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FEATURE STORIESBOWFISHING

There was a time when spring and summer bow-fishing was seen as a way to keep the muscles in shape for bowhunting season in the fall. Those days are over. Now bow-fishing has a popularity all its own.

STACY HARRISDUTCH OVENSPerhaps you’ve noticed the increased interest in dutch ovens lately, espe-cially among people like you – outdoor sports en-thusiasts.

DRIVEN Pat and Nicole Reeve have a new book called “Trophy Whitetails” Television per-sonalities and avid hunt-ers, they also happen to be husband and wife and they produce a weekly show on the Outdoor Channel called Driven TV.

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WOODS & WATER: MISS KANSAS

Miss Kansas to Host ‘Limitless’ Hunting Show THERESA VAIL IS NOT JUST IN KANSAS ANYMORE

Even though her reign as Miss Kansas ends in June, the lifelong hunter and National Guard member is planning her next career move. While not exactly the “girlie girl” that most beauty contestants portray, Vail is every outdoor sportsman’s teen dream.

The 23-year-old broke ste-reotypes last year when she won the Miss Kansas title, and although she lost her bid to become Miss America Vail is shooting footage for her new hunting show on the Outdoor Channel called “Limitless.”

According to The Wichita Eagle, she got a call from the network shortly after the Miss America Pageant, during which she won the “America’s Choice” award in an online vote.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HUNTING SHOW

“I told them I didn’t want to do what everybody else was doing and they said they didn’t either,” Vail said. “We both wanted it to have more than just me on hunts. I was sold from there on.”

Since she is an avid bow-hunter, it will surprise no-body that Limitless will focus partly on Vail’s skills with a bow and arrow. Unlike most other hunting programs, Vail’s show will also shine a spotlight on local heroes and those who push them-selves to the limits.

An early episode will put her in a New Mexico elk hunt as well as surviving a day’s training with US Forest Service “smokejumpers.” These elite wilderness firefighters earned their name by jumping into remote areas by parachute to battle forest fires. Their duties often take them into harm’s way, and smokejumpers are required to be at the height of mental and physical preparedness.“I’m not afraid to say, ‘Hey, I don’t know how to do this,’ but I want to learn and do it myself,” Vail explained.

Along will the completion of her college degree and work with outdoor brands such as Bass Pro Shops and Realtree, Vail also decided to re-enlist with the Kansas National Guard for an additional six years“Whatever I decide to do, I know that I will not lose sight of my cause,” Vail said. “I will continue to speak to women, empowering and challenging them to step outside of their comfort zones. I pray that God continues to use me as His servant, working through me to reach others. I am here to serve.”

W W W . P A C - S Y S T E M S . C O M

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AN EXPERIMENT IN CONSERVATION A ROARING SUCCESS

AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE, ELK ARE BEING RESTORED TO THE SOUTHEAST

There are few animals as majestic as an elk in the wild and no organization has done more to preserve that ani-mal’s survival than the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Back in 2002, with the help of this foundation, Ken-tucky, Tennessee and Great Smoky Mountains National Park were busy relocating elk and establishing their first wild herds in more than a century.

Today, those historic efforts are cycling again with new elk populations now on the ground in Missouri and Virginia, a feasibility study continuing in Mary-land, and public sentiment growing for returning elk to West Virginia. This has been a tour de force in con-servation!

THE LATEST ELK RESTORATION EFFORT - VIRGINIA

Thanks in large part to the efforts of the Rocky Moun-tain Elk Foundation, in April a group of 45 elk arrived in Virginia’s Buchanan County. The pack was the last transit of the animals from nearby Kentucky as part of Virginia’s Elk Management and Restoration Plan, which has a short-term goal of raising the state’s elk population to 400.

In a report published in the Bristol Herald Courier, Leon Boyd a volunteer with the local chapter of the RMEF said, “Always when we get this close to getting them, we get excited. Now that the weather has been better, folks want to get out and look for shed antlers, and we have noticed that counties want to bring kids from the school system over to see them. It’s always exciting to see other counties getting involved.”

The restoration program, which is funded by the RMEF, initially called for 75 elk to be relocated from Kentucky when it was launched in 2012. This lat-est group of elk to reach Virginia is by far the largest transported across state lines in the last three years, and will be joining a herd of about 30 animals already living in the state. Wildlife biologists are now keeping a careful eye on the elk, who have mostly stuck to the several thousand acres of private and public land in Buchanan County allotted for their use.

This is not the first time that the state has tried to rein-troduce elk. Virginia wildlife officials imported elk to 11 counties back in in 1916 in an attempt to restore a native population, but those releases failed. By 1926, only two small herds remained and managed to eek out an existence until the 1970s. By that time, disease and extreme isolation drove the elk once again out of the state.

Virginia used to be home to a vast number of elk, but habitat loss and unregulated hunting caused the spe-cies to become extirpated in the late 1800s. Drawing inspiration from successful restorations in Kentucky and other states, biologists are hopeful that this at-tempt will have lasting results.

REBUILDING THE ELK POPULATION FOR MORE THAN A DECADE

“More than ten years ago, RMEF was amid the first great wave of energy for restoring elk to eastern states,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “We helped re-establish a small herd in Wisconsin in 1995. And then came a big surge of interest in re-turning elk to other parts of their native range in the East. Between 1996 and 2002, we helped relocate nearly 1,800 elk, to places where a wild elk hadn’t been seen since the Civil War.”

He added, “For several years that followed, chronic wasting disease concerns pushed the pause button on elk restoration. But now we’re seeing a resur-gence helped by now established source herds in the East.”

Then and now, RMEF provides state and provincial wildlife agencies with financial and technical assis-tance for their elk restoration efforts.

Funding comes from RMEF volunteer-hosted fund-raisers, membership drives, partners and donors. Volunteers and RMEF staff also provide essential labor.

WOODS & WATER: SOUTHEASTERN ELK

Project phases regularly supported by RMEF in-clude assessing habitat, measuring local public sup-port, capturing and transplanting elk from healthy source herds across North America, monitoring herd health and assisting with ongoing habitat enhance-ment, research and management.

“We hope this second great wave of eastern elk res-toration projects goes as well as the first,” added Allen. “Twenty years ago, elk were not part of the Southern Appalachian landscape. Today, they’re found from Pennsylvania to Tennessee.”

A STATUS REPORT ON ELK RESTO-RATION IN THE SOUTHEAST

Here’s a current look at the herds that were benefit-ting from RMEF involvement in 2002. Source: The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Kentucky—RMEF helped release 1,547 elk into Ken-tucky during 1997-2002. Now with approximately 10,000 elk, the state boasts the East’s showcase herd. Nuisance complaints over the past several years have remained stable. In 2011, for the state’s eleventh elk hunt, 800 hunting permits were available (200 bull and 600 ant-lerless), and participating hunters harvested 551 elk and achieved a success rate of 65 percent. For 2012, the state has added another 100 permits. The Kentucky Depart-ment of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KFWR) and Uni-versity of Kentucky are specifically researching causes of bull mortality. In 2011-12, with support from RMEF, more than 100 bulls were captured and fitted with GPS tracking collars.

To date, RMEF has helped fund 31 projects supporting elk restoration in Kentucky with a total value of more than $6.1 million.

WOODS & WATER: SOUTHEASTERN ELK

Tina Brunjes, deer and elk coordinator for KFWR, said, “RMEF has been invaluable to the elk project in Kentucky from the very beginning. Now that we’ve restored this great animal, RMEF’s support of research like the bull mortality study is critical to the ongoing success of our elk management program.”

Tennessee—RMEF helped release 201 elk into Tennessee dur-ing 2000-2008. The state’s elk herd continues to grow slowly and now numbers approximately 400 animals. Elk have become a popular attraction at Hatfield Knob Wildlife Viewing Area, where several thousands of visitors come to watch elk. Tennes-see held its third elk hunt in 2011. Five bull permits were al-lotted and three bulls were taken. For 2012, a sixth bull permit was allotted for one youth hunter. Destructive feral hogs have become a habitat concern and controlling their numbers in the elk restoration zone is now the No. 1 priority of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). Also new is an ambitious habitat plan for the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area where managers hope to improve elk forage with pre-scribed fire across 10,000 acres over the next 10 years.

To date, RMEF has helped fund 13 projects supporting elk res-toration in Tennessee with a total value of more than $1.2 mil-lion.

Steve Bennett, wildlife biologist and elk restoration leader for TWRA, said, “TWRA and its many partners in elk restoration continue to work hard to develop habitat for elk and other wild-life. RMEF and its volunteers are providing critical support. Just like the first elk release in the state in 2000, we couldn’t develop a growing herd today without them.”

Great Smoky Mountains—RMEF helped release 52 elk into the North Carolina section of the national park during 2001-2002. Today the herd numbers ap-proximately 140 animals. Elk watching has become a major draw for park visitors. Studies show signifi-cant local economic benefits from elk-related tour-ism in the park’s Cataloochee Valley. There is no hunting inside the park. However, small herds have expanded onto North Carolina state lands and East-ern Band of the Cherokee tribal lands adjoining the park. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Com-mission is currently assessing habitat and feasibil-ity of establishing elk herds to state lands outside of park boundaries. As a result, limited hunting oppor-tunities could arise in the future.

To date, RMEF has helped fund 8 projects support-ing elk restoration in Great Smoky Mountains Na-tional Park with a total value of more than $1.3 mil-lion.

Joe Yarkovich, wildlife biologist for Great Smoky Mountains National Park, said, “As the small elk herd that RMEF helped to establish continues to grow and expand its range both inside and outside of park boundaries, interest from both managers and the general public continues to climb. The Smoky Mountain elk population has become a small herd with a very big future.”

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was founded over 30 years ago, fueled by hunters and a mem-bership of more than 200,000 strong, RMEF has conserved more than 6.4 million acres for elk and other wildlife. RMEF also works to open and im-prove public access, fund and advocate for science-based resource management, and ensure the future of America’s hunting heritage. You can discover why “Hunting Is Conservation™” at www.rmef.org or 800-CALL ELK.

Staying Out of Sight with Oilfield Camo

LOUISIANA COMPANY MAKES CAMO THAT THE OIL & GAS INDUSTRY LOVES TO WEAR

Any hunter knows the function of camouflage. It’s used to hide yourself, your gun and your gear from the game being pursued, some of which have excel-lent sight. People have been using camouflage in some form fashion from the beginning of human civi-lization. In fact, the basic idea of camouflage predates humans entirely. It comes from the natural adaptations that let animals blend in with their environment.

While most camo patterns mimic natural environments and seasons, a relatively new pattern has emerged and its images have captured the imagination of hunters – especially those hunters who make their living in the oil and gas industry. In just 4 years, Oilfield Camo has become a badge of courage for hunters who make their living from the oil and gas industry.

HOW OILFIELD CAMO CAME ABOUT

The company’s history is traced on its website. We’ve paraphrased it here.

