The damage from the oil spill was done in the Gulf, so Congress should ensure that oil spill fines go to the Gulf, not to unrelated federal spending.
This Gulf state agreement paves the way for Congress to do what voters expect: hold the parties responsible for the Gulf oil disaster accountable for restoring the Gulf because our nation’s economy depends on a healthy Gulf.

As sportsman we need to speak up because the gulf is an important region for us as wintering grounds for many birds as well as the fish and seafood we get from the gulf. So take some time and send an email or make a phone call….its important.

Dad Served In Korea

The M1 was the rifle that many of our soldiers carried and a cache of them is soon to be returned to the United States from Korea.

a large number of Korean War surplus M1s may be on their way to the U.S. to be sold to Korean War veterans and their families as souvenirs this summer — in time for the 62nd anniversary of the Korean War.

F&S “The Gun Nut”

My Dad served in the Army over in Korea and I’m sure he used the M1 while he served. Dad wasn’t a hunter or owned any guns so growing up I never saw him with a gun. I was in college when I first took up hunting and years latter when I killed my first Maine Moose it was cool to have him there photographing us loading that critter into a truck.
I know a lot of people have guns that have been passed down from generation to generation but that is not the case in my family. I’m giving a serious thought to trying to get one of these guns as another connection to my Dad and the service he did when our country needed young men to serve.
I took photos of the Korean War Memorial in Washington DC shortly after it opened and brought them up to Maine to let him see it. I wish we’d had the opportunity to visit it together. Thanks to all who served especially our Korean War Veterans as we come up on the 62nd Anniversary.

The case for hunting and the standard of fair chase

Restoring these animals to their native lands….hunting and hunters help fund these efforts.

The full 60 Min Story (note this is a lengthy clip and on some pc’s may take a while to load)

Animals die everyday whether of old age, disease, hunting by humans, hunting by another animal, and countless other ways. Life is sustained only through the death of another living thing be it a pod of peas being eating in a stir fry at an unscaled restaurant or a wolf munching on a moose calf in the Alaskan tundra. The Circle of Life. The wackos can oppose this all they want but they can’t stop it.

Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan has ruled that the city will pay 1.1 million dollars in legal fees for the defendant Dick Heller. Heller’s defense team initially sought 3.1 but the judge scaled that back giving the city what they consider a “victory”.
The Heller Case challenged the DC law that banned private citizens from owning handguns in what is to many of us a clear violation of the 2nd amendment.

NBC Washington

To me this is another victory for our rights. Rights given to us by God and no man or government should deny us these rights.

As we get ready to roll into 2012 it promises to be a very active political year.

There is nothing that puts fear in a dirtbag like the potential of facing an armed citizen that refuses to be a victim. North Carolina is an open carry state that means you can carry a gun in the open however if you want to carry a gun concealed you have to have a state issued permit. North Carolina requires you to take a class that includes time on the range to show that you can safely handle a gun. I spent Friday evening and part of Saturday in a classroom learning about the gun laws of the state as well as gun safety. After the classroom we went to the range and did the shooting part.

Now that I’ve completed the class I now can go to the sheriff’s office and submit an application for a conceal carry permit. I believe our fore fathers certainly expected a society where people had the option to be armed and not a society that depends on government. I guess as we look at how things in our country are going there sure are a lot of people looking for others to give them things.
We have had a number of things at one of my hunting clubs that have been stolen recently. I suspect if the economy continues to tank will see more and more crime as some seem to have little regard for what is the right thing to do.

Shootings in our society seem to happen far too often; a congress woman meeting with her constituents in a shopping center, a man looking to settle a score with his ex wife walks in and shoots up a nursing home, someone walks in and shots up a pancake house, or someone walks into a classroom and starts shooting. Granted the odds of such an event happening to one of us is pretty low but shouldn’t you have the chance to defend yourself and your loved ones?
We hope that one day there will be a national right to carry.

Support the NRA

Bass Pro

Bass Pro has been accused of discrimination in it’s hiring practices by Us Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI – Bass Pro Shops denied allegations by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that the company discriminated against African American and Hispanic applicants in its employment practices and that it retaliated against any employees.

