Category Archives: Wildlife

Possible state record giant buck found dead?

March 10, 20138:03 p.m.

Buckmasters, a leading hunting-based club promoting everything white-tailed deer, recently published an online article about a buck supposedly found dead in Kansas last summer that grossed about 330-inches of antler. The photo of the antlers is nothing short of eye-popping to those who appreciate world-class antlers.

YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO SEE THEIR ORIGINAL ONLINE ARTICLE.

The buck was supposedly found dead, probably dying from EHD last summer, with 55 scorable points and more mass than the business end of a Louisville Slugger. The story says the buck had been in trail camera photos several times, then seemingly disappeared. A man hoping to hunt the buck went looking, found the buck dead along a creek…which is how many EHD victims are found.

The story also says the family that found the buck is asking to stay anonymous, to keep the location of buck’s home territory secret.

If true, and there’s no reason to believe it’s not, the antlers would be one of probably less than 20 whitetail racks to gross more than 300 points in the world.

The Kansas state record non-typical nets about 280-inches, and was shot about 25 years ago near Topeka. The Buckmasters scoring system basically goes by gross scores, with no deductions for a lack of symmetry so it’s currently not possible to compare the rack to the current state-record.

Also, Wildlife and Parks only recognizes bucks legally taken for their record book.

Buckmasters promises more details in an upcoming magazine article.

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Hunting, Wildlife | Comments

Deer disease continues to spread eastward

March 6, 201311:37 a.m.

A map of CWD cases in Kansas. The red dots are the four cases found in whitetail bucks in 2012.

Chronic wasting disease continues to move eastward through the Kansas deer herd, according to Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism biologists.  The disease is 100-percent fatal to members of the deer family, like white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. It’s yet to be transferred to humans or livestock.

 

Shane Hesting, Wildlife and Parks disease biologist, said four more cases have been identified from animals tested in 2012. Most were shot by hunters during fall deer seasons. One each was found in Ellis, Norton, Trego and Sherman counties. It was the first ever found in Ellis County. The first Kansas deer with the disease was found in Cheyenne County in 2005. It’s since been on a steady spread to the east and south.

In 2011 eight positives were found, but Hesting pointed out that was from about 2,500 animals tested. Last year, only about 375 animals were tested because of a lack of federal funds that had helped test more than 20,000 deer over about the past 15 years. To make up for reduced samples the agency is concentrating its testing mostly on mature deer, which have a higher likelihood of contracting the disease than young deer.

The agency will be rotating it’s main sampling area annually, to make sure they get enough samples from a region for a solid evaluation.

The closest infected animal to Wichita was a deer from Stafford County in 2011. An initial report of a positive animal from Sumner County that same year later proved to be a false-positive. To date, 52 animals have tested positive for the disease in Kansas.

This whitetail buck found in Sherman County last October tested positive for CWD. COURTESY PHOTO

CWD was first diagnosed along the border of  Colorado and Wyoming in the mid-1960s, and seemed to begin to spread in the mid-1990s. Some of the spread has been attributed to the transportation of captive deer and elk. Kansas had such an elk test positive in 2001. It came from an infected herd in another state.

The disease has also been found in Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, Missouri and West Virginia. It was discovered in Pennsylvania recently. Biologist think it might be being transported eastward by eastern hunters returning with  carcasses of animals shot in western states. Some states have made it illegal to import anything but the boneless meat and antlers from animals shot in other states.

 

 

 

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Hunting, Wildlife | Comments

Another whooping crane shot and killed in Texas

March 3, 20137:24 p.m.

A pair of whooping cranes in the shallows at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in central Kansas. No whooping cranes have been poached in Kansas since two died in 2004. At least 8 others have been shot in other states since, including one this winter in Texas. (Photo by Michael Pearce/The Wichita Eagle)

According to the Austin Statesman, another whooping crane has been shot and killed. The bird was shot earlier this winter, in the southern part of Texas.

You can read the original story here.

