Outdoor Writer

And the 10-13 thing is for ONLY big game. -TONY

I was sitting in my office Sat. when I heard this loud bang. My lab even started barking. At first I thought my wife had dropped something in another room. BUT..she immediately came in and said, "What was that loud bang?" We both walked about the house, looking to see if something that was hanging on a wall had fallen down. My early concern was that one of my heavy game mounts came crashing down to the floor. We found nothing, so I went out in the backyard to check there. Again, nothing. Then I looked out the living room window and saw my the truck sitting in the driveway with the left front severely out of level. The driver side front tire had literally exploded, blowing the side wall and a very large chunk of the tread. Of course, I knew the Goodrich ATs were due for replacement. Although the 6-yr. old tires still had some miles left, they had become dry-rotted from our heat. I had actually started shopping for new ones a couple weeks ago, but I didn't replace them yet because I had no trips coming up. So the big bang was no longer a mystery. I'm just thankful it happened in the driveway and not while I was tooling down the road at 80 mph. I have both a compressor and impact wrench, so I'm heading out in a few minutes to remove the tire, take it to the tire shop and have a new one mounted. Then I'll bring it home, put it on and take the truck to the shop for the other three tires. That way I won't have to lower my spare from under the back end of the truck, which is a job in itself. The four new ATs will cost me $770 out the door at Big O, which is only a mile from my house. -TONY

Yep. I just got home from the tire shop. Pappa has a brand new set of shoes!! I did have an almost-new tire on my boat trailer blow to smithereens on the 101 about a year ago. The steel belt really mangled the boat fender, too. That was the 4th Goodyear Marathon trailer tire to blow. The other three, including two just sitting in the spare carrier, exploded the tread in my driveway just like the truck tire did, and none of them even had the little rubber tits wore off yet. -TONY

Jim, And those little 3 pounders do fight on light gear. That's why it was a blast. There were times where I had to let a fish run against the drag, which I had set fairly heavy. This is one just over 5 pounds that we caught earlier in the year for an article I did on Pleasant for Cabela's Outfitter Journal. -TONY

Yeah, a lighter gene pool will indeed result. I just returned from dropping off the single tire. Now I'm waiting on them to return it to me so I can take the truck there for the other three. I had a bear of time removing one of the lug nuts. Whoever last put it on must have had the impact wrench set to 300 psi. I had to use a 3' breaker bar on all of them, but also had to add a 2' pipe for the stubborn one. Even at that, I wound up putting a slight bend in the 3/4" diameter breaker bar. -TONY

Doug, I think Pleasant will eventually put out a few 40-50 pound stripers. Right now, a lot of the larger ones are probably up thr river end. We caught most of our fish in two areas -- to the right side of the dam off the point not too far from the buoy line, and at the end of Waddel Point, the first one north of the Pleasant Bay Marina. We set up about 50 yards just west of the last white and black buoy over a relatively flat area. The key to catching them is using a good fishfinder and knowing how to read it! -TONY

Doug, All the fish were deep over structure like in 30-40 ft. of water. So we used mostly anchovies, but did catch a few on maribou jigs, too. I'd tell you where but I would be chastised here for giving out a secret spot. And I don't want to have to kill you. Only one largemouth -- a teeny 1/2 pounder. -TONY

Casey, Should we look forward to a TV infomercial from you perhaps titled "How NOT to Make Money on the Internet by Buying, Bartering and Trading?" -TONY