Oilfield Camo was born around a campfire, with a group of friends gathered around, talking about past hunting trips and the outdoor lifestyle. They realized they had many things in common, including their love of the outdoors and the industry in which most of them worked - the Oil and gas Industry. It was then that it dawned on Oilfield Camo’s founder, Mark Lipari, to bring these things they had in common together and create a camouflage pattern unique to the Oil and Gas Industry. The men and women of the Oil and Gas Industry take pride in the work that they do --- many being third and fourth generation Oilfield workers. Along with the sense of pride they feel for their hard work comes an ap-preciation for the time away from their jobs as well, much of which is spent hunting and fishing.

…Oilfield Camo aims to be a point of pride for those who work in the Oil and Gas Industry and spend their free time in the great outdoors. From this, our motto was derived: It’s not just a pat-tern… It’s a way of life.

…In designing the Oilfield camo pattern, Lipari considered where people hunt. Drawing influ-ence from his South Louisiana surroundings, he started with a color scheme that would be effective in hardwood, marsh, or any other surroundings. From this, rather than using bark, branches, or leaf patterns to break up the hunter’s silhouette, Lipari chose oilfield icons such as rigs, platforms, crewboats, liftboats, helicopters, and other iden-tifiable images to build a pattern that is both in-credibly effective and meaningful as well.

In a recent chat with Woods & Water, Cory LaGrange, marketing and media manager for the company noted, “Almost 10 million people in the US alone have jobs because of the Oil and Gas Industry, and those numbers are growing every year. We know how proud WE have been to work in the industry that keeps the country and the world moving. And we know we share that pride, so Oilfield Camo was a no brainer for us.”

THERE IS A WIDE RANGE OF OILFIELD CAMO PRODUCTS

“Oilfield Camo started with a small core line,” said LaGrange. “We had the twill pants and button down shirts you’d expect any reputable camo pattern to have. However since our start, we’ve grown the line to include every-thing from premium weatherproof hunting gear to hunting dog accessories.”

He continued, “As we’ve grown the brand, one of our largest areas of movement has been in the promotional products market. We have so many oil and gas companies that believe in what we’re doing that they want their logo associated with our pattern. It’s a great endorsement for us that we’ve got some of the world’s largest companies tracking us down to put their logo on our pattern.”

In developing these partnerships, these com-panies wanted to be able to set themselves apart at trade shows with promos and give their employees logoed incentives which they actually WANT to hold on to. The OC pattern adds real value to products that have been just throwaways in the past. The Oilfield Camo pattern turns those forgettable items into something that these guys really want to hold onto because it represents them”

Based on the growth in the promotional industry, the OC pattern can now be found on everything from office supply products to tally books, and other promotional products. It’s also partnering with well-known, international brands.

“We’ve developed a partnership with Igloo Coolers where they’re putting the pattern on their popular Yukon cool-ers and their new soft sided coolers, said LaGrange. “On the apparel end, we’ve just finished up work with Walls Workwear. They’ll be helping us roll out our brand new apparel line as well as our Flame Resistant apparel which has been one of the most asked for items since we started the company.”

Cory proudly noted, “It’s definitely an exciting year for Oilfield Camo!”

WHERE DO YOU FIND OILFIELD CAMO PRODUCTS?

Hunters and anyone else who likes wearing camo attire can find this unique pattern is several places. The com-pany has a web store at www.oilfieldcamo.com where anyone can order from the complete line of products.

“As we’ve grown, we’ve developed some key license partnerships that put us at the front of many different prod-uct categories, noted LaGrange. “We have licensed our pattern to some of the most tried and true brands out there: Walls, Igloo, Outdoor Cap, Kati Sportcap, AJM, Numo/Kolder just to name a few. These companies have proven to be leaders in their markets and we are always looking to develop licensing partnerships with companies who see the value in what Oilfield Camo can bring to their product lines.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

In the coming year, the OC team is very much on the move. “We’re making a big move by upgrading our line through our partnership with Walls,” notes LaGrange. “We have all of the products that experienced hunters demand as far as hunting apparel that sportsmen can really rely on. In working with Walls, we’re also going to be launching our first line of fire-resistant apparel in the fall. Men in the oilfield will be able to wear their Oilfield Camo gear on the job and in the field with there two lines, which is something that we’re very excited about.”

Oilfield Camo has also partnered with a number of promotional products distributors to help provide products to companies who want to use the Oilfield Camo pattern to help promote their business. This includes everything from koozies and key chains to high-end drinkwear, stress balls, technology cases and sleeves and much more.

“At this point, the team is focusing on building the brand and getting our name out there to the masses, LaGrange sums up. “We’re also focusing a lot of our attention on building strategic licensing partners and providing quality products for the members of the Oilfield Camo Nation. We know that our custom-ers work hard for the money that they earn, and we want to bring them products that they can be proud of, all while representing the industry that keeps the world moving.”

As new drilling technologies enable the oil and gas industry to find and retrieve energy from a wide range of places, the OC Nation will definitely add a few more citizens and many of them will be looking for that Oilfield Camo come opening day of dove season.

To watch country music artist Frank Foster in an Oilfield Camo Texas hunt, click on the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6wVrIvAF4E#t=173

Don’t Miss the Fun of Bowfishing

HERE ARE SOME TIPS

There was a time when spring and summer bowfish-ing was seen as a way to keep the muscles in shape for bowhunting season in the fall. Those days are over. Now bowfishing has a popularity all its own.

The equipment can be as simple or a complicated as you want. A simple recurve bow, which allows for quick shots, and some other rudimentary gear will allow an archer of any expertise to be spearing fish in no time. The only real requirement is the time it takes to practice the shots.

CRAFTINESS AND A GOOD EYE

With bowfishing, the shots are usually close – rarely more than 25 feet – and bows of just about any draw length or poundage will work just fine. The trick to this type of fishing (and isn’t there ALWAYS a trick) involves craftiness and a good eye. One must choose locations for taking the shot very carefully and be able to deal with the fact that the shot has to go through water and this can offer an optical illusion for the shooter.Because of the laws of physics which involve light refraction in water, the fish appear to be a lot nearer the surface than they actually are. Therefore, it is necessary to aim well below the fish in order to hit the target. It drives you a little crazy at first, but you get over it pretty quickly.What You Need to Get started

Many bowfishermen use a recurve bow but compound bow work too. There is a disadvan-tage of a compound bow in that they must be drawn back all the way in order to shoot. Since bowfishing shots are often performed quickly and with little warning, a recurve, or one of the wheel-bows made for bowfishing (without a let-off), allows for a quick draw and a must faster shot.

Arrows for bowfishing should be made of solid fiberglass. Since they hit bottom a lot, they need the stur-diness that fiberglass offers. Arrows made of fiberglass also weigh more and this gives them the kinetic energy they need to penetrate the water and the fish.

There are several different bowfishing tip designs, but they all have one primary feature in common. There will be some sort of prongs to keep them from pulling back out of the fish. The prongs can be reversed to remove the fish from the arrow once you get it reeled in.

There are all types of reels for bowfishing. The simple spool reels cost in the neighborhood of $20 and other, more elaborate reels can cost over $100. Since the reel has very little to do with snaring the fish one’s choice depends on personal preference.

FINDING FISH

Carp, bowfin, gar, buffalo and drum are all popular fish to pursue with a bow. When the water warms up in late spring – usually 70 degrees – carp move to shallow water to spawn. This can run from May in the upper Midwest to as late as June in Canada. These carp may remain shallow where they are vulnerable to bowfishing for almost a month, but bowfish-ing experts say the best action will be in a window of opportunity of two weeks or less. Just remember: the best spots are where you find the warmest water.

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The warmest spots in a lake tend to be shallow bays with vegetation and dark bottoms and these areas are good places to look when it’s sunny. Also, during summer, carp are found in shallow, warm water where they eat plants off the surface and look for insects and dead baitfish to eat.

Sometimes, the carp are found lying just below the surface, sunning themselves. However, it should be remembered that they are extremely spooky and the bowfisherman must apply all the stealth he or she can muster in order to sneak up on him. Again, shots will generally be short.

As noted earlier, the light on the water makes the target look closer to the surface than it actually is. So, in order to be successful one must shoot be-low them to hit them. This is one thing that has to become second nature and just about everyone who takes up bowfishing misses a few fish in the beginning.

Bowfishing IS a great way to keep your back and shoulder muscles in shape for big game hunting in the fall. However, it’s more than that. It’s a great way to get out on the water and bring back some fish for the table.

ON A MISSION

The coffee maker emanated a welcoming scent—one much more appealing than the typical wake-up call. The five a.m. preprogrammed brew came early subsequent to the long trip. However, the coffee’s aroma was welcome nonetheless for some weary travellers.

After a two-day, long-anticipated drive, we spent the evening preparing our fishing gear prior to hitting the rack the previous night. Cal—my son—and I woke up and slowly and traversed the path from bedroom to bathroom then downstairs to the main floor as if two zombies drawn to the brew’s bouquet.

As we poured our cups, my aging father welcomed us with his usual smile and endearingly positive greeting. He was always more chipper than us in the morning—characteristically joyful at the idea he actually woke up and was just glad to still be alive.

By Stephen Schiller

Two days prior, we left Nashville, Tennessee and picked up my father in Ohio on our way to Cavendish, Vermont. He made the trip with us and earned the downstairs master bed-room adjacent to the kitchen. Rank hath its privileges. My dad began making the trip with Cal shortly after 9-11 as a way to spend time with his oldest grandson—since I immediately deployed to Afghanistan—as a diversion and to go do some “man-shit.”

In those early years, they began their trek in Nashville and drove to a small log cabin at the mouth of a small brook that fed Parmachenee Lake in northern Maine. There they fly-fished the streams together, trolled the lake, ate their catch and roughed the nights. A singular wood stove heated the two-story cabin.

They also enjoyed watching the bald eagles, moose and other wildlife in the serene surroundings. Following a week at Par-machenee, they’d drive southwest to Cavendish and to fish the Black River with friends and relatives. To this day, I’m grate-ful my father spent quality time teaching his young grandson to fly fish and hunt while I was fighting a war and chasing down Al Qaeda bad guys.

A few years into their annual ritual, they finally invited me. I worked diligently to get some leave to make the trip. My son—now a trip veteran and showing me the ropes—taught me to fly fish. Growing up in Missouri, I camped, fished and hunted but fly-fishing was not in the repertoire. Thus, Cal taught me on the first trip to Maine and the follow-on trip to Vermont. I was hooked.

NOW, THIS WAS OUR FIFTH SUCH TRIP

The Vermont House was an old and rickety—built in the late 1800’s. It served as a boarding house for regional skiers by winter and fishermen by summer. It had five large bedrooms, each filled with bunk beds to maximize its capacity. After filling our cof-fee mugs, we struggled to the car. The mist from our breath reminded us of just how cool a May morning could be in Vermont. The sun had yet to introduce itself for the day, however, the dim glow to the east was enough light to get around without a much trou-ble. Our strict morning routine took us to Ludlow’s Café at DeLight. The neighboring town—only a few miles away—had one restaurant open early enough for eager fisherman. The quaint restaurant served hot coffee and breakfast-food while providing us the per-fect venue for male bonding and planning our day’s fishing strategy. Our older relatives and friends had frequented the “The Black” annually for almost 30 years; thus they knew the area well.

