Waterfowl hunters must apply for reservations

Earlier this summer, the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners approved a regulation change governing the reservation process for opening day and the first weekend of the mourning dove hunt at the Overton Wildlife Management Area.

The change did away with the old manual system that involved drawing numbered bingo balls to determine your place in the reservation line and replaced it with a process requiring the submission of paper applications. At its recent meeting in Winnemucca, the commission approved the establishment of a similar system for the waterfowl opener at the Overton and Key Pittman WMAs.

Hunters planning to hunt the Overton WMA the first two days of the duck and goose season, or Key Pittman on opening day, must now submit a paper application. Those applications must be submitted through a postal service and received at the Nevada Department of Wildlife office in Reno no later than 5 p.m. Sept. 12.

The drawing will take place at 10 a.m. Sept. 26 at the agency's Las Vegas office, located at 4747 Vegas Drive. Those who are successful in the drawing will be notified by mail. Application forms are available online and at the NDOW offices in Las Vegas and Henderson.

Under the old system, hunters had to be present at one of three locations to participate in the reservation drawing process. With the new system, that is no longer the case, so regardless of one's work schedule or residence they can participate in the drawing.

Located at the southern end of the Moapa Valley, the Overton WMA is an easy drive from the Las Vegas Valley and is, therefore, a high-demand area - not only for the season opener but for the entire waterfowl hunting season. To meet that seasonlong demand, NDOW requires reservations the entire season, but the drawing is required only for the first two days.

Key Pittman WMA is generally located at the northern end of the Pahranagat Valley in the small community of Hiko. Though popular with hunters, Key Pittman doesn't receive the constant pressure experienced at the Overton WMA, so reservations are required only for opening day.

Hunters may apply for reservations as a party, but no more than four applicants may apply on one reservation application. However, a hunter may be listed only on one application for each hunt day for which reservations are required. If an applicant tries to game the system by including his name on more than one application for a given hunt day, his application will be rejected. Be sure you know who will be in your party because substitutions will not be permitted.

■ 'ASSAULT WEAPONS' HEARING - With California politics moving eastward, it was only a matter of time before so-called "assault weapons" became the subject of a political hearing in Nevada. Such will be the case Tuesday during a meeting of the Nevada Legislature's Advisory Committee on Administration of Justice.

The third agenda item is an interim hearing on the issue of "Assault Weapons in Nevada" and will include a look at Nevada's laws governing these firearms. Representatives from law enforcement, The Legal Center to Prevent Gun Violence in San Francisco and the National Rifle Association will be included in the discussion. There will be no public testimony.

The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. at the Legislative Building in Carson City but can be viewed locally via video conference in Room 4412 of the Grant Sawyer Building at North Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.