Field & Stream — The World's Leading Outdoor Website

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

Two days ago the U.S. Supreme Court heard the first arguments in a pair of cases involving Michigan landowners (Carabell v. United States and Rapanos v. United States) that could determine whether millions of acres of U.S. wetlands will be protected under the Clean Water Act.

The original landmark legislation empowered the federal government to control the discharge of pollutants into "navigable waters." In 1985, the Supreme Court expanded protections to wetlands "adjacent" to navigable waters. A 2001 Rehnquist Court ruling then limited the law’s scope to wetlands with a “significant nexus” to navigable waters, a decision that, according to Army Corps of Engineers data, has resulted in the opening of some 14,000 to 20,000 acres of wetlands to development over the last two years.

Sportsmen’s groups and environmentalists fear that this number could skyrocket if the new Roberts court were to side with property rights advocates and further limit CWA protections to wetlands with a direct connection to navigable waters. It’s a complicated, nuanced, and very important issue. Here are several links with all the details.
http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pub365.cfm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/21/AR2006022101808.html
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060222/NEWS01/602220399 [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

Matt Tillinghast was off to a good start at Texas’ Freescale Austin Marathon on Sunday until, out of the blue, a deer slammed into his left side, bring the runner to his knees. "It so shocked me and disoriented me and I was hurting," Tillinghast told the Dallas Morning News. "I was nauseous and kept having to stop. All that big mass of deer hit me. For two miles I was a little disoriented. I picked it back up at mile 3." Tillinghast finished the race and plans to run it again next year, but with a new T-shirt that reads “Watch out for flying deer.”
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060221-042923-9003r [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

At the sound of Curt Gowdy’s voice, a generation of outdoorsmen and sports fans kicked back and eased into a quiet Saturday morning on the stream or into the relaxing rhythms of a Sunday ballgame. Yesterday, the legendary broadcaster, who brought us the first Super Bowl, 13 World Series, and ABC’s American Outdoorsman from 1960 to 1980, died of leukemia in Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 86. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-Obit-Gowdy.html?ex=1141102800&en=ff5385de02000301&ei=5070&emc=eta1 [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

This past weekend, a 2-year-old bull moose wandered out of Utah’s City Creek Canyon and into the Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City. In an alleyway off Ninth Avenue and I Street, the moose stared down wildlife officials who put a tranquilizer dart in the beast’s backside. Onlookers then moved in for a closer look and lined up to get their picture taken with the drugged moose.
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3525666 [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

With some 200 deer per acre roaming Dayspring Church’s 206-acre property in Germantown, Maryland, hunters allowed onto the grounds to cull deer on Monday probably had no problems harvesting animals. The parishioners had problems, however, calling the hunt an act of violence on holy ground. Several prayed for the deer.

Where do you stand? Should deer be harvested on church property? Click the link for the story.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/7096032/detail.html [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal and Philip Bourjaily

The survey is broken into five sections:
The Guns You Shoot
The Guns You Like Best
Your Thoughts on Today's Guns
Your Shooting Habits
Your Principles and Politics

You can click on one of these section names to visit that section, or just keep on reading to start at the beginning. And as you'll probably disagree with most of these results, voice your opinion by clicking on the "comments" link located all the way at the bottom of the page.

Section 1:Your Guns
You have plenty of good guns on your rack, but here’s what you take down most often

1. What is your primary whitetail gun?
Remington 700 15% Ruger 77 7% Winchester 70 7% Remington 870 5% Browning A-Bolt 4% Marlin 336 4% Winchester 94 4% Savage 110/111/116 3% Remington 742/7400 3% Remington 760/7600 3% other 45%

2. What is your primary whitetail gun’s caliber or gauge?
.30/06 20% 12 gauge 14% .270 13% .30/30 9% .308 7% .243 5% 7mm Remington Magnum 5% other 27%

3. What is your primary big-game rifle?
Remington 700 22% Winchester 70 11% Ruger 77 8% Browning A-Bolt 7% Savage 110/111/116 6% Weatherby Mark V 4% Mauser, commercial or converted military 4% Remington 742/7400 3% Remington 760/7600 3% Marlin 1895 3% other 26%

