A Bill To Allow Hunting Over Bait In Pennsylvania

State Rep. Gary Haluska, from Cambria County, is introducing a bill into the Pennsylvania House that would for all intent and purposes allow hunters to use corn as bait and be able to hunt deer over a pile of corn. This practice is currently not allowed in most of Pennsylvania, save an area in Southeast Pennsylvania where deer populations are out of control and biologists are trying to dream up ways of reducing it.

For clarifications of this discussion, the allowance of deer baiting and hunting over it in seven counties is a bit unusual. Where most of the deer population problems are, there are very little allowable hunting areas. Game officials thought they would try allowing baiting in surrounding areas in hopes of luring the deer from the quiet sanctuaries they live in out to bait piles where hunters can shoot the deer. I’m not sure how that worked. Last year was the first attempt at this.

Now we have legislation, HB1862, that would make this practice legal statewide. For now, let’s toss out the ethics of hunting over bait because there is very little black and white when it comes to ethics.

It is legal to feed deer in Pennsylvania as well as growing food plots for game. What is illegal is to set up a stand or blind and hunt directly over that bait pile or food plot. Why change it?

There’s always been a lot of discussion about what is legal and not legal as well as the reasons for and against hunting over bait. We now have at least one legislator who wants to clarify the law by making it legal.

To me the real issue should be whether allowing hunting deer over bait is a necessary part of a deer management plan rather than one simply to clarify laws. Allowing hunting over bait could drastically change the results of deer harvesting, forcing officials to scramble to find ways of curtailing the harvest numbers.

Remember, Pennsylvania has been having long and heated discussions about whether the Game Commission is allowing for the taking of too many deer now. Officials set out to reduce deer populations throughout most of the state in order to save the forests. Hunters complained, even to the point of one hunting group taking the PGC to court to force them to stop the overkilling of whitetail deer.

I recently talked with the director of wildlife for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Bob Duncan, about that state’s use of hound hunting of deer as a management tool. Aside from the fact that hound hunting is a longtime tradition in Virginia, Duncan informed me that hound hunting is very much a necessary part of the overall deer management plan for that state. Without it, he said, they would have a serious deer overpopulation problem.

Is this the case in Pennsylvania though? Do they have a deer overpopulation problem that could be better addressed by allowing hunting over bait? It would seem not to be the case and that this law proposal would only work to clarify or simplify the law governing hunting over bait.

Should this become law, Pennsylvania hunters may expect to see some changes made in the number of tags issued and length of season in order to maintain the deer herds at desired levels.

Tom Remington

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Mexico Calls On U.S. To Alter Boarder Plans To Save Animals

The L.A. Times has a short snippet this morning saying that the Mexican government is asking the U.S. to change its plans of building a fence because it may effect animals. Instead they want to build bridges and such done in a way so as to “be less attractive to smugglers”.

Let’s get this right. The Mexican government wants most of their people to go to the U.S. and make American dollars and ship them back to Mexico and we should listen to their recommendations? These illegals are currently destroying the ecological systems that support all of these animals they say need protecting, yet they have no interest in addressing that problem.

And we must remember that when illegals come into this country, they consider areas that are “less attractive” to cross the border. Please!

Tom Remington

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Hand Wrestling Coyotes

That’s right. A man from Oklahoma who catches and wrestles coyotes.

Photo courtesy of Kelly Kerr, Tulsa World.
Doug Eoff — Frederick town character and self-proclaimed coyote hunter — poses with his dog, Candy.

“If a coyote bites down on me,” he says, “I don’t panic.”

If you jerk your hand back, the coyote’s teeth will rip flesh off the bone. So Eoff calmly digs a fingernail into the soft roof of the coyote’s mouth.

“When it lets go, grab it by the throat and yank it up,” Eoff says. “When you get all four legs off the ground, the fight is over. You’ve won.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Tom Remington

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Maine Rural Artistry – Lawn Art?

Reader Richard Paradis sent along some photos he took while out touring around rural Maine. This I guess would be wildlife of a different kind.

Here are the words of Richard as he describes his photo journalism.

A few photos taken on a Sunday summertime drive in rural Maine (Saint George) are enough to amuse me for a week – probably a lot more than that.

Jamie Wyeth, eat your heart out.

Richard Paradis Photo

Richard Paradis Photo

Richard Paradis Photo

Tom Remington

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On The Road Again

I’m sorry! Blogging will be light today as I will be on the road most of the day. I hope I will have time here and there to add an article or two. It may come later today too after I get home, so check back in from time to time.

