Wrist-slap fines for poaching have long been a problem. Serious poachers—or even casual “thrill killers”—are often willing to risk getting caught if they know retribution won’t be too bitter a pill to swallow. In response, many states have amped up the penalties for poaching or other wildlife violations, and one of the more recent ways they've done this with whitetail poachers is to use a fine-calculator based on the buck’s antler size. Here’s a story detailing the new system.

What are your thoughts on this system? Should poachers get whacked harder if they target large whitetails, or should the size of the buck’s antlers have nothing do with poaching penalties? Personally, I feel that the fines are a great idea, as most of the poaching activity in my area is focused on older, larger bucks. But I’ve talked to some hunters who feel that stiff penalties should exist no matter the animal’s B&C score.

Anxious to hear your thoughts on this topic, and feel free to chime in with your state’s policy on fining poachers. [ Read Full Post ]

From The Lufkin Daily News:
"The fight was pretty intense — very violent," [Ben Bartlett] recalled. "Both of the bucks had their heads down and it was just a tangle of horns. I could see their muscles bulging as they pushed and braced for leverage against one another. It was a pretty awesome sight."

Bartlett . . . inched closer each time the battle moved behind a palmetto clump, eventually moving to within 18 yards before he dropped to one knee on the soggy ground and brought his compound bow to a full draw. . . .

“I was a little nervous about taking the shot, because their movements were so erratic. They stopped for a split second when one of the deer coiled to push back and it gave a me a clear shot, so I took it." [ Read Full Post ]

Robert Ruark, writing in his journal about some particularly good African trophy that he had hammered, noted that it was “…collected, but not earned.” He believed, as many hunters do, that there should be a certain amount of work you put into bagging an animal or else you don’t really deserve it. This is a nice sentiment, but of course it is nonsense. You expect to have to work, and if you do work very hard and get something good as a result it is more rewarding, but that’s as far as it goes. Despite our touching belief that hunting is a matter of skill and perseverance, a lot of it is sheer dumb luck.

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Minnesota bowhunter Eric Hendrickson knew he was looking at a special deer last summer. Hendrickson is a hard-working, self-employed plumber who trades farm labor for hunting privileges on a property near his home near Park Rapids. “I saw this buck feeding in the fields several times two summers ago on the farm, and again during this past summer. I even shot video footage of him a couple of times,” Eric says. “And then he disappeared for awhile.”

Hendrickson finally spotted the buck again once hunting season opened. “He came out to the same big field, where I have stands on the southwest and northwest corners,” he says. “He entered the field halfway between those stands, where there is no good tree for a setup. I wasn’t sure what to do. But one afternoon it just seemed like a great night to hunt, so I went to the southwest stand just to see if I could spot him.”

There were two does in the field when Eric arrived, but he was able to get in his stand without spooking them. And then at prime time the buck he was after appeared, walking on a trail that would put him... [ Read Full Post ]

From the Duluth News Tribune:
Many of the Wisconsin residents who turned out for a public hearing Wednesday night in Ashland said they don’t want to see an end to the state’s traditional nine-day gun deer season that begins the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is proposing a 16-day gun deer season beginning two Saturdays before Thanksgiving. . . .

But some of the 67 who attended the meeting supported the 16-day season, and others said they could support it if it began the Saturday before Thanksgiving as the current season does.

Check out the full article and tell us if you’d want a 16-day gun season in your state?

More Whitetail Deer Headlines:
Standing Corn Causes Concerns For Deer Hunters
Deer Trash . . .
. . . Delaware Gift Store
. . . Pennsylvania Quiznos
. . . Ohio Car Dealership [ Read Full Post ]

Sometimes you read something that - to be perfectly honest - leaves you feeling hopeless and doomed. Something so depressing it makes you want to throw up your hands, shout "to hell with it all!" and head straight to the nearest bar. Something like this, from the LA Times.
 
The latest figures from Nielsen have children's TV usage at an eight-year high. Children's health advocates warn of adverse effects.
 
More than an entire day -- that's how long children sit in front of the television in an average week, according to new findings released Monday by Nielsen.

The amount of television usage by children reached an eight-year high, with kids ages 2 to 5 watching the screen for more than 32 hours a week on average and those ages 6 to 11 watching more than 28 hours. The analysis, based on the fourth quarter of 2008, measured children's consumption of live and recorded TV, as well as VCR and game console usage.

"They're using all the technology available in their households," said Patricia McDonough, Nielsen's senior vice president of insights, analysis and policy. "They're using the DVD, they're on the Internet. They're not giving up any media --... [ Read Full Post ]

From The Spokesman Review:
Instead of raising more revenue, a fee increase hitting out-of-state hunters and anglers has resulted in less money flowing to the Idaho Fish and Game Department this year.

“Usually in Idaho we sell out right away when it comes to our nonresident deer and elk hunters, and at this time we are not sold out and we’re seeing a lag,” said Fish and Game Director Cal Groen. “We have tags left over.”

Hunters from outside the state cited the fee increase, the poor economy and the state’s growing wolf population as reasons they’re staying away this year. [ Read Full Post ]

The January issue of Outdoors Magazine—a periodical covering hunting and fishing in the Northeast—asks the question “Can the beautiful women we see on television really hunt, or are they just selling sex appeal?” The magazine also promises to “shine a spotlight on the steamy world of women and whitetails.”

I’m a little confused about this question. “Can these women hunt?” Of course they can hunt! They are on camera, in the field, pursuing and killing deer.

The implied question is a little more troublesome. “Do these women actually have hunting skills, or is the camera just on them because the producers know pretty women will attract male viewers?” I happen to know a couple of the attractive women featured on outdoor TV and they are both serious and highly successful. They may have been introduced to hunting by their husbands relatively recently, but what does that matter? Do we require the men we see on these shows to submit a 30-year resume of hunting accomplishments before we’ll watch them?

No we do not. We watch them if they are engaging personalities who portray hunting in what (to us) is a positive light... [ Read Full Post ]

I know this is Whitetail365, but I also know you guys appreciate a good mule deer story when you see one.

From Nevada’s The Record-Courier:

Most hunters would agree that a 250-yard kill shot on a large, four-point buck in the high desert country of Elko County is a pretty good take, even better when the hunter turns out to be 75-year-old great-grandmother Doris Bauman.

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From the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks:

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) staff have verified that a mountain lion was photographed by a deer hunter northwest of Wakeeney. The sighting is the first ever live wild mountain lion documentation in Kansas although many other reports have been received in the past.

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Last year, we ran a photo essay in this space provided by a South Dakota couple who separated two locked-up whitetails with a saw. This turned out to be a neat-and-tidy way of getting the job done that resulted in freed-up deer. But it was not, as many of you noted, a method that was without danger.

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From Fox 11 News:

The 9-point buck would have made a fine buck tale on its own. But this story is made by the woman who bagged him, 90-year-old Delores Wilhelms of the town of Forest. . . .

"I've never seen one so big so close," she said. "I said oh my god, and you know you're supposed to be quiet...so I picked up my bow, aimed it, and bingo. . . .

[ Read Full Post ]