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Tompkins: New harvest regulations on horizon
Tompkins: New harvest regulations on horizon
Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 01:36 a.m., Monday, June 25, 2012
Texas' 400,000 or so wingshooters squinting into the shimmering heat of the coming two months in hope of glimpsing what September might hold saw things come into clearer focus this past week as federal wildlife officials set regulatory frameworks for early-season migratory game bird hunting seasons.Dove and teal season regulations proposed earlier this year by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department staff fit within the just-announced federal frameworks by which states are required to abide, and official adoption of the regulations by TPWD's executive director is expected in early July.Under the TPWD proposal, dove season in the state's North and Central zones will begin Sept. 1, the traditional opening day for the two zones and the earliest date federal frameworks allow hunting of migratory birds.Habitat conditions are not as positive on prairie grasslands in the north-central United States and south-central Canada, where the bulk of the continent's blue-winged teal nest.Waterfowl managers in Texas and other states are working with federal waterfowl managers to assess teal populations and harvests with an eye toward perhaps adjusting bag limits during the teal-only season.Since the September teal-only season began in the mid-1960s as a way of giving waterfowlers an opportunity to take the early-migrating bluewings, the daily bag limit has been four teal.Many waterfowl managers, including Texas', have for the past several years pushed to look at tying the teal season daily bag limit to bluewing populations - increasing the bag limit when bluewing numbers are up and decreasing it when populations are down.
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Houston Chronicle
Texas' 400,000 or so wingshooters squinting into the shimmering heat of the coming two months in hope of glimpsing what September might hold saw things come into clearer focus this past week as federal wildlife officials set regulatory frameworks for early-season migratory game bird hunting seasons.Dove and teal season regulations proposed earlier this year by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department staff fit within the just-announced federal frameworks by which states are required to abide, and official adoption of the regulations by TPWD's executive director is expected in early July.Under the TPWD proposal, dove season in the state's North and Central zones will begin Sept. 1, the traditional opening day for the two zones and the earliest date federal frameworks allow hunting of migratory birds.Habitat conditions are not as positive on prairie grasslands in the north-central United States and south-central Canada, where the bulk of the continent's blue-winged teal nest.Waterfowl managers in Texas and other states are working with federal waterfowl managers to assess teal populations and harvests with an eye toward perhaps adjusting bag limits during the teal-only season.Since the September teal-only season began in the mid-1960s as a way of giving waterfowlers an opportunity to take the early-migrating bluewings, the daily bag limit has been four teal.Many waterfowl managers, including Texas', have for the past several years pushed to look at tying the teal season daily bag limit to bluewing populations - increasing the bag limit when bluewing numbers are up and decreasing it when populations are down.
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