September 9, 2024 • 22 mins
This week Cal talks Florida state lands, fat eagles, a grizzly attack, and North Carolina Flounder.
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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 klah Here's
cal a Wyoming man suspected of poaching mule deer and
pronghorn in twenty twenty three, reportedly claimed to not need
a hunting license because he was quote an American born citizen.
(00:32):
Oil City News reports that David L. Godding has admitted
to killing the animals and using a twelve gage shotgun
to dispatch at least one of them. Law enforcement got
a tip from a local resident who says they helped
Godding clean the animals, but not kill them. This anonymous
resident says that when they asked Godding why he was
hunting without a license, Godding said he didn't need one
(00:54):
as someone who was born in the United States. It
turns out that's not correct. Game one and seized skull
caps for both mule deer and pronghorn, and he was
arrested last month. He faces a maximum of one year
in prison, a ten thousand dollars fine, or both for
each charge. Not to get too serious about what's obviously
(01:14):
an unserious argument, but it occurs to me that being
an American born citizen is actually a great reason you
do need a hunting license. The public trust doctrine says
that wildlife belongs to all of us, which is another
way of saying it doesn't belong to any one person
as an American. As a member of that public, you
don't have a right to take whatever resources you want.
(01:35):
You have to stay within the guardrail set up by
our wildlife agencies. So all the other American born citizens
have a chance to harvest some of those resources too.
It's just a little food for thought. If you think
I'm crazy, We've already gone down that road. We've tried it. Okay,
The free for all approach doesn't work, doesn't work for wildlife.
(01:55):
It's shortsighted. The folks that profit from it profit big,
and then they go bust. It's history, gang, It's history.
We can go into it. We will one of these days.
But for now we've got public lands, water, buffalo, bear attack,
and the crime desk. But first, I'm gonna tell you
about my week. And my week man so much to do.
(02:19):
Full disclosure again, working ahead here so I can get
some time in the woods. This September got archery elk
got a big old mule deer to chase. I hope
if nothing else, I'll work on this beer gut in
the backwoods where you're supposed to, not in a gym
surrounded by people. Getting all my ducks in a row
(02:41):
is tough. You know, got a lot of life responsibilities too,
just like all of you folks do. So as we
go into the hunting season, just get out there. Like
I said, take that challenge that I laid out, Come
up with your field journals, report game and non game
species that you see. You know, to yourself, keep those records.
(03:03):
They'll be valuable one day. And for those of you
who think that you know, the grass is always greener. Yeah,
I get to go out and do some big trips
as part of my job, which is super cool. But
I always think and have thought, that the folks that
get out and get successful on their one weekend a
(03:24):
year are far more impressive than all of us who
get to do it for a job. So get out there,
enjoy what you're doing, whether that puts meat in the
freezer or not. Remember what we talked about last week
in regards to public lands, the opportunities that we have.
Take a few moments to share that love ambition, the
(03:45):
fact that you're the weird person on the street that
gets up at three thirty four o'clock am, chooses to
do that on a weekend when you could be sleeping
in share why you do that with a non hunting
neighbor or coworker or whatnot to really matter as we
get into November, when we start talking about these initiatives
and crazy ideas from the state of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming,
(04:09):
what or not Wyoming. Wait, yeah, there's some craziness everywhere
if we're being honest, But what's happening in Florida right
now definitely relates to what's happening in Utah right now,
definitely relates, in my opinion, to what's happening in Colorado
right now. Right it's a restriction of access that we're
seeing here, access to wildlife, access to public spaces, access
(04:30):
to the outdoors. So you got to get involved, if
not now, when moving on to the Public lands desk,
if you follow me on Instagram, you've already heard my
take on the plan by Florida lawmakers to install golf
courses and hotels on state parks. The short version is
it's a terrible idea, But there is some good news.
Many Florida residents feel exactly like we do, and I
(04:54):
know many of you listeners do as well. There's been
a massive uproar since Governor DeSantis announced the initiative, so
much so that the state officials have said they will
reschedule public meetings quote due to overwhelming public interest. If
you live in Florida, you should be attending those public meetings.
Some conservationists and environmental groups have also begun devising plans
(05:15):
to conserve those natural environments and landscapes. For example, several
of the state park slated for golf course construction are
also home to threatened and endangered species. According to a
report in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the state wants
to convert one thousand acres of the Jonathan Dixon State
Park into three golf courses, but these acres are also
(05:36):
prime habitat for the Florida scrubjay, which is listed as
threatened on the Endangered Species list and is Florida's only
endemic bird. Legal experts at the Center for Biological Diversity
point out that anytime a federally protected species might be
harmed by a development project, that project needs to secure
a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Those
(05:57):
permits can be hard to come by, and even if
the Wildlife Service issues one, it can be challenged in
federal court. Outfits like the Center for Biological Diversity have
used this strategy for decades to delay wildlife decisions. They
file lawsuit after lawsuit in the hope that they'll either
win on the merits or the delay of the project.