Tom Remington

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Another Assault On Sporting Dogs

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance has teamed up with the Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs to fight what they call ridiculous legislation “that would make it impossible to keep hunting dogs in the state”.

Read more about it here.

Tom Remington

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New Jersey “Puts Something Out There” For A Bear Management Plan

Under a court order, Lisa Jackson, head of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, has to come up with a bear management plan by Aug. 10th. She released a draft plan that does not include hunting as a means of reducing populations and managing the bear. The Fish and Game Department, which falls under the control of DEP, disagrees with Jackson’s plan and is in the process of writing their own.

These are the words as written in Newsday.com of Jackson’s efforts to come up with a plan.

“We felt it was necessary to put something out there,” Jackson said Thursday.

How nice! The court order came back in March and now, nearly five months later, she had to “put something out there”.

I have also to comment on Newsday’s take on the story. They put it this way.

Jackson, who blocked a scheduled bear hunt last year by invalidating the existing bear management policy, favors measures to reduce dangerous interactions between bears and people, including legislation to require use of bear-proof trash containers and public education programs.

I chuckled over their term “invalidating”, when referring to Jackson’s actions when she tossed a legal, court approved bear management plan in the garbage simply because she didn’t agree with it.

Then Newsday tries to put Jackson in the light of someone who is concerned by saying she favors measures to reduce “dangerous” human/bear interactions, “including” bear-proof trash cans and education.

None of the methods Jackson favors are effective. One of her pet projects was thousands of dollars spent on bear-proof garbage cans in West Milford. First they contracted for the cans but got no handles for the cans. Then they had to rebid because the company that won the bid said they didn’t figure in handles. Then the garbage company wants a new contract because of the extra time and effort involved in dealing with the lids, etc., etc.

But, according to Newsday, she favors measures. Problem is none of her favorites involves the only known and proven way to management bear numbers, hunting.

You can tell the importance that Jackson is putting into protecting New Jersey citizens from those “dangerous” bear interactions because she “had to put something out there”. Well, how about putting something out there that falls under the category of intelligent and non-political.

Tom Remington

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Wolves In Yellowstone Allow Aspen To Grow Says University Study

And away we go!!! Yet another study proving that studies can prove anything. Before you jump all over me because I am dissing studies, I’m not saying this study is flawed nor am I saying it is accurate and complete. It’s just another study.

Oregon State University has released the results of a new study that is a contradiction of other studies. So who do we believe? A question I’ve asked before.

According to Physorg.com, the OSU research proved two things. One, bringing wolves into Yellowstone National Park reduced the elk population and two, it changed the feeding habits of the elk so that in some areas the aspen trees have been able to regrow.

After an absence of 70 years, wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone Park in 1995, and elk populations began a steady decline, cut in half over the past decade. Also, the presence of a natural predator appears to have altered the behavior of the remaining elk, which in their fear of wolves tend to avoid browsing in certain areas where they feel most vulnerable. The two factors together have caused a significant reduction in elk browsing on young aspen shoots, allowing them to survive to heights where some are now above the animal browsing level.

I’m not going to argue the fact that the presence of wolves reduces elk populations. According to this study, the elk numbers have been cut in half. I think most scientists will concur that wolves eat elk and in some cases enough so that numbers have been significantly effected.

But what about the change of feeding habits? The OSU report says this “ecology of fear” substantially alters elk feeding habits.

This element of fear, the OSU scientists said, is a concept that is now getting more attention in ecology – it factors in not just the numbers or species of animals, but also their behavior and the reasons for that behavior. Predators such as wolves or cougars, OSU researchers have shown, have the ability to strike fear into their prey and significantly change their behavior as a result.

I reported to you just two weeks ago about a new study out of the University of Wyoming that showed that elk do not significantly alter their feeding habits when wolves are present and any changes in feeding were short-lived.

Earlier, a study done by the University of Oregon, showed that elk do change their eating habits according to wolf predation. This new study, conducted by Matt Kauffman, a professor of zoology and physiology at the University Wyoming, as well as Yellowstone National Park biologist Doug Smith and researchers from the University of Montana and University of Alberta, showed just the opposite.

So, what’s it going to be? Not being a scientist and having any access to how the studies, all of them, were conducted, I can’t say if the science was flawed or not. I believe that each study group received results from the studies they performed and are reporting such. I do believe that research can and is done to achieve a desired result and that is what is wrong with these studies.

