July 7, 2025 • 25 mins
This week, Cal covers the latest on the public lands fight, good news for upland birds, and a Wisconsin con man.
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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 Calahan. Here's cap.
The anti hunting lobby is big Matt that Florida is
about to reinstate a black bear hunt. They've devised what
I'm sure they think is a brilliant scheme for shutting
it down. If they can't convince the Fish and Wildlife
(00:32):
Board to stop the hunt, they'll simply ruin it for
the rest of us. Led by an outfit called Speak
Up Wakiba, the anti hunters plan to buy up as
many bear tag entries as possible to win all one
and eighty seven permits issued by lottery later this year.
If one of these activists wins a permit, they will
simply sit out the hunt and save one of the
(00:53):
cute fuzzy bear cubs plastered all over their campaign materials.
The move has gotten a lot of attention in the
and I can see how it would work In theory.
Residents and non residents can purchase a hunting license and
buy as many of the five dollars entries as they want.
If a bear loving fat cat in Lithuania wants to
get himself a hunting license and buy ten thousand or
(01:14):
a million entries. He could indeed win one of the
one hundred and eighty seven permits, but that's just one permit.
It's also more difficult to get a Florida hunting license
then speak up what Kiva activists would have you believe.
That's because, like many states, Florida requires a hunter safety
course before buying a license, even if you buy one online.
I don't know how many people are committed enough that
(01:36):
they'll take an eight or twelve hour course. As we've
covered on this podcast. You can do it a lot
faster in a lot of places, or shell out one
hundred and fifty dollars to get a non resident hunting
license and then buy enough five dollars entries to actually
win a permit. There's a few folks out there that
are going to do this, but I don't think there's
as many as the anti hunters are hoping. Way back
(01:57):
in the day, Buddy Mine drew a big horn sheep
to Rock Creek, Montana. We ran into a father son
combo who drew big horn U tags and they were
anti hunting activists. They were kind of out there trying
to hay sheep off the road and we chatted with
them because they had their hunter's orangeohn. They were legally
(02:18):
dressed as hunters and they told us that they apply
for tags to save sheep. So it's true. This week
we've got the Upland Desk, Wildlife Crime, and the Fishing Report.
But first I'm going to tell you about my week.
In My week was a bit of a whirlwind with
the public lands battle in the Senate, which I know
(02:39):
everyone listening had a handy and big big thank you
to everyone who called, emailed, took action, went through the
BHA Action Center, signed form letters from TRCP, NWF, Trout Unlimited,
then told your friends about the attempt to steal our
public lands over and over and over again, which was spearheaded,
(03:01):
of course by Utah Senator Mike Lee. I'm telling you,
thank you, but stay in the game. More is coming
down the pipe. We have two huge thirty day comment
periods coming up that everyone should weigh in on the
roadless rule and from the sounds of it, a repeal
of the mineral withdrawal which currently protects the Boundary Waters
(03:21):
Canoe area, which is of course the lower forty eighth
most visited Wilderness Area. Please go check out Sportsmen for
the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. I know every one of
their board members. They're awesome folks, and they are so
passionate and dedicated because the Boundary Waters is such an
amazing place and that boat based stuff is so family
friendly everybody. So Sportsman's for the Boundary Waters. Now, I
(03:48):
got to say, I was incredibly impressed and hopeful over
the unifying effect of public lands. People from all walks
of life, from all over the country came together and
told their elected officials and their neighbors that public lands
are not for sale, not one acre under budget reconciliation.
We need to keep that going at the risk of
(04:09):
this sounding like a Kumbaya moment, by giving piece a chance,
don't you agree, John Lennon, Yes, Julie Coux, There's no
limit to what we can imagine them. If you care
about these issues, really care and need them to exist
and not be exploited into ecological uselessness, then does it
(04:29):
matter who voted for who, so long as they want
what you want. The answer is no, kids, it does not.
We have future elections that we can worry about, so
quit shooting holes in the boat. If you want someone
to vote differently the next election, I promise you you
will not accomplish that by letting them know how much
(04:52):
of an ass they are, while simultaneously showing them how
much of an ass you are, then turning around and saying,
do what I want. We're not that far removed from
the playground gang and the people like Mike Lee who
want what they cannot have in order to break it
up for development. They feed on division. They sew division
(05:16):
in order to reap the benefits when it grows. We
are living in this time. The proof is in front
of us. Everyone can see it. Pull the cotton out
of your eyes and ears or however that's saying goes.
This land grab of late was a whole Inchilada type
of land grab. It only came out into the public
(05:38):
eye because they thought, now is the time. Neighbor against neighbor,
recreation group against recreation group. Let's take it now. Remember
this lesson. It repeats itself, I promise you, But now
your battle hardened individuals. You made the phone calls, you
made the emails, You did it over and over again,
(06:00):
got exhausted, but you still made it happen. You got despondent,
but you still made it happen. That's how it works.
It's tough. Thank you, Thank you, thank you. There's not
much I wouldn't give up or give for our public lands,
waters and wildlife and holding those things in perpetuity for
all American people's generations beyond me. So I can't tell
(06:23):
you how much you all mean to me for answering
that call. One voice is never going to do this stuff.
We the people. Baby. That was freaking transcendent on Paul McCartney.
Moving on to the upland desk. For upland hunters, the
last thirty years or so have been a real downer.
