May 26, 2025 • 26 mins
This week Cal talks about a dolphin RFK definitely did not kill, proposed gun laws, the last turkey hunt, and so much more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calaian. Here's cal.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is offering a twenty
thousand dollars reward for information that leads to the conviction
of whoever decapitated a dolphin in North Carolina. I know
(00:34):
what you're thinking, and yes, Rfka Junior has been accounted for.
During the month of April, the unfortunate mammal was found
on an island off the coast of Pender County, North Carolina.
Officials got a call that a dolphin had been stranded,
but when they went out to take a look, they
realized it was dead French Revolution style. It was also
(00:54):
missing a muscle from its back that officials say it
looks like someone tried to remove a battrap from a deer.
It's unclear at this point whether someone killed the dolphin
by cutting off its head or it was already dead
when the guillotine went down. The animal had been stranded
on a beach on a remote part of lee Hoff Island,
which is only accessible by boat. If you ask me,
(01:15):
it looks like someone thought it would be cool to
have a euromount dolphin skull and figured they might as
well sample some steaks while they're at it. If I
didn't have prior knowledge of the Marine Mammal Protection Act,
I could say I would make the same mistake. Unfortunately,
for said individual, that is very illegal. In most places.
You aren't allowed to get within fifty yards and you
(01:36):
definitely aren't allowed to touch it, even if it's dead.
Violating those laws comes with potential fines in jail time.
But for this would be dolphin taxi der must that's
not even the worst of it. During their neckruptcy of
the animal, biologists discovered that it was carrying the Brucella bacteria,
which causes brucellosis. Brucellosis is pretty common in dolphins and
(01:58):
can be transmitted to humans through touching or consuming meat.
It gives you what feels like a bad case of
the flu, but it can be difficult to treat if
it's not caught right away. That's right, dolphin kissing fever
is hard to treat. Time to stake out the walk
in clinics. Anyone with information about this case is encouraged
(02:19):
to call the Noah Enforcement Hotline at eight hundred eight
five three one nine sixty four. Law enforcement is encouraging
the individual or individuals to turn themselves in. They don't
think you did this on porpoise this week, public lands legislation, guns,
pay to play, caribou, and so much more. But first,
I'm going to tell you about my week and my
(02:41):
week well, as old Johnny Cash used to saying, I've
been everywhere, man. We got in a quick turkey weekend
which included a good friend's niece and nephew. As the
niece's first turkey hunt, and after several close calls, she
killed the tom at three yards. This was especially impactful
as the young hunter missed to tom at eighty yards
(03:02):
that morning. She just didn't know how far was too far.
The ticks were incredibly thick. I can't say it was
more than I had ever seen before, but it was gross.
We did a short loop in the heat of the day,
maybe a forty five minute to an hour walk, stopping
to call every so often as you do, never getting
a gobble in response. By the time we hit the truck,
(03:23):
we were so covered in ticks we had to strip
down shirts off pants around our ankles to properly remove
the parasitic bastards. I plucked at least thirty off. I
don't know how long this took, but it took just
long enough that the unseen Tom, who I theorize had
been listening to our hen talk, got curious enough to
rip a gobble that said I'm looking for you, and
(03:46):
I'm looking for you right now. About ten minutes later,
he strutted into range and I shot him in full
view of the truck. We went from pants down to
bird down in less than ten minutes. That was the
first for me. Then I jumped on a plane and
met some friends in Santa Barbara, California, of all places.
A couple of us dove a few spots north of town.
(04:07):
We were pretty limited time wise and visibility wise, but
it was darn good to get back in the ocean
and get in some kelp. From there, I went out
with the canam crew to Doug Durham's farm in Wisconsin
to drive some new defenders and hunt turks, just in
time for the rain to show up. And man, it
poured for a few days. But last day, when I
(04:27):
should have been packing for another plane ride, the storm
subsided to a light mist and the turkeys hit the fields.
We spotted a Tom cruise in a field edge on
a Sharing the Land cooperator's property. We got in front
of old Tom and eventually he came looking for us,
which was a mistake. Our friend Lindsay was able to
capitalize on that mistake. You might be able to see
(04:49):
that footage on the Sharing the Land Instagram page, or
maybe Doug's or maybe Lindsay's. That was five years of
doing some Wisconsin turkey hunting that Coleman, that Tom, So
that was pretty darn special. And the day was special
for another reason, as while I should have been able
to relax and turkey hunt with friends, I was talking,
(05:10):
texting and coordinating with folks all over the country, Conservation Groups,
Senate and Congressional offices, BHA, TRCP, Pheasants, Forever, Meat Eater,
on X First Light, trying our best to get the
word out that public land sales can happen through a process,
and that process is not budget reconciliation. After a few
(05:32):
texts or emails or social media posts, I'd make a
few hen clucks and walk for a minute or two,
then do some more emails and texting and worrying and
write about at the property boundary as I emerged into
a grassy lawn type opening in the pine plantation bow.
Now these birds have been pressured. It's the very end
(05:55):
of the season. So I doubled back into the pines
with the green patch in front of me and sat
tight beaked for about five minutes. Nothing did he see
me making a move to my impromptu ambush spot. Well,
I got to get to the airport, so better try
one more time. Oh all right, that's it. He knows
(06:23):
I'm here. I'm not talking anymore. I just need him curious,
and it's far too open in these pines to hide properly.
Just so you know, I run two leafy jacket tops.
We make leafy, you know, some leafy stuff through first light,
and I carry two for this type of an occasion.
I wear one and then I take the other one
(06:44):
and drape it over the top of my head kind
of like a cape breaks up my head and shoulder silhouette,
you know, maybe completely unnecessary, but it makes me feel better.
