PROPOSED GAME WARDEN BILL GUTTED IN STATE HOUSE

A Senate bill that would have required state game wardens to get permission before entering private land to investigate a gunshot has been thwarted in the state House of Representatives.

The language in Senate Bill 1142 that would have barred game wardens from entering private land based solely on the sound of a gunshot was replaced in the House. The bill now contains proposed legislation about feral hog hunting.

The Oklahoma State Game Wardens opposed the bill in its original form. Another piece of legislation opposed by game wardens which would allow the use of gun suppressors on public hunting land is still alive. have a tournament April 16 and 17 at Tom Steed Lake.

Entry fee is $200 for one-, two- or three-angler teams with an additional $30 for big fish. Fishing begins at 8 a.m. each day, with the weigh-ins at the main boat ramp at 4:30 p.m. both days.

For more information, call

ANGLERS HAVE BEEN BUSY SNAGGING SPOONBILLS

at (580) 4652626

The paddlefishing around Grand Lake has really picked up in recent days.

Two weeks ago, only 178 spoonbills had been checked in at the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation’s Paddlefish Research Center near the lake.

As of Thursday, the number had increased to more than 1,200. Those numbers should continue to climb, especially if the long-range weather forecast is accurate.

“It all depends on the rain,” said who works at the research center for the Wildlife Department. “In the next two weeks, they are forecasting a big rain that will last five or six days in a row. Whenever that happens, the water will go up and the fish will start moving up the river.”

STATE SCHOLASTIC SHOOT TO BE HELD IN EL RENO

The Oklahoma Scholastic Shooting Sports Program will hold its state shoot Wednesday at the Oklahoma Trap and Skeetshooters Association in El Reno.

Sixteen high school teams and eight junior high teams qualified from regionals to the state shoot, along with the top 20 individual qualifiers in both boys and girls junior high and high school divisions.

The Scholastic Shooting Sports Program is administered by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.