Evel Knievel Was A Hunting Guide

As most of you know, Evel Knievel passed away last week and millions of people worldwide are mourning his passing. I was never a huge fan of his but I did sit in awe many times as I watched him perform his over-the-top stunts and wondered to myself what a man was made of that would overcome the fear and cheat death on a regular basis.

I never knew much about the man prior to becoming a stunt man but today I learned something about Mr. Knievel that I thought I would share with readers. This is my way of honoring the passing of Evel Knievel. Read more

Taking a Stand

By Tom Remington

 

Available in Audio

 

“Taking a stand” is an expression that is used in hunting in perhaps two different ways. For many hunters, it means going to your favorite location where you have erected your tree stand or blind and getting into it to wait for the trophy buck to come along. For others, including many Maine hunters, taking a stand means to locate yourself in a specific area and wait for that trophy deer to come by. That specific area is determined by occurrences that are taking place in the area you are hunting. Let me give you some examples of what I mean.

 

Morning breaks and you are headed for one of your favorite hunting spots and on the way in, you notice other hunters in the area. You think about it a minute and realize that often when this happens you know exactly where deer like to cross when pushed by other hunters. Another example may be when you are hunting with one, two or three other hunters and once you have discussed what each of the hunters in your party are going to do, you decide to go sit or wait at one of your favorite places you know deer travel through when hunted by other hunters.

 

Whatever the reasons are that you might decide to “take a stand”, you are not equipped with portable blind or tree stand – there is just you, your rifle, a survival pack and perhaps a “hot seat” to sit on. There are proper ways or should I say less intrusive ways to take a stand that will increase your chances at seeing or bagging a deer.

 

 

Deer, and especially the trophy bucks, are not stupid animals. They are much like us in that they are creatures of habit and what seems to have worked for them once or twice, their instincts will direct them in that same manner more often than not. You as a hunter need to learn what those habits are and apply them to your hunting strategies.

 

Here are a few examples of how deer might react under certain circumstances. When you hunt an area often, it shouldn’t take you too long to learn the layout of the land – deer know this layout better than you do. Remember what transpires each and every time you hunt in a particular section. If deer get pushed or jumped, where do the go? What direction were you traveling, what was the weather, what direction was the wind blowing and what was the time of day, just to name a few. This may seem like a lot of information to process but it is what makes hunting enjoyable. It is part of the chase.

 

By learning these bits of information, you can determine better how to hunt that area. If you know that under most circumstances when deer are pushed out of that area from hunting pressure, the deer escape via a well hidden ravine on the west end of the land it would only seem logical that that would be a good location to take a stand and wait.

 

Over time, you will discover some very rewarding places to take a stand. Perhaps that place will be a favorite knoll, ravine, crossing on an old logging road, ledge, swamp, field or next to an apple orchard. Wherever it is, once you get there, don’t ruin a good opportunity by not knowing how to take a stand.

 

I repeat, deer are not stupid nor are they blind. One of the biggest mistakes inexperienced hunters make in taking a stand is to remain in the open. Many times I have suggested to a fellow hunter to go to a particular spot on an old woods road and wait. When I arrive at that point, I find them standing smack dab in the middle of the road.

 

When taking a stand, you want to be able to see well enough to spot a deer and that can be accomplished without standing in the middle of the wide open area. Look around for a minute or two when you get there. You should have knowledge of what direction you think a deer might come and where the favorite crossing spot is. Assess the wind direction, sun, etc. and from that determine in what general area you should be, i.e.. put the wind in your face and sun to your back if you can.

 

Once you’ve determined in what general area you should take a stand, now is the time to find the best strategic spot available to you. Is there a bit of a rise or knoll that would give you a better view? If so, use it. Find a place on that rise where you can camouflage yourself with the natural surroundings. If you are standing alone in the open and a deer comes by, chances are that deer may not recognize you as a human and danger but it will more than likely determine that you are something that doesn’t belong there. The deer will turn and go in another direction and you are left looking like a fool.

