The Hog Blog

A while back I posted a response to an article about complaints that Cabela’s Trophy Properties (their real estate listing branch) was out to destroy public access to hunting lands, particularly in Montana.  The Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) was leading the charge, centered around this claim:

”The MWF Executive Board finds that Cabela’s is trading on its trusted reputation as a merchant of sporting goods to engage in a real estate marketing activity that is calculated to subvert and destroy the very system of North American wildlife conservation that has provided Cabela’s with the hunter-and-angler markets that gave your company life in the first place.”

I feel now, as I did then, that this is a ridiculous complaint.  To blame a real estate listing agency for the loss of public hunting access is like blaming your corner gas station owner for global warming…  you just can’t get there from here. 

Regardless, Cabela’s appears to be taking the criticism to heart and trying to make a positive change. 

Tom Remington reported a couple of weeks ago that Cabela’s had offered a financial olive branch to the Montana Wildlife Federation in the form of an initial $50K check, with the promise of an additional $60K over the remainder of the year.  As I mentioned then, this was a pretty transparent effort that hit totally in the wrong place and for the wrong reasons. 

Cabela’s is not in the wrong here.  In my opinion, they don’t owe anyone anything.  Even so, as a business, they do take customers’ concerns to heart, and what I consider a misguided gesture was at least a good attempt to illustrate that they are listening.

Well, apparently Cabela’s recognized that the first attempt didn’t quite achieve their goals, so they’re coming back to the drawing board with a new approach.  As I just read in an article on the New West online magazine, Cabela’s Trophy Properties (CTP) will now be requiring their affiliated realtors to follow strict business practices regarding the listing and sale of properties.  Realtors who do not follow the new rules will lose their affiliation with CTP. 

The article didn’t specify what these specific practices were, but I’m led to assume that they will be focused on keeping outdoors properties out of the hands of developers and available to the core clientele of Cabela’s… sportsmen.  One example given was of a Montana property listing which was part of the Block Management program (allows public access to private land).  To sell the property, a condition of sale must be included which prohibits the buyer from taking the property out of the Block Management program.  This is a direct answer to the challenge posed by the MWF and other detractors.

Now I like this idea much better than simply throwing hush-money at the MWF, and I do think it shows that Cabela’s is willing to try to help stop the loss of open lands… but will it work as intended?

First of all, I wonder if such conditions of sale are even binding.  Can you do that, as a seller?  I don’t pretend to be a real estate lawyer, so I’ll have to trust that the folks at CTP know what they’re talking about.  I do like the idea, and would think the folks in Montana would be happy enough with this solution.

Of course, once the buyer owns the property, they can simply re-sell without the conditions.  I know enough about real estate developers to see a huge loophole when I see one.  But at least then the onus is off of Cabela’s… which is where it never should have been in the first place. 

I do hope this works out for Cabela’s… not so much because I want to see them grow into a super-wealthy, mega-corporation, but because it’s just not right for them to take the beating for something they have nothing to do with (and yes, that was a very convoluted sentence).  It’s just not right, and I really hate injustice. 

Oh, and thanks to the Outdoor Pressroom for posting the news release. 

Even folks who were living under a rock last year probably heard about “Monster Pig”.  You know, the half-ton pork chop (AKA “Fred”) on the hoof that was killed by young Jamison Stone with a Smith and Wesson .500 (after umpteen shots)… Alabama’s answer to Hogzilla?  You also probably remember the big to-do about really nothing, as it turned out that the kid was hunting inside a little enclosure, and the pig had left the comfort of its farmyard only days before. 

Like most of the world, I turned my back on this one almost as fast as it came up.   I was shocked that it generated the publicity it did, but I attributed that mostly to a sensation-starved but hunting-ignorant public.  I figured it was over, but today; as I was reading over on Kevin Paulson’s Hunting Life blog, I learned that the story is far from over.  Like poor old Fred, running around that 150 acre pen with at least eight 50-caliber slugs in it for over three hours, it just refuses to die! 

