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August 26, 2009 by
In the late summer months, it’s not unusual when motoring along the banks of Lake Erie in northern Ohio to have some pretty substantial flying objects go splat! on your windshield: like junebugs, dragonflies and the occasional hard-hitting bumblebee.
An 8-pound fish, though? Well, that’s somewhat unusual.
Messy, too.
Leighann Niles and her 5-year-old daughter were traveling on the main road through scenic East Harbor State Park on Monday when they were treated to the sight of a bald eagle flying overhead, a freshly caught fish grasped in its talons.
“I look in the air and see the most beautiful eagle I’d ever seen in my life,” Niles said.
It was about that time that the eagle evidently developed some difficulty with its landing gear, so to speak.
“The next thing I knew, the fish wiggled—it dropped like a brick and completely shattered my windshield,” reported Ms. Niles.
The combined impact of a 40-foot fish freefall and a 2004 Toyota Matrix traveling at 40 miles per hour resulted in one totally ruined windshield.
Neither Niles nor her daughter was injured, but they both have a whopper of a fish story to tell.
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August 20, 2009 by
You may have heard or read about the invasive species of Asian carp that has spread northward, up the Mississippi River and into its tributaries in recent years. Not only does the fish grow quickly and grow large, but it has the unusual propensity for leaping high into the air when rousted by the sound of a passing outboard motor.
Boaters who frequent waters occupied by the exotic species have learned to take special precautions, like wearing protective gear or arming themselves with garbage can lids to use as shields to deflect the airborne bottom-feeders.
Not surprisingly, many hunters, (who are experts at producing lemonade when they are dealt lemons), have succeeded in making the best of the situation. These days, especially along parts of the Illinois River near Peoria, on any summer day you are likely to see numerous boaters armed with bows and arrows, cruising the waters in search of flying carp.
Such was the case earlier this summer, when Jodi Barnes was bowfishing for Illinois River carp with her fiancée, Chris Brackett, whose company, Brackett Outdoors, produces DVDs featuring high-intensity carp-slaying action.
“We were going really slow because that seems to get them to jump really high,” Brackett told my good friend Jeff Lampe, the outdoors editor for the Peoria Journal-Star. “Jodi had shot at one and was leaning forward to reel in her arrow when another fish came out of nowhere to her right and then hit her in the jaw.”
The smackdown was caught with incredible precision by photographer Bill Konway, a passenger in the boat. The resulting impact broke Barnes’ jaw.
Ms. Barnes is currently recovering from her carp-bashing, and her diet will reportedly consist of smoothies and mashed potatoes for the next four weeks.
In the meantime, Beckett is scheduled to take film crews for the National Geographic Channel’s series, “Hooked” in search of slimy, flying target this coming weekend.
Until we hear otherwise, we assume the engagement is still on.
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August 13, 2009 by
As hunters prepare to head to the backcountry for early season big game scouting, authorities in an increasing number of popular hunting locales are warning sportsmen about the likelihood for confrontations with armed and ruthless marijuana growers on public lands.
It’s a disturbing sign of our times, but more and more hunters in virtually every region of rural American may potentially stumble upon clandestine drug-making and marijuana-growing operations these days.
With the California Zone A deer season set to open Saturday, August 15, hunters there are being warned to be especially vigilant when in remote areas of the Mendocino National Forest, a region notorious for illegal pot-growing plantations. It is also an area where armed confrontations have occurred between growers and unsuspecting deer hunters in the past.
Just last week, deputies with the Glenn County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Forest Service personnel removed 15,521 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $62 million from the Elk Creek area of the Mendocino NF.
No one was apprehended, but authorities also dismantled two separate camps and an extensive irrigation system.
In recent years, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has stressed that illegal cultivation on public land has grown to highly problematic levels in many areas. The operations are often run by Mexican drug cartels and guarded by heavily armed members of U.S.-based street gangs and illegal Mexican nationals.
An ONDCP spokesman said violent Mexican drug cartels construct, operate and manage 80 to 90 percent of all U.S.-based marijuana plantations—most of which are located in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Kentucky, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia.
Simply, there are some real bad guys out in the mountains and woods these days.
Authorities agree that hunters should avoid contact with the individuals at these remote camps at all costs. Instead, they should obtain a GPS reading of the location, if possible, then immediately retrace their route away from the area and contact law enforcement to make a report.
Additionally, hunters should also report anything they see that might be associated with marijuana growing operations; like PVC drip lines, brush piles placed in long rows, empty fertilizer bags or garbage.
Now, let’s go hunting. But be careful out there.
[ Read Full Post ]August 8, 2009 by
Have you tried everything from soap shavings to coyote urine to keep hungry deer out of your vegetable garden and flowerbeds?
Oxon Hill, Md. gardener Chris Erwin, who says he came up with the concept after drinking “a couple of beers,” claims deer haven’t bothered his expansive vegetable plot since he surrounded it with the neon-colored tape used by cops to mark crime scenes.
Ervin says he had grown weary of his annual battle with an estimated 50 whitetail deer that commonly visited his property on a nightly basis, gobbling his flowers, ornamental shrubs and vegetables.
