God Has a Sign and it Reads: “Gone Huntin”!

“God Has a Sign And It Reads: Gone Huntin – Part II“, is now available for reading.

Okay, before you go into a tizzy and start screaming “blasphemy” or some other nonsense, give me a chance to explain the title. Believe me, it’s warranted. Many people in this country have fought long and hard to remove God from the docket, but I’m here to tell you, he’s alive and well, and rooted deep inside the hearts of a lot of American sportsmen.

Did you know that in Genesis, Chapter 9, God commissioned man with the job of wildlife management? He did. Did you know that Nimrod and Esau were very skilled hunters who hit the woods and fields with bows and arrows harvesting wild game for food? They were. Did you know that deer, antelope and other wild game were the chosen foods, even before man started eating domesticated meat? Read Deuteronomy Chapter 12. Did you know in Proverbs 12:27 it says that a lazy man neglects to roast his game, but the substance, (the meat taken through hunting), of the diligent man is considered precious? Well, it is. How about in Acts Chapter 10 where God himself commanded the apostle Peter to “rise, kill and eat” when he was hungry…and the passage spoke specifically about animals? Read more

Maine Fish And Game Burying Itself With Poor Public Relations

Photo from fOTOGLIF

If there’s ever one thing any state fish and game department needs is good public relations and for the survival of that entity it is imperative that any fish and game have the utmost of quality public relations with the sportsmen who fund their department. While the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife does many good things, they certainly have produced some lousy imagery, particularly when it comes to dealing with a whitetail deer management crisis. It is a crisis you know.

No fish and game department can be everything to everybody, nor can they satisfactorily answer everyone’s questions and concerns. But that shouldn’t stop them from trying. Maine does, however, have a deer management crisis on their hands and too often it appears the only ones who think so are the sportsmen and a few citizens who are finding out there’s a problem. Read more

Funding Maine’s Fish And Wildlife Department

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The people at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are claiming they are broke and are in need of funding, as much as doubling the current funding, according to Dr. Ken Elowe, Director of Resource Management for MDIFW.

You’ll get no argument from me that MDIFW is underfunded. What you will get are questions as to why and suggestions about the best way to deal with it. Let’s first address why the MDIFW is underfunded.

In the new issue of Maine Fish and Wildlife, MDIFW Commissioner Roland D. Martin, states that all the programs and responsibilities his department has to care for, brings back to the state of Maine some $2.4 billion annually. Maybe that amount could be more. Read more

Update: Military Brass Destruction and ATK March 27, 2010

Having suffered a “Zumbo moment,” corporate giant ATK now seeks to redeem its image after its aggressive run at destroying all used military brass. Even though ATK was actively soliciting military installations to join its brass destruction program as recently as last Wednesday, ATK said in a fresh press release on Friday, “ATK fully supports the provision passed by Congress last year to ensure that demilitarized spent brass casings remain available for civilian use.”

Industry and gun culture insiders report that ATK head Mark DeYoung is one of us, a gun owner and sportsman. Great. However, to refurbish its image and get beyond this “Zumbo moment,” ATK will need to do more than simply post a statement announcing that it now fully supports a congressional ban on brass destruction enacted last year. Read more

Wolves: “The Sad Story of Idaho and Montana”

Ungulate Herds at the Hand of Wolves

Editor’s Note: The following file was written and assembled by Lynn M Stuter, March 24, 2010. The photographs contained in this file are used by permission and the publication of this file on this web site was granted by the author. I have made only a portion of the entire file available here. The entire piece is contained in a pdf including the photographs. I encourage all readers to read the facts and view the photographs.

The pictures you will see in this notebook have been taken in the Lolo Zone in Idaho, Units 10 and 12, except for the first section of pictures of the 6 x 8 bull elk, which were taken 30 miles outside Libby, Montana in the Winter of 2008. None of the pictures are easy to look at; they are actually quite gruesome, quite horrible, but tell a tale of what deer and elk have endured at the hand of wolves in Idaho and Montana. Read more

Military Cartridge Brass Destruction 2010 – Round 2

by Gary Marbut, President, Montana Shooting Sports Association

The cure that was arranged by Montana Senators Baucus and Tester to fix the intended military destruction of once-fired cartridge brass last year appears to be suffering from a fatal end-run.

Interested persons will remember that a year ago, helpful intervention by Montana’s senators persuaded the Department of Defense to rescind a fresh DoD directive to military installation commanders requiring them to destroy once-fired brass, prior to selling it at auction into the civilian marketplace for ammunition reloading and other purposes. Read more

USSA Unveils Exciting New Program to Defend Sportsmen’s Rights

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(Columbus) – Today, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) officially unveiled a dynamic new initiative aimed at building an army of sportsmen from coast to coast to protect America’s outdoor heritage for future generations.

The USSA’s Sentry Program is free to join and represents the most intense effort ever focused on attracting sportsmen to become active players in the fight to preserve hunting, fishing and trapping rights whenever they are threatened. Read more

Turkey Hunting Interview with Mossy Oak Pro Staff Member Michael Leslie

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Editor’s Note: I did not conduct this interview. It was sent to me by Mossy Oak as a press release.

Q: Can you give me a few general tips on how I can be more successful this spring?

A: Hunting in the spring is one of my most favorite times of the year. There’s nothing like the first “gobble” in the morning as the sun is just creeping over the mountain peeks, hearing Mr. Tom talking from the tree top. The most successful tip that I can give is to scout, scout, and scout. Find the birds, and put them to sleep. Back out of there with no noise and set up 2 hours before day break within 50 yards from where you watched them roost the night before.

Q: How much scouting should I do before the season? Read more

The Trouble With Treaties

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Editor’s Note: Published by Permission of the author.

By Jim Beers

Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. He was stationed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, and Washington DC. He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western Pacific and on Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. He has worked for the Utah Fish & Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security Supervisor in Washington, DC. He testified three times before Congress; twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60 Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to expanding Federal Invasive Species authority. He resides in Eagan, Minnesota with his wife of many decades.

Yesterday, I wrote a piece titled Confessions of a Treatyphobe. In it I discussed the abuse of the Treaty Power in our Constitution and in so doing I mentioned how I would be glad to debate why the Migratory Bird Treaties with Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia were in need of modification and how they might be changed. The result is that, thus far, I have been removed from at least four Christmas card lists and have made formerly sound communications with two other readers, tenuous at best in the future. Read more

Turkey Call Television Show Featuring Scott Ellis

On March 23, 2010 on the Pursuit Channel, you can see the first of three parts of the Turkey Call Television Show. The show will feature the top five Grand National champs for 2010 including Mitchell Johnston, Shane Hendershot, Jim Pollard, Jessie Martin and our own U.S. Hunting Today contributing writer, Scott Ellis.

Shows will air: Tuesday at 8 a.m.; Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.; Sunday at 10 p.m. est. Don’t miss it!

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