Anyway, Kevin was able to talk to Rhonda Shearer, a journalistic ethics advocate who has been following this story since it broke.  She allowed him to republish the article she wrote for ESPN and her own site.  I’ll let you go on over to Kevin’s site and read about it, or you can read it directly from Ms Shearer’s site at StinkyJournalism.org. 

It’s pretty enlightening stuff, all about greed and how a few unscrupulous characters manipulated the media in order to generate a guaranteed headline story.  Unfortunately, their plan misfired, resulting in international criticism and the derision of hunters and anti-hunters alike.  But worse, it has also apparently resulted in the boy, 11 years old at the time, facing possible criminal charges for animal cruelty. 

It raises the same question for me as it apparently does for Shearer…  is the boy to blame, or is he as much a victim as “Fred” the hog?  Go over and have a read.   Then drop your two cents in the bucket with everyone else.

I don’t usually pay much attention to news or emails about “trophy” bucks.  Sure, I’ll spend a few seconds in awe of a really great specimen, but I find them most impressive alive.  Once they’re dead, they’re meat as far as I’m concerned.  Not to take away from anyone’s sense of accomplishment or anything, and a big set of antlers is nice enough… congrats to the hunter if it made him happy… but I don’t really care all that much about pictures of a big deer that someone I don’t even know has killed. 

So when the news came out about this 24-point buck killed in Michigan, I kinda blinked through it.  Big deal…another big deer.  I wasn’t really interested.  But when I read the follow-up to that story at the Outdoor Pressroom, I got a little interested… and then I got mad. 

Turns out, this jerk shot the deer and THEN went to buy his license afterward!  So this “Great White Hunter” is actually just another sorry-assed poacher!  From the Outdoor Pressroom, I followed the link to an online article from the Jackson Citizen Patriot.  The article explains that the Department of Natural Resources agents were skeptical  about Mr. James’s story.  A brief investigation turned up the fact that he went to a local marina and bought his hunting license THE DAY AFTER HE SHOT THE DEER!

Now when anyone is alleged to have committed a crime like this, I tend to hold off my own judgement until they have their day in court.  But Mr. James has already confessed to the act. 

“I turned myself in and told the truth on my own,” James said. “Like I told the conservation officer, it was an honest mistake. I always bought my deer licenses, but this time I forgot.”

I’m sorry.  Did he say he “forgot” to buy his deer license?  Really?  That’s the best he’s got?  An honest mistake…?

No.  You don’t FORGET to buy your deer license before you go shoot the deer of a lifetime.  You may forget your binoculars.  You could forget your release.  You might even forget to bring your license with you when you left the house that morning. 

But you DON’T FORGET TO BUY A LICENSE BEFORE YOU SHOOT A MONSTER BUCK! 

There is nothing honest or mistaken in this thing at all.  I’d say Mr James’s real plan was to save himself $15 until he found a deer he wanted to shoot.  That way, he could hunt all season for free, and then he’d only have to pay if he actually killed something.  He saw this monster buck, and out of pure selfishness and trophy-lust, he killed it.  Then he went and bought a license. 

That’s not how it works, folks.  I hope the judge and prosecutors see through his ridiculous claim as well. 

The misdemeanor charge of unlawfully taking game carries a mandatory jail term of 5-93 days, a $1,000 fine, loss of hunting privileges for three years and forfeiture of the antlers.

I hope he gets the full penalty with both barrels, in addition to the scorn and contempt of real sportsmen around the country.  It’s people like Mr. James here who make it so bloody hard to defend the sport and tradition of hunting.  Every time we’re able to generate the scantest amount of positive press, someone like Mr. James has to come along and erase it all with one stupid, selfish motion. 

So for his greedy and stupid acts, and the irreparable harm he has done to the image of hunters and sportsmen throughout the land, I hereby name Mr. Christopher James as the first recipient of the Hog Blog’s Adam Henry Award.

Congratulations, Mr. James.