After a few minutes being stock still with my shotgun
up in the shooting position, I see turkey feet on
the roll of the opposite hill the other side of
the grass about forty yards away, and then I see Tom.
(07:08):
He's a monster, big thick beard, and he marches with
swagger and confidence, stopping of course, directly behind a large
bush and gobbles like thunder. I don't want to talk
and give up my exposed position, so eventually he turns
to leave, and I just need him to go through
(07:29):
an opening in the brush. Biggest turkey I've ever got,
spurs that could eviscerate a bobcat breast, like battleships or
Virginia Hams. Maybe to top it off. Immediately after that,
I got word that the public outpouring from across the country,
the opposition to our public lands and American freedoms that
(07:51):
go with those public lands being sold out from underneath
us might just get pulled from the budget reconciliation process,
so I should maybe get prepared for good news. Then
by my second flight of the day, with old Tom
fully plucked and resting in my checked baggage, I got
(08:12):
word that it was done. Ambler rote and public land
sales had been removed from the House version, and as
of now me speaking to you in the present, the
Senate has not added those back in. And you know
my fingers are crossed that they won't. Huge, huge thank
you to everybody who listens to this show, because I
(08:34):
know you wrote in and called and emailed, and I
know that several of you have some sour attitudes that well,
you know, you just would have voted for the right person,
and I get that, but I promise you it may
not be this particular situation, but there would be a
situation where we would be instructing whoever would have been
(08:56):
in office. And it's not over yet. Gang, keep participating,
stay engaged, stay informed. Right now, reach out to all
those members of the Public Lands Caucus, Ryan Zinki here
in Montana, Simpson over in Idaho, Gave Vasquez. Make sure
those people know that you appreciate them sticking up for
(09:19):
what you wanted your public lands to remain in public hands.
Big thank yous mean a lot. They go a long way.
So make it happen. And then call your senators and say,
don't put public lands on the chopping block anymore. And
let's talk about anwar and the boundary waters, and let's
(09:41):
get a mineral withdrawal happening in those spots. They're too
precious to develop. We all depend on precious metals and
oil and gas in some way, whether you admit it
or not. But that doesn't mean we have to procure
those things in a reckless fashion as is outlined in
the budget reconciliation process, or pursue these things in areas
(10:04):
that are way too ecologically valuable irreplaceable. That stuff's going
to be in the ground forever. There's no need to rush.
There may come a day where our technological advances can
extract from these places in ways where we can have
our cake and eat it too. Anyway, thank you everybody
for writing and calling and just being a part of
(10:25):
this thing. We're going to ask you to do the
same thing again, so stay with it. It's a marathon,
not a sprint. Good job, celebrate the win right now
and then get back on it. Moving on to the
legislative desk, the California legislature is considering a bill that
would ban a huge swath of common firearms. Listener Andrew
(10:45):
Swanson told me about Assembly Bill one one two seven,
which in its current form makes it illegal for a
gun shop to sell a quote machine gun convertible pistol.
The bill defines these pistols as any semi diamatic pistol
with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily converted
by hand or with common household tools into a machine
(11:08):
gun if you're a little rusty on your gunsmithan. This
would basically ban glock handguns in the Golden State. Legislators
say there's a big problem with criminals converting their glocks
into machine guns, but gun rights advocates point out that
doing so is already illegal. Whatever side you take, banning
the sale of one of the world's most popular handguns
will definitely result in less conservation funding for California. Staying
(11:34):
in the gun issue, a House committee included a provision
in their budget proposal that would make it easier for
Americans to purchase suppressors. Current law requires a two hundred
dollars tax stamp in order to buy a gun muffler,
but the House Committee on Ways and Means included a
provision in their budget reconciliation package that will reduce this
tax from two hundred dollars to zero. Some gun rights
(11:54):
advocates praise the move, but others slam the committee for
not going far enough. While the bill does make it
cheap to purchase a suppressor, would be buyers will still
have to go through the current lengthy approval process. Gun
rights groups wanted the committee to remove all special restrictions
on suppressors, short barreled rifles, and other items currently regulated
under the National Firearms Act. Congress critters are also considering
(12:19):
a bill. They say we'll boost conservation funding by forcing
foreign manufacturers to pay an excise tax. As listeners to
this podcast already know, we raise over one billion dollars
annually for conservation by taxing the manufacture and sale of firearms, ammunition,
phishing tackle, and other outdoor related goods. But some foreign manufacturers,
particularly of fishing and archery equipment, are evading this tax
(12:42):
by selling their goods directly to consumers online. The Sporting
Goods Excise Tax Modernization Act S one six four nine
aims to close that loophole. Proposed by Senator Tommy Tuberville
and Mike Crapo, the bill amends the IRS Code to
retreat these online sellers as importers, which makes them subject
to the same excise taxes as domestic manufacturers. I've said
(13:03):
for years that buying cheap arrows on Amazon has a
bad idea, both because they don't fly straight and because
you're supporting an industry that refuses to support our way
of life. There will always be companies that try to
get around the law, but hopefully this bill will make
it that much more difficult. Moving from the national to
the state level, the Humane Society is out in force
(13:25):
trying to convince Floridians that they oppose reopening a black
bear hunt. We've covered this story before, but the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission just had a meeting to
discuss the hunt, so I thought it was a good
time to bring it up again. In the weeks prior
to that recent meeting, the Humane Society launched a media
tour touting a shocking poll a full eighty one percent
(13:45):
of Floridians oppose hunting black bears. If you took the
media at its word, like this article I'm reading in
the Leesburg Daily Commercial, you might think the Humane Society
was simply reporting the unbiased facts. But a little digging
uncovers the fact that the Humane Society itself commissioned the pole.
