August 19, 2024 • 25 mins
This week Cal talks about phasing in and out, how e-tech could put too much pressure on the places we love, grizzly bears and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife crime, and so much more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Kalang. Here's
cal If you've ever looked down at your pants and
thought these things need more batteries, wires, struts, maybe some hydraulics,
I got news for you. A company called Skip recently
(00:32):
released a pair of motorized pants they called the world's
first powered clothing. Skip Mountain Goat pants feature and integrated
robotic knee brace that the company claims boosts a user's
legs by up to forty percent. The trousers weighs seven pounds,
are made of carbon fiber, and have rechargeable batteries that
last about three hours. The company claims the pants can
(00:55):
make the wearer feel up to thirty pounds lighter, and
adjust the amount of assistance based on a real time
monitoring of leg movements. You're paying attention to the Old
Cow Instagram feed, you'll see that Architecics is teaming up
here and releasing a pair of robo bridges of their own.
Forty three year old Natalie says the pants make her
feel like she's in her twenties again. Seventy one year
(01:15):
old Peter can't remember the last time his knees felt
this good, and sixty three year old Trish says it's
the first time she's summited a mountain in over two decades.
I just hope they all remember to charge their pants
for the way back down regular listeners so the podcast
know that. I generally think we need less technology in
the woods, not more. Seems like if someone is having
(01:36):
trouble summitting a mountain, improving their actual body with physical
therapy or a healthy diet might be a better solution
than technology. But if mountain goa pants can keep more
people in the outdoors longer, who am I to judge?
A lot of health benefits from being outside kids and
those shouldn't be reserved just for the young folk or
(01:56):
should they? Let me know what you think by writing
in to ask Cal at the meteater dot com Ask
c A l At the meeater dot com. This week
we've got Griz the crime Desk, watch where you Weighed,
and so much more of it. First, I'm going to
tell you about my week, and my week was just
so flipped on its head by the arrival of the robopants.
(02:18):
We did a big content and Product Summit here in Bosangelus,
So we brought all of the awesome people I'm fortunate
enough to work with here to Bozeman and we talked
about gear and product and got to learn about new
stuff and innovation from our longtime awesome partners at on X.
(02:42):
We talked to folks that are doing cool stuff at Moultrie,
talked to folks who are doing cool stuff at SIG,
and then we kicked those folks out and talked about
all of our stuff that we're working on on first
Light product and Phelps product and FHF product. Super cool
to see every everybody. We're getting big folks, hard to
(03:02):
know everybody's names and all that stuff. So a little
FaceTime is very valuable. And had a few laughs a
couple of beers to boot, so I can't complain about that.
But back to the topic, dou jure robopants. And this
is just pure opinion here, okay, And as with most things,
(03:28):
it's going to be a little hypocritical here and there. Okay, Biology,
the world, the numbers of life, it's all based off
of the fact that we phase in and we phase out. Okay,
we're born, we grow, we die, and there's things that
we do along that life path that we just can't revisit.
(03:50):
You can't leap forward when you're a tiny little baby
into something that you're not capable of, and you can't
leap backwards when you're old and beat up. Okay, there's
things that we do when we're young, fit capable, we're flexible,
we're more resistant to the harshness of life, and we're
able to recover from that harshness a lot faster. And
(04:13):
then we stop doing those things because we're no longer
capable of being flexible, being able to recover from big,
nasty trips. Okay, for instance, I grew up on the
edge of federally designated wilderness area. I love hunting and
hiking those areas today, transformative experiences in my life that
(04:34):
have gotten me here today. Wherever that is come from
my time in wilderness areas. I know that due to
the fact that those areas are restricted to travel by
foot or hoof, there is going to be a time
in my life that I will not be able to
get to the spots that I go today, which hurts,
(04:55):
but my absence from those areas will allow someone else
to be on that mountain or in that meadow or
windblown peak, or stretch a river or creek or whatever,
for their own special moments when the solitude and remoteness
are both crushing and liberating, that kind of holy shit,
(05:15):
this is all mine, but it's only me out here
type of moment. While they are doing that, enjoying that
moment that a physical feat that I am no longer
capable of, has earned them. I'll do what beat up
old folks do. I'll stand on a flats boat until
I can't do that anymore. I'll probably dive in warm
water instead of cold water. I'll sit and fish instead
(05:38):
of stand and fish. I'll find a place to pass
shoot birds with my old dog instead of walking in places.
Whatever it is, I will adjust accordingly, and by doing so,
I am opening up areas so other people who are
more capable can have those experiences to themselves. So I
(05:59):
fear when we take technology, and this is technology, you know,
adaptive technology that I admit I do want for the
people who have been like unjustly robbed of their youth
or physical strengths. But I do not want it for everyone,
because the land and the game cannot handle it. It's
(06:19):
a carrying capacity issue. It's a pressure issue. If you
think overcrowding is an issue on public land right now,
sit and think of spots in places that you go
or maybe have gone, where you really are probably not
going to see anybody, but if you do see somebody,
they're probably in that same age class as you are.
(06:40):
They probably look physically similar to the way you look.