Aaahhh. I had a similar incident occur but fortunately didn't have to kill the trapped critter. I was deer hunting on a plantation in Alabama. As I walked up one of the two-tracks just after sunrise, I noticed a commotion on the ground a couple hundred yards away. When I finally got close enough, I saw it was a huge Great horned owl with its foot caught in a trap that was nailed to a wooden post stuck in the ground. In the south, although wholly ILLEGAL, many of the landowners make "pole sets" to catch hawks and owls that prey on their precious bobwhite quail. They set the trap atop a single pole in the open, knowing raptors like to land on top of them. And so here I am trying to make a decision of whether to release the owl or leave it for the owner to sort out. I decided to release it, but this thing was ferocious. Every time I got close to it, it would spread its wings, raise its only free talon and open what looked like a very, very sharp beak. Fortunately it could move only as far as the trap chain let it. Finally, my ever brilliant mind remembered what I had done to remove a fishing lure from a seagull I hooked while surf casting in Mexico. So I removed my jacket and moved in as close as I dare before throwing it over the owl and pinning it to the ground. I eventually worked the trap off, and the owl just kinda sat there when I removed the jacket and backed off. I then went about my hunting. A few hours later, I returned and the owl was gone. Naturally, when the plantation owner picked me up at the designated meeting site a while later, I never mentioned the incident. Casey, Yup, making the decision might be tough, especially if gauging the seriousness of the injury isn't too easy. Often, what we might think is serious really isn't, and the animal might live to a ripe ol' age. -TONY

H4L, I was wondering when someone would touch upon the wild card in all this "within your limitations" stuff. That wild card is the LIVE critter at the other end of "distance." Regardless of how efficiently someone can shoot at the gun or archery range at a non-moving target, it will never be the same in the field. Like happened with your elk, a friend of mind who shall go unnamed took a very long broadside shot at a pronghorn. If I recall, it was somewhere between 80 and 100 yards. By the time the arrow arrived, the buck had turned from broadside to directly facing my friend. He was fortunate the arrow entered the brisket just between the shoulders. If the buck had turned the other way, the arrow would have gone into the buck's butt, and my friend might still be looking for it. So until someone can actually predict what the "limitations" of live critters are when being shot at, saying extra long-distance shots are a sure thing for the accomplished gun or bow shooter is a nonstarter, IMO. I'm not even gonna mention someone's ability to dope the wind speed and direction between them and the target. Oh wait, I just did. -TONY

Tj, Actually I'm a bit familiar with the illegal ethical action. When I lived at Vallecito Lake near Durango, CO in the mid-70s, I had just returned home from guiding on the last deer/elk combo season in the Weminuche Wilderness. I decided to hunt the lower country not too far from home the next day to see if I could fill my own deer tag. The area I would hunt was open for a deer only, however. Anyway, about an hour into my hunt, I came upon a fairly fresh blood trail and noted elk tracks rather than deer. This is mostly P-J country and fairly open. As I followed the blood, I eventually kicked up a bedded cow elk. She tried to flee uphill but her right rear leg was basically hanging by a little bit of hide between her hip and knee. As she ran, she would continously fall, get up and fall again. Sooo....I leveled my .264 on the back of her neck and put her down for good. Now...I KNEW before I did that what I would follow up with, and I also knew I might get cited. Why? Because even though the local game warden was my friend, he was also a tough nut. Yet I had known him for several years, and I taught the local HE class -- the only one in our area. I also often rode horseback with him on his high-country patrols. Thus, I was pretty sure he would believe what I told him. I field-dressed the cow, headed to my truck and went home, where I immediately called Gene and told him what I had done. He said he would bring out a couple horses the next day and we would go pack out the elk and drop it off at the local school. The latter is what he usually did with fresh road kills or confiscated game. There was no mention of a citation. In fact, after we packed out the elk and loaded it in the back of his truck, he cut out the loins, put them in a sack and said, "Here. Take these home for your trouble." Would I have done the same thing if I didn't know the game warden? Probably. But I would have thought about it a lot more. -TONY

TJ, The scenario you just laid out comes under ILLEGALLY ethical, not legally ethical. Big diff. Despite killing the animal being illegal, you do it anyway. Of course, one has to be prepared to face the consequences of the decision to break the law. -TONY

If it's legal, it's ethical. -TONY Tony, I think the point you are not addressing with that statement is that there is a difference between Morally Ethical and Legally Ethical. There is a difference to me, anyhow, and if we all chose the high road more often then we (hunters) would look less the bad guy in the eyes of those folks that are on the fence.... Knowing and Staying within your (and your equipment's) limitations can & will make you a better and more Morally Ethical hunter. IMO. And that I believe is what most of the guys are saying as well. The only point I'm addressing is the one several members consistently state here. The words speak for themselves -- "if it's legal, it's ethical." I can't recall who first coined that phrase . Besides, there is NO such thing as "Legally Ethical." If something is illegal, ethics do not come into the picture, lawful conduct does. Ethics involve issues OUTSIDE of those proscribed by law -- a self-regulating system of proper conduct. TJ, It was SARCASM, thus the . -TONY

