Please plan to attend the first post Covid APC meeting of 2021 on August 12 where we eat a celebratory BBQ and present the APC awards. Please bring your friends and family. The food will be similar to the last awards meeting. Please reply to this email if you plan to attend. .
Congratulations are in order to the following on being selected for an APC award!
| Bill Baber | Expert Caller of the Year 2019/2020 |
| Darryl Corfman | Hunter Caller of the Year 2019/2020 |
| Mark Miller | Journeyman Caller of the Year 2019/2020 |
| Gary Wolfrum | Novice Caller of the Year 2019/2020 |
| Tony Hamel | Novice Caller of the Year 2019/2020 |
I attended the PVCI meeting on July 7 that featured Larissa Hardings, AZGFD Small Game Program Manager presentation on bears and animal diseases. She is quite knowledgeable, has been in about 100 bear dens, and found none of the bears to be asleep. Bears like to make a bed of Juniper bark for their winter nap. If you want to find a bear den, look for a juniper tree with bark scratched off. Another interesting tidbit on bears is that they sometimes bring carrion into the den to munch on during the winter.
Larissa’s animal disease talk included RHDV2 Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Type 2 which directly affects predator callers, because the domestic and wild rabbit populations have been wiped out by the disease. The predator’s food choice has been limited by the disease, which cannot be transmitted to humans. If you see a rabbit with a bloody nose, it likly has the RHDV2. The disease was first documented in China in 1984. Australia and New Zealand introduced the disease to reign in their wild rabbit populations. The disease in the USA might have been transmitted by imported pets. All living things need shelter, water, and food supplied to predators by rabbits has been greatly diminished. I had a HAM Javelina hunt in unit 22 this year and witnessed two very hungry coyotes off the Barnhardt Trail. In both situations the coyotes paid no attention to me, but were running like the coyote and road runner cartoon after small rodents.
Please sign up to be a mentor at the August 13-15 PVCI Predator Hunting Boot Camp at Vincent Ranch in hunt unit 4A. My grandson, Kitt age 9, granddaughter Thora age 8, and wife Jane will be attending the Saturday session.
Please think about the topics that you would like for future meetings and let the APC board know your thoughts.
Regards,
Jerry Thorson