Good-bye, Spokane, hello California…

No, I haven’t fallen off the edge of the earth… even though it feels like it sometimes.  It’s never a good sign when I have to lay in bed when I wake up, struggling to figure out where I am and what I’m doing here.

Hunting? 

That’s a laugh.  The closest I’ve been to that was the elk loin chop I had for dinner last night here at the hotel.  Good stuff, for a farm-raised elk, but nowhere near the satisfaction or fulfillment of hitting the woods with gun or bow in hand.  I’m starting to wonder if I even remember how to shoot… much less skin and dress a critter. 

Wah wah wah… enough whining. 

So, it’s back to CA for a week, and then back to Texas next weekend.  Really looking forward to settling back into my Hill Country haven. 

In the meantime, have a great weekend!  If you get out to hunt something, send me a picture and a short story about your trip.  If nothing else, at least I’ll be able to live a little vicariously through your adventures!

While I’m Getting Settled…

I dunno.  After spending the weekend driving 34 hours with a 2 hr nap, and then rolling out bright-and-early this morning, I was bound to be a little punchy.

Hunting in this condition?  Notsomuch.

But playing with the guitar and the video camera?  Too punchy to be inhibited, and still wired enough to want to be creative, you never know what might come out.  Stuff like this?

North Carolina Hunting, Horse, and Relaxation Property For Sale

So my little brother and his wife finally listed their North Carolina property for sale.  It’s just outside of the city of Wilmington, and consists of a sweet little, 17.66 acre parcel, complete with fenced pastures, a woodlot managed for game (food plots, trails, stand locations, etc.), and a real nice barn.  This is the spot where I go to hunt with my brother every year.  If you’ve followed this blog, you’ll remember some of the bucks from his game cams.

If you’re interested in a really pretty spot in southeastern NC, with tons of whitetail, good turkeys, and set up perfectly for horses, this is a great opportunity.  I think it would be an awesome place to build a home as well… just far enough out of town to be comfortable, but close enough to be convenient.  The Wilmington International Airport is only about 15 minutes away, and you can hop onto I-40 in five minutes.

Oh, and the sooner it sells, the sooner they can join me in the Texas Hill Country!

Check it out online.

Call To Action – Fish and Game Commissioner Dan Richards Needs Support

I don’t often share these “calls to action” and similar emails I receive.  This isn’t supposed to be a particularly political blog, and I’m not crazy about jumping on a bandwagon.  But in the case of Fish and Game Commissioner, Dan Richards, I can’t help sticking my fingers in the mix.  I simply can’t believe how much momentum has gathered since he first came under fire for legally hunting a mountain lion in Idaho.

This morning, I read that CA Lt. Governor, Gavin Newsome is calling for his resignation because he has become a “distraction”.  According to the linked blog post, Newsome wrote:

“While not in California at the time, your actions call into question whether you can live up to the calling of your office,” Newsom writes. “As is stated on the Commission’s website, your actions should be in the “best interest of the resource and truly reflect the wishes and needs of the people.”

What the hell does going on a legal hunt in another state have to do with his actions as President of the California Fish and Game Commission?  Step away from your personal feelings about lion hunting for a moment, and consider the bigger picture.

As I’ve mentioned before, Dan Richards, along with Jim Kellogg, is one of the only commissioners who shows any real consideration for hunters and our concerns.  That’s the reason he’s being so directly targeted by the likes of HSUS and the mountain lion foundation.  If he is forced out, a new commissioner will be appointed by Governor Brown, which doesn’t necessarily bode well for hunters in this state.

Anyway, here’s the alert.  I urge all CA hunters to take a good look, give it some thought, consider the big picture, and take action.

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED

California Sportsmen: Pro-Hunting Commissioner’s Position in Jeopardy Anti-hunting groups are trying to force pro-sportsmen, pro-hunting Commissioner Dan Richards off the California Fish & Game Commission. Why? Because he legally took a mountain lion during a hunt in Idaho.

A. Attend March 7 Commission meeting in Riverside, Calif., and speak in support of Commissioner Richards. The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa San Diego Room1 3649 Mission Inn Avenue Riverside 8:30AM

B. Contact your Assemblymember and Senator and tell them to support Commissioner Richards.  http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

C. Contact Gov. Brown 916-445-2841 and tell him you support Commissioner Richards.

D. Contact the California Fish & Game Commission 916-653-4899 and support Commissioner Richards.

Act today. Under state law, any fish and game commissioner can be removed by a simple majority vote in both houses of the state Legislature.

Currently 40 of the 80 members of the Assembly are calling for Richards to resign. This could easily tip the balance of power on the Commission into the hands of anti-hunting extremists.   Show your support for Commissioner Richards today!

 

 

Slow week on the Hog Blog

I know, it’s been pretty slack around here… and just as readership was starting to climb again.  Oh well, I’ll be back to normal sooner or later, but I’ve been a little busy this week.

Let’s just push the day job aside for a moment, even though I’ve logged a bunch of hours for one week.  That would be the same here or in CA, so it’s no excuse.

