hunting

SCI Conservation Efforts Benefit North American Hunters

In the last decade, Safari Club International has spent $140 million on protecting the freedom to hunt through advocacy, research and education to ensure that the hunting heritage is accessible for future generations. These programs benefit hunters throughout North American, and the majority of the work is funded with proceeds from its Annual Hunter’s Convention,  January 20-23 in Reno, Nevada.

Through direct involvement and partnerships with other conservation organizations, SCI contributes to dozens of projects in the United States and Canada every year. Earlier this year, Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) and Mossy Oak joined forces to help ensure healthy white-tail deer populations throughout North America. They have provided funding for white-tailed deer research at the University of Georgia and the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study.

The project will investigate reasons for expansion of epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses (EHDV) and bluetongue viruses (BTV), better define the impacts of these viruses on deer populations, and then develop recommendations to control and curtail spread of the diseases if possible. The research findings will be shared with the hunting public and wildlife professionals to better maintain healthy white-tailed deer populations throughout North America.

On the West Coast, SCI’s efforts also contributed to the successful vote by the California Fish and Game Commission against extending the current lead ammunition ban for big game hunting to the hunting of small game and upland birds in so-called condor “range.” SCI filed comments that agreed with the finding of the California Fish and Game Department that the extension of the ban was not supported by the science.

The participation of Safari Club International (SCI) in a federal lawsuit has helped ensure that hunters in Idaho and Montana can continue hunting wolves under state seasons. The Montana federal court denied a preliminary injunction requested by Defenders of Wildlife and other plaintiffs who sued to stop the hunting season, and to challenge the delisting of Idaho and Montana’s wolves.

SCI was also instrumental in successfully challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s ban on the import of polar bears from Canada. When the FWS listed the polar bear as threatened in May 2008, it also determined that imports of polar bear legally hunted from approved populations in Canada would no longer be allowed, as they had been for the previous 12 years. In June, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rebuffed the FWS’s attempt to have SCI’s lawsuit dismissed without full briefing on the merits.

Another key research project funded by SCI involves the decline of woodland caribou in northern Quebec and Labrador. The caribou herds are vital to the local Inuit and Cree Indians who hunt them for subsistence, but also rely on income generated from guiding and outfitting hunters. Early indications have shown that loss of habitat and predation by black bears are two crucial factors that need to be addressed in order to preserve this resource and hunting opportunity.

These are just a few examples of the conservation efforts in North America that are made possible through the generous support of its Convention exhibitors, donors, advertisers, members and corporate sponsors. For more information on these and other conservation projects in North America, visit the SCI web site at www.safariclub.org.

SCI-First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI’s approximately 190 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 18 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.safariclub.org or call (520) 620-1220 for more information.

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See the original article at OutdoorMediaResources.com

hunting

Do Wolves Keep Forests Nutrient-Rich?

A friend of mine, best selling author and fellow hunter Marc Warnkerecently got into an online tussle with an anti-hunter about wolves. They sent him an article from a blog which included all of the “facts” on wolves and how they keep forests nutrient-rich. Neither Marc nor I are wolf haters, but we are realists. Here is Marc’s well thought out reply:

Thanks for the thought and I know your intent was to educate me and I appreciate that. I found this [article] interesting, yet not without obvious bias. I’ve personally witnessed different results, multiple times. But it’s all good. My main concern would be that we participate intelligently in the “predatory” cycle along with the wolves. People, hunters, and wolves are not the enemy or inherently bad. For some reason there is an agenda to slam one or the other to meet an agenda based on feelings. This is a logical issue. We all have a right to the resources, wolves and people alike. Population control and balance is the issue at hand, as it concerns prey and predictor species. Humans are the ones who are responsible for population control and people must claim our God given right to harvest wild game. This issue is not at all about the wolves. It’s about someone’s “pet species,” and the eventual agenda to replace our role as population controllers by eliminating hunting. Who is protecting the Idaho elk herds that are down as much as 90% in some areas. If humans did that, we would be put in jail. Please don’t take offense to this. I am very, very fearful of having my sons rights to hunt with me, taken away.