And here's the thing about commission poles. They usually find
(14:06):
what the people paying the bills want them to find.
What's more, the Florida media isn't being honest about the
results of the survey. Here's the first sentence of this
Leesburg Daily Commercial article, quote, eighty one percent of Floridians
oppose a hunt to manage the state's black bear population. However,
if this journalist had taken the time to actually read
(14:26):
the poll, she would have found that those large majorities
oppose hound hunting and hunting over bait, not bear hunting.
In general, this kind of deceptive reporting by media outlets
and animal rights groups is not unique to Florida. We
saw the same thing during the mountain lion hunting debate
in Colorado and the bear hounding debate in California. If
(14:47):
you live in a state that's considering one of these
controversial policies, don't take the headlines at their word, do
a little digging on your own, look at who's behind
opinion polling, and be sure your friends and family get
the real facts. Here's a great update I received an
email from listener Scott Baker. You may remember last fall
(15:07):
we were reported on a decision by the Michigan Natural
Resources Commission to prohibit hunting antler deer during certain special seasons.
These included the youth hunt liberty hunt and hunts reserved
for disabled individuals. The Commission said they wanted to encourage
hunters to take more does, which is important to stabilize
the deer population in some portions of the state, but
(15:28):
many Michiganders disagreed. They argued that these special hunts take
a very small percentage of the yearly harvest. Scott pointed
out in his email that these hunts only took three
point three percent of all bucks harvested in twenty twenty three.
It's also a pretty raw deal to tell a kid
or a disabled vet that we've created a special season
for them, but they can't shoot a buck. As Scott said,
(15:50):
creating these memories is vital to the hunting experience, especially
for hunters and the Michigan United Conservation Club, who lobbied
the Natural Resources Commission to change They submitted a proposal
in April to allow hunters in these special seasons to
take antler deer, and the Commission approved it in May.
Whatever you believe about the rule change and its reversal,
(16:10):
I think this is a great example of the power
of hunters who decided to get engaged. The same thing
can happen in your state. Or even at the national level.
We have the power to change things. We just have
to stick together and most importantly speak up. Moving on
to the Caribou desk, the mass slaughter of as many
as seventy five cariboo in Manitoba, including cows carrying unborn calves,
(16:34):
is prompting calls for changes to the way the species
is managed, especially as it relates to tribal hunting. This
latest incident began when an American named Nick Skigliano visited
a set of lodges he'd purchased in Nwelton Lake Provincial
Park and the far north of Manitoba. I know I
got that wrong. Go ahead right in askcl at the
(16:55):
Metior dot Com. Skigliano visited his lodges on April eleven,
Toy twenty five for a spring wellness check, but noticed
people illegally occupying the buildings as he flew over. He
chose not to land and confront the occupants, but from
the air he saw piles of cariboo carcasses strewn throughout
the property. Scigliano returned a week later, on April eighteen,
(17:16):
with staff members of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, three officers
with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a provincial conservation officer.
Some of the cabins were still occupied when they arrived.
As they landed at the airstrip located beside the main lodge.
They did not perform neckruptcies on every carcass they saw,
but they estimated that there were between fifty and seventy
(17:36):
five animals grouped in piles around the property. On some
most of the meat had been harvested, but on many
others at least half the meat had been left to rock.
The vast majority of the animals were cows, and many
were carrying calves. Near the airstrip, Olsen and his colleagues
found five large piles of cariboo heads and carcasses. They
inspected two of those piles, digging through the snow to
(17:57):
discover the remains of six cariboo. All were cows, and
three were carrying fully formed, unborn calves. These cows had
survived wolves in winter and were almost ready to give
birth when they were killed. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
had said they believe a local indigenous community is responsible
for these harvests. These groups have the right to hunt
at any time of the year and take as many
(18:18):
cariboo as they want, in part because they rely on
a steady supply of meat to survive. But on the
six caribou olson inspected, the front, shoulders, neck, and ribs
were all left as waste, along with two hind quarters
that were also left behind. What's more, these hunters are
still bound by wanton waste laws, and they also allegedly
trespassed on private property. The animals that were killed were
(18:40):
part of a large barren ground caribou herd in Northern
Manitoba known as the k Minureact herd. This herd overwinters
in the forested region of Northern Manitoba and then makes
it way back to none of it in the spring
to have their young. Killing these cows at this time
of year has a much greater impact on the herd
than killing bulls or non pregnant cows, and even pregnant
cows that aren't killed often abort their young as a
(19:02):
result of being chased by snowmobiles, which is the only
way to hunt them in winter. In part as a
result of irresponsible harvest and over harvesting, the Commitee React
herd has declined by about fifty percent in the last
thirty years, from four hundred ninety six thousand animals in
nineteen ninety four to two hundred and fifty three thousand
animals in twenty twenty two. The Manitoba Wildlife Federation has
(19:24):
been publicizing this event as a way to spark a
conversation about how to protect this herd. Representatives who spoke
Jordan Sillers for his article at the mediater dot com
say they'd like to see the province set up a
co management board that includes both Indigenous and non Indigenous representatives.
This board would impose harvest reporting requirements on all hunters,
as well as closed seasons for when cows are carrying calves.
