Stealing From Hunters and the Needy

Yesterday I reported on the generosity of Virginia deer hunters to give to the needy by donating deer they harvested. Hunters For the Hungry in Virginia had a record breaking year with those in need benefiting greatly from the generosity of hunters. As I reported many states have similar groups that pair hunters with processors who process the meat for the food banks. Many of these processors will do this project at a reduced cost but there is some cost involved and usually the Hunters For The Hungry coordinate raising the funds and paying the processors for butchering the deer.

Today a story out of Pennsylvania is certainly disturbing and unfortunate in regards to their similar program called Hunters Sharing the Harvest.

Following a lengthy undercover investigation into the illegal commercialization of wildlife, William Kielty III, 60, of Evans City, Butler County, was charged with 28 violations of the Game and Wildlife Code for allegedly possessing unlawfully taken deer and illegally selling game. If convicted of all charges, which were filed with Magisterial District Judge Wayne Seibel of Evans City on Feb. 21, Kietly faces penalties of up to $22,700, and the possible loss of his hunting and trapping privileges for up to 65 years.

The story goes on to explain what Wildlife Officers have uncovered…

Pilarcik said that the investigation found evidence that Kielty was taking deer that were taken illegally, as well as picking up and failing to report road-killed deer. In addition to being charged with selling the meat from unlawfully possessed deer, Kielty is accused of stealing and selling meat from legal deer he was processing for hunters who took deer lawfully.

Kielty, who was enrolled as a participating processor in the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program, also is accused of keeping some of the venison from hunter-donated deer for himself or to sell, and would then forward the remainder to local food banks and soup kitchens.

“This man stands accused of stealing from hard-working hunters – both their venison and their money – and sadly, people in need,” WCO Pilarcik said.

PA PR

If these allegations hold up I certainly hope that Mr. Kielty gets all he has coming to him. To deny food for those in need in Pennsylvania as well as steal from hunters both their own meat as well as meat they so generously donated is pretty low. Although I think this is an unusual event those in charge may want to look a bit closer at this situation and see if it could have been avoided. The Press Release from the PA Game Commission noted that he had some previous convictions involving processing untagged or illegal deer in the past but maybe they were not serious enough to exclude him from the program.

Bottom line I think these programs are great and we should do all we can do to help them grow and expand in our own state. The hunters I know and hang around with are a pretty generous bunch that will do whatever they can to help you. I think that is a pretty common trait among hunters as a whole so lets keep up the good work and do what we can to help the needy around us.

VA Hunters Have Record Year When It Comes To Helping The Needy

Hunters For The Hungry is a collaboration between hunters, deer processors and food banks to help get donated deer meat to the needy who can benefit from it. Just about every state has some form of this type of organization operating in their state to help fight hunger even if it goes by a different name. NRA State by State List of Organizations

This past year deer hunters in the state of Virginia really stepped up to help those in need;

Statewide, Hunters for the Hungry, a wild game donation program, processed and distributed more than 363,000 pounds of deer meat to families and individuals living in poverty in 2007.
Locally, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Network based in Verona received 5,000 pounds last year, an increase of 2,650 pounds from 2006, said Ruth Jones, the bank’s public relations officer. Mercy House, a homeless shelter in Harrisonburg that helps families with young children, also received donations of meat, but officials there could not be reached for comment.
The increase in donations is a result of larger deer populations across the state, combined with hunters’ growing awareness of Hunters for the Hungry, said Laura Newell-Furniss, director of the program. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has not yet released the number of deer killed by hunters in 2007 and 2008.
“Every year [Hunters for the Hungry has] grown,” Newell-Furniss said. “There were a lot of deer taken, we’re a growing program and more people hear about us and get involved in it.”

Daily News

Well Done Virginia Deer Hunters you’ve done a great job and are an inspiration to the rest of us to get involved in efforts to help the needy in our own state. Also remember that besides deer they have a need for cash to help pay for processing the deer. I know here in NC that only a certain number of deer can be done because of lack of funding. So help them out if you can.

