Free Republic

Interesting slant on things AMERICA'S HUNTERS --- Pretty Amazing! The world's largest army... America 's hunters! I had never thought about this... A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and arrived at a striking conclusion: There were over 600,000 hunters this season in the state of Wisconsin . Allow me to restate that number: 600,000 Over the last several months, Wisconsin's hunters became the eighth largest army in the world. More men under arms than in Iran . More than France and Germany combined. These men deployed to the woods of a single...

EARLIER this month, Mitt Romney delivered a speech at the annual National Rifle Association convention, calling for a president “who will stand up for the rights of hunters, sportsmen and those seeking to protect their homes and their families,” presumably with guns. I’d like to remind Mr. Romney that those are distinct groups. Too often — especially during an election year — hunters and N.R.A. members are lumped together as one and the same. I’m a hunter and a sportswoman. I own guns, but not for self-defense. I support gun control laws. I would happily vote to repeal the Stand...

Howie thread for the week starting with his Sunday Boston Herald column

Zanesville, Ohio, sheriff's deputies armed with assault rifles opened fire on dozens of "mature, very big, aggressive" lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, and bears who had escaped from a private menagerie in Ohio after the farm's owner, Terry Thompson, was found dead and the animals' cage doors were left open and fences unsecured. Chimpanzees and orangutans were found locked in cages inside the house. At least 30 animals have been killed, and several more remain at large.Thompson had a long history of brushes with the law and had just completed a one-year sentence on two federal counts of possessing illegal firearms....

In the long term, the Pagami Creek fire still burning east of Ely, Minn., should improve moose habitat, clearing the bramble to make way for saplings and berries that the animals love to munch on. But for now, the forest fire is proving problematic for moose hunters, many of whom have been unable to access the territory they are permitted to hunt starting Saturday. The situation has led the state Department of Natural Resources to offer refunds for the cost of permits. Those permits, for what is often known as "the hunt of a lifetime," are a coveted commodity that...

Evergreen State hunting activists are sounding the alarm in the wake of Saturday’s Fish & Wildlife Commission discussion in Olympia on the revised wolf management plan. There are now at least five active discussions on wolves in Washington, and their potential impact on hunting, on three different local internet hunting forums. With but one exception, sentiments are all negative. One forum has a whole sub-topic on wolves. Wolf advocates are determined to bring up the population of predatory canines in this state, regardless of the impact on big game herds. Hunters see them as something close to snake oil peddlers,...

Jessica Olmstead has no problem staring down wild animals. The 17-year-old Harper Creek High School senior has taken up one of nature's oldest, and possibly most dangerous sports, hunting. In the middle of August, Olmstead and her father, Tim, took a hunting trip up to Oba, Ontario, Canada, where the high school senior shot down a bear more than twice her size. "When I go out hunting, it's really exciting," Olmstead said. "Whenever I see a bear I just want to go at it. When you're hunting, your heart is racing, your blood is pumping, and you feel that adrenaline...

WICHITA, Kan. (AP)—The Justice Department is targeting more than 60 hunters across the nation for allegedly poaching deer during guided hunts at Camp Lone Star in Kansas, a court document shows. The scope of the grand jury investigation, believed to be one of the largest criminal prosecutions involving the illegal taking of deer, was made public in a court filing Monday in the federal government’s case against the camp’s owner and his brother, both of Martinsville, Texas. James Bobby Butler Jr., 41, the owner and operator of the hunting club in Coldwater, Kan., and his brother Marlin Jackson Butler, 36,...

Regulation: The U.S. Supreme Court says Americans have an individual right to keep and bear arms. The EPA says the bullets for those guns may be banned as an environmental hazard. The endless power grabs by the federal leviathan know no boundaries of law, science or even common sense. The Environmental Protection Agency of Lisa Jackson is seriously considering a petition by the Center for Biological Diversity, a leading anti-hunting group, to ban all traditional lead ammunition under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. If the EPA approves the petition, the result will be a ban on all...

This is a portion of an actual complaint received by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality:4/13/10 Incident #13926 Limestone CountyINITIAL PROBLEM: On 03/09/2010 a complaint was received at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Waco Regional Office. The complaint alleges that David Cousins had been leasing out a hunting cabin and allowing the hunters to defecate in the woods. It also alleged that there is no restroom and Mr. Cousins is planning to extend plumbing into a creek next to the cabin. The cabin is located at 2785 FM 1246 E., Thornton (Limestone County), Texas 76687-2536. (fb/ks)---------------------------------------ACTION TAKEN: This incident...