That the newspaper isn’t able to get many details about the shooting isn’t too surprising, since it’s a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigation.

The agency that is funded by the American public, is really good at keeping details away from the American public until nearly all aspects of an investigation, and the following process of justice, are complete. Facts will come out, though, and they’ll probably be spot-on.

Unfortunately this isn’t the first time in recent history that whooping cranes have been shot and killed. As the article states, one was shot in South Dakota about a year ago … and the guy was just fined more than $80,000 for the crime.

During a span of about 16 months, five or six were shot in eastern states in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Three of those birds were found dead at about the same time, in the same county in Georgia, in 2003. It’s interesting those shootings got very little national media attention.

A poacher who shot one in Indiana was fined $1 for the crime.

No doubt the most infamous whooping crane shootings occurred in Stafford County in 2004, when a party of goose and sandhill crane hunters turned into a party of poachers when they supposedly mistook three whoopers for sandhill cranes.

I’ll try to keep you informed as this most recent case in Texas develops.

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Birding, Wildlife | Comments

Hard to top the northern cardinal

Feb. 28, 20137:31 a.m.

A male cardinal shows its brilliance in Tuesday’s snow. As well as stunning looks, the birds are eternal optimists and extremely faithful to their mates.

We could all learn a lot about living from northern cardinals. They’re one of nature’s premier optimists, and know a thing or two about how to treat their mates.

Well before daylight amid Monday’s blowing snow, a male cardinal was happily trilling away from deep inside a cedar tree near our backyard. Most spring mornings, from the Black Hills to the Everglades, they’ve been the first bird I’ve heard in the morning while on spring turkey hunts.

Mated males and females are so tight she may finish a song that he begins, and the male will bring the female food while she’s incubating their eggs. Even now, weeks before the first eggs of spring, often where you see one you’ll also see the other.

Cardinals are the favorite birds of many people I know, but a lot of that is probably because of the male’s brilliant red colors. That they also aren’t too shy probably adds to the appeal.

Scouting a place to photograph pheasants on the snow earlier this week I happened by a deer feeder with a half-dozen or so male cardinals sitting about a snowy cedar, shining in the early morning light. Sitting in the warmth of Ol’ Red, a window down just enough to rest  a 400mm lens, the birds seemed to pose for about 200 photo frames in less than an hour.

Happy, brilliantly colored and seemingly ready to pose for easy photography…what’s not to like?

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Birding, Michael's World, Outdoors photography, Wildlife | Comments

Deep snow poorly timed for wildlife

Feb. 25, 20134:49 p.m.

Goldfinches and other birds have been busy getting sunflower seeds from area bird feeders. Many species of wildlife not near such food sources could be suffering from recent deep snows.

Deep snows are seldom good for Kansas wildlife, but the storm of last week and the one still spreading across the state come at particularly bad times.

During interviews today, four biologists said the lack of cover and food created from two years of drought could make things tough for many kinds of birds in Kansas through these deep snows.

Adding to the lack of cover from the weather and predators, and a shortage of food, is that thousands of acres of Conservation Reserve Program grasses were hayed or grazed last summer as emergency feed for Kansas cattle herds.

Jim Pitman, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism small game biologist, said cover was especially short and limited even before parts of the state got up to 18 inches of snow from the first storm. Now, he suspects many birds will fall to raptors that are in high numbers as they migrate through Kansas.

Robert Penner, of the Nature Conservancy of Kansas, said the lack of food has also forced many species of birds to feed where snow plows have scraped down to open soil along roadsides, leading to higher than normal roadkills.

Yet the current problem could eventually turn into a very much needed boost for wildlife populations this spring and summer in habitats starved for moisture.

More details are expected to follow in an upcoming article to be published in The Eagle later this week.

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Birding, Breaking news, Hunting, Wildlife | Comments

Casts and Blasts from the Great Outdoors Photo Contest

Feb. 18, 20137:32 p.m.