(19:47):
This isn't about vilifying any one group of people unless
those people are wasters. Most Indigenous hunters don't waste me,
and the chief of the local community said he was
horrified to hear about the actions of these individuals. Taboo
herds can't sustain these kinds of large scale harvests of
cows and calves for the long term, which is why
many people of all backgrounds are calling for change. Moving
(20:10):
on to the bad Ideas desk. All around the world,
governments and nonprofits operate programs that pay commercial fishermen to
release threatened and endangered fish. These fish are often caught accidentally,
so it makes some sense to incentivize anglers to throw
them back rather than let them die. Of course, if
(20:31):
you've ever met a fisherman, or a trapper, or a
hunter for that matter, you can already see the flaw
in the system. A new study from researchers at Johns
Hopkins University has found that rather than promote conservation of
endangered species, these programs can sometimes have the opposite effect.
That's because while they give fishermen an incentive to throw
the fish back, they also give them an incentive to
(20:51):
catch them in the first place. Researchers went down to
Indonesia and conducted a study of eighty seven fishing vessels.
They found that when anglers were incentivized to really least
wedge fish and hammerhead sharks, they often caught more of
them than vessels that did not receive payments for safe release.
What's more, these fishermen would sometimes lie about whether the
fish they quote released were actually alive when they checked
(21:14):
them back in the water. This resulted in a mortality
reduction for wedge fish of less than fifty percent of
what the release numbers suggested. Worse, hammerhead mortality rose forty
four percent due to increased catch and their poor lung function,
making them likely to die before release. This is what
smart people call a perverse incentive, which is an incentive
(21:36):
that delivers undesirable results, often undermining the stated goal. A
well structured conservation program keeps perverse incentives in mind and
tries to mitigate those as much as possible, because conservation
isn't just about managing wildlife, it's about dealing with people,
and people can be motivated in ways that researchers and
(21:57):
wildlife officials don't always expect. Moving on to the shed
hunting desk, a trio of National guardsmen or in hot
water after they were seen landing a black Hawk helicopter
on private property in Sweetgrass County, Montana. Had they run
out of gas or discovered a malfunction with the engine, No,
(22:17):
they were shed hunting. Major Ryan Finnigin with the Montana
National Guards said that three guardsmen were on a training
flight from Billings to Helena when they made an unscheduled
stop on a private ranch. A witness saw them hop
out and collect two elk sheds along with the deadhead.
With the antlers attached, they loaded up their score and
flew off, but the witness called the owner of the
(22:37):
property and things went downhill from there. I don't know
how big the antlers were, but the local sheriff said
the hall was worth between three and four hundred dollars.
I got to say, we've been covering wildlife crime for
a long time here on Cal's Week in Review, and
this is a new one for me. Unless these fellows
have done this before, this may be the first time
in recorded history a commissioned attack chopper has been used
(22:58):
to shed hunt. I do not support using taxpayer dollars
for this purpose. The Government Accountability Office reports that it
costs about three thousand dollars to operate a black Hawk
for one hour. I got to give those guys credit
for creativity, and you know, I'm sure it serves some
training purpose. Unfortunately for them, I doubt the US military
is going to see it that way. Listener leland Hart
(23:20):
is also a National Guardsman, and he said that along
with a trespassed charge from the state, they could face
additional charges from the military under the Uniform Code of
Military Justice. At the very least, they'll probably get a
reprimand for misusing equipment, which I assume comes with extra
pushups or toilet cleaning, or you know something else you
see on TV. Before we move on, I think it's
(23:42):
just a good reminder that, you know, a lot of
our military are serving their youthful prime and even though
they have tremendous responsibility, they may not be on the
mature end of the spectrum. Moving on to the doze desk,
one of the latest federal agencies to find itself in
(24:03):
the crosshairs of federal cost cutting measures is the US
Geological Survey or USGS. The USGS is the science arm
of the Department of the Interior. They conduct their own
studies on a huge array of wildlife, including many of
the species we like to hunt and catch. State and
federal wildlife agencies use this information to make good management
decisions that benefit animals, habitat and outdoor recreationists like you
(24:26):
and me. The USGS also funnels money to state level
researchers through something called cooperative research units. The units are
often affiliated with the universities, and researchers get more bang
for their buck working through the USGS than directly with
these schools. Listener Caden step told me in an email
that in Idaho, the University of Idaho co Op Unit
(24:47):
conducts the vast majority of wildlife and fisheries research for
the Idaho fishing game. Unfortunately, along with the public land
sales we've been covering for the last few weeks, the
Republican budget proposal in Congress strips funding from these co
op units. These politicians say they want to return power
back to the states, but eliminating this money would hamstring
many of the research efforts the state agencies are conducting.
(25:10):
This would hurt hunters and anglers in a few ways. First,
it could lead to bad management decisions that harm the
species we love and want to see more of on
the landscape. But it could also give ammunition to the
anti hunting agenda. Remember when Washington State eliminated the spring
bear hunt, their justification for doing so was that they
didn't have enough information on how the spring hunt was
(25:31):
impacting the black bear population. Without funding to conduct the
kind of research, anti hunting forces could use the exact
same excuse in other states to restrict hunting for other species.
We may not always agree with the findings of our
wildlife researchers, but their work is crucial. They're already strapped
for cash and taking away another funding stream could have
disastrous effects. The budget bill will likely have already passed
(25:54):
the House by the time you hear this, so when
you contact your senators about the public land sales, mention
this as well. We want the USGS to be fully
funded both now and in the future. Big thanks to
all the listeners who wrote in about this issue. That's
all I got for you this week. Thank you so
much for listening, and remember to write in to ask
c A. L. That's Ascal at themeeater dot com. Let
(26:16):
us know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
We appreciate it. And again, huge thank you to everybody
who stepped up, wrote, called, emailed and did so for
the first time. Especially It's easy, isn't it In this
particular case. We got some good results, but we need
you to stay on the hook because we got to
use our unified voices again. Thanks again, we'll talk to
(26:39):
you next week.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calaian. Here's cal.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is offering a twenty
thousand dollars reward for information that leads to the conviction
of whoever decapitated a dolphin in North Carolina. I know
(00:34):
what you're thinking, and yes, Rfka Junior has been accounted for.