Bird populations have plummeted across the country, and diehard upland
(06:46):
hunters are becoming a threatened species themselves. But over the
last month or so, I've seen several stories that should
give us at least a few faint glimmers of hope.
First up, in South Dakota, the Game Fishing Parks Department
reports that two thousand twenty four was the best season
for pheasant hunters in the last thirteen years. Hunters harvested
one point three million wild roosters on public and private
(07:09):
land during the three month season, with another three hundred
and eighty thousand harvested within defined shooting preserves. That's about
nine birds per hunter on average, and the South Dakota
Wildlife Agency says their hunters harvested more roosters in the
first two weeks of October than any other state during
that entire season, which pains me because snort and I
(07:30):
I owe that little girl hell of bird season. Get
the snort report back in action. Hunters have begged at
least one million roosters in the Mount Rushmore state in
each of the past five years, but last year was
especially productive thanks to a great over winter survival rate.
Wildlife managers also credit landowners and egg producers for taking
advantage of habitat programs through state, federal, and nonprofit agencies.
(07:54):
The Department specifically mentioned the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program on
the James River and Big Sioux River valleys. For those
of you who don't know, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is
CREP if you ever heard that term before. This program
provides funding for private landowners to set grasslands aside for conservation,
but it also ensures access to hunters who want to
(08:15):
chase birds. Wildlife managers say that thanks in part to
this program, the twenty twenty five season is shaping up
to be even better than last years. Of course, while
the last few years have been good, they pale in
comparison to the height of the South Dakota pheasant population.
Nineteen forty five. The boys were just getting back for more,
(08:35):
some of them not so much. The state of roughly
sixteen million pheasants, seven and a half million of which
were harvested that year. Those numbers drop steadily until nineteen
seventy six, when biologists estimated that there were only one
point four million roosters in the state. But habitat improvement
projects and careful management save the species, and the population
(08:56):
climb back up to about eight million birds in twenty sixteen.
These days, we actually aren't sure how many pheasants there
are in the state. The Wildlife Commission decided to end
the annual brood count in twenty nineteen for fear that
low numbers would discourage out of state hunters. Now, the
Wildlife Agency estimates the population based on hunting, harvest numbers
(09:16):
and surveys, which they say are also viable means of
figuring out if the population is growing or shrinking. If
harvest numbers go up year after year, as they have
in South Dakota, it's fair to assume the overall population
is doing well. That's the theory anyway. For more on
this controversy, check out episode two seventy four. You'll enjoy it.
(09:38):
South Dakota's pheasant hunters are doing well, but over in Maryland,
biologists are trying to revive a much more threatened species
of bird, and they're doing a pretty good job. In
the Nanticote River Wildlife Management Area in Maryland's Wacoma CoA County,
the bob white quail population has quadrupled. Fall quail surveys
have revealed an increase from an average of roughly one
(09:58):
quail per ten acres between two thousand seventeen in twenty
twenty to four quale per ten acres between twenty twenty
one in twenty twenty four. According to a report in
the Crispfield, Somerset County Times, that improvement was accomplished by
planning former egg fields with native grasses, removing in base
of vegetation, thinning the forests, and useful prescribed burns. In
(10:20):
other words, a lot of hard work, and while it's
easier to implement these changes in a small wildlife management area,
it gives landowners a blueprint for doing the same on
their properties. If they identify a low performing spot and
a corn or soybean field, they can transform it using
these techniques with the funding from federal and state programs.
The unfortunate truth is that upland numbers are probably never
(10:42):
going to be what they once were. The transformation of
small farms into monocultures has eliminated the hedgerows where these
birds thrive. The proliferation of miso predators like raccoons has
decimated broods, and urban sprawl has destroyed grasslands. But we
can still do the best with what we have, and
one of the most important tools in a biologist toolbox
(11:02):
is good information. Nate huck, a migratory game bird consulting
with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, sent me an
email reporting that one hundred and twenty hundreds submitted nine
hundred and twenty seven upland hunting diaries last year. We've
talked about these diaries before. They're a great idea. We
gave some stuff away last year. We'll figure out something
this year too. To promote your diaries, because it's just
(11:25):
good practice, something to hand off to the kids or grandkids,
or you know, maybe some other luddite in your life.
Wildlife departments ask hunters to record where they hunted, what
they saw, and what they harvested, and biologists use that
data to make good decisions. This is the first year
the diary program has been operating, and Nate says it's
(11:45):
a strong start, but they need more lots more so,
if you hunt birds in Minnesota, be sure to submit
your hunting diary next year. If you don't, the state
you do hunt might also ask for a survey or report,
and I encourage you to fill it out. And in
I know the state of North Dakota is dying for
hunters to report what's happening in their season. It takes
(12:07):
a little bit of time. It's just part of your responsibility.
Gag make it happen. Moving on to the crime desk,
in Idaho, man has been sentenced for his role in
a black market scheme to buy and sell big game tags.
We covered this story back in episode three oh seven,
and you can also check out Jordan Siller's article over
(12:29):
at the Meat Eater dot com At the time, we
told you about how Carl Stuter had been accused of
an enormous number of wildlife violations. He'd killed the bull
elk on someone else's tag, He'd taken more elk than
he was supposed to, and he'd illegally scouted for elk
with a helicopter. He'd shot a pronghorn from he claimed
seven hundred and sixty yards, loaded it still alive, into
(12:51):
his truck, and taking a video. Most concerning to me,
he'd made a habit of buying and selling landowner tags.
