Tanner Colten Moad, 5 years old, is one of the coolest kids I know. The youngest of 4 children of mine, Tanner never stops moving.
Before gun season in central eastern Oklahoma, the traditional bow season usually takes priority. I had taken the first week of bow season off from work in an attempt to tag out early at the request of my wife Lori. In her mind, if I was to tag out early, my deer season would then be “dear” season, with lots of additional chores getting done that get overlooked during each year’s deer season.

As a bow hunter, I was able to harvest a doe pretty quick, and two days later, stuck a nice 8 point that only took two steps before falling over. I had watched that buck spare with a 9-point two days earlier, and was in hopes I could manage to get the edge on one of them as both were very big bodied deer. Well, upon getting the close up view of the 8-point I had just harvested, I realized that half way up one side of his G-2, his antlers were completely broken off. A few of his other tines were damaged as well, which led me to believe that the 9-point he had previously been sparing with, probably wasn’t sparing anymore.

With bow season quickly becoming gun season, my son Tanner, was getting pretty excited about going hunting with dad this year. I had to work the first day of the season, but promised to take him on Sunday. Sunday afternoon, around 3:00pm, I was off to the deer woods and had my little man right there with me on the 4-wheeler. We drove to a spot where not much hunting activity was going on, and climbed into the buddy stand that was located there. The buddy stand had the camouflage netting around its fall protective bars and I knew that if a deer did come in, that the anticipated movements of my son would go undetected.

To my surprise, Tanner, sat quietly in the stand with me, pulled out his binoculars, and commenced to scanning the woods all around. When a squirrel would drop an acorn from a tree, it would hit the leaves, and Tanner would turn quickly to identify what made the noise. He would whisper to me that he thought he heard something over there, or over there, and over there. I know this sounds crazy, but I loved every minute of watching him pay attention to what was going on in the woods around him. Now he was hungry, 15 minutes after we were in the stand. He pulled out a package of crackers and quietly munched on them while looking around. We switched positions about 10 times, so he could see everything. He would ask me questions about all kinds of woods activities and now sat in my lap to get a better view. About 1 and ½ hours in the stand now, Tanner started doing the chicken head. You know, when someone is trying desperately not to fall asleep, but their eyes roll back, and their heads starts popping up. Well, it wasn’t long before “Mr. Energy” was resting against my arm, quietly sleeping.

Soon as Tanner decided to snooze, I elected to stay in the stand since there was only about 30 minutes left of daylight. So I positioned Tanner so he could lay down across the buddy stand seat that was covered with a camouflage blanket, and I would stand up. After positioning Tanner towards comfort, I stood up in the stand, now facing the rear, and spotted a nice buck standing there watching me. I touched Tanner on the face and arm attempting to wake him from his afternoon nap. I whispered to him “Tanner, there is a deer, wake up”. No response. So I looked back up the deer was gone. I positioned my rifle across the stand bars and waited for the deer to exit the brush. Just as I thought, he walked right through the opening in the brush headed for the deep woods. I announced I was there with a mouthed made “grunt”. He stopped and “bang”. As soon as the shot rang out, “Tanner, jumped up, wide eyed and said “Did I GET HIM?. Excited now, he really wanted to know if he got a deer. I smiled at him and excitedly said yes son, you got a big old buck. He jumped up and down in the stand and hugged me, and said “Well, where is he? Let’s go get him.” His little voice was squeaking high and low with excitement. This was his first experience in the deer woods hunting, and man he sure loved it, as did I. We climbed down the stand together, and went to where the buck was standing. I showed him the blood on the ground and explained to him that he should walk beside the blood, not in it, when he was tracking a deer. He started to walk beside the trail when he squeaked again. “I found him, he is right there” pointing. All of these events happening so fast, I wanted them to slow down some so I could savor the enjoyment of watching him. I showed him the caution of approaching a wounded or dead animal, helped him count the points on the antlers, and hugs and pride just rushed through me. After all, this hunt was supposed to be all about him.

He helped me load the deer on the 4-wheeler, and away we went to show the family. Close to the house now, I walked beside the 4-wheeler and allowed Tanner to drive up to the house. Picture this, A five year old boy, dressed in a camouflage shirt and orange hat with vest, driving a ranch 4-wheeler with a rifle in the rack on the front, and a 140 pound 8-point deer strapped to the utility rack in the back, coming out of the deer woods and driving up to the house with his mother waiting for him with a camera. Wouldn’t you be proud? I know I was. Tanner will never forget his first deer hunt, but neither will I. I think Lori, my wife and his mother, took a million pictures that evening.
Not only that, but he beat me this year with his deer. Mine during bow season was 150 pounds, but his rack was bigger. It is good to start them off young.

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Todd Krater
U.S. Hunting Today
Managing Editor
todd@ushuntingtoday.com

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By Mac Moad

The first week of October was finally here.  The first three days were spent in my favorite stand watching 3 raccoons in which I had named Larry, Curly, and Moe.  The mother raccoon was slightly bigger than the two younger ones, and seemed curious to every movement surrounding them.  The days here in eastern Oklahoma in October were still in the 80’s with mosquitoes buzzing everywhere.  I was wondering if it were still to hot to hunt and questioned myself again over and over.  Each day so far, I had hunted morning and evening with only a few does showing up.

Our family is one of three families (all related) that live on the mountain with about 360 acres of land owned by our families.  Each year we hunt, we always establish the rules.  {8 Point or better for the husbands} {Wives and kids, buck or doe} Now last year I hunted all year and didn’t harvest one deer, but I had seen enough antlers to keep me excited.  Every time Bill and Grover, my brother in-laws, sure let me

know how I got spanked on last years hunt.  Both are avid rifle hunters and tagged out the year I brought home nothing.  I was thinking about this already early in this season while elevated about 18 feet up in my climber.  I wondered, as every other hunter does, will this be my year.  As I looked down from my stand at the raccoons again on the 4^th morning of October 2007, I was once again thinking of how pretty they were and how every day I am in the woods, I look for the highlight of the day.  Whether this was the highlight of the day again, or was an owl going to sit on the limb next to me, a squirrel sitting on my boot, quail leaving a fast trail for a coyote, bobcats on the prowl, turkeys rustling, what was going to be the highlight?

