November 24, 2025 • 23 mins
This week, Cal covers the worst duck call, a cheating "kayak" angler, gator poachers, Colorado bison, 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 Col's Week in Review with Ryan cow Callahan. Here's
cal as important as they are to attend. No one
has ever accused of Fish and Wildlife Meeting of being entertaining,
but there's a first time for everything, and thanks to
listener David Jacobs, I'm here to bring you one of
(00:32):
the most memorable moments from a recent gathering of the
Washington State Fish and Wildlife commission.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
My name is John Martin. I'm from Mount Lake Terrace.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
John explains to the commissioners that he's wearing a button
that says I speak for Washington Wildlife, as he proceeds
to demonstrate that's exactly what he's there to do.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Are you ready wackaacka Those are the ducks. They couldn't
be here today because they're playing football in Oregon. Have
to stand up for this one raw as a bear.
The bears couldn't be here today because they're playing football
in Chicago. That's supposed to be a whale. You know
(01:17):
how people have earthquake fills, Well, the whales couldn't be
here because they're having a ferry and powerboat drill lots
of fish has to be here, lots and lots of fish.
But instead I'm going to ask you their request. They
request that next time you hold this meeting, please hold
it under water.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Mister Martin explains that the Wildlife Commissioners are there to
represent animals, not the people of Washington State.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
You don't represent human beings. You represent those who I
tried to speak for. They couldn't be here today. You
don't represent the governor. You represent wildlife. And the question
I have to ask you is what would wildlife say?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Now? I could make a joke here about his animal impressions.
It doesn't sound like he's ever heard a duck in
the wild, much less a whale. I could also argue
with his contention that the Fish and Wildlife Commission represents
wildlife as if they were voted in by strong turnout
from the otters and salmon, but I won't. I'm actually
pretty impressed with old John, not because I agree with him,
(02:23):
but because he was willing to stand in public, video
recorded meeting and do something so memorable. I don't recommend
imitating John's tactics or god awful animal calls, but I
like his spirit and that's definitely something we can all
learn from. This week, We've got cheats, wildlife, crime, wolves,
and so much more. But first I'm going to tell
you about my week. And my week has been steep
(02:47):
climbing tall mountains in the fog, clouds in sleep with
my only truly custom rifle I've ever ordered, my fifty
eight caliber Hawkin. This is a low success, high fun
hunt for big bulls. Actually it's an either sex tag,
but I'm trying to maximize it. We've been finding the
small bulls running with the cows and calves until tonight
(03:08):
three mature bulls hanging together high above everyone else. Problem is,
the weather is so bad you can't see them most
of the time. In fact, today it was the only
day I loaded the rifle, and that was a win.
Hiked in the damp, intermittent snow and fog for three
hours after the loading, and upon reaching the trailhead after dark,
(03:29):
I pulled the trigger and the flint hit the thing
that it's supposed to and she went bang. Big boost
to the confidence. Tomorrow, the weather is the worst it's
been in the forecast, but I've only got two days
to hunt, so we shall suffer up a long drainage
in the wet, then up a steep ridge in the
wet that will come up from the brush and down
(03:51):
from the heavens, and pray for gaps in the clouds
long enough to relocate the trio. We'll wait out the
wind until it's right crawling position, and hope she goes
bang again. It's as simple as that. Well, a few
other things have to go right, if I'm being honest,
But the important thing here to remember is big, beautiful
(04:13):
public lands are the places we get to challenge ourselves.
I am more and more thankful for the freedom these
places afford than ever before. And trust me, you really
think about freedom when you're packing around the old flint lock.
I swear when I bring that hammer back, something deep
in my soul whispers, no taxation without representation. Every day
(04:36):
out here is precious. Let's not forget why we have
these special places. We demanded it. Let's keep it up
from right now on through the new year. Hoping y'all
have a great safe end of fall and a winter
hunting season. And selfishly to telling you about a great
big mountain bowl I spanked in the snow with a
(04:57):
flint lock hawk in fifty eight. Moving on to the
cheater's desk. A tournament angler from PA was caught cheating
last week when officials discovered him using a cutout from
a kayak to stage his photo entries. Jacob Houseman had
entered a kayak fishing tournament in New York back in June.
(05:18):
But this wasn't your typical weekend fishing contest with observers
and judges on site. This was a month long tournament
in which contestants fished on their own time and submitted
photos of the fish they caught. Well, Houseman had a
brilliant idea to cheat the system. Instead of fishing from
a kayak, which was one of the requirements of this contest,
(05:39):
he fished from his motorized bass boat. Then, when he
caught a fish he wanted to enter, he used to
cut out from a neon green kayak to stage the photo.
The cutout still had the seat, along with a couple
feet of plastic in front, which is where you'd lay
a fish to snap your photo if you were actually
paddling a kayak. The plan almost worked, tournament directors accepted.
