Field Notes

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner:
Crosswalks similar to those used in school zones, complete with flashing lights and a warning that a moose is crossing the road.

Electronic mats built into roads that shock moose if they step on them.

Groomed trails leading to feedlots well off the road.

Those are just some of the techniques the Alaska Moose Federation is promoting to help keep moose off Alaska roads.

As AMF president Gary Olson so eloquently put it, “Everybody loves moose and they taste a lot better when they’re not marinated with anti-freeze.”

In the December 2008/January 2009 issue, Bob Marshall writes an insightful and revealing look at the reasons for hunting’s decline (Why Johnny Won’t Hunt). To get more perspective, we posed two straightforward questions to various leaders in the U.S. hunting community.

1)    Why does hunting recruitment continue to decline?
2)    If this trend is not reversed, what will hunting in America look like in 50 years?

You can read their responses by clicking the link below.

Why do you think hunting is declining?

From The Denver Post:
Elk droppings in the Evergreen area contain the same strain of E. coli bacteria that sickened eight children in three mountain counties, state health officials reported today. Lab testing confirmed a genetic match between the bacteria. Health officials suspected elk droppings as a potential source of the exposure. It's not known how the elk were infected.

From the Baltimore Sun:
The person who walked off with a hunting stand and related paraphernalia from a wooded area in Gambrills might have had a second thought if he knew who owned them: Sheriff Ronald S. Bateman.

The missing objects are worth a total of about $500, he says. . . .

"You just don't take another hunter's stuff," Bateman said. "It's like stealing a crabber's crab pot. . . ."



This story hits close to home for me. Having had several stands stolen from me in the past, I usually put a lock on each one I hang. Last week, I forgot to bring a lock, hung the stand anyway, and sure enough, it got swiped. So the question for today is: What kind of @$$#%!& steals a fellow hunter’s tree stand?

From The Reporter:
She pooh-poohed her peers when they scolded her for being "too old for such foolishness."

The 89-year-old Delores Wilhelms of Dotyville reached a new height of Nirvana last week when she bagged a buck, using her deceased husband's crossbow.

"It's a thrill I tell you. I hope God lets me live long enough to do it again next year," Delores said.

Don’t think gas and oil exploration takes a toll on wildlife? Maybe you haven’t considered this side of the story, from the Billings Gazette:

A magistrate in Sweetwater County has sentenced a Tennessee man to serve 100 days in jail and pay $6,000 in fines and restitution for shooting a doe antelope. . . . Officials say the case is only the latest in a disturbing pattern of out-of-state energy workers wantonly killing Wyoming wildlife. . . .

Brett Johnson, Sweetwater County attorney, prosecuted Bowman and said he hopes the sentence sends a stern message. . . .

"There's a real issue because of all the oil and gas exploration," Johnson said of the transient workers.
"They're out there. There's very few other people out there, and there's a lot of wildlife. They don't think anybody's going to catch them, and most of the time, nobody does catch them. So I hope it does send a message."

At the Breesport Baptist Church’s Sportsmen's Day in February, host John Sears, owner of Adventure Game Calls and Guide Service, asked 96-year-old parishioner Pearl Sutphen to help him demonstrate his calls. “She pretty much stole the show,” Joe told the Ithaca Journal. “Before I knew it, she was saying, ‘Sure Joe, I'd love to go hunting with you.'” On May 30th, Sutphen bagged her bird, an 18-pound gobbler. Check out the full story.

From Reuters:

Bankrupt Frontier Airlines said on Friday it will increase the charge for taking antlers on its planes to $100 from $75. . . .

"During hunting season, people do bring antlers back in cargo" said a spokeswoman for Frontier. "If you look at some of the other airlines, they also have an actual antlers fee, so it does happen," she added.

Here’s a video sent to me by Shooting Editor Phil Bourjaily, in which a bowhunter almost gets a shot at a big cow moose, but couldn’t quite get her into comfortable shooting range.

From the Augusta Chronicle :

Two fired National Wild Turkey Federation executives have filed suit against the organization and its governing board alleging recent termination...was the result of "a well-orchestrated smear campaign" involving lies and defamation.

CEO Carl Brown, a 27-year employee, and Vice President Dick Rosenlieb, a 19-year employee, contend...their firings were based on false accusations leveled by unnamed members of NWTF's 18-person board.