Clarissa Peterson’s “Wood Duck” won first place in the adult division of the 2013 Wichita Eagle Great Outdoors Photo Contest.

Hundreds of photos were entered, and a few of us at The Eagle narrowed the field to 15 adult and five youth finalists. From there votes were casts online and at the Kansas Sports, Boat and Travel Show and winners were announced on Sunday.

YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RESULTS FROM THE CONTEST.

Looking back from the day after, a few things of interest have appeared.

– As in years past, there was a fairly wide variance in the photos that did well online and those that did well at the Sports Show. The votes were combined evenly  to determine the overall winners.

– Clarrisa Peterson’s “Wood Duck” was the overall winner for the adult division and took first in the online voting but was fourth at the Sport Show.

– Overall second-place winner, “Shhhh! Don’t wake Mama!’” by Phoebe Janzen was second online but seventh at the Sports Show. It was a photo of three young screech owls with an adult on a tree limb.

–”No Compromise,” Joe Harris’ photo of two trophy-class bucks locked in battle predictably won the votes by a good margin at the Sports Show, but was the fifth most popular photo online. It placed third overall.

– Some photos did about equally well online and at the Sports Show. “A Great Day at Work,” the photo of the jumping bass by Linda Wallace scored ninth on both polls. “Rise,” Jordan Moritz’s sunrise silhouette of a whitetail buck  scored fourth online and fifth at the Sports Show.

– Under the, “Shows how much I know,” department, “Kansas Painted Bunting,” taken by Chuck Streker along the Arkansas River near Derby, scored last and didn’t get many votes online or at the Sports Show.  Of all the photos entered, I probably envied it more than any other because the birds are so exotic and secretive. No matter where it ranked, I wish I’d have taken it. My other envied photo was “No Compromise.” I’m out more than 100 days a year, and I’ve never come across two such nice bucks engaged in a serious fight.

 

 

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Michael's World, Outdoors photography, Wildlife | Comments

Time to vote in the 2013 Great Outdoors Photo Contest

Feb. 13, 20139:48 a.m.

From about 300 entries, Wichita Eagle Photographers have narrowed the field to 15 adult and 5 youth finalists for the Great Outdoors Photo Contest.

Now, it’s up to the public to pick the winners.

TO GET TO THE LINK ON KANSAS.COM FOR VOTING NOW,YOU CAN CLICK HERE.

Voting will also begin at The Wichita Eagle’s booth, when the Kansas Sports, Boat and Travel Show begins on Thursday.

“Sunset Shorthair” is one of 15, 11X14″ prints taken by Eagle photographers that can be won by those who vote on the Great Outdoors Photo Contest and the Kansas Sports, Boat and Travel Show.

Those who vote at the Sports Show can register to win one of 15, 11X14 outdoors prints shot by Wichita Eagle photographers.

Voting will end at about noon on Saturday so the ballots can be counted. The winners will be announced on Sunday’s Outdoors page of the Wichita Eagle.

Those who entered the contest should have one free admission ticket to the Sports Show, at the event’s ticket window at the Kansas Pavilions. Just tell them you’ve entered the contest, give them your name and they should give you the admission ticket.

 

 

 

 

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Birding, Breaking news, Fishing, Hunting, Outdoors photography, Wildlife | Comments

State Convention to offer upland habitat/birds seminars

Jan. 26, 20137:35 p.m.

Upland bird hunters can attend a variety of presentations at Saturday’s Kansas Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever state convention in Wichita.

Friday and Saturday upland gamebird fans have the chance to meet  similar souls, and probably learn a lot about Kansas upland gamebirds and about everything associated with them.

This year’s Kansas Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever state convention is based in Wichita.

Friday evening will be registration at the Courtyard Wichita East, followed by a meet and greet reception at Jersey’s Grill and Bar.

The biggies come Saturday at the Great Plains Nature Center with presentations from experts on youth opportunities in Kansas, the state’s Quail Initiative, prairie chicken biology and habitat, predator management, dealing with drought and other topics.