Then, I saw movement directly in front of me.  I was a deer for sure, and no does were present yet.  I had placed my stand in what my wife calls the quiet spot.  High cedars with no brush, not to thick, but perfect for a good bow shot.  A well used doe trail to my right, and another trail coming in from the left, thicker trees to my front.  I could see about 40 yards around me with a creek bed behind me on a down hill gentle slope. The deer in front of me wasn’t spooked or aware of my presence as it slowly made its way directly toward me.  Sun to my back and the breeze in my face, finally, I could see him completely.  “Very nice buck” I was thinking.  As he moved closer and closer, I could count 4 on one side and 4 on the other.  Not sure if I wanted to take the shot just yet, I moved into position just in case.  Standing now and ready to draw, I used the bow as if I was hiding behind its small limbs.  The buck was much bigger than I originally thought the closer he moved to my stand.  20 yards and still coming, 10 yards and still coming.  He stopped, head concealed by a large cedar tree.  I came to full draw and picked my shooting lane.  As if knowing I was now ready to shoot, the 8 point stepped from behind the cedar and moved closer, directly into my shooting lane.  7 yards, I picked my hairs on the buck, just behind the shoulder and quartering down.  I could sense the raccoons to my right and felt a sense of calm, took a large breath, let it out half way, became steady as a rock and released.

{‘Wham”}  I dropped him in his tracks.  I intended to penetrate spine, heart, and lung if possible for a deadly and swift kill.  My broadhead did exactly that.  I stood for a moment and watched the buck lie still and quiet.  Larry, Curly, and Moe were nowhere to be seen.  I called my wife using my cell phone and quietly whispered I had a good buck down, her response to me was “why are we whispering”.  Laughing a little I said, I am in the quiet spot.

After checking the buck in and heading to the processors, I continued to hunt the evening in another stand.  Each day I hunted, I elected to use my climber instead of pre-placed stands used each year.  October the 7^th, 3 days after my first buck of the year, my 14 year old son was ready for action.  This would be his first year bow hunting, and he practiced every day for the last two months.  He was actually quite good shooting the pillow target and 3D’s, in which I was very proud.  Sunday after church, he would be in the woods with me for the evening hunt.  Everything seemed to go wrong.  I found out he was afraid of heights the hard way, but patiently, I assisted him into a lock-on stand with steps, explained the safety belt, strapped him in and climbed down.  I hooked his bow on the bow string and up and away the bow went.  While the bow was being pulled up by my son, I was watching all around me, trying to quiet down the woods, when {Wham}!!!!  My right hand was numb.  I looked at my hand and there was a deep cut to the bone on the top.  My son had almost had the bow in his stand when the bow string slipped.  The bow caught me square across my hand.  Seriously nervous and seeing the blood, my son asked if I was alright and maybe we should just go home and get the hand took care of.  He said he was so sorry and it just slipped, and…………  I assured my son everything was fine, helped him get the bow up the stand, and assured him he was ready to hunt.  “Don’t worry about me son, you just keep your eyes out for the big one.  I will be about 100 yards straight across the creek.”  I pointed with my other hand where I would be, wished him good luck, then started walking away from his stand. After crossing the creek and out of sight from Chase, I stopped and looked at the top of my right hand.  I was hurt pretty good, and I still couldn’t make a fist yet.

Not wanting to leave the woods with my son still in a stand, I elected to set up on a trail I knew of and wait it out.  I pulled off the climber from my shoulder and worried a little about if I could even use the stand to climb or not.  After setting up the stand at the bottom of the tree I picked out, we were going to find out if I could climb with one hand.  It actually wasn’t that bad.  Up the tree I went, got situated, smiled a little at how stupid I was to stand directly under my sons stand when he was raising his bow then shrugged it off as “my stupidity, my fault.” Now situated and seated in my stand, I wondered if I could even draw my bow back with the bum hand.  So, I stood up quietly, drew the bow and wow, man did that hurt.  I sat back down and thought once again, I hope a big buck goes by my son instead of me this evening.  Not real sure I could even draw again.

45 minutes later, about 6:05pm, I caught movement from over my right shoulder.  Yep, you guessed it.  It was a buck, but a very small buck.  Knowing that early in this season the bucks were still traveling together, I stood, turned and prepared.  Sure enough, 5 yards behind the 4 point, was a small basket 8 point.  Immediately I decided not to shoot this small 8.  To my surprise, directly on his heals was a really nice 8 point.  Now I was getting excited.  By the way, the first buck in front had walked directly under my stand and was now in front of my stand.  I drew slowly, aimed center mass of the shooting lane in a gap in the brush.  The small 8 point buck walked through the gap, and then “There he was”,  A fine 8 point standing in the gap.  Once again, I picked my area of hair behind the shoulder, quartered down, controlled the breathing, paused, and slowly squeezed the trigger release.

{Wham} I dropped him in his tracks.  I intended to penetrate spine, heart, and lung if possible again and sure enough, the broadhead did the work.  Can you believe this, 6 yards, another nice buck on the ground, just laying there.  I stood in amazement, I was shocked.  This was a really nice buck, pretty wide and may score as well.  The odd thing about this was, “dropped in his tracks.”  The very thing every hunter hopes for is to find the deer, or even better a swift and clean kill.  Well, not only did I find the deer three or four days ago, I found this one too.  I was like a dream.  Two 8 point bucks, both bow kills, both in the same week, both dropped in their tracks. I realized after a brief moment of silence, that my hand did not hurt anymore, and to make things even better, my son was on this hunt with me only 100 yards away. The two bucks that were in front of this one, there would be a good chance Chase saw them or even may get a shot.  But what will always cross my mind is how big was the buck that was still coming in from behind the buck I harvested.  I saw him jump when I released.  I climbed down and walked to Chases stand, walked cautiously up to the side of him and told him we had a good buck down.  Excited, he said he saw two bucks running and asked how big my buck was.  I told him, “well, I don’t know really, maybe you should help me track him”.  Chase was so excited when he walked up to my tree, buck in plain site.  “Man, I’m gonna get me a buck like that” I went to retrieve the 4-wheeler, we loaded the deer and headed to the house.  I was kind of in a hurry as the darkness was starting to set in, and I still needed to check this buck in too.  Arriving at our home on the mountain, my father stepped out on the deck and observed our approach.  My father had just come in from out of town that day to visit us for a week, so that was kind of cool him seeing me bring in another deer.  He was a big deer hunter with hunting skills that I always admired.

