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North Carolina DNR says, 'Bring on the Night!'

February 28, 2012 | By Barbara Baird

Forty-two states allow night hunting for some game species. North Carolina is thinking about becoming the 43rd state and is proposing new regulations that would allow hunting of coyotes and hogs at night.

In an article in USA Today, both sides weigh in. A state biologist and a concerned landowner comment, followed by an opinion from California. In fact, the article quotes Camilla Fox, executive director of the Northern California-based Project Coyote, as saying night hunting is “ethically indefensible and ecologically reckless.” She is concerned that a hunter could mistake a red wolf for a coyote.

Frankly, if this article focused on my state of Missouri, I’d prefer to see the pros and cons from Missouri-based resources and residents, not from a California anti. Coyote. Photo courtesy of North Carolina Department of Natural Resources

Mostly, the opposition is based in fear. Fear that hunters will run around willy-nilly with their guns and night optics, going all military on hogs and dogs in their neighborhoods.

Of course, I also realize that night hunting begets different tactics, but frankly, as hunters and therefore, shooters, we always are tasked with identifying the target before taking the shot.

What do you think? Is night hunting too risky in a state that harbors not only coyotes, but also coveted canine species? Tell us about night hunting in your state, and why you think it's safe.

California antis roaring for Richards’ head

February 23, 2012 | By Barbara Baird

Words like sanctimonious and self-righteous and who-in-the-wide-world-of-the-outdoors do you think you are, California, came to mind when I saw a clip from Channel 7 news, an ABC affiliate out of San Francisco, featuring the story about the president of the California Fish and Game Commission and his recent out-of-state mountain lion hunt.

Dan Richards, a Republican from San Bernardino County, went on a mountain lion hunt in Idaho recently and Western Outdoor News posted a photo of him on its website. Of course, he is holding a dead mountain lion. And, gasp, he is smiling. As of today, the post has been pulled off the site.

According to Channel 7, anti-hunting groups are now hunting Richards and hoping for his termination as commissioner. Jennifer Fearing, of the Humane Society of the United States, said, “It’s sort of equivalent to ... an appointed drug czar heading off to a foreign country where drug use is legal, participating and posting pictures of it on the Internet.”

For the record, Californians passed Proposition 117 in 1999, making it illegal to hunt mountain lions. One of the main forces behind the passage of this proposition, the Mountain Lion Foundation, has come out roaring and calling for Richards’ firing immediately. A spokesperson said, “Californians sort of trust the fish and game department and their commission to be the protectors of our wildlife resources and this person is showing that he really doesn’t care.”

Bill Gaines, of the California Outdoor Heritage Alliance, weighs in with common sense, and also, does not use the words sort of in his defense of Richards. He said, “What Mr. Richards did in Idaho was neither illegal, nor was it immoral. Legal hunting activity in Idaho of mountain lions has no bearing on his ability to act as a fish and game commissioner in the best interest of California’s wildlife resource.”

At the end of this segment, the announcer calmly states that a mountain lion wandered into someone’s backyard in Los Altos Hills recently. The homeowner's German shepherd chased the lion up a tree. Authorities showed up and encouraged everyone to stay calm, until the lion got bored and went back into the mountains.

Should Richards be fired because of his hunt?

Do you think Californians are trying to impose their propositions on other states?

Void the FOID?

February 21, 2012 | By Barbara Baird

I read the excitement between the lines of a message from my friend, a hunter in Illinois. She wrote, “Can you imagine? There exists a possibility that I might actually end up living in a state that doesn't require a freakin' FOID card? Please let this fly ... please ... please. It just burns me that all of you can own and buy firearms and cart them into and out of Illinois, but, oh no … I have to have a FOID card.”

My pal, an avid waterfowler, referred to Sen. Sam McCann’s recent bill (Senate Bill 334) that repeals the Firearms Owner’s Identification Act (FOID). In an article in The State Journal-Register, McCann said, “The act prevents law-abiding citizens from exercising their rights under the Second Amendment.” McCann, by the way, is a Republican.

Of course, the bill does not eliminate background checks or a waiting period. And of course, it does not allow gun sales to convicted felons or mentally disturbed people.

