Columnist Paul Del Giudice: Upland game bird season to close

Thursday, Jan. 24, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

Paula Del Giudice's outdoors column appears Thursday. She can be reached at desertdenizens@aol.com.

Upland game bird hunters have a week to get in their final hunts because quail and chukar hunting seasons come to a close in Nevada on Jan. 31, according to the Nevada Division of Wildlife.

Patrick Cummings, an NDOW biologist, said hunters who will be in the field before the season ends may have difficulty locating birds.

"More than three months of hunting pressure has certainly caused quail and chukar to be wary," he said. "Many areas have also received moisture, which means that the birds may no longer need to come to springs or water developments to obtain water."

Cummings suggested that late-season hunters concentrate their efforts on areas where they found game birds earlier in the season. He said that birds, particularly quail, should be close to where they were earlier.

"Besides being more difficult to locate, birds at this time of year will avoid hunters by running or flushing far out of gun range," he said. "But if you're persistent and willing to do some walking, you may be rewarded with a few birds."

Information about upland game bird hunting is available by calling NDOW's Las Vegas office at 486-5127. The office is open weekdays, except state holidays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, call Dave Small at 731-2330; Rance Spurlock, 565-5668; or Chris Petersen at Thompson Taxidermy, 873-1094.

The class is sponsored by the Nevada Division of Wildlife with instructors from NDOW and the Las Vegas Fly Fishing Club. It will cover basics such as equipment choices, terminology and casting.

Advance registration is required. To enroll, call NDOW's Las Vegas office at 486-5127, ext. 3504.

William Rinne, a Reclamation employee since 1978, replaced Neilson effective Jan. 4.

Neilson will retire to Boulder City.

Before his promotion, Rinne was the area manager for the Boulder Canyon operations office, which administers programs that address the Secretary of the Interior's watermaster functions on the lower Colorado River, including water delivery and accounting; power and water operations and contracting; and water conservation.

The hatchery, which is located between Las Vegas Bay Marina and Lake Mead Marina, is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can view exhibits and see thousands of rainbow trout that are being reared at the site.

Trout raised at the hatchery are stocked into Lake Mead, Lake Mohave and public fishing waters in Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln and Nye counties.