ANTELOPE PLAN EXTENSION, BIG-GAME HUNTING RULES ON GAME COMMISSION AGENDA
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
dan.williams@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOV. 25, 2008:
DEMING -- The State Game Commission will meet Dec. 4 in Deming to consider spending more time developing a pronghorn antelope management plan that will be best for the wildlife and represent the interests of landowners and hunters.
The Department of Game and Fish will recommend that the Commission give the agency another year to address concerns expressed during statewide public meetings over a plan to restructure the way the agency allocates pronghorn licenses on public and private land. The Department will recommend that the Commission adopt rules for the 2009-2010 pronghorn season that are similar to the 2008-2009 season while the Department develops a new proposal to revise the Antelope Private Land Use System (A-PLUS).
The meeting will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, in rooms 144-145 of the Mimbres Valley Special Events Center, 2300 E. Pine St., in Deming. The full agenda, detailed agenda-item briefings and other information are available on the Department of Game and Fish Web site, www.wildlife.state.nm.us or by calling (505) 476-8008.
Other agenda items include:
Proposed amendments to hunting and fishing manner-and-method rules, including a definition of property posting against trespass and landowner permission to hunt or fish.
A proposal to require all public and private hunting license applicants to obtain a customer identification number before applying.
A proposal to establish a one-year hold-out period for all public drawing pronghorn antelope hunts and deer and elk public drawing hunts designated as "quality" or "high demand." The hold-out would make anyone who holds those licenses ineligible to hold another license of the same type the following year.
The Commission also will consider approving Governor Bill Richardson's appointment of Tod Stevenson as Department director, and will elect a new chair and vice-chair for 2009.
A proposal to solicit public input for a system to require all special hunt drawing applicants, including online applicants, to submit the full license fee prior to the drawing.
Proposals to change all public draw deer permits to deer licenses, and to move the drawing for public deer licenses from April to February beginning in the 2010-2011 season.
Proposed adoption of the 2008 Biennial Review of the status of species listed as threatened, endangered or restricted under New Mexico's Wildlife Conservation Act. The review follows an extended public comment period and includes recommendations to downlist desert bighorn sheep from endangered to threatened, and to uplist the gray redhorse sucker from threatened to endangered.
The State Game Commission is composed of seven members who represent the state’s diverse interests in wildlife-associated recreation and conservation. Members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. Current members are Chairman Tom Arvas, Albuquerque; Vice-chairman M.H. “Dutch” Salmon, Silver City; Alfredo Montoya, Alcalde; Leo Sims, Hobbs; Sandy Buffett, Santa Fe; Jim McClintic, Albuquerque; and Oscar Simpson, Albuquerque.
If you are an individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in the meeting, please contact Shirley Baker, (505) 476-8030. Public documents, including the agenda and minutes, can be provided in various accessible forms.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Literary Marksmanship
AMERICAN RIFLE
A Biography
By Alexander Rose
Delacorte. 495 pp. $30
The title of Alexander Rose's marvelous book says it all: Although "American Rifle" is ostensibly about the history of a piece of machinery, a tool, a killing instrument, it is only in America that the rifle has become an ineradicable part of the culture and can be written about as if it were a living person. "My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus I will learn it as a brother," runs an old hymn still memorized by both Army and Marine recruits. That hymn was intended to serve as an instructive and inspirational credo for young men joining the armed forces who, increasingly, no longer came from a rural or ranching background in which boys started shooting as small children with a BB rifle, got a .22 for their 10th birthday or sooner, and were taught how to shoot and look after a gun by their father, uncle or grandfather, in a rite of passage as old as the republic.
Let me confess that I myself received my first rifle (a Browning .22) when I was 10; that I went to school in Switzerland (home of William Tell and of an armed militia in which every Swiss adult male keeps his service rifle at home), where we were encouraged to shoot on the rifle range frequently; and that I am a life member of the NRA. However, this book can be read with pleasure regardless of one's position on gun control.
In the Old World, firearms were a class indicator: prerogatives of the military or, when intended for sporting purposes, of the landed aristocracy. In the 17th and 18th centuries, throughout Europe and Great Britain, poaching was a capital offense; the ordinary non-landowning man had no need, and no right, to keep a firearm at home, and hanging judges gleefully sentenced those of the starving rural poor who killed a pheasant or a deer. The biggest difference between America and Great Britain was not just the abundance of wildlife, but the all-important fact that in the Colonies it didn't belong to anybody; a good marksman could put meat on the family table every night without being hanged for the act. The firearm above the fireplace became a symbol of self-sufficiency, of freedom, of a potentially classless society (at any rate, one without a hereditary aristocracy), of sturdy independence and of self-defense.
Rose begins his story with the German invention of the rifled barrel in the 15th century and its introduction to the New World by German settlers and gunsmiths in the first years of the 18th century, where its merits over the smooth-bore musket were quickly appreciated. Within a few decades, the American rifle had taken on its unmistakable appearance -- the very long barrel and the accurate, long-distance sights -- as well as taking its place in myth and legend as the Kentucky rifle or the Daniel Boone rifle, and backwoods Americans were already cultivating standards of marksmanship undreamed of in the Old World. Indeed, when George Washington posed for a portrait by Charles Willson Peale circa 1789, his rifle appeared clearly in the painting, for ownership of a good rifle and the ability to shoot it accurately were already becoming popular attributes for aspiring politicians.
English aristocrats cherished their expensive, handmade shotguns, but in America the weapon that mattered was always the rifle. With a marksman's eye for detail and a gift for describing odd characters, Rose describes the way in which the rifle helped create and transform American industry. As the frontier moved farther west, the great and growing market for cheap rifles generated mass production: The first mass-produced artifact with interchangeable parts was, unsurprisingly, a rifle, produced by unskilled labor in Vermont. Rose tells the extraordinary story of how the American yearning for technological improvements led to the repeating rifle, first used in warfare in the Civil War, and eventually to the Winchester lever-action rifle, ultimate settler of arguments and killer of Indians and buffalo. He works in the complex and fascinating story of the U.S. Army's ceaseless pursuit of perfection in military rifles, sometimes resulting in triumphantly successful weapons like the World War II Garand, sometimes in costly failures like the M14 and the still controversial high-tech, small-caliber M16. Rose sensibly reaches the conclusion that "for some years to come the rifle of the future will be the rifle of the past," which pretty much sums up 250 years of military thinking on the subject.
Like David McCullough in "The Great Bridge," Rose has the rare ability to make technology come alive even for the non-technology-minded. He is not only a good historian but also a gifted storyteller, and I hope his book will make its way beyond the readership of American Rifleman and Shotgun News to everyone who wants to read about a singular and enduring artifact in American life and history.
AMERICAN RIFLE
A Biography
By Alexander Rose
Delacorte. 495 pp. $30
The title of Alexander Rose's marvelous book says it all: Although "American Rifle" is ostensibly about the history of a piece of machinery, a tool, a killing instrument, it is only in America that the rifle has become an ineradicable part of the culture and can be written about as if it were a living person. "My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus I will learn it as a brother," runs an old hymn still memorized by both Army and Marine recruits. That hymn was intended to serve as an instructive and inspirational credo for young men joining the armed forces who, increasingly, no longer came from a rural or ranching background in which boys started shooting as small children with a BB rifle, got a .22 for their 10th birthday or sooner, and were taught how to shoot and look after a gun by their father, uncle or grandfather, in a rite of passage as old as the republic.