Then the administration might change or someone at the agency
(06:20):
just gets tired of the fighting. They've done this with
Wolf and Grizzly delisting, and it's not a process that
I'm generally keen on, but it would provide some space
in this Florida's misuse of state lands. It's for that
reason that I'd encourage Florida residents to stop these plans
the old fashioned way, the proper way, which is let
your voice be heard. You can leave a message with
(06:41):
Governor DeSantis at eight five zero seven to one seven
nine three three seven, and you can email him at
flgov dot com forward slash email the governor. The Florida
Department of Environmental Protection has also published an online survey
where state residents can offer feedback We'll post a link
to that survey over at the meat eater dot com
(07:03):
forward slash col or you can google Florida Great Outdoors
Initiative survey. Hopefully, if enough Floridians push back, state leaders
will rethink their plan to destroy wildlife habitat to make
room for stuff you can already find everywhere else in
the state. Moving on to the gluttony desk. You know
that then your mom would tell you when you took
(07:24):
too much food and then complained that you had to
eat it all your eyes are bigger than your stomach.
Type of deal. Overeating is usually just a human problem,
But a bald eagle in Missouri ran into trouble recently
for doing what your mom always told you not to do.
The Missouri Department of Conservation recently captured a bald eagle
along the boundary of Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. They had
received a report that the bird appeared to be injured,
(07:46):
so they went to investigate. They discovered that the bird
was perfectly healthy except for one thing. It was too
fat to fly. America's mascot had apparently been gnaching on
some roadkill raccoon, and whether it had the entire raccoon
to itself to eat it before competition showed up. One
thing is for certain, its eyes were bigger than its stomach.
X ray images posted on the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
(08:09):
Facebook page showed the eagle with a distended stomach and
an undigested raccoon paw clearly outlined. Fortunately, overeating has a
simple cure of the vets. At Dickerson Park Zoo put
it on a diet for a few days, and when
they released it back into the National Battlefield, it flew
off as majestically as a recently fat bald eagle cam
Big thanks to Jim Lane for sending us that story.
(08:31):
Jumping over to the crime desk, a former member the
Utah Wildlife Board has been accused of illegally baiting deer
at his outfitting operation in the southwestern part of the state.
The legal filings obtained by Meat Eater accused fifty one
year old Wade Raymond Heaton, along with six of his
hunting guides at Color Country Outfitters, of baiting mule deer
(08:52):
during the twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three hunting seasons.
It has been illegal to use bait to hunt big
game since the legislature passed ban and it went into
effect in May of twenty twenty one. In twenty nineteen,
Governor Gary Herbert appointed Heaton to serve on the Wildlife Board,
which governs policy and regulation relating to hunting, fishing, and trapping,
(09:13):
but Heaton abruptly resigned in twenty twenty three. DWR director
Justin Shirley thanked Heaton for his four years of service,
and a representative from the DWR posted on a mule
deer hunting for him that Heaton had resigned because he
was quote too busy. Now Utah hunters have a better
understanding of what he was busy doing, packing corn. Text
messages of obtained by investigators showed that Heaton and his
(09:35):
guides had relied on baiting prior to the ban. They
were concerned about the band's effect on their client's hunting success.
God forbid you go hunting and not be guaranteed to
kill something right, And the guide's time spent finding deer
was just exhausting. So they decided to keep doing it,
but to tell everyone that they were feeding livestock. Here's
a particularly damning quote that investigators pulled from Heaton's phone.
(09:59):
He says, quote a reminder of our decision about feed.
We are going to keep the hunters as removed from
it as possible. No feeding with the hunter in the truck,
keeping the feed out of sight of the public. Hmm.
I wonder what he means by that. The case began
in August of twenty twenty three when an investigator with
the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources received a tip that
(10:21):
Color Country Outfitters CCO was using bait to attract deer.
Investigators went out to CEO's property and found corns spread
across the ground, but no cattle that could explain the
presence of the feed. They did, however, find a game
camera pointed at the corn. Along with the hunting blind.
Hunting clients, none of whom have been named as defendants
in the case, told DWR investigators that they were shown
(10:43):
images of bucks and allowed to pick which one they
wanted to hunt. That sounds like hunting. When one of
them asked about the corn on the ground, CCO guides
told them that they were cattle stations that had been
approved by the Department of Wildlife Resources. Clients usually paid
between three thousand and four thousand dollars forty thousand dollars
(11:03):
for the privilege of hunting on the legendary ponzigat Plateau,
with one hunter laying down a whopping forty eight thousand
dollars for the chance to kill a baited buck that
went by the nickname Wolfman, it should have gone by
the name of Porky. With that kind of money on
the line, it's easy to see how Heaton decided to
(11:24):
continue baiting after the practice was banned in twenty twenty one.