Vermont’s Black River is fed by the Green Moun-tains near Okemo Mountain resort. The river flows east through Springfield before it empties into the Connecticut River at the border of New Hampshire. This beautiful country was home to my grandparents who first settled in Rutland after immigrating from Germany and Ireland.

SYSTEMS, INC.

The picturesque Black River is home to large native rain-bows and browns. The rocky, fast-flowing river can be quite daunting for the novice fly fisherman but provides the perfect learning atmosphere for a beginner. The section of the Black River between Cavendish to Perkinsville provides four miles of easy access, beautiful swift moving water with numerous riffles, runs and pools. Interspersed on this stretch, the river seems to fall rapidly strewn with copious large boulders mak-ing the river difficult to navigate—in some places—but also offers areas for large browns hiding the deep pools.

An assortment of bait is used and the river is not restricted here to merely artificial. Live bait, dry flies and wet flies all work well. Interestingly in early to mid-May, one can peruse the banks of the river and find the intimidating hellgrammite often used for bait—if you have the gumption to get it on your hook. The daunting larva of the Dobson Fly is an inter-esting species. One large rainbow we cleaned had as many as ten hellgrammites in its abdomen. The hellgrammite was a testy little fellow with pinchers on both ends of its body that gripped for dear life. It was quite the site to watch one hook the wrangling larvae at his large head. If hooked properly, you can drift the live bait in the stream without reservation that you’d lose him. Artificial baits that work well include the Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle (size 14), Bead Head Prince Nymph, Copper Johns, Caddis, Stonefly, and Zebra midges (sizes 18-22). My favor-ite is Jeremy’s (http://www.flysandguides.com) salmon egg. His artificial egg is the absolute best replication of a salmon egg drifting in a stream and its presentation is foolproof. It almost always catches fish when all else fails.

We also like to drop a size 20-22 midges approximately 18-24 inches from a dry fly—depending on water depth. This technique too works very well during hatches as an Elk Hair Caddis or Parachute Adams seem to do the trick. Too, the midge offers another option for the rainbows on the bottom.

San Juan worms are a must following a rain. I learned this trick from one of the older, more experienced friends on the trip. Bill—always reluctant to share his successes—seemed to have significantly more success on the rainy days than the rest of us. I couldn’t figure it out and finally pressed him for his technique. One night, while watching the NHL playoffs, I gladly fetched several glasses of Jack and Coke for him until he confessed to using worms—both artificial and lo-cally harvested. Thus, we started drifting worms. The San Juan worm—brown or red—works well as a trailer from a dry fly.

A harvested Hellgrammite from the Black River – 2-3 inches in length

On this day, Cal hooked the dream fish. Watching him struggle with the behemoth, I quickly moved to the bank and grounded my rod. I secured my net and struggled to move downstream from Cal in the rush-ing water. He was managing the fish well as it made several runs at him trying to free itself from his fly.

We awed at the fish’s girth during glimpses as the fish danced on the water’s surface wrangling with the line. He was massive. Not as nimble anymore, I struggled in the river moving laterally from side to side trying to net the fish. Cal was working the fish to my net; however, the fish was having none of it. After ten or so minutes of this unsophisticated tango, the fish was beginning to tire.

Cal was yelling at me to not spook the fish as I tripped and struggled to move. As I neared the fish, I saw him and as expected, he was massive. The large brown struggled as much as we did. He was moving side-to-side fighting for his freedom. In my exasperation, I startled him and he made one last run to loosen the lines grip, he spit out the fly and Cal’s line went limp straightening his rod.

I was devastated. Among the biggest and best fish he ever had and I blew it! I scared the fish away in my desperation to net him. Cal was disappointed but was thankful to have had the experience. He didn’t say a word…until later that night over a few beers. Then tongue-in-cheek, he made sure we all knew that I had blown it. Cal and I on his last trip home

More important than catching fish on our trips is the ability to spend time with my kids. Having served in the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation unit, I didn’t have the freedom of weekends and holidays to be a normal father—spe-cifically following 9-11. I am now retired and Cal is in the Army as a Special Forces Operator. Stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, now it is difficult for him to break away for a casual weekend trip to the river. Nonetheless, we still make time for fishing, hunting, hiking and camping excursions. Our time together—as minimal as it is these days—is still our most memorable.

We have two wonderful children who are now successful, contributive adults. I owe the vast majority of that success to my wife who raised our children—nearly alone as an Army wife. Seeing the end product, she did a magnificent job and is my true hero.

Also, I have shared numerous adventures with our daughter, Courtney. We’ve explored remote areas of Oahu, hiked Mount Rainier, camped Yosemite as well as drank wine together in Napa Valley. She’s a conceal carry permit holder who likes to shoot as well as watching a good NHL fight.

I cherish the time with my children and I have concluded that it isn’t the quantity of time you spend with them—it’s the quality of time you spend with them.

Stephen Schiller is a retired Army Colonel and former Commander of Task Force 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. He is founder of Schiller Consulting, LLC. www.schillerconsultinggroup.com

Perhaps you’ve noticed the increased interest in dutch ovens lately, especially among people like you – outdoor sports enthusiasts. These old-timey, cast iron cookers have been around for many generations and if you’re like me, your grandmother probably used one and her grandmother did too.

The renewed popularity of dutch ovens is a part of the “everything old is new again” phe-nomenon that is also reflected in increased demand for organic food products, interest in “slow food” (as opposed to fast food) prepara-tion and what may be the megatrend – sus-tainable living. More on this later. This trend seems to be a natural backlash to the highly-processed, chemically-infused foods that have been around since the 1950s.

One of the most articulate advocates of sustain-able living also happens to be an expert on cook-ing with a dutch oven. Her name is Stacy Harris and she has become a force of nature. Stacy is a self-described back to basics gal from the tiny town of Pike Road, Alabama. She has been a practicing attorney and fashion model but for the past few years has become a wife and mother to 7 children. She has also become one of the pio-neers for the “farm to fork” movement of sustain-able cooking.

Stacy has written 3 cookbooks including; Recipes and Tips for Sustainable Living. Tracking the Out-doors In and Wildgame: Food for your Family. She also has a DVD that deer hunters will probably want to add to their library: Gourmet Venison with Stacy Harris. She has appeared on many outdoor sports and food-focused television shows includ-ing: Deer and Deer Hunting, Destination White-tail, the Jackie Bushman Show, and The Sporting Chef.

Getting in DutchSTACY HARRIS TALKS ABOUT DUTCH OVENS,

COOKING VENISON AND LIVING A SUSTAINABLE LIFE

WOODS & WATER: STACEY HARRIS DUTCH OVENSEven with her publishing empire growing, she still makes time to home-school her kids and feed them and her husband home-cooked meals made from harvested game and locally raised vegetables. Our conversation with Stacy was originally to be fo-cused on dutch oven cooking, but with her wealth of knowledge and first-hand experience about sus-tainable living, we couldn’t resist a brief chat about this subject too.

Woods & Water: What is sustainable living and cooking?

Stacy Harris: We no longer live in communities where people grow their own wheat or rice, but if you can live in an area where you can grow some of what you put on the table and get the rest of the food from America – where we live – that’s sustain-able living.

Sustainable cooking involves harvesting food from your own land, getting food from what your neigh-bors can provide and what your local farmer’s mar-ket can provide you. It’s free of chemicals and a naturally-grown product. It means you know where the food comes from. It means harvesting your own meat (if you can) or getting it from someplace where it was harvested from the wild and eating from sources that are around you.

To me, that’s sustainable. We’re helping each oth-er to sustain life. It takes more than just yourself, but you can grow or make most of it on your own. That’s how we eat at our house.

And you’re feeding seven children and a hungry husband…

Yes (laughing). In a blog I was writing the other day I noted that we had to get a hundred plants to get enough asparagus to feed us! Being able to calcu-late how many plants you need to feed your family and maybe having a little left over to give away, that’s the way of a sustainable lifestyle.

You have been an attorney, model and busi-nesswoman. How did you decide to get involved in this back-to-land movement? I think it revolves around my husband. He is a huge hunter and when we got married I didn’t know how to prepare the food he brought to the table. He cooked it pretty well but he cooked it the same way, over and over. So, I tried to see if I could make dishes that were incredibly tasty and beautiful. I started looking for ways to do this and in the process discovered the health benefits.

After I learned this, I asked myself “why would I stop at the meat?” So, we added a garden. It was really an innocent or accidental way of get-ting into sustainable cooking. After we got the garden going, we added honey with our own bees…then chickens. It’s just kind of evolved into what it is today.

Younger people today are taking note of the health benefits of this type of lifestyle where they are eating from the wild or organic. This is because you know where the food has been, what the chickens have been fed and you know how it’s processed. It’s hard these days, what with GMO (genetically modified organisms), to know what these chemicals are doing to our bodies. Younger people are taking note of that and wanting to stay healthy.

Some would say that part of cooking sustain-ably involves cooking with a dutch oven. Do you know why they call it a “dutch” oven?

Some form of dutch oven has been around all cultures since the beginning of time. People would make pots out of clay and put a lid on it. However, the dutch oven that we’re aware of is one which is cast iron and it has a lid which is tight-fitting. It’s been around for about 300 years.

The first dutch ovens came from the Netherlands, where it was called a “Brad pan.” Their system of creating the cast iron pots was superior to the other European pots. They used dry sand as the mold. A guy named Edwin Darby went to the Netherlands to observe how they made these Dutch ovens. He brought this back to the other Europeans and the name just stuck because the Dutch were so good at making these types of vessels to cook in.

Why do you think this method of cooking is so popular now?

There are so many advantages to cooking in a dutch oven. I have a large family and I cook in one all of the time. It’s one of those one-pot meals! The “slow cooker” has become a popular way to cook but you can do the same thing in a dutch oven. You can dump a bunch of ingredients in the pot, leave it cooking all day and it’s fantastic.

I like to brown my meat before I put any vegetables and any other liquid in it. There is nothing that browns meat better than cast iron. So, it’s the perfect vessel. You brown your meat, then you put in everything else and the caramelization is fantastic. The flavors have time to meld with each other. You can also cook sustainably by picking ingredients from your garden from what’s in season.

They’re also durable and not that expensive, depending on the type of dutch oven you buy. In addition to cast iron, you can get dutch ovens in enamel and they’re beautiful. While I have them and love them, I don’t cook over an open fire with the enamel ovens. The cast iron versions usually come with little feet on the bottom and you can put them directly on top of the fire. So, they are versatile. They are also versatile in the sense that you can boil or fry in them and they’re pretty much indestructible.

What are the nutritional benefits of cooking in a dutch oven?

