You read that right, off campus. In the latest no-tolerance outrage, a California school has expelled a 16-year-old hunter for having two unloaded shotguns in his vehicle parked off campus. If this keeps up, school administrators are just going to take to the field en mass, confiscate guns from any and all student hunters, and promptly kick them out of school.

From the Chico Enterprise Record:

The Willows Unified School District board of trustees has expelled a 16-year-old for having unloaded shotguns in his pickup parked just off the Willows High School campus.

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If you bought Gorilla Inc.’s  latest safety harness, the EXO-Tech, you should stop using it immediately and contact the company for a refund. Yesterday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the company, announced a voluntary recall of the product. Here’s the problem, according to this USCPSC press release:

Hazard: The webbing of the waist belt on the safety harness is not routed through the lineman's loop located on the front of the harness near waist level. Since the loops are not properly anchored to the harness webbing but are attached only through stitching not intended to restrain a user during a fall, they that [sic] can pull away from the harness when force is applied, leaving the user unrestrained. In addition, the manufacturer of the harness used a previously untested carabiner connector located at the end of the tether at the back of harness, which is the portion of the tether that attaches to the tree.

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I’m feverishly preparing for my first duck season with Pritch. (Getting her used to decoys. Practicing pulling her in small boat. Etc.) I’m not expecting miracles, just looking to have fun shooting over my dog.

But I’m well aware of the problems that an unfinished dog can cause in a duck blind. I can already tell you that as soon as the guns go off or the ducks swoop close, Pritch will be whimpering with excitement. Still, if that’s all I’ve got to contend with then the Good Lord will surely be smiling upon me this season. [ Read Full Post ]

Deer Hunter Kills College Student, Injures Two Others
(I hate posting stories like this, folks, but the news in the news. This is a heartbreaking tragedy that could have been avoided—and it serves as a sober reminder to us all to make safety the number one priority.)

More Headlines:
Video Report: Hundreds Of Dead Deer Create Big Stink in PA
Schumer Proposes Tax Breaks For Deer Hunters
Four Deer Crash PA Office [ Read Full Post ]

If you caught my last post, you know that F&S Whitetail columnist Scott Bestul and I just returned from an 8-day bowhunt in southern Iowa. We were after a 150-inch buck. There are lots of them, comparatively speaking, in The Hawkeye state. But even here, the best place to find one is at the taxidermist’s, especially with 75-degree temperatures in early November and a sea of corn still standing. So between morning and evening hunts, we dropped in on Risher Taxidermy (641-647-2648) just outside of Centerville, IA, where we found owner Monica Risher working on a ... [ Read Full Post ]

And when I say upstate, I’m talking way upstate. Namely, Moira, NY—only a handful of miles from the Canadian border and just down the road from North Bangor, where I grew up. I can tell you, there is not a lot for the deer to do up there, so I’m not surprised to read about one getting into trouble, but this was uncalled for. From the Watertown Daily Times:

For a few terrifying minutes, a Moira man became prey for a disgruntled buck.
An attack by a 10-point buck Friday sent Gerald A. Dabiew, 56, to the emergency room, covered from head to toe with cuts and bruises. . . .

“[H]e looked at me, and the next thing I know, he was coming right at me," he said. "He got me down on the ground, and it was then I knew that he really wanted to kill me. . . .

"I've got bruises from head to toe," he said. "He picked me up in the air and pounded me into the ground. . . .

"I don't know why he came around. All I was doing was throwing wood," he said. "I'm not even a hunter."

So what do you think?... [ Read Full Post ]

There are wildlife photographers and then there are National Geographic wildlife photographers. Even in today's real-time, caught-on-tape video-dominated culture the photographers of NG just keep capturing still images and stories with the power to awe. Images and stories like this



Besides highlighting the exceptional clankers one needs to be a NG photographer, it shows - in dramatic fashion - how little we really know about animal behavior: how they process information, what they feel, how they think, what emotions they are or aren't capable of. [ Read Full Post ]

From a Southwick Associates Press Release:
In an October 2009 survey, Southwick Associates asked anglers and hunters which type of organization they trust the most for accurate information regarding fish and wildlife conservation. The results of the monthly AnglerSurvey.com and HunterSurvey.com poll show that state fish and wildlife agencies are considered the most trustworthy source of conservation information among hunters and anglers.

Of the 2,771 anglers surveyed, 54.4 percent reported state fish and wildlife agencies were their most trusted source. Of the 3,378 hunters surveyed, 50.7 percent agreed.  The second most trusted source, with 25.1 percent of anglers and 29.5 percent of hunters, was sport-fishing and hunting non-profit conservation groups.

Other options included federal agencies, outdoor television, and outdoor print media. Who do you trust most? [ Read Full Post ]

Trail cameras are, for hunters, becoming so ubiquitous that we often don't think about their potential for other uses. I certainly never did until my son said he wanted one for Christmas, not for hunting, but to record all the various wildlife that travels through our rural back yard.
 
I thought it was a great idea, and in the broader context I thought it had real potential to get kids interested in the outdoors. But as I was perusing the excellent Southern Rockies Nature Blog recently I discovered a link to a teacher who had already figured that out. [ Read Full Post ]

From the Minnesota AP News:
Gov. Tim Pawlenty shot a buck during the Governor's Deer Opener [on November 7], but he and his hunting companions were unable to find the wounded animal. . . .

"We gave her the old college try two days in a row," said Mark Johnson, executive director of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and an organizer of Pawlenty's annual outing. . . .

[T]he governor was unable to keep up the search because he had to leave for Iowa . . . [to speak] at a Republican Party fundraiser. . . Saturday night.

Johnson said the rest of the hunting party — 10 people with close to 200 years of cumulative hunting experience among them — went looking for the governor's deer but determined that it wasn't all that seriously hurt.

This report broke while I was away bowhunting in Iowa—but like the governor’s buck, the story is still kicking, with the potential GOP presidential candidate taking heat from nonhunters and hunters alike. For example, from the Star Tribune: [ Read Full Post ]

A guest post from Special Projects Editor (and Field Notes News Blogger) Dave Hurteau.

I know. It’s not the greatest photo. But it was the best I could do from a treestand, in low light, as the buck cruised by on the heels of a doe.

Last night I returned from an 8-day bowhunt in southern Iowa with F&S Whitetail columnist Scott Bestul. We had a mission: Kill a 150-inch buck. On November 6th, the third day of the trip, with the rut kicking in, we hung a stand in a pinch point between thick doe bedding cover along the edge of a standing corn field. That afternoon, I ... [ Read Full Post ]

Last week, while rooting through the used guns in a sporting-goods store upstate, I chanced upon a Winchester Model 71 in very nice shape. “That rifle,” said the store owner, "belonged to Floyd Patterson.” Patterson, who died in 2006, was heavyweight boxing champion from 1956 to 1962. He was one of the best men, and one of the worst fighters, ever to hold that title. In any event, he had fine taste in guns.

The Model 71 was a modification of Winchester’s Model 1886, which has my nomination as the finest rifle ever built in America. Technically, the 71 was ... [ Read Full Post ]