The Hog Blog

From the While I Was Out files…  stuff that slipped through the cracks while I was here at the 2010 SHOT Show.

First of all, got this great photo in an email from my friend Matt, who some of you may recognize as De Hog Shootinest Gent’man.  I don’t think Matt ever stops hunting or killing hogs, but I think winter is his special time of year.  I’m a touch envious of his access to some prime hog hunting… and the fact that it’s close enough for him to roll out and hit it when the mood strikes. 

Nevertheless, he’s taken another really nice tusker as you can see here.  Congrats, Matt!  Keep at ‘em!

In other news, so to speak, Montana is the latest state to face new restrictions on lead ammunition.  I don’t know what I’d do without the Outdoor Pressroom, which is where I found the link to this article in the Missoula, MT Missoulian newspaper. 

You can read it yourself, but it looks like the MT Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks has floated a proposal to ban lead shot for upland and migratory birds on all of the state’s 72 wildlife management areas.  So far, it looks like the Department is just checking the water.

There’s nothing to suggest lead shot poses any risk to those or any other upland game bird species, Aasheim [Ron Aasheim, a spokesman for the MT DFWP] said. Montana’s tentative ban was proposed only to be “consistent” with the federal ban and other lead shot bans on certain tribal lands.

“We’ve got restrictions on using lead shot for waterfowl, and do we take the next step on the wildlife management areas?” he said.

Aasheim also stressed that the ban was very tentative and proposed more like a “trial balloon” to see where Montanans stood on the issue. There are no “biological reasons” to ban lead shot on the areas, but people simply may not like it, Aasheim said and commissioners want to know about it.

The majority of hunters interviewed in the piece are pretty strongly opposed, of course.  That was no surprise.  The thing I didn’t like to read is that the folks in MT are seeing lead ammo bans into a “California thing.”  It is NOT a geographical issue… it’s a very real topic that will continue to come up all over the country.  CA hunters and shooters missed their best opportunity to block the ban here, because they didn’t come together and form a united front.  Hunters need to pay attention and learn from the mistakes made in CA, or they’ll be repeated every time.  But that’s enough preaching for now.

One last thing, and this actually relates to the 2010 SHOT Show.  I was remiss in not reporting that Dave Petzal, of Field and Stream was the recipient of this year’s Grits Gresham Shooting Sports Communicator Award.  I’ve often referenced Petzal’s blog, the Gun Nut, and I’ve always enjoyed his writing in the magazine as well.  It’s much-deserved recognition, and I offer my congratulations to Mr. Petzal. 

Well, my flight leaves in a little while.  I need to finish packing and get out of this crazy town.  Vegas is fun… for a little while, but it’s no place to be flying solo (particularly not given my age and relationship status).  I’m looking forward to being home.

Related Articles:

• Lead Ban Chronicles – Montana Update and CA Under Fire Again
• Pennsylvania DCNR To Switch To Lead-Free Ammo
• Lead Ban Chronicles – Texas Parks and Wildlife Looking at Lead Shot and Doves
• Lead Ban Chronicles – What about the rest of the country?
• Lead Ban Chronicles – Not just sportsmen after all?
• NorCal Cazadora and the HogBlog Boar Tour – Coming Soon to a Barley Field Near You!
• Lead Ban Chronicles – Tungsten Ammo a Cancer Risk?
• Lead Ban Chronicles – The Beehive State Now the Focus of Lead Ammo Ban Efforts
• Lead Ammo – First Hand Reports
• Lead Ban Chronicles – Anti-lead Propaganda or Solid Science?