Let me confess that I myself received my first rifle (a Browning .22) when I was 10; that I went to school in Switzerland (home of William Tell and of an armed militia in which every Swiss adult male keeps his service rifle at home), where we were encouraged to shoot on the rifle range frequently; and that I am a life member of the NRA. However, this book can be read with pleasure regardless of one's position on gun control.
In the Old World, firearms were a class indicator: prerogatives of the military or, when intended for sporting purposes, of the landed aristocracy. In the 17th and 18th centuries, throughout Europe and Great Britain, poaching was a capital offense; the ordinary non-landowning man had no need, and no right, to keep a firearm at home, and hanging judges gleefully sentenced those of the starving rural poor who killed a pheasant or a deer. The biggest difference between America and Great Britain was not just the abundance of wildlife, but the all-important fact that in the Colonies it didn't belong to anybody; a good marksman could put meat on the family table every night without being hanged for the act. The firearm above the fireplace became a symbol of self-sufficiency, of freedom, of a potentially classless society (at any rate, one without a hereditary aristocracy), of sturdy independence and of self-defense.
Rose begins his story with the German invention of the rifled barrel in the 15th century and its introduction to the New World by German settlers and gunsmiths in the first years of the 18th century, where its merits over the smooth-bore musket were quickly appreciated. Within a few decades, the American rifle had taken on its unmistakable appearance -- the very long barrel and the accurate, long-distance sights -- as well as taking its place in myth and legend as the Kentucky rifle or the Daniel Boone rifle, and backwoods Americans were already cultivating standards of marksmanship undreamed of in the Old World. Indeed, when George Washington posed for a portrait by Charles Willson Peale circa 1789, his rifle appeared clearly in the painting, for ownership of a good rifle and the ability to shoot it accurately were already becoming popular attributes for aspiring politicians.
English aristocrats cherished their expensive, handmade shotguns, but in America the weapon that mattered was always the rifle. With a marksman's eye for detail and a gift for describing odd characters, Rose describes the way in which the rifle helped create and transform American industry. As the frontier moved farther west, the great and growing market for cheap rifles generated mass production: The first mass-produced artifact with interchangeable parts was, unsurprisingly, a rifle, produced by unskilled labor in Vermont. Rose tells the extraordinary story of how the American yearning for technological improvements led to the repeating rifle, first used in warfare in the Civil War, and eventually to the Winchester lever-action rifle, ultimate settler of arguments and killer of Indians and buffalo. He works in the complex and fascinating story of the U.S. Army's ceaseless pursuit of perfection in military rifles, sometimes resulting in triumphantly successful weapons like the World War II Garand, sometimes in costly failures like the M14 and the still controversial high-tech, small-caliber M16. Rose sensibly reaches the conclusion that "for some years to come the rifle of the future will be the rifle of the past," which pretty much sums up 250 years of military thinking on the subject.
Like David McCullough in "The Great Bridge," Rose has the rare ability to make technology come alive even for the non-technology-minded. He is not only a good historian but also a gifted storyteller, and I hope his book will make its way beyond the readership of American Rifleman and Shotgun News to everyone who wants to read about a singular and enduring artifact in American life and history.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Young Boy Recovers From Mountain Lion Attack
Family Hopes State Game Commission Will Take Action
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A young boy was dragged away and clawed by a mountain lion. Six months later, he has recovered and his parents said they couldn't be more grateful.
The scars on Jose Salazar's head are still visible. A mountain lion dragged him by the head down a trail in the Sandia Mountains on May 17.
Jose's dad chased and caught up with the mountain lion and the big cat eventually let go and took off.
After surgeries and a stay in the hospital, Salazar's family said he is happy and healthy.
While Salazar is focusing on sports and school now, he said he still has some memories of the attack.
"I just heard a growl. I just looked back and saw it and I tried to run away, but it was too late. It just pounced on me," Salazar said.
The Salazar family went to Alamogordo in October to tell Jose's story before the State Game Commission. They said they hope it will lead to action in addressing the number of mountain lions in the Sandias.
Family Hopes State Game Commission Will Take Action
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A young boy was dragged away and clawed by a mountain lion. Six months later, he has recovered and his parents said they couldn't be more grateful.
The scars on Jose Salazar's head are still visible. A mountain lion dragged him by the head down a trail in the Sandia Mountains on May 17.
Jose's dad chased and caught up with the mountain lion and the big cat eventually let go and took off.
After surgeries and a stay in the hospital, Salazar's family said he is happy and healthy.
While Salazar is focusing on sports and school now, he said he still has some memories of the attack.
"I just heard a growl. I just looked back and saw it and I tried to run away, but it was too late. It just pounced on me," Salazar said.
The Salazar family went to Alamogordo in October to tell Jose's story before the State Game Commission. They said they hope it will lead to action in addressing the number of mountain lions in the Sandias.
Friday, November 14, 2008
PETA Uses Murder Case to Press for Child Hunting Ban
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance accuses an animal rights group of using “distasteful tactics” to push its anti-hunting agenda.
On November 11, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, urging her to support legislation that would ban hunting by anyone younger than 18.
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance says PETA is attempting to exploit recent news coverage of an eight-year-old Arizona boy who allegedly shot and killed his father, Vincent Romero, and another man with a .22 caliber rifle.
“Mr. Romero taught his son how to kill animals with a rifle much like the one his son reportedly used to kill him,” Tracy Reiman, PETA’s executive vice president, wrote to the governor.
“Teaching children to see others as nothing more than living targets has deadly consequences that can extend into the human population. We urge you to support legislation to ban children under the age of 18 from hunting.”
Tradition
“There is no reason to believe that banning hunting for youth would have prevented this act,” said U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Executive Vice President Rick Story. “A ban on hunting for those under 18 will prohibit thousands of law abiding, responsible sportsmen and their children from engaging in a time honored tradition,” he said.
PETA argues that hunting is a “blood sport” – a “cruel and unnecessary” recreation -- that is no longer necessary to put food on the table.
“Hunting fosters insensitivity to the suffering of others, disturbs animal populations, and damages ecosystems. We should be teaching our children kindness and respect, not that it is fine to harm and kill others simply because they are different,” PETA wrote to Napolitano.
In its letter to Gov. Napolitano, PETA also equates hunters with animal abusers and violent killers: “Cruelty to animals is common in the violent histories of our nation's serial killers and school shooters,” Reiman wrote.
Hunting instills traditional values, a connection with nature and a healthy, outdoor lifestyle, says Families Afield, a project of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a group that, among other things, promotes ethical and responsible hunting.
The National Rifle Association notes that hunters are the foremost conservationists in America. “Through license fees, hunters pay for 75% of the budget of state wildlife agencies. Without hunters there would be no agencies, and without the agencies wildlife would be unprotected,” the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action wrote in 2007.
The group also noted that taxes collected from hunters provide half a billion dollars annually to the preservation and expansion of wildlife habitat; and it calculates that hunters contribute $67 billion to the economy each year.