During the month of April, the unfortunate mammal was found
on an island off the coast of Pender County, North Carolina.
Officials got a call that a dolphin had been stranded,
but when they went out to take a look, they
realized it was dead French Revolution style. It was also
(00:54):
missing a muscle from its back that officials say it
looks like someone tried to remove a battrap from a deer.
It's unclear at this point whether someone killed the dolphin
by cutting off its head or it was already dead
when the guillotine went down. The animal had been stranded
on a beach on a remote part of lee Hoff Island,
which is only accessible by boat. If you ask me,
(01:15):
it looks like someone thought it would be cool to
have a euromount dolphin skull and figured they might as
well sample some steaks while they're at it. If I
didn't have prior knowledge of the Marine Mammal Protection Act,
I could say I would make the same mistake. Unfortunately,
for said individual, that is very illegal. In most places.
You aren't allowed to get within fifty yards and you
(01:36):
definitely aren't allowed to touch it, even if it's dead.
Violating those laws comes with potential fines in jail time.
But for this would be dolphin taxi der must that's
not even the worst of it. During their neckruptcy of
the animal, biologists discovered that it was carrying the Brucella bacteria,
which causes brucellosis. Brucellosis is pretty common in dolphins and
(01:58):
can be transmitted to humans through touching or consuming meat.
It gives you what feels like a bad case of
the flu, but it can be difficult to treat if
it's not caught right away. That's right, dolphin kissing fever
is hard to treat. Time to stake out the walk
in clinics. Anyone with information about this case is encouraged
(02:19):
to call the Noah Enforcement Hotline at eight hundred eight
five three one nine sixty four. Law enforcement is encouraging
the individual or individuals to turn themselves in. They don't
think you did this on porpoise this week, public lands legislation, guns,
pay to play, caribou, and so much more. But first,
I'm going to tell you about my week and my
(02:41):
week well, as old Johnny Cash used to saying, I've
been everywhere, man. We got in a quick turkey weekend
which included a good friend's niece and nephew. As the
niece's first turkey hunt, and after several close calls, she
killed the tom at three yards. This was especially impactful
as the young hunter missed to tom at eighty yards
(03:02):
that morning. She just didn't know how far was too far.
The ticks were incredibly thick. I can't say it was
more than I had ever seen before, but it was gross.
We did a short loop in the heat of the day,
maybe a forty five minute to an hour walk, stopping
to call every so often as you do, never getting
a gobble in response. By the time we hit the truck,
(03:23):
we were so covered in ticks we had to strip
down shirts off pants around our ankles to properly remove
the parasitic bastards. I plucked at least thirty off. I
don't know how long this took, but it took just
long enough that the unseen Tom, who I theorize had
been listening to our hen talk, got curious enough to
rip a gobble that said I'm looking for you, and
(03:46):
I'm looking for you right now. About ten minutes later,
he strutted into range and I shot him in full
view of the truck. We went from pants down to
bird down in less than ten minutes. That was the
first for me. Then I jumped on a plane and
met some friends in Santa Barbara, California, of all places.
A couple of us dove a few spots north of town.
(04:07):
We were pretty limited time wise and visibility wise, but
it was darn good to get back in the ocean
and get in some kelp. From there, I went out
with the canam crew to Doug Durham's farm in Wisconsin
to drive some new defenders and hunt turks, just in
time for the rain to show up. And man, it
poured for a few days. But last day, when I
(04:27):
should have been packing for another plane ride, the storm
subsided to a light mist and the turkeys hit the fields.
We spotted a Tom cruise in a field edge on
a Sharing the Land cooperator's property. We got in front
of old Tom and eventually he came looking for us,
which was a mistake. Our friend Lindsay was able to
capitalize on that mistake. You might be able to see
(04:49):
that footage on the Sharing the Land Instagram page, or
maybe Doug's or maybe Lindsay's. That was five years of
doing some Wisconsin turkey hunting that Coleman, that Tom, So
that was pretty darn special. And the day was special
for another reason, as while I should have been able
to relax and turkey hunt with friends, I was talking,
(05:10):
texting and coordinating with folks all over the country, Conservation Groups,
Senate and Congressional offices, BHA, TRCP, Pheasants, Forever, Meat Eater,
on X First Light, trying our best to get the
word out that public land sales can happen through a process,
and that process is not budget reconciliation. After a few
(05:32):
texts or emails or social media posts, I'd make a
few hen clucks and walk for a minute or two,
then do some more emails and texting and worrying and
write about at the property boundary as I emerged into
a grassy lawn type opening in the pine plantation bow.
Now these birds have been pressured. It's the very end
(05:55):
of the season. So I doubled back into the pines
with the green patch in front of me and sat
tight beaked for about five minutes. Nothing did he see
me making a move to my impromptu ambush spot. Well,
I got to get to the airport, so better try
one more time. Oh all right, that's it. He knows
(06:23):
I'm here. I'm not talking anymore. I just need him curious,
and it's far too open in these pines to hide properly.
Just so you know, I run two leafy jacket tops.
We make leafy, you know, some leafy stuff through first light,
and I carry two for this type of an occasion.
I wear one and then I take the other one
(06:44):
and drape it over the top of my head kind
of like a cape breaks up my head and shoulder silhouette,
you know, maybe completely unnecessary, but it makes me feel better.
