Crow hunting season proposal ruffling feathers once again

Monday, Jan. 5, 1998 | 2:17 a.m.

But the proposal is back on the table and one commissioner who opposes the idea of a crow hunting season says it may pass this time.

"If I had to make a guess, I would say that the commission will approve a season," said David Jickling of Reno, a commissioner representing conservation interests on the nine-member board. "I won't vote for a crow season. I'm not convinced that sportsmen truly need something more to be able to shoot."

The Wildlife Commission includes five sporting representatives, one rancher, one farmer, one conservationist and one member of the general public. Members are appointed by the governor.

Crows, part of the same bird family that includes ravens, magpies and jays, are viewed by many Nevada ranchers and farmers as a pest. Ravens are considered to be the bigger problem bird, eating the eggs of other game birds and desert tortoises as well, Jickling said.

But ravens are protected and cannot be hunted as a result of a migratory bird treaty with Mexico.

Critics of a crow hunting season point out that ravens and crows look very similar and that the wrong bird may be shot by sportsmen.

Ravens are the larger of the two birds, with a wingspan of more than four feet, while crows are smaller, with a wingspan of less than three feet.

In southern Nevada, the raven is more common, while the crow tends to live farther north.

Norm Saake, the Wildlife Division's statewide migratory game bird biologist, said crow hunting seasons are common throughout the country. The division is recommending the regulation to establish a hunting season because sportsmen want it, he said.

"Basically it is a species that is hunted all over," he said. "Some sportsmen said they would like the season so they could hunt when the traditional migratory bird hunting is not taking place."

Saake said there would likely be a spring and fall season for hunting, with a limit of 10 birds a day.

The proposed regulation will be considered by the commission in a public hearing when it meets Jan. 16 in Henderson.