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protect the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs.
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance accuses an animal rights group of using “distasteful tactics” to push its anti-hunting agenda.
On November 11, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, urging her to support legislation that would ban hunting by anyone younger than 18.
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance says PETA is attempting to exploit recent news coverage of an eight-year-old Arizona boy who allegedly shot and killed his father, Vincent Romero, and another man with a .22 caliber rifle.
“Mr. Romero taught his son how to kill animals with a rifle much like the one his son reportedly used to kill him,” Tracy Reiman, PETA’s executive vice president, wrote to the governor.
“Teaching children to see others as nothing more than living targets has deadly consequences that can extend into the human population. We urge you to support legislation to ban children under the age of 18 from hunting.”
Tradition
“There is no reason to believe that banning hunting for youth would have prevented this act,” said U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Executive Vice President Rick Story. “A ban on hunting for those under 18 will prohibit thousands of law abiding, responsible sportsmen and their children from engaging in a time honored tradition,” he said.
PETA argues that hunting is a “blood sport” – a “cruel and unnecessary” recreation -- that is no longer necessary to put food on the table.
“Hunting fosters insensitivity to the suffering of others, disturbs animal populations, and damages ecosystems. We should be teaching our children kindness and respect, not that it is fine to harm and kill others simply because they are different,” PETA wrote to Napolitano.
In its letter to Gov. Napolitano, PETA also equates hunters with animal abusers and violent killers: “Cruelty to animals is common in the violent histories of our nation's serial killers and school shooters,” Reiman wrote.
Hunting instills traditional values, a connection with nature and a healthy, outdoor lifestyle, says Families Afield, a project of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a group that, among other things, promotes ethical and responsible hunting.
The National Rifle Association notes that hunters are the foremost conservationists in America. “Through license fees, hunters pay for 75% of the budget of state wildlife agencies. Without hunters there would be no agencies, and without the agencies wildlife would be unprotected,” the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action wrote in 2007.
The group also noted that taxes collected from hunters provide half a billion dollars annually to the preservation and expansion of wildlife habitat; and it calculates that hunters contribute $67 billion to the economy each year.
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protect the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs.
Gun Owners Not Welcome on Obama's White House Team?
President-elect Obama at a press conference in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. Standing behind Obama are (L-R) Vice President-elect Biden, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and incoming Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
(CNSNews.com) – President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is showing its hostility toward lawful firearm owners by “weeding out” job applicants who own firearms themselves, a Second Amendment group says.
The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) notes that question 59 – part of a 63-item questionnaire given to Obama administration job applicants – asks for information about firearms owned by the applicant and his or her family.
Found in the questionnaire’s “Miscellaneous” section, question 59 reads, “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.”
Other questions in the Miscellaneous section ask about the applicant’s postings on Facebook and MySpace Web sites; health and medical status; associations with groups that could be used against the applicant; and any other information that could prove embarrassing to the applicant.
Although it’s not clear that gun ownership would disqualify a job applicant, ISRA says question 59 shows the Obama team’s “distaste” for firearm owners.
"Question 59 provides clear insight into how Obama and his people perceive firearm owners," said ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson. “The questionnaire poses a number of questions asking the applicant to reveal any unethical activities, or embarrassing Internet chats, then wraps up by asking if anyone in the applicant's family owns a firearm. Obviously, Obama feels that owning a firearm is akin to talking dirty in Internet chat rooms.”
Pearson says the attitude is not surprising, given that Obama – as an Illinois State senator -- voted for SB1195, which included a provision calling for gun owners to be registered in the same manner as sex offenders.
"Once again, we have to ask ourselves just what candidate Obama was talking about when he said he has 'respect' for the 2nd Amendment," said Pearson.
ISRA, which describes itself as an advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership, has posted a copy of the questionnaire on its Web site.
The National Rifle Association also noted the anti-Second Amendment implications of the Obama's team's employment questionnaire:
"[A]s this litmus test shows, they have every intention of putting together an administration that is hostile to firearms ownership and to Second Amendment rights," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
"One of their first official acts is to make a list of gun owners among their own employees. It proves where their hearts are. It shows what their philosophy is. This is more proof that this administration is coming after our freedom and NRA stands ready."
President-elect Obama at a press conference in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. Standing behind Obama are (L-R) Vice President-elect Biden, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and incoming Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
(CNSNews.com) – President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is showing its hostility toward lawful firearm owners by “weeding out” job applicants who own firearms themselves, a Second Amendment group says.
The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) notes that question 59 – part of a 63-item questionnaire given to Obama administration job applicants – asks for information about firearms owned by the applicant and his or her family.
Found in the questionnaire’s “Miscellaneous” section, question 59 reads, “Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.”
Other questions in the Miscellaneous section ask about the applicant’s postings on Facebook and MySpace Web sites; health and medical status; associations with groups that could be used against the applicant; and any other information that could prove embarrassing to the applicant.
Although it’s not clear that gun ownership would disqualify a job applicant, ISRA says question 59 shows the Obama team’s “distaste” for firearm owners.
"Question 59 provides clear insight into how Obama and his people perceive firearm owners," said ISRA Executive Director Richard Pearson. “The questionnaire poses a number of questions asking the applicant to reveal any unethical activities, or embarrassing Internet chats, then wraps up by asking if anyone in the applicant's family owns a firearm. Obviously, Obama feels that owning a firearm is akin to talking dirty in Internet chat rooms.”
Pearson says the attitude is not surprising, given that Obama – as an Illinois State senator -- voted for SB1195, which included a provision calling for gun owners to be registered in the same manner as sex offenders.
"Once again, we have to ask ourselves just what candidate Obama was talking about when he said he has 'respect' for the 2nd Amendment," said Pearson.
ISRA, which describes itself as an advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership, has posted a copy of the questionnaire on its Web site.
The National Rifle Association also noted the anti-Second Amendment implications of the Obama's team's employment questionnaire:
"[A]s this litmus test shows, they have every intention of putting together an administration that is hostile to firearms ownership and to Second Amendment rights," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.
"One of their first official acts is to make a list of gun owners among their own employees. It proves where their hearts are. It shows what their philosophy is. This is more proof that this administration is coming after our freedom and NRA stands ready."
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Hunter survives bear attack after days of waiting for help
t's a story of survival you just have to hear to believe. A bear attack in Kodiak left a hunter severely injured as he waited days for help to arrive. The attack happened two weeks ago, Sunday 26, 2008.
Matthew Sutton traveled all the way from Montana to Kodiak Island for a deer hunting trip, where it was on that trip he was mauled by a bear. Now he's finally out of the hospital and up on his feet.
Sutton told his story firsthand, "It happened so fast, everybody asked, why didn't you have a handgun and to be honest it wouldn't have mattered if I had a handgun I would've got messed up either way."
It started out as the trip of a lifetime. 32-year old Sutton and his buddy Bill Bush flew into Viekoda Bay in Kodiak for a deer-hunting trip. Matthew got one and was dragging back to camp, when a brown bear sow and her two cubs ambushed and attacked him.
Sutton recalled, "At one point the bear had his paw on my chest and I could look up at it just me to you away [about 3 feet away] it was very terrifying, and I thought to myself, really this is it?"
