The AP is reporting that Supreme Court Justice David Souter will be announcing his retirement. Although he was appointed by the first Bush administration he is considered one of the courts liberal votes.
While his leaving might not lead to a dramatic ideologic shift on the court, never underestimate the effect new blood has on the court. Picking Supreme Court justices is the single most important thing a president does.
The next few months will be interesting.
BTW, that title is a quote attributed to Souter, and I think he’s right.
Posted on 30th April 2009
Under: Legal World, News | No Comments »
So I knowingly injected myself into the debate about shooting penned animals a couple of weeks ago. To that extent, I have no one to blame but myself for the fact that I spent the last hour responding to Mr. Albert Rasch again. Below is that response:
I’ll start by saying that I have no financial interest of any kind to any type of penned animal shooting operation. I’d hope that anyone else who comments here will make clear if they have the same unbiased starting point.
In a piece by Field and Stream a couple of years back they interviewed an elk guide who had led hunters into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. Seeking a more regular income stream he took a job at Big Velvet Game Ranch in Montana. Here’s the quote from that piece:
What disturbed him most, though, was the contrast between real elk hunting and what was being fabricated at the ranch. “If the clients told me that they wanted it to be like a real hunt, the first day I’d drive them around a part where there were no elk, and we’d walk downhill along the ridges awhile. Then the next day, we’d drive up and get one.” Their primary interest lay in what the animals would score on the Boone and Crockett scale, says Butler. “The experience just doesn’t mean anything to them.”
This is the essence of my point. Killing an animal that is artificially restrained isn’t hunting. Maybe it seems like hunting, particularly to someone who doesn’t know any better, but it’s not. Attending fantasy camp doesn’t make you a major leaguer, and it’s only providing a distant approximation of the major league experience.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on 30th April 2009
Under: Blogosphere, Hunting | 2 Comments »
I intended to bring you a post today about Sunday afternoon’s action. I’ll give you a hint, it took place at the spot I found after turkey hunting Friday. But The Old Man intervened in my schedule. He called this afternoon and asked me if I wanted to go investigate the flooded Marais Des Cygne valley and try to find some fish to shoot. I convinced him last year to buy a bowfishing rig but he really hadn’t had an opportunity to use it yet. After tying down some loose ends in the office (and leaving a huge pile of paperwork for tomorrow) I met up with him and we headed south.
A couple of miles before my intended spot we ran out of road. The water was deep enough and fast enough that we weren’t going to cross it, even in a big diesel. So we got out, picked up our bows, and started wading. It took us a few shots to get warmed up but when we did it was pretty good action. The water was too muddy to see more than a foot but we focused on where the fish were crossing the road and swimming upstream. In those places we could see their swirls and wakes and occasionally even see the fish itself. For the most part the fish were swimming all around us but it was difficult to see anything to shoot at.
When we ran out of sunlight we had 18 fish including 3 buffalo in the 20 pound range and gar that weighed 15 and 13.
The Old Man with the biggest fish of the shoot:
Not a bad way to start your bowfishing career, eh?
Posted on 29th April 2009
Under: Bowfishing | 2 Comments »
Holy cow. You know how I feel about high fence game animals, but I can certainly still appreciate the genetics of a 400 inch deer. Check him out here. I wonder what he’s worth?
Posted on 28th April 2009
Under: News | No Comments »
I snapped this photo last week while turkey hunting.
Posted on 27th April 2009
Under: Wildlife Photos | No Comments »
Sorry for the sparse posting here in the last few days. Friday morning I chased turkeys with little action. I closed within about 80 yards of a tom but he had no interest in me and I couldn’t get any closer. Eventually we parted ways. It was blowing like crazy and the turkeys were quiet and hunkered down in the trees.
On the way home I swung by a public wildlife area that I thought might hold a few fish that could be stuck from the shore. I found a tributary of the local river that was absolutely full of carp, gar and buffalo. Unfortunately I was due in court so I had to file the spot away for later.