And then think of those spots if they were accessible
to the people outside of the part of the bell
curve you occupy, right, So all of a sudden they're
accessible to very young and very old folks, that spot's
going to have more pressure. Simly easily accessible places, right
(07:03):
that we can all think about. When you go there,
you adjust your attitude to be like, oh, there's gonna
be other people here, because it's that much more accessible
to a wider chunk of the outdoor recreational curve, right,
And I'm sure you like I when there are other
people present, particularly the very young and very old. You
(07:25):
avoid those easy access places, partially because you don't want
to deal with the people, but partially because that's kind
of what those spots are for. They're for the people
who don't have the experience to try something more difficult.
They are just starting out, or they're just tackling what
they're capable of because they're they're old, like I said, inexperienced,
(07:49):
beat up, or that's just what they're comfortable with, right,
And I leave those spots for those people, and I
kind of do so with the hope that they're they're
going to do this for me when I get old
and beat up, and I will. Right. So again, when
I look at this technology in the light of helping
those folks who have mobility impaired issue, veterans, victims of
(08:15):
unfortunate accidents, unforeseen circumstances, like I said, the people who
have been robbed of those opportunities somehow, some way, Man,
I'm in, I get it. I want those people to
have that experience so they can then turn around and
tell other people how much they appreciate those landscapes and
we make sure that they exist forever. To tie that
(08:37):
back to something selfish for myself, but the way this
technology is being marketed, it's not going to be just
for those people. It's going to be for anybody who's
got five thousand bucks to spend, which, if you think
about it, is not that much right, if a horse
is the other option. We tackled this same issue and
we talked about like the way e bikes electronic motorcycles
(09:00):
are marketed, right, It's like, this is going to allow
people who can't go to go. Essentially, it's going to
open up more access to the back country. There is
a reasonable argument to be made that those folks miss
their window, they miss their shot. If they can't get
(09:22):
there in responsible fashion, they shouldn't get there now that
e bike might get them into a spot that they regret.
My whole life, prior to the advent of this technology,
my whole crew, the folks that I talk about, it's
always been a topic of conversation of like, boy, we
got to take advantage of this stuff now while we can,
(09:43):
and if we extend that window artificially of while we can.
I fear that there's going to be too much of
a strain on the resources that we love. Again, right,
an tell me where to stick it? Askcl ask how
out at the meeteater dot com. Moving on to the
old grizzerbear desk, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has
(10:08):
once again delayed making a decision on whether or not
to remove grizzly bears from the endangered Species list. Matt Hogan,
the regional director for the Mountain Prairie Region, said in
illegal filing that even though the Fishing Wildlife Service had
promised to reach its decision by the end of July,
it will not be able to meet that deadline now.
He estimates that a decision won't be made until about
(10:29):
six months from now on January thirty first, twenty twenty five.
State officials in Wyoming have slammed Hogan's announcement. Wyoming Special
Assistant Attorney General Jay Jerdy wrote that the Fishing Wildlife
Service's willingness to flout the law knows no bounds, and
that it was a move that reeks of arrogance and entitlement.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon also got in on the action,
(10:51):
calling on the Service to make its decision no later
than October thirty one, twenty twenty four. He claims the
delay will cost state taxpayers an extra one million dollars
to manage the species they have no authority over. States
like Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho are eager to regain control
of grizzly management. The populations in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem
in the northern Continental Divide are strong, and the Fishing
(11:14):
Wildlife Service had delisted the species in some areas all
the way back in twenty seventeen, but environmental groups sued
and the issue has been tossed back and forth in
the federal courts ever since. In twenty twenty two, Wyoming
sent a petition to the Fish and Wildlife Service requesting
that grizzlies be removed from the endangered species list. Montana
(11:34):
and Idaho also submitted similar requests. About a year later,
the Service acknowledged that the Gye and the Continental Divide
populations likely don't qualify for federal protections, and they committed
to issuing a final rule on July thirty one of
this year. Those with calendars will notice that July thirty
one is coming gone and the Fishing Wildlife Service has
(11:56):
still not issued this much anticipated ruling. The Service clan
that more recent legal challenges have gummed up the works.
They want to be able to address all of these
challenges at once, and so they've decided to push back
their decisions another six months. The states that have to
manage these grizzly populations are obviously unhappy, and I understand why.
We've known for years that grizzly bears aren't threatened or endangered,
(12:19):
at least not Wyoming in Montana. Delaying once again what
seems like a clear choice feels like rubin salt in
the wound. At the same time, it makes sense that
the Fish and Wildlife Service would want to cross their
tees and dot their eyes before moving forward. There's going
to be a lot of litigation no matter what they do,
I'm sure, and I'm sure the fact that their new
timeline pushes them past the presidential election isn't a bad
(12:42):
thing from their perspective either. For their part, Wyoming and
Montana are doing more than just complaining. They're also trying
to prove to federal regulators that they can be trusted
to responsibly manage this iconic species. Wildfile reports that two
bears were moved from Montana's Northern Continental Divide ecosystem down
to the Greater Yellowstone area. The operation imported a sub
(13:03):
adult female grizzly to the Tagwa Tee Pass area on
July thirtieth, and a sub adult male grizzly to a
remote corner of Southeastern Yellowstone National Park the following day.
There are more than one thousand bears in the gye
these days, so this operation wasn't about bolstering population numbers. Instead,
state biologists want to shore up the genetic diversity of
(13:25):
the somewhat more isolated Yellowstone bears. One of the reasons
the grizzlies were returned to the endangered species list was
due to genetic diversity concerns. The operation was designed to
address those concerns and prove that the states are capable
of working together to manage the grizzlies in their states.
