Girls Just Wanna Hunt

Sparta just wants to go about Darwin's work.

She discovered a fresh den under a brush pile.  It appeared to be occupied but I had to pull her out and go to the pay job.

Public Land: Legal Dueling over Dual Use

There was a time when hunters could assume that they had public land to themselves at night.

The expanding nature of dog culture, population increase, and new forms of outdoor recreation mean that is no longer the case.

Case and point, the mistaken killing of two dogs in Badfish Creek Wildlife Area,

Rausch was hunting at night on Jan. 22 in Badfish Creek Wildlife Area, land managed by the Department of Natural Resources, when he used a calling device to attract coyotes and heard animals respond. Rausch told a sheriff’s deputy that he “saw the eyes of what he believed to be a coyote and a face and pointy ears and pulled the trigger. Rausch stated that he did not realize it was a domesticated dog that he had shot.” Rausch also shot a second dog that ran up to him moments later.

The dogs belonged to Deanna Clark, a veterinarian, who was walking with her four dogs, all of whom were wearing reflective vests. Clark also wore a powerful headlamp. One dog died at the scene and the other days later. 

Tjader noted at her client’s preliminary hearing that Rausch had called 911 after the shootings and that he wrapped the surviving dog in his coat to carry it back to the parking lot.

The dogs killed are in the foreground.  If these are the reflective vests in question, it is understandable how a hunter would not have seen them.  The dog on the right, the first one shot, would also have looked very much the coyote under low light conditions.

I find myself sympathetic with all parties involved.  What we have here is individuals called out by fate to be the symptoms of the need for change.

Some things need to change, and there is room for increased awareness and change on the part of all the interested parties.  Pet dog owners often treat wild areas as their own little parks and are then surprised and outraged when their dog is killed by a coyote, or in this more rare case, a hunter.

This actually an important point, the woman who lost her dogs was much more likely to loose them to coyote predation than to the hunter who mistook her domestic canines for wild ones.

Hunters have had the run of many of these areas since before the Second World War, and now need to accustom themselves to sharing them with pedestrians.  It is not irrational for us to expect the hunter to have seen the reflective vests.  The description of the event, which does not seem to be contested, reveals a hunter who did not properly identify his target.

You do not shoot at rustling bushes because it may be someone's child or grandfather.  That is ingrained into hunters from their first time in the field.  That needs to evolve into you do not shoot every canine that comes into range, it could be someone's husky.  This is even more important if you are hunting in populous Dane County, where hunters are more likely to interact with other recreational users of our public lands.

We could ban night hunting in some public lands and allow it in others, but be careful what you wish for.  Coyotes kill a lot more dogs than hunters and once they learn they are not being hunted, they will become ever so much bolder.

Regardless of the future, if you're going to take your dogs into wild places and let them off-lead, best learn how to reduce your chances of being a victim of coyote predation.

A New Permission

In the wisdom of Wisconsin state law, the groundhog is a protected species.  It can not be hunted on public land and only a landowner or his "agent" may kill them if they are a nuance.

In other words, my hunting is limited to private property and Wisconsin's vast public hunting grounds do me little good are as good as refuges from human predators.

I contacted three land owners this winter and was denied access to about 5/6 of the land I requested access to.  Part of the problem seems to have been a rookie mistake.  In one sentence I mentioned shed antlers.  Shed antlers are not my thing but I would like permission to keep one if I find it.  For future reference, stick to the issue at hand, take any found shed antlers to the land owner after finding them, let them decide if you can keep it or use it for the dog to chew on.

The weather has warmed enough that the part of the new permission with southern exposure was clear for the walking, including the two most promising fence rows.

An eagle circled overhead letting me know that s/he did not appreciate our presence.  I found the pelvis and backbone of an animal, probably a first winter raccoon.  I rarely see opossum outside of city limits, it was a little large to be a skunk, and small to be a groundhog.

It is all guesswork.













A short while later we kicked up a couple grouse and I barely caught sight of two fox, grey fox I think, slipping away from us.  Owing to the time of year and the fact that left as a pair, I would guess a natal den is hidden in that fence row.  I did not press the investigation

I will go back when I think fox kits will be mobile and the whole parcel is more easily accessible.  With so many predators about, I doubt my new permission will result in good spring hunting.  We will want to go back, however, in mid to late summer when young groundhogs have left their mothers and are striking out on their own.

