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A study tracking walleye movement during the spring spawning runs in the Sandusky River and Bay is underway, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife. Biologists have implanted radio transmitters in 50 adult walleye and will track the fish with three shore-based sensors, as well as weekly tracking by boat and aircraft. This research will allow fisheries biologists to better understand movement patterns, locate specific spawning sites, and determine whether fish spawn every year. The information obtained will be used to enhance the Sandusky River walleye population, which has undergone significant declines in abundance over several decades. Walleye for this study were collected near Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve and the outer Sandusky Bay. "This research gives us a unique opportunity to document migration patterns of spawning walleye in the Sandusky River, said Roger Knight, Lake Erie fisheries program administrator for the Division of Wildlife. "The data obtained will enhance our ability to manage the Sandusky River fishery."If anglers encounter a walleye with an antennae protruding from the stomach, they should contact the Division of Wildlife's Sandusky Fisheries Research Unit and provide information on the fish's size, location, and jaw tag number if present. The Division's fisheries biologists will be working in and around Sandusky River and Bay during the next several weeks tracking the walleye. Anglers are encouraged to observe their work and
ask questions. Anglers should also note that new walleye regulations
are in place from March 1 through April 30 and include a four-fish daily
bag limit with a 15-inch minimum size limit. Deer harvested during the state's gun season for
deer showed negative for Chronic Wasting Disease, according to the Ohio
Division of Wildlife. CWD is a brain disease that affects white-tailed
deer, elk and mule deer. Although the 737 samples taken by the Animal
Disease Diagnostics Laboratory tested negative, CWD has been confirmed
in West Virginia, Illinois and 12 other states. Hunting license fees could increase if approved As OVO went to press legislators were considering
a bill that would increase the amount Pennsylvania hunters pay by $10
to $15 more for an adult hunting license. Rep. Bruce Smith, R-York,
has introduced two bills that, if approved, would become law on July
1, 2007. One would raise the basic adult resident hunting license from
$19 to $29; the other raising the fee to $34. Smith, who is the chairman
of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, asserts current revenue from
licenses and fees does not cover the state game commission's operating
costs. The commission doesn't receive any funding from state tax revenues,
but relies on federal matching dollars and license fees. Smith's legislation
has received support from the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen's
Clubs. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, National Wild Turkey Federation, and wildlife officials in Ohio and New York are conducting a four-year study to estimate harvest rates of spring gobblers in each of the three states. The trapping and banding project began in mid January, with Pennsylvania receiving 300 bands for male turkeys. The NWTF is covering the costs for the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit at Penn. State to coordinate the tri-state effort and analyze the data. The Commission is providing personnel and equipment to capture, band and release 300 birds each year for the four years of the study. Each aluminum leg band will be attached to a male turkey's leg, with each band having a unique letter-number combination. Hunters harvesting these will be asked to report these at a toll-free telephone number listed on the band. A $100 reward will be offered to those reporting about half of the banded turkeys. The NWTF is covering the cost of the rewards. In Pennsylvania, 150 of the 300 tagged birds, 25 in each region, will be wearing these bands. The study enables team members to estimate reporting rates by comparing the number of $100 reward bands reported to the number of non-reward bands reported. These help wildlife biologists determine harvests, and to estimate annual survival rates of male turkeys. The study will also allow comparisons of harvest and survival rates among the three states, with their varying harvests, hunter numbers and hunter densities. OHIO NEWS Buckeye deer hunters harvest equals 209,513 For the past three years Ohio deer hunters tagged
more than 200,000 deer during the 2005-06 hunting seasons. The total
harvest of 209,513 whitetails, say Ohio Department of Natural Resources,
Division of Wildlife officials, was three percent below last year's
season total of 216,443. Ohio wildlife officials said the number is
consistent with their pre-season estimate of the total deer population
being down approximately seven percent.Counties with the highest number
of whitetails harvested this past season are Coshocton, 7,746; Muskingum,
6,793; Tuscarawas, 6,525; Guernsey, 6,424; Knox, 6,238; Licking, 6,168;
Harrison, 5,414; Jefferson, 5,349; Holmes, 5,108; and Washington, 4,946.
The majority of deer, 116,517, were taken during the gun season. Archery
hunters harvested 60,090; early muzzleloader season hunters tagged 216;
and 760 were killed during special hunts at Ravenna and NASA. Youth-gun
season totals were 8,641, and the statewide muzzleloader season, 23,289.
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