One of the Most Dangerous Animals

It was just after daybreak. I had watched her for about 30 minutes in the dark as she worked her way across the field.  She was both beautiful and dangerous. In fact, if you think about it, most things in nature share those two attributes.

Mount Everest is one example. The largest mountain in the world has enticed many a climber with her glorious beauty. She is also a killer. Nearly everyone that has ventured to the summit has come back with either parts of their bodies missing and damaged through frostbite or falls or parts of their soul grieving for the bodies they spot on the way to or from the peak. It is too dangerous to return the fallen, so the climbers that did not make lay scattered throughout the mountain. Having made authors such as Jon Krakauer and Anatoli Boukreev famous with their stories of Everest’s ferocity, it still isn’t close to causing the death, destruction, and disease of the beast that was in front of me.

Niagara with all her history and splendidness is also a devout widow-maker. She has power that few things or places on this world could ever compare to. Many times you can visit something that is regarded as larger than life and then once you get there you realize “wow, it’s not nearly as impressive as I thought it was.” Not Niagara Falls. It actually is beyond what you can imagine. The force of the water slapping the rocks below, the spray that results towering higher than any building it is very impressive. From miles away the sound and spray can be seen. Many daredevils have ventured down the river on their way to the drop. Only a few have survived. Yet it still does not contend with what stood just yards away from me.

Yes, this was the moment. Her kind was scarce just a few decades ago. Through both management and mismanagement she began to flourish however. In fact she is so common throughout the state that North Carolina has allowed unlimited harvest. She destroys landscapes. She decimates food crops. And during the months of October through December she especially burdensome to travelers. She fears not the would-be driver and often will head for direct impact. She also shares parasites, mites, and ticks with both people and pets.

This would be my chance to turn the tables. It had now been nearly an hour after I first saw her. I was not sure I would get an opportunity. She walked from left to right out of the swamp, occasionally pulling up soybeans as she strolled through the field. Patiently I waited. For some reason she turned. I remained still and steadfast sitting on the lock-on stand. She made another turn offering my movement to grab my bow without her noticing. She then turned back toward me once again. I could tell she was completely unaware of my presence. Her ears twitching away from me and back toward the swamp gave away her lack of insight. A little closer, that is all I needed.

Then she walked towards the stand and was only a few yards away. No clear shot for her vitals, I knew I still had one shot available. Nearly directly under me I set the sights. With one steady pull the string and arrow locked in place on the Pearson Stealth II. My right index finger slowly moved up and over the release trigger. Instinctively, the pin glided to the intended point of impact and the trigger was grazed.

The spine shot laid down the doe immediately. Thirty seconds later and another deer would be done.

Video: Archery Spine Shot on a Deer

Video of a deer hunt this weekend in which the result was a spine shot with the bow. The deer expired in 30 seconds after impact (edited on video to prevent graphic nature).

 

 

 

Jetski Fishing Offshore of the Atlantic-in a Storm!

Went offshore on a jetski fishing trip hitting artificial reefs AR330, AR320, and AR315. The weather was forecasted with 80% chance of rain and I took off after a band of showers had passed through. AR330 is around 7 miles out and the only boat at the reef was a large dive boat. Weather began to go south quickly and I headed in towards AR320 which is located about 1.5 miles off shore. The choppy seas limited my speed to around 10-12 mph and the storm caught up with me. I was prepared for a storm and had safety equipment with me as well as a mapped out plan I left with my family in case of trouble.

Safety equipment included a Uniden VHF marine radio with GPS, WX, and one button distress signal, flare gun with 6 flares, installed bilge pump in hull of the jetski, Humminbird fish finder with GPS tracking, and my cell phone with offline mapping for GPS (GPS works even if cell coverage does not).

A Little Time on the Lake Fishing from the Jetski

Coast2Coast Outdoors 11/14/2011

Here is the Coast2Coast Outdoors rebroadcast of this week's show with information and commentary on blue tongue and EHD disease in whitetail deer.  RB Wright and Kerry Mackey hosts the weekly show as well as their own blog sites (just click on the names for the links).