Permissions

There is no groundhog season in Wisconsin.  If I want an opportunity to hunt in the year to come, I need to reach out to my neighbors.

The best way to get a positive response is with a person to person interaction, unless I just show up on the door unannounced.  I hope to get achieve a higher success rate than the Jehovah's Witness.  The letter serves as an introduction and a request for that person to person meeting.  

I am a fairly strong introvert.  If I do not get a response, my first choice would be to crawl under a rock or maybe drive to Minnesota and hunt on public land.  My intent, however, is to force myself to follow up, at the very least, with a phone call.

St. Hubert

St. Hubert is the patron saint of hunters and of hunting ethics.

From Wikipedia:

His wife died giving birth to their son, and Hubert retreated from the court, withdrew into the forested Ardennes, and gave himself up entirely to hunting. But a great spiritual revolution was imminent. On Good Friday morning, when the faithful were crowding the churches, Hubert sallied forth to the chase. As he was pursuing a magnificent stag or hart, the animal turned and, as the pious legend narrates, he was astounded at perceiving a crucifix standing between its antlers, while he heard a voice saying: "Hubert, unless thou turnest to the Lord, and leadest an holy life, thou shalt quickly go down into hell". Hubert dismounted, prostrated himself and said, "Lord, what wouldst Thou have me do?" He received the answer, "Go and seek Lambert, and he will instruct you." 

The story of the hart appears first in one of the later legendary hagiographies (Bibliotheca hagiographica latina, nos. 3994–4002) and has been appropriated from the legend of Saint Eustace or Placidus. It was first attributed to St. Hubert in the 15th century.
Sankt Hubertus (German) is honored among sport-hunters as the originator of ethical hunting behavior. 

During Hubert's religious vision, the Hirsch is said to have lectured Hubertus into holding animals in higher regard and having compassion for them as God's creatures with a value in their own right. For example, the hunter ought to only shoot when a humane, clean and quick kill is assured. He ought shoot only old stags past their prime breeding years and to relinquish a much anticipated shot on a trophy to instead euthanize a sick or injured animal that might appear on the scene. Further, one ought never shoot a female with young in tow to assure the young deer have a mother to guide them to food during the winter. Such is the legacy of Hubert who still today is taught and held in high regard in the extensive and rigorous German and Austrian hunter education courses.

Still huntin' to do

Stuck in the city, you say.
Can only have a small dog, you say.
No way you can go out west.
Can't get to the Midwest?
Can't get to the third ring suburbs?

There is still hunting to do.

Sparta gets a Win

Artemis: Sometimes a homo sapien just needs to whisper a prayer somewhere.

What does it take to get two men in their forties, who've met just an hour before, to embrace in full scale man-hug?  A hunter finding a deer that he had feared was lost.  A tracker gets to see his dog work.

We are homo sapien.  200,000 years of evolution made us this way.  We are hunters.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

-------------
Saturday night a neighbor, the father of my oldest son's friend, gave me the number of a gentleman in need of a tracking dog.  A few text messages later and I had arranged to meet the hunter the next morning.  A shot to the lower chest: lots of blood that ended in a clover field, fat found along the trail.

Arriving Sunday morning, I got pretty excited.  I had Sparta start the trail near the beginning because even though the trail started heavy, we were going through some tall grass and a small wetland area.  I prejudged the situation thinking it was a strong possibility that the buck had back tracked from the hunter's point of loss.

I wanted to check and mark any place Sparta wanted to go off the obvious trail to look for smaller bits of sign.

It was a clear trail and Sparta followed it well for close to a mile.  I marked a couple of spots to investigate later but as we exited the cover into a harvested/plowed corn field, I began to doubt by thesis.  The deer continued to bleed as heavily as before.  Unless he stepped in his own footsteps on the way back, it would be difficult to see how he could backtrack without leaving evidence.

About forty yards into the clover field, the blood quickly reduced to nothing.

Sparta led me another 100 yards parallel to the corn field toward some wooded cover, but I never found another bit of evidence to point to.  The hunter had to leave for a confirmation and party.  I spent another hour or two circling the clover field looking for sign.

I began to doubt myself.  If there is any problem with a dog, it is with the owner/trainer.  I was entertaining the idea of pulling her from active service to put more time into training.  The situation did not make sense to me at the moment.

