Those wishing to take part in the City of Cheboygan’s limited archery deer hunting season will need to pass mandatory archery testing next month.
According to rules posted on the city’s website, the testing will begin on Sept. 2 at the DPW complex and continue throughout the month. Testing will be from 5-7 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and from 9-10 a.m. on Saturdays. There will be no testing on Labor Day, Sept. 7, and no testing will be available after Sept. 30.
Last year, the city council approved a fall archery hunt to manage the growing deer population. The hunt is restricted to designated private parcels of land. Less than 25 hunters qualified for a hunting permit. During the Oct. 1 to Nov. 14 period, the hunters killed 17 deer — 14 does and three bucks.
Two large wildfires have burned through some of Southwest Idaho’s most popular hunting units this summer, and with some early seasons opening Saturday, Aug. 15, hunters have questions. Here’s what the Big Grass and Tartar fires currently mean for hunting seasons, access, and wildlife in the region, how Idaho Fish and Game is responding, and how you can help.
If you’re a hunter simply looking for the Cliff’s Notes, here they are: No hunting seasons have changed to date. Fires rarely close entire hunting units, and fire restrictions rarely last through a whole season. But access closures are in effect for both the Big Grass Fire and Tartar Fire as of Aug. 14, conditions on the ground are rough, and the situation is still fluid. If there’s one tip we can provide before seasons kick off, it’s that hunters should check official sources for access closures and current fire information before every trip, especially in early-season hunts.
Big Grass Fire (Owyhee County)
The Big Grass Fire has burned more than a half-million acres in Owyhee County and eastern Oregon. The fire remains active.
Closure status: BLM’s Owyhee Field Office has temporarily closed the area south of Trout Creek and Silver City roads, from the Oregon border east to Highways 78 and 51. BLM currently anticipates the closure will remain in effect through Aug. 20, but that can change. Check the BLM Idaho closures page and the Big Grass Fire InciWeb page for current status.
What it affects: Portions of Game Management Units 40, 41, and 42 fall within the closure area and the fire perimeter. Hunts opening while the closure and fire activity continue include archery pronghorn in Hunt Area 40-1 and archery deer controlled hunts in hunt areas 40 and 41-1 (Units 41 and 42), all opening Aug. 15. Shortly after, general archery deer seasons open on Aug. 30 and sage-grouse season opens Sept. 15. Until the BLM closure is lifted, some huntable country in these units lies outside the current fire perimeter and closure area.
Tartar Fire (Washington County)
The Tartar Fire started by lightning in late July and burned roughly 158,000 acres north of Weiser, in the Mann Creek, Hitt and Sturgill mountain, and Brownlee country.
Closure status: A temporary closure covering all BLM-managed lands, roads and trails remains in place for the Tartar Fire and is expected to remain in effect through Aug. 24, depending on conditions. In addition, there is a U.S. Forest Service fire area closure on a portion of Payette National Forest land that hunters need to be aware of. Check the BLM Idaho closures page, Payette National Forest alerts page, and Tartar Fire InciWeb page before you go.
What it affects: The fire burned in Game Management Unit 31 and the Brownlee Elk Zone. The antlerless elk season on and within 1 mile of agricultural lands in Unit 31 opens Aug. 15, with archery deer and Brownlee A archery elk opening Aug. 30 and additional hunts running into late fall.
A word about landowners: Much of the hunting in this country happens on or next to private ground, and many of the landowners who make that possible spent the last several weeks fighting fire, moving livestock, and losing fence and feed. Ask permission every time. Ask what has changed on their place and offer to help where you can. Close gates, watch for damaged fence and downed lines, and be patient. Courtesy right now goes a long way.
Your tag and your options
Under rules that took effect this year, the deadline to exchange general season deer and elk tags was July 31, and no exchanges are processed after that date. Refunds for deer, elk, and pronghorn tags are limited to specific circumstances such as death, serious illness or injury, pregnancy or military deployment. Fire impacts to a hunt area are not a qualifying reason. Rainchecks are now only possible due to military deployment.
Moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat tag holders have a separate refund provision for widespread environmental impacts; contact IDFG with questions about a specific tag.