The bears were in fact after the deer carcass, but they took a few bites out of Sutton as well.
It was an experience he says he will never forget, "It was like I was on a bad roller coaster ride. I was picked up, and I felt immobilized like a cat and was carried through the alders."
One of the bears attacked him repeatedly in his belly, legs, arms, neck, and face. It attacked until he stayed on the ground and yelled to his friend who couldn't get there in time.
Sutton recalled, "I could hear him yelling while I was down on the ground, and I yelled back at him, and he said he couldn't hear me and I'm just glad he didn't, because if we would've both got messed up we would've both been in trouble being in a remote location."
So remote there were no cell phones, no transportation, no nothing. The two waited three days after the attack, with Matthew bleeding through his makeshift bandages for help to arrive.
"I'd never been at peace at dying and all I could think about was, I got five girls and a wife in Montana, and what I did was just ask the Lord, just take care of my family," said Sutton.
As for Sutton, he survived, but does not harbor any anger towards the bears, "I'm not mad at the bears, they were just looking for an easy meal and they got it." Sutton showed CBS 11 a journal he wrote, thanking all the people who saved his life. That includes his hunting partner Bill Bush who helped him out through those rough couple of days until they could get medical help.
Survivor Matthew Sutton is planning on telling his story at Heritage Baptist Church on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
To contact the Newsroom, call 907-274-1111.
t's a story of survival you just have to hear to believe. A bear attack in Kodiak left a hunter severely injured as he waited days for help to arrive. The attack happened two weeks ago, Sunday 26, 2008.
Matthew Sutton traveled all the way from Montana to Kodiak Island for a deer hunting trip, where it was on that trip he was mauled by a bear. Now he's finally out of the hospital and up on his feet.
Sutton told his story firsthand, "It happened so fast, everybody asked, why didn't you have a handgun and to be honest it wouldn't have mattered if I had a handgun I would've got messed up either way."
It started out as the trip of a lifetime. 32-year old Sutton and his buddy Bill Bush flew into Viekoda Bay in Kodiak for a deer-hunting trip. Matthew got one and was dragging back to camp, when a brown bear sow and her two cubs ambushed and attacked him.
Sutton recalled, "At one point the bear had his paw on my chest and I could look up at it just me to you away [about 3 feet away] it was very terrifying, and I thought to myself, really this is it?"
The bears were in fact after the deer carcass, but they took a few bites out of Sutton as well.
It was an experience he says he will never forget, "It was like I was on a bad roller coaster ride. I was picked up, and I felt immobilized like a cat and was carried through the alders."
One of the bears attacked him repeatedly in his belly, legs, arms, neck, and face. It attacked until he stayed on the ground and yelled to his friend who couldn't get there in time.
Sutton recalled, "I could hear him yelling while I was down on the ground, and I yelled back at him, and he said he couldn't hear me and I'm just glad he didn't, because if we would've both got messed up we would've both been in trouble being in a remote location."
So remote there were no cell phones, no transportation, no nothing. The two waited three days after the attack, with Matthew bleeding through his makeshift bandages for help to arrive.
"I'd never been at peace at dying and all I could think about was, I got five girls and a wife in Montana, and what I did was just ask the Lord, just take care of my family," said Sutton.
As for Sutton, he survived, but does not harbor any anger towards the bears, "I'm not mad at the bears, they were just looking for an easy meal and they got it." Sutton showed CBS 11 a journal he wrote, thanking all the people who saved his life. That includes his hunting partner Bill Bush who helped him out through those rough couple of days until they could get medical help.
Survivor Matthew Sutton is planning on telling his story at Heritage Baptist Church on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.
To contact the Newsroom, call 907-274-1111.
'Lead bullets' warning is just crazy talk
The wealthiest animal rights organization in the country, the Humane Society of the United States, is again asking for a nationwide ban on lead-shot ammunition.
It says the North Dakota Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have preliminary findings that show you will end up with higher levels of lead in your blood if you eat wildlife killed with "lead bullets" than with other types of ammo.
Please, no laughing just yet. Wait until the end because there's good and bad news in all of this.
The statement by the HSUS - which should not be confused with neighborhood humane societies that take in homeless pets - says "lead bullets" are bad and that if you hunt, you should do so with non-lead bullets. The HSUS appears to be endorsing recreational hunting.
I know the group will fire off angry letters to deny this, but it says the North Dakota Department of Health recommends pregnant women and children under 6 avoid eating venison "killed by lead bullets." Is the HSUS endorsing hunting by association? That's a major turnaround for the animal worshippers.
And what's this talk about lead bullets? Do they mean rifle ammo or shotgun slugs that have a lead projectile atop the shell casing?
The bad part here is the venom spewed by Andrew Page, the senior director of the Wildlife Abuse Campaign for HSUS.
"Extremist hunters have long contaminated watersheds and habitat, dooming animals to slow and painful deaths," he said. "Now that hunters know their actions are directly putting themselves and other people at risk, there are no more excuses to use the ammo that just keeps on killing."
A little education is called for Page and his ilk, who say you should avoid eating venison killed by lead bullets. Well, you can't kill venison. You kill deer. Once the deer is down and you field-dress it, skin it, cut, wrap and label the meat, it becomes venison.
As part of its campaign against lead bullets, the HSUS claims one-fifth of the population of condors in Southern California died because the birds ingested lead shot. What a bunch of malarkey. And, of course, its archenemies, including pro-hunting organizations like the National Rifle Association, are "stubborn shooters" that advocate lead shot on the "flimsy grounds that it is 'traditional' and affordable." The HSUS doesn't need to remind hunters that nontoxic shot is available on the market and is used by millions of hunters. We know already.
We also know that if you knock a deer down, clean it properly and remove and discard any flesh parts and bones that were touched by those dreaded "lead bullets," it is not possible to end up with high amounts of lead in your body.
Talk about trying to create mass hysteria.
- The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a nonprofit trade association for the firearm industry, says 40 million Americans are active in shooting sports and hunting. During their lifetimes, the total retail value of their activities will top $4 trillion, the foundation said.
"Every hunter and sport shooter is a tremendous asset to the firearm industry but also to the travel industry, conservation agencies, rural economies, even the agriculture industry since fee-hunting now provides critical revenue for farmers and ranchers," NSSF president Doug Painter said.
The study looked at spending by hunters and shooters from age 16 to 75. Researchers found the average lifetime outlay for firearms, ammunition and other gear totals $20,219 a person. When purchases for licenses and lodging, food and fuel, magazines and meat processing, dues, contributions and other associated items are added, the average total rises to $109,568.
cLook for Gene Mueller's Outdoors column Sunday and Wednesday and his Fishing Report on Thursday, only in The Washington Times. E-mail: gmueller@washingtontimes.com. Also check out Gene Mueller's Inside Outside blog on www.washingtontimes.com/sports
The wealthiest animal rights organization in the country, the Humane Society of the United States, is again asking for a nationwide ban on lead-shot ammunition.
It says the North Dakota Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have preliminary findings that show you will end up with higher levels of lead in your blood if you eat wildlife killed with "lead bullets" than with other types of ammo.
Please, no laughing just yet. Wait until the end because there's good and bad news in all of this.
