|
|
Post by MKMGOBL on Jan 15, 2013 8:56:07 GMT -5
The one thing I wish I saw more of in this state is cottontails and ground hogs. I read in the Hawkeye that NH F&G is looking into address the cottontails but they need to do a few other things first. There are way too many coyotes, fisher and fox around to do anything good with increasing the cottontail numbers. I'm sure there's enough cover but not the like of cover that I'm use to seeing and hunting rabbits in. Briar thickets and over grown field with well established hedgerows are prime habitat for them. I'm not saying that kind of cover is not in NH, I'm saying I don't see enough it. Maybe the F&G should get rid of some of the fish identification/education programs and put the money into buying tracks of old farmlands. Clear the property of trees to make more fields and let them get overgrown with briars. In the area around these rabbit pieces, extend the trapping season on fisher, fox and coyotes to keep predators at bay. There's a piece close to my home that is the ideal footprint for great rabbit hunting if they were there. If we came across this same piece in PA, WV or MD, and we would letting the dogs loose and kicking the brush. What’s your thoughts on the cottontails re-population here in NH?
|
|
|
|
Post by ecgreen on Jan 15, 2013 16:24:33 GMT -5
I love this post! You hit the nail on the head for me. I would imagine that if the state did manage some land like that it would get hit VERY hard by beagle hunters. I imagine it would need ot be many thousands of acres to make it viable.
On the trapping note: F&G needs to promote trapping as a resource management tool to the general public so we can actually get permissions to put out a decent number of traps. ALso, you can only extend seasons so far and you run into breeding seasons, which many consider unethical, regardless of predation problems (including myself).
|
|
|
|
Post by Pemi-Man on Mar 25, 2013 14:40:56 GMT -5
There's a local initiative in Lee to bring up the cottontail population (they're off-limits for hunting in my area because of the population decline), but it's nice to see F & G using their resources bringing species back. I believe NH has more forest now that it has in several hundred years because of the decline in farming which is probably cause for the shortage.
Also the historical range for coyote did not include the northeast, it had been kept out by wolves, but since their disappearance, and the subsequent vacuum of a top predator, they moved in. Nature simply needs to rebalance with the shift in species/predators.
|
|
|
|
Post by E-Fishin-C on Mar 28, 2013 18:17:21 GMT -5
regarding declines in bunny populations
I've had the discussion many times with fellow houndsmen and the only thing that makes sense is the way that forests are manged now
When they log now they chip the whole tree, everything including the tree tops for weight count.....the tree tops years ago used to be 3-4 feet deep just after a clear-cut, which allowed for tons of places for bunnies to mulitlpy......now they have to wait for the whips a few years to give them cover from predators
It used to be standard practice to deliver whole logs and the mill would chip at their facility, now the chippers are out in the woods to clean up what some folks would call a mess, the bunnies would call it home
Just a thought
|
|
|
|
Post by MKMGOBL on Mar 28, 2013 20:44:39 GMT -5
regarding declines in bunny populations I've had the discussion many times with fellow houndsmen and the only thing that makes sense is the way that forests are manged now When they log now they chip the whole tree, everything including the tree tops for weight count.....the tree tops years ago used to be 3-4 feet deep just after a clear-cut, which allowed for tons of places for bunnies to mulitlpy......now they have to wait for the whips a few years to give them cover from predators It used to be standard practice to deliver whole logs and the mill would chip at their facility, now the chippers are out in the woods to clean up what some folks would call a mess, the bunnies would call it home Just a thought Good point! Where we rabbit hunt, there's tons on briars and cover for the rabbit to live and hide. Even with the explosion of coyotes in the SW PA and WV area and tons of fox, the rabbits are still thriving. I believe the number one killer is the birds of prey but nothing we can do about that. I understand their protected but you won’t see me feeling bad when I see them laying on the side of highway, swerving to avoid hitting one flying low across my windshield and you definitely won't see me calling up the WV DNR reporting the farmer I hear that are out hunting them on their land…which happens a lot. |
|
|
|
Post by nastygunz on Apr 2, 2013 20:14:47 GMT -5
|
|
