The Shadow Buck

By Denny L. Vasquez

 

It was dry, dusty and warm for December in this part of the country. And the so-called weather experts were calling for a continuation of last summer’s dry spell and unseasonably, warm weather. Some even predicted that we might be in the clutches of the worst drought that the Lone Star state had seen in 20 years. So as we sat there watching the little dust devils dancing up and down the ranch road upon which our deer stand sat, my son and I began to wonder if we would see any of the monster deer that the south Texas brush country has become famous for. It was the day after Christmas 1999, which usually means cold, windy conditions and there should have been a lot more moisture in the air at this time of year. Read more

DOW and Donor Offer Reward in Emma Bear Shooting

9/19/2007
Colorado Division of Wildlife

An anonymous donor and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) have teamed up to offer a $1,500 reward for information that leads to the person responsible for the illegal killing of a black bear near the town of Emma in Pitkin County. A Pitkin County resident has stepped forward to offer a $1,000 reward in this case. Operation Game Thief, the DOW’s anti-poaching tip line, is offering a $500 reward.

The case involves a female bear found dead at the base of a tree near the Rio Grande Trail on Wednesday, Sept. 12. Based on the state of the carcass and witness interviews, investigating wildlife officers believe the bear was shot and killed during the evening hours of Friday, Sept. 7.

Two cubs were reported in the tree above where the sow was found. Wildlife managers from the DOW were successful in capturing one of the cubs and transporting it to a privately-run, non-profit wildlife rehabilitation center in Silt. The second cub has left the area and has not been located.

Wildlife officers are hopeful that someone in the area may have seen some suspicious activity. It is also possible that someone overheard another person talking about this crime.

If anyone has any information regarding this incident, please call the Glenwood Springs DOW Office at (970) 947-2920 or call the Operation Game Thief (OGT) hotline toll-free at 1(877) COLO-OGT (1-877-265-6648). OGT callers can remain anonymous and still receive cash rewards.

###

Division of Wildlife

GMS® Partners with Tex-Star Wildlife Services

***NEWS RELEASE***

GMS® Partners with Tex-Star Wildlife Services

WACO, Texas — Designers of the No. 1 Tool in Game Management — GMS® is proud to announce it has partnered with Tex-Star Wildlife Services to offer full-service wildlife consultant services to its customers. As part of the all-new service, Tex-Star will provide hands-on guidance and instruction for large and small hunting operations as well as breeder operations to optimize the wildlife and habitat potential of customers’ properties.

“Our GMS technology is a tremendous tool in successful game management, but we want to also make sure our customers have the benefit of experience and knowledge which can help them achieve the best results for their wildlife program,” says Mike Owens, co-owner of GMS. “A lot of property owners or ranch managers have an idea of what they want, but they need guidance on how to get from Point A to Point B. Tex-Star can give them the guidance they need.”

Through GMS, the Tex-Star wildlife consultant services include: micro- and macro-game management, livestock and habitat management, watering facilities, supplemental feeding, record keeping, budgets, census-keeping, predator control, food plot management, fence layout and construction, harvest recommendations, brush management, land acquisition and many more.

“Some ranch owners’ goals may be easy to achieve, while others may be unrealistic given the habitat or other factors,” says Joe Guidry, co-owner of Tex-Star Wildlife Services and a wildlife management professional with 15 years of experience. “Either way, we work closely with each landowner to ensure that all their wants and needs are addressed whether it be macro-managing for general wildlife populations or micro- managing for specific goals such as trophy whitetails.”

GMS is no stranger to wildlife management. The GMS software has been endorsed by some of the largest game ranches in the country, and is considered by most industry experts to be the most complete, yet ‘easy to use’ game management software on the market today. GMS helps hunting operations and land owners manage properties, whose focus is on quality deer and game management (including deer farmers/breeders), organize and maintain all of the pertinent information needed to manage a successful ranch. Innovative and comprehensive, the GMS program allows users to begin quality deer management, track all aspects of a hunting property, develop plans to help maximize herd health, quantify herd ratios, compositions and age structures, develop a wildlife management plan, schedule hunts, record information in the field via Pocket PC technology and much more.

“Efficiency in game management is the key to success,” adds Owens, “and — whether it’s with our GMS software or through 20-plus years of wildlife management experience — we want to help ranch owners reach their goals efficiently and cost-effectively.”

To learn more about the GMS game management software, call 254.752.1608, email gamesolutions@sbcglobal.net or visit www.wildlifemanagementsoftware.com.