Of course, activist groups won't be satisfied until grizzlies recolonize
(13:46):
all their former territory. An attorney with the Western Environmental
Law Center told Wildfile that translocating bears actually undermines the
state's claims of recovery. If they were actually recovered, he said,
the bears would be able to deal with genetic diversity
concerns on their own through natural migration. Moving on to
the flesh eating bacteria desk, a Texas man has died
(14:11):
from a bacterial infection after he went fishing in the
Gulf of Mexico earlier this summer. On an evening In
early June, sixty six year old Randy Bunch was crabbing
and fishing in Freeport, Texas, just south of Houston. His
daughter told local media he's fished in this area all
his life, and on that night, he was out retrieving
crab traps. His trouble started when he did something we've
(14:32):
all done. He stepped in the shallow water off of
a boat ramp without wearing waiting boots. The problem was
he had an old scrape on his foot that hadn't
quite healed. His daughter said that just a few hours later,
he called her complaining of extreme pain along the right
side of his body. Thinking he might be having a
heart attack, Bunch went to the er, but the doctors
couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, so they
sent him home. The next morning, his condition had significantly worsened.
(14:55):
His daughter said he'd had a fever of one hundred
and four degrees and he was lethargic and dis oriented.
He went back to the er and was transferred to
Texas Medical Center, but the doctor still couldn't figure out
what was going on. Eventually, they noticed the scrape on
his foot and started investigating whether he might have some
kind of infection. Those tests revealed that Bunch had been
infected with Vibrio bacteria. They're about a dozen kinds of
(15:19):
Vibrio bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control. They're
found in certain coastal waters and in higher concentrations when
water temperatures are warmer in May through October. Most people
contract Vibrio virus by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters,
or when an open wound comes in contact with coastal waters.
It can cause necrotiiting fasciitis, a severe infection in which
(15:42):
the flesh around an open wound dies. This is how
it's come to be known as flesh eating bacteria, though
other kinds of bacteria also cause this symptom. About eighty
thousand cases are reported each year in the US. Many
require amputation, and one in five are fatal. Bunch was
unfortunate part of those twenty percent of deadly cases. The
(16:02):
infection spread as blisters covered his entire body, and he
passed away less than a week after stepping into the water.
Coastal anglers shouldn't live in fear of contracting a Vibrio bacteria,
but you should avoid contacting the water with an open wound,
and more importantly, remember that this is a possibility if
you come down with an inexplicable illness. Bunch might still
be with his family if those er docs had thought
(16:24):
to test for vibrio and begin an aggressive round of antibiotics.
If you start feeling sick after being out on the water,
check yourself for cuts or scrapes. If you have any,
seek medical attention immediately, and be sure to let the
doctors know about your concerns. Moving on to the crime desk,
a poacher shot for Roosevelt elk and left them to
(16:45):
waste last week in California's Redwood National Park, and authorities
are asking for the public's help and finding the perpetrator.
According to the Redwood National and State Park Service, there,
rangers and wardens with the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife were notified of the poached elk on July TI
twenty first. Following an investigation, the NPS determined that the
four elk had been killed and no meat had been taken.
(17:06):
The NPS says the area where the elk were killed
is located within the Redwood National Park, where hunting is
prohibited by federal and state law to add insult to injury.
Authorities determined that the poacher used lead bullets to kill
the elk, which is illegal in California. What's more, this
is one of the only areas in California where Roosevelt
Elk continued to exist. Kind of makes you wonder if
(17:27):
this poacher was trying to make a point. Anyone with
information about this incident has urged contact park officials seven
oh seven four sixty five seven seven five to one,
or call the park's anonymous crime tip line at seven
seven seven sixty five seven three five three. Officials in
Wisconsin are also asking for the public's help in uncovering
(17:48):
what they believe is a large scale deer poaching operation.
The fond Delac County Sheriff's office posted a press release
about a poaching ring that covers about two hundred square
miles over Fondilac Dodge in Washington Counties. They believe it's
been operating for at least twelve months. The perpetrators allegedly
kill bucks at night, outside of the legal hunting season,
(18:08):
and then try to register them as if they've killed
them legally. Officials have already located dozens of deer carcasses
and have identified several suspects. If you live in any
of these counties, the Sheriff's office is asking you to
contact them if you've heard gunshots during overnight hours, observed
a suspicious vehicle shining, deer stopping in the roadway and
(18:29):
or shooting from a vehicle, or observed deer alive or
deceased with what appears to be a gunshot wound, especially
outside of deer hunting season. Really, these instructions apply to anyone.
As we'll see in a few minutes, telling game wardens
about deer carcasses can lead to serial poachers being brought
to justice. Wisconsin. Residents in this area can leave an
(18:49):
anonymous tip on the Fondilac County Law Enforcement tip line
by calling nine to two oh nine zero six four
to seven seven seven. At the other end of the
investigative spectrum, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation recently
closed a poaching case that saw five men plead guilty
to wildlife crimes. DC policy officer Jeffrey Johnson received a
(19:12):
call last year from a hiker who had found a
trail of blood at Mendon Ponds Park in Mendon, New York,
it is illegal to hunt deer in the park. Johnson
went to the scene where he found the trail of
blood along with the clump of deer hair. He followed
the trail to the parking lot, where it stopped in
front of a pair of tire tracks. That wouldn't have
been much to go on, but the next day he
received a tip that led him to a pile of
three deer carcasses. One was beheaded to had their antlers
(19:35):
cut off, and DNA matched the hair found in the park.