Synthesis: the deer stopped running and had lost a fair amount of blood.  Both worked together to lower its blood pressure.  I am told that a brisket wound can bleed profusely, like when a person gets a cut to the head, but unless the arrow gets to the heart/lungs/artery are often non-fatal.

-------------
Another call came in.  The hunter said he honestly could not make out the point of impact.  He described a mile long trail through swamp and field.  I confess I like him, even over the phone.  So I explained it sounded like a bit of a long-shot but I was willing to give it a try and we made arrangements to meet.

The hunter and his tracking party were Amish.  I was impressed at the meager blood trail they had been following.  

They were, hands down, the most patient, most efficient, and most accurate sight trackers I have ever met.  I tip my hat to them and the effort they put forth.

I was able to take them another two hundred yards: though each time is was they who pointed out the visible blood.  The deer went into a tall grassy area and I could only guess about which way he went out.  The area had been so think with deer since the night before that I could almost smell them.

I huddled up the team.  They knew the score.  They practically completed my sentences at every turn.

Daniel: Was the blood that color the entire length of the track?
Hunter: Yes it was.  Yes it was.  I must have hit it in muscle.
D: Did you ever found a wound bed?
H: No, he was able to keep going the entire time.

"Work 'em hard; treat 'em like heroes."

D: It has been a pretty straight track, hasn't it?
H: It has.  We're only, I'd say, 100 yards off of due east from where I shot it.  He is going back to his core area.  He is probably going to live.
D: I think you're right.  You did show me that area where he ran around in circles as if chasing his tail and you haven't found the arrow.  If I had to guess I'd say a shoulder or high neck shot.

I really liked those guys.  Humility kept the hunter from talking about it but I am thinking that must have been some buck to get them to work that hard and then call me in.

Synthesis: I should have done more to dissuade the gentlemen from having me come out.  They had buck fever, I had enough information that, had I thought rationally about it, would have assumed that the deer had been muscle shot and would survive.  Still, I am the better for having met them.

------------
While I'd been out, two more calls had come in.  They arrived at about the same time.  With three hours of daylight left to us, I called the one closest to my current location.

Artemis, I whispered, let it be a gut shot.  We could really use a good, smelly, gut shot.

Gut shot.

I'd never run Sparta on three tracks in one day.  It had been eight hours since we left home, but Sparta needed a win.  Let me be honest, I was projecting.  I needed a win.

We arrive, introduced Sparta to the hunter and his girlfriend (I learned that with the Amish group, Sparta gets distracted if she smells/sees someone she hasn't met) and got to work.  Sparta ran a track about 30 yards out to the hunter's last blood and then forward.

Even as we moved forward I noticed, the hunter and his girlfriend were being more careful at trying to stay out of the scent line than even I would be: props.

My emotions were a mixture of hope and doubt.  We were surrounded by wooded housing development.  You could only see one set of neighbors but the sounds were everywhere: four-wheelers, joggers, kids enjoying the last evening of a weekend, it was distracting to me.  Sparta must have been overwhelmed.  Then she was spooked by a neighbor's 3-D deer target.  This environment was way outside our training rubric and it showed.

Then, for the first time that day I got to yell it, "Blood!" ~80 yards past the hunter's loss of track, with the hunter and his girlfriend still 40 yards behind me.  A small pool of blood, but a lot more than we'd seen so far.  Sparta led me on, more blood, more blood, and then nothing.

I restarted her again.  I knew she was growing irritated.  She hates being re-started.  She was tired of this game.  She began to grab at the tracking leash, growling and tugging.  I pulled her aside for some play.  I put her on her walking leash.  Five minutes and nothing was working.  I was afraid she was going to go "the union rules state" on me with half of the most probable track we'd had all day only half-finished.

Out of desperation I pulled out the best idea I had left.  I picked her up and cradled her on her back like a baby.  I scratched.  I baby-talked.  I nuzzled.  I did everything I could to communicate love, trust, and authority without a care in the world what any observer might think.

She started to lick my face.  I put her down and we got back to work.

Giving me strong indication that she was on the trail we went forward and then it happened: blood, blood, blood: a  blood trail as obvious as the one earlier in the morning into pine saplings about eight foot tall.  The hunter and I were agreed that he should get his bow, noc an arrow, and track forward alone for a short-time.

