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Feds consider fishing ban on Atlantic red snapper
SAVANNAH, Ga. — After three decades as a charter fishing guide, Steve Amick says he's never seen red snapper as large or plentiful as he did last year off Georgia's Atlantic coast. Soon, catching them could be illegal.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Mich. boy, 12, killed by gun being cleaned by dad
HOMER, Mich. — Police say a 12-year-old Michigan boy was shot and killed when a gun being cleaned by his father went off.

Police say Ian Dunn died Tuesday afternoon at the home about 90 miles west of Detroit. Police are investigating, but they say the shooting appears to be accidental.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Heaters might stave off doom for bats
ALBANY, N.Y. — Bats afflicted with a mysterious and deadly disorder might be able to make it through winter with the help of heated boxes placed in hibernation caves, a pair of researchers say.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Obama resuming safeguards for endangered species
WASHINGTON —- President Barack Obama urged agency heads Tuesday to ignore a Bush administration regulation limiting scientific reviews of projects that might harm endangered wildlife and plants.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Mineral rights showdown at Badlands ranch
BISMARCK, N.D. — A Montana man who wants to mine gravel on the Badlands ranch where Theodore Roosevelt once ran his cattle is comparing his dispute with the U.S. Forest Service to an Old West stare-down. He says he won't blink.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Hopes for studying Arizona jaguar dashed by death
TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona biologists have had to euthanize a jaguar they had outfitted with a tracking collar less than two weeks earlier in the hopes of uncovering the elusive big cat's secrets.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Arkansas fishermen reel in hunting invitation
JONESBORO, Ark. — When a fisherman reels in a high-caliber catch, should he take up hunting? Two Arkansas fishermen will have to answer that question after one of them hooked a shotgun while angling on a lake in northeast Arkansas.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

ATA adjusts show dates for 2010
SALT LAKE CITY — The Archery Trade Association's board of directors has changed the 2010 Trade Show dates to January 13-15 to accommodate a scheduling conflict.
Read complete story from the Outdoors Wire

Eagle busts through truck driver's windshield in Nevada
ELKO, Nev. — A Florida truck driver got an unexpected passenger when an eagle busted through the windshield of his semitrailer on Interstate 80 in northeast Nevada. Matthew Roberto Gonzalez of Opalocka, Fla., reported to the Nevada Highway Patrol Monday afternoon that he had just struck an eagle while driving westbound on I-80 near Wells, about 100 miles west of the Nevada-Utah line.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Australia hunter licenses rise 70 percent for first duck season in 3 years
THE RSPCA has declared open season on hunters after an advertising campaign delivered a staggering 70 percent increase in new hunting license applications.
Read complete story from the Adelaide.com

Man on second saltwater fishing trip bags huge shark
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — A Texas man on just his second saltwater fishing trip caught an 11-foot, 8-inch shortfin mako shark that weighed 1,149.5 pounds on scales at Port Fourchon, La. Bill Walters, a 56-year-old dog trainer from Granbury, Texas, caught the shark last week aboard the Orange Beach, Ala.-based Sea Spray while trolling near the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Read complete story from WTVY.com

Oldest fossilized brain found in fish from Midwest
WASHINGTON — A 300-million-year-old fossilized brain has been discovered by researchers studying a type of fish that once lived in what is now Kansas and Oklahoma.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Scientists meet to save Lascaux cave from fungus
PARIS — Geologists, biologists and other scientists convened Thursday in Paris to discuss how to stop the spread of fungus stains — aggravated by global warming — that threaten France's prehistoric Lascaux cave drawings.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Kent Co. hunting reserve in hot water over quarantined deer
The owners of a private hunting reserve in Kent County waived their right to a preliminary exam today in connection with a felony charge that they illegally tried to remove a whitetail deer from their facility the day after the state had placed it under quarantine.
Read complete story from the Free Press

State troopers sentenced for poaching deer on duty
CHEBOYGAN, Mich. — Two Michigan State Police troopers have been sentenced to jail and fined for poaching deer while on duty.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Farmer to take fight over bear carcass to court
BOYCEVILLE, Wis. — A farmer says he's ready to take his fight with the state Department of Natural Resources over a bear carcass to court. Neil Schlough said he was harvesting corn Nov. 26 when he realized he had hit an animal with his combine. He discovered it was a 700-pound bear.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Indonesian tiger catchers race against time
SUNGAI GELAM, Indonesia — Indonesia's tiger catchers have a double job - protecting humans from tigers, and tigers from humans.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Investigators eye standards for bird collisions
WASHINGTON — A key question emerging from the investigation of the US Airways plane that ditched into New York's Hudson River last month is whether jet engines should be required to withstand a collision with a bird the size of a Canada goose.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

Realtree continues pattern of support for NHF Day
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Realtree, the outdoor industry mainstay and longtime supporter of National Hunting and Fishing Day, has announced its 2009 renewal of sponsorship for the annual celebration of hunting, fishing and conservation.
Read complete story from the Associated Press

More deer found with chronic wasting disease
Five more cases of chronic wasting disease have been found in white-tailed deer, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks said Friday.

All were shot in northwestern Kansas during the 2008 seasons within deer management unit 1. That brings the total of deer known to have the disease to eight for that season.
Read complete story from The Wichita Eagle

Hunters shrink New Jersey's wild boar population
They are cunning and ferocious, but the mysterious feral pigs of New Jersey were no match for the state's top predators: hunters.

State wildlife officials report that 56 of the bristly-coated swine — more than half the estimated population — were killed in December and January in the first New Jersey feral pig hunt in the wilds of Gloucester County.
Read complete story from The Star-Ledger

Wolves kill 11 sheep at ranch
Wolves killed 11 sheep and injured five more Thursday south of Two Dot, USDA Wildlife Services officials confirmed Friday.
Read complete story from the Billings Gazette

Now's a good time to buy cabins and hunting property at low prices
You can't buy much without a generous down payment, but there are bargains in Wisconsin now on recreational land.

As the economy tanks, some people have been forced to sell their cabins and hunting property.
Read complete story from the Journal Sentinel

Dick Cheney invite to American Museum of Fly Fishing sparks anger
When the American Museum of Fly Fishing hooked Dick Cheney for a fund-raising dinner, critics howled that they should throw him back.

Cheney — whose Secret Service code name was "Angler" — spearheaded energy policy at the White House and bears blame, detractors say, for the Bush administration's poor environmental record.
Read complete story from the Daily News

'Right to Hunt' amendment winner for sportsmen
Finally, Arkansans will get to vote on a meaningful "Right to Hunt" amendment to the Arkansas Constitution.

It guarantees a public right to hunt and fish, and it specifies hunting, fishing and trapping as the preferred methods of managing game and fish.
Read complete story from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette