Archive for August, 2010

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Kat Kings for a day!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Congratulations to the winners (and all the competitors) in this past weekend’s Cabela’s King Kat Tournament held on the Ohio River near Gallipolis, Ohio and Point Pleasant, W.Va.

The top finishers not only won prize money, they also qualified for the 2010 King Kat Classic Nov. 12-13 on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in Mississippi.

The top five teams:

Steve and Lisa Douglas, Bardstown, Ky. — five fish,  63.6 pounds, $2,500.

Tom Miller and Ken Craft, Scioto Furnace, Ohio — seven fish, 60.45 pounds, $1,200.

David Hart and Teresa Shelpman, Otway, Ohio — 14 fish, 50.25 pounds, $500.

Bob and Jill Kemp, Wellston, Ohio — seven fish, 48.25 pounds, $300.

Skip Martin, Akron, Ohio, and Steve Gray, Barberton, Ohio — three fish, 38.35 pounds, Minn Kota Trolling Motor.

Posted in Fishing | No Comments »

It ain’t autumn yet, but hunting’s in the air

Sunday, August 29, 2010

A day in the dove field

It’s beginning to feel a lot like hunting season here in West Virginia.

Two seasons open this Wednesday — the first segment of the three-part mourning dove season, and the September season for resident Canada geese.

This week’s Sunday Gazette-Mail outdoors page includes feature stories on both. The dove piece is here, and the goose piece is here.

Time to get out the gun oil. Shooting commences in three days.

Posted in Hunting, West Virginia | 2 Comments »

Thanks, everyone!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Apparently yesterday’s post on the erstwhile lead ammunition ban touched a nerve with folks. The hit counter clicked away all day, ending with this blog’s second-highest daily hit total ever.

I deeply and sincerely appreciate it.

Posted in Blogging, Personal Notes | 1 Comment »

EPA ponders ban on lead ammunition; Update: EPA abruptly rejects lead-ban petition

Friday, August 27, 2010

Scares about government gun bans are often just that — mere scares.

But a recent petition made to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the potential to become much more than a scare. It wouldn’t do away with guns, but it’d do away with a lot of ammunition.

Environmental advocacy groups have petitioned EPA chief Lisa Jackson to ban the use of lead bullets, lead shot and lead fishing sinkers on the grounds that the continued use of lead violates the 1976  Toxic Substance Control Act.

The petition (available for review in PDF format at the EPA website) argues that lead shot and lead bullet fragments routinely poison scavengers, songbirds, predatory birds, waterfowl and some mammals. It cites valid scientific studies and makes a pretty fair case for the EPA to mandate non-toxic ammunition.

But to grant the petition and enact a lead ban, the EPA would literally have to ignore the very law the petitioners cite as the rationale for the ban. When Congress passed the Toxic Substance Control Act back in 1976, they specifically exempted lead ammunition.

No problem, say the petitioners. They argue, in essence, that the law refers to cartridges and shells, and not specifically to bullets or shot. They further argue that since bullets and shot are sold individually as ammunition components, they therefore fall under the Toxic Substance Control Act and can be banned by EPA regulation.

It is a sign of the times, I suppose, when perfectly clear legal language can be parsed into something completely contradictory to its original intent.

The EPA has until Nov. 1 to rule on the petition.

Update: Late today, with more than two months left in the petition’s comment period, EPA officials abruptly and unexpectedly rejected the petition. Story is here, from U.S. News and World Report.

Posted in Environmental Issues, Government Follies, Hunting, Shooting Sports | 7 Comments »

A blessing for hunters

Thursday, August 26, 2010

"The Vision of St. Eustachius," by Albrecht Durer

Pete Cuffaro, a member of West Virginia’s Natural Resources Commission, e-mailed me recently to let me know about an interesting event — a blessing of outdoorsmen at the church he attends.

The service, scheduled for Sept. 19 at 10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Wheeling, W.Va., is being billed as being “in honor of St. Eustachius, patron of hunters and outdoorsmen.”

If the blessing isn’t enough to attract interested sportsmen and sportswomen, the after-service refreshments ought to be: Chef Rocco Basil will offer a wild game and fish tasting session in the church’s courtyard following the mass.

Posted in Hunting, This and That | No Comments »

Mast bounces back from last year’s failure

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

White oak acorns (Ohio DNR photo)

Nothing’s official yet, but it appears West Virginia’s game animals will have a lot to eat this fall.

Acorns — particularly white oak acorns, a critter favorite — appear to be especially abundant this year. That’s in direct contrast to last year, when the statewide acorn crop failed.

Soft mast such as apples, grapes and hawthorn also did well.

That’s both good news and bad news for hunters. The good news is that wildlife will enter the winter fat and happy. The bad news is that all that food will prevent animals from congregating in any single place. Hunters will have to scout carefully to find feeding areas.

