The Ville Platte Rotary Club met on Tuesday at Sip and Savor, and Richard LeJeune invited Mike Darbonne to speak.  Mike is with Wildlife and Fisheries and works in Allen Parish.  He spoke about recent changes to the hunting laws for the upcoming hunting season.

For duck hunters, it is now possible to get a federal duck stamp on-line, and it can be pulled up on your phone.

Drones can’t be used to track a wounded deer. 

One dog is allowed to track a wounded deer on WMA land, and the dog must be on a leash.  On private land, the dog must either be on a leash or GPS tracking collar.

The limit on turkeys is 2 gobblers.  

During closed season, on WMA land, you are allowed to carry a weapon for personal safety while hunting, if you are a legal gun carrier, and the gun is not a scoped weapon or any weapon used for hunting.

The limit on redfish is 4 fish 18” – 27” long.  It is illegal to keep anything over 27”.  The limit for trout is 15 – from 13” – 20” long, and you can only keep 2 over 20”.  This rule is in place statewide.

Crabbing is legal with a hook & Line license for $5.00.  Fisherman must have a 6 pack license for Charter Fishing.

There is a lottery for bear licenses, and it is $50.00 to participate.  If you are selected, you can then buy a license with up to 10 tags.

Mr. Darbonne also provided hunting pamphlets for more information.

The program for the next Rotary meeting on September 10^th will be presented by Rotarian Kermit Miller.