Spoke with my friend, Ron Gayer on Tuesday.  Just back from an extended hunting trip in Alaska, he’s planning another of his well-known hog hunting seminars with another big name in CA hog hunting, Durwood Hollis.  These guys know a thing or two about hogs. 

Ron’s credentials include his years as head guide at the Tejon Ranch, as well as several writing and photography credits in books and magazines.  He’s also producing the Guide’s Guide to Hunting video series, which I’ve reviewed here in the past.  I’ve enjoyed many a conversation on the subject, and spent a little time in the field with Ron, and I can honestly say I learned a lot from the experience. 

Hollis’s curriculum vitae is equally impressive, with a lifetime of books, articles, and guiding experience.  He’s a character as well, and generally gets great reviews on the seminar circuit. 

This seminar is scheduled for October 30, at the Rancho Cucamonga Bass Pro Shops location.  Book in advance for $30/person, or if there are spaces left on the day of the event, you can buy tickets at the door for $45.   There are limited seats available, and these seminars often sell out, so if you’re interested you may want to move fast. 

To pre-register and reserve your seat, call (909) 605-3719, or (661) 809-1613.

Well, I guess you guys are dead set to prove the existence of the mythical blacktail buck.  My friend, David Watkins recently joined the Golden Ram Sportsmen’s Club with the hope of taking his first deer, and maybe some hogs.  This past weekend, the second weekend of B-zone general season, Dave was up near Covelo at the club’s Tyson-O’Farrell ranch property when everything came together.

Here’s how he tells it:

I was hunting on the Tyson/O’Ferrall ranch part of Golden Ram Sportsman’s Club in Bzone near Covelo.  The deer were not very active on opening day of rifle season.  But with all the rain we got that night the deer were moving on Sun morning.  Was walking through some thick stuff and as I came over a hill top I saw the butt of a deer running away from me.  So I circled around back down to the left and came up towards an open area that I could see something that did not look like a bush.  Looked through the binos saw that he had a nice fork on the right.  Took the 30-06 off my shoulder and took a real nice shot at 75 yards.  Got him right in the pump station.  First Buck and big game animal ever I was SO EXCITED!  Now I cant wait for the phone call from the butcher to pick up my steaks, sausage, and jerky!

Congrats, David!  That’s a great first buck, and here’s to many more over the years!

I intend to be out there next weekend for what will be my only weekend in the B-zone rifle season this year.  So much for all those plans I had to do a lot of deer hunting this year!  Where did the season go?

Our self-proclaimed “friends” at the Sierra Club have reached a new low… or is it a new high? 

(Thanks to the good folks at Field and Stream’s Field Notes blog for getting my blood pressure up this morning.)

Apparently they’re concerned about the ecological disaster looming in the woods as bear hunters’ hounds do their doody on the trail.  According to this article in the Visalia Times-Delta, the fear is that the dog poo will somehow spread death and disease to “endangered” species in the forest.

Earlier this month, Richard Garcia, an executive member of the Kern-Kaweah Chapter of the Sierra Club, asked the Tulare County Board of Supervisors to support his group’s efforts to persuade the California Fish and Game Commission to change bear-hunting rules in the state. They want hunters to keep their dogs on leashes at all times and to remove their dogs’ feces from hunting areas.

Dogs and their feces, which can spread disease, threaten such animals as the Pacific fisher, American marten and California wolverine — all members of the weasel-ferret family — and the Sierra Nevada red fox, Garcia said.

“The problem is, we have some animals in our local national forest that are on the brink of extinction,” he told supervisors.

I’m sorry, Mr. Garcia, but the problem animals aren’t the ones running around on four legs.  It’s morons on two legs we, the wildlife, and the environment, have to worry about. 

Let’s be honest here.  This isn’t about saving endangered species or stopping the spread of disease (even ignoring for a moment, the fact that good hounds can be pretty expensive, and most houndsmen take pains to keep them disease free).  It’s about harassing hunters by attacking legitimate hunting practices.  It’s about using spurious claims and ignorant speculation to restrict an activity with which these Sierra Clubbers disagree. 

