Two Friends Fulfill Last Wish Of A Dying Hunting Companion – Tyler Morning Telegraph
January 18, 2009
By Steve Knight
It was a promise made to a friend who was dying.
It was a simple request of one hunting buddy to two others that was easy to keep because of the type of friendship they had, a friendship forged through hunting.
It started last July, just days before Whitehouse’s Don Oxford died. Tyler’s Johnny Hill was visiting Oxford and telling him about a recent trip to New Zealand when Oxford asked the favor.
HELPING HANDS: Tyler’s Johnny Hill (left) and Jim Keeling followed through on their promise to take Mason Rodriquez hunting this fall
He had a grandson, 9-year-old Mason Rodriquez, whom he had introduced to hunting. The Owens Elementary student seemed to enjoy the time they spent shooting and the couple of trips they had made the previous years to deer seasons. However, Mason’s parents, Jerry and Mandy Rodriquez, didn’t hunt. Oxford, knowing that cancer would soon take his life, realized that he would need his friends to continue Mason’s adventures in the outdoors.
“Donny asked me if I would see that Mason got to go hunting,” Hill said, recalling the tears in his friend’s eyes as he spoke. “I said don’t worry about it, I would make sure that happened. Click link below for full story!
via Tyler Paper – Tyler Morning Telegraph.
Crossbow deer season is a good bet | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
January 15, 2009
BY ERIC SHARP • FREE PRESS OUTDOORS WRITER
The odds are good that we’ll see a new crossbow deer season in southern Michigan from Dec. 1-Jan.1 or that hunters 65 and older will be allowed to use a crossbow statewide in any deer season.
Those are two of the options being considered by the Natural Resources Commission, and I suspect one of them will be adopted before summer. The NRC does have a third option before it — allowing hunters to use crossbows in any firearms season — but that makes no sense in a state where the only reason people want to use crossbows is to hunt deer.
Regardless of the decision, the debate will continue. Click Below for Full Story!
via Crossbow deer season is a good bet | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press.
Idaho ready for wolf hunting season
January 15, 2009
By SARAH D. WIRE
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BOISE, Idaho — Idaho wildlife officials say they are prepared to manage gray wolves and open the state’s first hunting season on the predators as early as next fall.
But they are also skeptical they’ll get the chance any time soon considering the threat of potential lawsuits and next week’s shift in presidential power.
The federal Interior Department announced Wednesday that the wolves would be removed from the endangered species list in Idaho and Montana. The decision gives those states the responsibility for managing wolves under plans already approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, starting in mid-February. Click link below for full story!
via Idaho ready for wolf hunting season.
Bowhunting reduces deer in two cities – STLtoday.com
January 13, 2009
By Stephen Deere
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/13/2009
CLARKSON VALLEY — The camouflaged figure climbed a tree in the middle of the subdivision and waited, scanning the hillside for antlers, listening for a hoof snapping a twig.
Erik M. Lunsford/P-D
In the distance, a basketball thumped on the pavement, a car door slammed. Only 50 yards away from the deer stand, the lights on a Christmas tree glowed through the living room window of a $500,000 home.
Hours passed and still, there were no deer.
Lou Salamone has hunted these backyards for the past couple of years and is having days like this more and more — as if he’s a victim of his own success.
“It’s like mission accomplished,” he said.
For a couple of municipalities in west St. Louis County, Salamone and other bowhunters have become an inexpensive solution to the growing conflict between suburban development and wildlife.
Clarkson Valley and Chesterfield have adopted ordinances in recent years allowing bowhunting in residential areas during deer archery season, which begins in mid-September and ends Thursday, to combat an overabundance of deer.
The cities say they are happy with the results so far, even if they can’t pinpoint what effect bowhunting has had on the deer population. Click link below for full story!
via 01/13/2009 – Bowhunting reduces deer in two cities – STLtoday.com.
Growing threat from feral swine has officials contemplating bounty to encourage hunting of the animals – Flint News
January 13, 2009
GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — Wanted, dead not alive: Michigan’s feral swine.
The latest estimates indicate thousands of wild pigs are running amuck throughout the state, posing a growing threat of disease and damage to crops, landscape, farm animals, wildlife and even humans.
Flint Journal extras What is feral swine?
• Any free-ranging pig. Most in Michigan are Eurasian boars and other exotics escaped from game ranches and can be 300 pounds or more. The latest estimates are 3,000-5,000 feral swine statewide.
• Any pig can revert to a wild state in a matter of months, growing long hair and tusks and becoming aggressive. They are known to destroy crops and land and will eat virtually anything.
