Montana FWP Pushing USFWS To Finish Status Report On Grizzlies

While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service goes about its task of evaluating the status of the grizzly bear in Montana, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission is prompting them to conclude their study as quickly as possible. All indications there are at least as many grizzly bears in Montana’s northern Continental Divide as there are in Yellowstone and this is worrying some commissioners.

“The commission is just interested in making sure that the Fish and Wildlife Service understands how important it is to Montana that they complete this process in a timely fashion,” said Chris Smith, chief of staff for Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Smith said estimates show there are at least as many grizzlies in the northern Continental Divide area, stretching from Glacier National Park through the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, as there are in the Yellowstone area. There are more than 550 in each region, he said.

Smith said delisting is important because it will help Montana manage the bear populations, including possibly opening up a hunting season for the animal.

The study process could take as long as three years or longer and FWP is concerned about the growth of the bear population by then.

Tom Remington

More Cops To Kill Deer

The trend is ongoing across America – too many deer in towns and cities everywhere. And the debate is what to do about it. So far city officials have tried just about everything including hiring sharpshooters and bow hunters. Earlier this month, I reported about one town in North Carolina that had resorted to using its police force to cull deer herds and questioned the practice. Now the city of Helena, Montana is considering the same thing.

According to KTVQ, Montana’s News Station, because the deer pose a public safety risk, officials feel justified in using the police department. The city manager claims the police are equipped with the right training.

City Manager Tim Burton says police not only have the training but also a command structure that would be important in carrying out a safe operation.

The city has indicated it wants to kill 50 mule deer and the city manager indicates how that might be done.

He says city officials are interested in using nets to confine animals, which then would be shot on public lands in town.

Is this necessary? I wonder if hunters got together and tried working with city officials everywhere to come up with an acceptable plan in which properly trained volunteer hunters could be used, if this would be a better way to deal with this issue? This isn’t an isolated problem. It’s everywhere.

Are there enough interested hunters who would be willing to do what’s necessary to meet an established set of training criteria so they could work closely with state wildlife and city officials and get this job done? Many hunters would enjoy the meat and it would certainly save lots of money while accomplishing the task at hand.

Tom Remington

Two Montana Senators Want Gun Rules Changed For National Parks

Could it be that there’s an election year coming? Could it be that some believe that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in favor of an individual’s right to keep and bear arms? Why is it that it seems more politicians are working toward easing gun restrictions?

Max Baucus and Jon Tester, two democrat U.S. Senators from Montana, were among 47 other U.S. Senators who signed a letter that was sent to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne asking that the current ban on guns in National Parks be lifted. Those promoting the lift say it is a matter of Second Amendment rights and all law abiding citizens should be able to carry. The opposition says easing restrictions will lead to more poaching and accidental shootings.

Tom Remington

Evel Knievel Was A Hunting Guide

As most of you know, Evel Knievel passed away last week and millions of people worldwide are mourning his passing. I was never a huge fan of his but I did sit in awe many times as I watched him perform his over-the-top stunts and wondered to myself what a man was made of that would overcome the fear and cheat death on a regular basis.

I never knew much about the man prior to becoming a stunt man but today I learned something about Mr. Knievel that I thought I would share with readers. This is my way of honoring the passing of Evel Knievel.

*Big Hat Tip to David Robert Crews*

The Joie Chitwood experience may have planted the seed that helped Knievel decide he wanted to be a stuntman, but something happened in 1961 that was equally if not more important in forming the persona that would become “Evel.”

During this period in his life when the young man was trying on many different hats in an attempt to find his calling, Knievel started a hunting outfitting service called Sur-Kill. As a man who always insisted on walking the walk he talked, Knievel found himself right in the middle of a conservation debate between Montana’s hunting guides and outfitters and the National Park Service. There had been a long-standing practice of park rangers slaughtering the excess elk numbers in Yellowstone National Park, giving the meat away to regional Indian tribes, homeless shelters and food banks. In 1961, the Yellowstone herd numbered over 10,000, calling for a drastic reduction of some 5,000 animals.