These tags are available to Idaho landowners via a lottery,
and it is illegal to sell or market them, but
that market does exist, and Carl has taken advantage of it.
We've got an aff David showing hundreds of text messages
(13:11):
between him and his buddies proving that he'd spent over
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars purchasing landowner appreciation tags
in twenty twenty three. The case against him was rock solid,
which is probably why you took Amplete deal rather than
face a jury of his peers. But the details of
that deal have some Idaho hunters up in arms. Student
pled guilty to a single felony account of illegally harvesting
(13:32):
a moose, in exchange for six other felonies to be
dropped for that one felony. Stud was fined one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars and will serve five years of
unsupervised probation along with fifty hours of community service, twenty
five of which must be dedicated to wildlife preservation and
or conservation. Studor has also been banned from hunting and
Idaho every again, which, thanks to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact,
(13:57):
bans him from obtaining a hunting license in most other
states as well. During his five year probationary period, he
cannot accompany any other hunters into the field outside his
own property. That's a pretty steep penalty for a poacher.
But I know many of you were hoping this guy
would get some jail time. We wondered about the same thing,
which is why Jordan reached out to Twin Falls County
(14:19):
Prosecuting Attorney Grant Lobes, whose office handled this case. I
won't get into everything he said, but basically, Lobes argued
that this was the highest penalty we could expect for
someone without a previous criminal record. Loebes claimed that no
first time offender in Idaho's history has ever served jail
time for a wildlife violation, no matter how egregious. The
(14:40):
fact that he will never again be allowed to legally
hunt is a big win. And if he violates the
terms of his deal, you can bet he'll see the
inside of a cell. He was also fined for each
of the animals he poached, not just the moose, which
is why his fines are so high. He might not
be the outcome we're hoping for, but it's a really
good outcome gang, and he was caught. As a great example.
(15:04):
Student is still listed as a top exec for an
electrical services provider called Quantus Services. Students sold six point
three million in Quanta shares in twenty twenty four, which
definitely turned heads at the publicly traded company. You might
argue that a rich guy like Student will have the
means to continue his life of crime, but I also
wonder if a guy was so much to lose, we'll
(15:25):
keep risking it all for another trophy bowl. He might
be like that, or he might not want to risk
his cushy, high paying job, especially if they keep him
on as a convicted felon. The jury's out on whether
Oldkarl will make the right decision, but I can say
with confidence that a Wisconsin man named Richard Waters made
the wrong one. Earlier this year, Waters made waves in
(15:47):
the deer hunting world by displaying an incredible forty nine
point white tail rack at the Open Season Deer and
Turkey Expo in the Wisconsin Dells. The non typical rack
was panel scored by the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club
and netted over three hundred and six inches, which sounds
too good to be true because it's well ahead of
the state standing record a two hundred and fifty three
(16:08):
inch deer. If you want the real deeds here, you
can go over to the mediator dot com. Sage Marshall
did a great rite up here. Now, if you know
anything about hunting records, you know that the new record
is usually only a little bit bigger than the previous one,
especially if it's real, real big. So that was already
a red flag. Like I said, too good to be true,
(16:28):
As many in the deer hunting world pointed out. The
Wisconsin DNR launched an investigation, and what they found surprise
to almost no one. Not only was Waters deer from
a game farm and not Marquette County as he claimed,
he wasn't even the one who shot him. The DNR
discovered that Yoder Whitetails Deer Farm had sold the rack
to an acquaintance of Waters, who, seeing a potential financial investment,
(16:51):
had purchased the rack from that acquaintance. He then had
a taxidermis mount the rack using the cape from a
different deer, and hired a photographer to take pictures of
him holding his new trophy. Ooh, this guy has never
seen a crime show on TV. He's got too many
loose ends here, kids. He also asked the photographer to
photoshop the rack onto another deer's body to try to
(17:13):
fool people he'd shot the deer from the wild, but
that photog refused to do it. Good for you anyway.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recorded an interaction between Waters and
his wife that may go down as one of the
funniest in the history of the crime desk. Quote. God,
I thought you were smarter than this, Water's wife, Brenda said,
within earshot of a reporter quote. I'm stupid, yes, Her
(17:38):
husband replied, at least he's self aware, which is more
than I can say for most wildlife criminals. I do
need to point out if only we knew the significant
others of the rest of these poachers, if they were
like Brenda here, I think we could agree that we
could put up with smaller fines in lieu of the
hell they catch it home. Over the fishing Accident's desk,
(18:01):
an unidentified man fishing off the coast of Seaside, Oregon,
was swept out to sea and drowned late last month.
Seaside Fire and Rescue responded to a distress call at
eight thirty eight am on June twenty five, but rescue
swimmers were not able to reach the man in time,
pulling him from the waves at eight point fifty two
and taking him to Providence Seaside Hospital, where he was
(18:22):
pronounced dead. That same day, just seventy five miles north
in Capolis Beach, Washington, four other people were knocked down
by waves and pulled out into the water while surf casting.
Two of the anglers made it back to shore safely,
but the two others were not so lucky. After a
rescue attempt, the Gray's County Sheriffs and Ocean Shores police
recovered their bodies from the water and pronounced them dead
(18:44):
at the scene. This part of the Pacific Northwest is
a huge draw for people going after seafood, both commercially
and recreationally. Capolis Beach at the north and Seaside at
the south marked the two ends of the most productive
Pacific razorclam habitat in the world wide. Stable sandy beaches
there contain tens of millions of the bivalves, and ninety
percent of each state's annual clam harvest comes from this
(19:08):
stretch of coast, which also contains the mouth of the
Columbia River. Razor clams are especially fun to go after
because they dig down the sand so fast, up to
a foot per minute, going as deep as four feet.