It’s all good, though. Nature has a way of compensating for shortages. Last year’s mast crop was bad; this one is much, much better.

Posted in Hunting, Nature, West Virginia, Wildlife | 4 Comments »

Early W.Va. squirrel opener sparks controversy

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Squirrel kits at den entrance

This week’s main Gazette-Mail outdoors feature describes how West Virginia wildlife officials’ choice to open an early September squirrel hunting  season has drawn fire from a pair of highly knowledgeable retired Division of Natural Resources biologists.

The biologists, Jim Pack and Jim Evans, both spoke out against the early season while it was still only a proposal. Evans made an informal “citizen comment” at the Natural Resources Commission’s February meeting, while Pack made a more formal presentation at an early August meeting.

Both told the commissioners that the early season would cause thousands of squirrels to go to waste because they would still be infested by “warbles,” or botfly larvae, which usually don’t mature and leave their hosts until early October, when West Virginia’s squirrel season usually opens. The two biologists also cautioned that squirrel kits born in summer are usually not weaned until October, and that they would probably die in their dens if their mothers were killed during a September hunt.

On the other hand, DNR proponents of the early season say it would help recruit more young people into the hunting pastime. They also argued that squirrels are so abundant that they could legitimately be hunted year-round without adversely affecting the population.

All the arguments are food for thought, but are somewhat moot under the circumstances. The Natural Resources Commission has already approved an early opener for Sept. 10, 2011.

Posted in Hunting, West Virginia, Wildlife, WV DNR | 4 Comments »

NJ archers can now hunt closer to homes

Friday, August 20, 2010

Coming soon to N.J. backyards!

The latest hunting-related news out of New Jersey certainly is interesting.

Gov. Chris Christie signed into law a bill that will allow bowhunters to hunt within 150 feet of residences. The previous law had required a 450-foot buffer.

The law is a little controversial, as one might expect. Proponents say it will increase recreation, help small businesses and help aid wildlife management. Opponents claim it will jeopardize homeowners’ safety in the densely populated state.

The Morristown Daily Record has details.

Hat tip: J.R. Absher at the Outdoors Pressroom.

Posted in Bowhunting, Hunting | No Comments »

Record smallmouth released — maybe

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Estil Young and trophy smallmouth

Estil Young has caught a lot of trophy smallmouth bass, but never one as long as the one he landed in late June.

Now he wonders if he might have caught and released a state-record fish.

Young, a retiree from Kenna, W.Va., was wading the Elk River in Kanawha County when he and two fishing partners saw a school of minnows break the surface. Young flipped a chartreuse double-bladed spinnerbait into the school and the fish hit.

“I’ve caught several muskies out of the Elk, and this smallmouth fought longer than any of them,” Young said. “It finally got into some swift water and swam upstream, and that tired it out enough for me to land it.”

The fish was a female that had recently completed spawning.

“She was long and very lean,” Young said. “I’d love to know how much she weighed when she was full of roe.”

As it was, Young estimated the fish’s weight at close to 6 pounds. Its length, however, is what has him wondering.

“The state record for length is 25.5 inches, and I believe this fish would have threatened it. I used to fish [New York's] Lake Chautauqua a lot, and I caught a lot of smallmouth in the 6-pound class. This one was way longer than any of them.”

He said he’ll always wonder if he released a record, but is “happy the fish will be there in the river for someone else to catch and enjoy.”

Posted in Fishing, West Virginia | No Comments »

Sorry, Uncle Ted; you screwed up

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Say it ain't so, Ted…

Word comes from California that rocker/hunter/activist Ted Nugent has pleaded no contest to two hunting-law violations and has been fined $1,750.

According to the account in the Marysville Appeal-Democrat, Nugent used a commercial deer-scent attractant during a hunt filmed for his “Spirit of the Wild” television show. That’s a no-no in California, which has strict rules about deer-baiting.

During the hunt, Nugent shot a spike buck — also a no-no. And then he failed to check the deer “at the nearest possible location,” yet another no-no. Prosecutors eventually dropped the spike-buck charge, but made the other two stick.

Reading between the lines of the news account, it appears Nugent might not have been aware that he was breaking any laws. Sorry, that’s no excuse. Uncle Ted should know by now that there’s a whole nation full of anti-gun, anti-hunting activists eager to pounce on his first slip-up.

When you’re in the public eye and you preach ethics and “rule of law,” you darned well better make yourself familiar with the laws of the places you hunt. Ted apparently didn’t, and he’s paid a price. I’m afraid, though, that the $1,750 fine he’s paid isn’t nearly as significant as the credibility he’s lost. Sadly, his enemies will beat him over the head with this for as long as he remains a public figure.

Hat tip: J.R. Absher at The Outdoor Pressroom.

Posted in Ethics, Hunting | 4 Comments »

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