That is the agenda behind the “science.” If you think I’m exaggerating or a kook willing to entertain conspiracy theory please ask me the story sometime about the biologist I hired to tour me through the rain forest of N. Australia. He laid out the whole agenda because he didn’t know who he was speaking to. He thought I was friendly to the idea of gun ownership bans and making hunting illegal. He was very globally connected and said the agenda behind the wolf was to replace humans with a large predator for population control. When I asked him about the “predator pit” that will show up for the next several hundred years he said it was just a “cost of doing business.” A predator pit happens when a large predator is introduced into an environment and they eat all the prey species and boom in population. As the predator booms, the food (prey species) runs out and the predator dies off. In short, there are huge population swings that take hundreds of years to stabilize. My son will be attempting to learn to hunt during one of the lowest of lows of this population swing and for that I am resentful of someone’s pet project that was truly unessential.

~ Marc Warnke

See the original article at GotHunts.com

hunting

December’s “Woman of the Wild”-Holly Heyser

Holly A. Heyser, hunting blogger and college lecturer

I am pretty much the last person anyone – including myself – would have expected to take up hunting. I was born in Southern California and have spent all of my adult life in urban areas. After college, I spent 19 years as a newspaper reporter and editor (Orange County Register, San Jose Mercury News, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Virginian-Pilot, Sacramento Bee) before leaving the business in 2006 to teach journalism at my alma mater, California State University, Sacramento. Reporter. Professor.

Urbanite. Not someone you think of as a gunner.

But I have always craved unusual experiences, and hunting started worming its way into my realm of possibility back when I was in my late 30s. I was living in St. Paul, Minnesota, with my boyfriend Hank Shaw, and we were both working for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. We had befriended the hunting and fishing writer there – Chris Niskanen – and what he did was really piquing Hank’s interest. One day Hank announced that he wanted to take up hunting. “That’s fine,” I said. He’s a cook, so I knew he’d eat what he’d kill, which was my threshold of acceptance for hunting.

He was really getting into it, spending a lot of time out in the woods, and pretty soon he started asking if I’d like to join him. I didn’t, because I was busy training for marathons at that point, and I rightfully concluded that I couldn’t fit two activities that intense into my weekends. But a couple years later we moved to Sacramento, and I stopped running, and I finally said I was ready to join him. My first hunt was a pheasant hunt, but what really grabbed me was duck hunting. Half of the ducks in the Pacific Flyway spend their winter in the Sacramento Valley about an hour north of us, and the duck hunting can be amazing. I will hunt anything that I’m willing to eat – pheasants, turkeys, wild boar, deer – but there’s just something about ducks. They’re fast, the marshy terrain is challenging and the worse the weather, the better the hunting. I love a challenge. And ducks taste divine. Duck is by far my favorite meat, followed closely by wild boar.

I very quickly dedicated myself to my new pursuit. I had just started my teaching job and was overjoyed when I realized my winter break covered the last six weeks of duck season, so when Hank was working, I’d drive up to one of my favorite wildlife refuges and head out into the marsh myself, determined to teach myself how to actually hit these birds. (Three years later, I’m sorta kinda getting the hang of it.)

A year to the day after I fired my shotgun for the first time ever, I started a blog about hunting, NorCal Cazadora (www.norcalcazadora.com). NorCal stands for Northern California, and “cazadora” is Spanish for huntress. I figured no one would care what a novice hunter had to say, but boy was I wrong. I quickly found that even the most veteran hunters enjoyed the frustration-filled tales of trying to learn how to do this hunting stuff right. Since, then, I’ve expanded a bit and have begun writing for magazines including California Waterfowl, Delta Waterfowl and Turkey Country, and I’ve done quite a few hunting stories for the Sacramento Bee, which has shown amazing openness to hunting.

I’ve also taken up photography, and do a lot of food photos for my boyfriend, who started a blog shortly after I did – Hunter Angler Gardener Cook (www.honest-food.net) – and writes for a variety of food magazines. I’ll be doing photography for his upcoming book as well.

Writing and photography has opened many doors. I’ve begun doing a lot of volunteer work for California Waterfowl, which graciously honored me with its Artemis Award this year. And I’ve made friends all over the country and world, which means if I can afford a plane ticket someplace, I could probably find someone to hunt with there. I feel incredibly blessed.

Probably the biggest blessing, though, is having been able to enter the hunting world in the first place. I was not naïve about where food came from before I started hunting – I spent some time in the country as a kid, and my family raised a lot of animals for meat. But participating in food, nature and the cycle of life at this level has been a revelation, and it has improved both what I eat and how much I appreciate it exponentially. So many things had to fall into place to get me here: meeting Hank, moving to Minnesota, befriending Chris. There are any number of different choices I could have made that would have put me on a different path. But I got lucky, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.