Once you see the clams characteristic dimple in the sand,
you have to shovel as fast as you can to
outraise the little guys. Digging for clams and fishing from
(19:28):
the shore don't seem like particularly dangerous pursuits, but ocean
conditions are always unpredictable. It's not a bad idea to
have a PFD with you for when the swells get big,
but you still want to take a few more casts
from the beach that's a personal floatation device. Meanwhile, across
the country, in Varo Beach, Florida, the Indian River County
Sheriff's Office also received an urgent distress call in late
(19:51):
June from an angler who had sustained injuries and was
unable to locate a fishing companion after their fan boat
flipped over. Rescue crews raised scene, including Sheriff's office personnel,
a fire rescue team, and Florida Fish and Wildlife staff,
along with the US Coast Guard helicopter that had been
scrambled from one hundred and fifty miles away clear across
the state. The team was relieved to find the voter,
(20:13):
Derek Howard, alive and well, but they were considerably less
cheerful when they learned that the distress call had been
completely fabricated. Howard's boat had just run out of gas,
and he'd invented the wild yarn to get assistants asap.
With real emergencies like the ones in Seaside and Capala's
Beach happening every day, the authorities charged him with misusing
nine to one one and filing a false report to
(20:35):
law enforcement that was probably not the expedited attention that
Howard was hoping for. He could have killed somebody by
diverting law enforcement like that. It's a big deal. Over
to the Cathedral of the Forest Desk, the long long
battle for Sunday hunting in pennsyl Tucky, Pennsylvania may finally
be coming to an end. On July one, House Bill
(20:55):
fourteen thirty one reached the desk of Governor Josh Shapiro
after passing out of the House and Senate. The bill
would lift the ban on Sunday hunting during all hunting
seasons in the Keystone State. Right now, Pennsylvania only allows
the hunting of foxes, coyotes, and crows on Sundays, and
since twenty nineteen they have added three other Sundays in
the fall hunting season, one in the archery deer season,
(21:16):
one in rifle deer season, and one during rifle bear season.
But we know that Pennsylvania has some of the country's
most avid hunters, and they've been calling for a full
repeal of the ban for more than a decade, led
by Chair of the Game and Fisheries Committee, Senator Greg Groffman.
Rothman said it's an idea whose time has come. As
we've covered in the past, adding this one day to
(21:37):
the weekend would double most working people's time in the field,
and with participation in youth sports now at an all
time high, many kids with games on Saturday have missed
out on hunting opportunities altogether until right now. Adding one
more weekend day would also be a significant boost to
hunter recruitment and retention in the state, where the Game
Commission depends on nearly sixty million dollars in hunting license
(21:59):
sales every year. The ban has also hamstringed the hunting
industry in Pennsylvania, as out of staters have been reluctant
to travel for a three day weekend if they have
to sit one of those days out. HB fourteen thirty
one wouldn't automatically make every Sunday open to hunting. The
Game Commission would still need to approve adding specific days
to the season, but the bill removes any barrier from
(22:20):
the Commission's decision making. Opponents often cite the possibility that birdwatchers,
dog walkers, and the like might stay out of the
woods out of fear if the ban were lifted. Brook
Glenker of The Keystone Trails Association told the Pennsylvania Capital Star, quote,
we just feel that additional sundays open to hunting has
the potential to erode quality hiking opportunities on Pennsylvania's trails.
(22:43):
A lot of hiking occurs on weekends, but accidents involving
non hunters on weekends have been virtually non existent across
the country. If Governor Shapiro signs the bill, the only
two remaining states with total bands on Sunday hunting would
be Maine and Massachusetts. But who knows, maybe Penncilvania will
be the domino that makes those other states fall. Pennsylvania's
(23:04):
blue laws against hunting have their genesis in the Quaker
founding of the Commonwealth, when church leaders believe that Sundays
should be preserved only for prayer. Just pausing here, because
I know all you hunters and anglers out there have
done your own form of praying, somehow, some way on
a hunt day. I sure have prayer takes different forms
(23:25):
for different people. In twenty twenty four, pastor and hunting
advocate Ry Bailey told the news outlet the Bradley Era, quote,
God has given us the outdoors and hunting to enjoy.
His creation and that is meant to be enjoyed each
and every day of the week. I once hunted before
church shot a deer, left the woods to go to church,
then went back and recovered the deer after church. That's
(23:46):
a heck of a pastor right there. Huge, huge kudos
to the Pennsylvania Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. Don Rank,
who currently sits on the North American Board for BHA,
was a major, major champion of this. The rest of
the folks in the Pennsylvania chapter Chris Hennessy as well.
I mean, you guys crushed it. Well well done. Celebrate
(24:10):
this one. Pennsylvanians. Call Governor Shapiro at seven one seven
seven eight seven twenty five hundred to get him to
sign this one, or you can text him with lots
of relevant emojis at seven one, seven seven eight eight
eight nine nine zero. That's a joke. Folks, be pro
say your thank yous, and share your passions. That's all
(24:33):
I got for you this week. Thank you so much
for listening. Remember to write in to ask c Al
that's ask Cal at the Meteater dot com. Let me
know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
I appreciate you. We'll talk to you soon.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calahan. Here's cap.