Howie thread for the week starting with his Sunday column. Note that if you go to his columns in the Boston Herald, look for "Go Behind the Scenes with Howie Carr" to see videos he recorded.

Hunters purchased nearly 2,600 wolf licenses Monday, the first day they went on sale in Montana. The sales occurred on the same day U.S. District Judge Mike Molloy of Missoula heard arguments from animal rights and environmental groups seeking to block hunts in Idaho and Montana. Idaho's hunt started Tuesday as Molloy took the arguments under consideration. the slower sales — compared to the 4,000 sold on the first day licenses were available in Idaho — might have been due to the uncertainty of the court decision. If the hunt is halted before the season starts, holders will be refunded...

Grand Teton National Park and the National Elk Refuge are encouraging hunters to voluntarily use non-lead ammunition during the upcoming elk and bison seasons. The park and refuge issued a joint release Thursday saying lead is an environmental toxin that can poison animals that eat carcasses shot with lead bullets. Officials say studies have found that lead levels increase in ravens and eagles

LONDON (AFP) - Some 77 million documents dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries and including the ancestors of David Beckham and Britney Spears are to go online, under a service launched Thursday. The archives from the London Historical Records feature details of around 165 million of the British capital's citizens over the centuries, including head of state Oliver Cromwell and poet William Blake. Around 250,000 records are currently available, with all 77 million uploaded by 2011. The final collection will include parish and workhouse records, electoral rolls, wills, land tax records and school reports. Tracing the family history...

I wrote recently about the forcible citizen disarmament lobby's desire to ban .50 caliber rifles. In that piece, I pointed out that if such a ban were ever implemented, the gun prohibitionists would soon discover that a sniper limited to a .499 caliber rifle would not be seriously hampered by the loss of 1/1000th of an inch of bullet diameter, leading, no doubt, to calls for the banning of that caliber as well. Of course, a .498 caliber rifle would not really be noticeably less capable . . . etc. The disarmament lobby considers it bad form for gun rights...

The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners told agency staff last week to employ the help of sport hunters and contract employees from the U.S. Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services for the state wildlife department's new "program of intensive, sustained predator reduction." Ken Mayer, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said his agency would use science to figure out the number of lions to be killed in areas where the predators have been found to adversely affect deer numbers. The state's deer population fell from 240,000 in 1988 to 108,000 in 2008, while its current lion population ranges from 1,500 to...

I understand it when the idolatrous PETA people who worship jackrabbits over Jesus get their panties in a wad over hunting. I expect it, I like it and—truth be told—I’d really miss it if they did not pop a blood vein in their forehead when smacked with the facts. However, lately I’ve been getting hate mail and weird looks from “Christians” who ardently believe that God, Jesus, Moses, John, Paul, George and Ringo (I know, they get them confused) are, supposedly, vehemently opposed to hunting animals (they’re right about McCartney). I have even had some sassy Christians say that fishing...

German boar hunters are reporting one of their best seasons since World War II as moderate weather and plentiful food have led to a wild pig population boom. The German Hunters' Association said Wednesday between April 2007 and March 2008 hunters killed 477,500 wild boar - 66 percent more than the previous year.

Gun enthusiasts are stocking up on firearms out of fears that a Democrat-led administration will result in tougher gun control. Last month, as polls showed a Barack Obama lead, background checks for gun purchases jumped by 108,000 compared with October 2007 — a 15 percent increase — according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Gun sales as of Oct. 26 were up 8 percent for the year. Jerry Sharr said gun and ammunition sales have increased significantly since October. “It’s usually been hunters and homeowners,” said Mr. Sharr, owner of Jerry’s Guns & Shooting Range in Maryville, Mo. The variety...

The answer lies with parents, who can now train their 10- and 11-year-olds how to shoot wild game.Dennis Erickson has hunted game as varied as white-tailed deer and ruffed grouse for 30 years. Gun safety is important to him. He's never had an accident and never intends to. So when Erickson, of Wyoming, Minn., accompanied his 11-year-old son, Drew into the woods before dawn Oct. 11 on the first day of the state's early antlerless season -- with Drew toting a 12-gauge Remington pump shotgun outfitted with a rifled slug barrel -- the elder Erickson was confident he could guide...