In the interest of full disclosure, only one chapter of the Sierra Club is currently engaged in this discussion. The national chapter doesn’t appear to be involved, which may indicate that some level of intelligence still functions in the organization. 

(A side note:  I’ll never forget the little gang of Sierra Club hikers I encountered on a horse ride in the East Bay hills.  My horse, as horses do, unloaded her bowels along the trail as the group was approaching.  One or two gingerly stepped around it, but another stopped and glared indignantly at me.  “Are you going to clean that up,” he queried?

“As soon as someone cleans up behind the cattle and coyotes,” I replied. 

He glared.  I glared.  And away he huffed.)

As Michigan lawmakers struggle over the decision to ban wild hogs (feral and Eurasian) altogether, or to increase the regulations around them, the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy is asking citizens to step up efforts to remove the animals from the wild. 

From the Hunting Wire:

Wild Hog Removal Program Needs Citizen Help 
 
BATH, Mich. – The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, a non-profit organization based in Bath, near Lansing, is asking citizens to help strike back against our state’s growing population of wild hogs. The Conservancy will offer a group training session for volunteer hog trappers at the Bay City State Park Visitor’s Center on Wednesday, October 6 from 6:00 – 9:30 p.m. Information about the session can be obtained by contacting the Conservancy at 517-641-7677 or via email at wildlife@miwildlife.org.

The group has been educating people for several years about the threat posed by the estimated 3,000 to 5,000 wild hogs in Michigan, and has an action program that goes far beyond simply encouraging sport hunters to shoot wild hogs. Hundreds of wild boars, mostly of Eurasian stock, have escaped from hunting ranches and breeding/raising facilities in Michigan. Wild hogs have been confirmed in at least 69 of Michigan’s 83 counties. Most are in bands of fewer than 20 animals, but are reproducing in the wild and spreading. The hogs are already causing crop and forest damage, and diseases that could devastate the domestic swine industry have been found in free-roaming wild hogs shot in Michigan in two locations.

In 2008, the Wildlife Conservancy helped sponsor renowned wild hog expert, Dr. Jack Mayer, of South Carolina, who conducted several related seminars. Last January, the organization developed The Michigan Wild Hog Removal Program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services branch, the Federal Natural Resources Conservation Service and many other groups. The program aims to develop a network of trained volunteers who can work with biologists and technicians in a widespread hog elimination program. Volunteers can help find hogs and set and monitor corral-type traps provided through the program. Several traps have already been built with funds from the Conservancy and groups like the Michigan Pork Producers Association and Michigan Forest Association. During the next 12 months there will be a special effort in Arenac, Bay, Gladwin and Midland Counties.

To succeed at controlling wild hogs the Wildlife Conservancy would like to build and deploy 100 corral traps around the state. Each trap costs $500 for materials and labor, so $50,000 is needed just for the traps. The Conservancy is calling on sportsmen’s groups, conservation districts, farm organizations and all groups interested in wildlife and natural resources to sponsor a wild hog trap or host a fundraiser locally for the project.

“Wild hogs have gotten out of control in nearly 40 other states, causing an estimated $1.5 billion in damage to forests, residential areas, crops, and livestock annually,” said Conservancy President Bill Taylor, of Olivet. “We intend to make Michigan as inhospitable as possible for this exotic species, and need citizen help on many fronts – finding and reporting hogs, fund-raising, contacting legislators, and educating others about this menace.”

The Wildlife Conservancy is asking citizens to report the presence of wild hogs to USDA Wildlife Services at 517-336-1928 or via email at timothy.s.wilson@aphis.usda.gov. Wild hogs are nomadic, that is, they don?t stay long in any location. So, it is important that citizens report wild hogs immediately when they spot animals or see hog signs.

“Citizens are key to controlling Michigan’s growing wild hog problem,” said Tim Wilson, a biologist with USDA Wildlife Services. “The hogs are too widespread for traditional control efforts by governmental agencies to be cost effective. This partnership gives us a chance to deploy our resources where and when it will do the most good.” 

Got the camper loaded and the camera charged… heading back down to the Native Hunt ranches in a couple of hours.  We have two more clients coming in this weekend who have appointments with Tatonka.  These guys are looking for trophy bulls, and we have a couple of really nice ones on the ranch. 