The guides and outfitters were demanding that the excess elk be transplanted to areas in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, rather than senselessly slaughtered in unsportsmanlike fashion and given away.
Knievel made himself his new profession’s spokesman and hitchhiked from Butte to Washington D.C. – along with a six-point trophy elk antler rack – to protest the cause to the Kennedy administration’s top officials. He was amazed when he found himself on the front page of the Washington Post, his name all over the media and eventually, himself, face to face with JFK’s Administrative Assistant, Mike Manatos and then Secretary of the Interior Stuart Udall. The Department of Interior called off the elk slaughter in Yellowstone and started to transplant the animals to national forest locations in the area shortly after Knievel’s trip to the Capitol. A massive elk rack and an even greater amount of self-confidence and guts got Knievel into America’s executive offices and his cause the attention it demanded.

Tom Remington

Dad’s Rifle – A Family Heirloom

By Bob Lane

In many hunting families, guns are handed down from generation to generation. When a family member no longer desires to, is unable to hunt, or is deceased, the rifles, pistols, and shotguns are often passed on to the hunting offspring or grandchildren of the former hunter. The sentimental value and memories attached to the firearms often far outweigh the monetary value of the guns themselves. Read more

Lost Hunter’s Ordeal. Is It Too Unbelievable?

I may get ridiculed for some of what I am about to write but I have to at least ask the questions that I’m sure many of us have asked. First, let me say that I am extremely happy that 53-year old Steven Wright of Woodford, Vermont, who was lost in the Maine woods near Tumbledown Mountain during a recent hunting triop, was found safe and has since recovered.

Wright was hunting this area with two other buddies during a snowstorm. When Wright decided it was time to head back to the truck and meet up with his companions, a series of events caused him to spend three days and two nights in the woods. Read more

Through Better Men than I

By Master Sargent Mike Sibley

I can hear their whispers wherever I go. “Control your breathing, concentrate on the blade, and squeeze.” “Feel your way along with your toes instead of watching your feet.” “Work your way down through that black-growth and you’ll find ‘em in that stand of beech.” So persistent are they that I sympathize with a schizophrenic who feels as if he’s never alone. Unlike him, my voices are not a psychotic delusion created by chemical imbalances crying out for the saving grace of lithium. Real men spoke those words and no amount of time or distance will ever silence them. They are my last connection to a past that I crave but know I’ll never see. They define the man who hears them. And I pray they shape the lives of my sons. Read more

Tracking Down Your Deer

By John D. Porter

With all the hype in the hunting world about tree stands, one begins to wonder what our forefathers did, before the invention of climbers and fixed-position stands. Don’t get me wrong; I am not knocking on the tree stand hunters, as I hunt from one myself when the conditions are right.

Now, lets get back to the topic. What do we do when the conditions don’t suit being up a tree? Climb down and go home, and pray that tomorrow will bring better weather? NO, climb down and track your game. It’s that simple, if one has a working knowledge on how deer move about. If one doesn’t have the profound understanding any hunter can be trained and you can do it without an expert’s advice. I am just a sportsman like you and I don’t consider myself an expert.

 

All one has to do is spend time in the woods and look at your game in a different eye. A quality tracker will look at all the terrain instead of focusing on a limited area around their stand.

It’s one on one. Hunter following his/ her chosen game species. Very few will argue that this is easy, but the outcome can be very rewarding.

Tracking is said to be regional and to some extend it is. But, it can be employed anywhere there is game to be found. In northern Maine for instance, where there is vast acreage of undeveloped land and deer densities are low, this tactic works extremely well due to the fact that big bodied deer are wide – ranging animals that cover a lot of territory in a short period of time. Sign that was fresh this morning could have been made by a deer that’s is many miles away by now, with no intentions of returning. Tracking would be the only way to find this deer.

 

Tracking isn’t for every hunter. It is both mentally and physically challenging. You could walk for endless miles in snow that could be exhausting. At the same time you must be mentally awake to your surroundings and to what the deer is doing. Come night fall you could miles away from your starting point which means more walking and you must be prepared to do this tomorrow and for however long it takes to bag your game. You need to feel competent in the woods and not fear being turned around or lost. When you do bag your trophy you may be miles away from where you started.