If it's legal, it's ethical. -TONY

Obviously one of the ones who has been eating lead-laced venison for too many years. -TONY

In 2007, there were 72,651 1st choice applicants for all units and hunts, which includes general firearms, muzzleloader and juniors. The total # of permits issued for all seasons, ALL choices and over-the-counter sales was 42,543. That translates to 30,108 folks -- as in "1,000s" -- who didn't get a deer permit in 2007. For the Junior's only general and muzzleloader seasons, there were 1,769 permits issued to 2,520 1st choice applicants, meaning 751 junior hunters didn't get a permit thru the normal draw. How can this be when several units have 100% draw odds for the early seasons? Simple. Because many hunters PREFER applying for the best hunts (read that as the Strip, Kaibab or Dec. WT seasons) for the 1st two choices and the 2nd best ones for the other three. It's the nature of the beast, so to speak. Of course, if they HAD to apply for those earlier, lower-success seasons, then they would no longer be 100% draws. BUT, when push comes to shove, many of them would settle for ANY permit, and that's why the 1st-come leftovers usually don't last more than a couple hours. I'm only speculating here, and maybe Jim knows the actual numbers, but I would guess many, many hunters who sent in for the 1st-come leftovers wound up getting a refund. Granted, some applicants list certain hunts only as 1st & 2nd choices and then leave the rest blank, preferring to not hunt unless they drew the hunt they wanted. But I'm guessing that was a minority of the 30K who didn't draw. I count myself among this group. But even if we say it's 15,000, that still leaves another 15,000 -- as in "1,000s" -- who wanted to hunt deer but couldn't. Basically, what it comes down to is the FINAL number of permits left after the draw and the 1st-come phase; I believe that is usually 0, which excludes 1000s from deer hunting unless they use a bow. -TONY

For all you folks who gun hunt in California, the game department there recently came out with the list of ammo that may be legally used in the lead-free condor zones. See Lead-free bullets. -TONY