This particular show features some information from last week's Bill Howard's Outdoors column on diseased deer seen here.

Watch live streaming video from coast2coastoutdoors at livestream.com

Be sure to catch Coast2Coast Outdoors each Monday at 9pm Eastern time.

Continuing the Heritage-More Obstacles

Note: Please feel free to share this post with anyone that enjoys hunting, fishing, or the outdoors.

Last year, North Carolina registered 505,530 licensed hunters.  This was the most since 1994 and continues a trend in which each year since 2002 the number of licensed hunters has increased.  While it is encouraging to see our numbers go up, they still fall behind in the overall picture as far as percentage compared to population growth.

Getting our youth, as well as adults, in the outdoors to participate in activities such as hunting and fishing is imperative to keep the heritage alive.  As mentioned in the past, there are far more distractions and other activities for the population these days than in the past.  Television with hundreds of channels, game consoles and systems, and computers all compete to keep our youth occupied. 

Please read the previous post Heritage of the Outdoors.

Other factors challenging the outdoor heritage are environmental groups distaste for hunting and fishing.  I use environmental groups loosely.  Let me explain a little before continuing with the point.  Hunters and fishermen/women provide funds for wildlife conservation, gamelands, studies, even preservation areas, amongst other programs through purchases of licenses, stamps, excise taxes through the Pittman-Robertson act, memberships and donations through conservations groups such as Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, Quail Unlimited, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Boone and Crockett, Pope and Young, and many more than can be listed.  In other words, outdoorsmen and women provide the majority of funds to protect both wildlife and land.  They are the true environmentalists.  Meanwhile, other groups seeking to stop hunting and fishing, claim to be environmental organizations.

Back to the point.  As recently as August 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was petitioned to ban all lead products used for hunting and fishing under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA).  The EPA responded they did not have authority under the TSCA to activate such a ban. Currently there is a bill asking for the EPA to be granted that authority.  Kind of a back door approach to allow the EPA to be given power to ban ammunition without having it go through Congress.

Referenced in many of these reports are the effects of lead shot on mourning dove populations.  Lead was banned for waterfowl back in 1991 due to effects on the duck, geese, and swan populations.  Researching studies on dove myself, there are studies saying dove populations have been effected by anywhere from .2% to as high as 6.4%.  I believe the difference in percentages may be based on locality.

It is estimated there are between 1.2 and 1.6 million dove hunters in the United States accounting for 19-21 million birds harvested each season.  The ammunition of choice is lead shot which accounts for 75% of shotgun shells sold each year.  Here is where the assault on potential new hunters, as well as existing hunters comes in.  A box of 25 shells of 7 ½ lead shot, the typical purchase for dove ammunition, costs roughly $6.  On opening day of dove season, a hunter, especially a new hunter, can easily shoot 100 shells equating to roughly $24 worth of ammunition.  The primary alternative to lead is steel shot.  In comparison, a box of 25 shells of steel shot costs roughly $25.  This equates to $100 worth of ammunition.  This does not include any shells used for practicing by shooting skeet or clay pigeons.  The large increase in costs would severely deter new hunters.

Shotshells would not be the only ammunition regulated either.  Most hunting cartridges consist of a lead projectile.  A young hunter’s first rifle is often a .22 caliber.  Ammunition is cheap, so the youth can become familiar with the operation of the rifle by shooting many times.  A box of 100 .22 cartridges runs approximately $7.50.  Changing the composition of the bullet could increase the cost by 4 times that amount.  Again, the increase would likely eliminate many new hunter's first excursion, or at least repeated excursions into the outdoors.

What we must do is look at this issue as a whole.  If we go to an overall ban on lead, the numbers of hunters will surely decrease, causing us to lose massive amounts of funding through license sales and excise taxes (Pittman-Robertson Act).  These funds will either no longer provide the conservation efforts needed for our environment or they will have to be supplemented from other avenues in government (overall taxes).  Also, with a decrease in hunters, less game will be taken.  A raise in limits on game would not provide enough control, as the ammunition would still be too costly to take only a limited numbers of game animals.