But then there’s the Hill Country work, here at Hillside Manor.  I’ve got juniper growing through my fenceline, and the fence crew is coming next week to put in my new fences.  I’ve got a dozen brush piles to burn, and most of them need to be cleared before I light them up.  Good thing I got a new Kubota tractor!  And then there’s the pumphouse that I absolutely have to build before we get a hard freeze… or I’ll be real sorry (and out several hundred dollars).

But what’s really occupied my mind and my time this week?  It’s keeping up with this guy right here!

Anyway, back on track next week.  I just put new batteries in the game cams, and spread out a little more golden enticement to see what comes out of the woods.  I should have some more general pictures of the Hill Country too.  Awful pretty here in the Nueces Canyon!

From The WTF Files – Tejon Suspending Hunting Activities?

Color me shocked, dismayed, and a little bit disappointed. I just saw the news this morning that the Tejon Ranch will be suspending all hunting activitivies for the immediate future. They’ve even gone so far as to cancel memberships and return member fees.

According to the article I just read from KGET.com, the ranch is doing this in order to review their hunting practices and wildlife management approach.

Tejon Ranch Company will work closely with the DFG in examining every aspect of the Ranch’s hunting program. The Ranch’s goal will be to institute best hunting management standards and practices, including a full examination of whether allowing unsupervised access to the Company’s 422 square miles of Ranch property may have contributed to this unfortunate series of events.

“While it’s in the long term best interests of conservation for hunting to continue on the Ranch,” said Stine, “we believe a short-term suspension of our normal operations are necessary to determine the best way to operate the hunting program to ensure that these actions never again occur on Tejon Ranch, even if that means severely restricting hunting access to the Ranch.”

Of course, this is little more than a euphemistic way of saying that they’ve caught so much heat over last May’s allegations of illegal mountain lion hunting that they’re scrambling to appease a handful of detractors.  It’s become fairly typical of Tejon Ranch to overreact this way, whether it’s banning lead ammunition or giving away control over a huge part of the property for “conservation”.

It’s no secret that, at the heart of all of this are the Ranch’s efforts to develop a large sector of the property for housing, golf courses, and a resort.  They’ve bent over backwards with efforts to get the environmental organizations to stop fighting their development plans.  And the problem with this is that they don’t seem to realize that, the more they give, the more these organizations will take.  This is not compromise.  Tejon is never going to make it “OK” to develop pristine wild lands.  All they’re succeeding at doing is drawing the noose tighter around their own necks, and in so doing, they’re stringing up their customers as well.

A key goal of the “investigation” is to determine if unsupervised access to the ranch by hunters and members presents an unacceptable risk of poaching and other illegal activity.  I’m not sure what this means in the long run, but for now I’m hearing a lot of disgust and anger from members and hunters, and I can’t blame them.  Even though the alleged mountain lion poaching was supposedly carried out by employees and friends of the Ranch staff, the finger appears to be pointing at the hunters and members who pay to hunt there… folks like myself, and the hundreds of people like me who’ve enjoyed hunting on that beautiful place.

Seriously, anytime the ranch gets heat for anything, whether it’s lead ammo, illicit mountain lion hunts, or some idiot killing a condor, the rest of us bear the burden of increased regulation and restrictions.   I believe a company should stand up for its customers, rather than allowing them to bear the blame for this sort of foolishness.

I love hunting the Tejon Ranch, and even though I’m leaving California, I’d looked forward to coming back to hunt there with my friends on a regular basis (I still have a lifetime license in this state).  But in light of this action and the apparent reflection on all of us who’ve hunted there over the years, I’m beginning to think I’m done with the place.  Just maybe, when the ranch decides to implement whatever new program it has in mind, folks should tell them, “no, thank you.”

A Brief Moment of Protest And Politics

We interrupt this SHOT Show coverage for a brief message about censorship and the bills pending here in the US that will weaken the freedoms that we, as bloggers, forum members, and social networkers have really taken for granted.

There are, as I understand it (and I’m, sadly, not as up on this as I probably should be), two key bills up for consideration in Congress.  These are SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act).  On the surface, both seem not only benign, but valuable tools to fight online piracy of music and video.  But on a deeper look (which I have taken), the bills present significant risks to the many small voices on the Web.

In essence, both of these bills would be aimed at stopping the major search engines and social networking sites from providing links to sites that have been accused of piracy.  There’s a key word there…. “accused”.  The wording of the bills, particularly PIPA, is vague, and leaves a lot of room for abuse.  This potential for abuse is significant, because the drivers behind the bill are big media companies, such as the music and movie industry, as well as big movers in the world of gaming.  If allowed to carry that level of sway, all they have to do is accuse a website or network of violations and that website will be shutdown.  No proof of guilt is required.  The burden of proof is on the accused, rather than the accuser… a direct conflict with our traditional model of justice.

As you might imagine, this legislation opens the doors to the shut down and harassment of small sites and networks.  It’s a stifling force on the freedom of speech and expression that drive the Internet.

Anyway, I invite any of you to read up on the issue.  This morning, President Obama effectively shelved the SOPA legislation, but the PIPA bill is still under consideration.  Educate yourselves, and then speak out!  Send emails and phone calls to congress to tell them you oppose this censorship.  And then, hope for the best.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled SHOT Show posts.