The anti hunting lobby is big Matt that Florida is
about to reinstate a black bear hunt. They've devised what
I'm sure they think is a brilliant scheme for shutting
it down. If they can't convince the Fish and Wildlife
(00:32):
Board to stop the hunt, they'll simply ruin it for
the rest of us. Led by an outfit called Speak
Up Wakiba, the anti hunters plan to buy up as
many bear tag entries as possible to win all one
and eighty seven permits issued by lottery later this year.
If one of these activists wins a permit, they will
simply sit out the hunt and save one of the
(00:53):
cute fuzzy bear cubs plastered all over their campaign materials.
The move has gotten a lot of attention in the
and I can see how it would work In theory.
Residents and non residents can purchase a hunting license and
buy as many of the five dollars entries as they want.
If a bear loving fat cat in Lithuania wants to
get himself a hunting license and buy ten thousand or
(01:14):
a million entries. He could indeed win one of the
one hundred and eighty seven permits, but that's just one permit.
It's also more difficult to get a Florida hunting license
then speak up what Kiva activists would have you believe.
That's because, like many states, Florida requires a hunter safety
course before buying a license, even if you buy one online.
I don't know how many people are committed enough that
(01:36):
they'll take an eight or twelve hour course. As we've
covered on this podcast. You can do it a lot
faster in a lot of places, or shell out one
hundred and fifty dollars to get a non resident hunting
license and then buy enough five dollars entries to actually
win a permit. There's a few folks out there that
are going to do this, but I don't think there's
as many as the anti hunters are hoping. Way back
(01:57):
in the day, Buddy Mine drew a big horn sheep
to Rock Creek, Montana. We ran into a father son
combo who drew big horn U tags and they were
anti hunting activists. They were kind of out there trying
to hay sheep off the road and we chatted with
them because they had their hunter's orangeohn. They were legally
(02:18):
dressed as hunters and they told us that they apply
for tags to save sheep. So it's true. This week
we've got the Upland Desk, Wildlife Crime, and the Fishing Report.
But first I'm going to tell you about my week.
In My week was a bit of a whirlwind with
the public lands battle in the Senate, which I know
(02:39):
everyone listening had a handy and big big thank you
to everyone who called, emailed, took action, went through the
BHA Action Center, signed form letters from TRCP, NWF, Trout Unlimited,
then told your friends about the attempt to steal our
public lands over and over and over again, which was spearheaded,
(03:01):
of course by Utah Senator Mike Lee. I'm telling you,
thank you, but stay in the game. More is coming
down the pipe. We have two huge thirty day comment
periods coming up that everyone should weigh in on the
roadless rule and from the sounds of it, a repeal
of the mineral withdrawal which currently protects the Boundary Waters
(03:21):
Canoe area, which is of course the lower forty eighth
most visited Wilderness Area. Please go check out Sportsmen for
the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. I know every one of
their board members. They're awesome folks, and they are so
passionate and dedicated because the Boundary Waters is such an
amazing place and that boat based stuff is so family
friendly everybody. So Sportsman's for the Boundary Waters. Now, I
(03:48):
got to say, I was incredibly impressed and hopeful over
the unifying effect of public lands. People from all walks
of life, from all over the country came together and
told their elected officials and their neighbors that public lands
are not for sale, not one acre under budget reconciliation.
We need to keep that going at the risk of
(04:09):
this sounding like a Kumbaya moment, by giving piece a chance,
don't you agree, John Lennon, Yes, Julie Coux, There's no
limit to what we can imagine them. If you care
about these issues, really care and need them to exist
and not be exploited into ecological uselessness, then does it
(04:29):
matter who voted for who, so long as they want
what you want. The answer is no, kids, it does not.
We have future elections that we can worry about, so
quit shooting holes in the boat. If you want someone
to vote differently the next election, I promise you you
will not accomplish that by letting them know how much
(04:52):
of an ass they are, while simultaneously showing them how
much of an ass you are, then turning around and saying,
do what I want. We're not that far removed from
the playground gang and the people like Mike Lee who
want what they cannot have in order to break it
up for development. They feed on division. They sew division
(05:16):
in order to reap the benefits when it grows. We
are living in this time. The proof is in front
of us. Everyone can see it. Pull the cotton out
of your eyes and ears or however that's saying goes.
This land grab of late was a whole Inchilada type
of land grab. It only came out into the public
(05:38):
eye because they thought, now is the time. Neighbor against neighbor,
recreation group against recreation group. Let's take it now. Remember
this lesson. It repeats itself, I promise you, But now
your battle hardened individuals. You made the phone calls, you
made the emails, You did it over and over again,
(06:00):
got exhausted, but you still made it happen. You got despondent,
but you still made it happen. That's how it works.
It's tough. Thank you, Thank you, thank you. There's not
much I wouldn't give up or give for our public lands,
waters and wildlife and holding those things in perpetuity for
all American people's generations beyond me. So I can't tell
(06:23):
you how much you all mean to me for answering
that call. One voice is never going to do this stuff.
We the people. Baby. That was freaking transcendent on Paul McCartney.
Moving on to the upland desk. For upland hunters, the
last thirty years or so have been a real downer.
Bird populations have plummeted across the country, and diehard upland
(06:46):
hunters are becoming a threatened species themselves. But over the
last month or so, I've seen several stories that should
give us at least a few faint glimmers of hope.