Anyone here a member of Whitetails Unlimited?? -TONY

May 9, 2008 By JOHN MILLER ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER BOISE, Idaho -- The potential risk of lead poisoning from high-velocity bullets, whether to carrion-eating condors in the Grand Canyon or to food bank patrons in the Midwest, is the subject of a scientific conference next week. The issue has been heightened since North Dakota and Minnesota officials instructed food bank operators to clear their shelves of venison donated by hunters this year. The move raised complaints from Safari Club International of Somerset, N.J., whose members gave about 316,000 pounds of venison to the needy last year under the group's Sportsmen Against Hunger program, and Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry of Williamsport, Md., which donates more than 282,000 pounds of venison in 27 states annually. The four-day gathering that begins Monday at Boise State University includes more than 50 presentations on issues ranging from lead poisoning among subsistence hunting Inuits in Alaska and Russia, lead levels in ravens in southern Yellowstone National Park, lead found in swans in Western Washington state and the politics of nontoxic ammunition. "You're collecting a huge weight of evidence to infer or perhaps even prove there's a serious health risk, certainly to wildlife, but perhaps even to humans," said Rick Watson, vice president of The Peregrine Fund in Boise, a raptor recovery center that is sponsoring the conference. "That should promote if not actual remediation of the problem, then further research on where there are gaps in that knowledge," Watson said Friday. Lead poisoning has been linked to learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at very high levels, seizures, coma, and death. Watson said his group realized there might be a connection between lead poisoning, bullets, venison and humans after 1996, the year it began reintroducing rare California condors in northern Arizona. As many as 60 now soar over the Grand Canyon and southern Utah, but researchers and the Arizona Game and Fish Department found the scavengers were ailing from lead poisoning after eating hunter-killed deer and leftover gut piles. In 2006, five condors died of lead poisoning and 90 percent of the rest had signs of exposure. To learn more, Peregrine Fund researchers killed two deer with high-velocity lead ammunition and found that the bullets fragmented on impact, leaving the animals' flesh riddled with hundreds of microscopic lead particles. "In the process of doing that study, we didn't want to waste the deer meat we had shot, so we had it processed," Watson said. "We thought, 'For interest's sake, let's take a look at some of these package to see if there was any lead' - and there was." Skeptical, Dr. William Cornatzer of Bismarck, N.D., a physician, hunter and Peregrine Fund board member, used a CT scan to examine about 100 packets of venison from local food giveaway programs and found 60 percent had multiple lead fragments. "There isn't much to argue," Cornatzer said. "It shows there is this toxic metal in our ground venison that we hunters have been eating for the last 50 years." While no cases of lead poisoning from venison had been reported, his research helped lead to the warning to food banks in North Dakota in March. Days later, Minnesota followed suit after separate tests in that state. Safari Club officials have contend there is no scientific basis for abandoning thousands of pounds of meat that otherwise would go to poor families at a time of rapidly escalating food costs. Gene Rurka, chairman of the group's humanitarian efforts, said dumping venison on the basis of a few anecdotal studies was premature. "I just can't imagine there's that kind of lead intrusion in the meat," Rurka said. "If it's a health issue, certainly, it's a concern, but to go out and say there's one guy who took a sampling of meat, and to use that across the entire program, it is totally unfair." Watson said such skepticism is a key reason for the conference. Among other reports, his group plans to release preliminary findings of a continuing study of packaged venison from 30 deer killed by researchers with high-velocity ammo and processed by 30 butchers in Wyoming. Watson, one of the authors, said the findings so far mirror the conclusions in North Dakota and Minnesota. "We've effectively demonstrated that lead does get into venison, both hamburger and steaks," he said. "It's at levels sufficently high enough to be a concern to people who get those packets. We don't know what risk, but we know they are at some risk."

Indeed. Probably accounts for the large number of hunters with learning disabilities, too. -TONY

GRRRR!!! Quit telling people about this. That has been MY secret spot for decades! And please don't tell anyone that the N. Kaibab and Strip have any big deer. That's a secret too. Next thing you know, getting a permit for either of them will be nearly impossible. -TONY

I have both the sitting and standing versions of the Snipepod and used them exclusively in Africa, New Zealand and couple NA hunts since I've owned them. Although they are not as sturdy as the much heavier Harris types, the ball joints make them a lot more versatile for getting setup in about any type of terrain at almost any angle. Plus, they are very lightweight to carry in their belt pouches. After a bit of practice, it takes less than 10-15 seconds to attach it to the gun. And if you do decide to go with a Harris, I have an almost-new used one available. -TONY

Come on, NRS, you ain't thinking rationally now. Everyone knows ethanol burns. Besides, why waste it for such mundane uses as a life-saving thingie for toothpicks. Nope, I'm going with the fire-proof paper clips. -TONY

God was missing for six days. Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day. Michael asked, 'Where have you been?' God smiled and proudly pointed down through the clouds, 'Look, Michael. Look what I've made.' Archangel Michael looked puzzled, and said, 'What is it?' 'It's a planet,' replied God, 'and I've put life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place to test Balance.' 'Balance?' inquired Michael, 'I'm still confused.' Pointing to different parts of earth, God explained. 'For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth, while southern Europe is going to be poor. Over here I've placed a continent of white people, and over there is a continent of black people. Balance in all things.' God continued pointing to different countries. 'This one will be extremely hot, while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.' The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a land area and said, 'What's that one?' 'That's Washington State , the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful mountains, rivers and streams, lakes, forests, hills, and plains. The people from Washington State are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent, and humorous, and they are going to travel the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking, high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats, carriers of peace, and producers of software.' Michael gasped in wonder and admiration, but then asked, 'But what about balance, God? You said there would be balance.' God smiled as he said, 'There is another Washington. Wait till you see the idiots I put there.'