The statement by the HSUS - which should not be confused with neighborhood humane societies that take in homeless pets - says "lead bullets" are bad and that if you hunt, you should do so with non-lead bullets. The HSUS appears to be endorsing recreational hunting.
I know the group will fire off angry letters to deny this, but it says the North Dakota Department of Health recommends pregnant women and children under 6 avoid eating venison "killed by lead bullets." Is the HSUS endorsing hunting by association? That's a major turnaround for the animal worshippers.
And what's this talk about lead bullets? Do they mean rifle ammo or shotgun slugs that have a lead projectile atop the shell casing?
The bad part here is the venom spewed by Andrew Page, the senior director of the Wildlife Abuse Campaign for HSUS.
"Extremist hunters have long contaminated watersheds and habitat, dooming animals to slow and painful deaths," he said. "Now that hunters know their actions are directly putting themselves and other people at risk, there are no more excuses to use the ammo that just keeps on killing."
A little education is called for Page and his ilk, who say you should avoid eating venison killed by lead bullets. Well, you can't kill venison. You kill deer. Once the deer is down and you field-dress it, skin it, cut, wrap and label the meat, it becomes venison.
As part of its campaign against lead bullets, the HSUS claims one-fifth of the population of condors in Southern California died because the birds ingested lead shot. What a bunch of malarkey. And, of course, its archenemies, including pro-hunting organizations like the National Rifle Association, are "stubborn shooters" that advocate lead shot on the "flimsy grounds that it is 'traditional' and affordable." The HSUS doesn't need to remind hunters that nontoxic shot is available on the market and is used by millions of hunters. We know already.
We also know that if you knock a deer down, clean it properly and remove and discard any flesh parts and bones that were touched by those dreaded "lead bullets," it is not possible to end up with high amounts of lead in your body.
Talk about trying to create mass hysteria.
- The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a nonprofit trade association for the firearm industry, says 40 million Americans are active in shooting sports and hunting. During their lifetimes, the total retail value of their activities will top $4 trillion, the foundation said.
"Every hunter and sport shooter is a tremendous asset to the firearm industry but also to the travel industry, conservation agencies, rural economies, even the agriculture industry since fee-hunting now provides critical revenue for farmers and ranchers," NSSF president Doug Painter said.
The study looked at spending by hunters and shooters from age 16 to 75. Researchers found the average lifetime outlay for firearms, ammunition and other gear totals $20,219 a person. When purchases for licenses and lodging, food and fuel, magazines and meat processing, dues, contributions and other associated items are added, the average total rises to $109,568.
cLook for Gene Mueller's Outdoors column Sunday and Wednesday and his Fishing Report on Thursday, only in The Washington Times. E-mail: gmueller@washingtontimes.com. Also check out Gene Mueller's Inside Outside blog on www.washingtontimes.com/sports
Monday, November 10, 2008
New Mexico Department of Game and Fish
Media contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
dan.williams@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOV. 7, 2008:
LATE-SEASON COW ELK LICENSES AVAILABLE ONLINE NOV. 18
SANTA FE -- A total of 565 cow elk licenses will be available online at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, to hunters who did not already hold an elk license this season.
Licenses will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, only on the Department of Game and Fish Web site, www.wildlife.state.nm.us . Hunters are encouraged to visit the Web site before the sale date to review hunts available and to create an online account if they have not already done so.
The licenses are for antlerless elk in various game management units statewide. The hunts will include 200 licenses for muzzleloaders or bows only, and 365 licenses for any legal sporting arm.
The special late-season cow elk hunts are designed to achieve harvest goals and provide additional elk hunting opportunities. License fees are $61 for residents, $333 for nonresidents and $768 for nonresidents wishing to purchase a Valle Vidal cow license. License fees will be charged at the time of successful online application.
Only hunters who did not hold elk licenses for hunts this season are eligible for the late-season hunts. It is illegal for any hunter to hold more than one elk license in the same license year.
The late-season cow elk hunt on the Valle Vidal is an once-in-a-lifetime hunt. It is illegal for anyone to purchase a license to hunt antlerless elk on the Valle Vidal if they have held a Valle Vidal antlerless elk license since 1983.
To be eligible for the late-season hunts, applicants who held a 2007-08 deer or elk hunting licenses must have submitted a mandatory harvest report. Those who did not submit harvest reports still may do so for an $8 late fee. Late reports may be filed at Department offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Raton, Roswell or Las Cruces, or by calling (505) 476-8038.
Licenses will be mailed to successful applicants as soon as possible after Nov. 18.
Licenses available (online only, www.wildlife.state.nm.us):
Muzzleloader or bow only:
* Unit 9 -- Nov. 29-Dec. 7, 200 licenses. Note: Successful applicants for Game Management Unit 9 hunts should receive their licenses by Nov. 25 to accommodate the short timeframe between application and hunt dates. Unit 9 hunters who do not receive their licenses by Nov. 25, must obtain a duplicate license by visiting a Game Department office in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Raton, Roswell or Las Cruces no later than Wednesday, Nov. 26. Please note that Department offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 30, for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Any legal sporting arm:
* Unit 6C -- Dec. 18-22, 40 licenses.
* Unit 34 -- Dec. 13-17, 50 licenses.
* Unit 44-45 -- Dec. 6-10, 25 licenses.
* Unit 51 -- Dec. 18-22, 200 licenses.
* Unit 53 -- (except Cerro), Dec. 13-21, 25 licenses.
* Unit 55 -- (Valle Vidal and Greenwood areas), Dec. 6-10, 25 licenses. This is classified as a once-in-a-lifetime hunt.
For more information about the late-season cow elk hunts, please call (505) 476-8000.
###
Media contact: Dan Williams, (505) 476-8004
Public contact: (505) 476-8000
dan.williams@state.nm.us
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOV. 7, 2008:
LATE-SEASON COW ELK LICENSES AVAILABLE ONLINE NOV. 18
SANTA FE -- A total of 565 cow elk licenses will be available online at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, to hunters who did not already hold an elk license this season.
Licenses will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, only on the Department of Game and Fish Web site, www.wildlife.state.nm.us . Hunters are encouraged to visit the Web site before the sale date to review hunts available and to create an online account if they have not already done so.
The licenses are for antlerless elk in various game management units statewide. The hunts will include 200 licenses for muzzleloaders or bows only, and 365 licenses for any legal sporting arm.
The special late-season cow elk hunts are designed to achieve harvest goals and provide additional elk hunting opportunities. License fees are $61 for residents, $333 for nonresidents and $768 for nonresidents wishing to purchase a Valle Vidal cow license. License fees will be charged at the time of successful online application.
Only hunters who did not hold elk licenses for hunts this season are eligible for the late-season hunts. It is illegal for any hunter to hold more than one elk license in the same license year.
The late-season cow elk hunt on the Valle Vidal is an once-in-a-lifetime hunt. It is illegal for anyone to purchase a license to hunt antlerless elk on the Valle Vidal if they have held a Valle Vidal antlerless elk license since 1983.
To be eligible for the late-season hunts, applicants who held a 2007-08 deer or elk hunting licenses must have submitted a mandatory harvest report. Those who did not submit harvest reports still may do so for an $8 late fee. Late reports may be filed at Department offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Raton, Roswell or Las Cruces, or by calling (505) 476-8038.
