The Hog Blog

Like many bloggers, I’ve put myself on a bunch of mailing lists.  Many of them send irrelevant stuff that I pretty much send right to the trash bin.  Others are always worth a closer look, and Jerry Springer’s (no, not that Jerry Springer) Western Hunter was one of those.  Unfortunately, he stopped the regular distribution of the email newsletter and only sends one out now if there’s a particularly newsworthy event or issue… which is why the email in my box yesterday caught my eye. 

Along with some other news, he included a link to a piece on the Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s call for volunteers to help thin the elk herd  in the TRNP.  Apparently the herd in the park is almost twice the recommended carrying capacity, and park officials have determined that the best way to manage this is to have volunteer hunters come in and kill them.  Selected volunteers will be expected to commit to five days in the park (volunteers select a week between 11/01/2010 – 01/21/2011), during which time they’ll shoot several of the elk.  In exchange for participation, each hunter will be allowed to take home the meat of one elk (depending on total harvest during the week).  The remainder of the meat will go to food pantries. 

According to the site, the requirements for participation include the physical ability to hunt the North Dakota back country (steep, rugged, and unpredictable weather).  Volunteers must also be able to demonstrate proficiency at the 200 yard range with their chosen rifle (.25 cal or better with bottle-necked cartridges loaded with lead-free bullets), must be able to pass a background check to show that they can legally possess a firearm, and the ability to commit to the full time of the hunt. 

The website also offers a list of FAQs which describe the requirements, the application process, and most importantly, the hunt itself.  The FAQ makes clear that this is not a recreational hunt, and will not necessarily be conducted according to normal sporting standards.  Elk will be located using collared animals, and the hunting teams will be dispatched to those locations.  When the allotted number of animals are killed, the hunt will end for the year. 

It sounds like a good opportunity for hunters interested in helping out to get involved.  I know no one will say, but I can’t help wondering… if this hunt is successful, will it open the doors for similar hunts at other National Parks?  I’m constantly hearing from hunters about how they would like to be called on when the states or Feds are trying to manage game populations… this is the opportunity to put your money where your mouth is (and the cost to the hunters will really only be the travel and lodging expenses). 

Check it out, but if you’re interested, move fast!  The application deadline is August 09 (coming Monday). 

• Main website
• FAQ
• Application Information

They’re also looking for packers with their own stock to help with the effort.

As some of you will know, my friend Albert Rasch is over in Afghanistan as a contractor, doing some sort of important work to do his part for the efforts there.  He’s also doing what he can to keep his blog going, for which I’m grateful (I enjoy his writing).  On a recent post, he came up with a great idea. 

Apparently, when there’s downtime for the folks around the compound, a lot of the guys and gals are looking for distractions that might remind them of their lives back home.  Somehow or other, he found out that yo-yos seem to fit that purpose. It makes sense to me, since I used to spend a lot of time watching my Duncan roll up and down the string.  There’s a meditative aspect to it, and it’s a great way to occupy the hands while the mind wanders. 

Anyway, check out Albert’s post, and his idea… sending yo-yos to the troops!  When you’re done, why not run down to the local toy store, Wal-Mart, or whatever is close by, and pick up a couple to send to the men and women who are marking time so far from home, putting their lives in danger to do a job not many of us would relish.  Albert includes his address in his blog, but I’ll repeat it here just to save you additional steps (let’s make this easy, right?). 

Pack ‘em up and send to:

Albert A Rasch
AEW 455th ECES/FP
APO AE 09355

In addition to the upcoming Hunt.Fish.Feed. event (AUG 4, mark your calendars!), I meant to include a couple of other things that are going on that should be of interest to some of you.

First, Albert Rasch, despite dodging rocket attacks in Afghanistan, is doing his annual part to promote the National Hunting and Fishing Day, on September 25.  You can read much more about it over on his blog, but I wanted to pass it along here as well.  Albert is planning to do a series of posts on things you can do to celebrate, and why it’s important. 

With National Hunting and Fishing Day on my mind, I am going to have several posts concentrating on tips and ideas that you can use to help celebrate our sporting heritage.

I urge everyone to do something along the way and especially on the 25th to further our mutual love for the outdoors. It can be something as simple as taking someone who has never fished out on a shoreline, lake, or pond, to perhaps giving a talk to school children on the conservation and preservation work that outdoor sportsmen do for the benefit of all.

Remember, it is all up to us to do what we can, because even the smallest thing you do, pays off in huge dividends!

