they are common, they also face high levels of road mortality.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/21/Why-Did-The-Turtle-Cross-The-Road%25E2%2580%25A6And-Here%25E2%2580%2599s-How-To-Help

https://www1.maine.gov/wordpress/insideifw/2018/06/20/why-did-the-turtle-cross-the-road-and-heres-how-to-help/

DEM Announces Changes To Recreational Black Sea Bass Fishery

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has extended the season and increased the fall possession limit for the 2018 recreational black sea bass fishery.

The new rules add nine days to the beginning of the season and ends the fall closure that was in place in 2017, giving an additional 31 days that were closed last year. The season is now open from June 24 through December 31. During the first sub-period, June 24 to August 31, the possession limit remains at three fish per person, per day. The possession limit for the second sub-period, from September 1 through December 31, has increased to seven fish per person, per day. The minimum size for the entire season remains at 15 inches.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/20/DEM-Announces-Changes-To-Recreational-Black-Sea-Bass-Fishery

https://www.ri.gov/press/view/33501

KIDS Outdoors class schedules for the weeks of June 18th – June 27th

Latest KIDS Outdoors class schedules for the weeks of June 18th – June 27th time frame, Outdoor education classes for the New England States entailing fishing ed, hunters ed, boating ed, ATV ed and others.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/kids-outdoors

Electrofishing At Night Reveals Secrets About Bass Populations

Each year during late May and early June, the regional office gets a phone call or two about some strange things happening during the wee hours of the morning on some local lake or pond.  I even had one caller exclaim once that a UFO had landed on the pond!  If you see such a thing, rest assured it is probably not a UFO, but rather your regional fisheries staff working late nights to collect fishery resource information.

Each year about this time, the regional fisheries staff of the Sebago Lakes Region sample 2-4 different waters to collect baseline information on the bass population(s), as well as determine the relative abundance of other fish species. Sampling is done at this time of year during the night, because the fish are more likely to be in shallower water spawning and are less likely to be spooked by the approach of a boat.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/18/Electrofishing-At-Night-Reveals-Secrets-About-Bass-Populations

Bomoseen State Park Named Most ‘Family-Friendly’ Fishing Spot in Vermont

The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation has nominated Bomoseen State Park in Castleton as the best family-friendly fishing spot in Vermont. 

Bomoseen is now in the running for being named among the foundation’s ‘Top 10 Mom-Approved Places to Fish and Boat in the Nation.’  Voting is open now through June 29 and each vote is a chance to win a family fishing and boating trip to Florida.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/15/Bomoseen-State-Park-Named-Most-%25E2%2580%2598Family-Friendly%25E2%2580%2599-Fishing-Spot-in-Vermont

https://vtfishandwildlife.blogspot.com/2018/06/bomoseen-state-park-named-most-family.html

Deer Kill Largest In Last Ten Years

Deer hunters in Maine harvested 27,233 deer in 2017, the highest total in the last ten years and an increase of 15% from 2016.

“An increasing deer herd in southern and central Maine, and favorable hunting conditions contributed to the best deer hunting season in ten years,” said Nathan Bieber, MDIFW Deer Biologist.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/15/Deer-Kill-Largest-In-Last-Ten-Years

https://www.maine.gov/ifw/news-events/single-release.html?id=799921

Plovercoming The Odds: Three Piping Plover Chicks Make It Safely Onto State Beach!

Giving their parents fits every step of the way, the three piping plover chicks that hatched in the parking lot of Roger Wheeler State Beach yesterday took an overnight, stop-and-start route that finally saw them climb a sand-covered, plywood ramp and skitter onto the beach at about 11 AM today.

After covering a distance that for a person would probably be the equivalent of running a marathon or four, it doesn't get any easier for the chicks now. Whatever the location of their new nest on the beach, the downy young birds won't be flying for about a month. They will follow their parents' lead in foraging for marine worms, crustaceans, and insects – and hopefully surviving human disturbance, unleashed dogs and stray cats, and natural predators such as crows, racoons, skunks, and foxes.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/14/Plovercoming-The-Odds-Three-Piping-Plover-Chicks-Make-It-Safely-Onto-State-Beach

https://www.ri.gov/press/view/33448

Fishing Summer Patterns

With water temperatures rising above the 70-degree mark, this has the fish moving off the shorelines and out to their deeper summer patterns. Summer pattern means deeper weed beds, weed lines and off shore structures.

