NEWS RELEASE

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Haas Outdoors Inc. PO Box 757, 200 East Main Street, West Point, MS 39773 662/494-8859 Fax 662/494-8742

Well I just finished day 2 of this project and I don’t mind saying it’s time for a few cold one’s. Today I spent 7 1/2 hours and got quite a bit accomplished I think but, I’m still not done. Here are the pictures from today.

Here it is with the side rails on.

This picture has 2 out of the 3 roof trusses on it.

It is beginning to look like a house with the front wall done and the two opening for the windows.

The final bit for the day was to put the middle roof truss in and the peak of the roof with the cuppola on top. That was enough for one day, I should be able to do more this weekend.

I am glad to see some people don’t get away with the things they do. I strongly disapprove of baiting deer so it does not bother me that this guy does not get away with this. Granted it wasn’t a huge conviction but a conviction none the less.

By Gordon Dritschilo Rutland Herald
A former member of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board from Northfield was convicted Tuesday of baiting deer.

Michael Popowski, 65, pleaded no contest in Vermont District Court in Barre to the misdemeanor charge, according to the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. He was sentenced to pay a $200 fine and had five points levied against his hunting license.

Under state law, accumulation of 10 points in five years results in a one-year suspension.Popowski was appointed by Gov. James Douglas to represent Washington County on the 14-member board. He resigned earlier this year, following the incident that led to the charge. He was the third member of the board in four years to resign following a citation for a hunting violation.

Assistant Attorney General John Treadwell said the charge stemmed from a Nov. 14 incident in which Popowski fired at a deer “in an area where various fruits and vegetables had been placed” somewhere in Northfield.

Popowski told investigators he thought he missed the deer, according to a press release.

Popowski’s shot also came nine minutes after the close of hunting for the day, Treadwell said, although that was less of a factor than the baiting charge.

“Clearly, there are more and less egregious facts to a charge of hunting in a closed season,” he said. “As I understand the season, it closes 30 minutes after sundown, so it varies by minutes, day to day.”

However, Treadwell said Popowski’s membership on the board was an aggravating factor. Otherwise, he said Popowski might have faced a noncriminal charge — such hunting violations can be handled civilly rather than criminally.

“There’s a broad range of violations that could be brought,” Treadwell said.

Treadwell called the fine standard for someone facing such a charge on a first offense and said Popowski had no prior record.

Calls to Popowski’s home went unanswered Tuesday.

Kermit Spaulding, who represented Lamoille County, resigned from the Fish and Wildlife Board in 2003 after pleading guilty to a charge he shot at a deer decoy in Stowe. Spaulding was cited again in 2005, this time for baiting deer, and again pleaded guilty.

In 2005, then-board member Susan Winter of Chittenden County was cited for two violations — shooting at a Canada goose out of season and using a shotgun capable of holding more than three shells. Winter resigned and was later convicted.

I like to do what I call side jobs to fill in the gaps financially as well as give me a couple bucks for my pocket. Some of these side jobs are small and some are not so small. This one I’m doing now is not so small and is nothing short of huge.

I have started building this playhouse for the single mom that lives next door. She bought this as a kit after asking me if she bought it would I build it. I of course said sure thing but, first I had an area to clean up before it arrived. This was the perfect spot except for a small tree that was in the middle (say goodbye to the tree). With that being done she had ordered it and when it came it came via tractor trailer (oh my god) so there was a few boxes and a lot of pieces.

This next picture is just the frame for the main house. It will have a second floor to it with a roof to boot. My little helper Tyler was there and when he wasn’t helping he was supervising.

These next two are the main frame with a ladder and small rock wall for the little tikes to climb and then there is one with the second floor done.

There is going to be a lot more to do, this thing is really big. There will be a swing set on one side and a slide on the other with a picnic table under a lower roof which is not there yet. A small house for kids. It is made with cedar and pine so it smells awesome. Some of it does take two people so my wife Heidi was out there helping me which was a huge help to me. What is also nice about it is that it can be seen from the neighbors kitchen window and my kitchen window and she said Tyler can come over and play on it at any time.

In a previous post I had mentioned we were off to see the circus, well we are back and we had a great time. Before I tell you how it went I just want to mention that quality time spent with family whether it be your wife, husband or your kids or all of they above should be cherished because times like that can keep you going for a long time to come.

This first picture was of a couple of chinese acrobats that did some amazing things. I think if I tried some of these I would break something.

Of course in the middle of the show my wife Heidi called my name and I happened to look over to see what she wanted but, I didn’t realize that she had the camera and I had a mouthful of cotton candy which is very good by the way.