On another, more commercial front, I got a notice from the folks at Discovery Channel regarding casting call for the new season of Out of the Wild.  I didn’t see the first season, which took place in Alaska, but apparently the idea is to take a group of people from various walks of life, dump them in the wilderness with some basic instructions and objectives, and then film the results.  I heard mixed reviews, but a lot of folks did seem to enjoy the last show. 

Anyway, the new show will be set in South America (pretty cool, huh?), and is casting now.  The reason they contacted me (and probably some other outdoors oriented blogs) was because they’d like to find a hunter or two for the group.  I believe that subsistence/survival hunting was part of the program last time, and I’m guessing it’ll have a place in this new season as well. 

You can find out more about the show and the opportunity at the production company website.  Read the information carefully, and if you think it’s something you want to try, then by all means!  And even better, if you do get involved, I’d love to hear about your experiences and follow them here on the Hog Blog. 

OK, time for me to go to work!

In April, I first learned about the Sportsman Channel’s Hunt.Fish.Feed program, and did a short note about it here on the Hog Blog.  It’s a pretty good program, where hunters donate wild game meat as well as their time and labor to serve it up at homeless shelters, or to other folks who could use a good meal. 

This morning I got an email from Michelle at the Sportsman’s Channel, asking if I could help spread the word about the next Hunt.Fish.Feed event, on August 4 in San Diego. 

I am wondering if you could help us out again like you did last time.  We are heading to San Diego on August 4th (see attached for details) to feed those less fortunate and we need 400 pounds of venison to feed 1,500 people!  Plus, we need about a dozen volunteers. Do you think you could put out a call on your blog seeking help?  We really appreciate it!!  Your blog helped out so much last time when we were in LA. Thanks!

Volunteer and/or Donate at Sportsman Channel’s Hunt.Fish.Feed Event in San Diego!    

Sportsman Channel’s national Hunt.Fish.Feed.SM initiative is coming to St. Vincent de Paul Village in San Diego to help feed local residents in need on Tuesday, August 4 from 10:30 to 12:30 p.m. PT and they need your help! Come volunteer for a brief two hours and help feed close to 1,500 of those in need a wonderful meal made with donated venison. Have venison to donate? We could use that too! Hunt.Fish.Feed.SM is a unique outreach program that taps an underutilized food source—game meat and fish donated by sportsmen—to feed those struggling with hunger across America.  For more information on Hunt.Fish.Feed.SM, including an informational video, visit www.huntfishfeed.org.  

Sportsman Channel embarked on a multi-city Hunt.Fish.Feed.SM tour in January, which will in 2010 travel to 10 U.S. cities, one per month, to feed the needy and bring awareness to the fight against hunger.     

• WHAT: Hunt.Fish.Feed. SM San Diego – utilizes a previously untapped food source – game meat and fish: www.huntfishfeed.org
• WHO: Serving hundreds of San Diego residents in need
• WHERE: St. Vincent de Paul Village  1501 Imperial Ave    San Diego, CA  92101
• WHEN: Tuesday, August 4 
• Serving Meal: 10:30 to 12:30 p.m. 
• VOLUNTEER:  Contact HFF@thesportsmanchannel.com or call 212-852-6677.

If you’ve got the time and inclination, or some venison to share, here’s a great opportunity to show that hunters do more than just go out and kill stuff.

In the past month or two, I’ve been a pretty busy guy.  I’ve spent several weeks in NC, and a few weeks before that chasing the employment beast, and trying to shorten a gap in my resume.  While I’ve tried to keep life on an even keel, I feel like I’ve really lost touch with a lot of the people and projects I am usually involved in.

One of thse projects is the work at Coon Camp Springs.  Between one thing or another, I haven’t even been up to the property in almost six months.  Fortunately, CCS president, Dave Allen hasn’t forgotten.  As soon as the roads became passable, he was right back at it up there.  He’s been working on extending the wildlife-friendly fencing, squaring away the camp, and planning for this year’s habitat work.    There’s an awful lot to do, and the volunteers just aren’t showing up.

The thing is, the habitat work has taken on a new turn this year.  The wetlands restoration project will begin, probably later this fall.  The catch is, CCS has to match the grant money.  The match can be “in kind”, so manhours of labor is one good way to offset the costs.  We can use all the volunteers we can get up there this summer. 

 The other is through simple donations.  There is a place on the CCS website where you can make donations directly to the organization (a 501c, non-profit).  You can also check out the Coon Camp Springs eBay site.  The only thing currently on eBay are our t-shirts.  They’re nice shirts, and the money raise for each one goes directly into the project (there are no paid positions on the CCS Board of Directors).  If you’ve got a few bucks to spare for a great cause, go check it out and get yourself a shirt.  Or, just as good, hit the website, check the calendar, and let Dave know when you can make it up to help out.  I can guarantee a great weekend in one of the prettiest places in CA.  You’ll work hard, play hard, and eat well. 