So, now we have to make decisions on our own based on the information that is available to us. We have to ask ourselves if wolves actually do kill elk. Seems silly but when you read the countless accounts in the debate about wolves, people and even the scientists will tell us that wolves don’t have any real effect.

In other debates about feeding habits of elk and the destruction they can cause to ecosystems by over browsing because to too large populations, we have to ask if wolves do change their feeding habits. This is vitally important. We have three reports, that I know about, that don’t all agree.

In Colorado at the Rocky Mountain National Park, talk has circled about introducing wolves in order to control the elk population which is needed to restore the ecosystem. One report says wolves don’t change feeding habits while a second report says it does. Isn’t this reason enough to not jump to any hasty conclusions and dump wolves into RMNP?

I imagine the studies will continue and results will vary and change. It is what we do and how most decisions are made regarding wildlife management. I just wish there was some way to filter out the politics so we can be just looking at the science. It is pretty reliable you know.

Tom Remington

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84% Of North Carolinians Approve Of Hunting

There’s a new report out from the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses and the North Carolina State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, that shows that 84% of North Carolina residents approve of hunting – 95% for fishing. That same report says that 83% believe that hunting and fishing are a necessary part of a scientific management program for wildlife.

These figures don’t surprise me any because I have seen similar figures before and have used them in arguments with those who toss in the face of hunters and fishermen that there are more of them than us. In their argument, they are right in that far fewer people buy hunting and fishing licenses than don’t but the bottom line has always been the public support for the activities and this, once again, proves that support is strong.

I believe that this report out of North Carolina is representative of probably every state in the Union.

Read more about this report here.

Tom Remington

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What To Do About Shrinking Numbers Of Hunters And Fishermen

Representatives from 23 states and four Canadian provinces gathered recently in Flagstaff, Arizona to discuss recruitment and retention of hunters and fishermen. The event was hosted by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

Many things were discussed and those in attendance reviewed facts and figures provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on downward trends in license sales.

Here’s what AZCentral.com listed as the major reasons discussed as to why recruitment and retention was low.

Some of the reasons discussed at the meeting were complex rules and regulations, reduced hunting opportunities, age restrictions, a lack of encouragement or help for older hunters, increasing urbanization of the population, rising license and permit costs, difficult access to recreational lands and a perception that hunting and fishing is cruel and inhumane.

One in attendance had this to say and I couldn’t agree more.

“We try to placate the public by becoming invisible,” Keck told the group.

“And hunters are passive as to why they hunt. We are terrible at selling the product we have. We need to sell the sizzle of hunting and conservation.”

Maybe that has something to do with why I do what I do. But all too often I feel like I am talking to myself out in the wilderness somewhere. Hunters are for the most part passive and are difficult to engage in conversation, particularly in a public forum.

I think for too long we have felt the need to “placate the public by becoming invisible” but those days are history. We are being forced out of our silence by those active enough to want to shut us down. We can’t continue down this same path or it will be too late.

No longer should we have to remain quiet or apologize to people because we hunt and fish. We have much to be thankful for and proud of. Our billions of dollars over the years and conservation efforts have provided this country with a bountiful wildlife population and that’s something we should be telling the world about. Our entire package of monetary support and understanding the need to conserve our wildlife for the future is what has gotten us to where we are today. Tell that to the wildlife viewers, some of whom seem not to understand or care.

Thank God for the few activists we have that have worked diligently to keep hunting and fishing alive and well. But they can’t do it alone. We all must speak up now. We all must get involved and no longer remain “out of sight, out of mind”. We’ve done a lot. Let’s let the rest of the people know what a great contribution we have made to our country.

Tom Remington

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New York Gets New Rifle Use Laws For Hunting

Governor Eliot Spitzer signed legislation that provides for the use of rifles for hunting in three counties in New York. Read more here.

Tom Remington

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How To Cull The Elk Herd In Theodore Roosevelt National Park

An ideal population of elk in Theodore Roosevelt National Park would be around 360 according to park officials. Currently that population is estimated at between 750 and 900 animals. Something needs to be done and a debate has raged as to the best methods.

In Colorado at the Rocky Mountain National Park, they face the same problem and the discussions there are similar. The park service for both locations have indicated they prefer spending millions of tax payer’s dollars to hire sharpshooters to do the job. Others, including the North Dakota governor, John Hoeven, support the use of qualified volunteers.

