The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced new regulations that will affect deer and turkey hunting this upcoming season. The regulations concerning the tagging and reporting of deer and turkeys harvested by hunters have undergone significant changes. The new regulations are designed to make the purchase of deer and turkey permits more convenient for sportsmen, as well as save money on the printing and distribution of permits and tags and improve harvest monitoring methods, according to the agency.
One of the most significant changes is that the DEP has done away with the Tyvek tags that used to come with deer and turkey hunting permits. Instead, hunters are now required to use newly-designed "kill tags" to record information about deer or turkeys they harvest.
Copies of the new tag design are displayed on page 37 of the 2009 Connecticut Hunting and Trapping Guide and are also available online at www.ct.gov/dep/hunting.
When hunters harvest a deer or turkey, they must fill out a tag, sign and keep the tag with the animal until it is brought to a check station or is processed for consumption.
When transporting a harvested deer or turkey, the tag does not have to be attached to the animal. Hunters can carry the completed, signed tag in their pocket so there is no chance of losing it. However, if the animal is left in the woods or at a vehicle, the tag must remain with the animal. It is recommended that it be placed in a plastic bag and secured to the animal.
In 2009, the number of days that deer must be brought to a check station has changed. Only deer taken during the first four days of the shotgun/rifle season (November 18-21) must be brought to a check station.
A listing of deer check stations is available on the DEP Web site, at DEP offices, and at most licensing agents.
At all other times, hunters are required to report their deer and turkey kills within 24 hours using one of two methods. Kills can be reported on the DEP website (www.ct.gov/dep/hunting) or by calling a toll free number (877-337-4868). Hunters are no longer required to mail in a kill report card. After reporting the information, hunters will be given a confirmation number to write on their tag. (This number serves as proof of a legal report.)
Deer hunters in deer management zones 11 and 12 who take advantage of the replacement antlerless and earn-a-buck tag programs must complete this same tagging and reporting procedure prior to going to a check station that issues replacement tags. Hunters using landowner permits must also use the same tagging and reporting procedure. (However, as in the past, they are not required to bring their deer to a check station.)
Also of interest to hunters is a new report about a "4-poster" deer treatment bait station, developed and patented by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS). The device reduces the number of ticks infected with the Lyme disease bacterium, according to facts in a six-year U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study in five states—Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The $2.1 million "USDA Northeast Areawide Tick Control Project" investigators noted a 71 percent overall reduction in the number of ticks infected with the Lyme disease bacterium during summer months when most people get the disease.
"If the 4-poster is used in areas where the disease is endemic, this should translate to a corresponding 71 percent decrease in Lyme disease cases," according to Durland Fish, a professor of epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health and principal investigator for the project. "The effectiveness of the 4-poster ranged from 60 to 82 percent among the seven individual two-square-mile study sites."
The device is a bin that contains corn, with insecticide-laden paint rollers mounted at the bin's corners.
When a deer, which is the primary carrier of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, that carries the Lyme disease bacterium, inserts its muzzle into the bin to feed, its head, neck and ears against the insecticide-treated rollers. When the deer subsequently grooms itself, the insecticide is spread enough to protect the animal's entire body.
For the complete report, visit the USDA site. Deer image, courtesy USDA.