This is kind of funny. My grandmother, who is my inspiration for cooking in a dutch oven, would look at me and say: “You look a little pale. You look like you could use a little iron. You just need to cook in your cast iron skillet all the time!” I always thought that this was some kind of old wives tale, but it is true, you do get a little iron when you cook in your cast iron skillets and pots.

When you use a dutch oven, over and over, it gets seasoned. This means you don’t have to use a lot of fat, so you’re going to be eating leaner. You may want to add a little just for flavor, but for the most part the caramelization will give you all of the flavor you need.

Since everyone now has a designated “griller” in the family, which method do you prefer – dutch oven or grill?

They both have their benefits. Since I use mine all of the time, if there was one thing I would take on a desert island, it would be my dutch oven! The other day I made some chicken in my dutch oven. I browned the chicken pieces in the oven and then used a grill attachment. After grilling, I wanted to add some wine and some vegetables, so I added all of the ingredients in one oven and got the best of both worlds.

From a convenience standpoint, grilling is really convenient, but the clean-up with a dutch oven is much easier. I’m not sure which is more convenient, but I do more cooking with a dutch oven than with a grill.

What are your favorite recipes for your dutch oven?

I cook lamb stew, eggplant parmesan, roasted chicken and braised venison. I think my very favorite is my venison bourguignon and I have that recipe in my cookbook: “Tracking the Outdoors In.” I also have recipes in my Recipes and Tips for Sustainable Living which use dutch ovens.

My other favorite recipe is one where I make sweet potato biscuits in a dutch oven. You can bake in it and they are so delicious. You can also make pizza in it. I have a pizza recipe in my “Sustainable Living” cookbook and it is just to die for!

While venison is not as hard to prepare as say wild geese, it can be a challenge to make it tasty.

I agree, especially about wild geese. As for venison, it’s so differ-ent from beef. The problem is that most people cook it like beef and when you do that, it’s going to taste like rubber. Then people are going to think that they don’t like the meat and this has noth-ing to do with. The flavor of the venison meat is just amazing. The texture and the taste are outstanding if it’s done right.

Woods & Water: STACEY HARRIS DUTCH OVENS

On my DVD, Gourmet Venison with Stacy Har-ris, I teach you what to do with certain cuts of the meat…what to do with them. It’s teaching you to make your own recipes around the certain cuts of meat.

Where can someone find dutch ovens?

You can find them lots of places. Camp Chef has some really cool ones which I’ve used on some cooking shows such as The Sporting Chef. A lot of mine were passed down through the generations. I’m planning on doing the same thing. I’ve got four girls so I’m trying to collect different styles to give them. I think this is a neat gift because every time I cook with the cast iron pots that I got from my grandmother, I think of her and the recipes she made.

How can people keep up with you? Where’s the best place to find information on Stacy Harris?

I have a website – www.gameandgarden.com you can find me there. You can find me on Facebook – Sustainable Stacy – just type that into the Face-book search. I’m on Twitter, Pinterest and what-ever your favorite social media is, I’m there. You can also Google Stacy Harris and you should get some sites where my recipes and tips are found.

I send out a weekly newsletter and you can sign up to get this at my website. It’s free and it gives you information about our family and what we’re doing. We’re experimenting all the time – from hy-droponic gardening to growing cabbage.

There is not nearly enough time in a typical inter-view to cover ALL of the things that Stacy Harris knows! However, maybe this article will get you hooked on her and her attitudes about life. Every day and in everything she does – from her fam-ily to spreading the common sense of sustainable living – Stacy is a role model for men and women who think of themselves as stewards of the great outdoors.

SYSTEMS, INC.

What Type of Dutch Oven is Right for You?

Editor’s note: There are so many Dutch ovens and cast iron cooking pots and pans on the market it’s hard to know which one works best for you. To help you decide, we asked an expert for his opinion. Paul Ayo is a self-taught chef who has been cook-ing since he was 10-years old and he is the owner of E’s Kitchen in Lafayette, Louisiana.

By: Paul Ayo Owner E’s Kitchen Lafayette, LA

Dutch ovens are versatile pots that have been used for centuries. I was lucky to inherit my great grand-mother’s cast iron one and still purchased a few others. Different styles are better for certain appli-cations but rest assured that if you buy any one of them you will love it and wonder how you lived without it. Here are three different styles of Dutch Ovens.

Lodge Traditional Cast Iron 5 quart $60 Retail www.lodgemfg.com

Traditional cast iron is great at retaining heat and thankfully pre-seasoned if you buy from Lodge. This is the only large manufacturer of cast iron that is made in the USA so you can show your pride. These are great for cooking outdoors and can last more than one lifetime if you take care of them. The drawbacks are that they are heavy and a little harder to maintain. They will rust in a heartbeat if you don’t dry them and keep them seasoned. For-tunately they can easily be refinished and used again. They are slow to heat up but once they get there they will hold the temp which makes them great for searing, frying and roasting. I don’t recom-mend cooking highly acidic foods in them as this can cause pitting. Don’t ever and I mean EVER put these in the dishwasher.

Le Creuset French Oven 5.5 quart $280 retail www.lecreuset.com

Since this one is made in France they of course do not call it a Dutch oven but that is what it is. This pot functions similarly to the Lodge but the ceramic coating make it easier to maintain and available in more colors than just black. Women tend to like these since they are prettier and easier to clean. You will never have to re-season the surface but it can chip if dropped or hit with something hard. Unlike uncoated cast iron these can handle acidic dishes and are especially good for soups. The big-gest drawback is the price, which is not cheap but you will only have to buy it once even if you forget to dry it. There are other brands that have coated cast iron but none are as durable and crack resis-tant as Le Creuset which I learned the hard way. If you absolutely must have coated cast iron, do it right the first time and just shell out the bucks for Le Creuset. You won’t regret it in a few years.

Swiss Diamond 8.5 quart Stock Pot $215 retail www.swissdiamond.com

Once again the company calls it something different but it’s still a Dutch oven. The great thing about this one is that it is cast aluminum and therefore much lighter than either of the other two. Aluminum also reacts differently than iron and will heat up and cool off faster. This is great when cooking more delicate items and also means you can wash it sooner with-out burning yourself. The durable diamond infused coating brown better than any non-stick I have ever used so you can still make a beautiful gravy. It also comes with a glass lid that has a built in venting sys-tem. You can put the lid on and still see what is go-ing on. This pot has really become a go to for us because of its lightness and easy of cleaning since you really just have to wipe it out and you are done.

As you can see the there are several great choices in the market for Dutch Ovens. I love all three for dif-ferent reasons but if you made me live with just one I would have to go with the Swiss Diamond. It cooks perfectly, cleans easily and does not make you feel like you just finished lifting weights at the gym.

Remember, make cooking fun.

For more information about cast iron cooking equipment, click on the website for E’s Kitchen www.eskitchen.com or contact Paul directly via email at paul@eskitchen.com

To follow E’s Kitchen on Facebook www.facebook.com/#!/eskitchenlaf

Paul Ayo

THE HUSBAND AND WIFE STARS OF “DRIVEN TV” TALK WHITETAILS

Whitetail deer are the most pursued game animal in North America. Hunters of all ages and both genders spend billions of dollars on the passionate pursuit of this animal. Television personalities and avid hunters Pat and Nicole Reeve also happen to be husband and wife and they produce a weekly show on the Outdoor Chan-nel called Driven TV.

With the help of their friend and writer Duncan Dobie, they also have a new book out entitled: Trophy White-tails with Pat and Nicole Reeve: Tips and Tactics from the Driven Team. Recently, they took some time to talk to Woods & Water about the new book.

Woods & Water: Your huge TV fan base is used to see-ing Pat and Nicole on television, but they might be sur-prised to see your smiling faces on the cover of a book. How did this book project come about?

Pat & Nicole: We’ve known the folks over at Krause Pub-lications (the publisher) for a long time and we’ve talked many times about doing a book. I’ve always said that if we did a book, I’d want Duncan Dobie to write it. I had worked with Duncan way back in the North American Whitetail (TV show) days and I didn’t know if I would ever get the opportunity to work with him again.

When they said they were thinking of getting Duncan involved in the projects, it was a no-brainer for me. It’s always been kind of a “bucket list” item for me and I knew we had enough material and stories to fill up the book.

Since he doesn’t live where you two live, how did you set up the work with Duncan?

He flew up to Minnesota where we live, we sat down a couple of times and he did the interviews and went through the photographs for the book. It’s kind of like a big jigsaw puzzle. As we worked on it, he got excited about the book and he thinks this may be one of his best books.

The Driven TV show and this book are definitely partnerships between you two. How did you get to-gether?

Nicole: It’s been a while in the making. This year is actually our 10th year for Driven TV which is pretty cool. I joined Pat in 2007, so this will be our 8th sea-son together.

We met at an archery trade show one year and just hit it off immediately. Of course, we both have hunting in common. I’ve been hunting since I was old enough to walk and him as well. When you meet someone who has the same passion in life as you do and get to travel to all of the places we’ve gone and have the experi-ences we’ve had, it takes the relationship to a whole new level as husband and wife.

Is it always easy? Not so much (laughing).When you live and breathe 24/7 and in a tree stand during the season, it sometimes gets tough. However, in the end, it’s enjoyable because you’re sharing those experienc-es together. Pat has four children from a previous re-lationship who I call my own and it just works. They range in age from 8 to 17 and they had great experi-ences from our show.

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT OUR LIVES AND WHERE WE’VE COME, BUT IT’S ALSO ABOUT THE FUTURE. WE HAVE MANY OPPORTUNITIES AND WE ARE TRULY “DRIVEN.” THAT’S WHY WE NAMED THE PRODUCTION “DRIVEN TV.” WE’RE PASSIONATE AND WE REALLY ENJOY WHAT WE DO!

Some of the most interesting parts of the book are the descrip-tions of what goes in to the production of your TV show. Pat, how did you get involved in outdoor sports on TV?

Pat: I just kind of worked myself into it backwards! Back 25 years ago, when I got started, there really wasn’t much outdoor television out there. I just met the right people at the right time. I was guiding whitetail hunters in Buffalo County, Wisconsin and I met Jackie Bushman from “Buckmasters.” Jackie was the only person to have an outdoor show on TNN at the time. He urged me to take my passion and hobby for video and hunting and turn it into something bigger. And that’s what I did!

I started doing some freelance video work and a little less guid-ing and one thing led to another. I eventually took a full-time job with Hunter Specialties and I started doing production work for them. I was not in front of the camera, but rather behind it.

Eventually, I moved on the North American Whitetail and be-came the producer for this show. This is where I worked with Duncan and I continued in this capacity until we started Driven TV in 2005. This has been a long journey and I’ve definitely see outdoor television become a big industry. I believe my passion for catching the “story” of a hunt through video is evident in our show. It’s just part of my DNA. I love it!

Nicole, do you pick up the camera and shoot as well.

Nicole: Oh sure. That’s really the best part…trying to capture a great scene. Sure, I enjoy have a gun or bow in my hands, but I also enjoy shooting the camera.

