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I’ve never worn anything else that approaches the LL Bean Maine Hunting Shoe for quietness. And this is the year I will finally quit copping out in rough terrain and switching to stiffer boots. DP, it will be your fault (and G. Fred’s) if I’m found deceased this season at the bottom of a rain-slicked gully with a sharp stick or two through my innards … 😉
in reply to: Backpacks for hauling meat… #40544Having never killed an elk or been in the company of any who have, I cannot comment usefully on hauling quarters of the same. However, I have used various packs for many years as a SAR dog handler, backpacker and hunter (all the way back to Kelty external frames like some other greybeards here …). I also sold backpacks for five years.
I bought the Eberlestock X2 a year ago and it is exactly as advertised. The one difference I noted immediately compared to high-quality backpacks was the somewhat thinner padding on the shoulder straps. That’s obviously intended to help the long gun shooters, so I can accept that. The pack is extremely versatile, surprisingly good at carrying heavy loads, and designed with hunters in mind. If you get a chance to try one on with some weight in it, you might find it a pretty good compromise.
in reply to: What are your plans? #31344wildschwein wrote: How about you?
I have a simple three-step plan:
1. Find whitetail deer sign.
2. Find a deer.
3. Shoot the deer.
Listed in order of decreasing likelihood, here in the most-forested state in the Union.
in reply to: Surplus Wool Quality? (it just showed up) #18022I bought a never-issued “Shirt, Cold Weather, Field” for $10 on a certain auction site a couple years ago. One of the best clothing purchases I’ve made. Almost wish I had offspring to pass it down to — it’s probably going to outlast me! 😉
in reply to: CA Removes Fish and Game President #12027Let’s go ask the NRA Life Member, the rancher/combat vet and the guy who’s been a highly-placed executive for some very big hitters in the global construction and engineering business what influence PETA and their allies had on the way they voted, shall we?
The headline on this thread reads “CA Removes Fish and Game President”. The truth is that it wasn’t the State of California, it was done by five commission members with some serious hunting credentials and scant evidence in their bios of being susceptible to pressure from “anti-hunting and far-left animal ‘rights’ groups”.
There’s far more involved behind the scenes here than just having a picture taken with a dead mountain lion, or somebody’s been slipping something into these guys’ beverages.
in reply to: CA Removes Fish and Game President #11935It’s worth keeping in mind that this was actually a vote by his fellow commission members to replace him as president of the board. Here are some interesting facts from the bios of those members, who voted unanimously for this action:
1. “… a member of California Waterfowl Association, Outdoor Sportsmen’s Coalition of California, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, California Deer Association, Ducks Unlimited, California State Sheriff’s Association and is a lifetime member of the California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation” (This is the guy chosen to replace him as Commission President.)
2. “…vice president of the U.S. Land and Wildlife Program for the World Wildlife Fund from 1995 to 1999, as well as senior program officer for international wildlife policy for the World Wildlife Fund from 1990 to 1992. He also served as special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1984 to 1990. Sutton worked for the National Park Service as a park ranger from 1980 to 1984.”
3. “… currently a Life Member of The Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep and the National Rifle Association … also a supporting member of Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, and various other conservation organizations.”
4. “…General Partner, Pacific Ranch Company: a farming and real estate investment company with farming and investment operations in California and Utah.
… served as Chairman of the National Board of Trustees of the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at The University of California at Santa Barbara, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
… has served on many state and national boards with a focus on conservation, bio-diversity, and the governance of philanthropic organizations. He formerly served on the California State Board of Forestry and was chair of the Forest Practice Committee. He was a member and co-Chair of the Museum Assessment Program (MAP) Governance Task Force, American Association of Museums (AAM) and a site surveyor and Peer Reviewer for MAP and AAM Governance.
… graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a BS in Electrical Engineering and the University of Southern California with an MBA in Finance. He is an Eagle Scout and served combat tours in Vietnam .”
5. “Executive Vice President of Global Water for AECOM Technology Corporation, a $6-billion global provider of professional technical and management support services. AECOM’s 48,000 employees – including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management professionals – serve clients in more than 100 countries around the world.
… responsible for leading AECOM’s Global Water Major Cities Program, working closely with the Group Chief Executive on Strategic Investments.
… has achieved success as a principal, director, and manager of numerous environmental, civil infrastructure, water and transportation projects, and is experienced in technical management, project management, operations, and staff development.
… held several progressive leadership positions with CH2M Hill, culminating in his appointment as Senior Vice President with responsibility for the U.S. Southwest Region with a focus on California and strategic account management for clients in Los Angeles and San Diego. He also has held senior leadership positions with Brown and Caldwell as well as manufacturing firm Linabond.”