First up, in South Dakota, the Game Fishing Parks Department
reports that two thousand twenty four was the best season
for pheasant hunters in the last thirteen years. Hunters harvested
one point three million wild roosters on public and private
(07:09):
land during the three month season, with another three hundred
and eighty thousand harvested within defined shooting preserves. That's about
nine birds per hunter on average, and the South Dakota
Wildlife Agency says their hunters harvested more roosters in the
first two weeks of October than any other state during
that entire season, which pains me because snort and I
(07:30):
I owe that little girl hell of bird season. Get
the snort report back in action. Hunters have begged at
least one million roosters in the Mount Rushmore state in
each of the past five years, but last year was
especially productive thanks to a great over winter survival rate.
Wildlife managers also credit landowners and egg producers for taking
advantage of habitat programs through state, federal, and nonprofit agencies.
(07:54):
The Department specifically mentioned the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program on
the James River and Big Sioux River valleys. For those
of you who don't know, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is
CREP if you ever heard that term before. This program
provides funding for private landowners to set grasslands aside for conservation,
but it also ensures access to hunters who want to
(08:15):
chase birds. Wildlife managers say that thanks in part to
this program, the twenty twenty five season is shaping up
to be even better than last years. Of course, while
the last few years have been good, they pale in
comparison to the height of the South Dakota pheasant population.
Nineteen forty five. The boys were just getting back for more,
(08:35):
some of them not so much. The state of roughly
sixteen million pheasants, seven and a half million of which
were harvested that year. Those numbers drop steadily until nineteen
seventy six, when biologists estimated that there were only one
point four million roosters in the state. But habitat improvement
projects and careful management save the species, and the population
(08:56):
climb back up to about eight million birds in twenty sixteen.
These days, we actually aren't sure how many pheasants there
are in the state. The Wildlife Commission decided to end
the annual brood count in twenty nineteen for fear that
low numbers would discourage out of state hunters. Now, the
Wildlife Agency estimates the population based on hunting, harvest numbers
(09:16):
and surveys, which they say are also viable means of
figuring out if the population is growing or shrinking. If
harvest numbers go up year after year, as they have
in South Dakota, it's fair to assume the overall population
is doing well. That's the theory anyway. For more on
this controversy, check out episode two seventy four. You'll enjoy it.
(09:38):
South Dakota's pheasant hunters are doing well, but over in Maryland,
biologists are trying to revive a much more threatened species
of bird, and they're doing a pretty good job. In
the Nanticote River Wildlife Management Area in Maryland's Wacoma CoA County,
the bob white quail population has quadrupled. Fall quail surveys
have revealed an increase from an average of roughly one
(09:58):
quail per ten acres between two thousand seventeen in twenty
twenty to four quale per ten acres between twenty twenty
one in twenty twenty four. According to a report in
the Crispfield, Somerset County Times, that improvement was accomplished by
planning former egg fields with native grasses, removing in base
of vegetation, thinning the forests, and useful prescribed burns. In
(10:20):
other words, a lot of hard work, and while it's
easier to implement these changes in a small wildlife management area,
it gives landowners a blueprint for doing the same on
their properties. If they identify a low performing spot and
a corn or soybean field, they can transform it using
these techniques with the funding from federal and state programs.
The unfortunate truth is that upland numbers are probably never
(10:42):
going to be what they once were. The transformation of
small farms into monocultures has eliminated the hedgerows where these
birds thrive. The proliferation of miso predators like raccoons has
decimated broods, and urban sprawl has destroyed grasslands. But we
can still do the best with what we have, and
one of the most important tools in a biologist toolbox
(11:02):
is good information. Nate huck, a migratory game bird consulting
with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, sent me an
email reporting that one hundred and twenty hundreds submitted nine
hundred and twenty seven upland hunting diaries last year. We've
talked about these diaries before. They're a great idea. We
gave some stuff away last year. We'll figure out something
this year too. To promote your diaries, because it's just
(11:25):
good practice, something to hand off to the kids or grandkids,
or you know, maybe some other luddite in your life.
Wildlife departments ask hunters to record where they hunted, what
they saw, and what they harvested, and biologists use that
data to make good decisions. This is the first year
the diary program has been operating, and Nate says it's
(11:45):
a strong start, but they need more lots more so,
if you hunt birds in Minnesota, be sure to submit
your hunting diary next year. If you don't, the state
you do hunt might also ask for a survey or report,
and I encourage you to fill it out. And in
I know the state of North Dakota is dying for
hunters to report what's happening in their season. It takes
(12:07):
a little bit of time. It's just part of your responsibility.
Gag make it happen. Moving on to the crime desk,
in Idaho, man has been sentenced for his role in
a black market scheme to buy and sell big game tags.
We covered this story back in episode three oh seven,
and you can also check out Jordan Siller's article over
(12:29):
at the Meat Eater dot com At the time, we
told you about how Carl Stuter had been accused of
an enormous number of wildlife violations. He'd killed the bull
elk on someone else's tag, He'd taken more elk than
he was supposed to, and he'd illegally scouted for elk
with a helicopter. He'd shot a pronghorn from he claimed
seven hundred and sixty yards, loaded it still alive, into
(12:51):
his truck, and taking a video. Most concerning to me,
he'd made a habit of buying and selling landowner tags.
These tags are available to Idaho landowners via a lottery,
and it is illegal to sell or market them, but
that market does exist, and Carl has taken advantage of it.
