The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-08-09
GOVERNOR WILL ACT
ON RECOMMENDATION
OF BURNIE MAUREK
Shooting of Prairie Chicken to
Be Sharply Reduced;
Ducks Also Favored
TO PERMIT GROUSE HUNTING
Closed Season on RuffIed Birds
Has Resulted in Rapid
Propagation
TO PERMIT GROUSE HUNTING

Recommendations for curtailment
of the hunting seasons in North d.
kota have been made to Governor
George F. Shafer by Burnie Maurek,
state game and fish commissioner,
and the executive is expected to act
on them within a few days, Maurek
said today.
Maurek's proposals are:
Prairie Chicken hunting season.
October 5 to Is, inclusive.
Duck hunting seaSon-September
% to December 81, inclusive.
Ruffed grouse hunting season.
October II to Is, inclusive.
The normal seasons for hunting
these birds, as fixed by the state law,
are:
Prairie chickens-September Is to
October 16.
Ducks-September 16 to December
This will be the first time in four
years that shooting of ruffed grouse
has been permitted. These birds, one
of the finest game birds in the world,
are found in North Dakota only in the
Turtle Mountains in the Northeastern
part of the state and in a few adjoin-
ing counties.
Overshooting had reduced them al
most to the vanishing point four years
ago and the state game and fish COM
mission recommended to A. G. SOrlie,
then governor, that shooting be pro-
hibited. The order was issued under
the terms of a law, passed in 1927,
which permits the governor to open
or close seasons or game upon the
recommendations of the game and
fish department. The order has been
issued annually since, Governor Shat
err continuing the policy Of protection
when he came into office.
The results, Maurek said, have been
splendid. Upon a recent visit to the
Turtle Mountains he flushed four
coveys in a walk through less than a
mile of brush and noted a number
busting themselves in the road as he
drove along.
In addition to overshooting. Maui
rex said, the grouse suffered from a
disease which nearly exterminated
Sem.
Explains Duck Change
The reason for delaying the OPEN
ng of the Understanding season,
Maurek said, is the fact that many
lakes dried up and the ducks had a
second Matching after they moved to
larger lakes. It is useless to shoot
young ducks in the %pinfeather stage,
he said, since they are almost value
less for food and most hunters throw
them away after shooting them. The
time for shooting ducks was extended
to the end Of the year to compensate
for the curtailment at the beginning
of the season. The closing date is in
conformity with the federal law.
The drought has had an adverse
effect on both ducks and prairie
chickens, Maurek said. The ducks
have moved to the larger lakes be-
cause the sloughs are generally dry,
he said, and these probably will offer
the only good shooting this fall.
The prairie chickens Matched fair
ly we'll but the unusually dry season
has been hard on them and many
have persisted.
Maurek considered the ACCESSIBILITY
of recommending a closed season on
prairie chickens but decided upon a
curtailment instead because of the
probable loss Of revenue to the state
game and fish department.
If the season were closed, he said
thousands of hunters in western
North Dakota, which is essentially q
prairie chicken county, would fail te
take out licenses, the money for which
goes to the department. This cur.
tailment in revenue would seriously
hamper the department in its game
and fish propagation work, he said
and he felt it best to permit SOM
shooting and obtain the resulting
revenue.