As far as the wife goes, she was so excited.  Not so much that I had gotten a nice buck, but that I had gotten two nice bucks with a bow in the first week of hunting season.  She rubbed it in real good to her two brothers whom still hadn’t harvested anything.  The next morning, as I watched the brother in laws roll out to the woods to deer hunt, I told them the same thing I always told them.  “Good luck and I hope you get a big one” Every bit of this is true, and I honestly believe this will be hard for me to beat next year.  After all, now my season just went from deer season, to “dear” season.  Being tagged out in the first week of bow season is a sure sign that honey-do’s will be a major part of the rest of my season.

Whether hunting public or privateland, the fundamentals of calling elk remain the same.

By Michael Waddell

We heard the bull bugle at first light and snuck into his core area. When I hit a lick on my bugle, the bull simply came unglued and stormed our position like a tank, crashing through brush and small lodgepole pines like they were atchsticks. Before we could react he was in our lap and we were pinned down, myself hiding behind a camera, too afraid to even touch the tripod for fear of my shaking hands would run the footage. All I could see of my partner edged against a stunted pine was the tip of his undrawn arrow shaking uncontrollably on the rest. Before a shot presented itself, the bull smelled a  rat and disappeared as quickly as he arrived.

While this experience didn’t result in a dead elk, it did hopelessly addict me to calling them. It seems that in all walks of life, be it the animal kingdom or humans, communication is a key ingredient for all social interaction. However not all living things communicate to the same degree. If you ask my wife, I am sure she will tell you I lack in the communication department, in fact I am sure she believes I don’t listen to her at all, but when it comes to communicating with animals I can barely shut up. Of all the animals I love to communicate with elk rate right at the top. By nature elk are very vocal. The uninitiated often simply think of bulls bugling, but cows, calves and bulls make all sorts of noises year around. If you encounter a larger herd of elk while you might not hear a thing from a distance, if you get close you will hear lots of subtle vocalization. Most of the time these are sounds of contentment, but depending on what’s happening the vocalization reflects it. Elk can convey contentment, danger, curiosity, or a cow in heat. Bulls for instance only bugle primarily in the rut, but they also communicate to establish a pecking order. After spending a considerable amount of time chasing the mighty wapiti, I’m convinced every elk in the herd knows each other by sound alone. This happens with the cows as well as the bulls and based on my evaluation somewhere in this mix is the deadly secret to calling elk archery-close.

Imitation Is The Sincerest Form Of Flattery

It seems that the more vocal a herd the better the odds are for success at calling them. Some cows call subtle, while others are loud-mouth ladies actively looking for a date. By listening it gives you a better opportunity to imitate the particular tones and intensity of the herd. By calling we are automatically intruding into the social club without an invitation. The closer we can sound to a known elk, and match that intensity the better the odds are of filling a tag. Even though we may sound like an outsider to the herd, luckily for us, love crazed bulls are not looking to be intimate with just one or two cows they are looking for all the love of every cow in the world, so taking advantage of their sexual frustrations and promiscuity is what we aim to do. It doesn’t take a world champion elk caller to trick bulls within range. By simply paying attention to the herd and understanding simple elk rhythm, tone and more important volume when calling, a hunter can depend on an elk call to be a valuable asset to dulling broadheads.

Public Versus Private Land

Since I started hunting elk 16 years ago, on private as well as public ground, I have realize that comparing these two different types of ground are like comparing night and day and it is all about the amount of pressure each receives. Generally speaking private ground bulls are way easier to call than public ground animals, but this is not always the case. Some private land does get a lot of pressure, which can make for some pretty tough calling duels with elk that can serve you up a humble pie every time you bust out a call. While conversely some public land either through sheer remoteness or hard-to-get tags is like calling the best private land in the nation. Hunting un-touched land and cow calling to bulls that have never heard a Hoochie Mamma would obviously be nice and it wouldn’t take long working over these uneducated elk to start feeling like an elk calling pro only to be deflated the first time we went to the national forest and mixed it up with bulls so well-known by local hunters that they have knick names. However, regardless of where you hunt the basics of calling remain the same. Start with mastering the cow call and all its various inflections. Your basic reed type calls are the easiest to learn as well as get proficient with. You will find two kinds; both are bite down reed-type of calls, one being enclosed and the other having an open reed or reeds. These calls make a very realistic sound and before your wife can run you out of the house you will master the basics.  I rely heavily on the cow call and think most of the time hunters are better off sticking with it over a bugle no matter where he is hunting. But learning how to make a basic bugle is important, especially for locating bulls at a distance before getting close and working him with your cow call. In addition, sometimes it is the bugle that finally provokes a dominant bull to commit, especially during the early season when bulls are still sorting out their peckin’ order.

