Good news for Nevada sportsmen! HUNTER'S ALERT has been waiting to write a report like this for over 20 years. Sportsmen now have 5 (the majority) good Wildlife commissioners on the Board. A very nasty Wildlife Commission meeting was held on August 14 and 15 in Elko. The bighorn sheep people did everything they could to see that Gerald Lent was not re-elected as chairman. Thankfully, the sheep people were defeated.

Gerald Lent is in the process of forming a Mule Deer Task Force committee. The intent of this committee is to facilitate input from concerned deer hunters. For that reason, we are requesting that everyone with an idea or suggestion to bring back our deer to submit it to the committee chair, Scott Raine. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or PO Box 812, Eureka, NV 89316.  All ideas will be considered and I can assure you that some will be presented to the Wildlife Commission for implementation. 

Past and current directors and NDOW biologists have done nothing to bring back our deer so it is going to be up to this Wildlife Commission to implement some changes. At last the general public is going to have some direct input. Please pass this information on to your fellow hunters as the committee wants as many suggestions as possible.

Thank you for your support of HUNTER'S ALERT. We are working for ALL of the sportsmen of Nevada to preserve and protect our hunting heritage. 

Listed below are recommendations sent to Commissioner Raine by HUNTER'S ALERT.

Dear Commissioner Raine:

HUNTER'S ALERT is pleased that someone with some authority has finally realized that we have lost our deer and actually wants to do something to address this loss. For that reason, HUNTER'S ALERT is listing five suggestions which we hope you will consider. 

1.     Replace the current director with someone who wants to bring back our deer.

2.     Managing mountain lions is a state right. The mountain lion should be returned to predator status without any federal repercussions. The threat of withholding P-R money goes against the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution. P-R money should be given to states with no strings attached.

3.     If number 2 is unattainable, insure the objective harvest of mountain lions is accomplished every year.

4.     No killing of does until deer numbers are at 200,000 statewide.

5.     More emphasis on predator control.

Assemblyman Jerry Claborn has proposed a bill which would fill the objective harvest on mountain lions. From 2002 till 2006, the objective harvest was 349 each year. This number is determined by the NDOW biologists. During this period, the average lion harvest was 160 lions per year. By fulfilling the objective harvest, it will mean there will be an additional 9,828 deer or similar size animals which lions would have killed every year.  NDOW is facing financial problems so this will help this agency immensely. If the surplus of 9,828 deer is multiplied by $63.00, the cost of a hunting license and deer tag, that amount is $619,614. Now multiply that figure by three times matching federal funds and the increased amount to NDOW is now $1,857,492. Now that is really good news for deer hunters, sheep hunters and NDOW.

All of a sudden, (after hearing Assemblyman Claborn's proposal) NDOW wants to reduce the objective harvest to 306 lions. We must assume that NDOW likes lions, hates deer and sheep and doesn't need money. This "shoot from the hip" decision could not have been based on scientific studies because studies require many months or years to gather data...of course, that's according to NDOW.

Bad News:

Wildlife Commission chairman Clint Bentley presided over his last meeting on June 28. However, he had one more slimy act planned prior to his departure. As chairman of the Wildlife Commission, he appointed himself to six committees and was chairman of five of them. Is this a pure dictator or what? One of the committees he chaired was the Wildlife Damage Committee, also referred to as the Predator Committee.
The next Wildlife Commission meeting was set for 10:30 AM on August 15. The first item on the agenda was to vote for a new chairman and vice-chair. Clint Bentley was fully aware of this so at his last meeting, he set the Predator Committee meeting for 8 AM on August 15. This meeting was to approve the predator budget of $493,948 for the 2009 expenditures. What makes this so slimy? Clint Bentley and the boys set this up so the full Wildlife Commission would not have a vote on the matter. Clint Bentley's intent was to circumvent the system. Is this pure slime?

Good News:

A few days before the scheduled predator meeting, someone mysteriously cancelled this bogus setup.

More Good News:

Gerald Lent was elected new chairman of the Wildlife Commission.

Good News:

Russ Mason, Chief of big game at NDOW, tendered his resignation.