While it remains legal to put down corn during the
off season and for livestock feeding purposes, the DWR is
clear that any feeding that changes at big game animal's
behavior is illegal. Heaton told investigators that they did put
out corn, but only during the summer months. He also
said that they put out feed in part because they
(11:46):
had cattle on the property prior to hunting season. However,
investigators found no cows on the entire property during their
in person and remote surveillance. They also found tons of
images and videos showing mule deer coming back repeatedly to
the same pile of corn. In total, Heaton is being
charged with two felony counts of wanton destruction of protected wildlife,
(12:07):
one felony count of pattern of unlawful activity, four misdemeanor
accounts of wanton destruction of protected wildlife, one misdemeanor count
of taking protected wildlife, and three misdemeanor counts of conspiracy.
You can read all the gory details over at the
meat eater dot com. And I don't think we're done
reporting on this case. I'd love to review all of
heat and statements and decisions while he was on the
(12:28):
Wildlife Board to see if his illegal activities influenced his decisions.
For all of Utah's hunters, I have a feeling that
there's more than what's been reported so far. Remember, folks,
there are way more good, lawful, awesome outfitters out there
than crappy ones. But it is up to you, as
(12:49):
a paying client, to say, hey, holy cow, that's not right.
I got to get out of here. It's also up
to you to report those folks. It sounds like somebody did. Eventually,
if you have some hunting experience, it's really not hard
to figure out what's wrong with the scenario. Unfortunately, in
the world of hunting, if somebody says this is a
(13:11):
free range operation. Here's the bucks that we have named.
Pick out which one you want to kill, and we'll
price it accordingly. Something's wrong, that's not fair, Chase, you
shouldn't be involved with it. Moving on to a brand
new desk here at Cal's Week in Review, the water
buffalo desk. Big thanks to listener Keegan Clark for sending
(13:35):
this one in. Local officials in Pleasant Hill, Iowa, are
warning the public to stay away from a wounded, angry
water buffalo that's on the loose in the small Midwestern community.
For those of you scratch in your head and thinking
a water buffalo in Iowa that doesn't sound right, your
instincts are correct. Water buffalo are a bo balus boobalus,
a large bovit originating Indi Indian subcontinent in Southeast Asia.
(13:57):
Their sizes very greatly from breed to breed, but they're
usually about one thousand pounds, which is a little smaller
than your typical angus. Still, no one wants in angry
thousand pounds of anything wandering around the Greater Des Moines area,
which is why officials are extremely concerned about this situation. Now,
we're recording this a little earlier than usual, so it's
possible that the badly behaved bovid has been captured or
(14:20):
killed by the time you listen to this. But as
of right now, here's what we know. The water buffalo
was domesticated and being kept in a pen, escaped from
the pen, and, according to the Pleasant HILLPD, became aggressive
towards police officers who were trying to coax it back home.
In their defense, wrangling Asian cattle probably isn't part of
the academy curriculum. Still, they responded about as badly as
(14:43):
they could have without actually injuring another human. One of
the officers fired a shotgun slug at the animal, but
the shot didn't kill it. Instead, the lead projectile convinced
it to definitely not go back into its pen, ran off,
and officials were still looking for the animal. Two days later.
Pleasant HILLPD has secured this assistance of the local Sheriff's
office and they've called in drones and ATVs to search
(15:04):
along the bike trails where it was last seen. No
word yet on whether they planned to call in the
SWAT team or the FBI for assistance in apprehending this
dangerous fugitive. I hope they find it or I hope
it makes its way back to Southeast Asia in an
epic action comedy starring Chris Rock and Mike Woody Harrelson,
or maybe the Rock as the voice of the lovable
(15:26):
but sarcastic water Buffalo this summer, which is one day
Spell's adventure. Either would be fine with me. I'll sign
up right now. Moving on Bear Attack Desk, a black
bear hunter barely escaped with his life last month after
(15:47):
an adult female grizz charged him in a remote section
of southern Alaska. Me Eaters Jordan Siller spoke with thirty
two year old Tyler Johnson about the incident. Johnson explained
that he and his father were hunting black bears along
the Reser Direction Pass Trail in the Kenai Mountains about
August seventeen. They had never hiked the trail before, and
they hadn't spotted any black bears in the two days
(16:07):
they'd been in the area. They were making their way
through a section of tall grass and brush when they
stumbled upon the adult female grizz, which was standing only
about fifteen yards away. The ruin began to charge at
Johnson's father, who yelled and turned his back, so the
bear would grab his pack first, but for whatever reason,
the bear wheeled around and went after Johnson instead. From
(16:28):
growling to impact was about four seconds. It wasn't even
a warning. It was ready to rumble right then and there,
Johnson said. Johnson was carrying a ten millimeters Springfield XDM
elite handgun in a thumb strap holster on his hip,
and the gun held fifteen rounds of full metal jacket bullets.
He remembers desperately trying to unholster the gun his thumb,
(16:48):
but his thumb slipped and he wasn't able to get
it out before the bear took him to the ground.
