Tuesday, October 21. 2008
Canada Goose Infestation Some parts of the US would love to have the problems we have in the Northeast: White-Tailed Deer and Goose infestations. (We now have tons of Wild Turkey too, but I would never term that an "infestation." These splendid birds are a blessing.) Trouble is, we have to bow the deer in many populated areas, and these non-migratory Canadas that we have in abundance tend to hang out where you cannot hunt, like town parks and golf courses. It's a damn shame, because they are big, and the breast, marinated then sauteed or grilled rare and thin-sliced, is as good as filet mignon, in my opinion - if not as tender. Our White-Tail deer are bigger than the southern version, or the Texas version, but with smaller racks. Who cares? Excellent dining. Our deer hunters tend to be meat hunters and, where I live, there is no limit on does. When I was a lad, both goose and deer were uncommon sights in New England: these are the kinds of problem you want to have. Photo: Our pal Yankee retrieving a goose in Manitoba, this October Latest USFWS report on Canada Goose, below: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Releases Final Environmental Impact Statement on Resident Canada Geese Management
Contact: Nicholas Throckmorton 202-208-5636 (Bold Ours)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced the release of a final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that outlines various alternatives to reduce, manage, and control resident Canada goose populations and reduce related damages. Of the alternatives, the Service’s proposed action will allow state wildlife agencies, landowners, and airports more flexibility in controlling resident Canada goose populations.The Service took this action in response to widespread concern about overabundant populations of resident Canada geese, which can damage property, agriculture, and natural resources in parks and other open areas near water.
"Resident Canada geese populations have increased dramatically over the past 15 years," said Service Director H. Dale Hall. "These high population levels have been shown to cause problems for natural and economic resources, and we believe increased local management with national oversight is the best approach to reduce conflicts and bring the population under control. Through this approach, the Service will continue working to expand and protect hunting opportunity while providing airports, private landowners, and State and local officials the tools they need to address resident Canada goose issues."
Continue reading "From our archives: Goose Infestations"
Monday, October 6. 2008
 You're the unluckiest hunter in the world, so take the Survival Quiz at Field & Stream (h/t, Viking)
Sunday, September 28. 2008
A reposted deer hunt note from 2007 from our contributor Gwynnie: Gwynnie got to return this August to an annual hunt on one of California’s last great Spanish land-grant ranchos for coast Black-tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), also known as Columbian black-tailed deer. The Black-tailed Deer is currently considered a subspecies of the mule deer and can interbreed with the Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus) where their range overlaps. They share many similarities but are much smaller than a Mule Deer and their ears are smaller too. They are called Black-tailed deer because the bottom two thirds of the tail is black. Up higher, where the tail is attached, the fur is brown and under the tail is whitish. The general body color is reddish to greying-brown (with black hairs interspersed in winter) and the underside of belly, chin, neck patch are white. The brownish color camouflages the deer in the forest and field edges where it lives. Habitat in the Coast Range of California is often as shown in the photo, where they browse oak trees, especially black oak. Black-tails also feed on tender grasses, herbs, branch tips, and new leaves in spring and summer. In winter, they eat Douglas fir, western cedar, Oregon yew, trailing blackberry, red huckleberry, and salal branches. Shooting is usually long-range, and the .270 or the .308 are ideal for shots from 75 to 200 yards. The .243 is OK for the deer, but inadequate for the 300-pound European wild boar that have infested Northern California and are part of the alarming collapse of new oak tree growth – they love acorns. One State scientist is predicting wide-spread extinction of oaks based on the current trend. Gwynnie’s buck, which died instantly from a 75-yard head shot and rolled 100 yards into a precipitous canyon, was a forked-horn, and weighed 116 pounds field dressed. The California State biologist performing her post-hunt autopsy testing for parasitic infections said he was probably 3-4 years old. Other dressed-out bucks ranged from 90 to 118 pounds. 
Saturday, September 27. 2008
Today is the 36th National Hunting and Fishing Day. Get out there and do some of that. Here's Ted Nugent on Kill 'em and Grill 'em.
Wednesday, September 24. 2008
 The new camo, from the NYT. (Yes, the NYT.) Be sure to click to change the image from human view to deer view. h/t, Insty.
Of course, if you are in a tree stand it hardly matters, since deer never look up.
Saturday, September 20. 2008
 Cocker Spaniels
Apparently not everyone is aware that Cockers were bred as Woodcock hunters, thus "cocker". It was not until the turn of the century that they became known as a separate breed from Springers; smaller, but with similar spaniel talents and deficiencies: bouncy and energetic, but not overly-endowed with brains and with a tendency to pee on rugs when excited. Wonderful small flushing dogs and retrievers, they are great cheerful family dogs which cannot reach the kitchen counter, and that can, with the difficulty of any spaniel, be trained to do a fine job in the field. And a dog that cannot do work to find food in the field is a decadent waste of dog food, is it not? The English cocker is considered a better hunter than the American, but I am not certain that that is a fact. Plus I have never hunted over a Cocker. At some point, we will do a piece on Woodcock hunting, which is fine 20 ga. sport because they are tiny targets which twist and turn in seemingly-random directions. A relevant detail is that the European Woodcock is a larger bird that the American, with more meat on it.
