The turkey was taken by Ray Pullins in southern Ohio on 4/25/11. Reports are he took a similar half white jake last year.

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Tom Remington

Reached at his home this afternoon, Tanksley said ODNR officers are not telling the whole story. He said he was never able to get his dog away from the animal and that the dog chased the bear away twice, once as far as 100 yards, and both times the bear followed the dog back to his house.

Most newspaper accounts state that Tanksley or his girlfriend heard their dog barking shortly after they let it out around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, July 23. Reports say Tanksley was able to run the bear off and retrieve his dog. It has been reported that he later shot the bear.

In Tanksley’s report to the Dispatch, he says the dog chased the bear away from the house twice only to have the bear return. On the second return, the bear charged.

Tanksley said he shot the bear only after it returned the second time because the animal charged him and his girlfriend as they stood on the porch trying to get their dog back in the house.

He said the bear came at him at a bouncing run and stopped only seven yards away, which was when he made what he called a split-second, life-or-death decision to shoot.

In Ohio, the black bear is protected as an endangered animal, which means Tanksley could face charges for killing the bear. Protection is not granted an endangered animal that is threatening human life.

At this time, we can only assume that the ODNR is conducting an investigation before bringing any charges against Tanksley.

Tom Remington

Yes the P/R Act was to improve hunting & wildlife habitat, NOT to WASTE in an attempt to control hunters & how they hunt! I believe this would be a direct violation of the Pitman Robertson Act as well as very unlawful.

More Government waste!

While I tend to agree with MadJack, I wasn’t aware that revenues generated through PR were used via the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to fund programs for hunter safety and education. According to PR Act Title 16, Chapter 5B, section 669h, $8 million will be apportioned back to each state for certain hunter safety programs.

Of the revenues covered into the fund, $7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002, and $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2003 and each fiscal year thereafter, shall be apportioned among the States in the manner specified in section 669c(c) 1 of this title by the Secretary of the Interior and used to make grants to the States to be used for–

(A) in the case of a State that has not used all of the funds apportioned to the State under section 669c(c) 1 of this title for the fiscal year in the manner described in section 669g(b) of this title–
(i) the enhancement of hunter education programs, hunter and sporting firearm safety programs, and hunter development programs;
(ii) the enhancement of interstate coordination and development of hunter education and shooting range programs;
(iii) the enhancement of bow hunter and archery education, safety, and development programs; and
(iv) the enhancement of construction or development of firearm shooting ranges and archery ranges, and the updating of safety features of firearm shooting ranges and archery ranges; and

(B) in the case of a State that has used all of the funds apportioned to the State under section 669c(c) 1 of this title for the fiscal year in the manner described in section 669g(b) of this title, any use authorized by this chapter (including hunter safety programs and the construction, operation, and maintenance of public target ranges).

An act that was originally designed for the protection of wildlife and habitat, it has been amended many times in order that these funds can be used for other programs not directly related to it original purpose. As I understand the Act, monies are apportioned back to each state for the specific purposes described concerning hunter safety and education programs. If that money has been used up, USFWS grants additional monies collected via PR for further hunter education and safety programs.

Tom Remington

Youngsters participating in the deer hunt could use shotguns, muzzleloaders, handguns, and bows. They had to be licensed, wear the property hunter orange safety clothing and be accompanied by a qualifying, non-hunting adult.

What’s great about this program is the kids could take one deer of either sex and still be eligible to participate in the upcoming state-wide deer-gun season that runs from November 26 – December 2.

Congratulations to all those successful hunters and good luck in the upcoming deer hunt.

Tom Remington

Tom Remington

Wild hogs can grow quite large as one can attest from the accompanied photo.

Tom Remington

It has been confirmed that EHD was the cause of death for some deer found in Albany County. This is the first ever that EHD has been officially found in the Empire State.

Officials say that once the first freeze arrives it will kill off the tiny insects that carry the disease.

Tom Remington

There are stipulations with the approved plan, one of them being that hunters must have the permission of the landowner to hunt a specific area, only if the Chief of Police has approved that area. In some cases it shouldn’t be a problem finding willing landowners.

Eleanor Cohen, of East Broadway, for instance, told the council members several deer literally jumped over her as she was kneeling down in her garden.

“It scared the hell out of me,” she said. “I would like somebody to sit on my garage roof and hunt the deer. When you have three deer prancing on East Pearl Street in the middle of the day I think you have a problem.”

Of course not everyone was in agreement with the approval. Janet Worth, the same woman who wrote the article I referred to in yesterday’s post, had this to say.

“My neighbor told me it wouldn’t be safe to go outside because he had been given permission to bowhunt. We didn’t go outside because we feared being hit.

“Now there seems to be a smokescreen,” Worth added, “to open up suburban neighborhoods to recreational hunting. I don’t know anything about bowhunting but it seems pretty scary.”

I think it safe to conclude that Ms. Worth’s neighbor might not think so highly of the anti-hunter’s stance on this issue. At least she admits she knows nothing about bow hunting and as such, we, as humans, always fear the unknown.

The approved plan will have an annual review clause and this year’s hunt will begin in 30 days.

Tom Remington