Study of Deer Migration On Bald Head Island with an Eye on Birth Control

Bald Head Island NC has had an over population of deer for a number of years but opposition to allowing hunting to control the herd lead them to hiring “professionals” to cull them. The islands deer population has been brought down to a reasonable number but maintaining that level is leading them to looking into the use of birth control. A telemetry study of deer is under way to see if they move back and forth to the mainland which is not really all that far. Whitetail deer can and do swim so I suspect that $60,000 latter they are going to discover that the deer do cross the water to get to the island.

Village Manager Calvin Peck said that while Bald Head agreed to pass on a hunt this year, in part because the ongoing drought has stressed the deer, there were no guarantees the hunting moratorium would continue into 2009.

“We’ll see where we are then and see what the recommendation is from the (Bald Head Island) Conservancy and others and then go from there,” he said.

Anthony Snider, a UNCW environmental studies professor, said tracking the deer for at least one year is the first step in determining if a contraceptive would be an effective tool in controlling the Brunswick County island’s deer population.

Technically, Bald Head is no longer an island since Corncake Inlet shoaled up in the late 1990s. That could mean deer are migrating between Bald Head and southern New Hanover County. That movement could make the program less effective.

“We have to see if the deer are staying on the island or you’re just wasting your money,” Snider said.

He said the deer that have been tagged so far don’t show much inclination to leave Bald Head, although he cautioned the monitoring phase is still in the early stages.

Star News

I’m not a scientist but it seems to me that you have to track deer on the mainland as well to see if they are migrating out to the island. I think it is more likely that lack of food could push deer towards Bald Head and once they find the succulent landscape on the island that they decide to set up residency.

What a waste of tax payer money to not utilize the safe and humane method to control the population by using hunting. North Carolina Wildlife Commission has established the Urban Archery Program to address such concerns as this. The uses of contraceptives are unnatural and will not help keep the fear of man in this herd like hunting will.

HeatMax Heated Mittens Warm Your Cold Hands

Anybody that has hunted with me much will tell you that I’m a nut when it comes to the cold because I don’t seem to feel it. I often hunt with a sweater, a light jacket and or a vest if the temperatures drop down into the 20’s. What many don’t know that growing up in New England my definition of what is cold and what most of my fellow North Carolinians think is cold is to vastly different things.

The one part of my body that does get easily cold is my hands as a result of a touch of frost bite from my college days when I use to do a lot of ice fishing. It’s not unusual for me even when the rest of my body is fine in 30’ weather that if my hands get cold I’m apt to call it a day so I work hard to keep them warm. Hot Hands from Heat Max has been a product I rely on often and incase you don’t know Hot Hands are those air activated warming packs that comes in a variety of sizes.
I don’t know if anyone remembers the old hand warmers that you filled with butane and they burned in your pocket. I never used them because I questioned how safe they could be plus I got to believe wildlife could smell them. I know some folks from Maine who carried baked potatoes in their coat pockets and then they had lunch with them. What do you do after you eat your hand warmer for lunch?

When I discovered Hot Hands a number of years ago I started carrying them in my pack when I hunt. They are perfectly safe and when they are done you just throw them away. For a number of years on cold days I found myself stuffing Hot Hands down inside of my gloves to help keep my hands from getting cold and starting to ache. This past summer I was given a pair of these new Hot Hands Heated Mittens to try out and I couldn’t wait.

HotHands® Heated Mittens are constructed of tightly woven fleece with 40 grams of Thinsulate™ insulation. The mitten caps have pockets to hold HotHands 2® warmers for up to ten hours of added heat.

The mittens have a warm knit glove liner that is exposed when the mitten cap is folded back. This allows hunters to quickly get ready for a shot, or do other tasks while still affording some protection from the cold. When folded back, the mitten cap is held in place by a strong magnet to keep it out of the way.

HotHands Heated Mittens sell for a suggested retail price of $19.99.