Licenses will be mailed to successful applicants as soon as possible after Nov. 18.
Licenses available (online only, www.wildlife.state.nm.us):
Muzzleloader or bow only:
* Unit 9 -- Nov. 29-Dec. 7, 200 licenses. Note: Successful applicants for Game Management Unit 9 hunts should receive their licenses by Nov. 25 to accommodate the short timeframe between application and hunt dates. Unit 9 hunters who do not receive their licenses by Nov. 25, must obtain a duplicate license by visiting a Game Department office in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Raton, Roswell or Las Cruces no later than Wednesday, Nov. 26. Please note that Department offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 30, for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Any legal sporting arm:
* Unit 6C -- Dec. 18-22, 40 licenses.
* Unit 34 -- Dec. 13-17, 50 licenses.
* Unit 44-45 -- Dec. 6-10, 25 licenses.
* Unit 51 -- Dec. 18-22, 200 licenses.
* Unit 53 -- (except Cerro), Dec. 13-21, 25 licenses.
* Unit 55 -- (Valle Vidal and Greenwood areas), Dec. 6-10, 25 licenses. This is classified as a once-in-a-lifetime hunt.
For more information about the late-season cow elk hunts, please call (505) 476-8000.
###
Montague Stevens And Grizzly Bears In Catron County
By Dixie Boyle
special to Mountain Mail
SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) -- Montague Stevens, an Englishman, was one of the first and the last to hunt grizzly bears in Catron County.
Stevens moved to New Mexico Territory in the 1800s and went into the cattle business establishing ranches near Alma, Reserve and Datil with his headquarters at Horse Springs.
He published a book in 1942 titled Meet Mr. Grizzly and wrote about his move to New Mexico: “It was in the fall of 1882 that I bought my first ranches from early settlers and so little was known of New Mexico in the East that I was several times asked if we had monkeys and parrots here … I have ranches scattered over an area of some 80 by 30 miles, generally known as the SU Ranches and range, the SU being my cattle brand.”
Stevens, an avid hunter, first visited the United States in 1880 while on a hunting vacation in Wyoming from Cambridge University.
After graduating with a law degree, he returned the following year on a second vacation and decided to remain in America.
Grizzly bears were a major problem for Stevens and early settlers. They often attacked without warning, taking livestock and supplies. Stevens and his ranch foreman, Dan Gatlin, started training hounds to hunt grizzlies in 1889.
By trial and error, Stevens and Gatlin raised an exceptional group of hunting dogs, which consistently tracked down grizzly bears when other hounds failed.
Stevens described their pack of dogs in his book: “I had a great number of different breeds of dogs. Besides the wolf hounds, I had a Great Dane, an English bob-tailed sheep dog, an English mastiff, a greyhound, two Scotch deer hounds, Scotch collies and a various assortment of terriers, including Scotch, Irish, fox and bull terriers.”
Stevens and his grizzly-hunting dogs were soon much in demand. He wrote about one rancher having problems: “One day, a neighbor, who lives some 10 miles, came to me and told me that a she-bear (a term for grizzly) had killed one of his yearlings, not far from the ranch.”
He writes about another grizzly causing problems near Datil: “Dan and I were camping in the Datil Mountain s, at the White House Ranch, which was owned by Mrs. Morley. We were told by her daughter that a big grizzly was watering at her trough.”
In both cases, Stevens and his dogs tracked down and killed the grizzlies.
Bounties were offered on troublesome grizzlies. Stevens described two grizzly bears and the naming of Bear-Trap-Canyon in the San Mateo Mountains.
He wrote, “On a mountain 30 miles southwest of Magdalena, two grizzlies had been killing a good many cattle and a generous bounty was offered to anyone who would kill them. Two trappers, therefore, decided to try to catch a big grizzly in a bear-trap, so they camped near the place where the tracks of these bears seemed to show up the most and set their trap.”
They waited outside the trap for longer than a week, but did not see the grizzlies.
Next, they built a log cabin, about 8 feet by 10 feet with sturdy log walls. A trap door was placed at one end and a deer carcass at the other.
When the trappers returned the next morning, the trap had been sprung and was empty. They found another grizzly had dug under the trap from the outside and helped free the one inside. They both escaped, and since the area has been referred to as Bear-Trap-Canyon.
Stevens quit hunting grizzlies when his favorite dogs ate poisoned baits and died.
His ideas about hunting the silver tips changed as reflected by his writing.
“As soon as I became resigned to the loss of my hounds … and derived some consolation from the fact that there were very few grizzlies left to hunt in the section of the Rocky Mountains over which I had hunted, and feeling that I had already had my full share of them, from that time on, I became a zealous convert to their preservation, to prevent so noble an animal becoming extinct,” he wrote.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s left behind the first documented account of a grizzly encounter. At one time, grizzly bears ranged throughout the entire western United States.
They have survived only in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Wyoming.
By Dixie Boyle
special to Mountain Mail
SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) -- Montague Stevens, an Englishman, was one of the first and the last to hunt grizzly bears in Catron County.
Stevens moved to New Mexico Territory in the 1800s and went into the cattle business establishing ranches near Alma, Reserve and Datil with his headquarters at Horse Springs.
He published a book in 1942 titled Meet Mr. Grizzly and wrote about his move to New Mexico: “It was in the fall of 1882 that I bought my first ranches from early settlers and so little was known of New Mexico in the East that I was several times asked if we had monkeys and parrots here … I have ranches scattered over an area of some 80 by 30 miles, generally known as the SU Ranches and range, the SU being my cattle brand.”
Stevens, an avid hunter, first visited the United States in 1880 while on a hunting vacation in Wyoming from Cambridge University.
After graduating with a law degree, he returned the following year on a second vacation and decided to remain in America.
Grizzly bears were a major problem for Stevens and early settlers. They often attacked without warning, taking livestock and supplies. Stevens and his ranch foreman, Dan Gatlin, started training hounds to hunt grizzlies in 1889.
By trial and error, Stevens and Gatlin raised an exceptional group of hunting dogs, which consistently tracked down grizzly bears when other hounds failed.
Stevens described their pack of dogs in his book: “I had a great number of different breeds of dogs. Besides the wolf hounds, I had a Great Dane, an English bob-tailed sheep dog, an English mastiff, a greyhound, two Scotch deer hounds, Scotch collies and a various assortment of terriers, including Scotch, Irish, fox and bull terriers.”
Stevens and his grizzly-hunting dogs were soon much in demand. He wrote about one rancher having problems: “One day, a neighbor, who lives some 10 miles, came to me and told me that a she-bear (a term for grizzly) had killed one of his yearlings, not far from the ranch.”
He writes about another grizzly causing problems near Datil: “Dan and I were camping in the Datil Mountain s, at the White House Ranch, which was owned by Mrs. Morley. We were told by her daughter that a big grizzly was watering at her trough.”
In both cases, Stevens and his dogs tracked down and killed the grizzlies.
Bounties were offered on troublesome grizzlies. Stevens described two grizzly bears and the naming of Bear-Trap-Canyon in the San Mateo Mountains.