Friday, September 19. 2008
The trout get active and hungry again at this time of year in New England. This unique and wonderful stream on Long Island, about 1 1/2 hours from New York City, has sea-run Browns, Rainbow and Brookies - some quite large. Not many places where sea-run trout are found: if readers know of other streams that do, let us know about it. Of course, this stream holds hatchery fish too. It is a very special place. The rule is barbless flies only, and first-come, first-served for assigned beats. This photo of one of our Maggie's Farmers on the stream is from a couple of years ago. 
Thursday, September 18. 2008
A re-post from a year and a half ago -Jim Harrison: Hunter, chef, author, and all-around cool dude. Interviewed in New York Times Books. Got to love this guy. And how about his eager pup? 
Photo credit: Jeff Topping for the New York Times
Wednesday, September 17. 2008
Re-posted, from The Barrister.
Our editor asked me to do a little piece on wellies, as hunting season and wellie season is arriving - snow, slush, mud and muck. I have gone through many pairs from many makers, and I own many pairs now - more than I will ever need. They will probably bury me in one of those pairs, but not soon, one would hope.
Wellies are, of course, Wellingtons, named after the Duke of Wellington who was copying Hessian military boots. Only later did the term refer to rubber, rather than leather, muck boots. History of wellies here. (We have been corrected on one detail - that Wellies were invented by Aigle in 1853, not Hunter in 1858.)
Different sorts of wellies are made for gardening, walking in the rain, European hunting, and American hunting. Ladies look great in them. I am mainly interested in the rugged, uglier varieties which are suitable to northern climes where mud, snow, slush, muck, streams, and marshy areas abound.
Much as I may admire and love the idea of the venerable LL Bean Maine Hunting boot, I tend to return to my rubber boots for all-purpose hunting, wet hiking, snow, marsh work, bird watching, and barn-work: they make you feel that you can go through almost anything. Over the years, the material has improved, and so has the design, so that they are more comfortable, and grip your heel much better so they don't pull off in muck and leave you waving a socked foot helplessly in the air like an idiot.
There are several considerations with rubber boots. (Continued below)
Continue reading "Boots and Wellies Update"
Tuesday, September 9. 2008
How is that for a deer stand? Whole photo essay here. 
Thursday, August 28. 2008
Gwynnie had fun fishing yesterday in the California mountains. Note the US Government quarter. 
For the small wild trout in tiny moutain rills, small gear is indicated. This real graphite rod is a 30" “Micro” by J. Austin Forbes Ltd. 
Tuesday, August 12. 2008
 Writing can confront you with odd things, like realizing that you aren't 100% certain how to spell "twelfth" when you start typing it. Lots of consonants for one small word. You can cheat and type 12th.
The Glorious Twelfth is the August opening of grouse season in the UK, mainly in Scotland. That would be the Scottish Grouse - Red and Black - legendary game birds. Driven fast-flying grouse - doubt I could hit a single one. Some day, I will try. They can reach 60 mph. Unlike the US, in the UK you can find game on restaurant menus - and on the same day, if lucky. In the US, we found it necessary to make that illegal - market hunters were driving wild critters to extinction. Public lands, no gamekeepers. Our grouse babies aren't even full-grown yet, and our grouse season doesn't begin until October. Brits and Scots would hate our North American grouse hunting. It entails walking endlessly, without cocktails, through alder tangles that can feel like jail cells, and with only a few shots per day. And no loaders, no drivers. Image: Scottish Red Grouse, in the heather on the moors.
Thursday, July 24. 2008
 Bruce at No Looking Backwards says "I think I need a little help defragmenting my hard drive."
Tuesday, July 22. 2008
Our post on Richard Gatling and his Gun prompted a reader to inform us about two other hand-driven machine guns of the 19th Century: The Nordenfelt Gun and the Gardner Gun. Here's a clip of the Nordenfelt gun in operation:
Friday, July 18. 2008
 Richard Gatling believed that his rapid-fire gun would be a boon to mankind.
A quote from a review of the book on the right by Jonathan Yardley in the WaPo: 'It occurred to me,' he wrote to a friend in 1877, 'that if I could invent a machine -- a gun -- which could by rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a great extent, supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease be greatly diminished.' As disingenuous and self-serving as that sentiment sounds, it ended up being quite correct: Innovations in arms steadily reduced the relative lethality of battles (not to mention the cost of waging war) throughout the twentieth century."
Monday, July 14. 2008
From Theo, that's a bunch of service dogs in Hawaii. How did that fat Golden sneak into the photo? And, via Callimachus, Poodles in WW 2. A bit too friendly to be good guards.