Located in Waco, Texas, GMS® offers technology for successful game management and is the No. 1 Game Management Solution in the Deer Industry. For more information on GMS, call 254.752.1608 or visit www.wildlifemanagementsoftware.com.

Media Contact:
John Meng
Meng & Associates Inc.
“Marketing That’s Custom Fit”
P. 512.930.7100 F. 512.864.0033
mengassociates.com

Notice Of Tentative Determination Regarding Three Point Source Permits

(New Hartford) – Notice of Tentative Determination to issue permits for the construction and operation of three surface coating operations at Syntac Coated Products, LLC in New Hartford.

The Department of Environmental Protection hereby gives notice it has made a tentative determination to approve three applications submitted by Syntac Coated Products, LLC (“the applicant”) under section 22a-174 of the Connecticut General Statutes for permit to construct, install, enlarge or establish an air contaminant source or to operate a source regulated under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Specifically, the applicant proposed to construct and operate three surface coating operations.

The name and address of the permit applicant are: Syntac Coated Products, LLC, 29 Industrial Park Road, New Hartford, CT 06057. The proposed activity will take place at: Syntac Coated Products, LLC, 29 Industrial Park Road, New Hartford, CT 06057. The proposed activity will affect air resources. The applications have been assigned PAMS numbers 200700194, 200700195 and 200700196 by the Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Air Management. Interested persons may obtain copies of the applications and proposed permits from Mr. Vincent Panuccio, Syntac Coated Products, LLC, 29 Industrial Park Road, New Hartford, CT 06057, 860-738-2600. The applications, engineering evaluation and proposed permits are available for inspection at the office of the Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Air Management, 79 Elm Street, 5th floor, Hartford, Connecticut, 06106-5127 from 8:30 – 4:30 Monday through Friday.

Interested persons will have thirty (30) days from publication of such notice to submit comments in writing to the Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Management or request a public hearing concerning the Commissioner’s tentative determination to approve the permit applications, in accordance with section 22a-3a-5(b) and section 22a-174-2a(c) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies. Comments should be directed to Ms. Valerie Galo, Bureau of Air Management, Department of Environmental Protection, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-5127.

Published in The Hartford Courant on November 1, 2007

Draft Permit 116-0024 (PDF, 93KB)

Draft Permit 116-0025 (PDF, 95KB)

Draft Permit 116-0026 (PDF, 101KB)

Lawsuit Filed Against ALS Enterprises, Inc.

A.L.S. Enterprises, Inc., Cabela’s Inc., JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
Gander Mountain Co., Bass Pro Shops,
Inc., and Browning Arms Co.,

Defendants.

Plaintiffs Robert Carlson, Mike Buetow, Gary Steven Richardson, Jr., and Joe
Rohrbach individually on behalf of themselves and all other Minnesota residents and entities similarly situated, by and through their attorneys, Merchant & Gould and Hein Mills & Olson, P.L.C., as complainant against defendants A.L.S. Enterprising, Inc., Cabela’s Inc., Gander Mountain Co., Bass Pro Shops, Inc., and Browning Arms Co., (collectively “Defendants”), allege the following:

CLICK HERE FOR FULL 42 PAGE PDF FILE

How To Avoid Getting Water Over the Tops of Your Boots

By A. Sayward Lamb

 

To avoid getting in over your hunting boots when crossing a stream while hunting, simply carry a pair of the thin covered, nylon fabric, hip boots that fold flat and will easily fit into the back pocket of your hunting jacket. When you see the water is so deep that it will be over the top of your hunting boots, take your boots off and slip into the lightweight nylon hip waders. These boots do not have a solid sole, so pick your way carefully, to avoid punching holes in them. Once safely across the stream, remove them and put your hunting boots back on. Takes a couple of extra minutes, but sure beats running around in the cold weather with wet feet.

