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PawneeSports
02-23-2006, 10:42 AM
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Outdoor Regulations

ITEMS THAT WERE RECOMMENDED AND PASSED
Spring Turkey Season — Remove the prohibition limiting hunters to 1 tom per day. Change will go into effect spring on 2007.

Wild Turkey — Spring Youth Season; Create a new "youth only" (under 18 yrs old) spring turkey season, weekend prior to regular season. One (1) tom limit which counts towards 3 tom spring limit. Change will go into effect spring on 2007.

Hunter Education — Reduce hunter education class hours from ten to eight hours; allow for "test only" certification for hunters needing a certificate for out of state hunts but exempt in Oklahoma.

Size limits on fish — Reduce size limit on walleye at Lake Murray from 18 inches to 14 inches and reduce size limit on walleye and saugeye at Foss Lake from 16 inches to 14 inches. Change will go into effect Jan. 1, 2007.

Bag limits on fish — Include Sooner Lake with lakes having a combined limit of twenty (20) striped bass hybrids and/or white bass of which only five (5) may be twenty (20) inches or longer. This rule applies to the lake only, not the discharge area. Change will go into effect Jan. 1, 2007.

Furbearer — Allow limited harvest of red fox, no more than 2 per season, and make the fox limit with both gray and red fox included. Increase the raccoon limit from 6 to 10 daily and from 30 to 40 annually. Change will go into effect fall of 2006.

Cimarron County landowner permits — Include Texas County (west of Highway 136) to the landowner and controlled antelope hunts, and removes landowner permits from once in a lifetime restriction. Change will go into effect fall of 2006.

Commercial Mussel Harvest — Require that any commercial mussel harvester must notify the local game warden of when and where they are going to harvest shells before the harvester goes to the water. This rule change would also require that mussel buyers purchase mussels based on the fair market value of the shells at the time of purchase.

List of declared noxious aquatic plant species — Change "Prohibited Species List" to include all Salvinia species; move alligatorweed from the "Species to Watch List" to the "Prohibited Species List" and add plants of the same genera to the list.

Commercial Shad Harvest (License and fee requirements) — Remove language that duplicates statute regarding fees.

Hunting on Corps of Engineers Land — To clarify that the Department will only be enforcing regulations on COE nonlicensed property that pertain to hunting.

Elk and Antelope — To include elk and antelope seasons in the blaze orange requirements, final destination and transfer.

Deer—Youth Gun Season — Make the age requirement 'under 18 years old' which would be consistent with the new youth turkey season.

Camp Gruber Maneuver Training Center (CGMTC) and Cherokee PHA — Open the second weekend of the statewide muzzleloading season to antlerless hunting.

Candy WMA — Remove Candy WMA. This COE property was sold and is no longer a Wildlife Management Area.

Fort Cobb WMA — Change 'steel shot only' to 'federally approved nontoxic shot only' for crow. Allow archery equipment during deer gun season.

Hackberry Flat WRP — Close waterfowl hunting at 1:00 p.m. daily.

Osage WMA — Western Wall Primitive Area — Open deer gun to controlled hunts. Change name to Osage WMA—Western Wall Unit. Open to deer archery hunting after the first nine days of deer gun.

Controlled Hunts Applications and instructions — Remove the once in a lifetime restriction from landowner antelope permits and make the minimum age restriction for McAAP the same as Department areas (14 years instead of 18 years).

Controlled antelope hunt application and instructions — Delete duplicate antelope language. Covered under controlled hunt section already.

General Antelope Regulation — To open more antelope check stations. Increase bag limit of antelope to two (no more than 1 buck). Landowners, operators, or immediate family are exempt from carrying written permission if they are hunting on their own property. Include antelope hunters under the fluorescent orange requirements.

Commercial Hunt Areas — This rule would exempt private lands that have been enclosed by a game—proof "high fence" for 10 years from having to tear down a portion of the fence and conduct a drive to eliminate native wildlife before becoming eligible for a commercial hunting license. It also exempts such properties from a three year waiting period before harvesting untagged animals within the enclosure.

Import/Export Permits
— Application and Fees — Align annual reporting with license expiration (June 30). Also, delete redundant language already covered in Title 29.

Scientific Collectors Permit
— Housekeeping — typo corrections.

Vehicles — Make the rules for ATV use on Ouachita, Black Kettle and Rita Blanca WMA's the same as US Forest Services Rules.

Mineral Exploration and Production — Update rules to meet current oil and gas policy and fees charges for oil and gas activity on department owned/managed lands.

ITEMS THAT DID NOT PASS
Wild turkey — Allow recorded calls when turkey hunting.

Deer Archery — Increase the bag limit for archers from four (4) deer to six (6) deer and make the January 1 to January 15 archery season either sex.

Deer — Reduce the number of antlered deer that a hunter may harvest annually from three (3) to two (2).

Deer Primitive Season — Lengthen the muzzleloader season by adding an additional seven days to the beginning of the season. Since this regulation change was not approved the following were not acted on
— Beaver River WMA; Canton WMA; Cooper WMA; Dewey County WMA; Fort Supply WMA; Major County WMA; Optima WMA; Rita Blanca WMA; Schultz WMA To address the proposed 16 day primitive season, change deer primitive firearms season and bag limit to same as statewide season dates except closed the last 7 days of deer primitive season — one (1) deer either sex.

— Lexington WMA — To address the proposed 16 day primitive season, change deer primitive firearms season and bag limit to same as statewide season dates except closed the last 7 days — Buck only.

— Keystone WMA — Close to antlerless hunting during the deer gun season.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Published Wed, Feb 22, 2006, On Page 3 B
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Copyright ©1998-2005 The Ponca City News

DusterDad
02-25-2006, 11:21 AM
(1)I was hoping the antlered deer reduction would happen. B & C type deer aren't as plentiful in Northwestern Oklahoma as they are elsewhere so anything to help with the maturing process is a good thing. I wanted to put the pressure on the archery and black powder shooters to make sure they decide first whether it's a "good one" other than just "another one". Especially in good public hunting areas like the Beaver Wildlife Management Area that gets so overun with deer hunters that young bucks hardly have a chance to mature.

Since this failed, I'd like to see them put a requirement in that before you take your second or third antlered deer you must tag a doe before each. It seems everyone talks about the overun population of deer but nobody is willing to do anything about it.

(2)I believe that enclosing anything with a 10' high game fence is unethical and they should be done away with altogether. The wildlife belongs to all of the residents and tax payers of Oklahoma, not just the landowner. Anybody willing to pay to hunt within these type facilities is neither a hunter nor a sportsman. There is nothing sporting to it and is an ultra embarrassment to the sport. I do not consider them an equal.

(3)If the extension to the primitive firearms season was to have gone forward, I would rather they put the extra week to the end of the existing season rather than the week prior.

(4)These people do a good job for the most part, but I'm a little put out by how the Wildlife Commission board members are unapproachable.(it's that panhandle thing for me again!) It's been awhile since I've checked but my last attempt to simply e-mail them was impossible and their names were not listed on any web sight that I could find. I can understand not wanting to be bothered with phone calls from the average joe, day in and day out, but geeez, they took the position so they should take the questions and suggestions. Not everyone can make it to their exclusive handpicked town meetings. Most generally, they are poorly attended and happen at very few sights scattered around the state. They're set up to where it looks to be more of an obligatory "have to" for them at their convenience rather than trying to accomodate the public forum. For cyring out loud just an e-mail inbox(with a return) to give suggestions to them as a group would be wonderful but apparently they're not into the open arena of ideas very much.