The deer ought to be dead, but it is possible the buck hadn't read that book.

He got to a point where the cover was too thick to shoot so he motioned us forward.  With Sparta in the lead, we crept forward.  "Deer!" I shouted.  Hugs ensued.  Pictures were taken.  Sparta got some bit of liver, heart, and a bony piece of leg for the drive home.

The hunter got his deer.

I got to put away some of that nagging doubt.  Sparta and I are bringing value to hunters.  We can continue to train and hone our craft in the knowledge that while we might not yet be the A-team, we are a team, and this is what we do.

Synthesis: I do love me a good smelly gut shot and a hunter with enough foresight to back out and let us do our thing.  The deer was angling away.  He nicked the liver and one lung.  Deer bled to death internally, from the combination of internal wounds.

Happy Hunter, Happy Dog, Happy Tracker

Hunters: Police Thyselves!

I get the sentiment.  I share the sentiment that motivates this kind of thinking, but this kind of thinking has some important faults.

The fact is we who know about hunting are the best informed to police hunting.

There are people who will, under the guise of hunting, who will engage in objectionable practices: the abuse of game animals or hunting dogs, damage relationships with landowners or others who use our public lands, or otherwise tread upon the best traditions of the American hunter.

Most hunters want to do what is best for the sport and the environment.  A few are assholes.

Mistakes can be made through ignorance, and we need to educate one another.  Assholes need to find themselves confronted and, if necessary, ostracized or, if the law has been violated, turned into the proper authorities.

I don't coon hunt, but I stand with the ethical coon hunter.

I don't predator hunt, but I stand with ethical predator hunters.

I don't trophy hunt, but I stand with ethical trophy hunters

You get the idea.

Youth Hunt

I am a bit of an agnostic about the social value of the youth mentored hunt, but if my kid wants to participate, I have no objection I am game for taking him out.

We didn't see a thing this morning but this evening three does were seen.  If they'd been broadside, I'd have let the man-cub shoot but they were walking straight away from us.  It was a hard call to make.  I could've made the shot easily but him, well, it would be too much "trying to hit this deer" and too little "going to kill this deer."

They were headed to a nearby alfalfa field where they are seen almost nightly.  There is another day left in this youth hunt weekend.

The plan is to let him sleep in tomorrow while I run to a neighbor's and help them split some of their perennials.  In the afternoon we'll take the same circuitous route we did today, but plant ourselves closer to their trail.  Hopefully by this time tomorrow we will have both experienced a little bit more of what it means to be homo sapiens: him now a big game hunter and me as one who trained a boy up in the way he should go. 

He sits well for eleven.

Dove Retrieving Teckel

From Field and Stream:

Grätsche, whose bloodlines are as German as her name, is a tracking dog. Dachshunds, of course, were bred with those comically short legs so they could fit into holes and burrows and root out badgers, a job which requires a lot of ferocity and determination in a small package.  Dachshunds were also used to track wounded game and even run wild boars. So, picking up dead doves is pretty tame duty by comparison.
It is nice, in these days of increasingly small, useless dogs that people carry everywhere, to see a small dog out in the field earning its dog food.

Hunter: Noun

See: Pittman-Robertson Act.

If we extended the 10% excise tax to all outdoor equipment, imagine what we could accomplish.

Dust off the drums

and get ready to sell that first edition of Iron John sitting on the bookshelf.  It's about to be rediscovered.

But really, maybe you should just make a habit of going out and killing, cleaning, and eating some small mammal or get a fishing pole and learn how to use it.

It is how you natural selection made you.

And for his sake, teach your kid to do the same.

Bear Hunters: Watch Your Step

Gil faced a decision and had just seconds to make it.

The buck of a lifetime had crept up behind his deer stand and was angling away from him and about to slip behind some brush and disappear.  It was not moving the way other deer had as it came into the clearing.

This is probably how this buck had lived long enough to grow into the buck of a lifetime.

Gil was properly equipped.  He had the skill set.  The deer was, as we would later pace off, a mere nineteen yards away.  Gil took his shot.  It was a difficult shot but it was reasonable to believe that he was going to kill that deer.

I met Gil because there wasn't much of a blood trail and Sparta and I were called in to lend some assistance.  In retrospect, I think he hit the deer in the meaty part of the neck or the high back and it will likely survive.

