So it would be fair to say that I’m not a huge fan. The Nuge needs to kill so bad he ends up doing most of his “whacking and stacking” in pens. Not hunting, not even close. But somehow he anointed himself our official spokesman. I don’t think he speaks for me, and I’ve never been particularly sure he even understands hunting as I see it. Anyway, he pled no contest a couple of days ago to a negotiated deal on 3 game violations in California.

Rock star and gun rights advocate Ted Nugent was fined $1,750 Friday in Yuba County Superior Court after pleading no contest to a charge of baiting deer on his hunting show “Spirit of the Wild.”

Yuba City attorney Jack Kopp, representing Theodore Anthony Nugent, entered the plea to Department of Fish and Game charges of baiting deer and not having a deer tag “countersigned” at the closest possible location, said Deputy District Attorney John Vacek.

Nugent, who did not appear in court, also illegally shot an immature buck on the show but was not charged, according to Fish and Game.

The rest of the news story is here.

Again, I’m not a fan of Ted and his act, but I don’t have the level of hatred this story has exposed in some of the more hardcore hunters in the online community. Take a look here.

The invasive Silver and Big Head Carp have been moving up the Kansas (or Kaw) River for years now. They are believed to have started in fish farms in the Southeastern states. They then got into Missouri which the Kaw flows into. It was just a matter of time. Then several days ago the Kansas Department of Wildlife announced that spring and early summer floods caused a record spawn. The article can be found here.

Tonight I decided to check it out myself:

There are literally hundreds of thousands of these 3″ silvers stacked up below this low powerhead dam. I’ve never seen anything like it. They were constantly jumping on shore, upstream, on my feet, and into my backpack. You could catch dozens in one swipe with a 5 gallon bucket. I can only imagine what will happen in the next few years as these fish get too big for any of our local predators.

Honestly, I don’t know what can be done at this point anyway. The Kansas River has little recreation value and even less fishing value. Perhaps 5 years from now it will be a premier flying carp bowfishing destination?

One shot, a miss.

I hate the summer. After Canada in early June there is little going on around here besides work and sweat. But my Google hits have been climbing up with searches like, “Kansas Deer Hunting” and “Pheasant numbers” so obviously I’m not the only one looking for September 1st to get here.

Last Tuesday I shot in a fund raising deal for Ducks Unlimited. A guy named Jake Lahm was there selling his custom duck calls. He had about 5 wood calls and about the same number of acrylic. I blew about all of them. In general his calls were easy blowing with good low end and average scratch. He seemed like a good guy and a great caller. If you live in the KC area and are interested I’d encourage you to visit him in person and pick out a call that fits you. There are other call makers in the KC area, even some that I have a personal history with and would recommend, but they have nothing on Jake’s calls. You can see more at JLcalls.com

Friday I spent most of the day studying the requirements for the upcoming season on the large WRP property I hunt and pseudo-manage. It was hot and humid and generally not much fun. Some day when I’m in a bad mood I’ll write a post about the joys of partnering with the federal government on habitat management. Rest assured it is not a positive experience. I have the exact same Biology degree these people do, I’m from the Midwest, and I’ve spent my entire life around wetlands (they have neither of the last two). Yet what I think is worth exactly nothing. Anyway… I checked the Pawpaw trees and some tree stands before it got dark and the bugs were about to carry me off.

I also talked to a gunsmith last week who claims he can put a new stock on my 6.5×55.

And finally, I’ve run twice in the last few days and hit the stupid machine another time. I hate running. I hate the stationary machine even more. But I like killing elk, and it’s time to start getting ready for the October mountains…