After a few minutes being stock still with my shotgun
up in the shooting position, I see turkey feet on
the roll of the opposite hill the other side of
the grass about forty yards away, and then I see Tom.
(07:08):
He's a monster, big thick beard, and he marches with
swagger and confidence, stopping of course, directly behind a large
bush and gobbles like thunder. I don't want to talk
and give up my exposed position, so eventually he turns
to leave, and I just need him to go through
(07:29):
an opening in the brush. Biggest turkey I've ever got,
spurs that could eviscerate a bobcat breast, like battleships or
Virginia Hams. Maybe to top it off. Immediately after that,
I got word that the public outpouring from across the country,
the opposition to our public lands and American freedoms that
(07:51):
go with those public lands being sold out from underneath
us might just get pulled from the budget reconciliation process,
so I should maybe get prepared for good news. Then
by my second flight of the day, with old Tom
fully plucked and resting in my checked baggage, I got
(08:12):
word that it was done. Ambler rote and public land
sales had been removed from the House version, and as
of now me speaking to you in the present, the
Senate has not added those back in. And you know
my fingers are crossed that they won't. Huge, huge thank
you to everybody who listens to this show, because I
(08:34):
know you wrote in and called and emailed, and I
know that several of you have some sour attitudes that well,
you know, you just would have voted for the right person,
and I get that, but I promise you it may
not be this particular situation, but there would be a
situation where we would be instructing whoever would have been
(08:56):
in office. And it's not over yet. Gang, keep participating,
stay engaged, stay informed. Right now, reach out to all
those members of the Public Lands Caucus, Ryan Zinki here
in Montana, Simpson over in Idaho, Gave Vasquez. Make sure
those people know that you appreciate them sticking up for
(09:19):
what you wanted your public lands to remain in public hands.
Big thank yous mean a lot. They go a long way.
So make it happen. And then call your senators and say,
don't put public lands on the chopping block anymore. And
let's talk about anwar and the boundary waters, and let's
(09:41):
get a mineral withdrawal happening in those spots. They're too
precious to develop. We all depend on precious metals and
oil and gas in some way, whether you admit it
or not. But that doesn't mean we have to procure
those things in a reckless fashion as is outlined in
the budget reconciliation process, or pursue these things in areas
(10:04):
that are way too ecologically valuable irreplaceable. That stuff's going
to be in the ground forever. There's no need to rush.
There may come a day where our technological advances can
extract from these places in ways where we can have
our cake and eat it too. Anyway, thank you everybody
for writing and calling and just being a part of
(10:25):
this thing. We're going to ask you to do the
same thing again, so stay with it. It's a marathon,
not a sprint. Good job, celebrate the win right now
and then get back on it. Moving on to the
legislative desk, the California legislature is considering a bill that
would ban a huge swath of common firearms. Listener Andrew
(10:45):
Swanson told me about Assembly Bill one one two seven,
which in its current form makes it illegal for a
gun shop to sell a quote machine gun convertible pistol.
The bill defines these pistols as any semi diamatic pistol
with a cruciform trigger bar that can be readily converted
by hand or with common household tools into a machine
(11:08):
gun if you're a little rusty on your gunsmithan. This
would basically ban glock handguns in the Golden State. Legislators
say there's a big problem with criminals converting their glocks
into machine guns, but gun rights advocates point out that
doing so is already illegal. Whatever side you take, banning
the sale of one of the world's most popular handguns
will definitely result in less conservation funding for California. Staying
(11:34):
in the gun issue, a House committee included a provision
in their budget proposal that would make it easier for
Americans to purchase suppressors. Current law requires a two hundred
dollars tax stamp in order to buy a gun muffler,
but the House Committee on Ways and Means included a
provision in their budget reconciliation package that will reduce this
tax from two hundred dollars to zero. Some gun rights
(11:54):
advocates praise the move, but others slam the committee for
not going far enough. While the bill does make it
cheap to purchase a suppressor, would be buyers will still
have to go through the current lengthy approval process. Gun
rights groups wanted the committee to remove all special restrictions
on suppressors, short barreled rifles, and other items currently regulated
under the National Firearms Act. Congress critters are also considering
(12:19):
a bill. They say we'll boost conservation funding by forcing
foreign manufacturers to pay an excise tax. As listeners to
this podcast already know, we raise over one billion dollars
annually for conservation by taxing the manufacture and sale of firearms, ammunition,
phishing tackle, and other outdoor related goods. But some foreign manufacturers,
particularly of fishing and archery equipment, are evading this tax
(12:42):
by selling their goods directly to consumers online. The Sporting
Goods Excise Tax Modernization Act S one six four nine
aims to close that loophole. Proposed by Senator Tommy Tuberville
and Mike Crapo, the bill amends the IRS Code to
retreat these online sellers as importers, which makes them subject
to the same excise taxes as domestic manufacturers. I've said
(13:03):
for years that buying cheap arrows on Amazon has a
bad idea, both because they don't fly straight and because
you're supporting an industry that refuses to support our way
of life. There will always be companies that try to
get around the law, but hopefully this bill will make
it that much more difficult. Moving from the national to
the state level, the Humane Society is out in force
(13:25):
trying to convince Floridians that they oppose reopening a black
bear hunt. We've covered this story before, but the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission just had a meeting to
discuss the hunt, so I thought it was a good
time to bring it up again. In the weeks prior
to that recent meeting, the Humane Society launched a media
tour touting a shocking poll a full eighty one percent
(13:45):
of Floridians oppose hunting black bears. If you took the
media at its word, like this article I'm reading in
the Leesburg Daily Commercial, you might think the Humane Society
was simply reporting the unbiased facts. But a little digging
uncovers the fact that the Humane Society itself commissioned the pole.