Pat: When we were first starting, we didn’t have a budget for lots of camera shooters so Nicole and I would trade out running the camera. I’ve never seen someone pick up the art of running the camera as fast as Nicole. It’s just natural for her to lay down great footage. Plus, she can carry her share of the equipment, up the mountain or wherever and we make a great team.

The book is about tips and tactics for trophy whitetail hunt-ing. You talk a lot about “calling cards” in the book. What are these?

Calling cards are different things that a hunter can use to draw in whitetail deer. For example, making mock scrapes is a calling card. Building a small pond is a calling card. These are things a hunter can do to put the odds in his favor. In the book we list some of the calling cards that will help a hunter draw in whitetails.

WOODS & WATER: PAT AND NICOLE REEVE

Nicole, another interesting part of the book involves finding antlers that have been shed by whitetail bucks. What attracts you about picking up these sheds?

Nicole: It’s something I did with my dad and now we do it with our kids. It’s a family sport for us. We go out and see how many sheds we can find. For us, it’s all about getting the kids outdoors. There are some many computer games, TV and everything else now days that kids are not getting outdoors like they used to. When hunting season is over, we still want to take our kids outdoors. Collecting sheds is a great form of exercise, family bonding and everything else.

Pat: At this very minute, my son is counting down the hours until we can get out and look for sheds. The snow has just melted in Minnesota and he cannot wait to get out there. That enthusiasm that our kids have about being outside – hunting sheds or anything else- is great.

We shed hunt for a lot of different reasons. Obviously, if you find a shed off a deer, it tells you a lot about them. It tells you the story that they definitely made it through the winter and they’re going to be around next year. We shed hunt all over. It’s our hobby.

You also have a chapter on proven ground blind strategies. Can you offer some tips in this area?

Pat: It’s only recently that I’ve learned to appreciate the value of a ground blind. Back 20 years ago, I would have told you that there’s no way you’re going to kill a mature whitetail from a ground blind. However, we’ve seen it on TV, time and time again.

We’ve been very effective with ground blinds in Canada and the Midwest. It’s not that you can’t set up a ground blind and then take a buck the same day. However, the odds are not in your favor. It’s important to get the ground blinds out in the field long before the hunt in order to get the deer accustomed to seeing them. How we brush them in is also important.

Ground blinds are also great for getting the en-tire family out there enjoying the hunt, much more than if they were sitting in a tree stand. There’s a safety issue there. Overall, it just a better hunting experience.

Plus, when you’re in a ground blind and you get eye-to-eye with a big whitetail that will re-ally get your heart pumping!

One of the trends we’ve all noticed is the in-crease in the number of women who are getting involved in hunting. Many feel that shows like Driven TV, where there’s an attractive couple going out and having fun hunting is helping this trend. Nicole, are shows like yours driving this increase in female hunters?

Nicole: I do believe that. It’s a combination of TV shows like ours and our getting out to the hunting trade shows and meeting young girls and wives who are interested in the sport.

This past year, we had a 77-year old woman come up to our booth and say she’s been watch-ing us on TV and her husband of 40 years has been hunting all those years. This past year she went into the field with him and now he won’t leave her at home. So, at 77 years old, she’s just begun hunting!

It’s great if I can introduce this experience to a 5-year old girl or 77-year old woman. I had brothers, no sisters and I wouldn’t let my dad leave me at home. He had no choice but to take me with him when he went hunting. It’s grati-fying to get this new group of hunters in the field. Now days, we need to do everything we can to get these people in the outdoors.

Where and when can people watch Driven TV?

Driven TV with Pat and Nicolle is on the Out-door Channel every Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, 8:30 p.m. Central all year long. Since we add more days during the fall, the best way for anyone to catch our show is to go to our website www.drivenhunter.com and you can also purchase the book there.

POPE & YOUNG STANDS UP FOR FREE RANGING NORTH AMERICAN

BIG GAME

Canned hunts have gotten another black eye and this time it comes from a pro-hunting organization. Well-known conservation and bow hunting club, Pope & Young has announced its support of the American Wild-life Conservation Model. The organization feels that this model faces “serious threats from today’s captive cervid (deer) industry” It also feels, “The practice of ‘canned’ hunting, transporting and selling ‘farm raised’ cervids threaten the very existence of North American Big Game and hunting as we know it.”

The official position statement from the organization is as follows:

“The Pope and Young Club and its membership strongly condemn the killing of big game animals in artificial situations. An “artificial situation” is defined as a situation where animals are held in captivity, game-proof fenced enclosures or released from captivity. These unethical practices are often referred to as “canned hunts.” This shall be considered an unethical practice devoid of fair chase hunting ethics as the animals are not free-ranging.

These canned shoot situations present further concerns that impact the future of bowhunting. They weaken the public acceptance of legitimate fair chase bowhunting, provide possibilities for transmitting diseases, and corrupt the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Animals held, or bred and raised for the purpose of trophy harvest, in these facilities are not considered wildlife. The killing of these animals is not managed by the authority of a wildlife management agency and the killing, itself, is devoid of any values embodied by legitimate hunting.

The Pope and Young Club does not accept into its Records Program any animal taken under any captive scenarios and considers these practices extreme examples of unethical hunting. The Pope & Young Club also considers this practice unethical treatment of North American big game animals.”

This action by the organization comes on the heels of other state wildlife agencies taking a closer look at deer farming and its potential tie to chronic wasting disease. More details on the subject are found in this issue of Woods & Water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qmcUvzgea0#t=13

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WOODS & WATER: DEER FARMING

WHAT PART DOES DEER FARMING PLAY IN ITS SPREAD?

CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE IS A HOT TOPIC IN IOWA AND MISSOURI

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently announced that the first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been found in the state’s wild deer. According to a press release from the state’s DNR, the infected deer was harvested by a hunter using a shotgun in Allamakee County late last year. Although it is the first case of CWD in wild deer for Iowa, every bordering state has reported the presence of the disease in some form.

“We have been testing for CWD in Iowa’s deer herd for more than a decade and are optimistic, given the extensive data we have collected, that we have caught this early,” said Chuck Gipp, DNR director.

WHAT IS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE?

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the federal agency responsible for tracking com-municable disease in the US, Chronic wasting disease is a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) of mule deer, whitetail deer, elk and moose. TSEs are caused by unusual infectious agents known as prions.

It was first recognized as a clinical “wasting” syndrome in 1967 among mule deer in a wildlife research facility in northern Colorado and it was identified as a TSE in 1978. Since then the disease has spread to wild deer populations in Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and certain locations in Canada. CWD is typified by chronic weight loss leading to death. This disease is always fatal to the animals infected.

Although there have been reports in the popular press of humans being affected by CWD, a study by the CDC suggests that “more epidemiologic and laboratory stud-ies are needed to monitor the possibility of such transmissions.” The epidemiological study further concludes that, “as a precau-tion, hunters should avoid eating deer and elk tissues known to harbor the CWD agent (e.g., brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, ton-sils, lymph nodes) from areas where CWD has been identified.

25W W W . P A C - S Y S T E M S . C O M

WOODS & WATER: DEER FARMING

IOWA CONTINUES TO MONITOR FOR THE DISEASE

The Iowa DNR has tested over 42,000 wild deer and 4,000 captive deer and elk since the state’s CWD surveillance program began in 2002.

“The next step will be to focus our monitoring efforts in the area where the animal was har-vested and work closely with local landowners and hunters to gather more information.” Gipp said.

Some wildlife biologists feel the increase in the number of deer farms, where whitetail deer are genetically bred for larger antler spreads, might be causing an increase in CWD. Since these captive deer are held in close proximity and have had their genetic makeup modified, there is some speculation that some of these farm deer could transmit this disease. Cur-rently, there is no scientific evidence to prove this.

MEANWHILE, IN MISSOURI

The Missouri Whitetail Breeders and Hunting Ranch Association held an event in the state capitol April 14, 2014, to urge lawmakers to support the re-classification of deer across the state as “livestock.” Television producer/host Keith Warren of the Pursuit Channel’s program “The High Road” was on hand to lend his support to the groups’ mission.

These deer breeders have long argued that their animals should be regulated under the Missouri Department of Agriculture, which oversees all livestock regulations in the state. Currently The Missouri Department of Con-servation oversees deer breeding operations.

According to Sam James, president of the Missouri Whitetail Breeders and Hunting Ranch Association, the state’s Department of Conservation is using the rise in CWD in cap-tive whitetail deer as an excuse to regulate the industry. All captive deer in the state are either born in captivity or purchased from a private breeder, just like the state’s elk opera-tions.

“MDC says that it was a captive cervid that first tested positive for CWD, and that’s true,” James said. “But we were the only ones test-ing for it in the first place, testing our deer. So, I’m not a scientist, but I’m pretty sure you can’t find something if you aren’t looking for it.”

Warren urged support of the Missouri House and Senate bills reclassifying captive deer. Warren, a deer breeder himself who has spo-ken on behalf of the industry, said he got in-volved because he “cares about the deer, like all the other breeders.” He has also produced a documentary on CWD because he “wanted to get the facts straight.”

“You’ll hear CWD comes from deer farms or overcrowding,” Warren said. “But if that’s true, can you tell me about West Texas where there isn’t a deer farm for 400 miles? In my opinion, it’s been around a long, long time, and we’re just now learning about it, and like most things, people are going overboard with it.”

Warren and James both said new MDC con-servations would kill their industry. James said that one new proposed regulation, dou-ble fencing of property, was “completely un-reasonable.”

“50 states in the country, none of them require double fencing,” James said. “I don’t know why we get treated differently.”

Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, and Rep. Sandy Crawford, R-District are sponsoring bills to reclassify deer. In the House, the issue has become stalled in committee, but the Senate has placed their language on the calendar, giving proponents some hope.

BOONE & CROCKETT CLUB WEIGHS IN ON THE SUBJECT

Concerned about captive deer operations transmitting diseases to wild herds, the Boone and Crockett Club now officially supports state bans on commercial import and export of deer or elk. The Club also opposes efforts to relax regulation of captive cervid breeding operations or to re-move management authority over such operations from state wildlife agencies.

In 2002, the Boone and Crockett Club, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Mule Deer Foundation formed the CWD Alliance. Its purpose was to pool resources, share information and collaborate on ways to positively address the CWD issue. The Alliance website is found at www.cwd-info.org.

“Evidence strongly suggests that captive animals infected with CWD can serve as the source for the spread of the disease to other captive animals, and between captive animals and wild populations,” said Richard Hale of B&C’s Record Committee. “To reduce the risk to wild deer populations, several states passed laws prohibiting game farming or live captive deer and elk importation, but now they are fighting efforts to expand captive deer and elk breeding and shoot-ing operations within their jurisdictions. The captive cervid industry is persistent in proposing new legislations to overturn these laws, or transfer the authority of captive deer and elk from state fish and game agencies to their respective departments of agriculture.”

Spokesmen for the club noted that no vaccine or treatment is available for animals infected with CWD and once established in a population culling or complete depopulation to eradicate CWD has provided only marginal results. It was further noted that the prevalence of CWD is rising at an alarming rate in some infected wild deer populations.