BAY COUNTY -- The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says gun sales have tripled since the election of Barack Obama because people fear Obama will tighten gun restrictions. Michigan gun shop owner Glenn Duncan says he's seen a sales spike too, "in the last two weeks, the owner of Duncan's Outdoor Shop in Bay City says sales have doubled. They're (buyers) worried if they don't buy them not they won't be able to get them." Senator Barack Obama does support a ban on carrying concealed weapons and a ban on assault weapons. Duncan tells NBC25 that scares hunters...

The National Rifle Association is endorsing Republican presidential nominee John McCain despite differences with the Arizona senator on gun-show rules and campaign finance restrictions. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and the chairman of the NRA's political action committee planned stops Thursday in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Colorado and Nevada to talk about the move. LaPierre said the two agree on many issues important to the group. "He's cast more than 60 votes in the Senate in support of the Second Amendment," LaPierre said. The NRA's Political Victory Fund has spent more than $2.3 million opposing Democratic nominee Barack Obama. The chairman...

American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA, a front for anti-Second Amendment entities) is running an ad in Pennsylvania that says Obama supports the rights of hunters and shooters. “The Democrats and Gun Control” from the Wall Street Journal [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120839466717921537.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries] exposes Obama for the liar he is. As a state senate candidate in 1996, Mr. Obama endorsed a complete ban on all handguns in a questionnaire. The Obama campaign has claimed he “never saw or approved the questionnaire,” and that an aide filled it out incorrectly. But a few weeks ago, Politico.com found an amended version of the questionnaire [http://www.politico.com/static/PPM43_080328_obama_iviquestionaire_091096.html]. It...

WASHINGTON, April 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) announced the endorsement of Senator Barack Obama on a national conference call this morning organized by the Obama for President campaign. AHSA President Ray Schoenke made the following statement in his endorsement of Senator Obama: ...As a gun rights organization we have not come to this decision lightly. We were formed two years ago because our research shows that millions of gun owners wanted a change. They not only wanted an organization that would protect their gun rights but an organization that was also committed to the protection...

Oregon's 550,000 hunters and anglers spend $1.1 billion annually...the ripple effect at $1.8 billion annually. Oregon ranks No. 25 among all states in terms of total spending. Texas is No. 1 at $6.6 billion, and Florida placed second, $4.8 billion. On the national level, 34 million sportsmen...spent more than $76 billion in 2006, supporting 1.6 million jobs...

Bob Heckman of Quakake took the second-heaviest black bear — a 628-pound boar — registered during last week’s three-day, statewide season, according to information compiled by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. His bear is second in weight to a 712-pound boar ...

<p>IF there are any pol iticians out there who believe hunt ers and anglers do not exercise their voting rights, just look to New Jersey. Garden State sportsmen and women showed their political clout on Election Day by throwing out two incumbent lawmakers who repeatedly attacked the state's hunting traditions.</p>

Public release date: 12-Nov-2007 Contact: Carl Marziali marziali@usc.edu 213-219-6347 University of Southern California Human ancestors: more gatherers than hunters? Early humans may have dug potato-like foods with tools, say anthropologists from USC, UC San Diego and UW-Madison Chimpanzees crave roots and tubers even when food is plentiful above ground, according to a new study that raises questions about the relative importance of meat for brain evolution. Appearing online the week of Nov. 12 in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study documents a novel use of tools by chimps to dig for tubers...

Mammoth hunters' camp site found in Russia's Far East 13:02 | 12/ 11/ 2007 KHABAROVSK, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Archaeologists have found a 15,000 year-old hunters' camp site from the Paleolithic era near Lake Evoron in Russia's Far East, a source in the Khabarovsk archaeology museum said on Monday. "The site dates back to the end of the Ice Age, a period which is poorly studied" Andrei Malyavin, chief of the museum's archaeology department said. "That is why any new site from this period is a discovery in itself." The site, found during a 2007 archaeological expedition to Lake...

Number of hunters falls, worrying some By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer Sun Sep 2, 4:53 PM ET Hunters remain a powerful force in American society, as evidenced by the presidential candidates who routinely pay them homage, but their ranks are shrinking dramatically and wildlife agencies worry increasingly about the loss of sorely needed license-fee revenue. New figures from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show that the number of hunters 16 and older declined by 10 percent between 1996 and 2006 — from 14 million to about 12.5 million. The drop was most acute in New England, the Rocky...

Alien hunters 'should also seek weird life' By Tom Leonard in New York Last Updated: 2:04am BST 10/07/2007 The hunt for extra-terrestrial life should encompass what experts call "weird life", according to a committee of scientists in the US. The Huygens spacecraft visited Titan in 2004. Scientists believe the moon is a promising source of weird life Nasa selects planets and moons with hints of water for its exploratory missions. But according to the scientists, who have written a report for the National Research Council in the US, other chemicals such as ammonia or methane could also support life. So-called...

