Wisconsin Ruffed Grouse West-Nile Virus Testing Results
MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) released test results from the third year of the ruffed grouse West Nile virus surveillance project.
The collaborative multi-year study explores ruffed grouse West Nile virus exposure and infection in the western Great Lakes region. The study also aims to identify future research needs in Wisconsin, including a potential survival study investigating sources of mortality.
Although the DNR did not distribute new testing kits in 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Wisconsin hunters with leftover kits from previous years’ sampling efforts submitted 36 birds for testing.
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The following is a news release from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
IDAHO FALLS – With the spring turkey season less than three months away and the controlled hunt application period for spring turkey beginning on Feb. 1, turkey hunters have already been asking if they are required to purchase an Upland Game Bird Permit (formerly known as the “WMA Permit”).
The simple answer is “no”. In fact, an Upland Game Bird Permit is NOT required for most upland game bird species. And, that is where it gets confusing for license vendors and hunters… because the name of the permit would seem to indicate otherwise.
Just don’t expect to come back from a chachalaca hunt with an entertaining story for your buddies around the campfire, Perez added. “You didn’t take your dog, and it wasn’t a beautiful morning. The sun wasn’t setting,” he said, describing scenes from a more idyllic hunt. “You have to leave all that stuff out. But you can say, ‘I did it.’”
I had never shot a chachalaca. Heck, I didn’t even know you could hunt chachalacas until this assignment came along. I’d heard the birds’ cacophonous calls only once although I didn’t lay eyes on them while strolling the native gardens of Quinta Mazatlan, an urban bird and plant sanctuary in McAllen.