Wildlife biologists are charged with the task of determining the mortality rates of the different game animals, and if lead is effecting populations such as dove to a detrimental level, then limits should be adjusted downward.  However, it was not long ago dove limits were increased from 12 to 15 birds per day, indication the population has grown rather than decreased.

Perhaps the answer is not to ban all lead ammunition and fishing equipment.  If there are areas in particular that are affected in an adverse way, the local/state governments can and should regulate accordingly.  But to ban all, may have an effect that is much more detrimental than the effect of lead.

Bill Howard writes a weekly outdoors column for the Wilson Times and Yancey County News and the bowhunting blog site GiveEmTheShaft.com. He is a Hunter Education and International Bowhunter Education instructor, lifetime member of the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, Bowhunter Certification Referral Service Chairman, member and official measurer of Pope and Young, and a regular contributor to North Carolina Bowhunter Magazine.

Couple of Toms More Interested in the Real Thing Than My Decoys...

That's why they call it hunting.

Bowfishing March 2011

Great new show coming soon to Time Warner Cable!

Goal Setting

Each year we put together resolutions to better ourselves regarding our health, personal finances, and family.  We devise elaborate plans to help our businesses grow and profit.

Recently, while talking to a hunter who holds several bowhunting state records and one world record, he asked a question that isn’t asked in this context very often.  “What is your goal?  What are your goals for hunting this season; in three seasons; in five seasons?”

It made perfectly good sense.  If you want the best odds at succeeding in something, you set your goal, and put together a plan to obtain that goal.  You would not expect to become a doctor without first getting the educational requirements needed.  Nor would you expect to get that education without researching what schools offer the programs for profession.  Many times in our outdoor endeavors we work a plan, but have no real goal.  We may scout, lay food plots, and practice with our equipment.  However, we may have not really thought out what our true goal is.  Is it to limit out?  Is it to bring in the biggest buck?  Are we trying to catch the most fish, or are we trying to catch the most legal sized fish that are edible?

I pondered the question long and hard, and put down my goals.  In the hunter education classes I teach, we go over responsibility, safety, knowledge, and involvement.  I wanted to hit on each attribute, so I broke my goals down to each.

It is easy to say I want to get the largest bass I have ever caught, or take a turkey.  However, if that is your goal, but you do nothing to prepare for it, then it is much less likely to happen.  You cannot guarantee a state record, but you can put yourself in position to have the best odds at a chance for something great.

One of my goals is to learn and hunt each of the game animals in North Carolina.  I may not take a trophy buck each time I go out, but I can take a trophy experience.  Another goal is to mentor my kids, as well as others that are new to hunting.  By learning about each of the game animals, I hope to share those trophy experiences with others, and introduce even long time sportsmen/women to things they may never have thought of trying otherwise.

The gentleman who asked me the question, Randy Mabe, put together his goals several years ago.  One goal was to take the North Carolina Grand Slam (deer, bear, turkey, wild boar) with the bow.  Another was to take the North American Wild Turkey Grand Slam (Eastern, Osceola, Merriam, Rio), which he did with both a shotgun and bow.  He said however, this third goal was one of his greatest.  He introduced his wife to hunting.  He did not force her into it.  But he did work to find what she actually enjoyed, and then helped her in pursuing her goals.  It allowed his marriage to grow stronger, as it gave them another connection.   They enjoy the wilderness, the travel, and the adventure together.  She is an animal lover, and together they now run a kennel, training and raising Verein Deutsch Drahthaar hunting dogs.

If you have ever wanted to take that dream expedition for other game animals or fish; put it on paper, and prepare.  Take it in steps, and have the plan span not just one season, but over a period of time.  The longer time period will help you manage your land for quality and quantity, and put together the resources and knowledge for that dream trip.  Great successes come from preparation and involvement.  Just ask Randy.  Note: Randy Mabe can be reached from his website at www.broadheadkennels.com

Bill Howard is a Hunter Education and Bowhunter Education Instructor , a Wildlife Representative and BCRS Program Chairman for the North Carolina Bowhunters Association, and an avid outdoorsman.  Please forward any pictures or stories you would like shared to billhowardoutdoors@gmail.com.