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Drought stresses game animals, hampers hunting

The continuing drought is stressing game animals, making them more likely to forage for food in backyards and along deadly highways but less likely to be hunted for sport, officials and hunters said.

ÒItÕs been very rough on animals, including elk and deer,Ó said Jackie Denk, fire information officer for the Kaibab National Forest. ÒI know people in the local area have seen a lot of elk and deer in their backyards. They are really coming down (from the forest) because they are seeking food and water.Ó

Denk said a number of elk and deer appear Òthin and sickly,Ó which she blames on a long-term drought. She said September 2001 through this May was the driest period on record, adding May Ð in which no rain fell Ð was the driest May since the keeping of records from 1898.

Drought affects the ability of animals to produce offspring, said Ron Sieg, regional supervisor for the Arizona Department of Game and Fish in Flagstaff. His agency issues hunting licenses based on a statewide lottery system.

ÒWe are not seeing disease issues,Ó Sieg said. ÒWe are seeing some mortalities, just the general drought conditions of limited water and limited forage.Ó

The drought will hurt body and antler growth because nutrition has declined, said Johnathon Weatherhead , a licensed guide for elk, antelope and javelina who works in his parentsÕ hunting-supply store in Williams.

ÒWhen there is no water, they (the animals) are not going to grow,Ó he said.

Some elk bulls already have rubbed out their antlers on trees to remove the stub from their antlers, said his mother, La Donna Weatherhead.

ÒIt seems strange because it seems too early in the year,Ó she said.

The antler rubbing generally takes place a few weeks later, her husband, Marvin, said.

Marvin, a hunting guide who has an archery license for elk, said he does not expect elk to be Òas devastated as we thoughtÓ from the drought, providing it ends. However, he said he thinks deer might be faring worse because they are not as sturdy as elk.

The drought could be a godsend to his hunting guide business, he said.

ÒAs a guide service, we are going to be getting more clients because it is harder to hunt,Ó Weatherhead said. ÒI think the drought situation is going to take a lot of scouting to find these animals.Ó

Weatherhead said he did not scout for game when fire hazards prompted the Forest Service to close the Kaibab National Forest. The Forest Service closed the Kaibab May 30 and reopened it July 20.

A customer of the Weatherheads, Tiger Grantham, agreed that hunting could be more of a challenge.

ÒIt should be a little harder to find game,Ó he said.

Grantham, a Williams native who works for the cityÕs water department, said he did not draw tags this year in Arizona because of the competitive lottery, but is participating in Utah. He said he has not hunted deer in Williams in four years because of the lottery system.

Game and Fish sets its permit process in the winter, and conducts meetings for the public in January, Sieg said. The state Game and Fish Commission in April approves the seasons for hunting various game.

ÒWhat we do is set our seasons based on survey information from the previous year, so we conducted surveys in the summer and fall of 2001 to project seasons for 2002,Ó he said. ÒWe have already issued most of the hunt tags for the fall.Ó

Sieg said Game and Fish conducted offspring counts for antelope in July and will start the counts for deer and elk in mid-August. That information will form the basis for permits issued in 2003.

ÒWe base everything on the number of female animals and how many males in relation to that number and how many offspring in relation to that number,Ó Sieg said. ÒWe have not gotten around to analyzing the informationÓ from antelopes and other animals.

ÒWe do this all by game management units,Ó he said. ÒWe have divided the whole state into 45 game management units, and we manage the population of each of those units.Ó

Meanwhile, the earliest season, for deer hunted by bows and arrows, begins Aug. 23, Sieg said. Also beginning that day on every other Friday through Christmas, Game and Fish will open some seasons for bear, buffalo, elk, deer, pronghorn antelopes and wild turkeys.

Some game might not make it to the start of the hunting seasons. Roadkill is partly to blame, according to Sgt. Rod Wigman of the state Department of Public Safety in Flagstaff.

He said the number of accidents involving animals Ð mostly deer and elk - has risen, with animals contributing to 50 percent of the traffic accidents in the Williams area. The area extends on Interstate 40 from the west in Ask Fork east to Parks and includes State Route 64 heading to Grand Canyon National Park and half of Route 180 heading toward Flagstaff.

ÒIt is a lot higher than it has been,Ó Wigman said. ÒWe attribute it to the drought.Ó

He said animals head to the interstates and highways because of the availability of food and water.

ÒThey are just wandering around trying to find water, and in doing that they are crossing the roads more frequently,Ó Wigman said.

Rain runoff from roads makes the nearby grass greener, and lures the animals, according to Wigman.

Game and Fish tries to ameliorate the effects of drought by hauling water to aboveground tanks in various locations throughout the area, Sieg said. Tanks hold anywhere from 3,000 to 30,000 gallons.

Unfortunately, some of the tanks in the 1.6 million-acre Kaibab National Forest have gone dry, Denk said.

ÒThe animals know where the water is,Ó she said.

Denk indicated that she has seen some hopeful signs with the recent start of the monsoon season. Green grass is emerging and some tanks are filling up with water.

However, the monsoon cannot by itself end the drought, Denk said.

ÒWe need a good winter,Ó she said. ÒA good winter could end the drought.Ó


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