“The EEOC’s allegations are contrary to our profound respect for and commitment to our team of experienced and knowledgeable associates, and we are determined to prove them wrong,” said Mike Rowland, Vice President-Human Resources. Respect for our associates and our customers is central to the mission of our company, and it has been a key contributor to our success.

Issues regarding discrimination and retaliation are taken very seriously by the company. Bass Pro has long been committed to full compliance with laws against employment discrimination and retaliation, and has policies and procedures to assure compliance with those laws. When violations are discovered, as is inevitable in any large organization with thousands of employees, they are promptly and firmly addressed.

Bass Pro said it is extremely disappointed by the EEOC’s decision to take action. “The company has cooperated with the EEOC throughout its investigation, providing extensive documentation and numerous witnesses,” said Mr. Rowland. Bass Pro vigorously denies the EEOC’s allegations that the Company engaged in unlawful document destruction. It is our policy to retain all documents required by law. “We provided more than 250,000 pages of documents to the EEOC,” Mr. Rowland said.

“Despite our cooperation, the EEOC made unrealistic demands during conciliation. The EEOC cannot or will not tell us the basis for the analysis they claim to have conducted,” he said. “Fundamental fairness and good faith should require that the EEOC reveal the evidence on which its claims are based before filing a lawsuit that will be long, expensive and disruptive.”

“This investigation and the EEOC’s conduct demonstrate a troubling tendency by the EEOC to stereotype those who love outdoor sports and support conservation as people who unlawfully discriminate or oppose equal opportunity for all,” Mr. Rowland said. For example, EEOC staff investigators have suggested on several occasions that because Bass Pro sponsors a NASCAR race team the company is more likely to discriminate against minorities.

In addition, the EEOC staff raised questions about Bass Pro’s policy against hiring convicted felons, claiming it discriminates against certain minority groups, even though federal regulations prohibit convicted felons from handling firearms, and Bass Pro sells firearms, ammunition and explosives.

“Bass Pro has long been a significant supporter of numerous youth development and conservation programs that give outdoor opportunities to inner-city diverse youth. As we challenge these unfair and unfounded charges, we want to assure the millions of people from all walks of life who visit our stores annually that Bass Pro will continue to provide the one-of-a-kind experience they have come to expect,” Mr. Rowland said. “And we will do so while fully complying with the law.”

Under the current regime we have in Washington targeting companies like Bass Pro that attract more of a demographic that would likely oppose many of the anti gun liberal views doesn’t surprise me. I think private bushiness should be able to hire who they want to especially if it helps them relate to their customer base. I seriously doubt I could get a job at Hooters serving wings but at the same time I don’t see that as a reason to sue them either. I guess it will be interesting to see how this develops.

MerchantService.com is a credit card processing company that business contract with for the service. A quick trip around their website shows a Pro American, Pro Gun, Pro Individual Rights that offers gun vouchers as rewards for business that open accounts with them.

The reason we’ve launched this NoMerchantVictims.com program now is that I believe our benevolent democratic society has met a tipping point. A point where our society has instilled the “right” to a small (2 to 6%) portion of our population to commit repeated often time violent and fatal crimes. It’s called our “catch and release” criminal justice system. We even provide the criminals a center of higher education, prisons, where they can study to master their trades.

It’s our goal to promote a “societal shift expectation” from only Criminals “having rights to make you a Victim”, to Criminals “having the expectation of facing lethal force during the commission of a crime”. Just a very small reduction in the number of career criminals will free up vast amounts of funding for education and health care, rather than continuing to waste criminal justice funding on the repeat criminals responsible for about 80% of the crimes.

I’m sure in this politically correct world we live in some of the “elite” find this whole bonus program offensive. To me its a breath of fresh air in a society that seems to gnaw away at the individual rights our country was founded on and make us all subjects to the “elite” in Washington.

Cops have busted a group of oddball poachers in Prospect Park — a band of vagrants that was trapping and eating ducks, squirrels and pigeons.

Parks officers wrote four tickets — two for killing wildlife and two for illegal fishing — totaling $2,100 in fines during a two-day period last week.