See the original article at CampWildGirls.com

hunting

A warriors final steps…

The sound of antler tines colliding with juniper branches in the early morning light brings my senses to high alert. The frozen ground gives away the bulls position as hooves skid on slick rock and stone. I see three bulls moving through the dense juniper and cedar brush, the first two move through the morning too quickly to allow for shot. As the third bull enters a small opening I utter a low whistle, stopping him in his tracks and take careful aim.

The sound of a rifle shot echoing away on the early morning wind always seems so alien to me, I usually hunt with bow and the birds are still singing and the forest sounds still heard even after the killing shot has been released. As I approach the old bull his last breath is escaping on the breeze, the smell of elk hangs heavy in the air. I say my prayers to the creator and thanks is given for the harvest, I offer up some grass and water to the bull, an old way of honoring our fallen prey. The sun begins to rise over the eastern mountains while magpies start to chatter from the surrounding trees in excited anticipation of the feast that will remain after the bull is butchered and packed out. I wonder aloud, how many trails has this old bull has walked, how many dangers has he escaped, what hunters has he eluded, only to find his end here on this red earth on a cold October morning. When I reach the end of my journey on this earth, will I meet death with as much honor and strength ad this old warrior? Probably not.. but I will recall in my last moments …so many mornings like this, filled with the chatter of magpies, the smell of rich earth and the sight of new sunshine.. And know that I have been fortunate to have known the wilderness, to have felt her embrace and to drink from her natural splendors.. yes brothers and sisters of the wild places.. I will be able to say that I have lived…not just existed.. Hawk a/ho

This article by: Journey with Red Hawk

See the original article at GotHunts.com

hunting

Muck Boots Get a Thumbs Up!

I wanted to take a second to write a quick review about the Muck Boots I got from Hanks Clothing. I ordered the Muck Woody Max Cold Conditions Hunting Boot, and from the first time I put them on I knew that they were going to become my “old reliable” pair of boots. They were durable, good looking and best of all, they fit and were comfortable. They’re not going to work for chasing elk around, but for pretty much everything else I can’t think of a better “fit”. I’ve had slip on boots before and they were great for quick chores around the house, but not much else. That’s not the case with my new Muck Boots. They’re good for both work and play. I do wish I had gotten them 1/2 size smaller though because there was a tiny bit of slip. That would be my only advice for somebody buying a pair. I solved that problem be just wearing an extra pair of thin socks. No big deal and I usually wear two pairs anyway for just that reason.

The first chance I got to wear them was on a recent pheasant hunting trip to South Dakota. I was surprised at how comfortable they were when I wore them all day. I was hunting with Dave Olsen from Pheasant Phun and I noticed he was wearing a pair of Muck Boots as well. I asked him about them and he gave me a rave review and told me that he had been hunting in his pair for four years and they’re still going strong.

Here in Idaho, my favorite place to pheasant hunt is a cattail slough below my house. This place is thick, muddy, nasty and tough on boots. The biggest problem is the muck. It just sucks the boots right off of your feet. I thought that Muck Boots would be the same way, especially since they are slip-ons, but I was wrong. I’ve tromped all through that swamp all season and my socks come home white every time. The pheasants sure aren’t happy about it though.

I’m looking forward to wearing them goose hunting this winter. I’ve always struggled with the right kind of boot for hunting in the fields. I have a good pair of leather boots that keep my feet warm, but they’re not the best in the mud and slop. I think my Muck Boots are going to be just what the doctor ordered for goose hunting. Warm and dry.

I don’t do a lot of tree-stand hunting, I’m mostly a spot-and-stalk type of guy, but I think that this is what most people would use them for and I’m sure that they would be great for that. As soon as I get a chance to try that out, I’ll let you know. In the mean time, all I know is that I’m going to have a lot of fun trying to wear them out.

See the original article at GotHunts.com

hunting

S Dakota Pheasant Limit Increase

Pierre, S.D. – Due to the delayed harvest of crops this fall, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission intends to act at its Dec. 3-4 meeting in Pierre on a proposal to raise the three-bird daily pheasant bag limit to five cock pheasants daily.

Under the proposal, the current 15-bird pheasant possession limit would increase to 25 male pheasants.

If adopted, the emergency rule would take effect Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009, and remain in place until the current pheasant season ends on Jan. 3, 2010. “The ability of hunters to harvest pheasants in the first seven weeks of the 2009 pheasant hunting season has been severely inhibited by lack of row-crop harvest,” said GFP Secretary Jeff Vonk. “The weather patterns that led to this situation were not anticipated by the Commission when it adopted the pheasant season back in April.”