He managed to unholster the pistol and engaged the bear
while also using his legs to push the bear away
from He fired seven rounds at the bear's head and chest,
and in the course of doing so, shot himself in
the left thigh. At the same time, Johnson's father was
(17:08):
also shooting at the bear from an angle where he
wouldn't shoot his son that much. Ten mm is enough
to stop almost anything, and the bear rolled over and
died just a few moments later. The bear problem has
been dealt with, but Johnson had sustained serious injuries. He
had a threw and through bullet wounded in his left thigh,
two puncture wounds in his right calf where the bear
had bit him, a gash in his right thigh, likely
(17:30):
from the bear's claws, and another claw mark on his
left shoulder. Fortunately, the paar was prepared. They had brought
trauma kits that included quick clot and tourniquets, and they
immediately began making sure the younger man wouldn't bleed out.
They applied quick clow and tourniquets to the wounds, and
Johnson's dad called emergency services using his inReach device. Johnson
estimates that it took about an hour and a half
(17:50):
for him to be airlifted to the hospital. When asked
what he learned from the experience or what advice he
has for other backcountry hunters, he named three things. Bring
a trauma kit, a gun, and a hunting buddy. Traumakitt
only adds a pound to the pack, so it's worth
it every time. Johnson readily acknowledged that the bear spray
works in some situations, and we know that's true based
on decades of experience. However, he doesn't believe it would
(18:13):
have done him any good. In this scenario, the bear
was on him too quickly, and he thinks he would
have just ended up spraying himself without ending the bear attack.
Even though solo hunting is fun, Johnson says the risk
isn't worth the reward. He'll always bring his father or
friend on his hunts from now on. For the full
story and images, check out Jordan's article on the meeteater
dot com. Johnson also spoke with the crew during one
(18:35):
of our recent Meat Eater Live episodes, so you can
check that out too. Moving on to the flounder desk,
a major controversy about the recreational flounder fishery in North
Carolina has ended in a kind of stalemate for now.
There are two regulatory bodies that govern flounder fishing in
North Carolina, the Marine Fisheries Commission, which will call the MFC,
(18:57):
and the Wildlife Resources Commission, which we'll call the WRC.
Most states have a single Wildlife Commission that handles wildlife
related issues for the entire state, but in North Carolina,
the MFC handles policy related to coastal or saltwater ecosystems,
while the WRC has jurisdiction over freshwater fishing. The agencies
(19:19):
have joint jurisdiction over estuarial or brackish waterways. There is
some nuance there, but that's the gist. Since flounder can
live in all three types of environments, this structure creates
a major potential for conflict this year, that's exactly what happened.
As we've covered previously, the MFC declared earlier this year
that there would be no recreational flounder fishing season. They
(19:42):
cited overfishing from previous years and said they worried about
the continued health of the population. There is some disagreement
about whether recreational or commercial anglers are to blame for
this problem, and some like the North Carolina Wildlife Federation,
point to commercial shrimp trawling as a major contributing factor.
Whatever the reason, the MFC determined that the flounder fishery
(20:04):
couldn't handle a recreational season, so they closed it. But
the WRC, which if you recall, handles fishing regulation in
inland and brackish water, said not so fast. They disagreed
with the MFC's assessment and said they would move forward
with a limited recreational flounder season. This year. This means
that in brackish or estuarial areas of North Carolina, where
(20:28):
the MFC and WRC have joint jurisdiction, the flounder season
was set to be both closed and open at the
same time. This is obviously a pretty major problem and
not a great look for wildlife managers in the tire
Heel state. Fortunately, these two feuding parties did reach a compromise.
The MFC voted to unanimously support a proclamation aligning their
(20:51):
regulations with those promulgated by the WRC, but they also
issued a statement saying they do not endorse the flounder
limits established by the other commission or the method by
which the limits were derived. In other words, they backed down,
but they sure weren't happy about it. So the flounder
season ended up moving forward. It was split over two weekends,
(21:12):
with the first on September one and two, and the
second on September seven and eight. On these days, anglers
could target flounder in inland and jointly controlled waterways, but
they could only use hook and line fishing. No gigging
was allowed. Giggings like going out at night, shining their
little eyeballs and stabbing them with a fork, which I've
never done and think it's awesome. Not an anti gigger here,
(21:35):
just saying it's not allowed, probably because it's more effective.
In addition, fishermen had to adhere to a daily limit
of one fish with a minimum size limit of fifteen inches.
To help anglers know which waterways are inland, joint and coastal,
the WRC published an interactive map displaying exactly which is which.
The flounder season is likely already over by the time
(21:57):
you're listening to this, so I'm curious did any of
you participated in it? Did you have any troubled navigating
the regulations or running to any enforcement officers. I know
many of you live in North Carolina and I want
to hear from you, So right in to ask c
A L. That's askhal at the meeteater dot com and
let me know what's going on in your neck of
the woods. You know we appreciate it. That's all I
(22:18):
got for you this week. Thank you so much for listening.