Friday night The Wife and I drove to Springfield, Missouri to chase redneck turkeys around for a couple of days. Saturday morning I did almost everything possible to screw up a turkey hunt. I set up tight on a tom only to let him fly down behind me. He was too close for me to turn around without blowing him out, so I sat tight until he wandered off. While waiting another tom flew down 200 yards in front of me all by himself. Money right? Oh no. He’s strutting back and forth on top of a hill so I hit him with some soft yelps. He starts heading my way but the fly-down tom and another tom farther behind me fire off. Plus a fourth tom is closing fast from my right. As I’m drawing a bead on the turkey in front the others have joined up behind me and start raising hell. The poor tom in front of me wants nothing to do with them and drifts off never giving me a shot. Once again I can’t get turned around and they eventually drift off as well. I tried to get reset in front of the group of toms but it didn’t work. So I picked up and hoofed it several hundred yards to a smaller field where I figured the single tom would eventually end up. Two jakes showed up, but no tom. That is, until I had to quit. Of course he was 35 yards behind me in the woods, coming in silent, when I stood up. I’d had 4 toms in range, at least one had been in range twice, and I never fired a shot! Apparently I’d become the worst turkey hunter, ever.
This morning started slow. Two toms that I tried to work at fly-down had no interest in me and my fake hens… I picked up and headed in the direction of most of the gobbling only to run into a tresspasser who occupied my next few minutes. Eventually I got set up and did a bit of calling. I was down to about 20 minutes of hunting time left when The Old Man called wanting to trade turkey reports for a crappie breakdown. While I was talking softly to him I could see black shapes working their way through the tall grass a ways off. I hung up the phone quickly and yelped a bit more. 5 minutes later 3 toms came over the hill 45 yards in front of me. I took some time to savor the show.
He was a 2 year old bird with a thinish 10 1/2″ beard.
Posted on 26th April 2009
Under: Turkey Hunting | No Comments »
I’m not going to lie, this may be my favorite wild game dinner. First, you have to clean and breast the doves. Cut the breast off like you would on a turkey or duck. Make sure to check where you see holes and try to get any lead out.
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Posted on 23rd April 2009
Under: How To, Wild Game Recipes | 3 Comments »
The Missouri turkey opener this morning continued the trend. I passed two jakes at about 15 feet.
I also busted a hen trying to close some ground on a tom, game over. The Old Man scored on a nice 3 year old bird. Between the two of us we thought we might have heard as many as 12 toms, so there should be more action ahead.
I also had this coyote within about 30 yards. (Sorry for the bad pic.)
After hunting until around noon I spent the afternoon chasing fish around with my bow. It’s a bit too early to get into the heavy action but the gar were certainly up and moving around.
Posted on 20th April 2009
Under: Bowfishing, Turkey Hunting | No Comments »
So I chased Kansas turkeys with my bow on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I’ll fill you in on the details later. Now it’s on to Missouri and I have a brand new pair of turkey tags in my pocket (at the bargain rate of $170.00!). We’ve had a bunch of rain around here lately so I may only be able to access half the farm I plan to hunt tomorrow morning. The good news is that I pulled my turkey gun from the safe this afternoon. This farm doesn’t lend itself to archery anyway, and I don’t have any blinds built or setup there, but mostly I’m just sick of sitting in one place. I’m looking forward to real turkey hunting again.
My camera’s packed, and I’ll be surprised if I don’t have some pictures for you tomorrow afternoon.
Posted on 20th April 2009
Under: Turkey Hunting | 1 Comment »
I’ve never met Ms. Anastasia over at That’s Probably Not How it Happened but I found her blog through dn’s blogroll at Tornado Slide. Her writing generally makes me laugh and occasionally reminds me of Lawrence. Anyway, apparently she went on her first turkey hunt.
Everything about it was so cool. Even the fact that we sat in mud through torrential rains was just great. The guys were so nice, the farm was beautiful, the air was sweet, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with my first hunting trip.
Read the rest here.
Posted on 19th April 2009
Under: Friends, Turkey Hunting | 2 Comments »