• A group composed of the DNR, MDA, Michigan Pork Producers Association, Michigan United Conservation Clubs and others is working on ways to resolve the problem.
To report a feral swine shooting or sighting:
DNR: (517) 336-5030 or email brownkr@michigan.gov.
MDA: (800) 292-3939 ext. 4 for Animal Industry Division.
USDA Wildlife Services: (517) 336-1928
For more information:
www.michigan.gov/dnr
www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases
www.aphis.usda.gov
Source: Michigan Department of Agriculture and Department of Natural Resources
Some wildlife experts are even calling for the state to immediately enact a bounty on the heads of wild hogs before the threat grows too large to control.
“In order to be successful you have to strike while the population is still low. Some people would say the numbers are already beyond control. But there’s so much to lose we’ve got to try,” said Dr. Patrick Rusz, Michigan Wildlife Conservancy director and a member of the state’s feral swine work group.
Most of Michigan’s feral swine are Eurasian boars and other exotics escaped from game ranches. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Department of Agriculture have been working on the problem for much of the past decade. Feral swine already are a problem in at least 40 states and parts of Europe and Canada, with few reports of successful control. Click below for full story!
Ky. lawmakers legalize bear hunting – The Herald Dispatch
January 13, 2009
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT, Ky. AP — For two days next December it will be legal to shoot bears in Kentucky, under a rule change that won legislative approval Tuesday, and supporters hope the hunt will help restore a fear of humans to the large animals that have increasingly become a nuisance for some people living in the state’s mountain region.
Some bears have become brazen, chasing tourists from campsites, raiding garbage cans, and, in one instance, charging deer hunters, said Rick Allen, president of the Kentucky League of Sportsmen, a hunters organization that had been pushing for a season for the past three years.
“We’re having more and more bear-human conflicts,” Allen said.
The hunting rule approved by the legislature’s Administrative Regulation Review Committee sets a two-day season in three eastern Kentucky counties. Hunters will be allowed to kill a total of only 10 bears. Click link below for full story.
via Ky. lawmakers legalize bear hunting – The Herald Dispatch.
NWTF and Bass Pro Shops Turkey Calling Contest
January 12, 2009
Cincinnati- The 3rd Annual NWTF and Bass Pro Shops Turkey Calling Contest will take place on Saturday, January 24th 2009 at 1:00pm at the Duke Energy Convention Center in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. As part of the Cincinnati Hunting and Fishing Show this contest is presented by Hart Productions, Bass Pro Shops and the River Valley Longbeards Chapter of the NWTF.
There will be 7 divisions which includes an Open, Friction, Amateur, Woman’s, Jakes, Owl Hooting and Gobbling division. The winner of the open division may be eligible to compete in the 2010 Wild Turkey Bourbon/ NWTF Grand National Senior Division Preliminary Competition. All callers must be NWTF members and entry fees range from $20 to $50 depending on the division entered. The entry fee for the Jakes division is free. In each division excluding the Jakes’ Division cash prizes will be distributed to the top 3 places. Merchandise will be awarded to the top 3 places in the Jakes’ Division.
On site registration will take place from 10:30 am to 12:00 pm on the day of the contest. You may also pre- register by contacting Dave Williamson at 513-753-5883. Click here for more information! Check out last years winners below.
Officers Seek Information in the Deaths of Four Bull Elk in Leslie County
January 10, 2009
Frankfort, Ky. – Conservation Officers with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources are investigating the illegal shooting of four young Leslie County bull elk in the early morning hours last Sunday, Jan. 4. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is seeking information from anyone who may know details of the illegal shooting.
Sgt. Greg Watts said someone shot the three spike bulls and a young 4 x 4 bull elk near an older reclaimed strip mine near the community of Trace Branch just off KY 699, not far from Hyden and Hazard. The perpetrators left the elk to die.
Watts says ballistic evidence recovered at the scene is being analyzed. He requests that anyone with information about the crime to call the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife poaching hotline at 1 -800-25-ALERT (1-800-252-5378).
