2010-11 Hunting Seasons Approval Among Items of Business for May Commission Meeting

NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission will set the state’s 2010-11 hunting seasons at its May meeting. The TWRC will meet at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Ray Bell Region II Building.

 

Committee meetings will be held beginning at 1 p.m. on May 19 and the commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. on May 20. The public is invited to attend.

TWRA officials previewed their recommendations for the 2010-11 hunting and trapping seasons at the commission’s April meeting.

 

Among the recommendations presented at the April meeting, no changes were presented concerning deer season dates or to standard antlered and antlerless bag limits. The agency did propose to liberalize antlerless muzzleloader opportunities in six Unit B counties (Anderson, Claiborne, Grainger, Greene, Hancock, and Johnson) by moving them from the 5-day to the 14-day antlerless hunt.

 

TWRA is recommending the elimination of all special season deer quota hunts and creating comparable non-quota hunt opportunities. Regarding special fall turkey hunts, TWRA is proposing their elimination and creating comparable non-quota hunt opportunities. There would be no changes to the spring turkey dates or to the standard bag limits.

 

The TWRA is recommending that all feral hogs and wild boar will now be referred to as wild hogs. TWRA is recommending the elimination of internet check-in for bears to allow for better data collection and to improve the agency’s enforcement capabilities.

 

The agency has proposed to the TWRC that hunters be required to check-in animals on the calendar day in which they are harvested.

 

TWRA is seeking to establish quota hunt drawings for waterfowl hunts on Bogota WMA, Gooch WMA Unit E, and Thorny Cypress WMA. The drawings would provide quality waterfowl hunting opportunities for more than 1,200 waterfowl hunters over the course of a 60-day duck season.

 

David McKinney, TWRA Environmental Services Division Chief, is going to ask the commission to consider a resolution to TVA requesting a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The statement would be in regard to the off-site, in-state disposal of coal ash from Kingston and other TVA coal fired facilities.

 

---TWRA---