News from the outdoors: N.D. deer application deadline, Leave baby animals alone etc.

Deer application deadline: June 3 is the deadline for North Dakota deer hunters to submit applications for the 2009 gun seasons.

The deadline applies to muzzleloader, regular gun, gratis and nonresident landowner and youth antlered mule deer applications (specifically for antlered mule deer in units 3B1, 3B2, and 4A-4F). The deadline for regular statewide youth licenses is Sept. 1.

In addition, the deadline for submitting an antlerless white-tailed deer gun application for hunters age 12 and 13 is Sept. 1. Completion of a hunter education course is required before applying.

Prospective hunters can apply online or print out an application to mail from the North Dakota Game and Fish Department Web site at gf.nd.gov. The resident gratis application now is available for completion online, as well.

Deer applications also are accepted by calling (800) 406-6409, and paper applications are available at county auditors, license vendors and Game and Fish offices.

-- N.D. Game and Fish Department

Imperiled wildlife grants: Minnesota will receive more than $1.2 million and North Dakota more than $610,000 to help conserve and recover imperiled wildlife through the federal State Wildlife Grant program.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the grants this past week as part of a package of more than $61 million that will be distributed to fish and wildlife agencies.

The money will benefit of fish and wildlife and their habitats, including species that are not hunted or fished.

The program allocates grants using a formula based on land area and population.

-- Herald staff report

Leave baby animals alone: Different year, same message: Don't pick up and rescue what appear to be orphaned baby animals.

Whether it is a fawn, duckling, cottontail rabbit or a songbird, it is better to just leave them alone, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department says.

More often than not, young animals are not abandoned or deserted, and the mother is probably watching nearby.

Also, motorists should be especially alert for deer along roadways right now. June is one of the peak months for deer-vehicle accidents because young animals are dispersing from their home ranges.

-- N.D. Game and Fish Department

Better boat access: Rising water along the Missouri River System means more boat ramps are accessible now than at any time in the past decade.

Bob Frohlich, fisheries development supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, said all of the main recreation areas on Lake Sakakawea will have a usable ramp this summer, and every site but one is usable from the Garrison Dam to the South Dakota state line.

"Lake Oahe is back, and anglers will again be able to enjoy many areas that have been high and dry for the past 10 or more years," Frohlich said.

Of the boating access sites south of Garrison Dam, only the Sibley Park ramp south of Bismarck is unusable. However, depending on which way the wind is blowing, some ramps may become temporarily unavailable.

Boat ramp status for the entire Missouri River System is available throughout the summer by clicking the fishing link on the Game and Fish Web site at gf.nd.gov.

-- N.D. Game and Fish Department

Reduced shoreline access: Rising water levels on Lake Sakakawea have reduced the number of shoreline access locations beyond the traditional sites where boat ramps are located.

During the latter years of the drought, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers developed as many as 25 shoreline access sites to allow for shoreline fishing and other day use activities.

But the Corps announced this past week that 10 designated locations remain because rising water has forced the closing of the other 15 locations.

The 10 sites remaining open are Deadman's Bay (west Wolf Creek), Fish and Camp Court (Deepwater Bay area), Four Bears, White Earth, McKenzie Bay, Hale Marina, Beaver Creek, Renner Bay, Beulah Bay (Pebble Beach) and Beulah Bay (part of the recreation area).

The public is prohibited from driving ATVs, digging or collecting artifacts, camping or having open fires.

Rules signs are posted at the entrance to these areas.

The majority of the shoreline along Lake Sakakawea is open for public walk-in access. Areas that are closed for preservation of cultural resources and threatened and endangered species will be posted.

-- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Comment on regs: The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will take input until June 26 a number of temporary regulations that are proposed to become permanent.

The proposals relate to a variety of regulations pertaining to individual wildlife management areas and game refuges, deer hunting, bear hunting, upland game birds, migratory game birds, prairie chickens and waterfowl.

The only new rule included in the package would prohibit the use of bait for turkey hunting.

A copy of the proposed rules and additional information about the rules process will be available online Tuesday at www.dnr.state.mn.us .

Regulations proposed to become permanent include:

- Bag limits for deer in intensive, managed, lottery, early season deer areas and metro and bovine tuberculosis deer management zones.

- Muzzleloader deer seasons and areas.

- Bag limit for bears outside quota areas.

- License procedures for taking bears outside quota areas.

- Seasons for taking ruffed and spruce grouse, pheasants and gray partridges.

- Provisions for hunting prairie chickens.

- Youth waterfowl hunting date.

- Season and bag limits for geese in the northwest goose zone.

-- Minnesota DNR

Did you know?

- June 6-7 is North Dakota's free fishing weekend. Residents can fish without a license for all species but paddlefish.

- Lee Murdock of Grand Forks and James Edvenson of Oronoco, Minn., weighed in five pike for 30.08 pounds to win the Lake Region Anglers Association's annual Spring Northern Outing on May 17 on Devils Lake. They also weighed in the largest northern at 12.02 pounds. A total of 14 teams participated, weighing in 41 pike for a total weight of 184.64 pounds.

- The North Dakota Game and Fish Department has stocked about 54,000 rainbow trout and 7,000 brown trout in more than 50 waters throughout the state this spring. The catchable trout measure 10 to 14 inches long. Waters in northeastern North Dakota include the Turtle River at Turtle River State Park and Langdon City Pond in Cavalier County. A full list is available on the Game and Fish Web site at gf.nd.gov.

- The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is conducting creel surveys on the Missouri River System and Lake Audubon. The Missouri River System surveys will continue through September, while the Lake Audubon survey will run through ice fishing season.

- North Dakota boaters are required by law to report any accident that involves injury, death or disappearance of a person or accidents in which property damage exceeds $2,000.

- More than 150 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel from 10 states joined forces with local, state, and federal operations to protect public safety and welfare in Bismarck, Jamestown, Grand Forks, Valley City, Fargo, Minot and several smaller surrounding communities impacted by spring flooding. The Service's fleet of airboats proved especially useful for maneuvering in shallow flooded areas and across roads, golf courses, dikes and other places conventional boats could not access.

- DNR conservation officer Jeremy Woinarowicz recently responded to call in Crookston of a badger stuck in a window well. The badger turned out to be a woodchuck, and a Crookston police officer returned the critter to the wild.

-- compiled by Brad Dokken