Moose Droppings

Well another undertaking here is about to be launched with the broadcast of “Moose Droppings” on the Radio. This show will be an extension of the blog Moose Droppings so each week I’ll bring you items of interest from the great outdoors. Topics we will cover will include hunting techniques, hopefully some actual in the field hunts as well as interviews with interesting people. I will include other topics of interest including photography, fishing, and travel. So join me for an informative look at the wild world around me.

As some of you may know Skinny Moose Media has recently launched a radio station on the net and I produced my first of what I hope will be many shows for them. My show will air tomorrow, Friday 31 August 2007 at 1pm est. I hope you can listen and if you can’t, in the very near future we’ll have a page with the shows on in it.

Are you ready? I hope so because time is short now. I know some of ya’s have to be like me and think it’s far to warm to deer hunt. I know if I could I’d probably be out there some but I suspect it will still be a few months before I can really think about deer hunting.

Deer are still in their summer routines with the bucks all bachelored up for the next little bit. They should be getting ready to start shedding the velvet for a polished set of horns and then the real battles for dominance should begin in earnest. The N&O had a great story about this in the Outdoor Section that is worth checking out. Here is an excerpt.

Bow hunting, as much as any outdoors pursuit, requires meticulous preparation being physically fit, well practiced and extremely knowledgeable about the equipment before going afield to hunt.
Veteran bowhunter Todd McDonald of Bahama has taken many quality whitetail deer with a bow and arrow. His secret to success isn’t found inside a bottle of scent and it doesn’t come from shooting the fastest bow on the market. Instead, he said, it comes from doing all the little things.
“For me, early bow season can be the best time for seeing some of my biggest bucks,” McDonald said. “Normally, bucks are still in their summer mode during early September, making this the best time of year to pattern their movement. I find the deer’s favorite food sources and hang my stands weeks before the season begins.”

They even interviewed one of the guys I hunt with Donnie Sides the Bow Specialist for Mace Sports in Mebane. You’ll have to go read the article to see what Donnie has to say but I’ll tell ya from experience Donnie knows his stuff.

I won’t be out there with a bow this year but I hope all of you who go out get ya a big one… well maybe not Donnie but he is hunting the same land I hunt.

Last year a group of us got together and leased some hunting land in the piedmont of North Carolina mostly for deer hunting. With little time before the season opened we put up a number of two man ladder stands at what seemed like good spots around the property. We killed a few deer and saw some good bucks I even missed a nice 8pt while Muzzle Loading. With a season under our belts we had a much better understanding of how the deer move on the property so for this year we decided to build some tower stands in key locations on the property.

My recent medical condition has prevented me from participating in this project but my friends made sure my stand got built. Nothing like a bunch of good friends that look out for ya is there. So for this upcoming season besides the two man ladder stands we have we now have an additional 3 tower stands.

Here are some photos of “Moose Mansion”

Thanks Guys I appreciate your help.

One of regular readers out here Grillin Greg runs The Carolina Sauce Company and they have announced “Operation Sauce Drop” to get gourmet BBQ Sauces to our Service People to thank them for the job they are doing as well as a taste of home.

The mission of Operation Sauce Drop is to deliver great-tasting sauces to US military personnel stationed abroad, free of charge. Why are we doing this? Because we would like to thank our brave troops for their sacrifices with a small token of our appreciation, and perhaps a taste of home. We have assembled four different themed gift boxes of sauces, from mild and zesty to hot and fiery, from which any serviceman or servicewoman stationed at an APO or FPO address may choose, and we will ship their choice of gift box to their APO or FPO address at absolutely no cost to them whatsoever.

Sounds like a worth while cause and I hope people will get behind it and thank our troops.

Hunting success rates must be in the high 90’s or so because we have such overwhelming advantages of the creatures we hunt. At least that is what some folks would have you think. I was reading Steve Black’s opinion piece on the opening of DuPont Forest for bear hunting and although I agree that development in the area has lead to some of the problems his opposition to the hunt is at best mythological view non hunters have about the sport.

I don’t believe for a second that the hunted animal ever has a sporting chance. The modern hunter has all the odds in his favor.

He has, first of all, the element of surprise. Any military man knows this is 99 percent of the battle won.

