New Hampshire’s Fish and Game Department held a hearing last week in Concord to address proposed rule changes regarding hunting and keeping with state-approved goals.
The first of three hearings scheduled to be held, this was quite an eventful meeting.
Among the proposed changes are hunting expansions for bears, turkeys, and deer in certain parts of the state.
Fish and Game officials are hoping to provide more opportunities to hunt deer in 13 out of 20 wildlife management areas in the state, along with opening up hunting for deer on islands.
The proposed rule changes would “allow hunters to kill a second deer before registering their first deer, and create opportunities for hunters to register deer online,” and similar goals have been made for turkey hunting.
Fish and Game officials have noted that the “[bear] population in the White Mountains is higher than the state’s goal, and has been for a long time.” They are proposing that hunters be allowed to kill a second bear in that region and want to expand statewide bear registration stations.
Concord farmer Donald Ross was in favor of this, saying, “People will be in one 2-acre section [of the farm] and there’ll be a bear eating strawberries two acres away,” scaring customers away.
While some spoke in favor of expanding hunting opportunities, the New Hampshire Public Radio mentioned that others advocated against expanded hunting and trapping in the state.
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Joan O’Brien petitioned to restrict the hunting season for coyotes, limiting it to five months, from April through August, so they could raise their young.
Other speakers argued for keeping the year-round season for coyotes and expanding the nighttime hunting season for those animals, which is currently January through March.
Additionally, some called for the state to reopen a hunting season for bobcats, which they said have become an issue in populated areas. However, changes to bobcat rules were not proposed by Fish and Game officials.
Let’s all cross our fingers for the people of New Hampshire, hoping that they will have optimal hunting access to keep these animals in check.