Good hunting out there, folks. Be kind, be courteous, share
your you know your love of the outdoors. Talk to
you soon.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow klah Here's
cal a Wyoming man suspected of poaching mule deer and
pronghorn in twenty twenty three, reportedly claimed to not need
a hunting license because he was quote an American born citizen.
(00:32):
Oil City News reports that David L. Godding has admitted
to killing the animals and using a twelve gage shotgun
to dispatch at least one of them. Law enforcement got
a tip from a local resident who says they helped
Godding clean the animals, but not kill them. This anonymous
resident says that when they asked Godding why he was
hunting without a license, Godding said he didn't need one
(00:54):
as someone who was born in the United States. It
turns out that's not correct. Game one and seized skull
caps for both mule deer and pronghorn, and he was
arrested last month. He faces a maximum of one year
in prison, a ten thousand dollars fine, or both for
each charge. Not to get too serious about what's obviously
(01:14):
an unserious argument, but it occurs to me that being
an American born citizen is actually a great reason you
do need a hunting license. The public trust doctrine says
that wildlife belongs to all of us, which is another
way of saying it doesn't belong to any one person
as an American. As a member of that public, you
don't have a right to take whatever resources you want.
(01:35):
You have to stay within the guardrail set up by
our wildlife agencies. So all the other American born citizens
have a chance to harvest some of those resources too.
It's just a little food for thought. If you think
I'm crazy, We've already gone down that road. We've tried it. Okay,
The free for all approach doesn't work, doesn't work for wildlife.
(01:55):
It's shortsighted. The folks that profit from it profit big,
and then they go bust. It's history, gang, It's history.
We can go into it. We will one of these days.
But for now we've got public lands, water, buffalo, bear attack,
and the crime desk. But first, I'm gonna tell you
about my week. And my week man so much to do.
(02:19):
Full disclosure again, working ahead here so I can get
some time in the woods. This September got archery elk
got a big old mule deer to chase. I hope
if nothing else, I'll work on this beer gut in
the backwoods where you're supposed to, not in a gym
surrounded by people. Getting all my ducks in a row
(02:41):
is tough. You know, got a lot of life responsibilities too,
just like all of you folks do. So as we
go into the hunting season, just get out there. Like
I said, take that challenge that I laid out, Come
up with your field journals, report game and non game
species that you see. You know, to yourself, keep those records.
(03:03):
They'll be valuable one day. And for those of you
who think that you know, the grass is always greener. Yeah,
I get to go out and do some big trips
as part of my job, which is super cool. But
I always think and have thought, that the folks that
get out and get successful on their one weekend a
(03:24):
year are far more impressive than all of us who
get to do it for a job. So get out there,
enjoy what you're doing, whether that puts meat in the
freezer or not. Remember what we talked about last week
in regards to public lands, the opportunities that we have.
Take a few moments to share that love ambition, the
(03:45):
fact that you're the weird person on the street that
gets up at three thirty four o'clock am, chooses to
do that on a weekend when you could be sleeping
in share why you do that with a non hunting
neighbor or coworker or whatnot to really matter as we
get into November, when we start talking about these initiatives
and crazy ideas from the state of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming,
(04:09):
what or not Wyoming. Wait, yeah, there's some craziness everywhere
if we're being honest, But what's happening in Florida right
now definitely relates to what's happening in Utah right now,
definitely relates, in my opinion, to what's happening in Colorado
right now. Right it's a restriction of access that we're
seeing here, access to wildlife, access to public spaces, access
(04:30):
to the outdoors. So you got to get involved, if
not now, when moving on to the Public lands desk,
if you follow me on Instagram, you've already heard my
take on the plan by Florida lawmakers to install golf
courses and hotels on state parks. The short version is
it's a terrible idea, But there is some good news.
Many Florida residents feel exactly like we do, and I
(04:54):
know many of you listeners do as well. There's been
a massive uproar since Governor DeSantis announced the initiative, so
much so that the state officials have said they will
reschedule public meetings quote due to overwhelming public interest. If
you live in Florida, you should be attending those public meetings.
Some conservationists and environmental groups have also begun devising plans
(05:15):
to conserve those natural environments and landscapes. For example, several
of the state park slated for golf course construction are
also home to threatened and endangered species. According to a
report in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the state wants
to convert one thousand acres of the Jonathan Dixon State
Park into three golf courses, but these acres are also
(05:36):
prime habitat for the Florida scrubjay, which is listed as
threatened on the Endangered Species list and is Florida's only
endemic bird. Legal experts at the Center for Biological Diversity
point out that anytime a federally protected species might be
harmed by a development project, that project needs to secure
a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Those
(05:57):
permits can be hard to come by, and even if
the Wildlife Service issues one, it can be challenged in
federal court. Outfits like the Center for Biological Diversity have
used this strategy for decades to delay wildlife decisions. They
file lawsuit after lawsuit in the hope that they'll either
win on the merits or the delay of the project.
