Log Cabin Democrat Sports: Eagle awareness February success 2/1/98

Published Sunday, February 01, 1998

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Sunday, February 1, 1998Eagle awareness February success

Last modified at 2:39 a.m. on Sunday, February 1, 1998

LAKE VILLAGE (AP) -- Eagle awareness programs sponsored by the Arkansas State Parks Division have become a popular wintertime activities. Slide programs, seminars featuring raptors and waterfowl tours are featured at a number of the state's parks from now through February.

There's still time to get to know these majestic visitors from the north at the following scheduled programs:

Jan. 30-Feb. 1: 9th Annual Winter Wings Weekend, Lake Chicot State Park, Lake Village. Field trips to see such wintering fowl as eagles, ducks, geese, and owls. Cabins provide lodging, and the park's campground is open year-round. Contact: (870) 265-5480; 1-800-264-2430 for cabin reservations.

Feb. 6-8: 17th Annual Eagle Extravaganza Weekend, Lake Ouachita State Park-Mountain Harbor Resort, west of Hot Springs. A cooperative venture of the park, the resort and the Lake Ouachita office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the week end offers over 20 barge tours, a guest speaker from the Little Rock Zoo, skits, demonstrations, a movie and a slide show. Mountain Harbor Resort near Mount Ida is the host of the event. Contact: (501) 767-9366; (870) 867-2191 for lodging reservations.

Feb. 7: Waterfowl Watch, DeGray Lake Resort State Park, Bismarck (north of Arkadelphia): Lake tours will provide viewing of bald eagles, loons, ducks, ospreys and other raptors and waterfowl. Tours are scheduled at 9 and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Contact: (501) 865-2801; 1-800-737-8355 for lodge reservations.

Feb. 7 and 8: 15th Annual Eagle Awareness Days, Petit Jean State Park (south of Morrilton). Guided tours to nearby Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge permit viewing of eagles and other birds of prey. Speakers with live birds will present a program at the park at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Car caravans to Holla Bend will depart at 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. A slide presentation is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Contact: (501) 727-5441; 1-800-264-2462 for lodging.

Feb. 15: Eagle Awareness Weekend, Pinnacle Mountain State Park, Roland. Programs at 1 a.m. and 3 p.m. will be offered by Jane Gulley, eagle awareness coordinator for Arkansas. Seating is limited, and advance reservations are required.

For free tickets send a pre-addressed, stamped envelope to the park at 11901 Pinnacle Valley Road, Roland, AR 72135, specifying first or second choice times. There is a limit of 10 tickets per request and eight tickets per person. Contact: (501) 868- 5806.

TRIPLE TROPHY

Deadline for submitting Triple Trophy applications for the 1997-98 deer hunting season is March 10, said Doris Johnston, Triple Trophy coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. The Triple Trophy is a certificate awarded to hunters who take three deer in a season -- one with archery or crossbow, one with a muzzleloading gun and one with a modern gun.

Applications may be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Triple Trophy, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, 2 Natural Resources Drive, Little Rock, AR 72205 or by phoning 223-6351.

TURKEY APPLICATIONS

Arkansas turkey hunters have a few more days to get their applications for permits into the mail.

Donny Harris, chief of wildlife management for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said, ''Because of the interest in these permits for our wildlife management areas, we have extended the deadline to Saturday, Feb. 7. If you want a permit to hunt turkey this spring on one of the wildlife management areas in Arkansas, your first step is to get a copy of the 1998 Turkey Hunting Regulations of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.''

The permit application and instructions are on pages 22 and 23. And you need to hurry. Applications must be postmarked by Feb. 7. The Turkey Regulations booklets are available at license dealers throughout Arkansas. They are also available at all commission offices and by mail by phoning the Little Rock Information Office at (501) 223-6351.

After a random computer drawing, successful applicants will be notified, and they must send $10 payments to receive the permits. Unclaimed permits will be redrawn in March.

The permit hunts are scheduled this year on Bois d'Arc WMA, Camp Robinson and Bell Slough WMA, Cut-Off Creek WMA, Harold E. Alexander WMA, Holland Bottoms WMA, Rex Hancock-Black Swamp WMA and Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, Shirey Bay-Rainey Brake WMA and Sulphur River WMA.

SEASONS STILL OPEN

Just because duck season and gun deer season have ended, hunters don't have to revert to the recliner and storytelling status.

There are still plenty of hunting opportunity around Arkansas this time of the year.

Late season offers a hunter the best chance of the year to find uncrowded conditions. Arkansas has more than 360,000 acres of state-owned wildlife management area land and several million acres of national forest land; almost all are open to late-season hunting. It's not unusual to hunt all day on public land in late January or February without seeing another hunter.

Here's a rundown of the hunting seasons remaining this winter:

Snow goose: Now through March 1, statewide. Shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset. Daily limit 10, possession limit 30.

White-fronted goose: Now through Jan. 31, statewide. Shooting hours same as for snow geese, with a daily limit of 2. These can be in addition to the daily limit of 10 snow geese.

Canada goose: East Zone, now through Feb. 8 in the following counties: Arkansas, Ashley, Chicot, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Drew, Greene, Independence, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Lonoke, Mississippi, Monroe, Phillips, Poinsett, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, St. Francis, White and Woodruff. Shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to noon, with a daily limit of 2 in addition to the daily limit of 10 snow geese.

Snipe: Now through Feb. 22, statewide. Daily limit 8.

Rabbit: Now through Feb. 28, statewide. Daily limit 8.

Squirrel: Now through Feb. 28, statewide. Daily limit 8.

Coyote: Now through March 31, statewide. No limit.

Furbearers (hunting and trapping): Now through Feb. 11, statewide. No limit.

Crow: Now through Feb. 22, statewide. Open Wednesdays through Sundays. No limit.

Archery and crossbow deer: Now through Jan. 31 in Deer Zone 4. Now through Feb. 28 in the remainder of the state.

Archery and crossbow turkey: Now through Feb. 28 in the fall archery-crossbow zone.

Current seasons

Deer, Archery and Crossbow, Oct. 1-Feb. 28 (Zones 4 and 4A, Oct. 1-Jan. 31).

Canada geese, East Arkansas Zone, Jan. 17-Feb. 8 with a daily limit of two.

West Arkansas Zone, Jan. 17-Feb. 1 with a daily limit of one.

Snow geese, Nov. 15-March 1 with a daily limit of 10.

White-fronted geese, Nov. 23-Jan. 31 with a daily limit of two.

Turkey, Archery and Crossbow, Oct. 1-Feb. 28.

Quail: Nov. 22-Feb. 1, statewide with a daily limit of 8.

Rabbit, Oct. 4-Feb. 28.

Coyote, Aug. 30-March 31. Dogs allowed. No limit.

Crow, Sept. 6-Feb. 28. Open Wednesdays-Sundays only. No limit.

Squirrel, Fall, Sept. 13-Feb. 28, North Zone. Oct. 4-Feb. 28, South Zone. Limit: daily 8, possession 16.

Furbearers, Nov. 15-sunset, Feb. 8.

Raccoon, Muskrat, Nutria and Beaver, Nov. 15-sunset, March 31. No limit.

EVENTS

Feb. 7: Central Arkansas Chapter of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation banquet and auction, 6 p.m., Robinson Center, Little Rock. (870) 347-2182.

Feb. 16: Regular monthly meeting of Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, 9 a.m., Game and Fish Building, Little Rock. (501) 223-6305.

Feb. 21: National Wild Turkey Federation banquet and auction, J.H. McClintock's Restaurant, Harrison. (870) 741-5695.

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