What you can do: many hunting seasons in these units run weeks past the anticipated dates for area closures, and conditions in late September and October will look very different than they do today. Know your hunt area’s boundaries, check closure status before every trip, and plan around the country that is open.
What fire means for wildlife
Wildfires often burn through valuable wildlife habitat in Idaho’s canyons, deserts, foothills, and mountains, and what happens next is often a question on people’s minds, especially in relation to big game animals that hunters and other Idahoans cherish. The answer is often “it depends” because fires and their effects can be different depending on many factors.
Fish and Game’s focus will be on recovery and habitat rehabilitation. Biologists are monitoring fires’ effects on wildlife and are already engaged with federal and state land management agencies and private property owners regarding post-fire rehabilitation planning.
How you can help
Volunteer for recovery work. Fish and Game will announce specific volunteer projects as post-fire rehabilitation planning takes shape. Sign up now and we will follow up as projects come together.
Respect closures and private land. Suppression and recovery work are still underway on both fires.
Get your information from official sources. Fire status, closures, and evacuations come from the incident teams and land management agencies, not rumor:
The Swan Bay Environment Association is worried about how bird flu will affect the tens of thousands of black swans that gather seasonally in the bay. Photo: Georgina Steytler/Swan Bay Environment Association.
WILDLIFE rescuers and environmental groups are bracing for the arrival of bird flu in the Geelong region, fearing potentially devastating losses among local bird populations.
The H5 strain has already reached Victoria, with the state’s first case detected in a greater crested tern at Portland on 28 July.
Of particular concern locally are the tens of thousands of black swans that gather seasonally at Swan Bay, with the species rated at very high risk from the virus.
Swan Bay Environment Association president Will Johnston said the prospect of an outbreak was deeply concerning.
“It’s an awful situation because there’s not much we can do,” he said.
The H5 strain has caused mass deaths among poultry, wild birds and marine mammals overseas.
It had never been detected in Australia until a case was confirmed in a skua in Western Australia in June this year. There is no evidence yet of the virus infecting other wildlife or poultry in Australia.
The federal government has since released national risk ratings for native birds and mammals, with black swans among those considered at very high risk of infection.
Johnston said the potential consequences for Swan Bay were difficult to contemplate.
“It’s hard to envisage but we could find ourselves in a situation where there are thousands of dead birds in Swan Bay,” he said.
“I haven’t come to terms with
that yet.
“I think their genetic makeup means black swans are not likely to have any ability to resist this at all.”
Sulphur-crested cockatoos and orange-bellied parrots, by comparison, are rated at low risk.
Johnston said an outbreak affecting well-known Australian species such as magpies would be especially confronting for the community.
“My hope in the end is this is a moment when governments sit up and pay attention to the fact
Australian wildlife is unique in the world and really precious, and we have a responsibility to protect it,” he said.
“My disappointment is with all levels of government that they haven’t taken this role seriously enough in recent times.”
Wildlife rescuers are also preparing for the difficult prospect of having to leave potentially infected animals untreated.
Australian health authorities advise people not to approach or touch sick or dead birds or other wildlife, but to record what they see and report it to the 24-hour Emergency Animal Disease Hotline.
Surf Coast Wildlife Rescue director Jason Cichocki said his volunteers had been told not to rescue animals suspected of having bird flu.
“It’s one of those things that under the circumstances, there’s not a lot we can do,” he said.
“If it’s got a broken wing or something obvious we will be taking that animal and treating it as usual, but if we’ve got animals that seem to have the bird flu then I can’t risk having any of my teams touching them.”
He said many of the group’s volunteers had wildlife shelters at home and could not risk carrying the virus back to animals in their care or their pets.
Bird flu does not easily infect people and the Australian Centre for Disease Control considers the risk to people in Australia low.
But Cichocki said even the small risk was enough to warrant caution.
“For now, it’s just a safety factor and yes, it is disappointing not to help, but it would be even more disappointing if one of my rescue team were the first of the humans in Australia to get the virus,” he said.
“They’re saying it’s a really slim chance, but it is a chance, and I can’t take that chance.”
National animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports has called for new stronger hunting laws after the police dropped a prosecution despite being presented with footage showing a hunt allegedly chasing a fox.
The footage of the Middleton Hunt hounds and staff – obtained by a League investigator last December – was being investigated by North Yorkshire Police who have now dropped the case on the grounds of identification issues.
The drone footage shows a fox running across a number of fields from a large pack of around 30 hunt hounds near Langton in North Yorkshire.
Emma Slawinski, chief executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “The failure to prosecute clearly highlights the need for stronger fox hunting laws.
“This case comes as the government is looking into the response from its consultation to ban trail hunting and identifying what other measures would also help end fox hunting.
“The introduction of prison sentences would allow the police more time than the six months they currently have to deal with serious and complex cases.
“Clearer rules around what it means to participate in hunting – so that more than just the unidentified person could be charged – and also the introduction of vicarious liability for hunts would make the job of the police and Crown Prosecution Service much easier.”
The League Against Cruel Sports has also called for all the exemptions in the Hunting Act to be removed as they say these are being exploited by both fox and deer hunts.
Polling commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports and carried out independently by FindOutNow with further analysis by Electoral Calculus in March/April 2024 found that 74 per cent of the Yorkshire public supported stronger fox hunting laws, with only six per cent disagreeing.
Emma added: “It’s time for change. It’s time for stronger and more effective fox hunting laws that make the jobs of the police and courts much easier and allow more successful prosecutions.
“This needs to be backed up by a more effective deterrent to would be hunters in the form of prison sentences, as we campaign to consign fox hunting to the history books.”
The League is urging the public to take part in an action, by contacting their MP and calling for stronger hunting laws.
Chief Inspector Kevin Lacks-Kelly, head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) said: “Illegal hunting is a national wildlife crime priority, which needs improved legislation to enable the police to tackle criminals most effectively.
“The NWCU has made a submission to the Government consultation on behalf of UK policing, calling for a tougher law that is fit for purpose and removes the unnecessary complexity and loopholes we see within the current legislation.”
Minister Gavin Pearce confirms bird flu case in Tasmania
In short:
The discovery of a brown skua found at Burgess Cove at Rocky Cape, on the north-west coast of Tasmania, is the state’s first confirmed case of the H5N1 bird flu.
Testing completed overnight of the deceased bird confirmed it was carrying the deadly virus.
What’s next?
The Tasmanian government is urging anyone who comes across sick, injured or dead birds or other wildlife to avoid contact, record the incident, and report it by calling the emergency animal disease hotline.
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Tasmania has confirmed its first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu that has impacted wildlife across five other Australian states.
Following testing which was completed overnight, a brown skua was confirmed to have had the virus.
The single bird was found at Burgess Cove at Rocky Cape, on the north-west coast of Tasmania.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE) said it was alerted to the carcass of the bird by staff from the Parks and Wildlife Service, who have been undertaking active surveillance of coastal areas.
The government said the first detection was a single case, and at this stage was not considered an outbreak.
The avian influenza was detected in the carcass of a brown skua, a migratory Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabird. (Steve B, Brown Skua, CC0 1.0 DEED)
Minister for Primary Industries and Water Gavin Pearce said Tasmania was “prepared to respond” and would enact its bird flu response plan.
“Although we’ve had a positive detection, I want to be clear that there is no evidence of an outbreak and there is no detection in commercial poultry at this time,”
Mr Pearce said.
“I want to reassure Tasmanians that we are prepared to respond to H5 bird flu, and we will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.”
A brown skua infected with H5 bird flu found in WA (Supplied: Esperance Wildlife Hospital)
Department secretary Jason Jacobi said it was “inevitable” that the virus would arrive in the state.
He said infected brown skuas had been found in other Australian states.
“It’s not unexpected that we would find a confirmed brown skua,”
Mr Jacobi said.
Brown skuas are large predatory seabirds native to Tasmania that breed on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic islands.
The birds are often found in coastal areas and have been known to feed in large flocks on carcasses.