I’m also planning to do a little more experimentation with some hog calls while I’m there.  It’s a great environment to try out the calls, since I can see how they work on both Eurasian wild boar and feral hogs.  So far, my limited trials haven’t really been too promising, but I don’t want to give up too soon.  More on this later!

Have a great weekend, everybody!  And remember… if you’re hunting, make sure and send me some pix of your success, along with a short write-up about the hunt.  I’ll make ya famous.

Here’s a Friday morning quickie for ya…

I haven’t mentioned MyOutdoor TV in a while, but I still go over and check them out regularly.  It’s a good source for a variety of hunting and outdoors programs, and a fun way to while away some spare time in the airport, or when the hotel doesn’t offer any outdoors channels and you just need to get that fix.  I even watch at home sometimes, just to see what’s out there.

Anyway, one of the features of the site that’s been growing since its inception, is the How-To section.  There’s an entire series called Wade’s World Hunting, hosted by Wade Bourne, in which he offers tips on everything from marksmanship to backcountry safety. 

One of the tips that’s just been posted (and the one that spurred me to make this post) is on practicing your archery from the sitting position.  This one stood out to me, because during my recent NC bowhunt for whitetails, I felt really awkward trying to draw my bow while I was seated in the treestand.  I realized it was something I hadn’t practiced.  Fortunately, it didn’t cost me a deer on this trip, but you can bet I’ll be practicing for the next time.

Check it out.  Even if you don’t enjoy regular hunting TV programs, the How-To section is worth a glance.

So a quick scan of the world news is a pretty good indicator that hogs aren’t just running amock here in the US.  Due to warmer winters and changing agricultural practices, as well as the expansion of human habitation into former wild country, wild boar are finding their way into the news all over.

First of all, let’s pop over to China, where the boar are not only threatening agriculture, but are presenting a danger to people as well. 

According to this article from the Xinhua News Corp., the boar have increased by more than 500% over a decade in the Zhejiang province.  In at least one village, over one-third of the season’s crop has been wiped out by the marauding hogs, despite the villagers’ attempts to frighten them away with horns, fireworks, bombs, and gongs. 

HANGZHOU, Sept.12 (Xinhua) — When the traditional Vuvuzela horn arrived in some villages in east China’s Zhejiang Province, it had a different use — to scare away boars at midnight.

Plastic trumpets and Karaoke were used, as well, by farmers seeking to prevent the animal from destroying their crops and injuring people.

The number of boars has risen to an estimated 150,000 in ten villages and cities in Zhejiang, five time the number found a decade ago, said a newly released survey on wild animals by the provincial Forestry Bureau.

Then, hopping over to India, we find the tragic story of Ranganath Sethi, a father killed by a wild boar while trying to save his son from the animal’s attack.  Apparently, the boar had already injured three other villagers and attacked the father and son while they were working in their fields.  According to some witnesses, the animal may have been injured by people in a nearby village, which would account for the aggression. 

Also in India, another tragedy claimed the life of a teenage girl.  According to this article from The Times of India:

GUWAHATI: A teenage girl was mauled to death and two others were injured during an attack by a wild boar outside Orang National Park, about 150 km from here, on Friday.

The girl, Rekha Devi Prasad, was attacked in the morning by the boar while she was standing in front of her house at Thalthali Nepali Gaon, a fringe village of Orang. Two persons also suffered minor injuries and are undergoing treatment at Mangaldoi civil hospital.

Mangaldoi wildlife divisional forest officer Sushil Kumar Daila suspected that the wild boar attack might have been provoked by villagers when they tried to chase it. “We suspect provocation behind the attack. It might have attacked while trying to escape,” Daila said.

Park officials said there had been no instance of human deaths in wild boar attacks in Orang. Wildlife experts said wild boars turn aggressive when provoked.

Turning north, to Germany, where the wild boar population has been exploding over the past few years, the problems continue in unexpected places.  According to this article, from AFP, the hogs have taken on the role of football hooligans, storming and occupying the “pitch”, or playing field, and causing the postponement of a local tournament. 

BERLIN — A German fifth division match has had to be called off after a pitch invasion by a group of wild boars left the surface in an unplayable condition.