Johnston also found something else, a knife with the name
written on it, along with the business card. Here's a
hot tip for you. Don't leave your monogrammed gear at
the scene of any crime. That might sound obvious, but
we're not dealing with Rhodes scholars here. They need all
the hot tips they can get, Like here's a doozy,
(19:56):
don't do illegal stuff. That's called the abstinence. I believe
it's a getting to the root of the issue anyway.
Johnston didn't have much trouble getting and search warrant for
the suspect's phone, and evidence collected from that phone proved
that five men had used shotguns and crossbows to hunt
deer from their truck. They all pled guilty and paid
(20:17):
a combined seven one hundred dollars in fines. Just down
the interstate in Pennsylvania, three poachers are facing a combined
one hundred and twenty four charges for alcohol fueled night
hunts that targeted white tailed deer, seek a deer, turkeys,
and even a chipmunk. Edward Ilgenfritz twenty seven, Kay Bardell
(20:37):
twenty two, and Harlan Group twenty one all faced felony
and misdemeanor charges of taking big game out of season,
along with dozens of summary charges related to the unlawful shootings.
Much like a few of the other cases we've covered,
the trouble began when tipsters told game wardens about finding
dead deer with their heads cut off. Game wardens spoke
with neighbors in the area and they knew who was responsible.
(20:59):
They direct officers to a home where warden's interviewed a
juvenile about what had been going on. He told them
that Bardell and his crew would drive around at night,
shooting deer and drinking beer. Evidence collected by his search
warrants confirmed that Bardell was responsible for unlawfully killing six deer.
In addition, a video found on Bardell's phone showed him
(21:19):
shooting at a flock of turkey's from a vehicle, and
another photo showed Bardell holding a dead chipmunk and an
empty pistol round casing the other two poachers. Ilgenfritz and
group are also in serious trouble. Ilgenfritz allowed someone else
to use his hunting license to kill a nine point buck,
and he used illegal bait to attract and kill a
(21:40):
ten point buck on his property. Ilgenfrets also admitted that
he and group went to Maryland at night and illegally
killed multiple Sika deer and brought them back to Pennsylvania.
The Oregon Hunters Association is offering two thousand dollars cash
or four hunter preference points for information leading to the
arrest of whoever is killing deer with a pellet rifle.
(22:02):
In the town of Roseberg. Local media reports that five
deer carcasses have been found, at least one of which
was killed with a pellet Residents in one of those
towns neighborhoods use pellet guns to haze deer away from
lawns and gardens. Some of them believe a pellet gun
can't kill deer, but that's obviously not true. One of
the deer carcasses had a pellet lodged it and it's lung.
The pellet broke a rib and clipped its lung, which
(22:24):
caused it to hemorrhage, and both lungs then filled with blood,
causing that deer to suffocate to death. The other four
deer were too decomposed to assign a cause of death,
so it's possible they died from natural causes. The area
is known to have epizootic hemorrhagic disease or EHD, so
officials are investigating whether the local ponds contain the virus.
If they don't, they'll be more confident in assuming that
(22:46):
someone is killing deer with a pellet rifle in the
Meadows neighborhood of Rosebug, Oregon. If you got a hunch,
you may want to tip off your grandma or someone
who doesn't think they're doing any harm. Anyone with information
on this case is encouraged to email an anonymous tip
to tip at osp dot Oregon dot gov. Moving on
(23:08):
to the Island Deer Desk, the Catalina Island Conservancy has
abandoned its plan to eliminate the island's mule deer heard
using helicopters and sharpshooters. We first covered this story back
in episode two thirty three. Mule deer are not native
to Catalina Island off the coast California, and the island
Conservancy worried that the deer posed a threat to some
of the islands rare in need of species, so they
(23:29):
floated the controversial plan to shoot all two thousand deer
by hiring sharpshooters to kill them from helicopters and leave
them to rot. The island's residents joined forces with hunters
and the Humane Society to oppose the plan. Humane Society
folks argued that the coal would be cruel and unnecessary,
and hunters argued that they should be given the chance
to deal with the problem on their own. The current
(23:50):
hunting regime makes it tough for non residents to hunt,
and some proposed relaxing those restrictions and giving more people
a chance at some Catalina Island Venison Range coalition of
Bedfellows raised such an outcry that the island Conservancy back down.
The decision came on the heels of a unanimous vote
by the La County Board of Supervisors opposing the helicopter plan.
(24:11):
It also came after the California Department of Fishing Game
Commission decided to renew the island's five year game management
plan and add an additional five hundred deer tags. They
also approved provisions to incrementally increase the number upon written
request in October and December. The Commission's moved to increase
the deer hunting season on the island and essentially double
(24:31):
the number of deer tags is partly what led to
the Conservancy to pull the helicopter plan off the table.
According to Western Outdoor News, of course, the island's muleier
population shouldn't be breathing a sigh of relief just yet.
They won't have to worry about helicopter snipers, but they'll
still be facing an increasing number of hunters. The Conservancy
also told local LA media that they're working on a
(24:53):
new plan to eliminate the deer herd. They won't be
using helicopters, but they still want the deer off the island.
All I got for you this week, Thank you so
much for listening, and remember to write in to A
s K C. A. L. That's Ascal at the meat
eater dot com. Let me know what's going on in
your neck of the woods. You know we appreciate it.
