Special dove hunt set for Sept. 5
By From staff reports
Published in Sports on August 21, 2009 1:46 PM
RALEIGH -- The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will conduct a special dove hunt for youth on opening day, Sept. 5 at Mountain Island State Forest.
The hunt is limited to 20 youth, ages 12 to 15 years old, who will be selected at random by computer from the pool of applicants.
"Part of the Permit Hunting Opportunities, this special dove hunt will provide participants with the opportunity for an enjoyable and memorable outdoor experience while introducing them to safe and responsible hunting," said BB Gillen, outdoor skills coordinator.
The cost is $5 per youth hunter and the deadline for application has been extended to Sept. 3. Submit applications can be made to any Wildlife Service Agent or apply by phone at (888) 248-6834. Please designate Item #8110.
Before the hunt, an applicant must have successfully completed a hunter education course. During the hunt, the youth must be accompanied by a licensed adult.
For more information, contact BB Gillen at bb.gillen@ncwildlife.org or call (919) 218-3638 or (919) 894-3996.
Wildlife report card
RALEIGH -- The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is reminding hunters to enter their Harvest ID number on this year's big game harvest report card.
This Harvest ID number is located beside the name of each big game species. Hunters will be required to enter the appropriate Harvest ID number when they register their harvest either online, by telephone or through a Wildlife Cooperator Agent.
"This number will streamline the telephone and online reporting processes," said Ryan T. Myers, a wildlife biologist and surveys and research analyst with the Commission. "It will validate the customer's information and take them directly to the questions specific to the species harvested. This will make the system much easier and more efficient for our customers."
For more information on reporting big game harvests in North Carolina, including a diagram of the big game harvest report card, visit the "license help" page on www.ncwildlife.org.
Shark concerns on coast
FORT MACON -- A large school of sharks swimming off the North Carolina coast stirred up enough fear to keep some people at the beach out of the water.
But the News & Observer of Raleigh reported that the sharks seen Wednesday in the water off Fort Macon State Park are harmless and not unusual.
An official at the North Carolina Aquarium said the sharks are most likely blacktip or a combination of blacktip and blacknose sharks, common along the coast.
Blacktip sharks weigh less than a hundred pounds and are about four to six feet long. They have no appetite for surfers or swimmers, though, and prefer to feed on Spanish mackerel and bluefish.
The sharks were swimming in clear water ten feet deep or less, making them easier to spot.
Fish attractors placed
RALEIGH -- Since March, biologists with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, along with assistance from local fishing clubs, homeowners associations and the N.C. Wildlife Federation, have been placing additional "porcupine" fish attractors into lakes James, Rhodhiss, Hickory and Lookout Shoals to add to the nearly 400 that were placed last year to enhance fishing in these waters.
Biologists have placed a total of 700 fish attractors that were purchased this year through a grant awarded to the Commission by the Habitat Enhancement Program (HEP). The attractors are being placed in strategic locations around the lakes to refresh existing fish attractor sites, as well as create new underwater habitat for fish.
As their name implies, the fish attractors look like giant porcupine quills. PVC pipes are connected to a ball-like sphere, forming a circular structure which measures about five feet in diameter. Multiple attractors are placed together so that the pipes overlap to increase habitat complexity and provide cover and refuge for a variety of fishes.
In time, algae and plankton colonize the attractors providing habitat for aquatic insects and other organisms that fish feed upon.