Adam Henry (A. H.) – Commonly used police radio code for Asshole.

A little while before Christmas, in the Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors Journal, I reviewed a couple of books sent to me by Stoeger Publishing.  Stoeger puts out a pile of great titles for the outdoorsman and shooter from a lot of the experts in their fields. 

They’ve since sent a couple of others, including Peter Fiduccia’s Whitetail Strategies: The Ultimate Guide, (which is still on my shelf to be read).  But the other day a new package arrived.  Not expecting anything I tore it open to find The Official NRA Guide to Firearms Assembly: Rifles and Shotguns.  This book includes blow-up drawings and diagrams with basic instructions for assembly and disassembly of all kinds of rifles and shotguns.  Now I don’t spend a lot of time taking my guns apart, because I tend to get myself in trouble when I get it down to the little springs and sears, but I’m pretty confident that with a little past experience and this book, I could do some pretty intensive maintenance on most of the guns in my safe (I’ll still defer work on the semi-autos to the gunsmith). 

Anyway, it’s a nicely put-together piece of work, and I think it would be really handy for any sportsman to have on the shelf.  You never know when you might need pull that shotgun apart, or replace the trigger assembly in your deer rifle.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new edition of the Porcine Press, but thanks to NorCal Cazadora for sending me a little note and spurring this latest listing of pig tales.  Besides, I didn’t want the Hog Blog to become the Lead Ammo Ban Chronicles.  There’s more to life than chasing a spurious legislative decision.

So anyway, Holly sent me an email asking if I’d read this little gem in the UK’s Telegraph online.  The article describes a rampage by a group of hog hunting renegades, apparently, in the northwestern part of Queensland.  For whatever reason, these folks decided to high-tail it across the countryside, smashing through fences and destroying property on several farms in the process.  Allegedly the group had hog-dogs on board, and were out to hunt pigs.  The police gave chase to the tresspassers before backing off of their trail out of safety concerns, but the chase was soon rejoined when a local farmer (and victim of the vandals) offered the use of his small aircraft to track them down.  It’s a strange tale, and hard to understand from the sketchy report… but there ya go.

The article above doesn’t give much motive for the renegade rampage, but maybe this article on the Pig Progress website has a possible answer.  Apparently wild pork is selling well in the Land Down Under, while domesticated pork sales are really dropping off.  Hog hunters are paying for their hunts and their equipment by selling their spoils.  This looks to be a good market as well, since the report also mentions that wild boar now outnumber humans on the continent.  What really dropped my jaw here wasn’t the article, though… it was the website itself.   Pig Progress is a site for pig-related news.  Granted, it’s almost all about pig farming, not wild hogs, but I was simply amazed by the variety of topics, news, and discussions on the site.  I guess I never thought about it, but man…! 

Moving on around the globe, we find ourselves back in the UK where the following article in the UK Times Online describes the growing trend of wild boar hunting in England and Scotland.  Wild boar were pretty much eradicated from the British Isles over 300 years ago, but as we’ve noted before in the Porcine Press, the animals are making a steady comeback.  At this time,  wild hogs (boar, feral pigs, etc.) are not protected as game animals under English law, so landowners can shoot them on sight (as long as they’re on the private property).  However, until now, apparently no one has considered going after them on a bigger scale.  Well, that’s all changing now as at least two large drives have been conducted with considerable success (in secretive locations to thwart the anti-hunting element).  The drives went over so well that the hunts will likely become a commercial enterprise.

Of course, in a country that has had such uproar over hunting vs animal rights, and where the recent ban on fox-hunting has been the subject of such clamour, you can pretty much predict the outpouring of enmity and venom from the anti-hunting front. 

Groups opposed to hunting were horrified at the development. A spokesman for the League Against Cruel Sports said: “It beggars belief that people actually get pleasure out of the mass slaughter of animals. Anyone participating in this kind of institutionalised killing has to be sick.”