The adjustments in the daily limit and possession limit will not hurt overall pheasant numbers in future years because only cock pheasants may be harvested, Vonk said.

“As crops are taken from the fields, the refuge that pheasants found in oceans of cornfields will disappear, and birds will be concentrated in the remaining cover,” Vonk said. “The addition to the limits will allow hunters the ability to make up for opportunities that were lost in the first part of the season.”

From South Dakota Game Fish and Parks

See the original article at GotHunts.com

hunting

Buckless Bob

I don’t talk hunting much except with Bob. Or sometimes he is referred to as Bobby or we can use his nickname given to him by his friends – Buckless Bob.  And I don’t have to tell you why.  It’s one of those names that needs no explanation.  Poor Bob.

Bobby, as I refer to him as, is my hairdresser’s husband.  And every hunting season Bobby and I talk hunting.  Not by my choice of course.  And just as hunting season opens, Bobby will ask, “So I suppose Mark already got his 25 point buck.”  Because that’s what buckless Bobs say. And if I were a real hunter’s wife I’d carry a picture in my wallet to show Buckless what he’s missing.  But I’m not and … well … I’d rather not rub it in.

Poor Bob.

Because I’m not mean like that.

I focus on other things besides hunting, camouflage and big @ss bucks.

I just focus on hats above ears that remind me of  Devo that sings Whip It.  Whip it good.

When they sing -  “Crack that whip” now I’m ganna say, “Smack that buck”.

Have a good day all and here’s hoping Buckless Bob will have a new nickname when this hunting season ends.

See the original article at TheHuntersWife.net

hunting

2009 Success in Alaska

One of our Outfitters sent in these pictures from some happy clients. We thought you would enjoy.

See the original article at GotHunts.com

hunting

Battle of the B.O.W. Opening Weekend

Team HuntingLife.com Date-9/12 and 9/13

Opening Weekend Opening morning and the weather was not what we had hoped for. Temps on Saturday morning were in the 60’s and 100% humidity. Terri Lee was hunting and since Kale was working Joe Sharp took over the filming.

Oma and Opa picked up Tali Friday night, (she was not happy) so we could head out early in the a.m. Tom is working so he can’t watch her. Joe and Amy had supper with us and I took my last shots with the bow from the garage rooftop. Everything is ready. All my clothes have been washed in scent killing laundry soap and placed into a tub with cedar and pine boughs, even my underwear and socks. I am going all out after that big buck.

 4:20 the alarm goes off and I am not ready to get up. 2 nights without sleep, due to excitement, had me dragging. 4:25 I am out of bed and into the shower. We are going to be chasing after a big buck that we have seen on the trail cams, but not this a.m. We are doing a trial run at the apple tree stand. The big buck has been coming in early evening and we do not want to spook him but I do want to get some jitters and bugs worked out. We see two small bucks and a doe as we thought we would.

I head over to pick up Tali and go home for some much needed rest and later a change of babysitters. Auntie Nicky picks up Tali at 4:00 p.m. Tom will get Tali back after work and meet me back at home, after hunting. Into the shower again, as it is so hot and I am so sweaty I have to become scent free again. Joe picks me up at 4:30 so we can head into the stand early. It is so still and muggy.

We take the wheeler in at 5:00 and bait the stand like we did the night before. We have been running the wheeler in every night at 5:00 for 2 weeks picking up trail cam pictures trying to pattern this buck. We are hoping to get the deer used to the wheeler noise also. Joe returns the wheeler to a remote spot while I get set up. We get settled in sweat pouring off of us.

Around 6:00 we have a visit from a pesky bear. We have only seen him in here once on the cameras and he picks tonight to show up. He does not want to leave. It is getting closer to the time we have been patterning our buck and we want him out of there. We start throwing rocks from our Grab-it bag. We put it in the stand earlier just in case something like this would happen. We never hit the bear but Joe almost took me out as his rock ricocheted and nearly hit me in the head! lol. He should have had that on camera.

Joe finally decided he was going to get down and chase the bear out. (I was going to film because I knew this was going to be good!) When he stood up to get out of the stand, the bear finally walked away. He was not happy he huffed and puffed as he sauntered off.

Nothing more came in and we headed out at dark, planning to return the following morning. When I arrived home, supper was waiting for me. I have an awesome husband!