Thanks again. We'll talk to you next week.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Kalang. Here's
cal If you've ever looked down at your pants and
thought these things need more batteries, wires, struts, maybe some hydraulics,
I got news for you. A company called Skip recently
(00:32):
released a pair of motorized pants they called the world's
first powered clothing. Skip Mountain Goat pants feature and integrated
robotic knee brace that the company claims boosts a user's
legs by up to forty percent. The trousers weighs seven pounds,
are made of carbon fiber, and have rechargeable batteries that
last about three hours. The company claims the pants can
(00:55):
make the wearer feel up to thirty pounds lighter, and
adjust the amount of assistance based on a real time
monitoring of leg movements. You're paying attention to the Old
Cow Instagram feed, you'll see that Architecics is teaming up
here and releasing a pair of robo bridges of their own.
Forty three year old Natalie says the pants make her
feel like she's in her twenties again. Seventy one year
(01:15):
old Peter can't remember the last time his knees felt
this good, and sixty three year old Trish says it's
the first time she's summited a mountain in over two decades.
I just hope they all remember to charge their pants
for the way back down regular listeners so the podcast
know that. I generally think we need less technology in
the woods, not more. Seems like if someone is having
(01:36):
trouble summitting a mountain, improving their actual body with physical
therapy or a healthy diet might be a better solution
than technology. But if mountain goa pants can keep more
people in the outdoors longer, who am I to judge?
A lot of health benefits from being outside kids and
those shouldn't be reserved just for the young folk or
(01:56):
should they? Let me know what you think by writing
in to ask Cal at the meteater dot com Ask
c A l At the meeater dot com. This week
we've got Griz the crime Desk, watch where you Weighed,
and so much more of it. First, I'm going to
tell you about my week, and my week was just
so flipped on its head by the arrival of the robopants.
(02:18):
We did a big content and Product Summit here in Bosangelus,
So we brought all of the awesome people I'm fortunate
enough to work with here to Bozeman and we talked
about gear and product and got to learn about new
stuff and innovation from our longtime awesome partners at on X.
(02:42):
We talked to folks that are doing cool stuff at Moultrie,
talked to folks who are doing cool stuff at SIG,
and then we kicked those folks out and talked about
all of our stuff that we're working on on first
Light product and Phelps product and FHF product. Super cool
to see every everybody. We're getting big folks, hard to
(03:02):
know everybody's names and all that stuff. So a little
FaceTime is very valuable. And had a few laughs a
couple of beers to boot, so I can't complain about that.
But back to the topic, dou jure robopants. And this
is just pure opinion here, okay, And as with most things,
(03:28):
it's going to be a little hypocritical here and there. Okay, Biology,
the world, the numbers of life, it's all based off
of the fact that we phase in and we phase out. Okay,
we're born, we grow, we die, and there's things that
we do along that life path that we just can't revisit.
(03:50):
You can't leap forward when you're a tiny little baby
into something that you're not capable of, and you can't
leap backwards when you're old and beat up. Okay, there's
things that we do when we're young, fit capable, we're flexible,
we're more resistant to the harshness of life, and we're
able to recover from that harshness a lot faster. And
(04:13):
then we stop doing those things because we're no longer
capable of being flexible, being able to recover from big,
nasty trips. Okay, for instance, I grew up on the
edge of federally designated wilderness area. I love hunting and
hiking those areas today, transformative experiences in my life that
(04:34):
have gotten me here today. Wherever that is come from
my time in wilderness areas. I know that due to
the fact that those areas are restricted to travel by
foot or hoof, there is going to be a time
in my life that I will not be able to
get to the spots that I go today, which hurts,
(04:55):
but my absence from those areas will allow someone else
to be on that mountain or in that meadow or
windblown peak, or stretch a river or creek or whatever,
for their own special moments when the solitude and remoteness
are both crushing and liberating, that kind of holy shit,
(05:15):
this is all mine, but it's only me out here
type of moment. While they are doing that, enjoying that
moment that a physical feat that I am no longer
capable of, has earned them. I'll do what beat up
old folks do. I'll stand on a flats boat until
I can't do that anymore. I'll probably dive in warm
water instead of cold water. I'll sit and fish instead
(05:38):
of stand and fish. I'll find a place to pass
shoot birds with my old dog instead of walking in places.
Whatever it is, I will adjust accordingly, and by doing so,
I am opening up areas so other people who are
more capable can have those experiences to themselves. So I
(05:59):
fear when we take technology, and this is technology, you know,
adaptive technology that I admit I do want for the
people who have been like unjustly robbed of their youth
or physical strengths. But I do not want it for everyone,
because the land and the game cannot handle it. It's
(06:19):
a carrying capacity issue. It's a pressure issue. If you
think overcrowding is an issue on public land right now,
sit and think of spots in places that you go
or maybe have gone, where you really are probably not
going to see anybody, but if you do see somebody,
they're probably in that same age class as you are.
(06:40):
They probably look physically similar to the way you look.
And then think of those spots if they were accessible
to the people outside of the part of the bell
curve you occupy, right, So all of a sudden they're
accessible to very young and very old folks, that spot's
going to have more pressure. Simly easily accessible places, right
(07:03):
that we can all think about. When you go there,
you adjust your attitude to be like, oh, there's gonna
be other people here, because it's that much more accessible
to a wider chunk of the outdoor recreational curve, right,
And I'm sure you like I when there are other
people present, particularly the very young and very old. You
(07:25):
avoid those easy access places, partially because you don't want
to deal with the people, but partially because that's kind
of what those spots are for. They're for the people
who don't have the experience to try something more difficult.