And a spokeswoman for the Born Free Foundation said that flushing the boar would cause “confusion and panic” in the animals. “It is inhumane to treat wild or farm animals in this fashion,” she stated.

Great stuff, what? 

Not to put too much time on that one, as I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from across the pond, we’ll move back to the Colonies and the great state of South Carolina.  The South Carolina Game and Fish magazine published this article with great tips and information on hunting hogs in the Palmetto State.  I’ve hunted hogs in SC a time or two, and keep biding my time until I get a chance to return.  Last time I went, hog hunts were relatively cheap and easy to get onto.  This may be changing soon, though, as the popularity of the hunts increases. 

The data compiled by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) backs up the concept that hog hunting is on the increase. As part of the overall survey for the annual Deer Harvest Report, they also have data on wild hog harvest.

Charles Ruth, Deer and Turkey Project Coordinator for the SCDNR, noted there was a significant increase in the hog harvest from 2005 to 2006.

“During 2006, an estimated 26,843 wild hogs were harvested by deer hunters in South Carolina,” Ruth said. “That’s a 15.8 percent increase from 2005 when 23,166 hogs were harvested. Evidence of the presence of hogs in 42 of 46 counties was made by hunter harvest activities versus 38 of 46 counties in 2005.

Now, for our last tidbit we’ll zoom all the way around the world to Malaysia for an article straight from the “This is gonna leave a mark” bin.

A Malaysian man was shot in the crotch after his brother-in-law mistook him for a wild boar, reports said Thursday.

Now, I’m not sure what happened here, and not even sure I wanna know.  It should never be funny when a hunter “accidentally” shoots another person.  But this one is about as ripe for the picking as the joke tree gets. 

And that’s it for this edition of the Porcine Press. 

Note to self – I really need to get out and stock up on photos. 

I was browsing around my blogroll and stopped off at Mike Hanback’s blog.  Yeah, that Mike Hanback, the one from Outdoor Life and Field and Stream and just about any other publication that carries articles about big deer. 

Anyway, one of the posts spurred a thought.  Someone wrote to Mike, asking if cattle will spook deer and how to deal with them.  Mike, in turn, referred the question to a guide and cattle rancher whose experience seemed to match my own… sometimes cattle and deer seem to commingle, and sometimes they don’t.  Deer are usually real picky about being around noisy animals, and there’s not much noisier in the field than a danged old cow…  but I’ve also seen them out there together, using the same trails and occasionally even feeding in the same pasture. 

But this isn’t the deer blog, it’s the Hog Blog!  So how’s it relate? 

Hogs and cattle seem to share a much more symbiotic existence.  For one thing, cattle tend to knock stuff over, exposing potential food for hungry pigs.  Hogs also like to root under old cowpies for the same reason, there are grubs and sometimes mushrooms growing there.  Good protein, little work.  And again, cattle tend to tear up the ground, making it easier for hogs to root and wallow.  Find a spot where cattle like to water, and there are real good odds you’ll find hog wallows in the muck. 

There are also reports of hogs eating calves, especially newborns.  While this really wouldn’t surprise me, I don’t think it’s especially prevalent.  I have definitely seen them eating dead cattle, though.  In fact, a dead cow can make a great hog bait… if  you can stand the stench and the thought of eating the hog after seeing it eating that carrion. 

But there’s another aspect to this relationship.  Cattle are creatures of the open, and like most open-ground animals, their vision is one of their main defenses.  Sure, they’re dumber than a sack of hammers, but they can spot you on a hillside as well as a deer.  They know you’re there, and while they may not bolt at first sight, they will often lull you in close and then explode for parts unknown (even to themselves). 

Now hogs, as we know, don’t tend to rely on their eyesight.  I’ve discussed before that they aren’t exactly as blind as some folks would have you believe, but they just don’t use their eyes as a primary defense.  Even in the open, a cautious and patient hunter can practically walk right up to within easy bow range of a feeding hog, as long as the wind is favorable. 