A state appeals court dismissed a challenge from a Minnesota man sentenced to life in prison for gunning down six deer hunters in northern Wisconsin, saying his complaints are meritless. Chai Soua Vang, 38, argued his trial judge should have suppressed his statements to police and a news reporter, and challenged whether the evidence supported a guilty verdict and whether the judge properly exercised his sentencing powers. The 3rd District Court of Appeals ruled there were no grounds to challenge his conviction. Vang's own attorneys told the court he had no grounds to appeal, but Vang sent eight handwritten documents...

Mountain lion hunters in Colorado now must pass a proficiency test prior to obtaining a license after unanimous action Thursday by the Colorado Wildlife Commission. The mandatory lion hunter education course, the first such requirement of lion hunters in the nation, is aimed at teaching prospective hunters how to differ between male and female lions and to prevent the overtake of female lions. “This is a monumental decision,” said Wildlife Commission Chairman Tom Burke...“Other states are going to be looking at us and following our lead.” initiated by the predator conservation group Sinapu... the Colorado Outfitters Association, which was concerned...

FORT WORTH -- The Hunters' long season in North Texas is over.The Hunters of Strike Fighter Squadron 201 have prowled the skies over North Texas, leaving contrails from the supersonic engines of Crusaders, Phantoms, Tomcats and, finally, Hornets.Saturday will mark the last of that, though. The squadron commander and base executive officer will take the F/A-18s for one last spin. They'll get a hosing-down by a firetruck, snap a few pictures and go to a party in the Hunters' hangar.Cmdr. Doug Beal, the squadron's last commander, just hopes that he walks into a party, not a wake."I want the party...

They call themselves "hunters who care." Their goal is to rid the desert of the trash left behind by illegal immigrants. Saturday, they fanned out across the Amado area to make a difference. "It was like a big surprise. I thought it would be clean and no trash. Just of bunch of trees and stuff," said Matt Aragon. Matt spots more than just wildlife when he goes hunting. "...a bunch of trash and it's causing damage to the environment." Most of the garbage was left behind by illegal immigrants. It's a sight Mother Nature wouldn't be proud of. That's why...

(Each was honored for ignoring the danger and rushing to help as a St. Paul hunter attacked in 2004. Two paid with their lives.) When deer hunter Chai Soua Vang, of St. Paul, opened fire on a large party of other hunters in northern Wisconsin in 2004, some of the people he killed, wounded and endangered were trying to save the lives of their friends and family members, according to official accounts of the melee. Five members of the party were recognized Thursday -- three posthumously -- with medals from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. The Pittsburgh-based fund carries out...

A pheasant hunter was acciden tally peppered with bird shot by a shooter from another sportsmen's party yesterday morning in Oxford Township, authorities and witnesses said. Nabhan Elsamara, 47, of Landing was hit by bird shot pellets from the gun of Frederick Flake Jr., 41, of Denville while the two were hunting in a state game preserve, according to Oxford Police Lt. Charles Lilly. Elsamara was airlifted to Morristown Memorial Hospital around 8 a.m. and released in the afternoon. He said in a phone interview he was "okay, so far," but still smarting from wounds all over: "My eyes, my...

ATHENS, Greece, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Greek police are investigating the execution-style slaying of five hunters found dead in a field in the southwestern part of the country. The victims had been shot multiple times at both long and short range outside the farming town of Agrinio, Britain's Guardian reports. Police say hunting rifles and cell phones were found next to the victims who ranged in age from 17 to 33 and were related to each other. The youngest member of the hunting party had tried to make a phone call to his father before the connection was cut off....

Col. Hunt filling in for Howie today. Happy...Howie-Days! Read below for Howie's latest column...can I get me a huntin' license here?

The man serving life prison sentences for murdering six deer hunters in northern Wisconsin in 2004 disagrees with his attorney that there are no grounds to appeal his convictions, authorities said Friday. Chai Soua Vang, 37, mailed eight pages of handwritten documents from a prison in Iowa to the state Court of Appeals responding to his attorney's conclusion about the case, deputy clerk Sheelah Guild said. The attorney, assistant state public defender Patrick Donnelly, has 30 days to respond to Vang's document before the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Wausau considers the case, Guild said. Earlier, Vang had requested...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgtWZXK9gm8 Some background: She is Judge Leslie Lewis, 3rd district of Utah. And she is up for retention, or "re-election" on this coming election day. http://www.firejudgelewis.com/

This just in: Hunters don't believe they are accurately portrayed in television and movies. A recent poll at huntersurvey.com showed that 55.2 percent of hunters felt they were rarely portrayed accurately, while 38.8 percent said they were only sometimes portrayed accurately. No kidding. Internet polls aren't exactly scientific, but it's hard to argue with this one. A couple of weekends ago when I got together with some friends for some early-season squirrel hunting, a couple of guys were talking about yet another example of Hollywood's typical take on hunting. Apparently in the popular show "Grey's Anatomy," a turkey hunter is...

