Large Predators: Them And Us!

Reprinted by permission from the author.

Valerius Geist, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Science, The University of Calgary
Calgary, Canada.

We pay close attention to large predators. We do so because we evolved as prey. It was our ancient fate to be killed and eaten, and our primary goal to escape such. Our instincts are still shaped that way.

There is thus a reason why the bloody carnage on our highways is a mere statistic, but the mauling of a person by a grizzly is news. It’s not only that so many fossilized remains of our ancient ancestors are meals consumed by large predators in secluded caves or rock niches, but also that we speciated like large herbivores. That is, our pattern and timing of forming species, of adapting to landscapes, mimics and coincides with that of deer, antelope or cattle, but not that of large carnivores. And that despite our fondness for meat, despite “man the hunter”, and despite the fact that at least on species of humans, Neanderthal man, grew into a super predator. Read the story »

An Oryx in the Hill Country?

by Denny L. Vasquez

© Copyrighted

Several years ago I was bitten by the “exotic” hunting bug. Since then I have been on several of these hunts, and for the most part I have really enjoyed them. Whoa!, you say, “Exotic hunts, what in the world is this guy talking about?” Well, for those of you who do not know what “exotic” hunting is, I will try to explain before getting on with the rest of my article.

The exotic species of game animals available for hunting in the US today are the offspring of animals that have been introduced into this country in areas where they are a non-native species. Examples of this are the blackbuck antelope and axis or chital deer from the Indian sub-continent, fallow deer from Europe, oryx, wildebeest, kudu and nyala from the African continent; even Rocky Mountain elk on a Michigan or south Texas brush country ranch. Read the story »

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Approves Of Animal Slaughter

If you don’t like that headline then perhaps you should also not like one that states that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is an animal killer and an abuser. There are however a few marked differences between what some are accusing Gov. Palin of being and what I am accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of being but both bear striking similarities………..that is if you are willing to look at things from a honest perspective.

There will always be people who will have an issue with the killing of any animal and some to the extreme of any living thing whether plant or animal. We witness everyday people who ignorantly support the protection of a handful of animals while being responsible for the deaths of more than they saved. For that, I offer no cures nor do I pretend that I can in all honesty have any marked alterations to their beliefs. I expect nothing different in return either. Read the story »

Chicken Fishing

By Dennis Doyon

There are many strange and unexpected events that happen during a day of hunting and three of us experienced one that I think will be hard to top.

It was the middle of December; the last day of Maine’s muzzleloader hunting season. At five a.m. the temperature was hovering around ten degrees and the sun was yet to come up. Read the story »