But when those hogs are feeding amongst or in close proximity to cattle, they use the cattle as an alarm.  Spook the cows, the hogs run away as well.  And trying to stalk through a herd of cattle is no mean feat!   Pretty slick, huh? 

Now how would you use this to your advantage as a hog hunter?

Well, I honestly wouldn’t go out seeking herds of cattle unless other methods have come up dry.  But should you find cows in your hunting grounds, stop and break out the binoculars.  Make sure those little black calves really ARE calves.  Hogs will feed right in amongst the herd sometimes.  Make sure there are no pigs in the herd before you move through. 

Then, move through carefully.  Stampeding cattle are almost guaranteed to drive every living thing out of an area.  If the herd busts you, slow down or stop.  Do not make eye contact, and do not approach the cattle directly.  If they seem calm enough, you might try to skirt the herd on the downwind side.  Depending on how wild the cattle are, even your scent could be enough to spook them.  Stay “small”, and move slowly away.  Don’t stalk or creep, because if you look predatory, they will bolt… and they never run in the direction you want them to go.  Thank Murphy for that…

Well, that’s a stunner and no mistake.  It looks like I’ve been recognized not once, but twice, as an “Excellent” blog! 

Many thanks to both Jeff at Lowcountry Hunting, and to Othmar at Outdoors with Othmar for the very kind words and appreciation.  I hope the Hog Blog can continue to provide quality content that will both entertain and educate.  But, of course, that would be tough to accomplish without the support of the community.

I don’t usually participate in “memes”.  To me they’re the blogosphere equivalent of a chain letter.  I generally see them as pointless frivolity that has no value to the other readers of my site.  At worst, they become a social virus, bogging down the community as they spread and grow exponentially until you can hardly click on a site without seeing the same thing.  When I am “tagged”, I try to decline politely and respectfully, and most of the folks out there accept that and move on. 

Such was my initial impulse when I saw this one.  But after a little thought, I decided to play along, at least in part.  I see it as an opportunity to be more than just another meme, and actually use it to recognize quality blogs.  There are several of them out there who deserve the recognition. 

The E for Excellent award comes with the admonition to assign the recognition to 10 other blogs.  As I cruise through my blogroll, I see that many of my favorites already display the big, E graphic.  It makes sense, of course, because if they’re on my blog roll I enjoy reading them… so other folks must enjoy them too.  So I won’t be passing this along to 10 blogs.  Instead, I’ll only name a couple. 

 At least one of them feels the same as I do about blog memes, but I’m gonna name her anyway… that’s Holly at NorCal Cazadora.  Holly is a new hunter to the fold and an excellent writer.  As both a woman and a neophyte hunter, she’s got a unique perspective on our sport.  Her blog is all about that, and it’s a great read.  She’s also taking the time and energy to introduce more women to hunting, a much needed shot in the arm for our sport. 

Another blogger that’s hard at it all the time probably doesn’t really need any extra promotion, but here it is anyway.  Tom Remington at the Black Bear Blog keeps his keyboard hot tackling everything from hunting and outdoors issues to Second Amendment rights to the unique humor of a “Mainer”.  I don’t know how he feels about these social viruses, and he may choose not to pass this along… but his site does define the essence of excellence. 

One more individual who, honestly, I’m surprised hasn’t already received this thing… Bryan at DeerPhD turns out a steady stream of thought-provoking posts.  He manages to keep his readers involved, and of all the “small” blogs (compared to the pro blogs like Dave Hurteau and Dave Petzal at Field and Stream), he seems to generate more regular comments than any I’ve seen.  Getting a dialogue started is a big part of the blog experience, and Bryan is all over it.

I could name a few more who I think really represent quality blogging, but for this last link, I’m gonna go a little different direction.  The Skinny Moose blog network is assembling a pretty awesome group of bloggers under their banner.  The interest groups run the gamut of outdoors pursuits, from hunting and fishing to snowmobiling, hiking, photography and even some pro sports.  There’s even a beer blog.  As members of the network, bloggers receive marketing and promotion of their sites from the Skinny Moose team, leaving us pretty much free to write and enjoy our blogging experience.  It’s a cool idea, and I can see it being a real boon to the blogosphere, as it gets folks (like me) blogging who might not have time to deal with the minutiae of setting up and managing their sites. 