LBL quota turkey hunt applications available
January 9, 2009
GOLDEN POND, KY – Applications will be available January 16 for the first eight hunting days of the 2009 Turkey Season at Land Between The Lakes (LBL) National Recreation Area. Three quota hunts in both Kentucky and Tennessee during the first portion of the season require a prior application. In Kentucky they include a two-day youth hunt for hunters (under age 16 on the Kentucky portion of LBL) March 28-29, a two-day hunt April 11-12, and a two-day hunt April 18-19. In Tennessee they include a two-day youth hunt (for hunters 6-16 years old on the Tennessee portion) April 4-5, a two-day hunt April 11-12, and a two-day hunt April 18-19. No hunting is permitted between these dates. The non-quota hunting season, which does not require a prior application, is one 14-day hunt, April 20 – May 3 for Kentucky and two 7-day hunts in Tennessee, April 20-26 and April 27 – May 3. Applications and instructions for the quota hunt will be mailed to each person who applied last year, and can also be obtained through any of the following: Golden Pond Visitor Center, participating local merchants, some fish and wildlife offices, by calling LBL at 270-924-2065, or by requesting an application through our website at www.lbl.org. Completed applications must be postmarked no later than February 17 or hand-delivered to the Golden Pond Visitor Center by 5 p.m. CST. Hunters will be selected for quota permits by computer drawing and will be notified by March 24. Land Between The Lakes is managed by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, in partnership with “Friends of LBL,” to provide public lands outdoor recreation and environmental education. Visitors may review our website at www.lbl.org each season, and throughout the season, for the Calendar of Events, updates on programs and policies, and temporary trail and road closures. Additional LBL information is also available on the website or by calling 1-800-LBL-7077 or 270-924-2000. You can find out more about “Friends of LBL” at www.friendsoflbl.org.
via News-Talk Radio AM 570 WKYX, Paducah, KY – AM 1320 WNGO, Mayfield, KY.
Sunday Afternoon on the Norfork
January 9, 2009
By John Berry
It was a busy year (my busiest ever). The holidays and some very brutal weather have conspired against me. I have been able to catch a day on the White but I had not been able to fish on the Norfork for quite a while. Yesterday I saw my chance. The temperature was in the fifties, there was a light wind from the west and the sun was shining. The river was on the absolute bottom. I knew that all of the out of towners would be leaving the river early in the afternoon.
After lunch, I gathered up my wife, Lori, and my yellow lab, Ellie. We drove over to the Norfork. When I arrived at the Ackerman Access, I noted that the parking lot was full. I noticed there were several anglers wading back to the access to head home. We finally got a spot to park the car. We hopped out and carefully donned our waders, strung our rods and let Ellie out of the car.
We waded far upstream and found some great water to fish. Lori started fishing woolly buggers and had some quick success. I located myself a bit upstream from Lori and started with a worm brown San Juan worm. It took several casts before I landed a trout. The going was slow. I had been watching another angler fishing a favorite spot and saw him walk away. I cranked up my rod and headed up stream. Ellie had seen me put some dog biscuits in my jacket when we were packing up for the trip at home. She followed me with the idea of collecting those treats.
This spot was greatly changed since the flood. It was scoured out and the footing is tough. It still holds some really nice fish. I decided to spend some time there. In my haste to begin fishing, I had left my polarized sun glasses in the car. I was wearing my beloved cowboy hat, which provides a lot of shade from the sun, but doesn’t help much with glare on the water. I could only follow my strike indicator for a few feet before I lost it in the glare. I carefully waded up stream and then across the run. Now I had the sun on my back and could easily watch my strike indicator.
My first fish was a fat sixteen inch rainbow. I released it and continued fishing. It was one of those days when the trout could not decide what they wanted. I caught six more fish on six different flies. I took fish on red San Juan worms, sowbugs, olive scuds, black zebra midges, Y2Ks, and copper johns. I tried a few other flies but they did not produce the desired results.
I decided to walk back to where Lori was fishing. She had taken several trout on the woolly bugger and was now fishing a Dan’s turkey tail emerger. She caught a couple while I was talking to her. I studied the surface of the river for a while and saw a small caddis hatch coming off. I didn’t have an elk hair caddis that small. I searched my fly box and came up with a small partridge and orange soft hackle. I tied on a fresh 5X tippet and the fly. I moved up stream and started working my way down. I picked up four or five fish. I had caught enough trout.
I cranked up my line and waded over to the bank. I found a nice clump of grass at the water’s edge and sat down. Ellie came over and sat beside me. I fed her a couple of dog biscuits. We just sat there and watched Lori fish. Ellie hasn’t been out with us much this year because of the high water earlier in the year.
She lost the vision in her right eye. She developed glaucoma but luckily it has now been stabilized. I have the same thing. In fact, we take the same prescriptions. Her vision has slowed her down a bit and she doesn’t terrorize the trout as much as she used to. She still lives for a day on the water and is always ready to go.
As we sat there, I thought what a perfect day it was and how lucky I was to be there. Lori fished for another hour and caught plenty of fish. I was in no hurry to leave and she was content to nail a few more trout. As the sun set, we walked out hand in hand with Ellie leading the way.
(870) 435-2169
berrybrothers@infodash.com
www.berrybrothersguides.com
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