It is the position of the Boone & Crockett Club that prevention is the only truly effective technique for managing diseases in free-ranging wildlife populations. Consequently, what can be done is minimizing the spread of CWD by restricting intra- and interstate transportation of captive, pri-vately owned wildlife, which frequently occurs in game farming.

GEAR

A Rifle Rest That Could Last for Generations

The spirit of the American Frontier meets endurance and strength to bring forth unmatched quality found only in a Bison Bag rifle rest by Benchmaster. Designed from top grain bison leather with distinctive variations throughout the skin, each bag is uniquely made by American craftsmen.

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Available in small, medium and large sizes, with a five-year warranty, the American Bison Bag rifle rest is all things beauty and beast... a rest with as much character as the rifle you shoot.

For more information on Bison Bags visit www.benchmasterusa.com/American-Bison-Rifle-Rests

A Personal GPS Device for AnglersMost successful anglers have a journal with notes about water that has been particularly productive. That concept of a “honey hole” journal has been taken high-tech. Bushnell, an industry-leader in high-quality sports optics and outdoor products since 1948, has introduced a new portable, easy to use personal GPS device for anglers.

It’s called “FishTrack” and it provides anglers of all skill levels with a palm-sized tool to help them spend less time searching for fish and more time reeling them in. If you’ve ever searched for hours for that specific part of the lake or river where you were killing ‘em this gadget is for you.

It Even Predicts Fish ActivityBuilt on the award-winning BackTrack platform, FishTrack allows anglers to store up to 25 distinct waypoints and provides simple distance and direction back to marked locations while the integrated digital compass provides universal latitude and longitude coordinates. In addition, FishTrack offers a host of valuable information including time, tempera-ture, solunar information, weather conditions and barometric pressure.

Factoring in all of this information, the FishTrack constructs a predictive fish activity chart for the previous 12 hours and subsequent 12 hours to help anglers identify when and where ideal fishing conditions will occur. Featuring an innovative lightning indicator, which detects strikes within a 15-mile radius, FishTrack also provides a helpful safety warning when anglers are afield.

With the ability to record up to 48 hours of trip data on the device, users can save their favorite fishing trip routes and later upload the data to the free FishTrack application. In addition to overlaying the route on a topographic map,the app also displays stats from each trip including length, average speed and temperature, while giving users the ability to save or share trips.

With a weight of six ounces and a waterproof rating of IPX-4, the FishTrack is perfect for anglers looking for a small and portable GPS device. The Bushnell FishTrack GPS comes with a built-in USB interface for use with computers and other devices and has a working battery life of 16 to 20 hours.It is available for an estimated retail price of $149.

To learn more about Bushnell and its complete line of sports optics and outdoor technology, visit www.Bushnell.com

GEAR

It’s Easy to be Mobile with the Crush Enforcer Blind

If you’re a fan of Lee and Tiffany Lakosky and like the mobility and safety of a ground blind, the new Ameristep “Crush Enforcer” blind may be for you. The Iowa big buck gurus and co-hosts of “The Crush with Lee and Tiffany” are well-known for their ability to hunt big deer and they know what helps them be successful in the field. With their insight, AMERISTEP® has assembled one of the most deadly-effective blinds ever to hit the market - The Enforcer.

With a generous footprint that boasts a 71-inch shooting width and 64-inches of headroom, the Enforcer is perfectly sized for a single hunter looking to hunt with enough room for a bow, crossbow or rifle. Nine windows veiled in camouflage, allow you to maximize the field of view while removable shoot-through-mesh conceals movement within the blind.

Supported by a backbone of AMERISTEP’s Spider Hub Technology, the ultra-rugged 600-denier Durashell exterior fabric with black Shadow Guard, Carbon Enhanced interior remains super-taught in high winds and resists the elements while creating a protected environment if the weather turns harsh. Cloaked in stealthy Realtree XtraTM camouflage, the Enforcer vanishes into its environment leaving no trace of its existence.

It’s Xtremely Versatile An ideal solution for gun, crossbow and bow hunters, the Crush Enforcer offers utmost versatility and is the perfect multi-season hide, whether you’re chasing trophy toms in the spring or big bucks on grain fields in the dwindling days of the late season.

With a convenient pack size and weighing approximately 15 pounds, the Enforcer is easily transported to and from the field with an included backpack. Securing the blind in place is a snap due to the included ground stakes and tie down rope. With a competitive price point and features any hardcore hunter can appreciate, the Crush Enforcer is a worth-while addition to every hunter’s ground game.

The Crush Enforcer product benefits* 71” shooting width* 64” height* Weather-resistant 600D Durashell exterior fabric in Reatree Xtra®* Shadow Guard Carbon Enhanced black interior* 9 shoot-through-mesh windows* Spider Hub Support System* Ideal for bow, gun and crossbow hunters* Includes convenient backpack, stakes and tie-down rope

The suggested retail price for the Enforcer is $149.00

For more information on the Enforcer Call 800-847-8269 or visit the company website at www.ameristep.com

GEAR

Looking for a Great Tent?

If you’ve ever been in a survival situation – it’s cold and wet and there’s little chance of someone finding you until morning - you know that a well-made tent can be the difference between life and death. A good tent can also be the difference between a fun camping trip and a sleepless night.

Featuring a removable rain fly and two inner pockets for gear storage, free-standing Shire 2 Person Tent from 12 Survivors offers superior protection and convenience to make your next outdoor adventure an enjoyable experience. Whether used for a relaxing camping trip or survival situation, users will appreciate the 2-person space wide enough to fit an inflatable sleeping pad and sealed seams to keep you dry in precipitation.

Designed to fit All Needs“We designed this tent to fit all the needs you would have if you were going on a weekend hiking trip or found your-self in a serious situation where shelter is vital,” said Brand Manager Chris Kerschen. “The all-around mesh provides increased ventilation while keeping the weight down, and campers have the option of removing the rain fly to decrease weight even further.”

The rain fly doors are designed to be turned into awnings with the use of trekking poles (not included). The rain fly also features guy lines with tensioners for additional security. Its bathtub style floor design includes waterproof fabric in the floor extending up the side tent walls, preventing rain water that pools under the tent from leaking though the walls and swamping items inside the tent. The tent also features an internal hang loop at the top center. This allows campers to securely hang their lantern inside the tent when needing light without weighing it down.

The Shire 2 Person Tent’s 3-season reliability and thick polyester construction allow for durable use. Campers simply insert the aluminum pole ends into each corner grommet, snap the clips onto the pole and attach the toggle to erect the tent. Included is a compact carry bag for the tent, and nylon sacks for the tent poles and stakes.

Learn more about the Shire 2P Tent at: http://www.12survivors.com/ts75001.html

GEAR

65

CRAPPIE OR SAC AU LAITCrappie is some of the best tasting fish around but as always, it needs to be prepared correctly. Here are a few recipes to help you with some good summer cookin’.

BEER BATTERED CRAPPIEFillet crappie - cutting in half long ways into finger size width

• Mix 1 can of beer with 2 heaping TBLS regular mustard

• Marinade fillets approx. 1/2 hour in mustard & beer

• In plastic bag put some of the Fish-Fri meal (our favorite is Zatarains)

• Take a few pieces of the crappie from beer/mustard (shake off excess liquid) and shake in mix

• Deep fry until golden brown at 350 degrees

• After removing from grease immediately sprinkl LIGHTLY w/salt to remove excess grease.

Woods & Water: RECIPES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qmcUvzgea0#t=13

Ingredients:

Fresh crappie fillets

Corn Flakes

Butter

Instructions:

• Clean and dry as many Crappie fillets as you need.

• Crush Corn Flakes inside a freezer bag to a fine

consistency. (do not crush to powder)

• Melt Butter (Margarine or any imitation will do)

• Dip fillets in melted butter and coat with crushed Corn Flakes.

• Arrange on foil lined baking sheet.

• Cook at 350 degrees for 10 to 20 minutes.

• Fillets are done when Corn Flakes begin to brown.

• Salt & pepper to taste.

LEMON PEPPER CRAPPIE THAT IS SCRUMPTIOUS

VIDEO RECIPE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-x9258yc4

GRANDMA GRANT’S CORN FLAKE CRAPPIE

WOODS & WATER: HABITAT MANAGEMENT

Can Proper Tree Pruning Help You Harvest More Deer?

GRAB YOUR CHAINSAW AND LET’S FIND OUT!

It’s that time again. Deer hunter’s thoughts just naturally turns to chainsaws. Why? Most of us know the benefit of food plots, planted and nourished in the spring and summer. However, trees are also critical to whitetail deer habitat enhancement and proper tree pruning can make a big difference in your hunting success come fall.

Arborists know that the best season to prune trees is in the spring. The reason for this is that there is less chance the core of the tree will be damaged. If you’re cutting shooting lanes or trimming branches, this is the best time to be doing it.

So, sharpen up the chainsaw, bring along some oil and don’t forget that handy chainsaw adjusting wrench - which we lose every year!

THE FRUIT OF YOUR LABOR

Deer and other animals love fruit – especially apples – and you can’t have fruit without the trees. Fruit is a natural energy source for deer and it is a common ingredient in bait. The fact that more and more states are outlawing artificial bait makes having an apple tree on your deer lease or property important. When all is said and done, having a healthy fruit-bearing tree is probably cheaper than all those bags and jugs of bait you buy every year.

In order to keep your trees healthy and producing fruit, it’s important to take care of it. This involves smart pruning.According to Pat Patterson, Oregon State Extension Service Master Gar-dener, there are several main objec-tives to pruning an apple tree, says Pat Patterson, Oregon State University Ex-tension Service Master Gardener:

• Controlling the height of the tree, so that most of the fruit doesn't grow out of reach

• Developing good limb structure for strength, fruit production, and the general health of the tree

• Encouraging a plentiful supply of new limbs, which will begin to bear fruit their second year

• Ridding the tree of damaged or diseased growth.

“Don't expect a new young tree to start bearing well until probably its fourth or fifth year," said Patterson. "In the long run, the tree will do better to put its en-ergy into root and limb growth rather than fruit for those first few years. So concentrate your pruning to produce a strong tree during that period."

Inspect your tree for limbs that branch from the central leader either too sharp-ly upward, forming an acute angle, or at too wide an angle. Acute angles tend to trap bark as they grow and can lead to splitting later on. Branches that grow at too great an angle from the vertical tend to be weaker. They also encour-age "water sprouts," the unproductive upright shoots that need to be pruned off mid-summer every year. The ideal angle between the central leader and lateral branches is about 60 degrees.

In general, encourage branches to grow toward the out-side of the tree and eliminate those that grow toward the center or cross other branches. You want air and light to penetrate the foliage to the center of the tree as much as possible.

"Different kinds of apple trees have different ways of set-ting fruit buds," said Patterson. "Most modern apples are spur-bearing. Many older varieties are tip-bearing. This is obviously very important for how we prune the tree so as not to cut off the fruiting wood. If you're in doubt, as long as you know the name of your tree you can ask at your local nursery or look it up in a good garden book or on the Internet."