This is during the elephant part of the show and let me say that they were some of the best trained animals that I had ever seen.

This last picture was part of the finally and went very well. For the price of the tickets we got a show and then some I feel.

Good times had by all. I was very happy to see a smile on Tyler’s face and my wife Heidi as well. We all had a good time and that is what it’s about. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

By: Rick Kratzke

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has come to Hartford Connecticut.

My wife Heidi and I are taking Tyler to the circus today. It will be our little get-a-way for a few hours, lord knows we need it. Tyler hasn’t seen a circus yet so it should be interesting to see his reactions.

If we get there an hour and a half early we get to go into the main circus rings and meet the animals and some performers which sounds kinda cool. Heidi has her camera battery all charged up so I hope they let us take pictures.

This post is kinda short because we have to go so we can get in early but hopefully I will have more to show you later.

Plain and simple remark from me. This is an awesome plan that will only add success for Mossy Oak.

Staff Reports | May 06, 2008

For more than 20 years the Mossy Oak ProStaff has represented perhaps hunting’s most prestigious collection of outdoors personalities, a group of highly visible, hard-hunting conservationists with the ethics of fair chase and traditional family values at its core. Over the years, we’ve all seen many great Hall of Fame-type names associated with Mossy Oak… Mark and Terry Drury, Will Primos, Ted Nugent, Warren Strickland, Jim Dougherty and Barry Wensel to mention only a few.

Certainly the Mossy Oak ProStaff has benefitted everyone involved. To have ultra-successful, well- known hunters counting on the concealment advantages of good-looking and magnificently effective camouflages represents the proverbial win-win, whether you’re Mossy Oak, the Drury Brothers, a world-class manufacturer of hunting products or the free-spirited individual who just lives to hunt.

Expanding the all-important ProStaff recently became a top-priority initiative for the company’s marketing department led by Butch English and Ben Maki. The number of requests for more personal, countrywide representation has paralleled the incredible rise of the Mossy Oak brand since inception, but, of late, the interest in more and better personal contact between Mossy Oak and its friends has increased exponentially.

The upshot of all this is a program led by a dedicated manager, Tim Anderson, who is well into building out an all-new, uniquely cohesive, multi-tiered Mossy Oak ProStaff.

The Elite level will continue to consist of those people with national influences. The regional level, the newest second tier of the Mossy Oak ProStaff, will represent specific geographic region of the country while also managing the new local Prostaff level.

“Not only will we have more personal touches with consumers locally, but we’ll have folks in place regionally to promote the best patterns for each area, which follows the pursuit-specific approach,” said Anderson. So far the results have been nothing short of staggering.

Interested individuals are encouraged to contact Anderson via email at tanderson@mossyoak.com.

This is an important tip which does and can effect how your hunt will turn out. We all know how the weather effects the wildlife. It can determine when the move and when they don’t as well as when and where they might decide to look for food. There are so many variables that it is mind boggling, so in my opinion this tip from Jackie Bushman of Buckmasters is a valuable one for sure.

I’m a weather junkie, because knowing what the weather is going to do helps me predict how the deer will react. The first thing I do in the morning is turn on the Weather Channel and study the radar. Of course, the Buckmasters television crew hunts in all weather since we can’t stop filming just because Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate.

I’m convinced that deer have an innate ability to sense weather changes. If there’s a big cold front or a heavy rain coming, the deer will feed actively during the day because they know they might have to lay up for a couple of days. Conversely, if the weather is abnormally warm, deer become nocturnal.

One of the things I’ve noticed while hunting in cold weather is that a heavy snow will shut down deer activity for at least a full day. Make sure you’re in the woods the next day, though, because the deer will be moving then.

The same thing happens with heavy rain. Deer don’t seem to mind misty rain. In fact, they seem to like it. They don’t like heavy rain, but they become active as soon as the rain lets up, and time of day doesn’t seem to matter. If there’s a heavy rain at sunrise that lasts until 11 a.m., then the deer will feed at 11 a.m.

Most hunters know that wind makes whitetails nervous, because heavy gusts make it harder for deer to pinpoint the source of smells. Everything is waving in the wind, and that makes it difficult for them to see danger, too. Wind noise also makes it hard for deer to hear. I like to hunt in a steady 10 to 15 mph wind, because I can use the wind direction, and that steady breeze doesn’t seem to spook the deer. I can also get away with a little more movement in my stand on a windy day.

–Jackie Bushman

This year I decided to try my luck at turkey hunting. I’m going into it with a positive attitude thinking that I know I don’t know what I am totally doing yet but I am willing to learn and if anything at least I can use this time to clear my head and do a little scouting for deer while I am out there.

