Fall 2008

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Nuisance Problem Becoming Bearable What would you call having to deal with nearly 300 reports of bears encroaching on urban areas? Carl Lackey, Nevada Department of Wildlife Biologist, calls it a slow year, but he’s not complaining. Last year, Nevada’s bears roaming into urban areas searching for food became national news with bears showing up at fast food restaurants and in people’s kitchens on a consistent basis. NDOW personnel handled 1,531 bear complaints in 2007 alone. This year, however, those complaints have dropped off dramatically...Learn More.

Fowl Play! It was a beautiful fall day for the 25 youngsters and parents from around Elko County who showed up for the 6th annual Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Youth Waterfowl Expo. The event, hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) and Ducks Unlimited (DU), 4-H Shooting Sports and Safari Club International is held every year in September to introduce youth to the waterfowl and hunting opportunities that can be found at Ruby Lake NWR and surrounding areas. According to Jeff Mackay, USFWS biologist, “While Nevada is the driest state in the country, areas like Ruby Lake NWR provide excellent waterfowl hunting opportunities that few hunters take advantage of.”...Learn More.

Disabled Hunters in Nevada N.O.W. Have Help Life for anyone who has a severe disability is full of questions. Can I do that, can I go there, can I… Questions that often concern the simple, mundane tasks in daily life that most of us take for granted, let alone the fun things that give our lives quality, meaning and happiness. Until recently, the question for disabled hunters in Nevada was whether they could get into the field and enjoy their sport. N.O.W. they have an answer. Nevada Outdoorsmen in Wheelchairs (N.O.W.) is the work of Virginia City residents Rob & Darcy McMillin. A life-long outdoorsman and avid hunter, Rob never gave much thought to having the ability to do the things he loved. But after Rob was involved in a serious motorcycle accident and lost his right leg below the knee, he struggled mightily for three years to get himself back to where he could hunt again...Learn More.

67 Years of Hunting…and Counting When Nevada Department of Wildife game biologist Mike Dobel first met Roger Iveson, the then 70-year-old hunter was cleaning his ducks after a successful day of waterfowl hunting in Northern Nevada. “I had seen him around several times before, so I went up and introduced myself. When he said his name was Iveson, I mentioned that I knew several Ivesons in the area. He smiled and half joking-half serious replied ‘Well, I’m the Iveson that hunts.’ Even though anyone who knows the Ivesons knows that they are all avid hunters, he wanted to make sure I knew who the serious hunter was,’” said Dobel. The now 75-year-old native Nevada got his chance to prove that fact like never before this season as he defied the odds and drew antelope, deer, elk and bighorn sheep tags all in the same year...Learn More.

Volunteers Rescue Aspen Trees Personnel from the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and local volunteers recently constructed pipe rail fences around some aspen stands in the Stag Mountain area destroyed by the 2006 Charleston fire. The fire burned more than 148,000 acres in central Elko County and destroyed most of the mature aspen trees in the area.When aspen trees burn, new shoots are quick to sprout, but the tender new growth attracts grazing livestock, which prevents replacement of mature trees...Learn More.

Q1 Bond Money Put to Good Use In November of 2002, Nevada voters approved Question 1, an initiative spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy with support from numerous state agencies, county governments, and conservation organizations; to provide monies for parks, clean water and wildlife habitat. The passage of Question 1 authorized the state to issue up to $200 million in general obligation bonds for projects to protect and preserve natural resources across Nevada. The Nevada Department of Wildlife’s (NDOW) portion was $27.5 million and is extremely important for Nevada’s wildlife resources and has been used to support wildlife related projects, as well as to enhance state-owned wildlife facilities, which will ultimately benefit all Nevadans...Learn More.

Putting Nevada’s Upland Game Birds in the Bag Ask hunters who have been around for more than a couple of years and most will tell you that simply being in the outdoors is perhaps the most fulfilling aspect of the hunting experience. That said, they will also tell you that bagging their game of choice is a bonus they all hope to enjoy. After all, you can’t savor the taste of quail baked on a bed of rice and cream of chicken soup if you don’t first put a few birds in your bag. While Nevada is well known for the quality of its big game, the state also boasts some excellent upland game bird hunting opportunities. Hunters can pursue three species of quail, three species of grouse and the chukar partridge. And for the hardy soul, Nevada offers the country’s only population of the elusive Himalayan Snowcock which makes its home at about 10,000 feet in the Ruby Mountains of Elko County. But the most popular of Nevada’s upland game birds are chukar and quail...Learn More.

Fall Fishing: The “Best Bet” Waters Fall fishing has always been the sure bet for the seasoned angler. Summer’s heat is gone and the fish are on the bite! Fall always provides perfect temperatures: the air is just right, and the water temperatures are perfect. Less traffic on the water and hungry fish building their reserves for winter mean more productive fishing for the angler. Some species of trout are spawning. Their search for food pre and post-spawn equates to high catch rates for the elusive brown trout...Learn More.