The Brooklyn Paper

While I’m not big on poaching I got to wonder if this is the lesser of two evils when it comes to folks that are homeless and unemployed. I’d rather see them out trying to help themselves rather than pan handling. Of course many of our parks have an over abundance of wildlife populations so I’d rather see them go to sustain a hungry person. The last city I was in there seemed to be ample supplies of pigeons and squirrels and geese. I’d much rather see a homeless guy holding a sign looking for garlic and spices to make a jerked pigeon rather then willing to work sign.

For now, wildlife advocates were hailing this month’s busts.

“The fact that they’re ticketing is great — it’s so badly needed,” said goose lover Mary Beth Artz. “I hope they keep it up.”

What a sad commentary on our society when people care more about a critter than a fellow human being.

Matthew 25:40 ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Purple will be new color in the woods this fall

Purple paint is now a legal option for landowners to post their property with the passing of the Land Owner Protection Act. Gone are the days where mythical winds blows Posted Signs away making posted land umposted.

LANDOWNERPROTECTIONACT
The newLandowner Protection Act provides two ways for landholders to post their lands to
allow only hunters, trappers and anglers with written permission to legally enter their property:
• As permitted in the past, the landholder can place
notices, signs, or posters on the property boundaries
at a distance of 200 yards apart or closer.
• A new way for landholders to post their property is
with purple paint. The landholder can paint a vertical
line of purple paint on trees or posts around property
boundary, or areas intended to prohibit trespass. The
paint line needs to be at least 8″ long and the bottom
of the line should be between 3′ and 5′ from the base
of the tree or post. The paintmarks need to be placed
100 yards apart or closer.
Sportsmen need written permission, dated within the
past 12 months, signed by the landowner or lessee, to hunt,
fish, or trap on lands posted with signs or purple paint. You
must carry written permission on your person. If a hunting
club has leased the land, hunters must have a copy of their
hunting clubmembership and a copy of the landowner
permission given to that club. Wildlife officers will enforce
the Landowner Protection Act.
The Landowner Protection Act does not change general trespass laws nor have any effect
on lands which are not posted. It does not repeal any local acts currently in effect that require
written permission to hunt, fish or trap.
North Carolina law encourages owners of land to make property available for recreational
use. The law states that a landowner who allows someone, without charge, onto their land for
recreational purposes owes them the same duty of care theywould owe a trespasser.

NCWRC

Landowner Wallet Size Permission Forms

While I don’t think the new law is perfect, and many of the teeth was stripped from the original bill, this law should be a step in the right direction. It will be interesting to see how this law is enforced especially with people like myself that hunt multiple tracts of lands with multiple land owners. I’ll have to be extremely organized to make sure I have all my permission forms in order. I wonder if the wildlife enforcement officer will have the ability to identify the landowner in the field to even know if the permission form is legitimate. I guess I’ll have to carry at least 10 or more permission forms with me so I better get a bigger wallet.

Press Release Quote:

The new law was enacted in part to address the proliferation of feral swine across the landscape of North Carolina. Feral swine are not native to North Carolina, and pose threats to commercial hog farming operations and native wildlife through disease transmission and habitat destruction.

One such disease is brucellosis, which can infect people if they come in contact, through their eyes, nose, mouth or a skin cut, with infected blood, fluid or tissues from an infected wild hog. People also can become sick after eating improperly cooked meat.

Currently, surveillance testing for brucellosis in feral swine in North Carolina is quite limited. However, in areas where surveillance has occurred, rates of brucellosis have been increasing for the past three years.

NCWRC

In addition to address the double standards of dealing with wild hogs this bill also cleans up a number of other issues or at least gives the NCWRC the authority to change some things if they wish.

Press Release Quote

HB 432 also states that the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission may adopt rules prescribing seasons and the manner of taking wild animals and birds with the use of artificial light and electronic calls. It also states that hunters can take rabbits, squirrels, opossum, raccoons, fur-bearing animals, and nongame animals and birds open to hunting, with a pistol of any size. 

Hopefully this will open the door for coyote hunting at night and a few other things that would help get a better control on some of the predators in the state.