Earning Your Public Ground PhD

Lets face it, unless you have deep pockets much of the private ground in the West is pretty much off limits, so you have to learn to hunt public land. This is not a bad thing as public ground comprises millions upon millions of acres across the West and happens to have some of the biggest bulls found anywhere. While it can be tougher than private, once you learn how to hunt it you won’t be disappointed. Over the years, one of my favorite places to hunt is the Gila National Forest, in New Mexico, and even though this is a trophy area tags are fairly obtainable through application. In the Gila, the trophy potential is off the chart, sporting some of the biggest bulls in the country, but just because the big ones live there doesn’t mean thatyou automatically make one call and they come running to get in the back of your truck. These mature jokers have a PhD in avoiding hunters. Over the last six years I have hunted this area religiously and have had the opportunity to shoot some nice bulls all by using elk calls as an aid to close the coffin. Notice I said, “as an aid”, meaning the call was just one thing in a bag of tricks to help smoke these monarchs. My biggest bull that came out of the Gila was a 378 P&Y bull that had earned the name Professor because he always seemed to take you to school when you applied too much pressure. However, this bull was vocal and would bugle his butt off. He also seemed to be fairly easy to find, not only by his gnarly, raspy bugle that set him apart, but frequently he could be found early in the morning in a large meadow just south of a particular water hole that always attracted a large herd. The Professor was not the only bull in the area that had large headgear, but it was The Professor that seemed to call the shots. I had caught this bull in the open several times, but calling seemed to really make him uneasy when you were in close. The Professor however would bugle hard to distant cow calls and seem to be whole heartedly interested, but had a sixth sense when you moved in for the attack. Final we decided to have a caller stay behind as we worked him coming off the meadow at daybreak. By doing this we could keep him interested and bugling as we stalked in closer. The caller always was no closer than 80 yards behind me. While the caller kept him occupied, I slid within 50 yards and gave him a G5 Tekan right behind the shoulder. This hunt was really a stalk, but the call and caller had a big part to do with his demise. Once we started quartering the bull up, we found a piece of an old arrow lodged just below the backstraps, so obviously someone had him in close before and gave the Prof and education, which explained why he was so wary.

The Double Team

As this old bull showed, hunting with a partner can work extremely well. It not only puts the hunter out in front of the call, but it gives the hunter a chance to move and adjust the angle based on where the bull might be approaching. Likewise, the caller has the flexibility to move as well and apply a lot of different calling techniques. The double team plan worked again on another hunt. It had been hot and the bulls were only bugling early and late. As soon as the sun would rise the elk woods would turn in to a ghost town.
Just after daybreak on the fourth day of our hunt we heard this bull bugle. He hit it only two times, both very weak and he sounded like the littlest rag horn in the land but with no other game in town we went after him. Getting as close as possible to where we thought the bugle came from I eased up and sat down by a pine stump while my buddy moved back and to my right about 40 yards. Neither of us were very optimistic about our chances. My buddy made one or maybe two very soft cow calls on a two reed diaphragm then he started raking a tree and rolled a few rocks. We sat there for possibly 10 minutes in silence, then out of nowhere appeared a wide 340 inch 6 x 6 coming directly to us, at 25 yards the bull let out a soft chuckle, looked over his surrounding and kept walking in the direction of where the last rock had been rolled, which led him 16 steps from my pine stump. By now I was at full draw waiting for a broadside shot. When the arrow left my bow, I knew we had killed a call shy monster by keeping it low key and staying patient. Needless to say, I was never convinced by the two times he had bugled earlier that he was a shooter. This was a lesson in itself. Never judge a bugle until you can see what is making the sound.
The most exciting way to bag a bull elk is to get him in close, and the best way to do that is with a call. Confidence in your call is critical, because if you’re insecure about using your call there is a good chance you will spook elk. Have confidence in your calling ability and become just another elk in the herd where you are hunting. Find a call that works for you and not what works for some else. Think like an elk and do as elk do. Realism, rhythm, and volume control can make the difference between bringin’ them in or running them over the next ridge. And remember its not always about calling, it can be just patiently listening to the sounds around you and applying minimal calls, while practicing good woodsmenship, and stalking skills that could help you put that monster on the back of the truck.

By Michael Waddell

This is a warning to outdoor users about a potentially deadly biological event that could result from one’s curiosity to poke at and kick through scat from wolves, coyotes and foxes. Of course not everyone knowingly does this but many hunters, trappers and simply the curious, want to know what these animals have been eating.

Back in the end of November I gave you a link to a story, “Of Wolves and Worms”. That story introduced many of us to the subject of worms being found in wolves in the Greater Yellowstone area.

According to a new study out in the October issue of the Journal of Wildlife Diseases, three-millimeter-long tapeworms known as Echinococcus granulosus, are documented for the first time in gray wolves in Idaho and Montana. And the authors didn’t just find a few tapeworms here and there… turns out that of 123 wolf intestines sampled, 62 percent of the Idaho gray wolves and 63 percent of the Montana gray wolves were positive. (Ew!) The researchers wrote: “The detection of thousands of tapeworms per wolf was a common finding.” (Again… Ew!!) This leads to the interpretation that the E. granulosus parasite rate is fairly widespread and established in the Northern Rocky Mountain wolves.

There is discussion about how some think the worms ended up in the wolves in this region but the article tends to downplay any serious concerns people should have from coming in contact with these tapeworms and the eggs they leave behind.

In the comments section of the article, Will Graves, author of the book “Wolves in Russia: Anxiety Through the Ages“, left his thoughts on his own research discoveries about the dangers to humans of these parasites.

In the first paragraph in my letter to Mr. Bangs dated 3 October 1993 on the DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) which was titled “The Reintroduction of Gray Wolves to Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho,” I warned about the damages and problems wolves would cause to Yellowstone and other areas by carrying and spreading parasites and diseases over larger areas. Some of these parasites are damaging not only to wild and domestic animals, but can also be dangerous to humans. One of these parasites is Echinococcous Granulosus and Echinococcus M. Since 1993 I have been working to tell people what I have learned from about 50 years of research on the characteristics, habits and behavior of Russian wolves. From that research I came to the conclusion that one of the most serious consequences of bring wolves into the US would be the wolves carrying and spreading around damaging/dangerous parasites and diseases. I did my best to explain this in my book titled, “Wolves in Russia – Anxiety Through the Ages” edited by Dr. Valerius Geist. Details about my book are in my web site: wolvesinrussia.com.

After several years effort, I finally recently obtained help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Parasitic Research Center in Beltsville, MD. This research center will try to conduct research on the blood taken from wolves in our western states. Oneparasite they will be researching is to determine if wolves carry and spread the parasite Neospora Caninum around. It is established that coyotes and dogs carry this damaging parasite.

I remember that about two years ago there was a report about one wolf carrying Echinococcus Granulosus in Montana.