Then, one afternoon while mowing the lawn and admittedly inspired “by a couple of beers", Ervin says solution to his deer problem just came to him.
Ever since he first encircled his plot of corn, beans, melons, collard greens and squash with the bright tape two years ago, the deer have respected the marked boundary like the respectful public does at an actual crime scene.
“I wish I had patented it because you can see how pretty the garden is,” Ervin proudly told a Washington, DC-area television station recently. “They don’t touch it. They’ll eat everything else around here but they don’t touch it.”
Ervin speculated that the motion of the iridescent tape in the breeze is enough to keep the wary deer from crossing the boundary.
To improve on Ervin’s idea, here at the Newshound we’ve decided a chalk whitetail buck outline on the ground behind the tape would be a nice added touch. The idea just kinda came to us after a couple of beers.
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August 6, 2009 by
The American Sportfishing Association recently released its “Sportfishing in America” report for freshwater and saltwater angling, indicating that anglers annually generate $45 billion in retail sales.
More people fish—about 40 million—than play golf (24.4 million) and tennis (10.4 million) combined. About 30 million of the anglers are age 16 and older.
The three states with the most anglers are Florida (2.77 million), Texas (2.52 million) and California (1.73 million), while the top three states in terms of jobs supported by sportfishing are Florida (75,100), Texas (59,000) and Minnesota (43,100).
Not surprisingly, the most popular gamefish is the largemouth bass, pursued by one out of every three U.S. anglers. Flounder is the most-targeted saltwater fish.
By no means is fishing confined to male rural residents, as 45 percent of anglers come from cities with populations of 1 million or more and 25 percent of all anglers are female.
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August 5, 2009 by
In a 3-3 vote last week, the Amherst (NY) Town Board denied the renewal of a arcade game license for a Chuck E. Cheese pizza and game parlor because some board members felt its shooting and hunting video games were inappropriate for young children.
Does someone smell a rat?
The Buffalo News reported that Council Member Shelly Schratz said she was disturbed by several “action-packed shoot-and-kill games” that were accessible to children at the pizza franchise and popular venue for birthday parties and other youthful gatherings.
Like other municipalities, Amherst receives revenue from licensing game arcades inside the town limits. An application fees costs $100, with an additional annual license fee of $200 for up to five games, and $40 more for each additional game.
Last week’s vote marked the first time a license has been denied in Amherst.
Council member Mark Manna, who voted in favor of renewing the license, said he thought those opposing the permit were overreacting.
“There is more violence in a Bugs Bunny cartoon,” he asserted.
One Chuck E. Cheese patron told the Buffalo paper she didn’t think the town should be making decisions for parents who enjoy taking their children there for birthday parties.
“It should be up to the parents,” said Jenny Boggil. “If they don’t want their children to play those games, they don’t have to bring them.”
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August 4, 2009 by
Brooklyn, NY social worker Michael Littlejohn is an avowed history buff and a self-proclaimed student of the Revolutionary War who’s taken part in battle re-enactments in Virginia and Georgia as an adult.
Littlejohn, 50, recently followed his love of the American past and purchased a historically accurate and fully-functioning flintlock rifle, like the ones used by revolutionary soldiers and the frontiersman who later forged Westward—helping make the new territories safe for expansion and further colonization.
Indeed, among many collectors and gun enthusiasts, such a firearm is considered as much a work of art as it is an historic shooting, defensive and hunting implement.
Except in New York City in 2009, apparently.
Not long after Littlejohn received the firearm from the Tennessee artisan and blacksmith who created it, he was paid a visit by New York Police, who told him he must obtain a license if he wanted to keep the vintage front-loader.
The New York Daily News reported this week that a Staples copy center employee called authorities after she found a receipt for the gun left behind by Littlejohn, alerting police to the location and owner of the historic black powder firearm.
When confronted by police and told he was in violation of city law, the amateur historian was defiant—almost revolutionary, you might say.
“This is the last legal gun that you can have without registration in New York,” Littlejohn said. “And yet Mayor Bloomberg is driven crazy by my flintlock gun—the one that won the American Revolution.”
A quick perusal of The New York City Administrative Code (Title 10—Public Safety) appears to support Littlejohn’s assertion.
§ 10–305 Exemptions. The sections requiring rifle and shotgun permits and certificates and prohibiting the possession or disposition of assault weapons shall not apply as follows: b. Antiques and ornaments. The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to antique rifles and shotguns which are incapable of being fired or discharged or which do not fire fixed ammunition, or those weapons manufactured prior to eighteen hundred ninety-four and those weapons whose design was patented and whose commercial manufacture commenced prior to eighteen hundred ninety-four and whose manufacture continued after eighteen hundred ninety-four without any substantial alteration in design or function, and for which cartridge ammunition is not commercially available and are possessed as curiosities or ornaments or for their historical significance and value...
In the meantime, sources with NYPD say the escalating conflict could end quickly and peaceably if Littlejohn would simply apply for a permit with the department’s handgun license division.
But that’s not going to happen, according to the historic arms lover, who says he’s prepared to go to court to keep his gun without obtaining a city license.
The Newshound advice? The Bloomberg administration should avoid engaging in a battle with someone who has extensive skirmish experience.
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