4. What is your primary big-game rifle’s caliber?
.30/06 30% 7mm Remington Magnum 10% .270 9% .300 Winchester Magnum 9% .308 6% .300 Weatherby Magnum 3% .300 Winchester Short Magnum 3% .45/70 3% .338 3% other 34%

5. What is your primary waterfowl shotgun?
Remington... [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

With all the news and hubbub surrounding Dick Cheney’s accidental shooting of Harry Whittington, many hunters are concerned that the safety of our sport may also come under fire. But, as this Casper StarTribune.net story details, hunting accidents have declined by more than 40 percent in recent years and our sport is in fact safe and getting safer, thanks largely to hunter-safety education courses.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/02/15/news/wyoming/be2d3dd74a6bfc4b8725711500078758.txt [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

Doug Pike is a Field & Stream contributing editor who covers the outdoors for the Houston Chronicle. He wrote an article for us on Monday about reports of a so-called "Texas Protocol"  suggesting that bird hunters in Texas follow different gun safety rules than bird hunters anywhere else. Here's what he has to say about the Vice President's appearance on Fox News yesterday evening.

In a Wednesday interview with Fox News' Brit Hume, Vice President Dick Cheney shouldered full responsibility for his South Texas hunting accident.

"I'm the guy who pulled the trigger," the vice president said. "That's the bottom line."

In the interview, Cheney laid out details of the Saturday-afternoon incident in which he shot 78-year-old Harry Whittington during a quail hunt.

"The image of him falling is something I'll never be able to get out of my mind," Cheney said.

Cheney drank a beer with lunch. It's good that he admitted to it, but the consumption took place hours before the shooting. It's a nonissue, much as this whole incident should be soon. (For the... [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

Forty-three years ago there were only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles in the contiguous US. Now there are more than 7,000, and officials say the bird could be removed from the Endangered Species List within a year. Unlike other recent proposed delistings, there seems to be little debate over whether the symbolic bird is significantly recovered. In fact, it’s delisting was first proposed in 1999 under President Clinton. What’s been the hold up? According to this Associated Press story, “snail-paced government bureaucracy.” Click here for the story [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

Doug Pike is a Field & Stream contributing editor who covers the outdoors for the Houston Chronicle. Here's what he has to say about reports suggesting that bird hunters in Texas follow different gun safety rules than bird hunters anywhere else.

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Upland bird hunters everywhere knew exactly what had happened when word spread this past weekend that Vice President Dick Cheney shot a quail-hunting companion in South Texas, but some media reports made it sound as if the victim were to blame.

A quail flushed. Vice President Cheney swung his 28-gauge shotgun on the bird and tugged the trigger. His 78-year-old buddy, Austin attorney Harry Whittington, took a piece of the shot string in the upper body and face. Luckily, they were about 30 yards apart, far enough that pinhead-sized quail shot did minimal damage.

Reports from the owner of the ranch where the VP was hunting that Whittington violated some sort of ``Texas protocol'' requiring hunters to make formal announcement of their comings and goings in the field were a bit misleading. Everywhere that upland... [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

Of course, you and I know that a hunting accident is no laughing matter. But lots of other folks seem to think Cheney’s is pretty funny (even if they don’t know the difference between birdshot and buckshot). Letterman , Leno, countless bloggers, and even Las Vegas odds makers are getting mountains of milage out of the incident. Check out the link below for a mere sampling of the current barrage of jokes and spoofs.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060214-9999-1n14veep1.html

What do you think: Are they tasteless or funny? [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau & Chad Love

According to the latest Associated Press story, 78-year-old Austin attorney Harry Whittington is in “very stable” condition after Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally sprayed him with birdshot during a quail hunt at the Armstrong Ranch in Armstrong, TX. According to Ranch owner Katharine Armstrong, the incident took place as Whittington went to retrieve a quail he’d shot. “[He] came up from behind the vice president and the other hunter and didn't signal them or indicate to them or announce himself," said Armstrong. "The vice president didn't see him. The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good." At a briefing this morning, Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial’s administrator Peter Banko reported Whittington’s condition: "It's not critical. It's not serious. It's just stable at this time.” Click here for the story [ Read Full Post ]