YOU CAN CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS.

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Breaking news, Hunting, Wildlife | Comments

Casts and Blasts From Photographing Eagles at Work

Jan. 21, 20139:38 p.m.

This shot shows the white is building on the head of this immature bald eagle. Probably less than 10-percent of the original frame, it also shows how well the images from the Canon 7D stood up to cropping, even when shot at 1,000 ISO.

A few more details from Sunday’s Outdoors page feature on photographing bald eagles and red-tailed hawks feeding on deer carcasses.

YOU CAN CLICK HERE, TO SEE THE ORIGINAL STORY AND PHOTOS.

– According to a trail camera near the deer carcasses, the immature bald eagle still feeds on the dead deer most days. Its longest stay, thankfully, was the cold day I spent in the photo blind.

– Twice I’ve added goose carcasses to the deer, and raptors seem to prefer them over the venison. That might because they’re smaller and easier to access than the thick hides of deer. Or, it could be because eagles naturally feed on healthy geese.

– The late afternoon light contributed greatly to the flavor of the photos of the bald eagle on the deer.

– I was shooting a Canon 7D, two of which I’ve had for several months. The ability to still get great details with high ISO settings has really helped with photography in low light. Many of the photos were shot with the ISO set at 1,000 but the images held up very well under serious cropping. The lens was a Canon 100-400 with image stabilization. All were shot from a tripod.

– Checking the trail camera a week after the shoot, it appears the red-tailed hawks have settled their disputes over the carcasses. Mostly they feed one at a time, with no more fights caught by the remote camera.

– Coyotes still haven’t really hit the carcasses. If a pack would hit the remains, all would probably be gone within a few nights. I continue to “saturate the area with human scent.” Yes, I’m actually marking the carcasses the same way a coyote would if it were claiming them. The scent doesn’t seem to deter the birds, obviously.

A trail camera photo of the immature bald eagle at the same time it was being photographed from a blind about 30 yards to the left.

– Unfortunately, I had the Bushnell Trail Cam set for the lowest pixel setting possible, so the photos aren’t as sharp as they could be. I did it to get as many photos as possible on a 4 GB card…unfortunately I had a 32 GB card in the camera at the time. Since, I’ve adjusted the pixels and gotten noticeably sharper images.

– Oh, there is one opossum feeding on the carcasses every night. A few nights ago it was photographed dragging off the carcass of a big Canada goose. It must have been so proud!

 

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Birding, Michael's World, Outdoors photography, Trail cameras, Wildlife | Comments

Bald eagles help insure there’s no waste in the wilds

Jan. 14, 20138:23 a.m.

A mature bald eagle takes a break from eating on a deer carcass. So far only one eagle has been on the scene. Other set-ups have shown five or more eagles utilizing the remains of a deer.

Nature is a wonderful system, where so many different kinds of life forms rely on one another. It’s a system where everything has a purpose, and part of the purpose is meeting the needs of other animals…that eventually means providing them with food.

Having witnessed that thousands of times over several decades many of us who hunt have become dedicated to helping the process along. Rather it be ducks or deer, cottontails or wild turkeys, once we get the meat we need from the game we kill, the rest goes back to the wilds to complete the cycle.

No doubt many expected coyotes opossums, crows, turkey vultures, the occasional bobcat and badger have benefited from such leftovers.

Two red-tailed hawks spar for dominance at the deer carcasses. Best known for their killing ability, redtails will gladly take an easier meal.

Last week a trail camera placed on the boned-out carcasses of two whitetails does I shot Monday afternoon captured a bald eagle and red-tailed hawks, species some may not associate with playing clean-up crew, taking advantage of easy venison.

I’ll leave the trail camera on the carcasses for a few weeks to see what else happens, and probably add a few geese and another remnants of a deer to the spot.

We’ll see what else happens.

By Michael Pearce | Filed under Birding, Hunting, Michael's World, Outdoors photography, Trail cameras, Wildlife | Comments