A Warning To Outdoor Users About Echinococcus, From Worms
December 14, 2009
This is a warning to outdoor users about a potentially deadly biological event that could result from one’s curiosity to poke at and kick through scat from wolves, coyotes and foxes. Of course not everyone knowingly does this but many hunters, trappers and simply the curious, want to know what these animals have been eating.
Picture This!
November 15, 2009
With all the great stories, equipment, adventures and people out there I thought it would be great to get some pictures. If you have any pictures from a hunt, your gear or best of all you geared up that would be great. If you send in pictures I will post on our site as well as putting some of the best pictures on all our sites.
Hunters Once Again Getting A Bad Rap
July 10, 2009
Fairfield, Connecticut has an overgrown deer population, with some estimates as high as 75 deer per square mile. The Fairfield Conservation Commission wants to begin allowing hunting on public lands to cull the herd. That doesn’t sit very well with those animal advocates who don’t believe in killing animals. No surprise there.
In an article in the Connecticut Post, from the animal lovers and protectors we can read all the same usual unsubstantiated horse manure about why hunting is not the answer to the problem – deer don’t cause Lyme disease, hunting deer causes the reproductive rate to increase resulting in even more deer, yada, yada, yada. Read more
Skinny Moose Media Will Live-Stream Maine Moose Lottery
May 18, 2009
Mark your calendars! June 18th, 2009 will be the annual drawing for the Maine Moose Lottery. This year 3,015 permits will be drawn and as is usually the case thousands of applicants keep their fingers crossed in hopes of being one of the lucky ones.
This year’s event will be held at the University of Maine at Fort Kent and as last year, Skinny Moose Media, in conjunction with U.S. Hunting Today and Maine Hunting Today, will live-stream the video and audio of the event.
Tom Remington, Vice President of Skinny Moose Media, LLC, author of the Black Bear Blog and Managing Editor of U.S. Hunting Today and Maine Hunting Today, will be on hand at the show to conduct interviews and do the filming of the event. He will have his long time friend and Chief Photographer for Skinny Moose Media, Milt Inman with him to assist and grab tons of candid shots throughout the day and evening. Read more
Reducing Deer Populations For Healthy Forests And People
June 2, 2008
I’ve talked some about his subject from a couple different perspectives. In Pennsylvania, the state is in the middle of a major deer population reduction in order to regrow the forests. According to reports from studies and officials, there are areas where too many deer have destroyed the natural under story of the forest allowing for growth of invasive plant species. Read more
Fort Thomas debates deer hunt
May 21, 2008
FORT THOMAS – Fort Thomas City Council is still not sure exactly what the city’s deer hunt this year will be like.
At a meeting Monday, May 19, the council again discussed possible changes to the archery ordinance that was passed last December.
The council members agreed that eligible properties for discharging an arrow must be at least three acres and that the setback on both sides between the shooter and a neighboring property should be raised from 50 to 100 feet.
Everyone also agreed that the hunting should be limited from Nov. 1 to Nov. 21 and Jan. 1 until the end of the hunting season, which was Jan. 21 last year. This year’s end date is not yet determined.
The hunt will also be limited to the hours of 6 a.m. to noon.
“We have had people say they don’t feel safe walking, so if we limited the time, people will know when hunting is not going on,” said City Administrator Donald Martin.
Council also discussed posting a map of the eligible properties, which Martin said for the most part are on the outskirts of the city, on the city’s Web site and at the city building.
The council was split on whether it would be best to require property owners who are allowing hunting on their land to register with the city and whether adjoining property owners should be notified.
Martin said he worries that the more requirements like this that the ordinance includes, the less likely people will be to participate, which would make the program not work.
“With the restrictions of the property size, we have solved the biggest safety issues,” said councilman Eric Haas.
Councilwoman Barbara Thompson-Levine said she is in favor of the registration and notification because it adds an extra layer of safety to the ordinance.
Fort Thomas residents Patrick and Kathy Williams, who attended the meeting, said they are scared for children to be around their house, which is surrounded by eligible properties.
Children, Patrick Williams said, don’t know what no trespassing means.
“I grew up in Fort Thomas,” said Kathy Williams. “We used to go from one end of this city to the other through those woods.”
Kathy said she thinks the registration and notification are good ideas to give people more warning of when hunting may be going on.
The original ordinance allowed for hunting on private property with the owners consent from Dec. 27, 2007 to Jan. 21 of this year. Hunters, who weren’t required to report kills, reported 42 deers killed.
No injuries or accidents involving archery were reported during that time.
The council is revisiting the ordinance to give residents, many who spoke out against the hunt, peace of mind to help them feel safe in the city, said councilman Roger Peterman.
The council will continue to discuss the changes at a later meeting, which has not yet been set.
Martin said he expects to have a draft of the amended ordinance sometime in June.
Little dog nearly lunch for adaptable coyote Encounters become more common
May 13, 2008
Bentley, a 2-year old Chihuahua owned by Jessica Ganchou of Bethlehem, is luckly to be alive after he was mauled and nearly killed by a coyote earlier this year. (Jim Shannon / RA)
Bentley the longhaired Chihuahua has a second chance at life thanks to a 9-volt battery, a loving owner and two skilled veterinarians who put him back together after he was attacked by a coyote.
The lap dog with the golden coat and diminutive body was romping behind his owner’s Bethlehem house at dusk Jan. 19 when a coyote snatched him. The coyote’s teeth pierced the dog’s flesh and clamped down as it headed for the edge of the yard.
Technology intervened. Bentley, who was wearing a battery-powered collar tuned to an electric fence in the yard, got an electrical shock as the coyote stepped over the metal wire. The charge zapped the coyote, which dropped Bentley and skulked away.