We've got an aff David showing hundreds of text messages
(13:11):
between him and his buddies proving that he'd spent over
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars purchasing landowner appreciation tags
in twenty twenty three. The case against him was rock solid,
which is probably why you took Amplete deal rather than
face a jury of his peers. But the details of
that deal have some Idaho hunters up in arms. Student
pled guilty to a single felony account of illegally harvesting
(13:32):
a moose, in exchange for six other felonies to be
dropped for that one felony. Stud was fined one hundred
and eighty thousand dollars and will serve five years of
unsupervised probation along with fifty hours of community service, twenty
five of which must be dedicated to wildlife preservation and
or conservation. Studor has also been banned from hunting and
Idaho every again, which, thanks to the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact,
(13:57):
bans him from obtaining a hunting license in most other
states as well. During his five year probationary period, he
cannot accompany any other hunters into the field outside his
own property. That's a pretty steep penalty for a poacher.
But I know many of you were hoping this guy
would get some jail time. We wondered about the same thing,
which is why Jordan reached out to Twin Falls County
(14:19):
Prosecuting Attorney Grant Lobes, whose office handled this case. I
won't get into everything he said, but basically, Lobes argued
that this was the highest penalty we could expect for
someone without a previous criminal record. Loebes claimed that no
first time offender in Idaho's history has ever served jail
time for a wildlife violation, no matter how egregious. The
(14:40):
fact that he will never again be allowed to legally
hunt is a big win. And if he violates the
terms of his deal, you can bet he'll see the
inside of a cell. He was also fined for each
of the animals he poached, not just the moose, which
is why his fines are so high. He might not
be the outcome we're hoping for, but it's a really
good outcome gang, and he was caught. As a great example.
(15:04):
Student is still listed as a top exec for an
electrical services provider called Quantus Services. Students sold six point
three million in Quanta shares in twenty twenty four, which
definitely turned heads at the publicly traded company. You might
argue that a rich guy like Student will have the
means to continue his life of crime, but I also
wonder if a guy was so much to lose, we'll
(15:25):
keep risking it all for another trophy bowl. He might
be like that, or he might not want to risk
his cushy, high paying job, especially if they keep him
on as a convicted felon. The jury's out on whether
Oldkarl will make the right decision, but I can say
with confidence that a Wisconsin man named Richard Waters made
the wrong one. Earlier this year, Waters made waves in
(15:47):
the deer hunting world by displaying an incredible forty nine
point white tail rack at the Open Season Deer and
Turkey Expo in the Wisconsin Dells. The non typical rack
was panel scored by the Wisconsin Buck and Bear Club
and netted over three hundred and six inches, which sounds
too good to be true because it's well ahead of
the state standing record a two hundred and fifty three
(16:08):
inch deer. If you want the real deeds here, you
can go over to the mediator dot com. Sage Marshall
did a great rite up here. Now, if you know
anything about hunting records, you know that the new record
is usually only a little bit bigger than the previous one,
especially if it's real, real big. So that was already
a red flag. Like I said, too good to be true,
(16:28):
As many in the deer hunting world pointed out. The
Wisconsin DNR launched an investigation, and what they found surprise
to almost no one. Not only was Waters deer from
a game farm and not Marquette County as he claimed,
he wasn't even the one who shot him. The DNR
discovered that Yoder Whitetails Deer Farm had sold the rack
to an acquaintance of Waters, who, seeing a potential financial investment,
(16:51):
had purchased the rack from that acquaintance. He then had
a taxidermis mount the rack using the cape from a
different deer, and hired a photographer to take pictures of
him holding his new trophy. Ooh, this guy has never
seen a crime show on TV. He's got too many
loose ends here, kids. He also asked the photographer to
photoshop the rack onto another deer's body to try to
(17:13):
fool people he'd shot the deer from the wild, but
that photog refused to do it. Good for you anyway.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recorded an interaction between Waters and
his wife that may go down as one of the
funniest in the history of the crime desk. Quote. God,
I thought you were smarter than this, Water's wife, Brenda said,
within earshot of a reporter quote. I'm stupid, yes, Her
(17:38):
husband replied, at least he's self aware, which is more
than I can say for most wildlife criminals. I do
need to point out if only we knew the significant
others of the rest of these poachers, if they were
like Brenda here, I think we could agree that we
could put up with smaller fines in lieu of the
hell they catch it home. Over the fishing Accident's desk,
(18:01):
an unidentified man fishing off the coast of Seaside, Oregon,
was swept out to sea and drowned late last month.
Seaside Fire and Rescue responded to a distress call at
eight thirty eight am on June twenty five, but rescue
swimmers were not able to reach the man in time,
pulling him from the waves at eight point fifty two
and taking him to Providence Seaside Hospital, where he was
(18:22):
pronounced dead. That same day, just seventy five miles north
in Capolis Beach, Washington, four other people were knocked down
by waves and pulled out into the water while surf casting.
Two of the anglers made it back to shore safely,
but the two others were not so lucky. After a
rescue attempt, the Gray's County Sheriffs and Ocean Shores police
recovered their bodies from the water and pronounced them dead
(18:44):
at the scene. This part of the Pacific Northwest is
a huge draw for people going after seafood, both commercially
and recreationally. Capolis Beach at the north and Seaside at
the south marked the two ends of the most productive
Pacific razorclam habitat in the world wide. Stable sandy beaches
there contain tens of millions of the bivalves, and ninety
percent of each state's annual clam harvest comes from this
(19:08):
stretch of coast, which also contains the mouth of the
Columbia River. Razor clams are especially fun to go after
because they dig down the sand so fast, up to
a foot per minute, going as deep as four feet.