After The Shot

By Jerry Allen

Blood In Motion: A Forensic Guide to Blood Tracking

It takes a lot of work to set up and execute a hunt, but what happens after the shot will determine if the hunt is truly a success.
You’ve scouted and set up stands. You’ve sighted in your guns and bows; maybe planted a food plot and hauled bait into the woods. It’s hard work, to say the least, and finally the animal comes in and the shot is made. How long will the trailing process take you? Will you find the animal? Understanding how to track and find blood can make the difference between having meat and a trophy to show for all the hard work that you have put in — or coming home with nothing at all. You make a plan when you hunt to increase your chance of success, but if you track without a plan, your chances of success are greatly reduced.
I sell blood-detection products to law enforcement, and my business has giving me a lot of information on what to look for and what a blood trail can tell you about the hit you’ve made on an animal. I am called to many deer trails after all hope seems to be lost, because many people know that I can find blood that cannot be easily seen. Blood trails can be misleading to the hunter —lots of blood does not necessarily indicate a mortal wound, nor does a seeming lack of blood necessarily mean the animal isn’t dead.
The reaction of the animal and the blood pattern will give us a better understanding of how to go about recovering an animal. Normally, animals do not bleed to death, as an animal that weighs 160 pounds must lose 45+ ounces to die from blood loss alone. Animals will die faster from trauma than blood loss, and a combination of both is by far the best.
Most animals can travel very fast when wounded — deer can hit 35 mph, and even if they die quickly after the shot, they can travel a long distance before collapsing. A wounded animal will not go far unless it is pushed or sees movement. Sit still for at least a half hour, or you will make the tracking more difficult. Now that many states offer multiple tags, this will also give you a chance to get another animal — if you shot a large buck, it is still possible that there is a larger one close behind him. Most animals travel in loose groups; the animals in the rear of the group can help by showing you where the wounded animal traveled. Spooking these animals will remove helpful clues to the whereabouts of your trophy, and may cause a second opportunity to be wasted.
Pay attention to the reaction of the animal when it is shot, as this is your first clue to helping you know how to find it. The reaction can be deceiving, but it is still important. I have shot deer and had them look at me like nothing happened, only to watch them fall over where they stand. I have had many hunters tell me that they knocked the animal down, only to watch it suddenly jump up and run off, leaving lots of blood.
This is the one that I hate to hear the most. First of all, body shots that do not impact the neck or spine rarely make animal drop, and if the neck or spine is hit, the animal is usually disabled and cannot get up. The clues of the “dropped and got up and left lots of blood” tell me it was most likely a leg or low shoulder hit. The falling down likely means the leg was broken; lots of blood usually indicates a muscle hit. Muscle damage leave lots of blood in the first 100 yards, but then the blood trail fades fast. There will be lots of large spots of blood as the animal stands often and will lean against trees. Even with a broken leg (or two), an animal can run very fast.
I have had a lot of people tell me, “I thought I hit it, but there was no blood.” Any time there is a wounded animal, there is blood, even if it cannot be seen. Blood droplets, which are forced out of the body by gunfire, produce a high-velocity-impact splatter pattern. The pattern can be smaller than 1 mm in the beginning of the trail. Shots taken with a bow leave medium-impact blood splatter patterns and will leave droplets around 3 mm in size. Both can be difficult to see, even in the snow, so trust your instinct and follow the trail the deer took. If the deer was hit, the blood will appear soon. If it was a lung hit, it can take time for the body cavity to fill and blood to be forced out. Animals may run in the beginning of the trail; this will cause blood trails to be harder to see, as the blood is spread over a larger distance. If there is no visible blood trail, wait and let the animal lay down — it will not go far and should die quickly.
Another common animal reaction is the hind leg kick. This reaction indicates that the animal was hit farther back, most likely a gut shot. The blood pattern and the color of the blood will be very important. Darker blood is from the stomach or liver. A liver shot is always fatal, but is still a poor shot to take. Green matter or food is from one of the deer’s four stomachs — a fatal shot, but it will most likely take until the next day or later for the deer to die from a stomach shot. Give this animal at least three hours and follow up in the daytime.
The double lung shot is the best-percentage shot to take, as it will cause massive internal bleeding and drowning, causing death within about 150 yards. This pattern will start out with little blood, but it will increase as the animal starts blowing blood out the mouth and nose.
Quartering-away shots always cause the most damage, as the projectile will travel more distance through the body. Shots from a raised area (tree stand) generally give a better blood trail, as the exit hole will be lower and allow blood to leave the body cavity in greater volume.
Shooting for the tail is the worst shot, leaving only a wounded animal or spoiled meat. If the shot hits the back of the thigh, it will bleed well but will not die soon, as the muscle will tighten up and help stop the bleeding. An animal shot in the anus will spread bacteria all over the insides, and the damage will be even worse if the bladder is also hit. This type of shot requires the animal to be cleaned immediately and thoroughly washed out in order to save any of the meat.