Then the administration might change or someone at the agency
(06:20):
just gets tired of the fighting. They've done this with
Wolf and Grizzly delisting, and it's not a process that
I'm generally keen on, but it would provide some space
in this Florida's misuse of state lands. It's for that
reason that I'd encourage Florida residents to stop these plans
the old fashioned way, the proper way, which is let
your voice be heard. You can leave a message with
(06:41):
Governor DeSantis at eight five zero seven to one seven
nine three three seven, and you can email him at
flgov dot com forward slash email the governor. The Florida
Department of Environmental Protection has also published an online survey
where state residents can offer feedback We'll post a link
to that survey over at the meat eater dot com
(07:03):
forward slash col or you can google Florida Great Outdoors
Initiative survey. Hopefully, if enough Floridians push back, state leaders
will rethink their plan to destroy wildlife habitat to make
room for stuff you can already find everywhere else in
the state. Moving on to the gluttony desk. You know
that then your mom would tell you when you took
(07:24):
too much food and then complained that you had to
eat it all your eyes are bigger than your stomach.
Type of deal. Overeating is usually just a human problem,
But a bald eagle in Missouri ran into trouble recently
for doing what your mom always told you not to do.
The Missouri Department of Conservation recently captured a bald eagle
along the boundary of Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. They had
received a report that the bird appeared to be injured,
(07:46):
so they went to investigate. They discovered that the bird
was perfectly healthy except for one thing. It was too
fat to fly. America's mascot had apparently been gnaching on
some roadkill raccoon, and whether it had the entire raccoon
to itself to eat it before competition showed up. One
thing is for certain, its eyes were bigger than its stomach.
X ray images posted on the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield
(08:09):
Facebook page showed the eagle with a distended stomach and
an undigested raccoon paw clearly outlined. Fortunately, overeating has a
simple cure of the vets. At Dickerson Park Zoo put
it on a diet for a few days, and when
they released it back into the National Battlefield, it flew
off as majestically as a recently fat bald eagle cam
Big thanks to Jim Lane for sending us that story.
(08:31):
Jumping over to the crime desk, a former member the
Utah Wildlife Board has been accused of illegally baiting deer
at his outfitting operation in the southwestern part of the state.
The legal filings obtained by Meat Eater accused fifty one
year old Wade Raymond Heaton, along with six of his
hunting guides at Color Country Outfitters, of baiting mule deer
(08:52):
during the twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three hunting seasons.
It has been illegal to use bait to hunt big
game since the legislature passed ban and it went into
effect in May of twenty twenty one. In twenty nineteen,
Governor Gary Herbert appointed Heaton to serve on the Wildlife Board,
which governs policy and regulation relating to hunting, fishing, and trapping,
(09:13):
but Heaton abruptly resigned in twenty twenty three. DWR director
Justin Shirley thanked Heaton for his four years of service,
and a representative from the DWR posted on a mule
deer hunting for him that Heaton had resigned because he
was quote too busy. Now Utah hunters have a better
understanding of what he was busy doing, packing corn. Text
messages of obtained by investigators showed that Heaton and his
(09:35):
guides had relied on baiting prior to the ban. They
were concerned about the band's effect on their client's hunting success.
God forbid you go hunting and not be guaranteed to
kill something right, And the guide's time spent finding deer
was just exhausting. So they decided to keep doing it,
but to tell everyone that they were feeding livestock. Here's
a particularly damning quote that investigators pulled from Heaton's phone.
(09:59):
He says, quote a reminder of our decision about feed.
We are going to keep the hunters as removed from
it as possible. No feeding with the hunter in the truck,
keeping the feed out of sight of the public. Hmm.
I wonder what he means by that. The case began
in August of twenty twenty three when an investigator with
the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources received a tip that
(10:21):
Color Country Outfitters CCO was using bait to attract deer.
Investigators went out to CEO's property and found corns spread
across the ground, but no cattle that could explain the
presence of the feed. They did, however, find a game
camera pointed at the corn. Along with the hunting blind.
Hunting clients, none of whom have been named as defendants
in the case, told DWR investigators that they were shown
(10:43):
images of bucks and allowed to pick which one they
wanted to hunt. That sounds like hunting. When one of
them asked about the corn on the ground, CCO guides
told them that they were cattle stations that had been
approved by the Department of Wildlife Resources. Clients usually paid
between three thousand and four thousand dollars forty thousand dollars
(11:03):
for the privilege of hunting on the legendary ponzigat Plateau,
with one hunter laying down a whopping forty eight thousand
dollars for the chance to kill a baited buck that
went by the nickname Wolfman, it should have gone by
the name of Porky. With that kind of money on
the line, it's easy to see how Heaton decided to
(11:24):
continue baiting after the practice was banned in twenty twenty one.