Much more research is needed about the danger wolves bring to our environment. Some of the parasites carried by wolves are dangerous to humans.(emphasis added)

Around this same time that Will Graves posted his comments, he contacted me by email and asked if I could somehow be of assistance to him in obtaining blood samples from wolves taken during the Idaho and Montana wolf hunts. The word went out quickly and hopefullyGraves gets what he needs to help him in his research. This can become extremely valuable information for all of us.

In the meantime, Dr. Valerius Geist, professor emeritus University of Calgary and Dr. Charles Kay, of Utah State University, who holds degrees in wildlife ecology, environmental studies and wildlife biology, exchanged thoughts on the discovery of worms in Yellowstone wolves in emails I received.

Well, Charles? What else is new? What did we warn about, how we were censored as alarmists………………………
And yes, a colleague assured us that all that is not a problem for us, but for some native types. Nothing to worry about, really. Remember how, early on, we put out a warning – do not kick dry wolf feces or poke about in such looking for evidence of food habits. Do not handle wolf feces as it will disturb the tiny Echinococcus eggs that float up like little dust cloud to envelop you, and you are very likely to ingest some of that “dust”. This know-how, which we older Canadian types carried away from our parasitogy lessons was poo-hood by some American colleagues. Wolves are after all, harmless! Remember the question we posed: is it really such a great idea completing ecosystems when the progression is herbivores, carnivores, finally diseases and parasites?

It is not my intention nor that of Drs. Geist and Kay to attempt to instill unnecessary fear in people but to educate, as it was back in the day before wolf reintroduction. There are very important lessons and warnings that all should heed and take into consideration when in the woods or maybe even in your own back yard.

Dr. Geist emailed me the other day and asked me if I would be kind enough to post this information so that anyone and everyone will be aware of the potential for some very serious health issues.

Urgent: could you make a point of it that now, that we know that the majority of wolves are infected with Echinococcus, that all hunters control their curiosity and not poke about in wolf or coyote feces to find out what these predators ate. these feces are saturated with tiny, lightweight Echinococcus eggs that rise like dust plume from the disturbed feces and envelop the poking hunter. If the air-born eggs are ingested, the an infection is possible, and having Echinococcus cysts grow inside oneself is not a desirable condition. Trust me!

He followed that up with more information about the dangers.

As to the pathogenicity of Echinococcus granulosus: Yes, I noticed that Foayt, leaning on Raup’s research in Alaska, toned down the dangers from this northern form. My understanding based on what we learned from an old, experienced parasitologist at the University of British Columbia is that it’s nothing to fool around with. It’s serious! In my career as a biologist in touch with the north, I have heard nothing else. I have not, however, done a recent literature search. Foayte’s assessment may be on even though it conflicts with mine. Either way, getting an Echinococcus cyst of any kind is no laughing matter as it can grow not only on the liver or the lungs, but also in the brain. And then it’s fatal.

There is however, another much more alarming angle. Echinococcus multilocularis is a nightmare, and much more virulent than Echinococcus granulosus of any strain. We cannot encapsulate this cyst, and it grows and buds off like a cancer infecting different parts of the body incessantly. Were some of the wolves infected with multilocularis? Coyotes and foxes carry it and it has been spreading. Do canids in Idaho, Montana, etc. have it? It’s found in Alberta. Regardless, now is the time to send out an SOS to ALL outdoor users. Hold your curiosity in check, do not poke into the feces of wolves, coyotes and foxes. If you do you will release clouds of Echinococcus eggs which will envelop you, and you may ingest the eggs, bring the eggs home and endanger your family. This is nothing new to me and I have lived with this constraint on my curiosity for over 40 years. This is just a know how that maintains your personal and your family’s safety. Also, never feed uncooked offal to your dog as it may become infected with Echinococcus and infect you and your family. Echinococcus cysts love to be in lung and liver, and if consumed by dogs you have a health hazard on your hands. And such cysts now grow in deer and elk where you live. Somebody should take a second look searching out Echinococcus multilocularis.

You and I probably have no idea in the world whether these worms exist in the woods we hunt, trap, hike, etc. but good advice given by Dr. Geist should tell us it’s not something we should mess around with. Squelch the curiosity to dig in the poop and just assume there could be hidden danger.

I want to take a moment to thank Will Graves, Dr. Val Geist and Dr. Charles Kay for caring enough about the rest of us to be willing to share their findings and experiences.

Things I am looking for, but not limited to.

•    Gear: Clothes, utility tools, ATV’s…
•    Favorite weapons: guns, bows, sticks, stones…
•    Best Duck Blind or Hide…
•    You, family or friends dressed for the hunt…
•    Where you hunt

All I need is a digital picture in any PC compatible format and a description of the picture.  You can make the description as long or short as you would like.  If there is a story behind the picture we would love to hear about it.

Send Pictures to:

Todd Krater
U.S. Hunting Today
Managing Editor
todd@ushuntingtoday.com

Note: If you want a picture posted and do not have a digital copy I would be willing to scan it for you.  Please contact me for details.

US Hunting Today reserves the right to refuse any picture for any reason as well as edit it where appropriate.

I’m temporarily filling in for Susan Wolf, who is recovering from surgery. The Humane Society of the U.S. HB538 “commercial” breeder measure passed the Virginia House on 2/12/2008. It will clear our Senate within days. HSUS is about to gain in Virginia what it couldn’t in years of Washington lobbying the Santorum Pet Animal Welfare Statute – (AKA PAWS). VAPAWS (HB538) requires hobby dog breeder licensing and inspection for anyone selling puppies at retail as well as wholesale, if they’re over a certain size. Virginia has an early, very short and frenetic legislative session. Its 2008 agenda included over 30 animal rightist supported bills. HB538 was HSUS’s top priority.

Sportsmen and hobby breeders here lost to HSUS’s five paid Richmond professional lobbyists, its DC personnel and numerous very well coordinated local semi-pro anti activists. HB538 duplicates and supplants the federal licensing system that registers and inspects all large dog breeders and investigates any dog breeder with four (4) or more females about whom a tip or a legitimate complaint has been received. USDA-APHIS has 5700+ Class A breeders that it monitors and inspects at least once per year, including 14 in Virginia. The federal government did 10,000 inspections last year, checking compliance with 60 pages of detailed dog care standards.