One more reason I decided to reply to this meme?  It gave me some easy content for today. 

It never rains in Southern California. 

 Well maybe not, but apparently it snows. 

A lot.

I sat by the phone, glued to the NOAA weather reports all day yesterday, hoping against hope to get the green light for our hunt.  But it wasn’t to be.  As of 2:00pm yesterday afternoon, snow was still falling, shutting down not only the roads on the Tejon Ranch properties, but also closing a 40 mile section of Interstate 5, the primary north/south conduit between northern and southern California.  Yeah, it’s a big deal.  In my last conversation with Barbara Boeck, the lady who coordinates the hog hunts at Tejon, she told me the place was a virtual winter wonderland with several inches of accumulated snow down at the office, with a couple of feet in the hills where we were supposed to be hunting. 

Mind you, this is all 40 minutes from downtown Los Angeles.  You know… swimming pools, movie stars… 

And don’t think the hunt would’ve been a waste.  You CAN hog hunt in the snow.  Just ask my buddy, Hatchet1 from Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors. 

Anyway, it promises to be a miserable weekend around the home front.  To say this weekend’s hunt was much anticipated would be an understatement, and bagging it was not an easy call.  But, the bright side is I rescheduled for March, so at least I’ll be hunting soon.  And now I have more time to prepare for the SHOT Show! 

Just scanning the news while waiting for final word on my hog hunt this weekend, and ran across the following from the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Sports columnist, C. Douglas Nielsen wonders why we (hunters and anglers) don’t make more noise, and leverage the power of our economic and political potential.  Here’s a snip from his column.

I don’t like riding in the back of the truck and don’t think hunters and anglers should be content to do so, either. With a presidential campaign under way, perhaps it’s time for us to become a squeaky wheel and let the politicians know why it wouldn’t be a good idea for them to overlook the influence and contributions of the American sportsman — and where we stand on national gun-control issues and the access to public lands, especially those in the West.

America’s outdoor enthusiasts are an integral component in the country’s economic engine, injecting billions of dollars annually into the economy and accounting for 1 percent of the gross domestic product. The 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, found more than 87 million Americans age 16 and older participated in some recreational activity related to fish and wildlife. That’s 38 percent of the U.S. population and no doubt accounts for more than a handful of voters.

Now we know it, what’re we gonna do with it?

Man, I hate when you get all worked up for something and it falls apart.

You know, it’s the “big hunt!”  You’ve been planning and stocking up with equipment, packing and re-packing, and basically scurrying about with nothing else on your mind for weeks in advance.  And then someone pulls the rug out.

Well, it looks like that’s happening to this weekend’s Tejon Ranch hog hunt.  This big winter storm system that rolled in earlier in the week has been dumping snow all over the mountain pass, shutting down the major north/south interstate and pretty much socking in the ranch. 

I was prepared for some pretty rough weather, even to the point of buying some chains for Petunia to wear on her pretty new shoes (tires).  Figured this would be a good test of my Rivers West gear, too.  The camper is packed, and I made sure to top off the propane, so I’d have a warm, cozy place to come home to between hunts.  I even threw an extra pair of boots in, just in case I soak the first pair. 

Then I got a call yesterday afternoon from Barbara Boeck, the lady who runs the wild pig hunting program at Tejon.  For the first time in her recollection, the management was talking about closing the ranch and cancelling the weekend hunts… including ours!  Oh no! 

Final word will come today, but a quick glance at the weather reports on the Web doesn’t give me a lot of hope. 

I know, I know… it can be rescheduled (and it will).  But I’ve been counting on this trip all winter! 

Fingers are crossed.  We’ll see.