Thursday, July 10. 2008
20 years ago you would be hard put to find any Striped Bass up here. The return of the Stripers is a fish conservation success story, which involved cleaning up the Atlantic estuaries in which they breed (especially the Chesapeake area, and the Hudson River) and banning commercial fishing for them. One positive result: Farming bass. Some of our pals went fishin' a week ago with Captain Bruce out of New London, CT: 
Wednesday, July 2. 2008
 The Supreme Count in its landmark case District of Columbia, et al. v. Dick Anthony Heller is a limited victory for opponents of gun control laws, affirming a right to keep a handgun in the home for defensive purposes.
There seems to us no doubt, on the basis of both text and history, that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms. Of course the right was not unlimited, just as the First Amendment’s right of free speech was not. Thus, we do not read the Second Amendment to protect the right of citizens to carry arms for any sort of confrontation, just as we do not read the First Amendment to protect the right of citizens to speak for any purpose.
Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment . . . was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose. For example, the majority of the 19th-century courts . . . held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues.
It is therefore probable that state “shall issue” laws and other concealed weapon “carry” laws are discretionary, and not supported by the Second Amendment.
Next, “assault weapon” laws which ban ownership of semi-automatic rifles because they are ugly or scary-looking are clearly supported by Heller.
We also recognize another important limitation on the right to keep and carry arms. Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those “in common use at the time.” We think that limitation is fairly supported by the historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of “dangerous and unusual weapons.”
. . . weapons that are most useful in military service—M-16 rifles and the like—may be banned . . ..
Looking at Part III of the Heller decision, we can see the future of gun control efforts: The clause allowing “laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms” could well be taken as permitting registration of purchased firearms, limitations on quantities owned and possibly buyer qualification (such as requiring drivers licenses for cars). Of course, gun advocates have long feared registration as a pre-cursor to confiscation (as happened in Australia), but that fear is substantially reduced by Heller. We have registered our SUV, but do not fear the state confiscating it. Furthermore, in view of the individual right to bear arms affirmed by Heller, an argument may be made that having an inventory of individually-owned firearms in the hands of the State may inhibit the right of possession, much as requiring publications critical of whatever administration is currently in power to be sent to and registered with a central bureau. Heller therefore is a narrow decision permitting handguns to be kept at home for defensive purposes, and should not be read as securing a broad right to hunt or even to carry arms for any non-defensive purpose. Photo: A Browning M2 machine gun, still not available for home defense.
Sunday, June 29. 2008
These people were always finding water all over their pool deck and furniture every time they came home after being away for a few hours. They thought the neighborhood kids were waiting for them to leave, and using the pool. However, they could never catch them doing it. So, they set up their video cam and left. This is what they found out:
Friday, June 27. 2008
I know nothing about Italian gun laws, but it seems timely to post this photo I took of a poster for Delta Firearms Academy last week on a street in Domodossola, while wandering around waiting for the train to Locarno. Our friends in DC should maybe give Inizio a call. 
Thursday, June 26. 2008
 From the Supremes today:
“The inherent right of self-defense has been central to the Second Amendment right...” Without self-defense, a person becomes a sheep in a world with wolves. Bravo to the five Justices who honor our Constitution over their personal preferences, and bravo to Justice Scalia for putting it all in historical context. The justices' personal opinions should have no role in their job: it's not what they are paid to do. After all, everybody has an opinion on everything. Opinions on stuff are a dime a dozen. Anyway, it's a big step in the right direction. More later... Updates: Lots of links at Drudge and Memorandum. And here is the Supreme's announcement. Also, "Yahoo" at Yahoo.
Tuesday, June 17. 2008
 My favorite handgun is my Les Baer 1911 Thunder Ranch Special.
Nobody builts a .45 like Baer, perfectly weighted and balanced so you can actually hit the target, and not get pushed backwards. A bit too heavy and bulky for carrying in your back pocket, however.
Monday, June 16. 2008
 Jim at Wild Goose Lodge on PEI is a good friend of Ducks Unlimited and is generous in his donations of trips to our fund-raising events.
To accommodate the increased costs of travel, he is reducing your 4-night package cost by $350 this year, while predicting another excellent year of waterfowl hunting.
Sunday, June 1. 2008
Here's one guy who won't be showing up for church this morning. Good grief. I don't think much of Obama's church, but what does it say about a guy that he would throw his church overboard for political power? Isn't that a Faustian deal?
Monday, May 19. 2008
 We have been perhaps too preoccupied with guns over the past week. Not being knowledgeable about anything but sporting guns, we really aren't qualified to discuss handguns. All I really know is that a .22 handgun is good for targets and rats, a 9 mm isn't really all that good for much, and bigger is designed to seriously hurt people. Well, all are fun for target practice.
Self-defence and home defence? Yes, we believe in those most basic of human rights. Guns, baseball bats, whatever. A reader friend who knows everything about guns thought our readers might be interested in these inexpensive (used) German Police Sig 9mms. You can buy them refurbished, too.
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