HSUS personnel used the public firestorm over Michael Vick’s despicable dogfighting and created their own inflammatory anti-dog breeder hyped press. Horton’s Dogs in Carroll County, Virginia, the HSUS “Virginia is for Puppy Mills” cause célèbre, was well known to local authorities and the animal control officer (ACO) for years. He had a business license, a 500 dog kennel permit, five employees, bought dog food by the ton and advertised puppies in newspapers and on the Internet. He sold both retail and to pet stores and should have been federally licensed and inspected by law, but wasn’t. On that there’s no dispute.

That situation was a local political problem, not a federal law or enforcement shortfall. Someone could have brought Horton to the USDA’s attention at any time. Three months after the well-publicized HSUS November “raid,” there still hasn’t been a complaint lodged with USDA, nor has the local ACO returned to that facility, which continues to sell puppies. Horton remains in business and still meets the USDA definition of a licensed “dealer.” The fourteen USDA licensed and inspected VA dog breeders are listed on the USDA-APHIS website. This isn’t some mysterious, unknown or unaccountable animal welfare service, just one the State Veterinarian’s Office and ACOs need to learn about, rather than being asked to supplant, or duplicate the federal program at great cost to local taxpayers and risk to responsible dog owners.

HB538 requires local county ACOs to review pet store records and to enforce both new state dog kennel inspection standards and those of USDA-APHIS. This is totally absurd, as the bill has internal self-contradictions, as well as numerous conflicts with federal animal care regulations. Further, the new inspection system will cost $ millions to implement, none of which has been budgeted. The counties and cities have been saddled with another unfunded mandate from Richmond. The bill’s precise details may be found at http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com/stater.html Suffice it to say that Virginia’s new “commercial” breeder definition includes many hunt clubs, those with co-owned dogs and other responsible breeders that aren’t “puppy mills.”

One of my disappointments while lobbying against this bill over the last three weeks was the refusal of top USDA-APHIS management to take position on HB538. Even more discouraging, a few dog owner groups supported HB538, to the point they joined the animal rightist speaking panels and heavily lobbied members one on one. Included among these individuals was the fired professional lobbyist of the AKC Virginia Federation of Dog Clubs and Breeders (VFDCB) and another Richmond lobbyist representing a MFH hunt club. The Legislative Chairman of the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association also supported this anti-dog breeding measure. Unfortunately, the American Kennel Club’s HB538 opposition letter arrived too late to be useful.

Despite all of this opposition, it’s usually easier to stop a bill than it is to pass one. That didn’t happen in Virginia, for the second significant time in three years. We lost the crucial committee vote (9-Y 8-N). The Old Dominion dog groups opposed to HB538 failed to cooperate with each other, coordinate their efforts, or compensate for the adverse actions of VFDCB’s dismissed lobbyist. Our lobbying effort was very frankly embarrassing. The lessons learned during our 2005 PAWS opposition fight were forgotten. HSUS announced last year that it was taking its PAWS anti-breeder effort to the states and that Virginia was its first target. Please learn from our mistakes and prepare to better defend your sport and your dogs.

Freely forward and cross post.

Sincerely,

Bob Kane, President
Virginia Hunting Dog Owners’ Association
Chairman Emeritus, Sportsmen and Animal Owners’ Voting Alliance
http://vhdoa.uplandbirddog.com http://saova.org

Posted by Tom Remington

I’m a hunter and a strong supporter of gun rights. I fish and I love the outdoors. I grew up poor in a rural area of Western Maine. So what does that make me? Am I from a red or blue state? Am I left or right? Right or wrong? Am I common folk or a member of the elite? Progressive or relegated to always being backward? Am I smart or dumb? And what determines that? Or more accurately, who?

In all honesty, I could care less what people say and think about me. As a matter of fact, I sort of pride myself in keeping people guessing. I have no problem talking with a country boy from Maine or the head of the United Nations. They’re just people.

So why is it that we, the human, not all but some, have a need to label and profile, done in a way that demeans, criticizes, ridicules and belittles others?

Most of you probably have already heard the supposed comment that was overheard in an elevator coming from the mouth of Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, Virginia concerning a congressional debate over gun issues.

You can tell we’re debating a gun bill today. Half the cast of “Deliverance” is in town,

I suppose there are those who are not familiar with the movie “Deliverance”. The movie is based on a novel by James Dickey in which some businessmen from Atlanta go on a canoe trip in the northern part of Georgia and have an encounter with the likes of some “backwards”, “backwoods” people in which murder and rape ensues.

Obviously, a pretty dumb thing to say if you are a politician hoping to keep your job. Frankly, I’d get a kick out of it and if I had gotten on the same elevator with Saslaw, I’d of had him thinking he was in the back hills of Northern Georgia. Probably wouldn’t take much to scare the prejudiced be-jeepers out of him.

Now everyone is tap dancing around the issue scared to death to say or write the wrong thing about the comments. This same article linked to above says that the Washington Post published a comment later made by Saslaw.

“How do they know I was referring to them and not the other side? … Some of those people must have one hell of an inferiority complex.”

Saslaw really does believe that not only are those in support of gun rights ignorant and backwards but so are those in support of gun control. Who’s side is he on? This response is typical of today’s society never able to assume responsibility but turn the blame around. He says that if I take offense to his comment, I have an inferiority complex. Nice! What do you expect from a moron gun toter?

Even a spokesman for the Virginia republican party doesn’t want to admit that the whole world knows what Saslaw meant by his comment.

“When a member of the Virginia General Assembly makes a comment like that, I thought that it would be appropriate for him to explain himself,” spokesman Josh Noland said in an interview.

“Is he meaning the supporters of these stricter [gun] laws are like the cast of ‘Deliverance’ or the people that want to protect gun rights are like the cast of ‘Deliverance,’ and what did he mean by that?”