Anyone still think this was just another greenie plot to undermine the standing of hunting?
in reply to: Upland Game Hunting #9677(Some) Grouse where I hunt and I manage to (miss) a few every year. 😉
Not an archery screw-up but instructive nonetheless, I think:
Second day of our firearms deer season a few years back, I switched location from my first-day spot near my home to another one some twenty miles north of here. I was ready and willing to shoot any adult deer that offered itself, as both antlered and antlerless deer were permissible the first two days.
Only after coming home empty-handed that second day did I remember that in moving locations, I had crossed into an adjacent wildlife management unit that now allowed antlerless deer hunting only on the first day. There had been a regulation change that year for the unit in question. I knew about it full well, but it had slipped my mind for what could have been one fateful and regrettable day. 😳
in reply to: Tularemia and Hunting Safety #26130It’s been about fifty years since my mother, a medical technologist in the days when rabbits played a large role in a certain test, who had also consumed a fair number of rabbits during a Depression-era childhood, gave me two rules to follow:
1. Never field dress or otherwise handle the raw meat without gloves.
2. Cook it well.
I’m disinclined to start rebelling any time soon.
David Petersen wrote: Easier, low-skilled weapons attract more, lower skilled hunters, who nonetheless kill more game and before we know it our archery seasons are threatened with being restricted due unsustainable kill numbers.
Yup. Hence the “… something might be gaining on you” in the title of this thread.
in reply to: It's getting CLOSE! #596342012 SPRING GOBBLER SEASON LOOKS GOOD FOR N.H. TURKEY HUNTERS
CONCORD, N.H. — It should be a good spring season for New Hampshire’s turkey hunters, says New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Turkey Biologist Ted Walski. The spring gobbler season opens Thursday, May 3, and runs through Thursday, May 31, statewide. New Hampshire’s Youth Turkey Hunt Weekend occurs the weekend before the season opens, this year taking place on Saturday, April 28, and Sunday, April 29.
Both turkeys and deer are “happy campers” in much of the state, after enjoying one of the mildest winters in recent memory. Except for an unusual October snowstorm, there was little meaningful snowfall. The fall mast crop was good, providing an abundance of acorns, beechnuts, apples, white ash seeds and various other seeds and fruits. Turkeys were displaying and gobbling to some degree almost all winter, Walski says. With good mobility and easy access to natural foods, turkeys tended to stay in smaller family groups during the winter months, rather than congregating in large flocks at farms and birdfeeders.
Walski predicts a reasonably good turkey harvest this spring, in the range of 4,000 gobblers. He reports that numerous groups of turkeys have been observed throughout their range in the state. During the 2011 spring gobbler season, New Hampshire hunters harvested a total of 3,672 turkeys.
Hunters should be sure to get out and do some scouting this spring, says Walski. The hot weather we experienced in March inspired turkeys to early thoughts of romance. Walski reports seeing quite a bit of displaying and gobbling. “I would expect earlier than normal nesting and hatching out of turkeys, grouse, woodcock and even rabbits this year,” said Walski. “This may benefit turkey hunters because more hens will be incubating and out of circulation when the regular season starts on May 3. With fewer live hens to capture the toms’ attention, they may be more interested in answering hunters’ calls.”
Walski also recommends driving some early morning “gobbling routes” before the season begins. Start about a half-hour before daybreak. Stop at one-half to one-mile intervals along a 5- to 10-mile route in the region you intend to hunt; get out of the vehicle and listen for gobbling turkeys and drumming grouse for four minutes at each stop.”
in reply to: Critter Stories #23896I was walking with my dog in a Minnesota state park and heard a godawful racket nearby. It sounded like a large animal might have been tangled in some fence wire. I kept the dog close to me and approached very cautiously. It was two gobblers, doing their dead level best to beat the crap out of the other. Until I saw them, the sounds had me looking for something the size of a deer.
in reply to: It's getting CLOSE! #18307Saw a big gobbler strutting and displaying to a group of hens yesterday in the summer-like heat. It would be interesting to know whether an early spring can advance the breeding cycle in the hens. We have no snow left and these birds were looking very healthy.
in reply to: Where Would You Live? #17062Any part of Alaska that is not Barrow, Bethel or Squarebanks.
in reply to: How Was Your Winter? #8754When I see winter this year, I’ll let you know. 😥
We just drove from NH to MN and back this past week. Most snow we saw was the few inches in our front yard when we left. Bare ground in western NY (Syracuse, Buffalo, etc.) Bare ground all the way to MN, where we saw a couple of inches at most.
NH moose permits for the 2012 season will probably be cut to half what they were just a few years ago. The winter ticks have been hammering the moose population during these warm winters. The southern limit of moose range might just slide north across the border during my lifetime.
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