He wrote, “On a mountain 30 miles southwest of Magdalena, two grizzlies had been killing a good many cattle and a generous bounty was offered to anyone who would kill them. Two trappers, therefore, decided to try to catch a big grizzly in a bear-trap, so they camped near the place where the tracks of these bears seemed to show up the most and set their trap.”
They waited outside the trap for longer than a week, but did not see the grizzlies.
Next, they built a log cabin, about 8 feet by 10 feet with sturdy log walls. A trap door was placed at one end and a deer carcass at the other.
When the trappers returned the next morning, the trap had been sprung and was empty. They found another grizzly had dug under the trap from the outside and helped free the one inside. They both escaped, and since the area has been referred to as Bear-Trap-Canyon.
Stevens quit hunting grizzlies when his favorite dogs ate poisoned baits and died.
His ideas about hunting the silver tips changed as reflected by his writing.
“As soon as I became resigned to the loss of my hounds … and derived some consolation from the fact that there were very few grizzlies left to hunt in the section of the Rocky Mountains over which I had hunted, and feeling that I had already had my full share of them, from that time on, I became a zealous convert to their preservation, to prevent so noble an animal becoming extinct,” he wrote.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s left behind the first documented account of a grizzly encounter. At one time, grizzly bears ranged throughout the entire western United States.
They have survived only in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Montana and Wyoming.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Firearms Industry Statement on Results of CDC Blood Lead Levels in Hunters Study
NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry -- issued the following statement in response to study results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), released by the North Dakota Department of Health, showing no evidence that lead or "traditional" ammunition pose any health risk to those who consume game harvested meat.
The CDC report on human lead levels of hunters in North Dakota has confirmed what hunters throughout the world have known for hundreds of years, that traditional ammunition poses no health risk to people and that the call to ban lead ammunition was nothing more than a scare tactic being pushed by anti-hunting groups.
In looking at the study results, the average lead level of the hunters tested was lower than that of the average American. In other words, if you were to randomly pick someone on the street, chances are they would have a higher blood lead level than the hunters in this study.
Also of note, the lead levels of children under 6 in the study had a mean of just 0.88, less than half the national average. Children over 6 had even lower lead levels. The CDC's level of concern for lead in children is 10.
A media advisory released by the North Dakota Department of Health cited the highest lead level reading of an adult study participant as still being lower than the CDC lead level threshold of concern for a child, and significantly lower than the CDC accepted threshold of concern for an adult. Furthermore, during a tele-press conference hosted by the ND Department of Health, officials stated they could not verify whether this adult even consumed game harvested with traditional ammunition. Correspondingly, the study only showed an insignificant 0.3 micrograms per deciliter difference between participants who ate wild game harvested with traditional ammunition and non-hunters in the non-random control group.
Also demonstrating their understanding that game harvested with traditional ammunition is safe to consume, the ND Department of Health, following the release of the CDC study results, encouraged hunters to continue donating venison to local food banks as long as processing guidelines were adhered to.
NSSF was critical of the ND Department of Health when earlier this year the Department overreacted to a non-peer reviewed study by a dermatologist who claimed to have collected packages of venison from food banks that contained lead fragments. North Dakota health officials did not conduct their own study, but merely accepted the lead-contaminated meat samples from the dermatologist. The ND Department of Health then ordered all food banks to discard their venison. Serious questions were raised in a subsequent investigative journalism piece published this summer about the scientific validity of the testing of venison samples from the ND food pantries, including concerns regarding the non-random selection of the samples.
It has since come to light that the dermatologist's efforts were not the independent actions of a concerned hunter, as he claimed. It was an orchestrated strategy by the Peregrine Fund -- an organization dedicated to eliminating the use of lead ammunition for hunting. The dermatologist serves on the Fund's Board of Directors.
For more than a century, hundreds of millions of Americans have safely consumed game harvested using traditional hunting ammunition, and despite there being no scientific evidence that consuming the game is endangering the health of individuals, special interest groups like the Peregrine Fund and anti-hunting groups are continuing to press state legislatures around the country to support a ban on this common, safe and effective ammunition.
These politically driven groups understand that while an outright ban on hunting would be nearly impossible to achieve, dismantling the culture of hunting one step at a time is a realistic goal. Banning lead ammunition is the first step of this larger political mission. We can only hope that with the conclusive CDC results concerning the safety of traditional ammunition, legislatures across the country will listen to science and not anti-hunting radicals.
The notion by some, that any amount of lead is a "concern," is scientifically unfounded rhetoric that runs contrary to nationwide, long-standing standards of evaluation. The NSSF is pleased that hunters and others can now comfortably continue consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition that has been properly field dressed and butchered, yet we remain unsettled that for so many months good and safe food was taken out of the mouths of the hungry as nothing more than a political gambit by special interest groups.
NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry -- issued the following statement in response to study results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), released by the North Dakota Department of Health, showing no evidence that lead or "traditional" ammunition pose any health risk to those who consume game harvested meat.
The CDC report on human lead levels of hunters in North Dakota has confirmed what hunters throughout the world have known for hundreds of years, that traditional ammunition poses no health risk to people and that the call to ban lead ammunition was nothing more than a scare tactic being pushed by anti-hunting groups.
In looking at the study results, the average lead level of the hunters tested was lower than that of the average American. In other words, if you were to randomly pick someone on the street, chances are they would have a higher blood lead level than the hunters in this study.
Also of note, the lead levels of children under 6 in the study had a mean of just 0.88, less than half the national average. Children over 6 had even lower lead levels. The CDC's level of concern for lead in children is 10.
A media advisory released by the North Dakota Department of Health cited the highest lead level reading of an adult study participant as still being lower than the CDC lead level threshold of concern for a child, and significantly lower than the CDC accepted threshold of concern for an adult. Furthermore, during a tele-press conference hosted by the ND Department of Health, officials stated they could not verify whether this adult even consumed game harvested with traditional ammunition. Correspondingly, the study only showed an insignificant 0.3 micrograms per deciliter difference between participants who ate wild game harvested with traditional ammunition and non-hunters in the non-random control group.
Also demonstrating their understanding that game harvested with traditional ammunition is safe to consume, the ND Department of Health, following the release of the CDC study results, encouraged hunters to continue donating venison to local food banks as long as processing guidelines were adhered to.
NSSF was critical of the ND Department of Health when earlier this year the Department overreacted to a non-peer reviewed study by a dermatologist who claimed to have collected packages of venison from food banks that contained lead fragments. North Dakota health officials did not conduct their own study, but merely accepted the lead-contaminated meat samples from the dermatologist. The ND Department of Health then ordered all food banks to discard their venison. Serious questions were raised in a subsequent investigative journalism piece published this summer about the scientific validity of the testing of venison samples from the ND food pantries, including concerns regarding the non-random selection of the samples.
It has since come to light that the dermatologist's efforts were not the independent actions of a concerned hunter, as he claimed. It was an orchestrated strategy by the Peregrine Fund -- an organization dedicated to eliminating the use of lead ammunition for hunting. The dermatologist serves on the Fund's Board of Directors.