Once you see the clams characteristic dimple in the sand,
you have to shovel as fast as you can to
outraise the little guys. Digging for clams and fishing from
(19:28):
the shore don't seem like particularly dangerous pursuits, but ocean
conditions are always unpredictable. It's not a bad idea to
have a PFD with you for when the swells get big,
but you still want to take a few more casts
from the beach that's a personal floatation device. Meanwhile, across
the country, in Varo Beach, Florida, the Indian River County
Sheriff's Office also received an urgent distress call in late
(19:51):
June from an angler who had sustained injuries and was
unable to locate a fishing companion after their fan boat
flipped over. Rescue crews raised scene, including Sheriff's office personnel,
a fire rescue team, and Florida Fish and Wildlife staff,
along with the US Coast Guard helicopter that had been
scrambled from one hundred and fifty miles away clear across
the state. The team was relieved to find the voter,
(20:13):
Derek Howard, alive and well, but they were considerably less
cheerful when they learned that the distress call had been
completely fabricated. Howard's boat had just run out of gas,
and he'd invented the wild yarn to get assistants asap.
With real emergencies like the ones in Seaside and Capala's
Beach happening every day, the authorities charged him with misusing
nine to one one and filing a false report to
(20:35):
law enforcement that was probably not the expedited attention that
Howard was hoping for. He could have killed somebody by
diverting law enforcement like that. It's a big deal. Over
to the Cathedral of the Forest Desk, the long long
battle for Sunday hunting in pennsyl Tucky, Pennsylvania may finally
be coming to an end. On July one, House Bill
(20:55):
fourteen thirty one reached the desk of Governor Josh Shapiro
after passing out of the House and Senate. The bill
would lift the ban on Sunday hunting during all hunting
seasons in the Keystone State. Right now, Pennsylvania only allows
the hunting of foxes, coyotes, and crows on Sundays, and
since twenty nineteen they have added three other Sundays in
the fall hunting season, one in the archery deer season,
(21:16):
one in rifle deer season, and one during rifle bear season.
But we know that Pennsylvania has some of the country's
most avid hunters, and they've been calling for a full
repeal of the ban for more than a decade, led
by Chair of the Game and Fisheries Committee, Senator Greg Groffman.
Rothman said it's an idea whose time has come. As
we've covered in the past, adding this one day to
(21:37):
the weekend would double most working people's time in the field,
and with participation in youth sports now at an all
time high, many kids with games on Saturday have missed
out on hunting opportunities altogether until right now. Adding one
more weekend day would also be a significant boost to
hunter recruitment and retention in the state, where the Game
Commission depends on nearly sixty million dollars in hunting license
(21:59):
sales every year. The ban has also hamstringed the hunting
industry in Pennsylvania, as out of staters have been reluctant
to travel for a three day weekend if they have
to sit one of those days out. HB fourteen thirty
one wouldn't automatically make every Sunday open to hunting. The
Game Commission would still need to approve adding specific days
to the season, but the bill removes any barrier from
(22:20):
the Commission's decision making. Opponents often cite the possibility that birdwatchers,
dog walkers, and the like might stay out of the
woods out of fear if the ban were lifted. Brook
Glenker of The Keystone Trails Association told the Pennsylvania Capital Star, quote,
we just feel that additional sundays open to hunting has
the potential to erode quality hiking opportunities on Pennsylvania's trails.
(22:43):
A lot of hiking occurs on weekends, but accidents involving
non hunters on weekends have been virtually non existent across
the country. If Governor Shapiro signs the bill, the only
two remaining states with total bands on Sunday hunting would
be Maine and Massachusetts. But who knows, maybe Penncilvania will
be the domino that makes those other states fall. Pennsylvania's
(23:04):
blue laws against hunting have their genesis in the Quaker
founding of the Commonwealth, when church leaders believe that Sundays
should be preserved only for prayer. Just pausing here, because
I know all you hunters and anglers out there have
done your own form of praying, somehow, some way on
a hunt day. I sure have prayer takes different forms
(23:25):
for different people. In twenty twenty four, pastor and hunting
advocate Ry Bailey told the news outlet the Bradley Era, quote,
God has given us the outdoors and hunting to enjoy.
His creation and that is meant to be enjoyed each
and every day of the week. I once hunted before
church shot a deer, left the woods to go to church,
then went back and recovered the deer after church. That's
(23:46):
a heck of a pastor right there. Huge, huge kudos
to the Pennsylvania Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. Don Rank,
who currently sits on the North American Board for BHA,
was a major, major champion of this. The rest of
the folks in the Pennsylvania chapter Chris Hennessy as well.
I mean, you guys crushed it. Well well done. Celebrate
(24:10):
this one. Pennsylvanians. Call Governor Shapiro at seven one seven
seven eight seven twenty five hundred to get him to
sign this one, or you can text him with lots
of relevant emojis at seven one, seven seven eight eight
eight nine nine zero. That's a joke. Folks, be pro
say your thank yous, and share your passions. That's all
(24:33):
I got for you this week. Thank you so much
for listening. Remember to write in to ask c Al
that's ask Cal at the Meteater dot com. Let me
know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
I appreciate you. We'll talk to you soon.
Host
Cal Callaghan
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