To start this procedure you must find a decent track. The track should be easy to determine what sex left it. Like male and female humans, a buck and doe carry themselves different. A trophy buck will stand with his stance wider apart then a doe, and he swaggers when he walks. Does generally keep their feet in a daintier manner. Bucks will drag their feet, where a doe will pick hers up. The drag marks will be evident in a few inches of snow, but any deer will leave drag marks in deeper snow. Another quick tip! A doe will go under low hanging branches, where a buck will generally go around it to avoid tangling his headgear. How about another tip? A buck generally urinates as he is walking, where a doe will stop and squat. So finding a trail of urine 3 feet long in the snow and it’s a decent bet your onto a buck.

 

Look for a place that a deer has stuck their nose in a track, or lowered their head to eat. If you see drag marks from his antlers you can field judge his size. No marks means that you’re onto a doe or a buck with a lesser rack.

Now enough of the tips and clues. Let’s chase that big buck. The buck may have several hours head start on you, so you can’t go about it in a leisurely manner. You must be able to tell if he is moving along feeding or looking for a mate. Look for tell- tale signs.

 

If he is feeding as he walks along, slow down as he is bedding down soon. This is where a good pair of binoculars comes in handy. Scan the tracks and see if you can find the buck bedded down. If not, follow the tracks with the binoculars for as far as you can see. Pick a landmark and slowly and quietly move towards it.

 

If he has lain down, you should be able to spot him. But, be extremely observant and quiet because a mature deer knows he is leaving a track and will watch his back trail. You don’t want the animal to sense any danger or your work will take longer if you plan on continuing to chase your buck.

 

If the buck you are following is looking for a mate, look for does that appear to be nervous and watching their back trails. More then not, a buck with only one thing on his mind will be trailing along.

The most crucial time is the final few minutes of the hunt. That’s when most will be impatient and blow it. This is one of the most crucial points of the hunt…one false move and your buck is gone. At this time, you must be in deep concentration, your thoughts on only one thing…. Bagging your buck.

Once again, it is a very demanding way to hunt, but in the end your results could be very rewarding.

In closing, nothing will work if your not careful of wind direction and keeping your self scent free.

 

Just don’t read this for what it is….Take time to let the information sink in and come deer season, get out in the woods and find a track and follow it. The information will unfold right in front of your eyes… John

How to Remove Rust From a Gun

By Steven T. Remington

Removing surface rust from a gun without damaging the finish can be quite tricky if you aren’t familiar with the process, but there are a couple easy methods that can be used that will save you time and energy. If the rust isn’t very bad you may only need to spend 5 minutes. If there is serious rusting it could take 20 minutes per day for a few weeks. Keeping your gun free of rust helps preserve your gun’s beauty and value, and it will help keep it functioning properly.

Here is how:

* Get your gun oil out. I sometimes use “Inhibitor” but whatever you normally use to lube up your guns to prevent rust. Also head on over to the Home Depot and pick up some fine steel wool. You will want to get 00 steel wool normally found in the paint department. Once you get those 2 things find a nice comfortable spot where the gun can lay down without being scratched if the gun should slide around a bit. Newspapers on a work bench or a towel will work fine.

* Check to see if your gun is loaded. If it is, unload it.

* Apply oil directly on and around any rust spots.

* Now apply oil onto the 00 steel wool and gently rub the rusty areas. You won’t need to rub hard just nice and softly working the wool back and forth.

* Have a rag handy and occasionally remove the oil and inspect the surface. The oil will turn brown if any of the rust is being removed. So wipe off the dirty oil occasionally and reapply clean oil onto rusty spots.

* Repeat as necessary until all the rust is gone. Sometimes you may want to lube up the gun and put it away for a couple of days and work at it again if the rust is real bad. Sometimes the outer surface of the rust needs to be loosened over time by the oil.

* This process will not harm the “bluing” on your rifle. Just be sure to not scrub so hard you’ll scratch the finish. Firmly is fine, but remember it isn’t necessarily strength that will remove the rust, but rather persistence, patience, and time.

*Once you remove all the rust, make sure to coat all steel surfaces of your gun with oil, using a clean rag, after each use.

 

By Steven Remington

 

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