For more than a century, hundreds of millions of Americans have safely consumed game harvested using traditional hunting ammunition, and despite there being no scientific evidence that consuming the game is endangering the health of individuals, special interest groups like the Peregrine Fund and anti-hunting groups are continuing to press state legislatures around the country to support a ban on this common, safe and effective ammunition.
These politically driven groups understand that while an outright ban on hunting would be nearly impossible to achieve, dismantling the culture of hunting one step at a time is a realistic goal. Banning lead ammunition is the first step of this larger political mission. We can only hope that with the conclusive CDC results concerning the safety of traditional ammunition, legislatures across the country will listen to science and not anti-hunting radicals.
The notion by some, that any amount of lead is a "concern," is scientifically unfounded rhetoric that runs contrary to nationwide, long-standing standards of evaluation. The NSSF is pleased that hunters and others can now comfortably continue consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition that has been properly field dressed and butchered, yet we remain unsettled that for so many months good and safe food was taken out of the mouths of the hungry as nothing more than a political gambit by special interest groups.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Governor Bill Richardson Appoints Tod Stevenson as Interim Director of the Department of Game and Fish
November 6, 2008
Gilbert Gallegos 505-476-2217
SANTA FE - Governor Bill Richardson today appointed Tod Stevenson as the interim Director for the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish. Stevenson replaces Bruce Thompson, who has taken another job in state government.
“I am counting on Tod Stevenson to continue with our balanced approach to wildlife management in New Mexico,” Governor Richardson said. “We have made great strides in promoting sport hunting and fishing, and wildlife conservation efforts. I know Tod will work with the Game Commission to do what’s in the best interest of sportsmen, as well as every other constituency that enjoys New Mexico’s bountiful natural resources.”
Stevenson served as Deputy Director for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish from 2003 to 2007. During his 30-year career Stevenson served in various positions in the Department including Division Chief for the Conservation Services Division and Assistant Director for Resources, Area Operations and Law Enforcement.
As interim Director for New Mexico Game and Fish Department, Stevenson will oversee state programs designed to provide for as adequate supply of wildlife and fish, and for their protection, propagation, regulation, conservation, and for their use as public recreation and food supply.
Stevenson will serve as interim director in the place of former Director Bruce Thompson who resigned on Wednesday to become the Coordinator for Land Conservation, Habitat Corridors and Wildlife Adaptation for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Thompson’s last day at the Game and Fish Department will be November 14, 2008,
“I want to thank Bruce Thompson for his hard work and service at New Mexico Game and Fish,” Governor Richardson said.“
Stevenson’s appointment is effective November 17, 2008.
November 6, 2008
Gilbert Gallegos 505-476-2217
SANTA FE - Governor Bill Richardson today appointed Tod Stevenson as the interim Director for the New Mexico Department of Game & Fish. Stevenson replaces Bruce Thompson, who has taken another job in state government.
“I am counting on Tod Stevenson to continue with our balanced approach to wildlife management in New Mexico,” Governor Richardson said. “We have made great strides in promoting sport hunting and fishing, and wildlife conservation efforts. I know Tod will work with the Game Commission to do what’s in the best interest of sportsmen, as well as every other constituency that enjoys New Mexico’s bountiful natural resources.”
Stevenson served as Deputy Director for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish from 2003 to 2007. During his 30-year career Stevenson served in various positions in the Department including Division Chief for the Conservation Services Division and Assistant Director for Resources, Area Operations and Law Enforcement.
As interim Director for New Mexico Game and Fish Department, Stevenson will oversee state programs designed to provide for as adequate supply of wildlife and fish, and for their protection, propagation, regulation, conservation, and for their use as public recreation and food supply.
Stevenson will serve as interim director in the place of former Director Bruce Thompson who resigned on Wednesday to become the Coordinator for Land Conservation, Habitat Corridors and Wildlife Adaptation for the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. Thompson’s last day at the Game and Fish Department will be November 14, 2008,
“I want to thank Bruce Thompson for his hard work and service at New Mexico Game and Fish,” Governor Richardson said.“
Stevenson’s appointment is effective November 17, 2008.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
American Deer & Wildlife Alliance Emphasizes Education
Education is pertinent when aging whitetail deer, and locating knowledge in this field is often easier said than done. The American Deer & Wildlife Alliance (ADWA) is partnering with Henry Chidgey of Wildlife Analytical Laboratories, co-founder of the popular Prepaid Forensic Lab Test & Deer Aging Kit, to head future ADWA seminars to share his latest findings in aging deer or other mammals.
Chidgey, having spent much of his life in the pursuit of knowledge about wildlife management & stewardship techniques, created Wildlife Analytical Laboratories with the belief that with accurate and timely feedback of age, hunters and ranchers can maximize their trophy potential.
“As a wildlife steward and avid bowhunter, it’s important not to harvest your bucks until they have fulfilled their genetic potential around 5 ½ to 6 ½ years old,” says Chidgey. “ADWA gives me a great opportunity to introduce pieces of knowledge I’ve gathered throughout the years, and their focus on education is appreciated.”
“After reading Henry’s latest article, it is evident education must be a process—there is always new information gathered regarding accurate deer aging. Introducing sportsmen to the cementum annuli method of aging mammals is a part of the education process,” says ADWA director of operations Annie Jones. “Forensics can play a major factor in maximizing the potential of your deer herd.”
To learn more about Wildlife Analytical Laboratories and their products and services, please visit www.deerage.com.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the American Deer & Wildlife Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to the growth of the deer and wildlife industry, and to help educate consumers and the youth on the conservation issues that effect deer and wildlife as well as the industry. For more information on the American Deer & Wildlife Alliance, call 512.331.8607 or visit www.deerwildlifealliance.org.
Education is pertinent when aging whitetail deer, and locating knowledge in this field is often easier said than done. The American Deer & Wildlife Alliance (ADWA) is partnering with Henry Chidgey of Wildlife Analytical Laboratories, co-founder of the popular Prepaid Forensic Lab Test & Deer Aging Kit, to head future ADWA seminars to share his latest findings in aging deer or other mammals.
Chidgey, having spent much of his life in the pursuit of knowledge about wildlife management & stewardship techniques, created Wildlife Analytical Laboratories with the belief that with accurate and timely feedback of age, hunters and ranchers can maximize their trophy potential.
“As a wildlife steward and avid bowhunter, it’s important not to harvest your bucks until they have fulfilled their genetic potential around 5 ½ to 6 ½ years old,” says Chidgey. “ADWA gives me a great opportunity to introduce pieces of knowledge I’ve gathered throughout the years, and their focus on education is appreciated.”
“After reading Henry’s latest article, it is evident education must be a process—there is always new information gathered regarding accurate deer aging. Introducing sportsmen to the cementum annuli method of aging mammals is a part of the education process,” says ADWA director of operations Annie Jones. “Forensics can play a major factor in maximizing the potential of your deer herd.”
To learn more about Wildlife Analytical Laboratories and their products and services, please visit www.deerage.com.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the American Deer & Wildlife Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to the growth of the deer and wildlife industry, and to help educate consumers and the youth on the conservation issues that effect deer and wildlife as well as the industry. For more information on the American Deer & Wildlife Alliance, call 512.331.8607 or visit www.deerwildlifealliance.org.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
