Field Notes

There are lots of pro athletes out there who fish and hunt, but how many of them would skip one of the biggest days of their careers just to go fishing? Former Wisconsin Badger Joe Thomas, for one. Instead of flying to New York for the NFL Draft (held each year at the Radio City Music Hall, just uptown from the F&S offices) he kept a long-standing date with his father to chase brown trout on Lake Michigan.

"We had to tell [the NFL] that we had made plans and we didn't know they were going to invite us," the elder Thomas said. "We really want to follow through with the big plans we had for this day."
...

"I didn't want to involve myself in all the craziness that goes on (with the draft). I knew it was going to be an exciting enough time where I didn't need to go to New York," Thomas said.

Playing hookey didn't seem to effect Thomas' chances in the draft, though. He was the 3rd pick overall, going to the Cleveland Browns, where he'll play left tackle. Check out the full story here, then tell us; in Joe's shoes, what would you have done?

On Monday, we posted a link about a 1,063-pound Florida mako shark caught on 30-pound-test line that easily outweighed the current line-class world record (see it here). Now, Saltwater Sportsman’s Joe Cermele has latest. Check out his interview with the angler, including incredible photos and why the IGFA will disqualify the catch.

From Halifax’s The Daily News:

Nova Scotia hunters will have to leave their deer pee at home.
In an effort to stop the contagious, lethal Chronic Wasting Disease from hitting Nova Scotia deer and elk, the Department of Natural Resources is banning the use of deer scents that contain bodily fluid. . . .

The disease has been diagnosed in commercial game farms in several states and provinces where the products originate. There are no regulations on the imported scents, which hunters can purchase at WalMart and Canadian Tire. . . .

"I don't think there's going to be a huge uproar about it," [Natural Resources wildlife director Barry Sabean] said, adding hunters have been ahead of the government on the CWD issue.

What do you think? Would you support a similar ban in your area?

William Jason Morgan, 28, and Robert Wudzinski, 70, pleaded guilty to shooting protected wolves (one of which wore a radio collar) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula last fall. Now sentenced, Morgan will pay $2,385, loose his hunting privileges until 2010, and be placed on six month’s probation. Wudzinski got nine months probation, will pay $2,150, and can’t hunt again until next year. Read the full story here.

Hoping to share a little taste of home, we sent copies of Field & Stream and Outdoor Life to some US troops in Afghanistan. And they sent us back this picture, of the Provisional Reconstruction Team in Sharana checking out the latest issues. Enjoy, guys. And best wishes.

A few weeks ago, we asked you to send us questions (link) for Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne--the head of the department that houses the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and manages almost 500 million acres of public land. Well, we got some answers for you.

On April 17th, Field & Stream, along with editors from Outdoor Life, SHOT Business, QUAD, Saltwater Sportsman, and Popular Science, sat down with the Secretary for a roundtable discussion. Topics ranged from invasive species, to multiple use issues on public lands. The sound files below are Secretary Kempthorne's answers to questions on balancing energy exploration with habitat conservation, hunting in national parks, and managing wolf and grizzly populations. Click on a link to play the audio.

Kempthorne on balancing energy exploration with habitat conservation, part I

Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:

Kempthorne on hunting in National Parks


Kempthorne on managing wolf and grizzly bear populations

From Michigan’s Daily Press & Argus:

The state Department of Natural Resources is facing a budget deficit. . . .

What to do about that?

Well, according to a whole bunch of people in Lansing, the answer is to increase the price of hunting and fishing licenses. And not just by a little, but to double and triple them.

Under the fee structure [proposal], the price of a firearm or archery deer license would double from $15 to $30 for Michigan residents during the next four years. A 24-hour all-species fishing license for state residents would rise from $7 to $15 while an annual all-species fishing license would increase from $28 to $40. A 24-hour fishing license for senior citizens would jump from $3 to $9 in 2013. . . .

DNR Director Rebecca Humphries explains it this way: "As general fund support for the department has been reduced over the last several years, we have been forced to look at license fee increases so that we can continue the work we do to provide high-quality hunting and fishing experiences that hunters and anglers have come to expect in Michigan. These increases will allow the DNR to maintain its current level of service."

What do you think? Would you approve of such a hike in your state?

Put your sunglasses on for this news: According to Drs. Robert Morris and Douglas Witherspoon of the Callahan Eye Foundation at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the flying lures and sinkers of a typical day on the water now cause more eye injuries than the flying elbows and fingers of your average basketball game. Until just two years ago, basketball, racquetball, and squash were at the top of the list, but fishing has now surpassed them all. So keep those glasses on. Read the report here.

There’s something about the stretch of Montana’s Highway 12 between Forsyth and Ingomar that seems to invite poachers to go on shooting sprees. According to authorities, several poached antelope have been found along the route every spring for the past three or four years. But never this many. Earlier this month, four bucks and 11 does were found dead and dying along a more than 20-mile stretch.

Check out the story and photo here.

Kenya’s wildlife numbers have dwindled by at least two-thirds in the last 30 years. Now a government committee’s recommendation to lift the ban on hunting--which they say would promote better wildlife management and bring in big money that could be put into conservation—is stirring debate.

From the Daily News:

Tempers have flared, and one Kenyan journalist recently protested at the idea of Arab royals and rich Americans, "bored by ordinary living", blasting away at big game while children in rags look on from the doorways of mud huts. . . .

Supporters of hunting include not only ranchers and sports hunters themselves, but also some veteran conservationists who have worked in the country for decades. . . .

Well-funded foreign animal welfare groups, mostly based in the United States, have muddied the debate, and even "subverted democracy", in Kenya, says [Mike Norton-Griffiths, an expert on the economics of wildlife management].

These groups seem determined to make sure hunting never returns, apparently regardless of whether this leads to further falls in wildlife numbers or continued rural poverty, he says.

What do you think?