UplandFeathers

Fifty-two million dollars for wetlands restoration? You read that right. The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee approved President Obama’s request for $52 million to go to the North American Wetlands Conservation Act. This is a record amount and finally no bipartisan voting. More than 140 members of Congress signed a letter in support of the wetlands conservation initiative. And if that isn’t enough, the subcommittee also approved $503 million in funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System, which is a conservation program that provides critical habitats for breeding, wintering and migrating waterfowl.

Posted by SwampYankee at 06:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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There are milestones in your gun dog’s education. Learning to whoa on command and finding a bird by scent are two that Cooper (Coop for short) soon mastered. He took to training with farm-raised quail like a natural and the transition from gun pup to gun dog occurred this past fall. It was a drizzling Saturday morning when I took Cooper to Babcock Pond in Colchester a put-and-take bird spot for his first hunt. I knew the birds were stocked. I also knew Cooper wouldn’t care. I hoped the rain would keep the fair-weather hunters at home watching the Outdoor channel. I wanted to have the area all to ourselves and we did. There would be no dogs distract Cooper from executing on his studies. The air was perfect for scenting birds. The gun pup was excited that I had chosen him over his rival for my attention, Bella. The rescue stayed at home with Ms. Deborah and she cried for an hour after we left the house. At Babcock, the state had been clearing pines. The road was ripped up from the skidder with puddles large enough to hide a Buick. With the Ruger in the crock of my arm, I insisted Cooper follow me. As if you know what you’re doing he must have thought. Cooper had other plans and somewhere between the stand of hemlock and the open field a pheasant hen clucked hello. Cooper was dizzy with excitement. He took the command to work to the left where I pointed and searched using that nose of his. He worked fast and suddenly stopped, sort how Ms. Deborah stops in front of the Saks windows on Fifth Avenue. In all the excitement he couldn’t remember which paw to hold up. It was pure slap stick. Are you a comedian or a pointer? He was convinced the bird was nearby. I couldn’t find it until I almost stepped on her. Cooper was locked. Still as stone. Paw raised and tail out. The training was coming back to him. Whoa. We kill them in the air. She kicked up and as wily as a grouse put the pine boughs between me and her. The Red Label’s lower barrel coughed. A good clean miss. We followed the bird again but it was getting late. Cooper would have stayed until either I learned to shoot straight or the hen passed out from exhaustion. It wasn’t a beautiful point but it was his first hunt and showed he had learned his lessons well and has a heart for hunting.

Posted by SwampYankee at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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The mocking bird was making quite a commotion and when I looked up I could see why. A hawk was perched in the old oak and the mocking bird was not happy. That mocking bird squawked and harassed the hawk. It must have had something special hidden with the curtains of Spanish moss. It reminded me of a lot of us go through day-after-day. We fight to help our own and inevitability the bottom falls out. We lose a job, the house goes into foreclosure, a sickness occurs. But like that mocking bird we persist. The hawk finally moved on and to that mocking bird the insurmountable happened. Whenever you feel the burden, the fight is lost, remember the small mockingbird and the hawk.

Posted by SwampYankee at 08:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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A few years ago I was with a client who asked me: Do you Twitter? If I had not been attending a digital marketing conference, I probably would have cleared my throat and turned a shade of magenta. Back then Twitter was cutting edge, which meant about five people used the service, no doubt one of them was the developer. Today, however, Twitter is mainstream. What is Twitter you say? It's a free social networking service that’s a lot like blogging and public instant messages limited to 140 characters. User do it walking to the deli: Got salami in mind, maybe ham? So again you ask, what does a "tweets" (that’s what the message is called) have to do with hunting? The AZ Game and Fish Department is using Twitter. You can follow the department and its activities at @azgfd or at http://twitter.com/azgfd. Want to know what Remington is up to? They have a Twitter address as well. Maybe they can tell me where the woodcock are hiding instead of trying to sell me a new shotgun? Maybe I'll send my buddies a Tweet to tell them where the tweets and clucks are hiding? Maybe they'll just think I'm a twit. Here's what I really think of Twitter.

Posted by SwampYankee at 07:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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Remington Arms Company, Inc. has acquired a few gun companies in the past year—Marlin, H&R, Bushmaster—to name a few. Now they have entered into a purchase agreement for Dakota Arms, LLC. Dakota’s brands include Dakota Arms, which makes custom and semi-custom hunting rifles that Hemmingway would have begged for; Nesika Bay Precision actions and rifles, which are renowned for wicked accuracy; and Miller Arms, which builds single-shot actions and custom rifles.