The extension service website notes that once your tree has matured and begins to produce fruit, expect new branches to bear their best for several years (per-haps three to five years) and then taper off. You'll want to prune off older branches that have begun to produce less in order to encourage new ones. This practice will help you have a more-or-less steady crop over a period of years

There’s a good reason to prune fruit trees in the winter and spring – their dormant season. The previous year, the tree stored all of the energy from that year in the trunk and roots to use during bloom the following year. That energy goes toward making fruit and new vegetative shoots. With proper pruning, your trees will make a lot more fruit and nice, tender green shoots on the branches which (as we have already noted) deer love!

CUTTING SHOOTING LANES FOR GREAT SHOTS

With trail cameras, it’s pretty easy to determine the usu-al route of whitetail deer on your property. If you have planted the deer plots, you also know exactly where they might be grabbing a quick snack. Given these two sourc-es of info, most likely you know where you’re going to set up tree stands or deer blinds.

Spring is also a good time to clear out the branches which will be in the way of your shooting lines of sight come opening day. With some creative cutting, deer can be encouraged to meander out of the safety of a thickly overgrown area into the open lanes making for a cleaner shot.

This is also a good time to prune pines and other evergreen trees. Butt pruning involves taking off all of the lower branches from the ground level up to height you want. Because deer and other animals will often take the path of least resistance when traveling in heavy cover, butt pruning allows you to en-courage the deer to go where you’d like for them to go.

We all know how smart whitetail deer are and how well they hear and smell. Because of these natural gifts they possess, in order for a hunter to be successful, he/she has to outsmart the deer. One way is with improved hunting habitats.

It’s a little work, but will pay big dividends when hunting season rolls around. Plus, if you’re like most outdoor sportsmen, you’re always looking for another reason to get out the chainsaw and cut something down!

SYSTEMS, INC.

Life Safety & Mass NotificationDallas-Fort Worth

817-640-2223

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SYSTEMS, INC.

WINTER WAS TOUGH ON WHITETAIL DEER AND TURKEY

IN WISCONSIN

WOODS & WATER: WISCONSIN WINTER

So, you think it was cold where you were this winter? If you happened to be in Wisconsin, it was brutal es-pecially for wildlife. Judging by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Re-sources’ 2013-2014 Winter Severity Index, which measures how the sea-son affected wildlife in the state, the results were grim. In a state known for its large whitetail bucks and wily tur-keys many regions of the state marked 2014 as the worst winter for these two groups in Wisconsin’s history.

In a report published in the Journal Sentinel newspaper, state wildlife bi-ologist Grey Kessler said he expected large die-offs, but as time progresses, that wildlife mortality may be lower than predicted.

THEY’RE STILL COUNTING

“It’s still unfolding and the most criti-cal time is always the last month or so,” Kessler said. “As of now, it might not be as bad as we feared.”

This optimism comes after startling results in the Department of Natural Resources’ report, which found the cumulative Winter Severity Index in certain stations as high as 176. Biolo-gists say that a score of 100 is consid-ered severe. The hardest-hit region of the state is the north, which contains the Laurentian Mixed Forest.

The map (see map on next page) supplied by the state DNR shows how tough this winter has been for wild game. The 30-year average for this region hovers around 67.

Biologists, hunters, and conservationists are hoping for a minimal effect on wildlife, much of which depends on how easily animals can find food in late March and early April. The state DRN noted severe winters have historically decimated deer and turkey populations before, with losses over 30 percent. If DNR biologists do determine a large loss to have taken place, hunting prospects may be lowered for the next few seasons.

“We’ll see that the fawn crop for this year will be quite a bit less, so the effects will hit us when it comes to hunting season this year,” professor of wildlife ecology Eric Anderson told Wiscon-sin-based media.

Anderson, who teaches at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, said that deer be-come especially vulnerable to wolves and other predators once their available food sources are exhausted.

However, fewer dead deer have been found this year than in previous severe winters, which Kessler said is a good sign. Deer killed recently during traffic accidents also proved to be in good health and do not seem to be starving. Whether that is true of the wider deer population remains to be seen.

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W W W . P A C - S Y S T E M S . C O M

When Fish See Red

WHY SOME RED NAIL POLISH MIGHT HELP YOU LAND A BIG LUNKER

We’ve all heard the expression about “seeing red” when this or that annoying thing occurs. It means we get angry or agitated. Is this just another one of those crazy idiomatic expressions or does the color red have anything to do with emo-tions?

IF YOU’RE A PREDATOR FISH, APPARENTLY IT DOES.

Some very smart anglers apply a red color to every lure used for catching fish such as bass. They do this because experience has taught them that seeing red makes predator fish more aggressive. What this color suggests to a hungry fish is the blood trail of an in-jured minnow.

Adding a “splash” of bright red fingernail polish to the “gill” areas of the minnow-imitating baits or replacing the factory bronze treble hooks with red-hued ones is a tactic used by many smart anglers. This is also done on more action-stimulating lures such as crankbaits.

NATURAL SELECTION AT WORK

Bass or pike or any other predatory fish are extremely energy-conscious. Some say they are even lazy. Lazy or smart, they look for easy pickins’ and a wounded baitfish is easier to chase down and catch.This genetically wired trait is another example of nat-ural selection at work. The big uns’ will always eat the lil’ uns’ or those which are for whatever reason incapable of living. Predators take the weakest indi-viduals out of the natural system in order to maintain its overall health.

IT’S NOT JUST RED

Sharks can teach a thing or two about attracting and catch-ing predator fish. Cinematographers working on films about sharks have been known to drag furry puppets, which have a slight similarity to seals, behind their boat in an attempt to document attacks by the sharks on the seal puppets. They have found that a white patch on the underside of the pup-pet, which simulated a wound revealing the fat beneath a breach in the protective belly fur drove the sharks nuts! This is another lesson for anglers who want to attract fish such as pike.

Jerk baits which are used for pike and other predatory fish can be “doctored up” with feathers, fur or pieces of rubber to simulate an injury to the lure’s gills. Also, judiciously add-ing a splash of red on the hooks or other places on the lures enhances the deception.

According to wildlife biologists and professional fishermen bass have shown a tendency to strike baits painted white, black, or one of the primary colors at about the same rate, ac-tually showing a bit less of an inclination toward lures paint-ed orange or red in some instances. The best strike responses came with two-tone lures, with black over silver a favorite and this is also dependent on the clarity of the water.

These studies show that bass have a greater appreciation for the color red which means they can detect minor differences in this color. This has to do with their optical makeup. Bass have red and green optical pigments, or cones, for color vi-sion. Other fish species, such as carp, have four cones for color vision: red, green, blue, and ultraviolet. We humans have three cones: red, green, and blue.

DO FISH REMEMBER?

This begs the question: Do predator fish have the brain-power to logically deduce that red =blood and this = lunch? There is no research that supports this but there’s a whole lot of anglers who have beaucoup of antecdotal evidence to the contrary.

No one doubts that predator fish are capable of learning. If they “learn” that the red color or white on the under-side of what looks like a seal often leads to a meal, then it seems they DO have the neurological ability to logically process memories associated with red.

Take a look at your tackle box. See if those lures you use to catch bass, pike, walleye, red snapper, speckled trout and any other predator fish could use a touch of red.

Woods & Water: HUMOR - RUMORS FICTION & OUTRIGHT LIES

JACK DANIELS FISHING STORY

I went fishing this morning but after a short time I ran out of worms.

Then I saw a cottonmouth with a frog in its mouth.

Frogs are good bass bait.

Knowing the snake couldn’t bite me with the frog in its mouth, I grabbed it right behing the head, took the frog and put it in my bait bucket.

Now the dilemma was how to release the snake without getting bit. So, I grabbed my bottle of Jack Daniels and poured a little whiskey in its mouth. Its eyes rolled back and it went limp.

I released the snake into the lake without incident and carried on fishing using the frog.

Not long after, I felt a nudge at my foot. It was that damn snake...with two more frogs.

Aint life grand.

Life Safety & Mass NotificationDallas-Fort Worth

817-640-2223

Fueled by Service

SYSTEMS, INC.

YELLOWSTONE GRIZZLY BEARS ARE RESTORED

WOODS & WATER: YELLOWSTONE GRIZZLY

DA BEARS HEADED FOR DELISTING

After more than 30 years of restoration efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agency has deemed the griz-zly bear species to be recovered. Federal officials say that a study on whether Yellowstone’s grizzly bears should be removed from the Endangered Species List could be finished as early as this fall.

According to the Jackson Hole News and Guide, Griz-zly Bear Recovery Coordinator Chris Servheen said in an interagency meeting that Yellowstone’s grizzlies could be delisted by this time next year. As could be expected, not everyone agrees with this analysis. In response to this news, conservationists said that the position occupied by Yellowstone’s bears is fragile.

SOME HISTORY ON DA BEARS

Former US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced in 2013 that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (US-FWS) will be seeking to delist the estimated 600 griz-zlies in Yellowstone National Park. Back in 2007, the USFWS managed to successfully delist Yellowstone’s grizzlies, but restored the species’ federally protected status less than two years later due to a court case.

The plaintiffs behind the lawsuit argued that the US-FWS did not account for the dwindling number of whitebark pine in the park. The pine’s nuts are a ma-jor food source for the bears, and their decline could threaten the grizzly population.

“The gains are precarious,” Louisa Willcox of the National Resources Defense Council said at the time. “Grizzles are low-reproducers. You can turn increased numbers into a decline very quickly.”

However, a later report by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team found that the whitebark decline had little impact on the bears. Wyoming and federal biolo-gists added that bears thrive in plenty of areas where whitebark pine is not available.

The USFWS is currently conducting a five-pronged study into whether Yellowstone’s grizzlies should be delisted. Factors taken into account are the status of Yellowstone’s bear habitat, threats from disease or predation, protection given to the bears by other laws, threats to the species from commercial or recreational overuse, and other issues that might affect the contin-ued survival of the population.

The agency expects this study to be completed by the fall. At that point the USFWS will decide whether it will further pursue efforts to delist Yellowstone’s bears.

WWW.GUNDOGBROKER.COM

WOODS & WATER: SALMON

Rather than swimming their way to the ocean, hundreds of thousands of California salmon smolt will be experiencing white-line fever. They’re going to be loaded up and trucking to the sea!

Wildlife officials are transporting the juvenile Chinook salmon across hundreds of miles in climate-controlled tanker trucks. To say the least, this is one of the most re-markable efforts in wildlife history and it comes as a response to California’s unrelent-ing droughts

WATER LEVELS ARE TOO LOW FOR THE FISH TO MAKE THE TRIP

“This is a Herculean effort between state and federal agencies to try to stave off a fisher-ies disaster,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries chief Stafford Lehr told a reporter from The Sacramento Bee. “Our fish right now are undergoing extreme duress due to the drought.”