And here's the thing about commission poles. They usually find
(14:06):
what the people paying the bills want them to find.
What's more, the Florida media isn't being honest about the
results of the survey. Here's the first sentence of this
Leesburg Daily Commercial article, quote, eighty one percent of Floridians
oppose a hunt to manage the state's black bear population. However,
if this journalist had taken the time to actually read
(14:26):
the poll, she would have found that those large majorities
oppose hound hunting and hunting over bait, not bear hunting.
In general, this kind of deceptive reporting by media outlets
and animal rights groups is not unique to Florida. We
saw the same thing during the mountain lion hunting debate
in Colorado and the bear hounding debate in California. If
(14:47):
you live in a state that's considering one of these
controversial policies, don't take the headlines at their word, do
a little digging on your own, look at who's behind
opinion polling, and be sure your friends and family get
the real facts. Here's a great update I received an
email from listener Scott Baker. You may remember last fall
(15:07):
we were reported on a decision by the Michigan Natural
Resources Commission to prohibit hunting antler deer during certain special seasons.
These included the youth hunt liberty hunt and hunts reserved
for disabled individuals. The Commission said they wanted to encourage
hunters to take more does, which is important to stabilize
the deer population in some portions of the state, but
(15:28):
many Michiganders disagreed. They argued that these special hunts take
a very small percentage of the yearly harvest. Scott pointed
out in his email that these hunts only took three
point three percent of all bucks harvested in twenty twenty three.
It's also a pretty raw deal to tell a kid
or a disabled vet that we've created a special season
for them, but they can't shoot a buck. As Scott said,
(15:50):
creating these memories is vital to the hunting experience, especially
for hunters and the Michigan United Conservation Club, who lobbied
the Natural Resources Commission to change They submitted a proposal
in April to allow hunters in these special seasons to
take antler deer, and the Commission approved it in May.
Whatever you believe about the rule change and its reversal,
(16:10):
I think this is a great example of the power
of hunters who decided to get engaged. The same thing
can happen in your state. Or even at the national level.
We have the power to change things. We just have
to stick together and most importantly speak up. Moving on
to the Caribou desk, the mass slaughter of as many
as seventy five cariboo in Manitoba, including cows carrying unborn calves,
(16:34):
is prompting calls for changes to the way the species
is managed, especially as it relates to tribal hunting. This
latest incident began when an American named Nick Skigliano visited
a set of lodges he'd purchased in Nwelton Lake Provincial
Park and the far north of Manitoba. I know I
got that wrong. Go ahead right in askcl at the
(16:55):
Metior dot Com. Skigliano visited his lodges on April eleven,
Toy twenty five for a spring wellness check, but noticed
people illegally occupying the buildings as he flew over. He
chose not to land and confront the occupants, but from
the air he saw piles of cariboo carcasses strewn throughout
the property. Scigliano returned a week later, on April eighteen,
(17:16):
with staff members of the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, three officers
with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a provincial conservation officer.
Some of the cabins were still occupied when they arrived.
As they landed at the airstrip located beside the main lodge.
They did not perform neckruptcies on every carcass they saw,
but they estimated that there were between fifty and seventy
(17:36):
five animals grouped in piles around the property. On some
most of the meat had been harvested, but on many
others at least half the meat had been left to rock.
The vast majority of the animals were cows, and many
were carrying calves. Near the airstrip, Olsen and his colleagues
found five large piles of cariboo heads and carcasses. They
inspected two of those piles, digging through the snow to
(17:57):
discover the remains of six cariboo. All were cows, and
three were carrying fully formed, unborn calves. These cows had
survived wolves in winter and were almost ready to give
birth when they were killed. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
had said they believe a local indigenous community is responsible
for these harvests. These groups have the right to hunt
at any time of the year and take as many
(18:18):
cariboo as they want, in part because they rely on
a steady supply of meat to survive. But on the
six caribou olson inspected, the front, shoulders, neck, and ribs
were all left as waste, along with two hind quarters
that were also left behind. What's more, these hunters are
still bound by wanton waste laws, and they also allegedly
trespassed on private property. The animals that were killed were
(18:40):
part of a large barren ground caribou herd in Northern
Manitoba known as the k Minureact herd. This herd overwinters
in the forested region of Northern Manitoba and then makes
it way back to none of it in the spring
to have their young. Killing these cows at this time
of year has a much greater impact on the herd
than killing bulls or non pregnant cows, and even pregnant
cows that aren't killed often abort their young as a
(19:02):
result of being chased by snowmobiles, which is the only
way to hunt them in winter. In part as a
result of irresponsible harvest and over harvesting, the Commitee React
herd has declined by about fifty percent in the last
thirty years, from four hundred ninety six thousand animals in
nineteen ninety four to two hundred and fifty three thousand
animals in twenty twenty two. The Manitoba Wildlife Federation has
(19:24):
been publicizing this event as a way to spark a
conversation about how to protect this herd. Representatives who spoke
Jordan Sillers for his article at the mediater dot com
say they'd like to see the province set up a
co management board that includes both Indigenous and non Indigenous representatives.
This board would impose harvest reporting requirements on all hunters,
as well as closed seasons for when cows are carrying calves.