Speaking of good causes, just saw this over at the NorCal Cazadora blog.  The California Outdoor Heritage Alliance (COHA) is raising funds to purchase lifetime fishing licenses for the children of the DFG biologists who died in January’s helicopter crash.  They’re still a little short, and Holly offers a solution:

It turns out they need another $7,500 to get lifetime fishing licenses for Cotter’s and O’Connor’s kids. If you’d like to help, you can do a couple things:

First, share this post with all your friends who are avid anglers and see if they’d like to be a part of this effort. Anyone who cares about getting kids into fishing can certainly relate to this cause – these kids no longer have dads to help them.

Second, write a check for whatever you can afford, made out to COHA (which stands for the California Outdoor Heritage Alliance), and write “Lifetime License Fund” in the memo line. Mail the check to:

COHA
1600 Sacramento Inn Way, Suite 232
Sacramento CA 95815
ATTN: Bill Gaines

So if you’ve got a little something to spare, here are two great ways to make your money count for something more important than a Starbucks coffee or that extra pack of cigarettes.  For the cost of a good bottle of wine, you can help one of these organizations do something that will last a lifetime. 

Just a thought…

I’m one of the first to recognize and appreciate the value of a government “of the people and by the people”.  That ideal is largely what has provided the citizens of this country with the freedoms so many of us cherish.  With that in mind, I can see the benefit of some sort of “initiative process”, such as the one we have in CA.  If The People want change, they should be able to initiate it and put it before the voters to decide.  However, I’m also one of the first to recognize that what has come to pass over the generations is, on a large scale, government of the people by the corporate interests, and on a smaller scale, government of the people by the squeaky wheels. 

Now I could go down the rabbit hole on this, but that’s not really what I’m here for.  However, there’s an aspect of this that’s really been gnawing at me in regards to the whole Initiative Process.  There are certain areas that should definitely NOT be governed by the fickle voice of popular opinion. Wildlife management is one of these.

This has all been driven home most recently by the fiasco over the expansion of the bear hunting seasons and territories here in CA.  The black bear population has been, by all accounts, booming across the Golden State over the past several years.  The animals are turning up in large numbers, and are moving into areas where they haven’t been seen in ages.  They’re also expanding in already overpopulated areas, such as the Lake Tahoe resort community, and they’re wreaking havoc with homeowners’ property.  It’s a matter of time before there’s a serious bear vs human incident up there. 

Department of Fish and Game biologists have determined that the increased population could stand heavier hunting pressure, and recommended dropping the current harvest quota on black bears (currently set at 1700 bears per season).  They’ve also recommended opening up bear hunting in areas that were previously closed, and allowing houndsmen to use GPS devices to track their dogs (they already use radio telemetry). 

Anti-hunting organizations, including HSUS and Sierra Club (yes, Sierra Club has shed their guise of being a hunter-friendly organization) railed against the proposal because… well, as best I can tell, it’s because they don’t like bear hunting.  They don’t really offer a single, valid, logical argument against it.  But we should all know by now that logic and science have little to do with anti-hunting sentiment. 

As a result of the uproar and some negative press, the Fish and Game Commission have decided to back off of the regulatory changes.  Why?  Because, as Commissioner Michael Sutton (you know, the one who has a “problem with big game hunting”) says in an AP interview, “we’re one initiative away from a ban on all carnivores like mountain lions and bears.”

On the one hand, he’s probably right.  It was an initiative that removed management of mountain lions from the hands of CA wildlife officials based on little more than emotional propaganda.  Antis are hard at it crafting and recrafting initiative efforts to ban dove hunting using the same argument, and given the political and social environment of this state, it won’t be long before they succeed.  I have very little doubt that an initiative to ban bear hunting would eventually pass as well. 

On the other hand, that’s a piss poor way to manage wildlife. 

It’s way past time to remove wildlife management decisions from the hands of an ignorant and easily misguided public.  I know I’m not the first to bring this up, and hopefully I won’t be the last, but there has got to be a way to separate wildlife managment decisions from the political process, not only in CA, but in every state.

The local public radio station, KQED, just covered this decision on their “Forum” program.  The whole thing is a little long, but it does offer some interesting discussion about both sides of the issue.  And yeah, your’s truly gets a comment into the mix at about the 40:06 mark.