At issue has been whether the park officials have the authority to determine who can thin the herd because of restrictions on hunting in most national parks. That issue seems to have been cleared up according to an article in the Bismark Tribune.

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service said in March that federal law allows “authorized agents” of the National Park Service to thin animal herds.

With that clarification then it would seem that the next step is to convince the park superintendents to allow hunters to do the job but it seems that the head of the National Park Service, Mary Bomar, still is not convinced that volunteers is the way to go.

In her letter to Dorgan, Bomar said “authorized agents could include personnel from cooperating agencies, tribal personnel, contractors and skilled volunteers.”

On Tuesday of this week, N. Dakota governor John Hoeven met with Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne and Director of the National Park Service Mary Bomar, to discuss how to proceed. Hoeven is attempting to convince Bomar to use volunteers and is hoping to get Kempthorne to take his side as well.

In an article at KXMB.com, Hoeven says the National Park Service should allow volunteers to hunt the elk.

“We believe that the National Park Service should allow North Dakotans to participate as qualified volunteers, and we pressed that case with the Park Service and Sec. Kempthorne,” Hoeven said. “We are very pleased that secretary and Director Bomar have directed the agency to fully evaluate and seriously consider allowing North Dakotans to participate. We will work with them to include qualified volunteers, and we anticipate that both the hearing process and a draft environmental impact statement will be completed by the spring of 2008. The final record of decision will be completed by the fall of 2008, which we believe should and will include qualified volunteers.”

Senator Dorgan of North Dakota has also been pressing Bomar to use volunteers. He contacted the Department of Interior several weeks ago in order to assist in getting a ruling on who has authority to determine methods of game management.

Convincing both park managers and head of the National Park Service to utilize volunteers is one thing. Setting the guidelines for the hunt is another. There has been a lot of talk about how to use these so-called qualified volunteers.

The state plan calls for the use of “qualified sportsmen and women”.

……the state plan, which would entail a controlled hunt by qualified sportsmen and women supervised by wildlife officials.

I read one report that stated that fish and game personnel had to accompany a hunter and actually direct them as to which animal to shoot. It was made to sound more like an organized slaughter more than a hunt. But we must remember that under a proposed Park Service plan, it would be an organized slaughter.

There is another issue that seems to keep rearing its head as well. It came up again in the Bismark Tribune article in something that Sen. Dorgan said about the elk after they are killed.

“It makes no sense to me to spend millions of dollars on sharpshooters and helicopters when North Dakota hunters would be willing to take care of this problem free of charge,” Dorgan said. The elk would go to food banks to feed the hungry, he said.

I’m not opposed to feeding the hungry but I believe each hunter should be given the choice as to whether to keep the meat for themselves or donate some or all of it to charity.

There are other questions that jump out at me that I hope will be addressed at some point. One is to define the park’s version of “qualified”. Who can become qualified and what will those qualifications be?

Another is the selection process for those “qualified” hunters. Assuming there will be far more applicants than permits, some kind of drawing formula must be made. Will someone who draws a permit to take an elk in this cull be ineligible for a regular elk hunt draw? The reason I ask is that if the TRNP elk cull is nothing more than the utilization of hunters to slaughter an elk and give it away, I wonder how many will opt for a chance, especially if they are disqualified from the regular draw.

On the positive side though, we should be happy that it has been determined that park officials do have the legal authority to designate who can be used to thin game herds as part of the management plans. Now to convince them that public hunters can do the job.

Also, when states have governors like John Hoeven who recognize that volunteer hunters can do the job sensibly saving taxpayers millions of dollars, this is a good thing.

Hopefully this attitude of sense and sensibility and spirit of cooperation between agencies will continue and be a benefit to all, including us hunters.

Tom Remington

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Skinny Moose Media Donates $14,000 In Advertising To Hunt Of A Lifetime

Steve Remington of Skinny Moose Media, a major Internet media source for hunting, fishing and outdoor magazines as well as a bloggers network, audio and video presentation, announced on Tuesday his growing relationship with a nationwide program for the disadvantaged called, Hunt of a Lifetime.

I encourage readers to visit the Skinny Moose Media site and read the story which contains an interview with Tina Pattison, founder of Hunt of a Lifetime.

Tom Remington

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Ward Churchill Fired, Jim Zumbo Fired….Same Reason?

