Field Notes

The Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division is now raising questions about how the 11-year-old Jamison Scott’s 1,051-pound feral swine, dubbed “Monster Pig,” got into the 150-acre fenced plantation where it was shot and whether the kill complied with the state’s fair chase laws. From an Associated Press story in The Decatur Daily News:

Violations of the transportation [of game] law are misdemeanors punishable by a $500 fine and 
three months in jail, [AWFFD enforcement chief Allan] Andress said. Penalties for violating the fair chase law range up to $5,000 in fines and one month in jail, according to the state wildlife Web site.

What’s your reaction to this latest development?

From ZDNet Government:

If you’ve been walking in the woods lately and felt someone watching you, maybe they were - via surveillance camera. In northwestern Minnesota, the Department of Natural Resources is using cameras hidden in the trees to catch scofflaws, reports the Associated Press. . . .

One of the offenders . . . claimed entrapment and invasion of privacy. However, the County District Court Judge ruled that the ATV owner had no expectation of privacy on land owned by the state, [and] that there was no entrapment . . . .

What do you think?

Frederick and Rosanne Shuger, convicted of interfering with a 2001 town-sanctioned deer hunt, contend that a section of the state’s hunter harassment law is unconstitutional because it is overly vague, according to this AP story in the Journal & Courier. The state Supreme Court, however, refused to hear the challenge. But this may not be the end of the story, as the Shugers may take their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Senate’s draft of an immigration reform bill, which is opposed by many conservatives yet strongly endorsed by President Bush, has been creating a lot of buzz in the news this week. According to an alert from the Gun Owners of America, the proposal not only amounts to an amnesty bill but is also anti-gun:

The current language in the amnesty bill . . . would essentially . . . threaten every gun store in America.

So let's say your local gun store sells two or three firearms to Mayor Bloomberg's thuggish agents under New York City's extraterritorial "sting" operations. Your gun shop is now a "criminal gang."

What do you think? Does this language “threaten every gun shop in America”?

According to a new study from Murdoch University in Western Australia, domestic cats wearing brightly-colored bibs kill fewer birds and other wildlife. It’s not clear if the bibs scare wildlife away or prevent the kitties from properly pouncing. But the real question is: Would you put a bib on your cat?

When a cornered cow moose charge and began kicking an 8-year-old boy in South Anchorage last Friday, the police officer on the scene had no choice but to shoot the moose, killing it. Unfortunately, there were two other youngsters involved—the pair of orphaned newborn moose calves the mother was apparently trying to protect. Check out the full story here from the Anchorage Daily News.

The latest news about record hogs, wild boar hunting, and more.

Breaking News: Monster Pig’s Real Name Was Fred

Discussion Topic: Was Monster Pig Kill Legal?

Anatomy Of A Hog

The Gun Nut discusses the .500 S&W

Breaking News: 11-Year-Old Bags Hogzilla-Plus

Hogzilla Or Wilbur? Solving The Mystery Behind The Latest 'Giant Boar'

Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi

In 2004, a Pennsylvania man hunting private land with permission shot a pregnant woman who was not on the property and who later won a lawsuit against not just the hunter, but also the landowner. When we asked last month, most of you said landowners do need more liability protection. Now the Pennsylvania House has unanimously passed a bill that would give it to them. From The Morning Call:

Legislation that would dramatically increase liability protection for landowners who allow hunting on their properties was unanimously adopted by the state House last week, and Gov. Ed Rendell has vowed to sign the bill into law if it receives Senate approval.

House members voted 199-0 Wednesday in favor of House Bill 13, which would make it clear that landowners who allow public hunting access without charging a fee incur no liability for property damage or personal injuries caused by hunters -- regardless of whether the damage occurs on the landowner's property or off it.

What’s your reaction? Should other states adopt similar legislation?

On Saturday, it will have been 75 years since George Perry landed his 22.25-pound largemouth. Yet the record’s appeal and mystique only continues to grow. F&S contributor and author of Sowbelly: The Obsessive Quest for the World Record Largemouth Bass, has theory about why: ''It is such an egalitarian record,” he told the Chicago Sun Times. “You and I are not going to break Barry Bonds' record. But anybody can catch the [record largemouth].'' Check out the full article detailing Perry’s record and it’s upcoming anniversary here.

With the world-record largemouth turning 75, it’s fitting that 57 percent of anglers who responded to a survey sponsored by Pennzoil Marine said their number one fishing fantasy is to catch a giant bass (up to 125 pounds, in fact). But what they’d like to catch isn’t half as interesting as what they’ve actually landed: Four anglers said they’d pulled in dead bodies, according to this AP story. Others caught false teeth, shopping carts, refrigerator doors, and much more.