One of the things that really stands out to me is Joyce Tischler’s attempt to create a double standard whereby it’s OK for the HSUS and PETA to make their “shock” videos because they carry what she calls “social value”, but not OK for someone like Bob Stevens to show dog fighting in documenting the history of a breed.   There was a very obvious agenda at work here, and that is exactly what the First Amendment is supposed to protect us from.

A while back, somewhere in these blasted archives, I wrote about the US vs Stevens case in the Supreme Court.  For those who don’t recall or haven’t been paying attention, the case revolved around the arrest of Robert Stevens for the possession and sale of videos depicting animal cruelty. 

Stevens was convicted and sentenced to prison on charges that his books and videos documenting the history and behavior of the Pit Bull violated a federal law which prohibited the commercial depiction of “animal cruelty”.  The law was created in 1999 to stop the spread of “crush videos”, in which women in high heels crush small animals (this was an allegedly, widespread sexual fetish).  I doubt many of us would argue that this kind of thing is pretty repulsive, and most would agree that crushing mice or gerbils under a high-heeled foot certainly meets the definition of animal cruelty.  However, no crush video makers or distributors ever were arrested or convicted under this law.  What’s more, the way the law is worded, it can be broadly applied to almost any depiction of the injury or killing of any animal… potentially including everything from hunting videos to documentaries. 

Which brings us to Mr. Stevens’s case…

Robert Stevens is an expert on the Pit Bull, and has been writing and making videos about the breed for many years.  A good bit of his work included a focus on dog fighting, which is an unquestionably integral part of the Pit Bull’s history and breeding. 

While he never took an active stance in support of dog fighting (he vocally opposed it), the inclusion of the practice in his work put him on the wrong side of animal rights activists who mounted a campaign against him.  With the passage of the 1999 law, they finally had what they needed to bring the pressure.  Using the dog fights in one his videos as evidence, the activists brought the federal law down on Mr. Stevens.  They arrived in a midnight raid that (by his own description) was better suited to taking out a terrorist cell than to effecting the arrest of one old man.

I’ve written most of this before, particularly over on the Native Hunt blog.  The point is, that after almost seven years of debate and discussion, the case finally made its way before the Supreme Court.  Stevens, and many key figures in the outdoor media industry (as well as several in the “mainstream media”) fought the conviction and the law on the grounds that it was too broad, and posed potential danger to any media that included depictions of harming animals… including hunting magazines, videos, and books. 

The final decision came through today, and it was a clear victory for Mr. Stevens and the free press.  You can read about it here, in the Washington Post.

In our day at Pinnacles, a couple of things became immediately obvious. 

First, any time you go pig hunting during turkey season, you’re going to have turkeys gobbling all around you.  It’s standard, Murphy’s Law type stuff, but it was sure brought home to me on Friday morning.  We had a tom going off well within 100 yards of the trucks, and later found his huge tracks right down the road behind our parking spot. 

…And of course, we saw nary a pig all morning long.

The other thing is that no matter how many condors there are in a given place, they won’t be anywhere in sight when you want to see them.  True, we did spot two circling way up over the peaks, late in the afternoon, but since we were hunting within sight of the feeding platform, we really sort of thought we’d see something a little closer. 

On a slightly more serious note, I also learned that Jim really is a lifelong hunter.  It’s not a charade he puts on in the interest of selling the lead-free ammo message.  He’s hunted from Alaska to Argentina, and you don’t have to talk to him long to get the feeling it’s as big a part of his life as it is to any other hunter.  It was a stark reminder that you can learn a lot about someone by actually spending a little face-time with them.  Communication in real time offers a whole world of opportunity you’ll never get from text messages and email. 

This face-time is really the driving reason for our meeting.  Jim was hoping to get some time together, not just to be a nice guy and take us hunting, but to show us a little bit of what’s going on with the condor program, and to bounce around some ideas about the lead ammo issue.  He and I are largely in agreement on many key points around the condors and lead ammo, but we’re not perfectly aligned.  It’s helpful to talk about stuff like this in person.

That’s something that came up several times while we were chatting… how much difference it makes to discuss issues in person, rather than behind the anonymous shield of a computer terminal.  In fact, he and I both agree that one of the big reasons the lead ammo issue has become such a divisive donnybrook is because so much of the conversation has been conducted electronically.  Not only does this permit a crazy exchange of misinformation and opinion disguised as fact, it also allows folks to discard any sense of decency or decorum when it comes to attacking people with whom they disagree.  Nobody can punch you in the mouth on the Internet.