Finding and fishing off shore structures can be very rewarding as many anglers don’t like fishing deeper water or don’t know about these locations. Finding that is when there is some wind involved as well, this always seems to help the bite in these areas.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/13/Fishing-Summer-Patterns

DEM Encourages Citizen Scientists To Report Sightings Of Wild Turkey Broods

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is asking the public to report sightings of wild turkey hens – both with brood and without – to help with research efforts. The Department is currently evaluating the state's wild turkey population which is believed to be growing based on the number of young reaching maturity and an increase in harvests reported during the spring hunting season which ended last month. The 2018 spring harvest was 190 birds, an increase of more than 20% from the 154 taken during the 2017 season.

Information gathered from the public is helpful in determining the number of young birds that survive after common causes of mortality such as predators, weather, and road kill are taken into account. The Division receives hundreds of brood reports annually that assist biologists with monitoring recruitment, population dynamics, and distribution of the wild turkey flock in Rhode Island.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/12/DEM-Encourages-Citizen-Scientists-To-Report-Sightings-Of-Wild-Turkey-Broods

https://www.ri.gov/press/view/33434

KIDS Outdoors class schedules for the weeks of June 11th - June 20th

Latest KIDS Outdoors class schedules for the weeks of June 11th - June 20th time frame, Outdoor education classes for the New England States entailing fishing ed, hunters ed, boating ed, ATV ed and others.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/kids-outdoors

DEM Offers Free Summer Clamming Workshops

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is hosting a series of free recreational clamming workshops this summer. The workshops, led by DEM's Aquatic Resource Education (ARE) program, are opportunities for participants to learn how to dig for clams and the management strategies that have kept Rhode Island in the clamming industry for so long.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/11/DEM-Offers-Free-Summer-Clamming-Workshops

https://www.ri.gov/press/view/33412

Spring and Summer Fish Kills in New Hampshire

Fish kills are not an uncommon sight in spring and summer, and most are due to natural processes, not pollution. Small lakes and ponds in New Hampshire that have a lot of shallow, vegetated habitat and a high abundance of panfish can be susceptible to fish kills. Multiple factors contribute to this phenomenon. First, dissolved gases (particularly oxygen) become increasingly less soluble as the water temperature rises. This can happen very quickly on a sunny, calm day in late May or early June. When oxygen levels decrease to 4 parts per million, it can be lethal to fish, or at a minimum, cause the fish some stress. Most oxygen available to fish comes from algae. During nighttime and cloudy weather, limited sunlight causes algae to switch from photosynthesis to respiration, consuming oxygen needed by fish.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/11/Spring-and-Summer-Fish-Kills-in-New-Hampshire

https://nhfishgame.com/2018/06/08/fish-kills/

Vermont’s Summer Free Fishing Day is Saturday, June 9

Vermont’s annual, statewide Summer Free Fishing Day is Saturday, June 9 this year, and it will be highlighted by a free family fishing festival in Grand Isle as well as opening day of the state’s regular bass fishing season.

“Vermont’s Free Fishing Day gives resident and nonresident anglers the opportunity to go fishing without a license for the day in Vermont lakes and streams,” said Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter.  “Fishing is an activity that can be shared with friends and family or easily taught to newcomers while enjoying quality time together.”  

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/08/Vermont%25E2%2580%2599s-Summer-Free-Fishing-Day-is-Saturday-June-9

Bluegill Fun

One of the most fun fish to catch is the sunfish or bluegill. Their short body size is deceiving for how hard they fight, and those proportions will have this fish as one of the hardest fighting in the freshwater.

There are a variety of ways of catching them, the most fun is with a jig and a float. Using the Clam Dropkick jig and hanging the jig in a horizontal position, adding the Maki Mino XL offers a large tantalizing combination.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/08/Bluegill-Fun

Field Day for Women at Owl Brook Hunter Education Center

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department is holding a Hunter Education field day for women on July 29, from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. at the Owl Brook Hunter Education Center in Holderness, NH. Participants must first register for and complete the online Hunter Education course at: https://www.huntercourse.com/usa/newhampshire. Once students pass the online exam, they will receive a voucher with a link to register for the field day.

Note: The cost of the online exam is $29.99, which you only pay once you pass.

https://www.kevindahlkeoutdoors.com/single-post/2018/06/08/Field-Day-for-Women-at-Owl-Brook-Hunter-Education-Center