 

Put your back to a clump of trees or underbrush. If you can put some small bushes in front of you – enough to help blend you into the surroundings without impeding your site to shoot. If you are going to sit down, find the spot and clean it up. Make it so any small movement on your part doesn’t create noise – deer have acute hearing. Sit in a manner that is conducive to making shooting more easily accomplished. What I mean by this is simple. The spot you are watching for deer is more than likely relatively small. Hopefully small enough so that you don’t have to keep turning your head from side to side – that’s too much movement. Sit so you can see and you can raise your rifle easily when needed.

 

If you opt to literally stand when you take your stand, again find a place where you are best camouflaged and clean the area where you will stand. Move the dry leaves and branches from under foot. The result should be a moist dirt area free of crackling leaves and twigs. Any movement by you of your feet should be silent. Stand in a position that affords you the best sight and when necessary you can raise your rifle to shoot with the least amount of movement – deer will spot the slightest amount of movement or noise on your part.

 

The bottom line is to use common sense. This is actually a game of hide and seek. The better you can hide yourself and at the same time making every effort to keep a clear vision for yourself, you are increasing your chances at success.

 

One last thing that I will add to this is to have patience. I know in my early years of hunting, I would take a stand somewhere and run out of patience. I would decide to move to another spot or get antsy and start shifting positions only to hear a deer running off in the other direction. The hunter with the most patience will in the end be the one that brings home the deer while your buddies, family and other hunters will be wondering why you and not them.

 

Happy hunting.

Field Dressing a Deer

By Anonymous

 

There may have been years worth of work that has gone into bagging your first deer and not always are you fortunate to have someone with you that first time that can teach you how to field-dress a deer. The following directions are the basics of field dressing. Please keep in mind that everyone has his or her own favorite way to do this. Many prefer to completely dress the animal in the woods and others choose to “field” dress and finish the job when they get back home. The option is really yours and where you prefer to be. Personally, I like to do as much as I can in the woods.

 

Having someone with you to assist makes the job easier but I will assume that you are alone with your prize.

1. Locate a spot in the woods that can be beneficial to you. Most prefer to dress a deer on a bit of a downhill grade, so if that is not an option, look for a slight rise in the nearby terrain and drag the deer there. You can use the grade off one side of the rise.

2. The single most important thing that you want to focus on is not cutting into the “ponch”. The ponch is the stomach and intestines. Rupturing those can be messy and the odor sometimes is overpowering so work slowly and methodically.

 

3. If you can position the deer on its back that would be helpful. Again, if you are alone use your dragging rope to assist in tying the deer into position. Don’t be bashful. I find that if I straddle the deer’s head and hold its front legs apart with my knees, it affords me room and keeps both hands free to cut. If you have rope, use it to hold the deer’s two front legs apart.

4. You will find that the dead weight of the animal can be difficult to handle so be patient. The lower part of the deer will be rolled to one side or the other. Starting at the chest area and working toward the butt of the deer is easiest and at a point you need to move from your straddle position at the head to the rear.

5. Start at the chest. Find the point where the rib cage joins together and with one hand grab the hair and skin and lift it up and away from the stomach cavity. With the other hand, use your knife, and you better hope it is sharp, and begin cutting the hide being careful not to go too deep. As you cut, you will find that there is the layer of the hide and directly under that is a thin muscle area that protects the stomach and intestines. Go ahead and carefully cut that as well.

6. Move from the point of the rib cage toward the rear. Approximately 2/3 to ¾ of the way down the torso you will need to switch ends and move down and hold the hind legs apart as you finish opening the deer. The farther you get away from the rib cage, the easier it is to hold the hide and inner muscle layer up and away from the ponch.

7. If the deer you have shot is a buck, you will soon come to its testicles. Choose one side or the other to cut around but eventually you will remove those from the deer. Continue cutting and slice the hide all the way to the anus.

8. This is where most hunters have differing opinions as to what to do next. Most are correct – just different approaches. Hopefully you have succeeded in keeping the stomach in one piece. There are two more things that you need to keep tabs on and work hard not to rupture if possible as some contamination could occur. One is the bladder, the other is the intestines. Many times both will have matter contained in them. Assume that they do.

