The Department of Natural Resources is reminding hunters of a new regulation requiring them to notify the state when they take a deer or turkey. D-N-R spokesman Kevin Baskins. Baskins says, “The harvest needs to be reported 24 hours after the animal’s been harvested.”
Baskins says reporting is designed to help the D-N-R improve the time it takes to set hunting limits and regulations. Baskins says the time it has taken in the past the set the regulations has been a frustration. Hunters used to report their kills via postcards on a voluntary basis, so the D-N-R didn’t have immediate numbers.
Baskins says having hunters report their harvest will give much more accurate and timely estimates of the harvest and make it easier to set regulations. Baskins says new technology makes it easy for hunters to report when they take a deer. He says it’s almost common these days for hunters to have cellphones, so they can call in and report, and there’s an on-line option to report. Baskins says it’s something new so the D-N-R just wants to remind hunters of the reporting requirement.
Baskins says he doesn’t anticipate that it will be a problem to get hunters to report. He says hunters realize the information they provide is valuable in helping them manage the deer population. The bow hunting season for deer is already underway. The shotgun season doesn’t begin until December.