More than $260,000 was collected for Montana wildlife at a state auction of sheds, confiscated antlers and hides. Pixabay

An auction held in Billings, Montana Sept. 25, brought in $311,740 for confiscated and picked-up antlers, horns, trophy mounts, and hides collected by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) staff over the last four years, according to the Montana Standard.

That’s money raised was three times as much as these auctions usually produce for the state.

“We had way more turnout than expected,” said auctioneer Cash Seal with the National Auction company, which handled the sales. “We registered over 400 bidders and well over 1,000 people came. I was not expecting that kind of turnout.”

Seal said it was amazing to have that number of interested people for the auction, and the amount of money raised in bidding. The auction netted more than $260,000 after commissions and expenses.

The Montana Standard reported a big bull elk’s antlers sold for $12,000. The elk had a Boone and Crockett rack score of 390 points. It was confiscated after a poaching bust.

The two bighorn rams, which died of natural causes on Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake, sold for $9,500 and $8,700 respectively. Wild Horse Island is home to the world record bighorn sheep pickup or deadhead, meaning that it died of natural causes and the skull was found..

“Our enforcement staff work hard throughout the year to protect Montana’s natural resources,” FWP director Hank Worsech said in a press release. 

Montana law requires FWP to sell seized items at public auction, including birds, animals, fish, heads, hides, teeth and other parts of all animals other than grizzly bear. When a game animal carcass is confiscated FWP donates the meat to charity, removing the antlers for auction. When enough inventory is collected, FWP holds an auction. 

“The money raised in the auction goes right back into the critical conservation work we do across the state,” Worsech said.

Such an unusually large number of items for auction lured many bidders and curious onlookers.

“It was an attraction for people to come and see,” Seal said.

The post Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Auctions $311,740 Worth of Horns, Antlers, and Trophy Mounts for Conservation appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Large concentrations of tiny algae cells in the Indian River Lagoon discolored the water a deep green. This particular algae can deplete dissolved oxygen in the waters where it blooms, and fish kills have occurred with these blooms in the Lagoon. FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced last month that more than $53 million of much-needed funding will be earmarked to for 13 improvement projects in the Indian River Lagoon that lies southeast of Orlando. Florida Today reports that DeSantis also pledged to provide a similar amount of funding each year to improve water quality of this important waterway, which has been the focus of serious water quality concerns in recent years.

DeSantis made the announcement at Sebastian Inlet State Park, which is south of Cape Canaveral and near the shores of the Indian River south of Cape Canaveral. The badly-needed funding will support 13 cleanup projects, including updating several sewage treatment plants, which are blamed for increasing the amount of algae entering entering the Indian River Lagoon. Another approved project is to eliminate more than 3,000 septic tanks along the river, which experts say harm the water quality of the ecosystem.

“These projects are estimated to reduce total nitrogen by nearly 265,000 pounds per year and reduce total phosphorus by nearly 43,000 pounds per year,” DeSantis announced.

The projects to improve water quality have been needed for years, according to anglers, guides, and other concerned stakeholders like Captains for Clean Water. The once-lush seagrass beds that are the lifeblood of the Indian River estuary have suffered massive die-offs thanks to algae and other water quality issues. Grass beds in the river are estimated at less than half what they were just 10 years ago. This diminished grass food supply has in part fueled the largest manatee die-off in Florida history. A record of nearly 1,000 manatees have died in Florida so far this year, with 320 of those deaths occurring in Brevard County, which is home to the Indian River estuary. Without healthy seagrass, the health of other native species like gamefish—including snook, seatrout, tarpon, and many others—have tanked, too.

Read Next: Florida’s Water Crisis Has Sport Fishing on the Brink of Collapse

The governor said this Indian River Lagoon funding is part of an overall designation of $114 million that will fund water-quality improvement projects throughout Florida.

“Expediting water quality restoration has been one of my top priorities,” DeSantis said. “The Indian River Lagoon covers 40 percent of Florida’s East Coast and is one of our state’s most iconic and critical natural resources, contributing an estimated $2 billion annually for tourism and recreation, and $767 million to the marine industry.

The post Florida Designates $53 Million Annually for Indian River Lagoon Cleanup Projects appeared first on Outdoor Life.

Despite an increase in antlerless deer tags. Maine hunters are still not taking enough does. Pixabay

Maine wildlife officials say more doe deer must be harvested to manage the state’s herd better. To allow that, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (DIFW) is reviewing its harvest permit system to make it more liberal, allowing hunters to collect more does during next year’s season.

“Over the past handful of years, we’ve kind of reached a plateau or a threshold where we’re just not able to achieve any significant increase in the harvest of antlerless deer despite issuing a lot of permits,” DIFW Wildlife Division Director Nathan Webb told the Bangor Daily News.

A record 153,910 any-deer permits were issued this year to hunters, allowing a hunter to tag an antlerless deer or a buck with antlers less than 3 inches. That’s 43,920 more permits than the previous season when hunters collected 14,020 antlerless deer, including 9,120 adult does and 4,900 fawns.

But that’s not enough antlerless whitetails to properly manage the state’s deer herd.

“Our projections indicate that for every 10 issued permits we harvest one adult doe,” says Webb.

One favored proposal, according to the Bangor News, would change the any-deer permit to an antlerless one. Rather than choosing between shooting a buck and a doe, a hunter could harvest an additional doe in a specific Wildlife Management District.

Hunters would then have two tags and could shoot two deer.

The change would increase the harvest of antlerless deer, but also would reduce the number of permits issued, according to state deer biologist Nathan Bieber.

“We don’t want people sitting in their deer stand on opening day and watching all these does go by thinking, ‘oh, if only it were the last day I would take one of these,’” Bieber said. “Instead, they could say, ‘I’ve got an antlerless permit now and I can still buck hunt afterwards. I’ll take one of these does and then I’ll just keep hunting for a buck later.

“Underlying all proposals is the desire to put permits in the hands of people who are more likely to use them.”

Read Next: It’s Time to Cut the B.S. in Deer Hunting

Any-deer permits have been free to all applicants since Maine implemented the antlerless deer permit system in 1986. One state proposal would charge for an antlerless deer permit.

“People are going to be less likely to apply for permits if there’s a fee attached and they’re not going to use it,” Bieber said. “We want to incentivize people to actually use the permits.”

State wildlife officials are expected in January to present final proposals to the Legislature for implementation of a new doe deer permit system for next year’s Maine deer hunting.

The post Maine Is Asking Whitetail Hunters to Kill More Does appeared first on Outdoor Life.