California’s severe drought is affecting all sectors of the state, including an estimated $1.4 billion commercial and recreational salmon fishing industry. Wildlife officials and conservationists agree that water levels are too low for the salmon to make the jour-ney on their own and without help, will likely result in the loss of this year’s class of salmon.

Over 400,000 salmon were transported from the Coleman National Fish Hatchery in mid-March, destined for the Sacramento River. They were the first of more than 30 mil-lion fish that will be transported by truck over the next two and a half months.

GIDDY UP GO DADDY! SALMON TRUCKED TO THE SEA

W W W . P A C - S Y S T E M S . C O M

HOW WILL THIS AFFECT SALMON IMPRINTING?

It will be the largest program of its kind in the state’s history, but biologists are worried about what it may mean for the future. Wildlife biologists have long been fascinated with the “radar” salmon possess.

When salmon from the Coleman hatchery swim the 270 miles to the Sacramento River, they undergo a process called imprinting. Scientists believe that salmon naturally attune themselves to the pattern of the earth’s magnetic field in their native river, and that trucking the fish overland could disrupt this be-havior. Lehr said that at least the trucking operation gives the fish a chance.

Every fall-run Chinook salmon produced by Califor-nia’s five Central Valley hatcheries will come into the river through this method. Officials are keeping the salmon in floating net pens when they are dropped off near Rio Vista so the fish can acclimatize after the stressful journey. The pens will then be towed into the Sacremento River by barge and the salmon released.

GIDDY UP GO DADDY! SALMON TRUCKED TO THE SEA

Biologists will have to wait a few years to see if the salmon can find their way home, which Lehr says should provide for a rare research opportunity. Roughly 25 percent of the hatchery salmon will be equipped with a small tag that identifies where the fish came from.

Results of this emergency trucking of salmon will not be known until 2016. This is when these young fish will be fully grown. Hopefully, it will rain in California sometime between now and 2016!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrM39m22jH4

Dierks Bentley Rides Riser to the Top

Can we just forget the frat boy image of Dierks Bentley? Sure he wears his baseball hat backwards from time to time and he cuts silly, C&W top-forty tunes ever-so-often to get some radio play but, in the end, he’s as country as sawdust on the dance floor. He proves this on his latest album: Riser.

Want proof…say 100 proof? Just listen to the cut “Bourbon in Kentucky” on Bentley’s latest. There’s a very good reason this cut is the first single. It has everything but the kitchen sink. These are classic country lyrics, great vocals and harmonies (with some help from Kacey Musgraves) and a more con-temporary musical arrangement. It also has more hooks than an Alabama Umbrella rig! And as a result, is one of the best cuts on Riser.

THE EMOTION OF RISER

One of the best things about Riser is the emotion it conveys. After listening to it once or twice, there seemed to be something different going on with this album and, with a little help from Google, I found out what it was.

The website, Saving Country Music notes: “At the risk of sounding cliché, Riser was cut during an emotional time, bookended by the death of Dierks’ father and the birth of his son. This type of environment created a work that was somehow both secondary, yet keenly focused. He brought his personal life with him to the studio, and it is reflected even in some of the more commercial material, in a drive to make a project bigger than himself.”

This explains a lot about the sound and lyrics of the album. The record is replete with uplift-ing tunes and lyrics but has a foundation of something serious and even sad.

LET’S CHECK THE TUNES

In spite of a three silly songs such as “Drunk on a Plane,” “Pretty Girls” and “Back Porch,” which one must assume are added for the goofballs who program typical country radio sta-tions, the songs on Riser show a Dierks Bentley who has gained some insight. He gives the country purists and the young country crowd something that they both can chew on.

Cuts such as “Say You Do,” “I Hold On,” “Here on Earth,” and “Hurt Somebody” are as good as it gets for a contemporary country male singer. Even the more contemplative “Damn These Dreams” sounds like a very personal statement from a singer, in the prime of his career, who is singing his butt off.

Riser won’t be mistaken for a traditional album that will rocket up the Americana charts. It’s a country-inspired rock album. It’s got gimmicks and “Bro-country” references which should keep the record label happy. But it also has some great tunes and musical stories and these are worth the price of admission.

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Supernova Explodes FANS OF RAY LAMONTAGNE NOT SURE WHAT HIT THEM

Ray LaMontagne’s fans are experiencing cognitive dissonance over his new album Supernova. This psychological malady – the excessive mental stress and discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradic-tory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time – happens when something or someone changes into something we don’t really immediately recognize. LaMontagne has succeeded in throwing a change-up when we were looking for his good, ‘ol fashion fast ball.

Even the comments from “fans” on Amazon’s reviews reveal this dissonance. One says she pre-ordered the CD with-out hearing any cuts and she loves what LaMontagne does on Supernova, she really, really does! BUT in the last sentence of her “positive review” she concludes with: “As good as this album is, count me in the group that hopes Ray will return to the sound of his last album.” Mind you, this was one of the positive reviews.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X294h3dl2_I&feature=kp

There are some great cuts on Supernova. “Airwaves,” suggests a hazy, lazy day in Los Angeles on the way to the beach. “Pick up a Gun” has a Jefferson Airplane (not Starship, Airplane) “White Rabbit” vibe to it. “Julia” feels like the Beatles psychedelic era as does “Smashing.” On first listen, the title cut struck me as over-the-top, Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart, Tommy James and the Shondells bubblegum. However, on second and third listening I changed my mind. This is an extremely well-crafted, intricately produced song with a big, fat hook that is perfect for the times. In other words…it’s a hit.

You may love Ray LaMontagne and hate Supernova. Or, you may love Supernova and have never heard of Ray LaMontagne. Either way, this collection of news songs from this gifted artist is provocative. Just as Bob Dylan did when he added electric guitars to his folk music, Ray LaMontagne is causing cognitive dissonance among his fans and that’s what a true art-ist does.

WHAT GIVES HERE?

In interviews before the release of the album, LaMon-tagne noted the songs on Supernova were constructed more like the late-1960s British psychedelic-rock tunes, with hazy vocals wrapped in reverb, whirring organ parts and trebly guitars. Needless to say this is a depar-ture from the man whose voice and lyrics on his 2004 debut album – Trouble – led to the title cut being fea-tured on a Travelers’ Insurance commercial and on TV shows such as “True Blood,” “Rescue Me” and “The Office.” Everybody loved that song and the voice of the quirky singer who sang it.

Now comes Supernova and it sounds nothing like “Trou-ble” or his Grammy winning album, “God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise. There’s a good reason for this. He and his producer planned it that way.

THEY HAD FUN DOING THIS ALBUM

One of the primary influences on the Supernova explo-sion is its producer, Dan Auerbach. He is the lead singer, chief writer and producer of The Black Keys an eclectic ensemble that have won more than a few Grammys and fans. Ray LaMontagne asked Auerbach to produce this record and the entire project was recorded in Auerbach’s Nashville studio and completed in 11 days.

Each of the cuts of Supernova reveals a spontaneity that makes one think that a lot of fun was being had dur-ing the session. There was not a lot of hand-wringing and over-thinking on this record and it shows. There is something else evident in this album. Soulful, folk-rocker Stephen Stills – and all of the bands he fronted – did indeed have a large impact on Ray LaMontagne. If you lived through the 1960s, with limited brain damage, you’ll hear Buffalo Springfield (“For What it’s Worth” “Rock and Roll Woman”), Poco, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, the Byrds and other Laurel Can-yon influences throughout this collection.

IS THIS ETHEREAL ENOUGH?

Overall, each cut of Supernova has multiple layers sound which are captured and reiterated by a wall of reverb. So, is that ethereal enough for you?

A PLAN FOR KEEPING SAGE GROUSE OFF THE ENDANGERED LISTGrouse hunting could become a thing of the past. The numbers of this very popular game bird are dwindling, due largely to the com-petition between them and ravens.

Of course their habitat is also shrinking because humans like to live and play in the areas where they are most likely to live – the Western US in states such at Utah and Idaho, Alberta and Saskatch-ewan, Canada. There’s not much that can be done about the human so the debate has turned to tactics for dealing with the Grouse’s predators.

According to the Twin Falls Times-News, the state of Idaho will be spending $100,000 over the next two years to poison ravens, which eat grouse eggs.

“Utah and Nevada have been doing this work for years,” said Idaho Fish and Game district supervisor Todd Sul-livan. “They have shown there have been significant improvements in the areas where they have done the work on sage grouse recruitment.”

In 2010, the Nevada Wildlife Commission allocated $140,000 for raven control, but experts are unsure how sig-nificant raven predation upon grouse eggs is. Supporters of raven control say that the species experienced a large population boom since the 1980s. In contrast to the grouse’s shrinking sagebrush habitat, ravens are also more at home in the increasingly-developed West.

A CLOSER LOOK

Many avid bird hunters have never seen a Greater Sage Grouse. They have a striking appearance. Adults have a long, pointed tail and legs with feathers to the toes. Adult males have a yellow patch over the eye, are grayish on top with a white breast, a dark brown throat and a black belly; two yellowish sac on the neck are inflated during courtship display. Adult females are mottled gray-brown with a light brown throat and dark belly.

According to only reference site, Wikipedia, “Greater Sage-Grouse are notable for their elaborate courtship ritu-als. Each spring males congregate in leks and perform a “strutting display”. Groups of females observe these displays and select the most attractive males to mate with. This sounds fair to us!

The dominant male located in the center of the lek typically copulates with around 80% of the females on the lek. Males perform in leks for several hours in the early morning and evening during the spring months. Lek generally occur in open areas adjacent to dense sage-brush stands, and the same lekking ground may be used by grouse for decades.

A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION ON METHODOLOGY

As usual, in cases when well-meaning people attempt to play Sol-omon in matters of nature, there is a difference of opinion about whether the ravens have the same right to life as the grouse. Con-servationists, quoted in news stories, criticized wildlife officials for not doing enough to manage raven populations, while animal rights groups criticize the agencies for launching these control studies.

Alison Holloran, science director for Audubon Rockies, said that Idaho’s two-year program is expensive and ultimately in vain. She noted that ravens are resilient creatures, and will bounce back quick-ly once the control study ends. Other critics add that the raven issue is only a distraction from more pressing habitat concerns.

Regardless of the hue and cry, Idaho wildlife of-ficials plan on killings thousands of ravens be-fore the study ends. They have a novel way to accomplishing this. Instead of leaving poisoned grouse eggs for the ravens to consume, the Fish and Game department will be placing chicken eggs instead. The poison will only be harmful to ravens and closely-related bird species such as crows or magpies. It is not expected to be dan-gerous to other wildlife or humans.

“We don’t know why raven populations have increased the way they have but we used to see them primarily in forested areas, now we’re see-ing them in the desert areas where sagebrush is and that’s the primary habitat for sage-grouse,” Fish and Game spokesperson Mike Keckler told the Associated Press. “And we do know that ra-vens are a nest-predator on sage-grouse chicks and eggs and that is a factor. The question is how big of a factor is it in the overall decline of sage-grouse populations?”

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

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