Local officials said on Friday that wild boar had entered Dresden Borea’s Jaegerpark (Hunter Park) stadium overnight, derailing Saturday’s kickoff against Lokomotive Leipzig.

The boars left such big holes in the playing surface as they scavenged for food that there is no way the match in German’s fifth tier could be played.

From the football pitch to the golf course, wild hogs are making a mess.  In this story from the Spanish news site, Typically Spanish, the wild boar are making a nuisance of themselves.  City officials are calling for action.

The Partido Popular in Mijas are demanding that action be taken by the Town Hall to stop wild boar invading local golf courses and rural properties, and causing considerable damage.

Councillor Manolo Navaro said that even dogs had been attacked by the boar over recent days, and that the damage had been taking place for the past three or four weeks.

Finally, sailing back over the ocean to my old hometown of Wilmington, NC, the local Star News has a long article about the resurgence in feral pig populations.  While the pigs aren’t showing up in New Hanover county, the more rural, coastal counties, are definitely starting to see more of the animals.  My brother has heard reports of local clubs seeing hogs on their trail cams. 

I know a lot of hunters back there will be thrilled to hear this news, but there’s a big downside with the population growth.  With the damage from whitetail deer already in the millions of dollars annually, the added predation from wild hogs is going to be a real problem for local farmers.  There’s no season or limit on feral hogs (wild boar in certain mountain counties are regulated, however… know the laws before you hunt!), and hunters and landowners are encouraged to kill feral hogs on sight. 

Of course the biggest difference between what’s happening with wild boar in Asia and Europe and what’s going on here in the US is that the hogs are native in those other countries.  As we prepare to head into another warmer-than-normal winter season across much of the world, those boar problems will very likely continue to increase.  I’ll be here to keep you posted in the Porcine Press.

After spending some time catching up on the blogs from my blogroll, it looks like the youngsters are off to a great start in the 201o hunting season. 

Up in Michigan,  Arthur’s (Simply Outdoors) nephew, Tyler, scored on a nice little doe to kick off his whitetail deer season.  According to Arthur’s account , while Tyler helped finish off a deer last year, this is his first solo kill. 

I still remember how that felt when I was a kid, so congratulations to Tyler!  Here’s to many more successful hunts!

Closer to home, my friend and fellow Skinny Moose blogger, John Martin has been keeping a chronicle of his 2010-2011 hunting season on his Western Wanderer blog.  So far, the mythical blacktail buck has eluded him, but he and his daughter, Erin, have been out there giving it their best.  On a recent hunt in Sonoma County, John and Erin had a couple of close encounters with feral hogs.  The first shot went wild, but a few moments later, Erin connected for the one-shot kill, and her wild hog was on the ground. 

Nice work, Erin!  Now your dad just needs to take a lesson from you and score his own critters!  Good luck over the remainder of the deer season.

Wow, I’m still worn out from the weekend out at Native Hunt… and today at work seemed to drag on and on.  There’s plenty going on to write about, but I just haven’t had the gumption… so I’ll keep it short this evening.  I can now say that I have skinned and gutted a buffalo… easily the toughest dressing job I’ve ever done.  (Full disclosure, I did have help.)   But it was an education, and our clients left with coolers full of wild pork, ram, and bison, so I guess all’s well, etc. 

I shot a little video of the climax of the hunt. 

I was just over at Tovar’s Mindful Carnivore blog, and as usual, he’s spiked up a pretty good discussion.  He started it all by writing about posting his property with No Hunting signs, and about the different perspectives people have on putting up those signs.  It’s a good and relevant topic, and because of the diverse group of readers on his site, the feedback includes a lot of great points.

One of the comment threads, however, spun me off on a tangent (albeit hardly original). 

The commenter brought up the somewhat hackneyed notion that fish and game deparments cater to hunters and fishermen to the detriment of the rest of the ecosystem.  It’s an argument that still comes up often from the anti-hunting faction, and there’s enough surface logic to it that I find a lot of non-hunters and even some hunters starting to buy into it.  The truth, as I know it, isn’t quite that cut-and-dried.