9/13-My husband Tom is home this morning so no need for babysitter. Joe picks me up at 5:15 again. We head into the stand in the dark. Not much happening this morning. We think the bear has changed the dynamics of things. Weather is still very humid and warm. We pull the trail cam pictures and head home to review. We want to know how long it was before the big buck returned last time, after the bear raid. He had been back the following day. That was good news and we were hoping he will make an appearance tonight.

I Head back home for family time, a nap and another shower.

 5:00 p.m. Joe and I head back to the stand again. Same routine. Joe drops me off and ditches the wheeler. We get settled in. It is probably close to 80 degrees just slightly less humid than last night. The air is very still though, no breeze. Around 6:00 we have a small doe come into the bait pile. She hangs around for a short time.

 We can hear something coming in from behind us and circling around. Through the limbs I can see the deer and I get a glimpse of horn. My heart begins to race slightly. If the pattern we have seen is true, the 9 pt will come in, followed by the big buck. He finally steps out head down and I can see it is the 9 pt. He looks up directly at us. We don’t move a muscle.

The mosquitoes are biting my cheek and back of my neck but I know I cannot move. I know I am not going to take this one but if we spook this him, the big one will not show up for sure. He continues to look at us and then moves back into the woods and comes around at a new angle. At one point I thought it was the big buck coming in and my heart was jumping out of my chest. I took some long, silent deep breathes to try and compose myself. Then it felt like my heart totally stopped. I thought maybe I had had a heart attack and just hadn’t fallen over yet.

The deer kept staging for quite some time, coming in part way and then retreating. He finally departed, and it was pretty dark in the woods by now. We never spooked him and I don’t think he knew we were there. I didn’t realize until I talked to Joe that it was the 9pt all along. The big buck didn’t come in and we will not be back to hunt there for a few days. We will be checking the trail camera, though to see what he is up to and work on a plan from there. Later in the week I will be filming Kale. Stay tuned for more!

Remember to join us on www.wisconsinoutdoorsnetwork.com!

See the original article at CampWildGirls.com

hunting

Idaho – Mountain Lion Hunt

Supurb mountain lion hunts are offered during the months of December, January, February and March when conditions are right. Cougar hunts run five days with two guides per hunter. This outfitter has two mountain lion hunting areas: one is a snowmobile hunt out of a lodge and the other is a fly-in wilderness hunt on horses. Hunting is with hounds and can sometimes be very physical with the pursuit being on snowshoes or walking thru deep snow. Cougar populations are high and mountain lion hunting success is in the high 90% range. During this hunt you will see large amounts of wintering game and enjoy the solitude of the quiet winter. Mule deer, elk, moose, wolves and bighorn sheep all winter here. Mountain lion hunting dates are set upon booking. This outfitter only takes 5 to 6 cougar hunters total for the season, so book early.

For the lodge hunt, you will be picked up at the airport and they will take you in on snow machines. Good hot meals and the warmth of a wood stove will make the cold winter evenings quit enjoyable. The wilderness fly-in cougar hunt is quite an adventure! A guide will meet you at the airport where you will fly into a backcountry airstrip. A second guide will meet you at the strip with the horses. From there you will ride just over a mile to the base camp. You will hunt out of camp in the mornings on horseback and on foot looking for fresh cougar tracks. A bonus in this area is that it is a two mountain lion unit, meaning that for an extra trophy fee you can take a second cougar.

Itinerary

Coming soon…

Book This Hunt Contact your booking agent to book More Information Download a brochure *coming soon Idaho Fish & Game Dept. Ask your booking agent. Other trips by this Outfitter Black Bear Hunts Archery Elk Hunts Sept. Rifle Elk Hunts Oct. Elk Hunts Mule Deer Hunts

This Hunt Includes

• Five-day fully guided hunting (two guides per hunter).
• Lodging in a wall tent or one of their cabins depending on where you hunt.
• Home-cooked meals.
• Transportation to hunting area (once you arrive).
• $4250
• $5000 (Wilderness Hunt)
• $2000 Trophy Fee for second lion

Not Included

• Non-Resident hunting license.
• Non-Resident mountain lion tag.
• Backcountry flight.

 

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Ratings & Testimonials

Average Rating For This Hunt

“These are two very different hunts. The lodge hunt is on snowmobiles and is a bit easier. The fly-in wilderness hunt is a true horseback adventure. Be prepared on both hunts for gruelling hikes and long days. They have gotten some true monster cats over the years.”
GotHunts.com

See the original article at GotHunts.com

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