Some things never change
Phil Taunton
Friday, March 21, 2008
Spring in Kansas, don’t you just love it?
Rain, more rain, cold weather and being retired has this outdoor person guessing what to do from one day to the next.
Lately, I have been taking part in more inside activities. I sure wish Wifeus wouldn’t have gone ahead and contracted getting the kitchen painted. I guess she didn’t believe me when I told her I would get around to doing it.
Maybe there’s some other honey-dos around here I can do to get on her good side until the weather gets stable, the waters warm and spring turkey season begins.
Hoping to further my education, I took advantage of Terri Summey’s free class in computer digital photo programming held at the ESU White Library on Wednesday. I’ve always had a passion for photography and now wish I had spent more time with a camera instead of on the athletic fields.
Terri’s class was very informative and offered several sites to help a person store, share and scrapbook their digital photos.
But some things never change. I was about 8 minutes late to this class and since it was just after dinner, I was fighting to stay awake 15 minutes later.
There you have it, my college career in a nutshell.
Changes concerning
the 2008 deer season
The Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission at its public hearing held March 13 in Topeka approved a variety of changes concerning deer hunting equipment and deer permits to take effect this coming year. Among changes in legal deer hunting equipment approved by the KDWP commission are the following:
- Kansas deer hunters will be allowed to hunt with scopes on their muzzleloaders during the state’s early muzzleloader deer season. In the past, only open or peep sights were allowed during the early season, although scopes were allowed on muzzleloaders during the regular firearms season.
- Regulations on broadhead arrow points legal for bowhunting were amended to require points that are at least 7/8-inch wide. And now, these broadhead points can be made of materials other than metal, such as knapped stone.
That is getting traditional.
- Hunters also will be allowed to use crossbows with at least 125 pounds of draw weight during the regular firearms deer season.
- Hard-cast lead bullets will be allowed in muzzleloaders and rifles.
Another regulation approved by the commission established the types of deer permits that will be available. These include:
- A resident any-season white-tailed deer permit available over the counter which may be used during any season (early muzzleloader, archery, or firearms) with the use of equipment legal for that season.
- A non-resident white-tailed deer permit available by drawing. This permit will be valid within a deer management unit and one additional adjacent unit, when hunting in the season (early muzzleloader, archery or firearms) that is designated on the application. Transferable non-resident permits will not be available.
- A non-resident either-species, either-sex deer stamp — available in designated units and in limited numbers from a secondary drawing of applicants who draw an archery or muzzleloader-only white-tailed deer permit.
- A special hunt-on-your-own-land deer permit is available to individuals, regardless of residence, who are lineal ascendants or descendants (or spouses), as well as siblings of resident landowners. Transferable hunt-on-your-own-land permits will not be available.
There also was an interesting discussion concerning the opening of the 2008 upland game bird season. Final dates will be set at the Department’s June meeting, but it looks like the opening and closing of pheasant and quail season will be the same as was set in the 2007-08 regulations.
A lot of hunters and landowners alike were dissatisfied with this. A change in opening and closing dates concerning the upland game bird season is looming for 2009. Big Youth Hunt
on Saturday
The annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Flint Hills Optimist Club of Emporia will be held at Jones Park at 10 a.m. this Saturday.
For you hunters that might be a bit long in the tooth and might have taken part in the big jack rabbit round-ups of the past, you have nothing on these young Easter candy hunters.
Come out and see just how fast the fields can be swept clean of their bounty! No license or special permits required. Wishing you and yours a very happy and enjoyable Easter Sunday.