Posted by SwampYankee at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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If done right clucking and purring in the spring can draw in a gobbling tom. This past season in MA a turkey hunter was luring toms with a push-button box call and was bowled over, but not by the sight of a tom strutting into view. The hunter was literally bowled over. Shaking off the hit, the hunter suspected a coyote had mistaken him for a turkey, but what he saw staring back was a 35-pound bobcat. Evidentially the bobcat was puzzled, too. The bobcat had snuck up on the hunter’s without getting a clear look and when the cat pounced and connected with the hunter it leapt off of him just as quick. It pushed away from the hunter with such force that it pushed the hunters backwards. The hunter received the worst of the encounter with scratches to his ear and arm. Unprovoked bobcat encounters are rare since bobcats usually don’t attack humans unless they have rabies. The hunter reported the cat was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, so state wildlife officials assume the bobcat made an honest mistake.

Posted by SwampYankee at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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The preliminary figures are in and it looks like WV turkey hunters harvested 9,485 bearded turkeys statewide during this past spring season. The top five counties were Mason with 422 birds, Preston with 378, Harrison with 310, Upshur with 296 and Wood with 273. The harvest is about 4% less this year compared to last year and can contributed to rainy weather conditions. The wet weather reduced hunters going into the field and gobbling activity. As always there is a silver lining to “dampened” harvest results. The state’s wildlife biologists expect birds to carryover through the fall and winter for the 2010 spring turkey season.

Posted by SwampYankee at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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I love it when a plan comes together especially when the plan is restoring habitat. Wild turkey should be the poster child of game for successful game restoration. This week while commuting to work on the Shore Line East train, I noticed a handsome tom puffed out and strutting not far from Route 95. If you are unfamiliar will this stretch of road count yourself as darn lucky. It is one of the busiest corridors of traffic on the east coast, making a line from Boston to New York. But that tom was convinced an admiring hen was nearby. When I hear that the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) relocated 1,958 wild turkeys last year to 14 states and one Canadian province, I know there are organizations, state and federal agencies that are really making a difference. A total of 69 Gould's, 393 Merriam's, 1,355 Rio Grandes and 141 Eastern wild turkeys were released. It is hard to believe but wild turkeys were nearly nonexistent in the early 20th century. Today, the population is about 7 million; their numbers have doubled since 1990. Most birds are trapped and relocated. Wondering if your state or province has been re-gentrified with wild turkey, read on:

• Alberta: 39 Merriam's were moved from the Lees Lake area near Pincher Creek to a site on private land near Turner Valley, which is close to Wildlife Management Unit 406.
• Arizona: 69 Gould's were transferred to southeastern Arizona's Pinaleà Mountains and Galiuro Wilderness Area to the Galiuro Wilderness Area and Chiricahua Mountains; 34 Merriam's were transferred within Yavapai County; 85

Rios from Utah were released on Game Management Unit 13B in northwestern Mohave County.
• Arkansas: 46 Eastern wild turkeys were captured and moved in-state.
• California: 193 Rios were trapped in suburban areas and moved to sites with existing turkey populations like the Knoxville Wildlife Area in Napa County.
• Colorado: 67 Merriam's and 26 Rios were moved within the state.
• Idaho: 156 Merriam's were trapped in the Panhandle region and 23 Merriam's trapped in southwest were sent to the Cecil Andrus WMA in Washington County.
• Maine: 47 Eastern birds were trapped and transferred in-state to Machiasport, Ashland and Butler Island Wildlife Management Area.
• Maryland: 22 Eastern wild turkeys were moved to Cecil County.
• Minnesota: 26 Easterns were trapped in Wisconsin transported to northwestern Minnesota near Erskine.
• Mississippi: 127 Eastern wild turkeys were captured in-state and released in Coahoma and Quitman counties in the Mississippi River Delta region.
• Montana: 89 Merriam's were transferred to sites in Blaine County, Havre and the Choteu County areas.
• Nevada: 59 Rios from California were released in Carson Valley, Douglas County.
• New Mexico: 12 Merriam's were moved within New Mexico from the Sacramento Mountains to Guadalupe Mountain in Lincoln National Forest.
• Oregon: 273 birds were trapped and released in-state.
• South Dakota: 65 Merriam's were trapped and released in the northern Black Hills region in Lawrence and Pennington Counties.
• Tennessee: 41 Eastern turkeys were moved within the state to Rutherford County, Meigs County and northeastern Montgomery County.
• Texas: 19 Rios were moved from Concho County to Brownsville in Cameron County.
• Utah: 700 turkeys were moved to unoccupied habitat.

Posted by SwampYankee at 09:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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You and your hunting dog can never have enough training. I know Cooper takes training well, but me I still need a refresher course to break bad habits. I never remember to put the seat down. If you are interested in extra dog training then check out the Chautauqua County Bird Dog Association’s (CCBDA) annual Pointing Dog Seminar June 27-28. This is a one- or two-day seminar to help you correct any problems or bad habits your bird dog may have—this seminar won't fix your own bad habits. The course is geared for all types of dogs—from problem dogs to beginners. All breeds, ages and hunting styles are welcome. The seminar is sponsored by the Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) and presented by bird dog trainer Dave Molyneaux. The registration fee is $25 per day for CCBDA members and $45 for non members; the two-day package is available for $45 and $75 respectively. For more information, send an email to mmdarr@gmail.com.

Posted by SwampYankee at 05:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

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