The little dog was lucky. Wildlife experts and veterinarians across Connecticut say the number of coyote attacks on pets, particularly small dogs like Bentley that appear as prey, has increased in recent years. Suburban sprawl is considered the biggest factor; homes built near hills and streams are in natural coyote habitat. Few disagree coyotes, which resemble small German shepherds, have become more aggressive, and are losing their innate fear of humans, as evidenced by the 2006 attack on two Washington, Conn., residents.
“The bottom line is coyotes are expanding into populated areas and perhaps into areas where pet owners are totally unsuspecting,” said Chris Vann, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Environmental Protection. “They will protect their territories. If it can happen in the backyards of West Hartford and East Hartford, more populated areas, it can really happen anywhere.”
Deer romps through home but does little damage
May 10, 2008
BURRELL TOWNSHIP – Across the yard, through the pond, onto the porch and through the open door – that’s the path a young deer took to get into the house of Carl and Dena Wendel on Monday evening.
Their temporary house guest entered through their front door which was propped open at their home in the Smith Plan behind Pizza Hut along Route 22. No one was in the house at the time.
Dena was at a meeting at Blairsville High School when her husband called to tell her to come home.
“My husband was on the front porch. It ran right past my husband,” she said. “He saw it, but it wasn’t registering. It was unbelievable.”
The deer, which the Wendels believe was a yearling, trotted through the family’s kitchen, computer room and laundry room. Aside from some knocked-over water jugs, displaced dog dishes, a hole or two in the pond liner and some stray deer hairs, nothing was damaged.
“Other than making a mess, we were really lucky,” Dena said. “We have a huge 125-gallon fish tank when you first walk in the door. He ran right past that. Thank God.”
A group of neighbors came over to help figure out how to get the deer out of the house. They pounded on walls of the house to scare it into the garage, which was connected to the laundry room. Eventually, the deer made it to the garage and exited the house.
Dena estimated the deer spent about 15 minutes in her home, which is in an area the family does not consider a rural area.
“When I called my insurance agent, I’ve never seen him speechless,” Dena said. “I was talking to him and he was like, ‘Are you kidding?’”
In addition to avoiding major damage, the Wendels also avoided having a messier catastrophe on their hands – they share the house with three dogs. But Carl locked the dogs up outside the sliding glass door where they watched. The dogs were jumping on the door, wanting their own piece of the action.
“I was thinking, please don’t let them break that door,” she said. “I’ll have three dogs and a deer chasing each other around the house – I’m moving into a hotel.”
States Might Adopt Shed Hunting Seasons
May 4, 2008
Talk about a few bad apples spoiling the bushel.
Thanks to the actions of some hooligans, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho are considering enacting laws and seasons on the gathering of shed antlers from deer and elk.
According to published reports, wildlife officials from those states have seen an increase in activity from individuals who harass deer and elk in efforts to get them to shed their antlers prematurely. For example, in April, Nevada game officials apprehended a man who used an ATV to chase mule deer through sagebrush in attempts to get them to drop their antlers.
Montana has been dealing with this problem for several years, and has already implemented closed seasons on shed hunting in certain parts of its elk range. Fines for harassing deer and elk in that state can range up to $500 per violation.
Other reports include violations in Idaho where shed hunters were using off-road motorcycle to chase animals.
A date-specific shed-hunting season? Now I think I’ve heard it all.
–Dan Schmidt, Editor Deer and Deer Hunting
For deer hunting, board bans high-powered rifles
April 26, 2008
Change in Hunting Rules sought:
CHARLES CITY — The county Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 last night to prohibit deer hunting with high-powered rifles, drawing anger and raised voices from some in the audience.
“We’re going to get you out next term,” said Bill Johnson, addressing the board members.
Also last night, the three-member board unanimously adopted a $22.4 million county budget for fiscal 2009, which begins July 1. That is a nearly 4 percent decrease from the spending plan for the current fiscal year.
The county’s real estate tax rate is being raised by 7 cents to 82 cents per $100 of assessed value.
More than 100 people packed the auditorium at the Government and School Board Administration Building during last night’s public hearing on the rifle issue.
About 15 people spoke, with some in favor of hunting deer with high-powered rifles and others expressing safety concerns.
Several of those in favor suggested it was their right to hunt deer with rifles, or that the current practice of shooting from tree stands was relatively safe. A National Rifle Association representative said deer hunting was essential to controlling the deer population.
Vince Brackett said hunting with rifles is a tradition and it claims far fewer lives than boating in Virginia. “Boating’s far more dangerous,” he said.
Opponents of rifle hunting expressed concerns about stray bullets. One suggested that some hunters would be unable to resist shooting a deer even if they were on the ground and not in a tree stand.
Elbert Parker held a piece of inch-thick wood above his head to demonstrate the ease with which a bullet could go through someone’s wall.
“Your children can be shot dead looking at TV in your house,” he said, prompting an argument among him and members of the crowd until board chairman Gilbert A. Smith tapped on a table to quiet them.
Supervisors had three possible voting options.
The first two would have allowed people to continue hunting deer with high-powered rifles during general firearms season as long as they fired from at least 10 feet off the ground. Both added additional restrictions.
Supervisors Sherri M. Bowman and Timothy W. Cotman voted for the third option, the amendment that prohibits all deer hunting with high-powered rifles. Smith voted against it.
Last night’s vote reversed a decision made less than three years ago to allow deer hunting with rifles.
For that vote in 2005, Smith and then-supervisor Michael L. Holmes voted in favor, and Cotman against.
But Bowman unseated Holmes in this past November’s election, running on a platform that, in part, sought to rescind the use of rifles for deer hunting.
Bowman said after the board meeting that most of the residents who had talked to her about the issue had expressed safety concerns.
“It’s been trying,” she said. “You try to do what’s best and what’s fair.”
By REED WILLIAMS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
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