After this experience the buck of a lifetime is liable to become a ghost buck, showing up only at night on random game cameras.

The last wound bed: Sparta took us another 250 yards before loosing it suggesting he went across a highway and into an open field.

Gil is a resident of northeastern Barron County Wisconsin.  His full-sized four wheel drive pickup truck is immaculately clean.  He wiped Sparta's paw prints off the dash within 20 seconds of the last time I got out. He works at an auto body repair shop.  He grew up a few miles away.  He's a hunter, a fisherman, and a land owner.

He is a good-old boy in every best sense of the word and he's had enough of bear hunters.

Specifically, Gil has had enough of bear hunters who use dogs to run and tree bear before dispatching them.

Black bear are an elusive species.  They avoid humans, and move in rather random patterns through the landscape.  Consequently, there are only two efficient ways to hunt them.  The first is to lay bait so that the bear becomes accustomed to traveling to a particular place and eat the bait.  The hunter than ambushes the bear when the season opens.

The second way involves using large fast hounds to catch the scent of recent bear passing and follow that scent to the bear who then climbs a tree to escape the hounds but where it is held until the hunting party arrives.

A neighbor with game cameras on his 30 acre woodlot tells me there a three distinct bear families that make our immediate area home.  I've never seen them, and I spend a fair amount of time outdoors.  I've lived in the area twelve years and I've never seen one that wasn't caught in the headlights of my car, though I run across bear sign and bear dens on a regular basis.

Bait works fine but as a dog man myself I am sympathetic to those who hunt with dogs.  It is an active and kinetic way of hunting.  You'll more than meet your daily step goal on your fitbit.

It connects us as human hunters with our oldest of hunting companions: our tribe members and our dogs.  Baiting bears is fine and I understand why people do it.  It just isn't something I, and those like me, are in to.

Not every abuse of rights comes from the government.

I was surprised when Gil adamantly and repeatedly complained about bear hunters.  Most, no all, previous objections to bear hunting I have heard comes from a place of ignorance, from people unconnected to the region's hunting traditions.

Given the state political situation, I'd have expected him to be more sympathetic and understand their plight.  I'd have expected him to reflexively support other hunters against the anti-hunting lobby, found primarily in the urban centers in the southern third of the state.

The fact is, his understanding of bear hunting was deeper than my own.

His complaint came down to a simple issue of trespassing.

On occasion the violators were hunters from out of state (Minnesota is a short drive from Barron County), sometimes it was a guy down the road.  The brute fact is that he is tired of catching stray hounds crossing his property; he is tired of giving his lecture to their owners.  He has experienced how difficult it is to match hounds caught on game cameras to owners from down the road or seen driving away without of state plates.

He's frustrated by continually finding gut piles next to his field or within site of his deer stand.

His property rights are being abused and ignored but not not by the government.  The problem is his fellow citizens.

He is weary of making the difficult decision to not turn in the fifteen-year old first time bear hunter to the authorities who chased an exceptionally large 450 pound black bear to his property where it was killed. He doesn't want the kid to face the consequences of what is, at root, bad parenting.

It is an age old conundrum, how to confront the assholes without becoming an asshole?

Gil wants to be asked permission.  That's all.  He wants to be respected as a landowner.  He wants bear hunters to go through the hard work of contacting landowners before letting loose their hounds.  Few people will say "no" if they know the people running the hounds. It means bear hunters need to put in the time in the off season of building relationships.  At least in Gil's experience, that is not happening at present.

He didn't say as much but the frustration I heard in his voice reflected a readiness to support the end of hunting bear with hounds if that is what it takes to win back his property rights.

We will always have the complaints of individuals who have nothing but a passing and ill-informed encounter with hunting. Veterinarians will and should continue to have a voice to help us keep our dogs healthy. I welcome canine advocates who may not be hunters themselves but can maintain enough objectivity to help keep us all honest.

Bear hunters are treated well in Wisconsin hunting tradition and law, if that is to continue, they need to keep land owners on their side.

Let's keep these hounds self-actualized
http://www.wvliving.com/Winter-2013/The-Great-Bear-Hunt/

If bear hunters loose rural land owners, hunters who care and know just as much about our wildlife as they do,
turn their backs on bear hunters, they will loose the privilege of hunting bear with dogs.