I just got home after spending a good six hours on the road while taking my granddaughter to Manchester, New Hampshire to catch a plane back home to St. Petersburg, Florida. When an 8-year old sleeps most of the way down and your alone on the return trip, you have ample time to think and collect thoughts. If any of you are like me, you dispense with any music on the radio in search of news or talk radio. I did just that.

Most of you probably have already heard that Ward Churchill, the very outspoken and controversial college professor at the University of Colorado was fired.

According to reports, Churchill was fired because of plagiarism and some other sorts of “misrepresentations”, whatever that means. Most people would have assumed that he got fired because of some of the bizarre and extreme comments he has made over the years. The one that comes to mind is his comments calling some of those killed in the World Trade Center on September 11th, little Nazis, implying they got what they deserved because they worked for capitalists.

I was listening to Bill O’Reilly on talk radio first. He was ranting on about Churchill. In part of his discussions, he talked with a lawyer representing the ACLU(American Civil Liberties Union) out of Colorado who is planning to sue the state of Colorado for infringing on Churchill’s First Amendment Rights.

The discussion began when O’Reilly asked the lawyer, and I apologize for not getting his name down, about why the ACLU didn’t run to support the President of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, when he stated in public that maybe women weren’t as good in science and mathematics as men (not a direct quote).

A reminder for clarity, Churchill was not fired by what he said but more of what he did. O’Reilly’s issue is that the ACLU would not support Summers firing for free speech but is planning to with Churchill’s. Why?

According to this ACLU lawyer, the reason is because Harvard University is a private college and the University of Colorado, where Churchill works, is a public institution paid for in part by tax dollars. For that reason, the lawyer said that Harvard University is exempt from protecting anyone’s First Amendment rights.

I understand what the lawyer was saying and I am sure that another lawyer, perhaps not so entrenched into the purists perspective of free speech, would rebut that argument. Even though I understand, I am troubled by it in that he claims that a person working for a private business has no protection under the First Amendment. It may not be that well defined but it sure sounded like it.

The issue with Ward Churchill isn’t as much about freedom of expression as it is with college tenure. Once a professor obtains tenure, it is very difficult to fire them under any circumstances and Churchill may have plenty of grounds to stand on in his defense.

Fast forward a couple of hours to the Mike Gallagher Show. Mike also discussed the firing of Ward Churchill but his take on the issue was somewhat different than that of Bill O’Reilly’s.

Gallagher talked with Ward Churchill’s attorney, David Lane (who may have been the same lawyer that O’Reilly talked to), by telephone about the incident. Lane said the same thing as the other ACLU attorney that in Summer’s case, he has no protection under the First Amendment because Harvard University is a privately run business.

Living in a supposed democracy, laws are made and challenged every day. This is how they evolve and are tested under public scrutiny. I believe in obeying our laws and testing them in our court system. I also believe in working to change and modify such laws but to do that people need to understand the laws that we are currently living by in order to fairly know whether we need some change.

Having only heard one side of this argument, I would be remiss to state that the law is that Churchill has protection and Summers doesn’t. Let’s assume for a moment that Churchill’s lawyer, Mr. Lane, is correct, along with the ACLU lawyer Bill O’Reilly talked with. This better explains what happened to our friend Jim Zumbo when he got fired from Outdoor Life.

When Jim Zumbo got fired, many spoke out in protest that his firing was unconstitutional based on his right to free speech. I was one of those that said that even though Jim Zumbo has the right to say what’s on his mind, he doesn’t necessarily under the identity of Outdoor Life.

I’m not a lawyer and probably didn’t word my position in a legal manner. If Zumbo doesn’t have protection of the First Amendment because he was employed by a private business, then Outdoor Life was justified, legally, in terminating his employment. I can only assume that Mr. Zumbo was under legal council during this entire fiasco.

If all of this proves to be the case once tested in the courts, then we have to ask ourselves if we should have to give up our First Amendment rights under certain circumstances, like while working for a private entity? If so, is it a black and white relinquishing of First Amendment or other rights? Is there more rights under certain circumstances than others? Some believe that to be the case.

Tom Remington

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Hunting With Dogs In Virginia

Last week I called and talked with the Director of Wildlife for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Bob Duncan, about the plan the state has to address the issue of landowner rights and hunting with hounds. I wrote an article about the interview.

Today, Gene Mueller of the Washington Times, puts his spin on the issue.

Tom Remington

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