So I Have A Wounded Animal, Now What?
Blood trailers spend a lot of time looking on the ground, but little time looking at the brush, where more than half the blood is usually found. Blood on brush can reveal how high or low the shot hit, helping in the recovery plans.
No hunter should be without a compass — use it to get a bearing on the trail taken using a marker like a unique tree to track to. Working in pairs is best; have one tracker circle ahead 75 to 100 yards in case the animal is alive. Then have the second person take the trail. Repeat this until the animal is recovered. Remember to be safe when tracking, because all animals are dangerous when wounded. Proper gun handling and line-of-fire rules must be followed to avoid injury.
Timing is very important. Tracking too soon is the main reason mortally wounded animals travel a long distance and make recovery difficult or impossible. Tracking too slowly will cause the meat to spoil. Reading the clues properly will make the difference in how good the meat tastes, since recovery shortly after death is important. Meat with a gamey taste can be caused by slow recovery, not cleaning properly or hanging in warm weather.
Adrenaline runs high after the shot, and humans have a hard time controlling it. Relax, breathe deeply and take a few moments to reflect about what happened. The beginning of the trail is the most important place to get the facts of what happened and how to proceed.
The first thing we do at a crime scene is cordon off the area to keep people from altering evidence. Then we use only a few people to process the scene, again, to keep from altering or destroying the evidence. Walking on a blood trail will transfer the blood pattern from its original spot to somewhere else, or destroy it completely. Never put more than three people on a trail unless it is hopeless to recover without extra people. Mark the trail as you progress to give you a travel pattern to study for clues.
Unless the animal drops within sight, no trail should be taken within 30 minutes. The animal you just shot will be looking at the spot where it was wounded to see what happened. It will lay down soon and try to lick or heal the wound, usually with in 40 yards if there is cover. Do you want to turn a 40-yard trail into a 400-yard trail?
Many times I am asked to follow a blood trail that had a small amount of blood that suddenly had twice as much blood, then nothing. This usually means the animal has turned 180 degrees and walked over the same trail twice, then cut off at a 45- or 90-degree angle after it decided the trail it was following was not safe.
The blood left on the ground or brush is important, as it can tell much about the wound. Bright red or pink indicates an artery or lung shot. Many animal trails I have followed were from shots that hit low in the shoulder or leg, leaving large amounts of blood. The blood is slightly darker with a very narrow trail 4 to 8 inches in width. This animal will likely need a second shot. Make plans to get a person ahead to dispatch the animal. Trails of blood more than 2 feet wide are complete pass-through shots and increase the chances of recovery greatly. Blood trails that have squirts of blood on the side of the trail 2 feet or more indicate arterial shots in the neck, heart or other major artery. Give the animal time to bleed out before you start tracking. Brown or greenish blood, or blood with green or brown matter, is always a gut or liver shot — in both cases, the animal will need extra time to die before you attempt to recover it. The liver shot will kill faster, but may still take two hours or more. Blood with green matter is a five- or six-hour wait to track. The tracker should attempt to put a shooter ahead to dispatch the animal if it is still alive.
Many visual blood trails disappear when the animal’s heart stops and the blood pressure drops, as the blood is no longer being forced out of the body. Most animals can still travel 30 to 45 seconds and cover 65 yards or more before dropping, and the blood trail will be almost impossible to see without blood-tracking aids. Bluestar® will come in handy, as the animal will be close by but may not be seen because of terrain or brush.
Many times I have found animals within 40 to 50 yards of the stand, where they died after having run 250 to 300 yards in a long arching circle, trying to get back to the spot they were safe in before the shot. Knowing the bedding areas helps a lot if you cannot find an animal.
There are tools we can use in tracking. Dogs are now legal in many states, and are a great tool if there is no rain or snow. However, most people do not have dogs or have the time to train them, nor do they have the money to pay a dog tracker. Dog tracker fees vary but usually end up around $150. Lights made for finding blood do not work very well, as blood absorbs light. Regardless of what you see on TV, law enforcement officials do not use lights to find blood. There are a few luminol-based products (Tink’s® and Bluestar®, notably) that make blood glow in the dark. I prefer Bluestar® because it was first made for forensic use.
Bluestar®’s inventor, Dr. Loïc J. BLUM, with a Ph.D. in chemiluminescence, has perfected the mixture, making it the easiest and strongest blood finder in the world. It is used in more than 70 countries by law enforcement and hunters alike.
Bluestar® picks up hemoglobin, which transports oxygen to the cells. Hemoglobin contains iron, which is a basic element of earth and is nearly impossible to destroy without fire.
Much time was spent to produce a product that the investigator would need little or no training to use and that could tell the difference between blood and other items containing iron.
Sold in tablets that you add to water, this is the best tracking agent on the market today. At a cost of $19.95 to track four animals, the cost is very affordable. You can usually cover 100 yards in 10 minutes or less, and the time saved will be worth the money spent.
Small and lightweight and sold in packs of four, Bluestar® gives the hunter enough to cover even the longest trails. Bluestar® also will work well in evergreens and moss, because the reaction with blood is so much different from “false positives” that any one can tell the difference. Bluestar® was made for law enforcement to find blood amounts so small the DNA profile cannot be done. Even in the crime scene, clothing or items that have been cleaned over and over will still glow bright blue were blood was present.
Many times the hunter cannot find the beginning of the trail. Before you leave the stand, use a waypoint to know where the animal was standing when the shot was taken. A compass is perfect for this, using a marker such as a tree to find the spot.
Many times I use Bluestar® only to find the start of the blood trail. To do this, spray while walking across the trail as soon as you find the blood. See if you can follow it with your eyes; if not, continue to use the Bluestar®. I often use it to regain a trail when an animal changes terrain, going from leaf litter to grass fields, for example. Bluestar® will work in the rain or snow.
You will learn a lot about trailing when using Bluestar®, since you will see the whole trail every time you use it and can key in on the evidence the blood trail leaves.
Since it glows bright blue in the dark, even people who are colorblind or whose eyes are “not as good as they used to be” can follow the trail without any help. No glasses or lights are needed, just water and a spray bottle. Water can be taken from streams, lakes and ponds along with any tap or bottled water. In extreme cold, you can use window washer solvent.
Another advantage of Bluestar® is total darkness is not needed, just low light after shooting hours end.
Mix a set of tablets in a sprayer and spray on the ground where the animal was standing, and if the animal was hit, there will be a bright blue glow. Blood is easily transferred from one place to another, so stay off the trail or you will leave footprints of blood all over the woods. There will be an unbroken trail of blood where the animal went when using Bluestar®. If you just find blood spots here and there, these are transfer patterns made by people and animals walking on the blood trail. Blood will be trackable for a very long time. There has been a forensic study on Civil War sniper holes at the Shriver House museum in Gettysburg, Pa., and blood was found more 143 years after it was shed. Blood will last in the woods for months, but there is a big difference in the brightness between old trails and new ones. Blood on the hands of a hunter after gutting an animal without gloves will remain for weeks, no matter how well the hunter washes. This is used frequently in murder cases.
Last but not least, use trail markers. This will help if you need to leave the trail for any reason and will help anyone who is trying to join later on to find the trackers. This also gives a pattern of travel, which most likely will be an arch traveling back to the bedding area downwind of the stand. Bedding areas are thick with a good view and take advantage of wind direction, and they provide a perfect area for a wounded animal to try and recover.
So no matter what happens before or after the shot, there are tools that cost very little and will save lots of time, and help us remain ethically responsible by recovering game quickly and efficiently. For more info on Bluestar® go to http://bloodglow.com/. You can call Jerry anytime on his cell phone if you need help figuring out a trail. (888) 579-1965, toll free.