Well the hunting season has pretty much wrapped up here with rabbits going out this week. I got most of my use during the deer season with a number of mornings the temperatures in the 20’s. The Thinsulate alone makes these mittens warm and once you add the Hot Hand Packs in the special pockets you have 10 hours of heat to keep your hands comfortably warm. I used the mittens a number of times without needing to add the Hot Hands. Another nice feature of these mittens is that you can peel the mitten part back reveling that your hand is actually inside a glove so you can use your fingers to shoot that gun or unlock that gate. Once your done tuck your gloved hand back inside the mitten and the added warmth. This is an awesome feature; they even put magnets in to help hold the mittens out of the way while you use the gloves. I don’t know about you but too much hunting equipment utilizes Velcro that cannot be quietly opened while sitting in a deer stand.

One word of caution if your old fashion like me and use a compass remember the magnets will throw your compass off.

Over all this is a great product and makes cold days afield a bit more comfortable. The pair I tested was the Orange ones but I plan to pick up a pair of the camo ones to wear while chasing those late season waterfowl & predators. Check your local retailer for this product and if they don’t have it tell them to get it.

Federally Protected Feathered Goats Wreck Havoc On Florida City

Crows run a lone Vulture off I can’t imagine what 200 vultures would do

As a kid I remember the Saturday afternoon horror movies where some creature preys on a city most often Tokyo or New York well it seems a real live version of this is playing out in the town of Bartow Florida. The town of Bartow has been set upon by a flock of black vultures that have taken to eating or attempting to eat everything;

while city administrators sort out the legal issues, James Bruce is left with screeching birds that vomit on his cars and eat the shingles off his roof.

“I’ve about had it,” he said Friday. “I started to break out my shotgun about 4 o’clock this morning and wake Bartow right up.

“They’ve destroyed our 2007 Ford Fusion,” he said, “eating the rubber seal around the windows and the sunroof. There are claw marks all over the hood of my (Geo) Tracker and they’re all over the metal roof of our sunroom.”

When the birds have had their fill, they vomit, creating a horrible stench.

“It’s enough to turn your stomach,” Bruce said. “Something has to be done.”

The Ledger

What a mess and there is little that can be done because town laws has set Bartow up as a bird sanctuary and even more problematic Vultures are a federally protected bird. This will become more and more an issue as these birds, that at one time were threatened, become more and more prolific with little to control the population. Birds of prey especially many hawks are seeing good increases and I suspect it won’t be to long that the numbers in some areas will have a negative impact on other species especially small mammals and birds.
It is great to see these magnificent birds make a comeback but now is the time to figure out how we will control the numbers while we are seeing these isolated cases like Bartow.

Goodbye Grits Thanks for the Memories

Outdoor legend and outdoor Pioneer Claude Hamilton Gresham Jr. better known as Grits has passed away at the age of 85. Most of us who have a love for the outdoors and the outdoor sports have probably read something Grits wrote, or watched one of his many outdoor programs. Grits resume reads like a Who’s Who of the outdoor industry; Gun’s and Ammo, Sports Afield, Peterson’s Hunting, The American Sportsman, Sports Afield Television, Bass Masters, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Guns, Gun World, The American Rifleman, Southern Outdoors, Western Outdoors, Sports Illustrated, and of course he wrote a number of books.
Unlike in today’s world where we have networks dedicated to the outdoor lifestyle, blogs and countless internet options for getting information and knowledge there was a time when there was very few outdoor TV shows available. Grits and a few other television pioneers provided much inspiration to those of us growing up wanting to gain more knowledge about the outdoor world. He’ll certainly be missed but not soon forgotten thanks Grits for all you did for the sport.

Now if your still scratching your head wondering who this guy is check out this video from You Tube I’m sure if you’re old enough to remember the 70’s that you’ll recognize this old gem.

The Come Back Kid… So to Speak

The Brown Pelican is about to be removed from the endangered species list now that the populations have increased along the southern coastline. I got to admit that this is one of my favorite birds to watch because it looks so awkward that one wonders if they can fly when you see them sitting on a pier post. But then you seeing them soaring over the waves looking for dinner and you can’t help but marvel at how effortlessly they do this, until they dive in with a splash on top of some unsuspecting fish. I can watch these guys for hours while listening to the pounding surf and often do while I’m at Carolina Beach.