Secondly, he has a weapon powerful enough to bring down a Buick. On top of that, he has a hunting scope mounted on his weapon. (”All the better to see you with, my dear.”)

Sport? Hardly. If a modern hunter really wanted to give the animals a true sporting chance, the hunters would go after bears with a claw hammer and a pen knife.

The sporting chance, as it has been for 200 years or so, is not the equal footing of game animal and hunter to kill each other in the encounter but for the animal’s keen senses preventing the hunter from killing the animal. Beating the bear’s nose is a tough undertaking and I would say that for you to enter the bears comfort zone or home area without being detected by his nose is no small feat. I doubt there is much element of surprise. There is little doubt that few men armed with a hammer or a pen knife would win the battle with a black bear but to even suggest that method should be how a hunt should be conducted is ridiculous.

Developments in the prime bear habitat of this state is no doubt having a huge impact on the bear population and the increase of human / bear encounters in the area. In recent years individuals have been killed by black bears and to ignore the problem is only asking for this horror to happen again. Although many of us hate to see the development of raw land the rights of private land owners is what this country was founded on. Much of the protected land in this state from development was secured through monies raised by hunters and conservation groups.

Bear population in this state is also rising and whether you like it or not the only proven method for keeping wildlife populations in check is hunting. Bears are a renewable resource and allowing the hunting of this majestic creature will only further secure the population and keep this animal from being completely removed from the North Carolina landscape.

Will the bear hunt in DuPont Forest result in the harvesting of any bears? Hard to say, last year a hunt was held in the eastern part of the state that was having bear problems and the hunters did not kill a single bear. So much for the odds being stacked in their favor. I’ll give you this a bear in DuPont Forest has much better odds then the steer grown on a farm for your local Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store. Think about that Steve next time you’re leaning over the meat counter picking out that perfect steak for your weekend BBQ.

I had a real surprise today when I went to clean and refill the humming bird feeder. As I’ve done a number of times this summer I took the empty feeder down and brought it into the kitchen to disassemble it and clean it before I refilled it. As I opened the bottom part of the feeder a cloud shot up at me that I quickly realized was bees. The bottom of the feeder was full of bees and now I’ve released a swarm inside the house. I quickly jumped back to prevent me from getting a face full of them and the ones in the sink I quickly drowned before they got there senses and joined their friends buzzing around the kitchen and living room.

What a shocking surprise because in the 4 years or so we’ve had a hummingbird feeder I’ve never had anything like this happen. I’ve found the occasional dead one inside the feeder but never 15 – 20 live ones like today. Luckily I killed a number of them by drowning, the ones that were buzzing around had moved mostly into the living room. I turned the ceiling fan on high which made flying for them nearly impossible and then I killed them as they landed on the windows.

Needless to say I’ll not make that mistake again. Although it’s funny now at the time it wasn’t and I had to figure how to kill all these bees before my wife got home for lunch.

Maine is one of a handful of states that has a Chaplain as part of the warden service. When you think about the variety of tragedies and rescues that most State Wildlife Agencies are called on to perform it seems to make a lot of sense to have a Chaplain as part of the professional staff.

I came across this CNN report on the Maine Warden Service Chaplain Kate Braestrup and her story while wrapped in tragedy with the untimely death of her husband a Maine State Trooper Killed in the line of Duty and the path she took to become a chaplain.

Her husband, Maine State Police Trooper Drew Griffith, was killed in 1996 when a truck slammed into his cruiser about a mile from home, leaving Braestrup to raise their four young children by herself.
Although he was 15 years from retirement, Griffith’s long-term plan was to attend seminary and pursue a second career as a minister. Braestrup took on that dream and went on to become chaplain of the Maine Warden Service, helping people who find themselves in the midst of sudden tragedy not unlike her own.

The entire CNN Story is a good one and well worth the time to read. This sounds like a worthwhile program that more states might want to look at adding. Maine is a big state and it sounds like she travels where ever the need is. She even has on occasion blessed some of the wildlife as well;

And yes, she did on one occasion bless a moose. It happened when she was in Presque Isle and arrived at the scene of one of Maine’s all-too-frequent car-moose collisions. The motorist was unhurt, but the big animal was mortally injured.
At the driver’s behest, Braestrup placed her hand on the moose as it raised its head and then died.
“I said this little prayer, and then I thought, ‘Oh my God, I just did last rites on a moose!”‘

As in many states the Wildlife board is made up of appointees from the Governor who has given support in their political endeavors and Florida seems to be no different. Governor Charlie Crist has just filled three vacancies on the board by appointing 3 business people with ties to land development.