They are just starting out, or they're just tackling what
they're capable of because they're they're old, like I said, inexperienced,
(07:49):
beat up, or that's just what they're comfortable with, right,
And I leave those spots for those people, and I
kind of do so with the hope that they're they're
going to do this for me when I get old
and beat up, and I will. Right. So again, when
I look at this technology in the light of helping
those folks who have mobility impaired issue, veterans, victims of
(08:15):
unfortunate accidents, unforeseen circumstances, like I said, the people who
have been robbed of those opportunities somehow, some way, Man,
I'm in, I get it. I want those people to
have that experience so they can then turn around and
tell other people how much they appreciate those landscapes and
we make sure that they exist forever. To tie that
(08:37):
back to something selfish for myself, but the way this
technology is being marketed, it's not going to be just
for those people. It's going to be for anybody who's
got five thousand bucks to spend, which, if you think
about it, is not that much right, if a horse
is the other option. We tackled this same issue and
we talked about like the way e bikes electronic motorcycles
(09:00):
are marketed, right, It's like, this is going to allow
people who can't go to go. Essentially, it's going to
open up more access to the back country. There is
a reasonable argument to be made that those folks miss
their window, they miss their shot. If they can't get
(09:22):
there in responsible fashion, they shouldn't get there now that
e bike might get them into a spot that they regret.
My whole life, prior to the advent of this technology,
my whole crew, the folks that I talk about, it's
always been a topic of conversation of like, boy, we
got to take advantage of this stuff now while we can,
(09:43):
and if we extend that window artificially of while we can.
I fear that there's going to be too much of
a strain on the resources that we love. Again, right,
an tell me where to stick it? Askcl ask how
out at the meeteater dot com. Moving on to the
old grizzerbear desk, the US Fish and Wildlife Service has
(10:08):
once again delayed making a decision on whether or not
to remove grizzly bears from the endangered Species list. Matt Hogan,
the regional director for the Mountain Prairie Region, said in
illegal filing that even though the Fishing Wildlife Service had
promised to reach its decision by the end of July,
it will not be able to meet that deadline now.
He estimates that a decision won't be made until about
(10:29):
six months from now on January thirty first, twenty twenty five.
State officials in Wyoming have slammed Hogan's announcement. Wyoming Special
Assistant Attorney General Jay Jerdy wrote that the Fishing Wildlife
Service's willingness to flout the law knows no bounds, and
that it was a move that reeks of arrogance and entitlement.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon also got in on the action,
(10:51):
calling on the Service to make its decision no later
than October thirty one, twenty twenty four. He claims the
delay will cost state taxpayers an extra one million dollars
to manage the species they have no authority over. States
like Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho are eager to regain control
of grizzly management. The populations in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem
in the northern Continental Divide are strong, and the Fishing
(11:14):
Wildlife Service had delisted the species in some areas all
the way back in twenty seventeen, but environmental groups sued
and the issue has been tossed back and forth in
the federal courts ever since. In twenty twenty two, Wyoming
sent a petition to the Fish and Wildlife Service requesting
that grizzlies be removed from the endangered species list. Montana
(11:34):
and Idaho also submitted similar requests. About a year later,
the Service acknowledged that the Gye and the Continental Divide
populations likely don't qualify for federal protections, and they committed
to issuing a final rule on July thirty one of
this year. Those with calendars will notice that July thirty
one is coming gone and the Fishing Wildlife Service has
(11:56):
still not issued this much anticipated ruling. The Service clan
that more recent legal challenges have gummed up the works.
They want to be able to address all of these
challenges at once, and so they've decided to push back
their decisions another six months. The states that have to
manage these grizzly populations are obviously unhappy, and I understand why.
We've known for years that grizzly bears aren't threatened or endangered,
(12:19):
at least not Wyoming in Montana. Delaying once again what
seems like a clear choice feels like rubin salt in
the wound. At the same time, it makes sense that
the Fish and Wildlife Service would want to cross their
tees and dot their eyes before moving forward. There's going
to be a lot of litigation no matter what they do,
I'm sure, and I'm sure the fact that their new
timeline pushes them past the presidential election isn't a bad
(12:42):
thing from their perspective either. For their part, Wyoming and
Montana are doing more than just complaining. They're also trying
to prove to federal regulators that they can be trusted
to responsibly manage this iconic species. Wildfile reports that two
bears were moved from Montana's Northern Continental Divide ecosystem down
to the Greater Yellowstone area. The operation imported a sub
(13:03):
adult female grizzly to the Tagwa Tee Pass area on
July thirtieth, and a sub adult male grizzly to a
remote corner of Southeastern Yellowstone National Park the following day.
There are more than one thousand bears in the gye
these days, so this operation wasn't about bolstering population numbers. Instead,
state biologists want to shore up the genetic diversity of
(13:25):
the somewhat more isolated Yellowstone bears. One of the reasons
the grizzlies were returned to the endangered species list was
due to genetic diversity concerns. The operation was designed to
address those concerns and prove that the states are capable
of working together to manage the grizzlies in their states.