(19:47):
This isn't about vilifying any one group of people unless
those people are wasters. Most Indigenous hunters don't waste me,
and the chief of the local community said he was
horrified to hear about the actions of these individuals. Taboo
herds can't sustain these kinds of large scale harvests of
cows and calves for the long term, which is why
many people of all backgrounds are calling for change. Moving
(20:10):
on to the bad Ideas desk. All around the world,
governments and nonprofits operate programs that pay commercial fishermen to
release threatened and endangered fish. These fish are often caught accidentally,
so it makes some sense to incentivize anglers to throw
them back rather than let them die. Of course, if
(20:31):
you've ever met a fisherman, or a trapper, or a
hunter for that matter, you can already see the flaw
in the system. A new study from researchers at Johns
Hopkins University has found that rather than promote conservation of
endangered species, these programs can sometimes have the opposite effect.
That's because while they give fishermen an incentive to throw
the fish back, they also give them an incentive to
(20:51):
catch them in the first place. Researchers went down to
Indonesia and conducted a study of eighty seven fishing vessels.
They found that when anglers were incentivized to really least
wedge fish and hammerhead sharks, they often caught more of
them than vessels that did not receive payments for safe release.
What's more, these fishermen would sometimes lie about whether the
fish they quote released were actually alive when they checked
(21:14):
them back in the water. This resulted in a mortality
reduction for wedge fish of less than fifty percent of
what the release numbers suggested. Worse, hammerhead mortality rose forty
four percent due to increased catch and their poor lung function,
making them likely to die before release. This is what
smart people call a perverse incentive, which is an incentive
(21:36):
that delivers undesirable results, often undermining the stated goal. A
well structured conservation program keeps perverse incentives in mind and
tries to mitigate those as much as possible, because conservation
isn't just about managing wildlife, it's about dealing with people,
and people can be motivated in ways that researchers and
(21:57):
wildlife officials don't always expect. Moving on to the shed
hunting desk, a trio of National guardsmen or in hot
water after they were seen landing a black Hawk helicopter
on private property in Sweetgrass County, Montana. Had they run
out of gas or discovered a malfunction with the engine, No,
(22:17):
they were shed hunting. Major Ryan Finnigin with the Montana
National Guards said that three guardsmen were on a training
flight from Billings to Helena when they made an unscheduled
stop on a private ranch. A witness saw them hop
out and collect two elk sheds along with the deadhead.
With the antlers attached, they loaded up their score and
flew off, but the witness called the owner of the
(22:37):
property and things went downhill from there. I don't know
how big the antlers were, but the local sheriff said
the hall was worth between three and four hundred dollars.
I got to say, we've been covering wildlife crime for
a long time here on Cal's Week in Review, and
this is a new one for me. Unless these fellows
have done this before, this may be the first time
in recorded history a commissioned attack chopper has been used
(22:58):
to shed hunt. I do not support using taxpayer dollars
for this purpose. The Government Accountability Office reports that it
costs about three thousand dollars to operate a black Hawk
for one hour. I got to give those guys credit
for creativity, and you know, I'm sure it serves some
training purpose. Unfortunately for them, I doubt the US military
is going to see it that way. Listener leland Hart
(23:20):
is also a National Guardsman, and he said that along
with a trespassed charge from the state, they could face
additional charges from the military under the Uniform Code of
Military Justice. At the very least, they'll probably get a
reprimand for misusing equipment, which I assume comes with extra
pushups or toilet cleaning, or you know something else you
see on TV. Before we move on, I think it's
(23:42):
just a good reminder that, you know, a lot of
our military are serving their youthful prime and even though
they have tremendous responsibility, they may not be on the
mature end of the spectrum. Moving on to the doze desk,
one of the latest federal agencies to find itself in
(24:03):
the crosshairs of federal cost cutting measures is the US
Geological Survey or USGS. The USGS is the science arm
of the Department of the Interior. They conduct their own
studies on a huge array of wildlife, including many of
the species we like to hunt and catch. State and
federal wildlife agencies use this information to make good management
decisions that benefit animals, habitat and outdoor recreationists like you
(24:26):
and me. The USGS also funnels money to state level
researchers through something called cooperative research units. The units are
often affiliated with the universities, and researchers get more bang
for their buck working through the USGS than directly with
these schools. Listener Caden step told me in an email
that in Idaho, the University of Idaho co Op Unit
(24:47):
conducts the vast majority of wildlife and fisheries research for
the Idaho fishing game. Unfortunately, along with the public land
sales we've been covering for the last few weeks, the
Republican budget proposal in Congress strips funding from these co
op units. These politicians say they want to return power
back to the states, but eliminating this money would hamstring
many of the research efforts the state agencies are conducting.
(25:10):
This would hurt hunters and anglers in a few ways. First,
it could lead to bad management decisions that harm the
species we love and want to see more of on
the landscape. But it could also give ammunition to the
anti hunting agenda. Remember when Washington State eliminated the spring
bear hunt, their justification for doing so was that they
didn't have enough information on how the spring hunt was
(25:31):
impacting the black bear population. Without funding to conduct the
kind of research, anti hunting forces could use the exact
same excuse in other states to restrict hunting for other species.
We may not always agree with the findings of our
wildlife researchers, but their work is crucial. They're already strapped
for cash and taking away another funding stream could have
disastrous effects. The budget bill will likely have already passed
(25:54):
the House by the time you hear this, so when
you contact your senators about the public land sales, mention
this as well. We want the USGS to be fully
funded both now and in the future. Big thanks to
all the listeners who wrote in about this issue. That's
all I got for you this week. Thank you so
much for listening, and remember to write in to ask
c A. L. That's Ascal at themeeater dot com. Let
(26:16):
us know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
We appreciate it. And again, huge thank you to everybody
who stepped up, wrote, called, emailed and did so for
the first time. Especially It's easy, isn't it In this
particular case. We got some good results, but we need
you to stay on the hook because we got to
use our unified voices again. Thanks again, we'll talk to
(26:39):
you next week.
Host
Cal Callaghan
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