Who they are
Ron Bergeron, 63, of Weston, is a sixth-generation Floridian who owns the state’s largest road contracting and site development business. He was investigated by the state wildlife agency last year over an incident in which he wrestled a gator.
Ken Wright, 59, is an Orlando lawyer who represents Central Florida developers. He represented the Florida GOP during the legal feud over the 2000 presidential election.
Kathy Barco, 48, is a Jacksonville construction executive who also chairs a legal foundation that opposes environmental regulations. She and her company have donated heavily to Gov. Charlie Crist’s campaign and to the Republican Party.

Tampa Bay .Com

There is no doubt that across the country land development is one of the biggest threats to wildlife and the habitat they need to survive. Have the sportsmen of Florida been sold down the river with these three appointees? Time will tell but if I was a resident of the state of Florida I’d be raising sand over these appointees.

Not a number one ranking we really want but like it or not we got it. Last year across the state there were 862 reported cases and health officials feel we are on target to hit or exceed that number again this year. Although Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever was first discovered in the west thus the name today the lion share of the cases are found in the mid Atlantic South Eastern states. Avoiding Tick Bites is the best prevention; by wearing light colored clothing (so you can easily see them) using insect repellent and tucking pant legs inside your socks. Check your children closely after they’ve been outside as well as be aware of your pets and the possibility they could carry ticks into your home. Here is a link to the CDC page on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever that will give you all the information you need on this dreaded disease.

Kenneth Chesson is an outdoor cameraman working on some of the hunting shows many of us watch. I met Chesson through a hunting message board here in North Carolina and we have become friends over these years. The photo is of a happy time we shared when the New England Patriots beat the Carolina Putty Cats in the Super Bowl. Well Chesson might not of been to excited but he did pay off the bet and wore the championship hat at the Dixie Deer Classic that year.

Chesson has just started blogging and it should be good to hear a little bit about what happens in the many hunting camps he shares. He has a current story up about the first hunt of the season from South Carolina where they got a nice hog.

Lots of guys think he has the perfect job but I’m not so sure. I’d hate to give up most if not all my hunting season to film others killing some awesome animals. Besides there is some of these hunting personalities without naming names that I don’t believe I’d want to be around much never mind sharing a tree with them for hours on end.

I think he has a blog that is certainly worth watching so take the time and check it out.

Researchers reporting in American Journal of Cardiology have found that deer hunting can be a dangerous endeavors for middle age men especially those who are already experiencing some heart issues. Researches followed 25 middle age deer hunters and found the activities associated with deer hunting; walking over rough ground, shooting, and dragging the animal out of the woods caused a significant rise in the subjects heart rates. Many of these rises were greater then any achieved during treadmill stress tests.

The combination of physical exertion, adrenaline rush and the stress of rough terrain and cold weather may explain the “excessive cardiac demands” seen with hunting, according to Haapaniemi’s team.
What’s more, they point out, most of the men in the study were taking part in an exercise program to treat their heart disease, or were regularly physically active. Hunting could be an even greater strain on the heart in men who are usually sedentary, the researchers note.

Scientific America

I think anyone that has been hunting for a while probably has knowledge of at least one person that has had a heart attack while hunting or other significant cardiac issue. People need to know their limits and should actively prepare for the upcoming season by getting some exercise. I know the guys I hunt with we help each other get deer out of the woods so no one has the strain of doing it all themselves. Now is the time to start preparing because the season will be here before we know it and we certainly don’t want to be a statistic.

Well I’ve launched a new blog today, “Moose’s Wild America” which will be an avenue for me to share a lot of my photographs. The nature photography bug has certainly bitten me and I travel a lot of places every year shooting a lot of photographs. Every day I plan to post a favorite photograph from my collection. I hope you take the time to stop by every day and check it out and see some of the spectacular places and things this great country has to offer.