Of course, activist groups won't be satisfied until grizzlies recolonize
(13:46):
all their former territory. An attorney with the Western Environmental
Law Center told Wildfile that translocating bears actually undermines the
state's claims of recovery. If they were actually recovered, he said,
the bears would be able to deal with genetic diversity
concerns on their own through natural migration. Moving on to
the flesh eating bacteria desk, a Texas man has died
(14:11):
from a bacterial infection after he went fishing in the
Gulf of Mexico earlier this summer. On an evening In
early June, sixty six year old Randy Bunch was crabbing
and fishing in Freeport, Texas, just south of Houston. His
daughter told local media he's fished in this area all
his life, and on that night, he was out retrieving
crab traps. His trouble started when he did something we've
(14:32):
all done. He stepped in the shallow water off of
a boat ramp without wearing waiting boots. The problem was
he had an old scrape on his foot that hadn't
quite healed. His daughter said that just a few hours later,
he called her complaining of extreme pain along the right
side of his body. Thinking he might be having a
heart attack, Bunch went to the er, but the doctors
couldn't figure out what was wrong with him, so they
sent him home. The next morning, his condition had significantly worsened.
(14:55):
His daughter said he'd had a fever of one hundred
and four degrees and he was lethargic and dis oriented.
He went back to the er and was transferred to
Texas Medical Center, but the doctor still couldn't figure out
what was going on. Eventually, they noticed the scrape on
his foot and started investigating whether he might have some
kind of infection. Those tests revealed that Bunch had been
infected with Vibrio bacteria. They're about a dozen kinds of
(15:19):
Vibrio bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control. They're
found in certain coastal waters and in higher concentrations when
water temperatures are warmer in May through October. Most people
contract Vibrio virus by eating raw or undercooked shellfish, particularly oysters,
or when an open wound comes in contact with coastal waters.
It can cause necrotiiting fasciitis, a severe infection in which
(15:42):
the flesh around an open wound dies. This is how
it's come to be known as flesh eating bacteria, though
other kinds of bacteria also cause this symptom. About eighty
thousand cases are reported each year in the US. Many
require amputation, and one in five are fatal. Bunch was
unfortunate part of those twenty percent of deadly cases. The
(16:02):
infection spread as blisters covered his entire body, and he
passed away less than a week after stepping into the water.
Coastal anglers shouldn't live in fear of contracting a Vibrio bacteria,
but you should avoid contacting the water with an open wound,
and more importantly, remember that this is a possibility if
you come down with an inexplicable illness. Bunch might still
be with his family if those er docs had thought
(16:24):
to test for vibrio and begin an aggressive round of antibiotics.
If you start feeling sick after being out on the water,
check yourself for cuts or scrapes. If you have any,
seek medical attention immediately, and be sure to let the
doctors know about your concerns. Moving on to the crime desk,
a poacher shot for Roosevelt elk and left them to
(16:45):
waste last week in California's Redwood National Park, and authorities
are asking for the public's help and finding the perpetrator.
According to the Redwood National and State Park Service, there,
rangers and wardens with the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife were notified of the poached elk on July TI
twenty first. Following an investigation, the NPS determined that the
four elk had been killed and no meat had been taken.
(17:06):
The NPS says the area where the elk were killed
is located within the Redwood National Park, where hunting is
prohibited by federal and state law to add insult to injury.
Authorities determined that the poacher used lead bullets to kill
the elk, which is illegal in California. What's more, this
is one of the only areas in California where Roosevelt
Elk continued to exist. Kind of makes you wonder if
(17:27):
this poacher was trying to make a point. Anyone with
information about this incident has urged contact park officials seven
oh seven four sixty five seven seven five to one,
or call the park's anonymous crime tip line at seven
seven seven sixty five seven three five three. Officials in
Wisconsin are also asking for the public's help in uncovering
(17:48):
what they believe is a large scale deer poaching operation.
The fond Delac County Sheriff's office posted a press release
about a poaching ring that covers about two hundred square
miles over Fondilac Dodge in Washington Counties. They believe it's
been operating for at least twelve months. The perpetrators allegedly
kill bucks at night, outside of the legal hunting season,
(18:08):
and then try to register them as if they've killed
them legally. Officials have already located dozens of deer carcasses
and have identified several suspects. If you live in any
of these counties, the Sheriff's office is asking you to
contact them if you've heard gunshots during overnight hours, observed
a suspicious vehicle shining, deer stopping in the roadway and
(18:29):
or shooting from a vehicle, or observed deer alive or
deceased with what appears to be a gunshot wound, especially
outside of deer hunting season. Really, these instructions apply to anyone.
As we'll see in a few minutes, telling game wardens
about deer carcasses can lead to serial poachers being brought
to justice. Wisconsin. Residents in this area can leave an
(18:49):
anonymous tip on the Fondilac County Law Enforcement tip line
by calling nine to two oh nine zero six four
to seven seven seven. At the other end of the
investigative spectrum, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation recently
closed a poaching case that saw five men plead guilty
to wildlife crimes. DC policy officer Jeffrey Johnson received a
(19:12):
call last year from a hiker who had found a
trail of blood at Mendon Ponds Park in Mendon, New York,
it is illegal to hunt deer in the park. Johnson
went to the scene where he found the trail of
blood along with the clump of deer hair. He followed
the trail to the parking lot, where it stopped in
front of a pair of tire tracks. That wouldn't have
been much to go on, but the next day he
received a tip that led him to a pile of
three deer carcasses. One was beheaded to had their antlers
(19:35):
cut off, and DNA matched the hair found in the park.
