Field Notes

Hal Herring’s recent interview with Ted Nugent obviously touched a nerve. But high-fence hunting is just one of many highly-charged topics we’ve discussed here, including crossbows, hunting deer with dogs, in-line muzzleloaders during primitive seasons, and I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of the black gun discussion—to name a few.

The question is: Are these debates ultimately constructive or divisive? Does the exchange inform our opinions or make us draw deeper lines in the sand? Should we have a wide diversity of opinion within our group? Or should we take the hard line: “You’re either with us or you’re with the antis”?

Tell us what you think.

In what the National Audubon Society is calling “one of the greatest conservation success stories in U.S. history,” the bald eagle has officially recovered, from a population low of just 417 breeding pairs in the continental US in 1967 to some 10,000 pairs today.

From the Washington Post:

The federal government today removed the bald eagle from its list of threatened and endangered species, capping a 40-year comeback for the national icon that showed that disappearing creatures are not always lost.

When a young buck nicknamed “Lucky” allowed suburban kids to approach and pet it this spring, everything seemed innocent and cute. By summer, however, the whitetail started getting a little too friendly and eventually aggressive. After tussling with a man who was trying to protect his 2-year-old, the buck’s luck ran out, as wildlife officials put him down. Check out the story and pictures here.

From CT.gov:

Governor M. Jodi Rell has signed a bill to require gun owners to report their guns lost or stolen within 72-hours of discovering them missing.

“Right now, police are powerless if they trace a gun used in a crime back to its owner and the owner claims it was stolen,” Governor Rell said. “This law targets irresponsible gun owners in an attempt to stem the tide of stolen guns used in crimes in Connecticut. We think it will prove to be a useful tool for law enforcement by closing up a loophole in our laws.”

Is this really a useful tool for law enforcement or just another way to target gun owners?

Lo and behold, it turns out that Democrats and Republicans actually can come together in a truly bipartisan spirit to further smart, sensible, legislation that would help sportsmen. Who’d have thunk it? According to this Grand Forks Herald “Viewpoint,” even as most legislators coast into the summer break, Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., as well as Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan continue to push hard for proposed “Open Fields” legislation that would provide financial incentives to landowners to encourage them to open their property for hunting and fishing.

Read the full story here.

If you’ve seen Adam Sandler’s best movie, Happy Gilmore, this story should sound familiar. From south Florida’s Herald Tribune:

Bruce Burger was playing golf Monday afternoon at the Lake Venice Golf Course when he lost a ball in a pond near the sixth hole and almost lost a limb.

When Burger reached down to fish out his ball, a 10-foot, 11-inch [one-eyed] alligator latched onto his right forearm and pulled him in. . . .

F&S Contributing Editor Hal Herring sat down with Ted Nugent the other day to pick his brain on the question of high-fence hunting. The interview got a bit heated when The Nuge took issue with some of Hal's questions, calling them "loaded with assumptions and ignorant bias." Check it out below, then let us know; is this just another example of "hippie, dope-smoking antihunting 'journalism'?" What do you think of high-fence operations?

Judges at the 2007 Marin-Sonoma County Fair Ugliest Dog Contest crowned Elwood, a 2-year-old Chinese Crested and Chihuahua mix, the world's ugliest dog on Friday, according to this Associated Press story. But is Elwood really the world’s ugliest dog ever?

According to samugliestdog.com, that distinction goes to the late Sam, a purebred Chinese Crested and former World’s Ugliest Dog Contest champ.

Sam

Elwood

Which dog do you think is uglier?

From an AP story in The Bellingham Herald:

A [Washington state] fisherman had two of his fingertips reattached after cutting them off to free himself from a sinking boat, his employer said Tuesday.

[William] Messenger, 51, cut his trapped fingertips with a pocket knife just minutes before his future son-in-law, Jarrod Todd, arrived with help and tools, Grays Harbor County Undersheriff Rick Scott said.

Ted Nugent never seems to sit on the fence with any of his opinions. And no one seems to sit on the fence with their opinion of The Nuge. But according to this Press & Sun-Bulletin story there’s “more than meets the eye,” to the Motor City Madman. While he is “reviled by some,” “charity work and family life are behind [his] wild persona.”

Check out the full article and tell us what you think of the Nuge.