While it remains legal to put down corn during the
off season and for livestock feeding purposes, the DWR is
clear that any feeding that changes at big game animal's
behavior is illegal. Heaton told investigators that they did put
out corn, but only during the summer months. He also
said that they put out feed in part because they
(11:46):
had cattle on the property prior to hunting season. However,
investigators found no cows on the entire property during their
in person and remote surveillance. They also found tons of
images and videos showing mule deer coming back repeatedly to
the same pile of corn. In total, Heaton is being
charged with two felony counts of wanton destruction of protected wildlife,
(12:07):
one felony count of pattern of unlawful activity, four misdemeanor
accounts of wanton destruction of protected wildlife, one misdemeanor count
of taking protected wildlife, and three misdemeanor counts of conspiracy.
You can read all the gory details over at the
meat eater dot com. And I don't think we're done
reporting on this case. I'd love to review all of
heat and statements and decisions while he was on the
(12:28):
Wildlife Board to see if his illegal activities influenced his decisions.
For all of Utah's hunters, I have a feeling that
there's more than what's been reported so far. Remember, folks,
there are way more good, lawful, awesome outfitters out there
than crappy ones. But it is up to you, as
(12:49):
a paying client, to say, hey, holy cow, that's not right.
I got to get out of here. It's also up
to you to report those folks. It sounds like somebody did. Eventually,
if you have some hunting experience, it's really not hard
to figure out what's wrong with the scenario. Unfortunately, in
the world of hunting, if somebody says this is a
(13:11):
free range operation. Here's the bucks that we have named.
Pick out which one you want to kill, and we'll
price it accordingly. Something's wrong, that's not fair, Chase, you
shouldn't be involved with it. Moving on to a brand
new desk here at Cal's Week in Review, the water
buffalo desk. Big thanks to listener Keegan Clark for sending
(13:35):
this one in. Local officials in Pleasant Hill, Iowa, are
warning the public to stay away from a wounded, angry
water buffalo that's on the loose in the small Midwestern community.
For those of you scratch in your head and thinking
a water buffalo in Iowa that doesn't sound right, your
instincts are correct. Water buffalo are a bo balus boobalus,
a large bovit originating Indi Indian subcontinent in Southeast Asia.
(13:57):
Their sizes very greatly from breed to breed, but they're
usually about one thousand pounds, which is a little smaller
than your typical angus. Still, no one wants in angry
thousand pounds of anything wandering around the Greater Des Moines area,
which is why officials are extremely concerned about this situation. Now,
we're recording this a little earlier than usual, so it's
possible that the badly behaved bovid has been captured or
(14:20):
killed by the time you listen to this. But as
of right now, here's what we know. The water buffalo
was domesticated and being kept in a pen, escaped from
the pen, and, according to the Pleasant HILLPD, became aggressive
towards police officers who were trying to coax it back home.
In their defense, wrangling Asian cattle probably isn't part of
the academy curriculum. Still, they responded about as badly as
(14:43):
they could have without actually injuring another human. One of
the officers fired a shotgun slug at the animal, but
the shot didn't kill it. Instead, the lead projectile convinced
it to definitely not go back into its pen, ran off,
and officials were still looking for the animal. Two days later.
Pleasant HILLPD has secured this assistance of the local Sheriff's
office and they've called in drones and ATVs to search
(15:04):
along the bike trails where it was last seen. No
word yet on whether they planned to call in the
SWAT team or the FBI for assistance in apprehending this
dangerous fugitive. I hope they find it or I hope
it makes its way back to Southeast Asia in an
epic action comedy starring Chris Rock and Mike Woody Harrelson,
or maybe the Rock as the voice of the lovable
(15:26):
but sarcastic water Buffalo this summer, which is one day
Spell's adventure. Either would be fine with me. I'll sign
up right now. Moving on Bear Attack Desk, a black
bear hunter barely escaped with his life last month after
(15:47):
an adult female grizz charged him in a remote section
of southern Alaska. Me Eaters Jordan Siller spoke with thirty
two year old Tyler Johnson about the incident. Johnson explained
that he and his father were hunting black bears along
the Reser Direction Pass Trail in the Kenai Mountains about
August seventeen. They had never hiked the trail before, and
they hadn't spotted any black bears in the two days
(16:07):
they'd been in the area. They were making their way
through a section of tall grass and brush when they
stumbled upon the adult female grizz, which was standing only
about fifteen yards away. The ruin began to charge at
Johnson's father, who yelled and turned his back, so the
bear would grab his pack first, but for whatever reason,
the bear wheeled around and went after Johnson instead. From
(16:28):
growling to impact was about four seconds. It wasn't even
a warning. It was ready to rumble right then and there,
Johnson said. Johnson was carrying a ten millimeters Springfield XDM
elite handgun in a thumb strap holster on his hip,
and the gun held fifteen rounds of full metal jacket bullets.
He remembers desperately trying to unholster the gun his thumb,
(16:48):
but his thumb slipped and he wasn't able to get
it out before the bear took him to the ground.