Are you kidding me? It makes a difference? And, “what did he mean by that?” Please. It’s clear what he meant by his comment. He believes that supporters of our Second Amendment are back woods hicks – all of us! That’s what he meant. Why pretend we don’t understand? If Saslaw isn’t careful, some of those in the halls of the Virginia Congress may grab him and tie him up and make him start squealing like a pig. That’s all we know isn’t it?

The other question I have to ask is if Josh Noland, spokesman for the Virginia republican party, was actually serious when he asked to which side of the debate was the Deliverance comment directed?

But this kind of stereotyping isn’t relegated to the state of Virginia and its politicians. Over the weekend I was reading an article in The Olympian about Montana sportsmen who were speaking up against the business practices of Cabela’s, one of this nations biggest outdoor equipment suppliers.

Some sportsmen are angry because Cabela’s has branched off into the real estate business and some think their sales practices are taking away the land access they use for hunting, fishing, etc.

In the article, it begins by setting the tone as to what the newspaper must think of Montana sportsmen. (They probably don’t care because they think Montana hunters can’t read.)

It’s a lot like a David vs. Goliath story, except that in the case of Montana sportsmen vs. Cabela’s, the underdog isn’t aiming to kill.

After all, the Cabela’s catalog might be the only “book” many of the sportsmen have read this year, and it cost them significantly more than a library card.

In case you didn’t catch that, Montana sportsmen, at least those who frequent Cabela’s, are illiterate. Now I know why Cabela’s and other hunting and fishing retailers put pictures in their catalogs.

And we can’t forget the recent rant that took place between Chris Matthews of MSNBC and NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell. This display of love and tolerance was about presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee going on a pheasant hunt in Iowa prior to the caucuses.

Matthews has probably never been out of his cement-walled office and discovered that illiterate, Deliverance-type, manhood proving, backward, common, rural, dumb people hunt. Gasp! Once he finishes his rant about republicans having to prove their manhood and pointing out that now republicans believe you have to show that you have a big gun to become president, he asked Andrea Mitchell if she is upset by this.

“Absolutely. You don’t see any women out there with a gun.”

So, to that list I created in the title to this piece, we should add Man/Woman because we now see that women are far above the red, right, rural, wrong, common, dumb, backward men who use guns.

Maybe I’m just too sensitive!

Tom Remington

In an article I posted the other day, I said that the state of Virginia was beginning work on dealing with hunting with hounds. I told you that I had contacted the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries to get some questions answered about the hound hunting issue.

I spoke by telephone with Bob Duncan, Wildlife Division Director, who was kind enough to answer my questions and relate to me the position of the VDIGF on the issue of hound hunting.

I first have to say that Mr. Duncan was quite emphatic and took the time to make sure that I understood that Virginians love their dogs and that hunting with hounds is a tradition that dates back to the very early years of hunting.

Hunting with hounds in Virginia involves many disciplines. There’s hunting deer, bear, foxes and many species of bird and waterfowl. Mr. Duncan even told me about his turkey dogs, reliving the days when he hunted the birds with dogs.

In reading a few news articles about the debate, I got the sense that the issue was about whether hound hunting should be outlawed. I found out that is not the case at all, at least according to Mr. Duncan.

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries is not opposed to hound hunting, Duncan said. He emphasized the fact that the VDGIF was interested in continuing to provide hound hunting opportunities for its citizens, “but it has to be done right”.

Getting it right is the monumental task that lies ahead for not only the VDGIF but for hunting groups, hound groups, landowners, farmers and any other stake holder in the hound hunting debate, along with the state’s citizens. Once again, I will reprint what is listed on the VDGIF website about the future of hound hunting.

The goal of the process will be to provide diverse opportunities for hunting with hounds in Virginia in a manner that is fair, sportsmanlike, and consistent with the rights of private and public property owners and other citizens.

The process, which will be proposed to begin immediately, will take a multi-pronged approach incorporating biology and sociology, input from stakeholders, modeled after the Department’s Bear and Deer plans with a time line to produce recommendations and a final report by November 2008. Possible solutions that could come out of the process could include non-regulatory, educational efforts, or regulatory amendments or statutory amendments.

Duncan agreed with me when I told him this was no small task. He explained that there are problems that need addressing concerning hound hunting. No one, at least from his department, is suggesting eliminating hound hunting, only making it better in a way that brings together all of the interested stake holders to first list concerns and complaints and then address ways to resolve any differences.

Part of what is a challenge for Virginia houndsmen is the shrinking landscape. Duncan explained to me that the large land tracts, once a haven for hound hunters, have shrunk in size or disappeared altogether. Hunting clubs are losing their lands and as the landscape changes because of development and the rapid changing of land ownership, so too does the opportunity for hound hunting.

Complaints vary somewhat when it comes to hound hunting. It seems that the number one complaint with landowners is trespassing. Mr. Duncan pointed out that land trespass as a whole was a big issue in Virginia and that was true for hunting as well.

In Virginia, private land is considered closed. To hunt on non-posted land, verbal permission is required. To hunt on posted land, written permission is needed. This holds true for hound hunting as well but there are a couple issues that sometime seem to stir up complaints from some landowners.

If a hunter loses his dogs onto private land that he does not have permission to hunt on, he can enter that property, without a gun, to retrieve his dog at anytime. The other is using dogs to drive dear across a piece of land not open to hunting, onto land where hunters wait in ambush.

“It’s all about respect for the landowner,” said Duncan.

As with anything there are abuses and this seems to be the case with hound hunters as well but Mr. Duncan hopes to be able to address these issues during this time of debate and come up with solutions that will make things better and satisfy more people.

Within the hunting community, the biggest complaint seems to be disruptions caused by dogs during certain times. Efforts have been made to adjust seasons in hopes to eliminate some of the disruptions. Mr. Duncan put it best when he said, “Somehow if we could come up with about 16 weeks in November, many of our problems would be over.”

For me, the driving issue was whether or not hunting with hounds, particularly deer, was a necessary tool to manage a one-million deer population. I must say that I was surprised when Mr. Duncan expressed to me that it was absolutely necessary. “If people in Virginia could not hunt with their dogs, they probably would stop hunting,” he said.