In the process they will have done harm to other hunters who use dogs in the hunt.  Once the political pendulum begins to swing, it continues to swing until it overshoots the rational middle.

The north does not have the traditions of the south, hunting with dogs is on a less stable foundation.

As someone who only recently was given the opportunity to track wounded game with his dogs, the question has a second order impact on me as well.  Every hunter has skin in the game when it comes to how hunters are portrayed in the political media and we all are at risk of shame when a negative portrayal is correct.

If we do not police our own, we will find that we are all being policed; and deservedly so.

Why should we be granted responsibility if we fail to act responsibly?

Gil had to make a split decision on whether or not to take a shot at a deer.  At least in one part of Northern Wisconsin Bear hunters need to take a long look at their ethical practices.  It is time for some of the long hard work of re-building a relationship of trust with landowners.  They've had to face this problem before and it is time to do it again.

Wolf Management Requires Hunting

Wolves are an important part of our ecosystem.  

Wolves exist in the ecosystem due to goodwill of the people who live in the same area.

Therefore, maintaining human goodwill toward wolves is good for the ecosystem.

This simple syllogism demonstrates what the "no hunting wolves anywhere" fail to understand.  I doubt even the most extreme police state technologically possible can protect the wolves from human depredation if the humans who live near them resent their presence.

"Dual use technology" is not just about outlaw states seeking chemical or nuclear weapons.

The wolf/human relationship needs to be managed.  We've seen what happens when that relationship is allowed to follow their natural course: wolves go extinct.

With that I am hopeful that granting Adrian Wydeven a podium at the debate will lead to the rationalization of the debate about Wisconsin's wolves that will allow long term management that is good for the wolves, good for people, and good for the ecosystem.

Thanks for the Ad

Yes, they're trying to sell you stuff.

Yes, they're a bit equipment rich for my tastes.

Yes, the first 90 seconds of this advertisement are absolutely awesome.

How does the fox walk?

Bow Season Rules of Engagement 2015

I've said before that fair chase is a moving target.

Basically, if you are improving as a hunter you need to continue to limit yourself so that quarry has a chance.

I mean, lets face it, we could exterminate nearly any other species on the planet if we took a mind.  How sporting would that me?

With bow season approaching I am long past due to lay out my own rules of engagement for the coming season.

It might be my first year bow hunting in over two decades but I have spent a lot of time in the woods in those years so I still think I am safe to put some rules on myself without fating myself to frustration.

• I will hunt from the ground or natural elevation (hill sides, downed or easily climbable trees).
• I will hunt on public land.
• I will buy no more than one piece of additional clothing and buy no special detergents.
• I will not use scent lures.  
• I have some old scent neutralizer in the garage somewhere that I might use. 
• I will use one of the recurve bows I have inherited and wooden arrows with old fashioned broadheads.

What did I miss?

A military surplus shirt was the one new bit of clothing.

Gonna Sleep with One Eye Open

Confession: I have taken for granted the large number of public lands available to me as a citizen of Wisconsin.  While I do not have the independent means to spend much time in the West, I have always taken for granted the large amount of public lands out there, available to my fellow hunters and maybe some day in the future, for myself.

Then a podcast by Randy Newberg got me wondering if those Federal lands were as secure as I hoped.  Then I started reading about plans to sell land owned by the Wisconsin DNR.

Doubt: I do not know that it is in the best interest of the state of Wisconsin to retain every parcel of land that is deeded to it but neither am I confident the decision making body will be immune from the impact of lobbying.

Fact: When I look at the lands under review, I recognize some of those places of having value to me as an outdoorsman.  Some of the pictures I took earlier in the week a areas I use to train my dogs are under review.

Are there other places I could use?  Yes.  Should these be sold? I don't know.

Not having a solid opinion does not make for moving blog writing.  I do agree with the idea offered by Patrick Durkin at the State Journal,

When you see agency chiefs and other politicians on TV this fall promoting deer hunting while looking silly in their barely used blaze-orange duds, ask if they’ve hunted any of the state-owned lands they hope to sell in 2017.

In fact, ask if they’ve hunted any public lands in Wisconsin — county, state or federal. It’s a fair question for politicians who claim they care about hunting’s future and making more land accessible to hunters.