9. Roll the deer onto one side with the opening you have just made in the body cavity facing downhill. This will require loosening or retying your ropes if you are using them. Let the guts roll out onto the ground along with the blood that has collected in the body cavity. You will now need to get down and get dirty. Reach up into the chest cavity until you find the esophagus. That is the “pipe-like” tube coming from the throat to the deer’s stomach. Once you have found it, reach in with the other hand and a knife and cut it off. This will release the majority of the guts and the intestines will still be connected to the rectum.

10. While holding the hind legs of the deer apart, take your knife and finish removing the testicles. Once that is done, continue cutting with your knife into the meaty part between the hind legs until you strike bone.

11. Move to the very rear end of the deer and locate the anus. Like a fine surgeon, carefully cut around the anus. If you follow the anus through the cavity located between the deer’s hind legs, you would discover that the intestines connect to the anus. If you are careful you can continue to cut around the anus moving deeper and deeper at the same time lightly tugging at the intestines still connected to the guts you have rolled onto the ground. Once successful, you will be able to remove the anus in one piece still connected to the intestines. Some hunters will cut the intestines to finish removing the guts before they remove the rectum and anus. If you choose this option, be as careful as you can not to get deer feces inside the deer cavity. If you have shot a doe, remove the female organs with the rectum and anus.

12. Next, the bladder should be removed. When you removed the testicles of the buck or female organs of a doe, you cut the tube that carries the urine from the bladder. At the end of the bladder toward the head of the deer, is another tube that enters the bladder. Cut it off being as careful as you can not to rupture or spill urine into the cavity. With both tubes cut try to remove the bladder by holding both tubes to prevent urine from escaping.

13. All that is left is the diaphragm and the lungs that you will find deep up inside the chest cavity. You will need reach up inside and cut through the diaphragm to gain access to the lungs. The furthest reach you will have is to locate the windpipe and cut it off. Once that is done the lungs and diaphragm come out quite easily.

That is pretty much it. Again some hunters prefer to only remove the ponch and finish the job later. That’s up to you. If you have access to water, it is helpful to be able to rinse off yourself and some opt to rinse the inside of the deer cavity as well. Some will do it well when they get home.

A couple more helpful hints: Carry some extra paper towel sheets with you or I carry baby wipes. They can clean up a lot of things and I often use them as toilet paper. Also, once the deer has been gutted, I like to roll the deer into a spread eagle position and leave it while I clean up etc. and let a lot of the blood in the cavity drain before it clots.

2008 Nonresident Combination hunting license tentative annual rule

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Friday, October 05, 2007

 

Hunting

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking comment on the 2008 Nonresident Combination hunting license tentative annual rule. The FWP Commission adopted the tentative rule at its Sept. 27 meeting. The tentative rule does not change the price of nonresident combintaion licenses in the general category, the rule includes price changes only for the outfitter-sponsored big game, elk and deer combination licenses and new target quotas for the big game and deer licenses as follows: * an increase in the price of the variable priced outfitter-sponsored big game combination license from $1,195 to $1,500; an increase in the price of the variable priced outfitter-sponsored elk combination license from $1,095 to $1,400, with a quota of 5,000 licenses to be sold; * an increase in the price of the variable priced outfitter-sponsored deer combination license from $845 to $1,100, with a quota of 2,000 licenses to be sold.

The tenative rule also includes changes in issuance of outfitter sponsored licenses. To address concerns with abuse by individuals using outfitter sponosred licenses without the use of a licesned outfitter, licenses will be sent to the outfitter and not the client.

The tentative annual rule for 2008 nonresident combination licenses is available for review on the FWP web site. Comments may be sent until Oct. 23 from the web site; by email to hworsech@mt.gov, or by mail to: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Licensing Division, PO Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701. To obtain a print copy of the rule call 406-444-2663.

Is There Bias In The Media?

By Tom Remington

We hear this claim everyday, “The media are biased!” Well of course they are! Why deny it? I would have to consider myself a part of the new media and I can honestly say I am biased, although I would like to say………………….ah, never mind. I’m biased. We also hear everyday that it is the responsibility of the media to present facts in a non-partisan way covering all angles and sides of an issue. Is this true? Is it their responsibility? Is it mine? Personally, I think it’s your responsibility to search for the truth. The way things are progressing in our society you better learn how to do that quickly because especially with the “new media” it is becoming more and more slanted. Readers seem more interested in finding opinions that suit their ideals that facts and truth.