Maine Moose Hunt 2006

By Jay S. English

So I guess it all starts with that magic morning when you get up just a little bit earlier than usual and then hit the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website to see the results of the Maine state moose lottery drawing.

Okay, so you’ve been applying and dutifully sending in your application fees for like twenty some odd years and haven’t been picked yet.
Don’t matter, this is THE YEAR ( or so you think ). Read more

My First “Big Buck”

By Richard Julian

Maine Firearms Deer Season 2004
11/15/04

 

The morning started out where we had six of us wanting to hunt together, but due to Maine’s laws on party size we decided to split up into two groups of three. Being the first day out for most of us, we were really just trying to locate some good spots to hunt. My dad, brother and our friend Randy decided to check out a block of woods near “4-corners”. My friend Aime, Kris and I decided to still hunt through a section of woods we call “the Blue Line”. The Blue Line had been cut a while back and it has grown up into a thick forest of Beeches on the east side of the ridge and turning to a nice cedar swamp on the west side. The Beech trees were so thick I was sweated up in no time at all and very discouraged: any deer would hear me a mile away. Kris called on the radio to say he had jumped a big doe and that it was headed my way; of course I never saw or heard that deer.

Read more

Smelting

By A. Sayward Lamb

A. Sayward Lamb is an outdoor writer and published author. He writes for U.S. Hunting Today and Maine Fishing Today.

When I think of spring I think of smelting, because it is a ritual that I have participated in since I was a boy. I cannot remember when I did not go smelting, so I must have started at a very young age. Smelts are a small, anadromous fish, which travel in schools, and are found in both fresh and salt water. The spawning runs for salt-water smelts generally occur during the late winter along the coastal bays and tidal rivers. Fresh water smelts generally begin to make their spawning runs about the time the ice breaks away from the shorelines of inland waters, and can last from a few days in small bodies of water, to as long as two weeks or more in large inland lakes. Read more

« Previous Page — Next Page »