Johnston also found something else, a knife with the name
written on it, along with the business card. Here's a
hot tip for you. Don't leave your monogrammed gear at
the scene of any crime. That might sound obvious, but
we're not dealing with Rhodes scholars here. They need all
the hot tips they can get, Like here's a doozy,
(19:56):
don't do illegal stuff. That's called the abstinence. I believe
it's a getting to the root of the issue anyway.
Johnston didn't have much trouble getting and search warrant for
the suspect's phone, and evidence collected from that phone proved
that five men had used shotguns and crossbows to hunt
deer from their truck. They all pled guilty and paid
(20:17):
a combined seven one hundred dollars in fines. Just down
the interstate in Pennsylvania, three poachers are facing a combined
one hundred and twenty four charges for alcohol fueled night
hunts that targeted white tailed deer, seek a deer, turkeys,
and even a chipmunk. Edward Ilgenfritz twenty seven, Kay Bardell
(20:37):
twenty two, and Harlan Group twenty one all faced felony
and misdemeanor charges of taking big game out of season,
along with dozens of summary charges related to the unlawful shootings.
Much like a few of the other cases we've covered,
the trouble began when tipsters told game wardens about finding
dead deer with their heads cut off. Game wardens spoke
with neighbors in the area and they knew who was responsible.
(20:59):
They direct officers to a home where warden's interviewed a
juvenile about what had been going on. He told them
that Bardell and his crew would drive around at night,
shooting deer and drinking beer. Evidence collected by his search
warrants confirmed that Bardell was responsible for unlawfully killing six deer.
In addition, a video found on Bardell's phone showed him
(21:19):
shooting at a flock of turkey's from a vehicle, and
another photo showed Bardell holding a dead chipmunk and an
empty pistol round casing the other two poachers. Ilgenfritz and
group are also in serious trouble. Ilgenfritz allowed someone else
to use his hunting license to kill a nine point buck,
and he used illegal bait to attract and kill a
(21:40):
ten point buck on his property. Ilgenfrets also admitted that
he and group went to Maryland at night and illegally
killed multiple Sika deer and brought them back to Pennsylvania.
The Oregon Hunters Association is offering two thousand dollars cash
or four hunter preference points for information leading to the
arrest of whoever is killing deer with a pellet rifle.
(22:02):
In the town of Roseberg. Local media reports that five
deer carcasses have been found, at least one of which
was killed with a pellet Residents in one of those
towns neighborhoods use pellet guns to haze deer away from
lawns and gardens. Some of them believe a pellet gun
can't kill deer, but that's obviously not true. One of
the deer carcasses had a pellet lodged it and it's lung.
The pellet broke a rib and clipped its lung, which
(22:24):
caused it to hemorrhage, and both lungs then filled with blood,
causing that deer to suffocate to death. The other four
deer were too decomposed to assign a cause of death,
so it's possible they died from natural causes. The area
is known to have epizootic hemorrhagic disease or EHD, so
officials are investigating whether the local ponds contain the virus.
If they don't, they'll be more confident in assuming that
(22:46):
someone is killing deer with a pellet rifle in the
Meadows neighborhood of Rosebug, Oregon. If you got a hunch,
you may want to tip off your grandma or someone
who doesn't think they're doing any harm. Anyone with information
on this case is encouraged to email an anonymous tip
to tip at osp dot Oregon dot gov. Moving on
(23:08):
to the Island Deer Desk, the Catalina Island Conservancy has
abandoned its plan to eliminate the island's mule deer heard
using helicopters and sharpshooters. We first covered this story back
in episode two thirty three. Mule deer are not native
to Catalina Island off the coast California, and the island
Conservancy worried that the deer posed a threat to some
of the islands rare in need of species, so they
(23:29):
floated the controversial plan to shoot all two thousand deer
by hiring sharpshooters to kill them from helicopters and leave
them to rot. The island's residents joined forces with hunters
and the Humane Society to oppose the plan. Humane Society
folks argued that the coal would be cruel and unnecessary,
and hunters argued that they should be given the chance
to deal with the problem on their own. The current
(23:50):
hunting regime makes it tough for non residents to hunt,
and some proposed relaxing those restrictions and giving more people
a chance at some Catalina Island Venison Range coalition of
Bedfellows raised such an outcry that the island Conservancy back down.
The decision came on the heels of a unanimous vote
by the La County Board of Supervisors opposing the helicopter plan.
(24:11):
It also came after the California Department of Fishing Game
Commission decided to renew the island's five year game management
plan and add an additional five hundred deer tags. They
also approved provisions to incrementally increase the number upon written
request in October and December. The Commission's moved to increase
the deer hunting season on the island and essentially double
(24:31):
the number of deer tags is partly what led to
the Conservancy to pull the helicopter plan off the table.
According to Western Outdoor News, of course, the island's muleier
population shouldn't be breathing a sigh of relief just yet.
They won't have to worry about helicopter snipers, but they'll
still be facing an increasing number of hunters. The Conservancy
also told local LA media that they're working on a
(24:53):
new plan to eliminate the deer herd. They won't be
using helicopters, but they still want the deer off the island.
All I got for you this week, Thank you so
much for listening, and remember to write in to A
s K C. A. L. That's Ascal at the meat
eater dot com. Let me know what's going on in
your neck of the woods. You know we appreciate it.
Thanks again. We'll talk to you next week.
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