Let’s take gun control as an example of media bias. Gun control stems from our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. I think it intelligent to say that if all of us were to go back and study history, including the Federalist Papers, we could quite easily determine the intent of every article of the Constitution but we don’t because we don’t want to know. We are more interested in our ideals and therein lies one of the problems.

Was there ever a day when media bias didn’t exist? Not really, if you apply most anyone’s definition of bias but I do think that our news sources, including journalists and bloggers, have become more emboldened and perhaps brazen when it comes to telling their stories and getting their “messages” across.

The other day the Culture and Media Institute released a report called, “The Media Assault on the Second Amendment” (pdf). The basis of the report was about how the U.S. media and more precisely the major newspaper and television media covered gun violence from January 1, 2007 through July 31, 2007.

If it is the responsibility of ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times, etc. to make sure that their readers and viewers get all the right information covering all aspects of an issue, they didn’t do a very good job during this time span. Essentially, according to CMI, the media coverage was an assault on the Second Amendment. Let’s face it. When a reporter claims that the 32 victims of Virginia Tech died because we have a right to keep and bear arms, it is safe to say it is an assault on the Second Amendment.

The time period of January 1st through the end of July encompassed some high profile stories including the judge’s decision on Parker vs. District Columbia, declaring that the ban on guns was unconstitutional. It not only involved the Virginia Tech shootings but also the well covered debate on increased violence in cities like Philadelphia.

Granted this time period involved quite a bit of gun violence but how did the media, who some say are supposed to present facts and cover all angles, handle this coverage? The CMI report states that during this period a minimum of 650 stories on gun-violent crime ran on ABC, CBS and NBC alone. During that same time, two stories ran about guns being used in self defense. For those who might be wondering, as I was, according to a survey in 1997 by the Journal of Criminal Law, more than 2.5 million people use a gun in self defense each year.

Do media outlets not report this because they don’t know, don’t care or are they attempting to promote their ideals on us? That’s what you’ll have to decide.

Wouldn’t it be responsible while reporting that the Miami Chief of Police said, ““[T]here’s been no national effort to deal with this — with the guns and the availability of guns, and any reasonable measures that have been advocated have been defeated by Congress.”, to also report this?

A 2005 survey by the National Association of Chiefs of Police found that 93.6 percent of chiefs and sheriffs support “civilian gun ownership rights,” and 63.1 percent claimed that concealed-weapons permits reduce violent crime.

Statements made by reporters can do more harm than any good when those statement are hand selected. It is easy to pick and choose findings especially when they fit the ideals of the person reporting it. We are all guilty of this to some degree. For instance, and I have been guilty of this, I could report, as has been done many times before, that countries like New Zealand, which has very limited controls on guns, boasts one of the smallest crime rates in the world. That would suit my argument well. I could also report that in South Africa, where gun ownership is pretty much banned by anyone, crime rate is one of the highest. Were I to be advocating for gun control, I could site statistics out Great Britain that indicate gun violence is down since they clamped down on gun ownership.

Wouldn’t it be just as responsible to report that studies like a 2004 report, Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review, shows that there are far too many cultural and socials aspects within each country, state, city, etc., that directly affect violence and in this case gun violence. It’s simply not just a matter of whether guns exist or not.

Our own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded a study in October of 2003 called, “First Reports Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Violence: Firearms Laws“. After the study of how the presence or absence of guns in our society affected us, this is what they concluded.

The Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws or combinations of laws reviewed on violent outcomes.

The bottom line is what drives newspapers and television news. You have to have viewers/readers in order to sell advertising. Without advertising dollars, you’re out of business, so media finds themselves writing to sell more than writing to be the responsible stewards some believe we should be.

So, I’m doing what I tell others not to do and I’m putting the responsibility back on to you as a reader to educate yourself completely on issues that matter to you.