The first detected case of H5 bird flu in Australia, found in WA, was also a brown skua. (iNaturalist: Simon Plat, Brown skua, CC BY-NC 4.0)
Testing underway to find out where skua caught virus
NRE’s director of threatened species, Dr Rachael Alderman, said skuas were regular visitors to Tasmanian waters.
“Skuas don’t breed in Tasmania but they do frequent local waters for foraging year-round,”
she said.
“In general, they would be travelling alone looking for food sources in the ocean, but if they were to come across a dead floating whale, for example, there may be a large flock of skuas.”
Rocky Cape is a rural area on the state’s north-west coast. (ABC News: Sandy Powell)
She said it was not “unusual” that this bird was found at that location.
“Normally, when they are turning up, we’re seeing them alive and at sea. When they have the disease, as this one has, they’re more likely to turn up on the shore, which is why this one was found.”
Dr Alderman said at this time, it was not known where the affected bird may have contracted the virus.
“When this sample comes back from its analysis at the ACDP [CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness] in Geelong, that’s when they’ll have really detailed sequencing information,” she said.
“They use that sequencing information to map the relatedness. You can tell lots of interesting things about whether it’s come from Heard Island or somewhere else”.
Dr Rachael Alderman said a sample taken from the dead skua would provide detailed sequencing information. (ABC News: Simon Farrell)
The government said it had completed aerial surveys of more than 980 kilometres of Tasmania’s coastline, including more remote areas such as along the West Coast, King Island and islands in the Furneaux Group, as well as Tasmanian islands that are home to seal and seabird colonies as part of its early detection plan.
The state’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Guy Barnett, said this strain of H5N1 bird flu could impact Tasmania’s endemic species, including the endangered orange-bellied parrot.
He listed the Tasmanian devil, the shy albatross, the short-tailed shearwater, the Furneaux white-fronted tern, the fairy tern and little tern, Australian and long-nosed fur seal, and Australasian gannet as being vulnerable to the virus.
“We have been preparing for the risk of a mass mortality event by working closely with the federal government to deliver protection plans for species considered most at risk,” he said.
“H5 bird flu poses a significant threat to the orange-bellied parrot species.”
“We cannot eliminate the risk entirely, but we’re taking action to give our orange-bellied parrots the best possible chance in the event of an outbreak.”
The wild population of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot is as few as 88 individuals. (JJ Harrison/CC BY-SA 3.0)
A plan to vaccinate about 350 orange-bellied parrots would be enacted.
Due to the permit conditions of the vaccine, the parrots will be the only species to receive vaccinations.
The bird’s wild population was last year recorded at 88 individuals, and the stability of the species’ population is reliant on timed, captive releases of birds from the breeding program.Everything you need to know about Australia’s bird flu surge
There are more than 200 confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain across Australia. Here’s how it spreads and what to know.
Mr Barnett said while there was no way to prevent new strains of bird flu from entering or spreading through Tasmania with wild and migratory birds, it was important for the community to remain vigilant and report sick or dead birds and wildlife immediately.
The government has advised that for poultry owners, biosecurity remained key.
Its advice was to keep poultry separated from wild birds, protect feed and water sources from contamination, and for owners to monitor birds for signs of illness.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff spoke in parliament this morning on the bird flu case.
He said he was encouraged by the community’s vigilance, including 500 reports to the emergency animal disease hotline resulting in 80 birds being tested.
“I particularly want to commend members of the public who continue to report sick and dead birds,” Mr Rockliff said.
“This is exactly the kind of community vigilance that strengthens our biosecurity response.
“Early reporting allows our experts to investigate, to test, and to respond quickly.”
Parks and Wildlife Service staff have been undertaking proactive surveillance of coastal areas, including Rocky Cape. (ABC News: Sandy Powell)
The confirmation means only the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory have not detected the deadly virus, which was confirmed to have arrived on Australian shores in July.
There are more than 200 confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 bird flu across the country, with Australia’s first confirmed case was in a wild brown skua seabird found at Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance, Western Australia.
The Tasmanian government has urged anyone who sees sick or dead birds or other wildlife to call the emergency animal disease hotline on 1800 675 888 or report the incident through the online form at http://www.nre.tas.gov.au/BirdFlu.
Jillian Fellows
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