McCann said his constituents had complained about the state’s backlog in regard to turnaround with FOID applications. The state mandates 30 days for state police to process these applications, but in truth, it can take up to 80 days. The card lasts for 10 years. Illinois, like most other states, keeps cutting its state budget, so it may even take longer to get a FOID card renewed or approved in the future. I know my friend was sweating it last year, as she waited for a FOID card to arrive before duck season did.

No FOID equals no ammunition, no gun sales, no hunting with firearms. McCann also noted that the reason for the FOID card happened in 1968 when Chicago lawmakers wanted a statewide gun registry and some hicks downstate objected.

Another reason the law-abiding citizens of Illinois reject the FOID card is because of the state’s interpretation of the list associated with the card. In 2010, the Associated Press requested a list of FOID cardholders from the Illinois State Police, using the Freedom of Information Act as support for the request. The State Police turned down the AP, but Attorney General Lisa Madigan rejected the State Police’s action and said the list IS public information.

McMann shot straight and hit the bullseye when he said, “At the end of the day, the only reason why the FOID card exists is to build a singular, go-to database of gun owners in Illinois. It’s antiquated, and we just need to reduce the infringement upon the enumerated rights of the Second Amendment.”

FOID. A four-letter word starting with an “F” that basically violates the Second Amendment, and uses law enforcement as a bully and accomplice.

What do you think? Is it time to send a message in Illinois and void the FOID?

They shoot fish, don’t they?

February 15, 2012 | By Barbara Baird

Last summer, I spent time bowfishing with some folks in southern Illinois on the Kaskaskia River. These people know what it means to be invaded by a wildlife species that is “exotic.” Every weekend, they’re out there – taking out more and more carp, trying to help the river restore its balance. But, really, to no avail. It’s simply not going to get there fast enough.

Outdoor photographer and primitive bowhunter Stacey Huston on the Kaskaskia last summer. Imagine her with a shotgun! Photo courtesy of Gretchen Steele, Steele Photo Services Asian carp, for those of you who haven’t been to some of the major rivers in Illinois lately, are threatening to upset and permanently alter the Great Lakes’ ecosystem – and some anglers say they are in there already. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, combined with the Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois state government, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the International Joint Commission are working on eradicating Illinois’ rivers of this exotic. However, a state representative recently introduced a bill that allows people to shoot flying silver carp with shotguns in a pilot program on the Illinois River. Rep. Dave Winters sponsored HB 5317 on Feb. 8, 2012. It reads as follows:

Amends the Fish and Aquatic Life Code. Provides that the Department of Natural Resources shall establish an Asian carp pilot program to permit licensed individuals to shoot Asian carp with a shotgun off of a motorboat in the Illinois River beginning with the 2013 licensing year. Provides that the individuals must have the appropriate license and use a specific type of ammunition. Provides that the Department may adopt administrative rules to establish and administer the pilot program.

My pals in Illinois think this bill will not see the light of day. They say it will get “shot” down in committee.

While on the river last summer, some of us joked about having a silver carp shotgun season. What do you think? Is it possible to have a safe silver shotgun season?

This NASA Is Squirrelly

February 13, 2012 | By Barbara Baird

The headline in my Google Alerts read, “NASA Assists Disabled Hunter.” Really? I had to see. So many experiments and theories have been tested in space. In the 54 years since President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Space Act, NASA has filed more than 6300 patents.

So, yes, I was curious. Just what did NASA do to help disabled hunters?

It turns out that there’s more than one NASA.

The article did not refer to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It referenced the North American Squirrel Association, a non-profit organization that provides free hunting and fishing trips to the physically challenged and elderly every year. Based in Wisconsin, this NASA is planning a Pheasant Blitz on March 4, and needs volunteers and participants at the Badgerland Pheasant Hunting Preserve in Westby.

For more information about this NASA, visit its website.

Moral of the story. It pays to read the copy after the headline. Dig deeper. Open the book. You get the picture.

Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in outdoor and travel markets. A former small-town newspaper editor and reporter, she constantly hunts for news headlines you need to read. Barbara also publishes Women’s Outdoor News online and pens columns for the National Wild Turkey Federation and Shooting Sports USA. Hailing from the Ozarks of Missouri, this avid hunter is now mentoring the second generation of hunters - her own little bevy of Realtree-wearing grandchildren.

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