Tom Remington

DOW and Donor Offer Reward in Emma Bear Shooting

9/19/2007
Colorado Division of Wildlife

An anonymous donor and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) have teamed up to offer a $1,500 reward for information that leads to the person responsible for the illegal killing of a black bear near the town of Emma in Pitkin County. A Pitkin County resident has stepped forward to offer a $1,000 reward in this case. Operation Game Thief, the DOW’s anti-poaching tip line, is offering a $500 reward.

The case involves a female bear found dead at the base of a tree near the Rio Grande Trail on Wednesday, Sept. 12. Based on the state of the carcass and witness interviews, investigating wildlife officers believe the bear was shot and killed during the evening hours of Friday, Sept. 7.

Two cubs were reported in the tree above where the sow was found. Wildlife managers from the DOW were successful in capturing one of the cubs and transporting it to a privately-run, non-profit wildlife rehabilitation center in Silt. The second cub has left the area and has not been located.

Wildlife officers are hopeful that someone in the area may have seen some suspicious activity. It is also possible that someone overheard another person talking about this crime.

If anyone has any information regarding this incident, please call the Glenwood Springs DOW Office at (970) 947-2920 or call the Operation Game Thief (OGT) hotline toll-free at 1(877) COLO-OGT (1-877-265-6648). OGT callers can remain anonymous and still receive cash rewards.

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Division of Wildlife

Lawsuit Filed Against ALS Enterprises, Inc.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL 42 PAGE PDF FILE

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA

Theodore Robert Carlson, Mike Buetow, CIVIL ACTION NO.: 07W3970 RHKIJSM
Gary Steven Richardson, Jr., and Joe
Rohrbach individually on behalf of
themselves and all other Minnesota CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT
residents and entities similarly situated,

Plaintiffs,

v.

A.L.S. Enterprises, Inc., Cabela’s Inc., JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
Gander Mountain Co., Bass Pro Shops,
Inc., and Browning Arms Co.,

Defendants.

Plaintiffs Robert Carlson, Mike Buetow, Gary Steven Richardson, Jr., and Joe
Rohrbach individually on behalf of themselves and all other Minnesota residents and entities similarly situated, by and through their attorneys, Merchant & Gould and Hein Mills & Olson, P.L.C., as complainant against defendants A.L.S. Enterprising, Inc., Cabela’s Inc., Gander Mountain Co., Bass Pro Shops, Inc., and Browning Arms Co., (collectively “Defendants”), allege the following:

CLICK HERE FOR FULL 42 PAGE PDF FILE

Slow Elk

By Becky Sather

Growing up in a big city I never got the chance to enjoy the simple pleasure of hunting. Moving to Prineville Oregon, a major hunting town, the year of my high school graduation was a huge culture shock. I worked at a gas station during hunting season my first year in Prineville. Seeing so many people; male, female, rich, not so rich, young, and old filling up their vehicles to go out in the woods to shoot at Bambi confused me. Filling up the homebound hunter’s vehicles that had the head of Bambi proudly strapped to the truck in a spot just right for the deer to stare at me—extremely confusing. Read more

Bringing Wolves Back Violated The Public Trust

An opinion piece reared an ugly head in the environment section of New West on September 16, 2007 by George Wuerthner. From the article, this is what it says about Wuerthner.

George Wuerthner is a former Montana hunting guide, a founding member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and ecologist who worked on wolf recovery in Montana and Wyoming. He lives part of the year in Montana and travels extensively in the West. He can be reached at 541-255-6039.

You now know at least as much as I do about him. But this article isn’t about Mr. Wuerthner. It’s about the information he has put forth in this article, his ideals. Read more

What Good Can Come From Legislating Fair Chase?

By Tom Remington

A nasty and heated debate has already begun in North Dakota over a proposed ballot initiative that is intended to put an end to high-fence hunting. The Attorney Generals office has yet to come up with a title for the initiative and the petition, which will need 12,844 legal signatures, hasn’t received a single signature yet.

There already seems to be some issues regarding the wording of the proposal. In a previous article I wrote, the Chairman of a group called the North Dakota Hunters for Fair Chase, Roger Kaseman, who is sponsoring the bill along with 29 others, has stated that the intent of the ruling was to close down hunting behind fences. Read more

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