Global warming and American Energy is not a topic I regularly dive into out here but the fact is climate changes and energy use affects us and the world around us. One only has to turn the news on and see how devastating the BP accident in the gulf is on the area.
I’ll admit that my view on the topic is best described as in somewhat of a flux. I honestly don’t believe that man is responsible for the warming of the planet nor am I sure that taking a hard whack at our energy use is the best thing for us to do. Given those views I had an interesting evening at a presentation to sportsman and other stakeholders by the NC Wildlife Federation.
The event was held at a local pub with free wing and beers that really helped draw folks out. After talking with folks and hearing a presentation by Richard Mode on the importance of supporting the American Power Act sponsored by Senator Kerry and Senator Lieberman.

I gathered from what was said that those in favor believe the American Power Act will cut our dependency on fossil fuels, create green jobs, make the polluters pay, and give monies to states to fund a variety of eco friendly projects to benefit habitat as well as species. In theory I have no real issue with many of those although I don’t believe in jacking up energy costs to force people off energy when there appears to be no real viable alternative option at this point. I know and I heard that as soon as the cost of current energy options reached a high enough level it would encourage us to use and develop alternative energies.
I was told about an interesting website to check out, Season’s End, that is made up of multiple conservation groups that really layout the information on global warming and its impact on hunting and fishing.
I plan to continue to educate me on the topic and would be interested in hearing what some of my readers think about this topic. If you feel strongly about the American Power Act now would be a good time to contact Senator Burr and Senator Hagan if you live in NC otherwise contact your respective Senators.
I’ll continue to read and study this topic and will keep you updated on my journey.

I hate putting on oily smelly greasy sun screen to protect my skin from the ravishes of the sun. This past weekend I spent most of my time in the great outdoors which here in North Carolina meant I was in a sunny heat wave. On Friday I spent the day fishing in the outer banks on a boat that had little to no shade whatsoever. I spent in excess of 12 hours in the sun. Then the rest of the weekend was spent at an outdoor get together with friends at Lake Phelps.
I used only SmartSheild as a sun screen applying it at the beginning of the day and about every 6 hours after that. I was surprised when I first squirted some of the SmartShield into my hand because it had a slight pleasant scent and it was not oily like all the other products I’ve used in the past. It seem to almost instantly absorb into the skin as I applied it and it didn’t seem to clog my pores like most other products do. In the heat that greasy clogging sun screen usually discourage me from reapplying but that wasn’t an issue with SmartShield. While I didn’t get in the water to see how well it works for swimming the rough seas gave us a fair amount of mist for part of the day. I found myself constantly wiping my glasses because of it so it seemed to work great in those conditions.
I’m happy to report that after a weekend in the sun I did get some color but no painful sunburn like I often come home with. At the Get Together on Saturday I passed the SmartShield around and let anyone who wanted to try it. Most were surprised by the quick absorption and the pleasant non oily feeling it left behind.
I’ll give this product two thumbs up it works as good if not better than advertised. I would highly recommend SmartShield for anyone looking for sun screen protection especially if your involved in outdoor activities. Don’t forget there is still time to enter in the contest to get a free bottle so check it out.

The NRA and many of the dog hunting organizations are out in force to fight against bill 460 I think mainly because HSUS is for it. Seems to me current laws if were enforced would take care of the problem of puppy mills without the need of adding on additional laws.

The anti-hunting extremists at the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have turned up the pressure on the North Carolina House Finance Committee in an effort to pass Senate Bill 460, or another bill to which they can attach its language. Time continues to run out on their ability to pass this attack on responsible dog breeders, including those that breed dogs for hunting. While some have tried to claim that hunting dogs will not be affected by this bill, the statement is completely false. All breeds of dogs will be affected.

NRA-ILA Alert

Is 460 a “anti hunting” bill? I’m not sure I guess in a round about way it may be. I’ll let my readers decide for themselves the NRA link has the information on who to contact.

I’ve now learned of a local NRA blog for the NC 2nd District that has been all over this bill that you may want to check out as well. There is a lot of information on this “anti hunting” bill but surprisingly silent on the more clearly anti hunting bills in my view like the anti Sunday Hunting Bills, the bills to block crossbows, and the bills to block a second week of muzzle loaders.
We certainly welcome the added support of the NRA standing up for hunters rights at the state level. That was clearly one of the goals they made to many of us hunting bloggers at the convention in Charlotte this year.

Our annual fishing trip on the Risky Business was a great trip. The catch was a bit less then usual and the seas a bit rougher but a fun event none the less. This year a second group from NC Hunt & Fish chartered the Poacher so we fished together.

The day was a sunny hot day, glad I had Smart Shield Sunscreen with me. (Look for a full review in the near future) We fished part of the day in a pretty rough spot with a washing machine effect rocking and rolling the boat from different directions. This made maneuvering on deck a challenge but with multiple hook ups we were scrambling to get to the rods to haul in the fish. We caught mostly blues and Spanish in this area. I was glad I had taken some Dramamine before we set sail I suspect next year a few others will also take some. That truly was the ups and downs of this trip.

We moved on fishing wrecks catching triggers and a bunch of small sea bass (undersized but fun to catch). We looked for cobia but didn’t have any luck locating them. We saw some interesting wildlife including dolphins, pelicans, and ospreys.

As much as I hate to admit it but the Poacher slightly edged us in the fish count. It was a great day we caught some fish for the NC Hunt & Fish Get Together on Saturday as well as some to take home. Plans have already been made for a return trip next year and it looks like it will be two boats again.

If you want to take a fishing trip check out the Risky Business or the Poacher both out of Oregon Inlet Fishing Center. They have both full day and half day charters.

Don’t forget to enter the SmartShield Contest to win a bottle details here on how to enter here.

Photos from the trip

If I’m not careful I can easily end up looking like a Maine Lobster at a summertime shore lunch. I burn pretty easy and now that my occupation keeps me inside more I seem even more susceptible to the sun. Using sunscreen is usually a greasy smelly mess that is less then comfortable if you are active in the outdoors.
SmartShield out of Texas contacted me asking me to try their sunscreen product .

SmartShield is serious sunscreen that you can wear all-day, everyday. Our oil free sunscreen won’t clog your pores, won’t stain your clothes and won’t sting your eyes. Our special sunscreen formula is quickly absorbed by your skin for serious, tough protection.
Let Your Skin Breathe
Unlike oil-based sunscreens that clog pores and capture heat, SmartShield sunscreen products are quickly absorbed and bond with the top layers of the skin. This invisible and natural feeling protective shield allows the skin to perspire naturally and stay cooler.

I’ve agreed to give it try and see how well it works and report back here on Moose Droppings. Additionally one of my readers will win a free bottle as well. To have a chance to win just leave a comment on this story between now and midnight July 1st to weed out the robot comments included “SmartShield Summer Contest” in your comment. I’ll then randomly draw a name from the readers who entered and post the winner. The winner then can contact me and we’ll get the bottle of sun screen out to you.
I’ve got my annual fishing charter coming up and I plan to use Smartshield on that to see how it works s. Hours in the sun with the reflection off the water I think will be a good test especially with the heat we are experiencing right now.

Don’t forget to enter here to get a chance to win a bottle, What a better way to kick off your summer then with some sun screen protection?

Bigfoot In Burke County? Residents Discover Mysterious Footprint – Video – WSOC Charlotte.

We had the story last week about the man that had to shoo a big foot away from his home now this huge foot print discovered in Western North Carolina. According to reports on this “foot print” North Carolina Wildlife Resources Biologist was involved in investigating this sign. Do we have a Bigfoot? Who knows I wonder if we do would it fall under NCWRC jurisdiction.

I’m not sure which I like better Raspberries or Blackberries but they are surely some of the best stuff on earth. Blackberries probably win out because I remember a few family memories around picking blackberries. I discovered a number of wild blackberry bushes turkey hunting this year so I’ve been watching them mature. Well last week I check on them and knew they’d be ready this week. The thought of blackberry pies and maybe some blackberry jam was running through my mind all week.

This weekend I headed out to pick them and I discovered that trespassers had beaten me to them. The tell tale 4 wheeler tracks across the fields was all I needed to see to know that we had lost our wild crop. What should have been an easy effort turned into a chore to find pockets of berries that the trespassers had missed. I ended up with enough to make one pie which was pretty awesome.

I use a pretty basic recipe 1 ¼ cup of sugar ½ cup flour pinch of salt 4 cups of berries mix the dry ingredients then mix the berries in. Put into a pie shell cook at 375 for about 45 minutes.
As for what to do about trespassers I guess we’ll have to catch some and make examples out of them. This is the same place where I had two guys walk in on me when I was working a gobbler this past season. I don’t know why people don’t respect private property but it is ongoing issues for a lot of people not just us.
Well I can’t worry about that now just sit here and enjoy my pie and the Red Sox game. Summer is here so stay cool and enjoy natures bounty.

Here is the link to the lottery winners I’m not on the list.

Today is the day for the annual Maine Moose Lottery that many of us wait for like a kid waits for Santa on Christmas Eve. This year Maine Inland Fisheries is holding the event at LL Bean in Freeport Maine and for those in the area it is probably worth checking out. The moose lottery has been going on for a number of years in the early days they actually had a barrel with all the applications and the winners were hand drawn at the event. Technology has caught up with them and the names are now drawn by a computer.
In the past those who couldn’t attend the event could listen to a live radio broadcast as politicians and local celebrities read off the names of the lucky ones that got drawn. When I lived in Maine we would spend the evening listening to the radio broadcast but never heard my name read. Once I moved from Maine to North Carolina I couldn’t get the show but I was excited the first time I got drawn because my brother called me after hearing my name broadcasted over the radio.
The last couple of years technology caught up and the radio broadcast was carried over the net by Skinny Moose Media making it possible to listen again. Unfortunately the airways will be silent tonight when the draw happens and here is why….

This year’s event, as I said, will be at L.L. Bean. I contacted MDIFW to ask them if they would consider holding off posting the names of the winners until the end of the show, or at least later. The answer was “no”!
It seems a shame that private business was called upon to save the show and no effort is being exerted on the part of MDIFW to make sure people have a reason to attend the show rather than wait until 6:30 the night of the show and go online and see if they won or not. This reasoning makes little sense to me. I’m pretty small potatoes compared to other businesses and enterprises that lay out considerable expenses, time and effort to put on a show.

Tom Remington Black Bear Blog
This is really a shame and cuts into the nostalgia of the event. So I guess I’ll have a quiet evening at home and just log into the results once they are posted. Technology is good but sometimes it’s also the enemy. I hope in future years that Maine considers holding off the names until they are read at the event.

Check back here for a link to the winners once they are posted this evening. Good Luck to everyone.

Tim Peeler of Casar, Cleveland County North Carolina had a close encounter with Big Foot or at least that is what he has reported to local authorities. The video is spectacular in letting us hear the first hand account of what happened to Mr. Peeler.
I’ve been to Casar in Cleveland County a number of times and can attest that the rural wild country that could be prime big foot habitat. I’ve never seen anything or had any first hand encounters with a big foot while there.
This is not the first time that this area was ground zero for a big foot encounter back in the late 70′s there were similar encounters with a creature that the locals called “Knobby”. “Knobby” was named after Carpenter’s Knob the area he was first seen. There was a number of sightings and locals organized hunters to go after this creature to no avail.
We’ll continue to follow this story as it develops.