Scott Harper from the Virginia Pilot has a great story about the Brown Pelicans comeback and some of the challenges predators present to this bird. Seems like many birds the raccoon can do a number on the nests eating the eggs. Good predator control is important and trappers provide an important service along with hunters to help keep the predators in check.

How Safe is Our Meat?

Processing of Game is often A Family affair. Black bear being dressed and skinned

Many of the local and national news shows led with the story of the largest meat recall in the history of the US. The video that is getting shown was report to be shot by someone within the HSUS that certainly in my opinion puts up a red flag. The HSUS certainly would not hesitate to use underhanded tactics or do questionable things to get this tape. Make no mistake folks their agenda is not to see that your little Billy and Sally have a safe cheeseburger for lunch tomorrow at school but rather to shut down much of our agricultural industries. We’ll have to wait and see if the accusations against this company stand up to scrutiny and the investigations that are to come.

No matter what happens there is no reason that you should fear meat despite the issues of cloning, mad cow disease, antibiotics & hormones, and the safe handling of meat in the supply chain. You can avoid many of these by harvesting you own naturally fed, organic, free range game with a simple hunting license and a little elbow grease. I like many of you supply meat that I saw alive and moving so I can safely assume it is pretty healthy, and I care for that meat from the time it hits the ground till it hits the plate. I love to hunt and one of the great things is that I know a lot more about the meat on my grill then the folks that go to the best butcher shop in town to buy theirs.

This day it is popular to be green and I bet I use less energy to get my deer or bear from the field and to the table then the average burger joint. So you want to be green go kill ya a deer and put it up then you’ll know your meat is safe.

Under The Weather

Well I’m sick and not so sure what it is a cold or the flu. I got the flu shot like I always do because my job puts me in contact with a lot of folks and the exosphere potential is great. However the CDC has announced that this year’s shot is only 40% effective as compared to most years when it’s about 70% effective.

I took the web md’s test to see what I got and I got symptoms of both. The low grade fever is the main reason I stayed home because I certainly don’t want to spread it if it is the flu.

Green Tea, Dayquil, cough drops and Popsicles are my friend. I got some chicken stew to eat for lunch so I guess I’ll hunker down and watch some hunting videos.

Arizona Lawmakers Looking To Put Significant Controls On Ammo Sales

If some law makers in Arizona get their way handgun and assault weapon ammo will have a coding system to allow authorities to trace them. Additionally this law appears to l outlaw reloading and will require gun owners to get rid of all non compliant ammo or face charges. Check Out Desert Rat’s Story on this attack on gun owners in Arizona.

Robbing Peter To Pay Paul When It Comes To Waterfowl

The Bush administration is pushing to raise the cost of a duck stamp from $15 to $25 the first increase in almost 20 years. In case you don’t know duck stamps are a federal issued stamp that hunters must have to hunt migratory birds each year with the funds being used to safe guard habitat for the birds and other species. Hunters have happily bore the vast responsibility for monies generated through this program and I suspect this will continue.

I’m not opposed to raising the costs I’m just concern with the politics that have gotten us to the need to raise the costs. Many acres of farmland over the years have been set aside in Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that has put aside land for wildlife habitat. Efforts by the Bush administration to boost ethanol production have basically destroyed the CRP by raising the price of corn to a level that has put lots of habitat land back into crop production. Not to mention the impact on our own food production.

Habitat land is now more expensive because what would have not been cost productive to plant now is. When we have all kinds of untapped oil reserves in Alaska and off our coasts that we won’t touch because of the “impact on nature” so will destroy habitat and our economy to create a much more costly fuel.

I’ll buy the stamp but at the rate we are going the additional $10 won’t be enough.

Greatest Fisherman There Ever Was?

In the summer of 1975 Roy Scheider was probably the most famous American angler for a little movie called Jaws that thrilled audiences worldwide. I remember a number of shark scares while swimming at the beach that summer that forced lifeguards to order us out of the water. What great memories of growing up in New England where the story was suppose to have taken place.

Mr. Scheider passed away yesterday at the age of 75. He had a couple of other great movies including the French Connection and Blue Thunder.

Next Page »