Nearly two years after a dispute over a deer stand that left six western Wisconsin hunters dead, a new Rice Lake park dedicated to the hunters has been completed. Hunters Memorial Park will be dedicated at 1 p.m. Monday. The park, at Whitetail Drive and Linden Avenue, was built with private donations and will be given to the city of Rice Lake. North Builders Association donated labor, one of the two lots needed and some of the building materials. It also raised funds to cover other park expenses. Aspen Creek Services donated the second lot. The cost of the park...

A coalition of conservationist and health organizations has served notice that it will sue the state California Fish and Game Commission for continuing to allow lead ammunition to be used for hunting in California. The groups contend that lead bullets lodged in carcasses left by hunters are poisoning California condors that feed on them. "Lead poisoning from ammunition is the single greatest obstacle to the recovery of wild California condors," said Jeff Miller of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the organizations joining forces in the suit. Other parties include the Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility...

National Wildlife Federation Offers Free Tickets To "An Inconvenient Truth" So what's the deal with the new global warming movie, An Inconvenient Truth? We want you to find out...FREE. The National Wildlife Federation is offering a limited number of free tickets to sportsmen and women to go see the movie and post your thoughts on their website: www.targetglobalwarming.org Reserve your TWO FREE TICKETS here: www.targetglobalwarming.org/movieticket After you see the movie, come back and post your opinion. Your name will be entered into a drawing for a Cabela's Outdoor Adventure. Visit an elite pheasant hunting lodge in South Dakota...fish for salmon...

/13/2006 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) -- Air Force reservists from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron’s “Hurricane Hunters” began flying the year’s first storm missions June 10 into Tropical Storm Alberto. The Hurricane Hunters found that the center of the cyclone had abruptly reformed near the deep convection and was relocated some 60 nautical miles to the northeast of its previously estimated position during a flight June 12. The Hurricane Hunters are flying the new WC-130J model, with dual heads-up displays for pilots and technological advancements such as improved weather radar. These features significantly improve the situational awareness...

6/5/2006 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) -- It was a quiet opening day of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron spent the day training and getting ready for what forecasters say will be another active season. Though the season officially began June 1 and ends Nov. 30, last year these reservists flew more than 1,500 hours into storms beginning in May with Hurricane Adrian in the Pacific and finally ending in December flying missions into Hurricane Epsilon. Tropical Storm Zeta formed later, extending the 2005 season into 2006 though it did...

A California bill that would make sportsmen who hunt with dogs and pet owners whose dogs have run-ins with backyard wildlife vulnerable to prosecution is advancing in the state legislature.   On April 4, the Assembly Public Safety Committee voted 4 to 3 in favor of AB 2110, sponsored by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-El Cerrito.  The bill was proposed to ban open field coursing events with sighthounds.  Its vague wording could easily leave waterfowl and upland game hunters vulnerable to prosecution when they use retriever dogs in the field.  Assembly Bill 2110 now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for debate. Aside...

MADISON, WI (AP) -- A man convicted of killing six deer hunters and wounding two others in a shooting spree in northwestern Wisconsin was moved to an Iowa prison because of security concerns. Corrections officials moved Chai Soua Vang to the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, Iowa, in January, according to state records. He had been imprisoned at the Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun. Officials moved him because they had safety concerns for corrections staff, inmates and others, said Dan Westfield, security chief for the Department of Corrections' division of adults institutions. Westfield compared the case to that of...

It's healthier than beef, it's good in a stew or in chili, you can make jerky with it, and the Virginia Hunters for the Hungry have hundreds of thousands of pounds to give away every year. "From jerky to jambalaya from stew to chili, there's a lot -- a lot -- of things deer meat can be used for," said Gary Arrington, senior project manager for the Virginia-based organization, which last year donated a record 340,173 pounds of venison to the hungry. "It's versatile," he said. Since its inception in 1991, Hunters for the Hungry has given away more than...