The thing is, public lands allow for the democratization of hunting.  You don't have to know anybody.  You don't have to be rich.  You don't have to sign on to your buddy's hunting ethic as part of a group.

So long as you stay within state regulations, you can hunt the way you like, with the people you like, with the equipment you like as long as you like.  This is the gift of public land.  This is how I got back into hunting after taking a couple of decades off.

So auctioning off a few acres here or there doesn't bother me that much.  Wisconsin has a lot of public land and even more private land open to public access. I will be watching, however, that giving an inch does not encourage our representatives in Madison to try to take a mile.

As for those federal lands, "Hands off!"

I am not fool enough to think the Federal Government and efficiently manage those lands but the ability of the Federal Government to partner with states in the management of Federal Land should silence some of the critics of federal land management practices.

Besides, do we really want our Federal Forests put to efficient use?

Either way.  I am now aware and wary.  I'll be keeping an eye on the issue in the months and years to come, even in my sleep.

Meanwhile in the house

Congratulations to two new graduates of the Wisconsin Hunter Safety Course.

It looks like Otto and I will have to get some target practice time in before this year's youth hunt.

Fair Chase is a Moving Target

I don't play a lot of video games but there is a basic virtue exhibited by those who do: the goal is always to attain to a more difficult level of play.

Many hunters remain quite satisfied to hunt with the methods and equipment that they have always used.  The average hunter might purchase a new piece of equipment to make the hunt more comfortable or easier but rarely will he buy something or adopt tactics to make the hunt more difficult.  

Over time he might become a more efficient killer of game animals but he does not become a more accomplished hunter.

At this age, hunting with a rifle is a challenge.

Gamers, however, seek to improve their knowledge, skill, and reaction time in order to advance in any given game or to play the game at a more challenging setting.  If it is our goal to become a better hunter, we need to adopt a similar mindset.

I have successfully hunted deer with rifle, shotgun, and bow.  It was fun, I enjoyed it and if my only goal was to put as much meat on the table as possible, I suppose I would seek to do those things as efficiently as possible.  Moreover, I wish these meat-hunters good fortune, but there is a risk they will

A challenge for the more experieced

become bored with the sport.

Many seek to relieve the boredom by purchasing additional equipment or undertaking tactics promising to increase the hunter’s efficiency.  This at least in part due to the fact that many hunting programs and magazines are supported by companies which are marketing their products to hunters.  They have a vested interest not in helping you become a better hunter but merely a more accessorized hunter.

If we hunt for enjoyment if we are hunting game and not just seeking to put meat on the table as efficiently as possible, then the mastery of basic hunting skills is the opportunity to hone those skills and add additional ones.  The definition of a bad hunt is not necessarily coming home empty-handed but, rather, rather growing bored with a sport that no longer offers a challenge.

Fred Bear understood that risk as did the hunter of the 1950's and 60's who were growing bored with killing game with high powered rifles.  Yes, he too was trying to sell something but he was selling challenge not ease.

If we desire to become better hunters, if we desire to gain the skills and the virtues of those engaged in the truly oldest occupation of human society, then our concept of "fair chase" cannot be a static set of principles.   “Fair chase” can not be just the use of any new toy allowable by the rules laid down by the state Department of Natural Resources.  Fair chase, rather, is about each hunter’s relationship to the animal pursued.

Is it fair chase if I shoot a whitetail deer from 150 yards with a modern rifle and eight power scope?  Not anymore.  What about the use of a crossbow or a compound bow tricked out with the sights and a trigger release?  I will not begrudge them to a hunter who needs them as either a place to begin their pursuit of virtue or due to age or infirmity.  But if any of us are able to pursue a more difficult task, is it to our credit if we exchange it for a simpler one?

As each of us become a more accomplished hunter “fair chase” requires increasing the level of challenge we experience.  I am better, therefore I must limit my advantage in some other way in order to keep the pursuit “fair.” Maybe it is time to learn to hunt from the ground?  Learn to shoot instinctually? Take up the recurve or a longbow? Step off your uncle's deer preserve and accept the challenge of public land hunting?  

If any of us wishes to become a better hunter we do so by making the task harder, by playing at a higher level of competition.  Every sportsman worth the name understands the concept.  If we won’t model this virtue for our children, perhaps it would be better for their character if we just let them play Mario Kart?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/what-science-knows-about-video-games-and-violence/