Jim seems to agree with my original assessment as well, in that the whole thing went out of control in CA as soon as it became a political issue and left the realm of wildlife management or conservation.  On top of that, groups like HSUS got involved on the side of the condor advocates, while the 800-lb gorilla of the NRA stepped in on the other side… instantaneously polarizing the factions.  The facts got buried in propaganda, distrust clouded reasonable argument, and when all was said and done, a decision was made that seemed to absolutely disregard the concerns of the hunting community. 

The thing is, this is all stuff I’ve written about ad nauseum.  It’s history, and history can’t be changed.  How do we move forward?

I honestly believe the first positive step would be for hunters to take off the blinders of politics and distrust, and start to get more information about lead ammo’s real impacts in the environment.  One good way to do this is to take the opportunity to talk to people like Jim, or members of the Peregrine Fund on a person-to-person basis.  Find out what these folks are really all about, and I’d bet you’ll come away with a greater understanding of their dedication to the work they do with all wildlife (not only condors).  In the process, you’ll also be educating them about where you’re coming from as a hunter, what motivates you, and what you care about. 

There’s a lot of ignorance on both sides of the debate, and only through personal and meaningful conversation can the ignorance be dispelled.

I haven’t really done anything on the lead ammo ban in a while, but don’t think that’s because nothing’s going on. 

In Sacramento, Mr. Nava and Co. are hard at it trying to push through AB2223 to ban lead shot in State Wildlife Areas. 

This bill would require the use of nontoxic shot, as defined, when shooting or hunting in state wildlife management areas. Under the bill, a person who violates that requirement would be guilty of an infraction punishable by a $500 fine for the first offense.

If passed, this law goes way beyond the current lead ban in that it means no lead shot for hunting OR SHOOTING on any of the State Wildlife Areas - a network of over 627,000 acres of land.  It doesn’t apply to other public or private land.  It’s not the whole state… yet.

The argument, of course, is that we’re “littering” the wildlife areas (which are primarily wetlands) with lead shot.  The shot is being picked up by birds and other animals and causing lead poisoning.  To hear Nava and other proponents of the bill, you’d think the lead was causing mass carnage throughout the eco-system.  The truth is, though, that there’s little evidence to suggest that this lead is having a significant negative impact on the populations of wetland birds or animals.

The availability of affordable alternatives (especially for .410, 20, 28, and 16ga) is extremely limited.  Passage of this bill will most likely result in a reduction in the use of the wildlife areas (and a resulting reduction in fees collected), and certainly won’t help with hunter recruitment and retention.  It’s another poorly constructed piece of legislation that doesn’t take the immediate interests of sportsmen into consideration. 

The bill is supposed to go to the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee tomorrow, April 13.  I urge all CA sportsmen to contact the Committee and voice your opposition to AB2223. 

Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee:

Assemblymember Jared Huffman – Chair (D-6)
(916) 319-2006
Assemblymember.Huffman@assembly.ca.gov

 Assemblymember Jean Fuller – Vice Chair (R-32)
(916) 319-2032
Assemblymember.Fuller@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Joel Anderson (R-77)
(916) 319-2077
Assemblymember.Anderson@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Juan Arambula (I-31)
(916) 319-2031
Assemblymember.Arambula@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Tom Berryhill (R-25)
(916) 319-2025
Assemblymember.Berryhill@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (D-40)
(916) 319-2040
Assemblymember.Blumenfield@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Anna M. Caballero (D-28)
(916) 319-2028
Assemblymember.Caballero@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Hector De La Torre (D-50)
(916) 319-2050
Assemblymember.DeLaTorre@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Nathan Fletcher (R-75)
(916) 319-2075
Assemblymember.Fletcher@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-54)
(916) 319-2054
Assemblymember.Lowenthal@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Mary Salas (D-79)
(916) 319-2079
Assemblymember.Salas@assembly.ca.gov

Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-8)
(916) 319-2008
Assemblymember.Yamada@assembly.ca.gov   

Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee: 

State Senator Fran Pavley, Chair (D-23)
(916) 651-4023(916) 651-4036

State Senator Dave Cogdill, Vice-Chair (R-14)
(916) 651-4014

State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth (R-36)

State Senator Robert Huff (R-29)
(916) 651-4029

State Senator Christine Kehoe (D-39)
(916) 651-4039

State Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-27)
(916) 651-4027

State Senator Alex Padilla (D-20)
(916) 651-4020

State Senator Joe Simitian (D-11)
(916) 651-4011

State Senator Lois Wolk (D-5)
(916) 651-4005

OK, so now I’ve said that, there’s a little bit more… Read the rest of this entry »