--Chad Love

Apparently, drones aren't just for taking out terrorists and spying on citizens any more. An animal rights group says it will launch a remotely-piloted helicopter to videotape the unspeakable horrors of a South Carolina pigeon shoot.

From this story in the (Orangeburg, SC) Times and Democrat:

Live pigeon shoots scheduled this week at a private plantation near Ehrhardt are ruffling the feathers of two animal rights groups. Press releases put out by SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness) and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) say the Broxton Bridge Plantation event, scheduled for Feb. 9-12, should be halted. They have called upon Gov. Nikki Haley and both the Colleton and Bamberg County sheriff's departments to intervene to stop it. Steve Hindi, president of SHARK, said investigators from his agency will be videotaping what he called the "cruel and inhumane live pigeon shoot." 

--Chad Love

Three different federal agencies are among those opposed to a BLM plan to lease 3,500 acres of public land for a coal mine near Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park. Federal biologists say the proposed mine could wipe out the nation's southernmost population of sage grouse, a gamebird facing survival challenges in other parts of its range as well.

From this story on standard.net:

Federal biologists say a strip mine at the backdoor to Utah's storybook Bryce Canyon National Park will wipe out the southernmost population of sage grouse, even as their agency resists a broader effort to protect the bird across the West. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is among three federal agencies that have registered opposition to the lease of 3,500 acres of public range land sought by a coal mine that got its start on 440 acres of private land.

--Chad Love

And in other quail-related news, as part of its ongoing research project into bobwhite quail numbers, the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch is asking hunters to be on the lookout for any sick, dying or dead quail they may come across while hunting (and by sick, dying or dead quail, that means by means other than shotgun blast...)

The Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch (RPQRR) is asking quail hunters to keep their eyes open for any “weird quail” that may offer clues as to what’s going on with Texas’ quail population. “We’re asking hunters to report any observations of strange-acting quail, or ideally any recent carcasses of sick or dead quail” says Dr. Dale Rollins, RPQRR’s director. “Over the past two weeks, several specimens have been submitted, and these samples may indeed be ‘witnesses to the crime’, so we’re acutely interested in having such birds examined.”

--Chad Love

A bill in the Georgia state senate would allow hunters to use silencers. The debate will most likely not be as quiet.

From this story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

A Georgia Senate proposal would end the ban on silencers for hunting firearms. Senate Bill 301 is sponsored by Sen. John Bulloch, who says allowing hunters to use silencers would keep them from disturbing their neighbors. The Ochlocknee Republican says hunters would still have to have a federal permit to possess a silencer. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Natural Resources Committee, which Bulloch co-chairs. Sen. Ross Tolleson, a Republican from Perry who co-sponsored of the bill, is the committee's chairman.

Thoughts?