The plan was to be setup before the chickadee’s start singing well, they were singing when I left the house. I didn’t read the sunrise/sunset table correctly, that and I only had 3 hours of sleep.

It all started this morning with me pulling up in my truck and getting out. As I was grabbing my gear I was getting blown at by a deer across the road. I couldn’t see it but, it was close. I knew I was running out of time (I like to be setup before the first glimpse of light) so I told the deer “not this morning, come back and see me in the fall” and I locked my truck and headed out. I jumped a couple more deer along the way but paid no never mind except for my occasional chuckle.

I finally got to wear I wanted to sit. It was already shooting light and just as I sat down I heard one gobble out in front of me. I quickly grabbed my push button call and tried to get it to come in. The whole time I’m thinking (holy !@#$, my first day out) I tried to keep my composure. I did get it to answer a couple of times but, it would not come in. I think it had a bunch of hens with it. I’m guessing at this point because they are out of sight.

I yelped and purred every now and then but no show. It was 5:45 when I heard it gobble again and then it happened BOOM,BOOM. Then no more gobble, at that point I just GRRRRRR. But, at the same time I was telling myself (that’s cool) there has to be more around. I continued to yelp and purr occasionally and about and hour later I heard a noise to my right and slightly behind me.

I slowly looked over my shoulder and wouldn’t you know it it was a deer. My estimate was it had to be a one year old. I sat there and watched it as it fed behind me as it headed up the small hill to the overgrown old field. The closest it came to me was 50 yards away and it never knew I was there. I’m thinking to myself that this is so cool, not only am I out here trying to hunt turkey but I get to watch deer as well.

The rest of the morning was spent watching and listening and talking to the chipmunk that kept popping out of a pile of leaves about a foot from my feet. It was quite hilarious actually because he would just sit there for a minute and listen to me. I did get to see a hawk come in and land in a tree for a bit before it decided to fly off, probably looking for breakfast.

All in all it was a great morning and very relaxing which is what I needed. You can bet I will be back as soon as I can. The rest of this week unfortunately is no good due to doctor appointments and tickets to the circus, so it will have to be next week but I will be there trying my luck again and enjoying what the outdoors and nature has to offer. I am very happy I decided to turkey hunt and look forward to the next outing.

I do want to give special thanks to Chuck for the shotgun barrel for which if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have a barrel to put on my shotgun to turkey hunt with. And, special thanks to Allen for taking the time to take me to the club (which I hope to be a member of soon) so I could pattern the shotgun. Even though he says thanks are not necessary.

If you ask me these kids got off to easy. It is a travesty that they got off with just a fine and community service. I personally feel that is nothing but a joke. It went easy for them because they were teenagers and that is not right, after all what are they going to learn from this but absolutely nothing. The book should have been thrown at them and then their privalege to hunt should have been taken away for life (In my opinion). Kind of makes you feel real good about our justice system

Live Oak pair who shot 13 deer fined, can’t hunt until they turn 21

Two Live Oak teens who illegally shot 13 deer around the Sutter Buttes were fined and banned from hunting until age 21, a state Department of Fish and Game official said Tuesday.

Game Warden Sean Pirtle called the illegal hunting a “thrill kill” and the worst example of poaching he has seen.

The older of the boys, age 17, was sentenced Tuesday in Sutter County Juvenile Court to 50 hours of community service and fined $2,000. He is prohibited from hunting until age 21, not even with an adult, said Pirtle.

The illegal killing of the Columbian Blacktail deer took place between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The teens cut the backstrap — the prime cut of beef — from some of the animals and left the rest of the carcass to rot, he said.

Two spike buck carcasses were found Christmas night. The rest of the 13 deer were does and fawns.

Pirtle said the other teen, who turned 17 since his arrest, pleaded guilty about two weeks ago and was sentenced to 40 hours community service, fined $2,400 and prohibited from hunting until age 21.

Both boys are prohibited from possessing guns or ammunition during their formal probation, said Pirtle.

Each pleaded guilty to a string of charges, including unlawfully taking deer out of season and during closed hunting hours, shooting female deer, trespassing, spotlighting deer and wasting game, said Pirtle.

The younger of the two boys also pleaded guilty to illegally killing a turkey vulture, he said.

All the deer were shot on private property, including land along Pass Road, West Butte Road and North Butte Road.

The boys were arrested after an extensive investigation by the Sutter County Sheriff’s Department.

By: Rob Young - Appeal-Democrat.com