He managed to unholster the pistol and engaged the bear
while also using his legs to push the bear away
from He fired seven rounds at the bear's head and chest,
and in the course of doing so, shot himself in
the left thigh. At the same time, Johnson's father was
(17:08):
also shooting at the bear from an angle where he
wouldn't shoot his son that much. Ten mm is enough
to stop almost anything, and the bear rolled over and
died just a few moments later. The bear problem has
been dealt with, but Johnson had sustained serious injuries. He
had a threw and through bullet wounded in his left thigh,
two puncture wounds in his right calf where the bear
had bit him, a gash in his right thigh, likely
(17:30):
from the bear's claws, and another claw mark on his
left shoulder. Fortunately, the paar was prepared. They had brought
trauma kits that included quick clot and tourniquets, and they
immediately began making sure the younger man wouldn't bleed out.
They applied quick clow and tourniquets to the wounds, and
Johnson's dad called emergency services using his inReach device. Johnson
estimates that it took about an hour and a half
(17:50):
for him to be airlifted to the hospital. When asked
what he learned from the experience or what advice he
has for other backcountry hunters, he named three things. Bring
a trauma kit, a gun, and a hunting buddy. Traumakitt
only adds a pound to the pack, so it's worth
it every time. Johnson readily acknowledged that the bear spray
works in some situations, and we know that's true based
on decades of experience. However, he doesn't believe it would
(18:13):
have done him any good. In this scenario, the bear
was on him too quickly, and he thinks he would
have just ended up spraying himself without ending the bear attack.
Even though solo hunting is fun, Johnson says the risk
isn't worth the reward. He'll always bring his father or
friend on his hunts from now on. For the full
story and images, check out Jordan's article on the meeteater
dot com. Johnson also spoke with the crew during one
(18:35):
of our recent Meat Eater Live episodes, so you can
check that out too. Moving on to the flounder desk,
a major controversy about the recreational flounder fishery in North
Carolina has ended in a kind of stalemate for now.
There are two regulatory bodies that govern flounder fishing in
North Carolina, the Marine Fisheries Commission, which will call the MFC,
(18:57):
and the Wildlife Resources Commission, which we'll call the WRC.
Most states have a single Wildlife Commission that handles wildlife
related issues for the entire state, but in North Carolina,
the MFC handles policy related to coastal or saltwater ecosystems,
while the WRC has jurisdiction over freshwater fishing. The agencies
(19:19):
have joint jurisdiction over estuarial or brackish waterways. There is
some nuance there, but that's the gist. Since flounder can
live in all three types of environments, this structure creates
a major potential for conflict this year, that's exactly what happened.
As we've covered previously, the MFC declared earlier this year
that there would be no recreational flounder fishing season. They
(19:42):
cited overfishing from previous years and said they worried about
the continued health of the population. There is some disagreement
about whether recreational or commercial anglers are to blame for
this problem, and some like the North Carolina Wildlife Federation,
point to commercial shrimp trawling as a major contributing factor.
Whatever the reason, the MFC determined that the flounder fishery
(20:04):
couldn't handle a recreational season, so they closed it. But
the WRC, which if you recall, handles fishing regulation in
inland and brackish water, said not so fast. They disagreed
with the MFC's assessment and said they would move forward
with a limited recreational flounder season. This year. This means
that in brackish or estuarial areas of North Carolina, where
(20:28):
the MFC and WRC have joint jurisdiction, the flounder season
was set to be both closed and open at the
same time. This is obviously a pretty major problem and
not a great look for wildlife managers in the tire
Heel state. Fortunately, these two feuding parties did reach a compromise.
The MFC voted to unanimously support a proclamation aligning their
(20:51):
regulations with those promulgated by the WRC, but they also
issued a statement saying they do not endorse the flounder
limits established by the other commission or the method by
which the limits were derived. In other words, they backed down,
but they sure weren't happy about it. So the flounder
season ended up moving forward. It was split over two weekends,
(21:12):
with the first on September one and two, and the
second on September seven and eight. On these days, anglers
could target flounder in inland and jointly controlled waterways, but
they could only use hook and line fishing. No gigging
was allowed. Giggings like going out at night, shining their
little eyeballs and stabbing them with a fork, which I've
never done and think it's awesome. Not an anti gigger here,
(21:35):
just saying it's not allowed, probably because it's more effective.
In addition, fishermen had to adhere to a daily limit
of one fish with a minimum size limit of fifteen inches.
To help anglers know which waterways are inland, joint and coastal,
the WRC published an interactive map displaying exactly which is which.
The flounder season is likely already over by the time
(21:57):
you're listening to this, so I'm curious did any of
you participated in it? Did you have any troubled navigating
the regulations or running to any enforcement officers. I know
many of you live in North Carolina and I want
to hear from you, So right in to ask c
A L. That's askhal at the meeteater dot com and
let me know what's going on in your neck of
the woods. You know we appreciate it. That's all I
(22:18):
got for you this week. Thank you so much for listening.
Good hunting out there, folks. Be kind, be courteous, share
your you know your love of the outdoors. Talk to
you soon.
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