Although Virginia has no exact means of tracking the number of hound hunters, he said through surveys and estimates by fish and game personnel, at least 500,000 hunters used dogs. He claimed that 45% of all bear hunters use dogs and there are countless fox hunters.

Duncan worries about the future of hound hunting. He told me inexplicably that if hound hunting stopped, that the state of Virginia would have a serious problem in managing every species of game that is hunted in that manner. He said that it is imperative that groups and individuals be brought together to discuss hound hunting and resolve issues.

The ultimate goal for VDGIF is to create management plans for all game that includes hunting with hounds. Duncan expressed that hound hunting in Virginia is a lifestyle. As the landscape in Virginia changes and more people move into hound hunting areas, he worries that because this wasn’t a part of their heritage, it may not be looked on favorably. This presents a problem all unto itself in finding ways to educate newcomers.

The task that lies ahead for the people of Virginia is huge. If they can pull this off and come up with good game management plans that deal with the bulk of hound hunting issues, they certainly will have my respect. Duncan said that they aren’t going to rush this. He believes that a well planned approach, get people talking and find common ground, will yield a good result.

I’ll keep you posted with updates on the progress being made.

Tom Remington

In late March and early April, most outdoorsmen and women in Maine are tuning fishing gear, buying new tackle and anxiously waiting for ice-out on their favorite lakes and ponds. After a winter like this one, that can be several long weeks depending on what part of the state you live in. If you’re anything like me, most of your tackle was inspected, cleaned and any necessary repairs made over the winter. When the waters open up, I want to grab it and go.
So what to do in the downtime between the last of the snow in the greengrowth and the day when you can finally launch the boat or canoe on your favorite waterway?

It is a wise hunter who sallies forth to take stock of deer activity in familiar and new hunting grounds.

This time of year as the snow depth decreases, deer assume their normal travel, feeding, and watering patterns. It’s one of my favorite and most productive times for early scouting for next fall’s venison.

Deer move more now, and shallow snow depths provide good tracking capability. Numerous clumps of fresh droppings show up well in the final patches of snow. These provide clues to where deer are spending most of their time, as opposed to just passing through. Not only is this a good time to determine how many animals are in a particular spot, I can also get an idea of the size of the deer that have survived the previous hunting season and recent winter.

Most of these things are relatively easy to do while hunting a familiar area. I religiously spend ample time afield this time of year and throughout the summer to be sure that I haven’t missed anything and that my regular stands will still be good producers. Even then things can cause the animal’s patterns to change – wood harvesting, maturing growth, drought, and worst of all, development. Over the years I‘ve seen one or more of these factors effect the deer patterns in an area that I hunt exclusively. I still manage to bring home the venison from that diverse chunk of forest, but only because I spend considerable time and effort over the course of the year scouting it.

When I first started hunting my favorite honey hole fifteen years ago, it had been selectively harvested the year before. I was able to take advantage of long, exposed shooting lanes, edges of dense fir stands, alder thickets and sprawling tracts of beech and oak trees. There was lots of feeding going on in the leftover hemlock tops and newly sprouting raspberry bushes as well.

Nearby there is a small pond where the deer drank and bedded in the thick growth around its edges. They had tramped well worn routes from bedding cover, to feed and water. Through observation I managed to select several spots for my self-climber where I had managed to take a deer each season.

Over the years these cuts grew in with beech, pine, and birch which dramatically changed the deer’s patterns. This also altered, and, as I thought at the end of one season, lessened my options, as I no longer had the advantage of a good view of a major staging area. This is an area where the animals stopped to wait for the cover of darkness before moving into a field 300 yards away.

In mid January following hunting season, I walked into the tall pine tree where I had shot a nice 8 point buck from my stand on opening day. I had taken a deer from this spot for 9 consecutive seasons. When I shot my last buck from that stand, the line of sight to the stand of beech and oak it overlooked was pretty much grown in and the previously well worn deer trails into it had also grown in. The deer were hardly using it anymore. On top of that my shooting window which to shoot into the feed area was shrinking to the point of being obliterated by the growth that was getting thicker by the season. I figured this stand was pretty much finished as I didn’t have permission to cut the pines and birches that were now blocking my view from twenty five feet up in that big pine. About six inches of snow covered the ground, and not a single deer had passed through the stand of oak where I took that season’s deer.

I walked about a hundred yards beyond the new growth and found a wall of spruce and fir bordering another stand of beech and oak.

The deer were using the conifers as a protective backdrop on their way to a field three hundred yards to the south and the route was heavily traveled. There were rubs from the recent fall all the way to the field and the prevailing winds were in my face. I could come straight in before daylight and not have to worry about being detected by the deer that were most likely bedding on the edge of a field to the north. I studied this area for an hour or so and selected three tall oaks and a pine for possible stands.

The following weekend I packed my self-climber and climbed the trees that I selected the previous week. I selected two of them that gave the best views and the broadest shooting areas and marked them with orange surveyor’s tape. One might think that I had next year’s primary stands wired, but I wasn’t finished just yet. Both of these trees faced east and the rising sun would be hitting me right in the face for most of the morning. On the other side of the trail I found a tall pine facing west, overlooking an open spot that was torn up with last fall’s rubs. Fresh tracks covered this little spot among thick firs. I now had a morning and an evening stand overlooking a major travel route from bedding and feeding areas with relief from the blinding sun.

In late March of this year I spent an afternoon at my new stand site. As I expected, the trail was well worn, and thick with fresh deer droppings. Two distinct sets of large tracks told me that a couple of good bucks were hanging around the neighborhood, allowing me to follow them to a couple of alternate routes that they were using into an excellent ambush for the October bow season. I’ll continue to monitor this area over the summer months. I’ll also climb those trees again in order to see what it’s going be like on opening day, when the beech and oak leaves are full.

I now know where to be on opening day of bow and rifle season and can hunt confidently knowing that I have a good understanding of deer movement in my area. Not a bad find for a few days of scouting shortly after the season closed and again in the spring when it’s great just to be outside in nature.