First of all, let me lead in by saying that I totally agree that some hunters and fishermen can be very vocal and short-sighted when it comes to issues that impact their ability to hunt or fish.  The fact that a significant portion of funding for wildlife projects comes from their licenses, tags, and taxes spurs a sense of entitlement.  “We paid for it, we should have the say about how it’s managed,” they might cry. 

Of course there’s some merit to that perspective.  Wildlife agencies have to recognize the value of hunters and fishermen, and they realize that if this part of the constituency is not supplicated to some extent, they’ll lose that source of revenue.  Wildlife management decisions that reduce access to or availability of game will also reduce the number of licenses sold.  As license sales go down, federal Pittman-Robertson funds dry up.  In cases where hunting is used as part of the management strategy (e.g. whitetail deer, feral hogs, snow geese, etc.), a reduction in hunter numbers also means that harvest goals may not be met.  So it’s true that hunters and fishermen often do wield some clout in wildlife management decisions… even if it’s not nearly as much as some folks would have us believe.

At the same time, what the folks with an agenda don’t say, and what the rest may not know, is that even though a program might be designated “elk habitat restoration” or “deer herd management”, the programs tend to benefit many other species of fauna and flora.  Very few wildlife agencies engage in intentional monoculture, despite the accusations of anti-hunting organizations.  Likewise, many other programs are ignored in this argument, such as songbird restoration, research, and the protection of sensitive ecosystems, none of which have anything to do with hunting or fishing.  I expect a quick examination of any state’s wildlife resources department will turn up a number of such projects. 

All of this has got me thinking, again, that maybe it’s time to review the way wildlife and wildlife resources are funded.  Maybe it’s time to spread the burden a little more evenly to all users of the outdoors.  So here are some thoughts.  Just bouncing them around, of course, but for the sake of discussion…

Licenses – In CA, every dollar from hunting and fishing licenses, tags, and fees is deposited back into a fund specifically designated for Fish and Game purposes (despite Schwartzenegger’s efforts to raid the fund).  That’s not a bad chunk of change every year, and all of that money is earmarked for use in DFG projects and research.  It’s a pretty good arrangment.  I think more states should adopt this model. 

But what if, instead of just hunters and fishermen, everyone who uses resources that are under the oversight of the DFG had to buy a general license?  Imagine the backpackers, bird watchers, trail riders, mountain bikers, boaters, etc. all chipping in for the maintenance and management of State lands.  It wouldn’t have to be prohibitively expensive.  There could be special use tags for things like big game species, or limited access areas.  Wanna hunt Tule Elk?  There’s a tag for that.  Want to mountain bike Mt Tam?  There’s a tag for that.  Want to climb Mt. Shasta?  There’s a tag for that, too. 

Excise taxes – Under the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (AKA Pittman-Robertson act), a  tax (11% on sporting arms, ammo, and archery equipment and 10% on handguns) is added to the cost of the majority of hunting gear, including firearms, ammo, bows and arrows, and some other accessories.  This money goes into a fund to be redistributed to the states to fund wildlife and habitat restoration, management, hunter safety training, and some other related projects.  The Sport Fish Restoration Program (Dingell-Johnson act) created a similar tax for fishing equipment.  The combined totals for these taxes came to around $800 million in 2009, all of which was apportioned back to the states for wildlife and fisheries programs. 

Of course, in today’s crazy economy, $800 million doesn’t seem like all that much. It’s a reflection on the number of hunters and fishermen who are out there buying gear, and if the number of buyers drops off, the amount of funding drops off as well.  So, instead of putting the tax burden solely on hunters and fishermen, why not spread it around?  Put a similar excise tax on all sporting gear, from backpacks and tents to hiking boots and walking sticks.  Add that tax to mountain bikes and motorhomes.  Tack it onto the cost of binoculars, spotting scopes, and even telescopes. 

Change things up like this, and then we can all be equally (relatively) invested in the natural resources of our state and our country.  Then no one can accuse hunters and fishermen of “buying” the wildlife departments, or of exercising undue influence over decisions related to natural resource management.  Hunters and fishermen will no longer be able to claim “ownership” or entitlement based on the old argument that no one else is paying for it.