(05:59):
How Elseman's entry and the small mouth earned him a
cool two hundred dollars. But that's when Houseman started to
go wrong. About a month after the tournament ended, he
posted a photo of that same fish on Instagram, but
this time he was holding it on his boat. Serious
anglers are a lot like serious whitetail hunters. They can
identify the smallest marks and fin shapes, and it didn't
(06:20):
take long for someone to notice Houseman's deceit. Further investigation
revealed a photo of the fake kayak on Houseman's boat,
and he was forced to give up his winnings. Social
media gets a lot of hate from the hunting community,
but as regular Call of the Wild listeners know, this
isn't the first time a poacher or cheater has gotten
caught thanks to the gram. These people just can't help themselves.
(06:42):
Speaking to people who just can't help themselves, let's move
on over to the crime desk. A Florida man was
arrested back in October for poaching an alligator, but the
story and his charges were just announced last week by
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Local media reports
that game wardens were patrolling the Tate's Hell Wildlife Management
(07:02):
Area in Franklin County when they saw a truck acting suspiciously.
I suppose the truck wasn't acting suspiciously, but they say
it's artificial lights were set up quote in a manner
consistent with disclosing the presence of wildlife. A guy who's
spotlighting in Layman's storms. They kept an eye on the
truck and it wasn't long before it stopped A fellow
(07:22):
named Morgan Ryan Bab. The MRB got out, walked over
to a water filled ditch and pulled the line. On
the other end of that line was an alligator snagged
on a hook, and Bab shot the animal with a rifle.
The game boards hit the lights on their patrol vehicles
while Bab tried to drag the gator back into the
ditch and pretend like nothing had happened. But the jig
was up. Bab was booked for hunting gaiters without a
(07:45):
license or tag and for using an illegal means of take.
You can use a hook and line to catch a gator,
but you can't use a metal hook if you're using
raw meat as bait. Bab had baited a steel hook
with mullet, and he'd also left the line tied around
a tree, which is illegal. What's more, the only firearm
you're allowed to use to dispatch a gator is a
bang stick. A bankstick is a device that allows you
(08:07):
to fit a shell or cartridge into a metal cylinder
on the end of a pole, which detonates when you
slam the stick into whatever you want to dispatch. But
Bab used what looks like a twenty two rifle to
kill his gator, which added yet another line on his
rap sheet. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is looking for the
person who shot a Rocky Mountain big horn ram and
(08:27):
left it to rot. Game wardens said the half curl
ram was found in game Management Unit six p't eighty one,
about two hundred yards from County Road thirty eight FF.
It was shot in the guts, but the initial investigation
revealed that it likely died not far from where it
was shot. Nothing had been harvested from the animal, which
suggests to me that it was shot from the road.
(08:49):
Someone likely saw it as they were driving, decided to
take a pot shot, but didn't have the nerve to
get out of their vehicle and go retrieve the horns
or meat. Whoever did it is facing serious comp sequence's
poach and can carry a felony charge in Colorado and
result in a lifetime hunting ban and in this case,
a whopping one hundred thousand dollars fine. Whoever did this
(09:11):
in the hunter so the hunting band isn't a big
deal with that one hundred k is going to hurt.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to send
an anonymous tip to game dot thief at State dot
co dot US. Game dot thief at State dot co
dot US. The ram was found November eleven, and officials
(09:32):
believe it was shot several days prior to that. Moving
on to the wolf desk, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service announced last month that it will no longer release
a nationwide recovery plan for the gray wolf. Under the
Biden administration, the Service said it would develop a plan
to identify threats to wolves and protect them nationwide, but
(09:53):
the Trump administration says that's not necessary. They say that
wolves should be delisted from the Endangered Species Act, so
there's no need to go through the hassle of proposing
and approving a nationwide recovery effort. Gray wolves are currently
listed as endangered in forty four states and as threatened
in Minnesota, but they have been delisted in an area
of the Northern Rocky Mountains covering Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, portions
(10:15):
of eastern Washington State, and Oregon, and a small region
in northern Utah. In this area, there are as many
as twenty seven hundred wolves. Whether you agree with the
Biden or Trump administrations depends on how you feel about
wolves expanding their current range. Some even people who supported
the original reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies,
(10:36):
think the current situation is pretty good. The wolf population
is strong and thriving in the areas where they live,
and we shouldn't worry too much about making sure they're
protected in the rest of the country. On the other hand,
wolves historically covered the vast majority of the continental US.
If you'd like to see wildlife in the same area
as they lived before European contact, we have a heck
(10:57):
of a long way to go. We have to make
sure wolves are protect from coast to coast if we
want to see that historic vision become a reality. If
you think raccoons make a racket in your trash cans
are scary at night, wait till the old Lobo comes
to visit wherever you follow on this debate, it's clear
that the current administration is planning to push for a delisting.
(11:17):
If that happens, it'll be yet another swing in the
carnival ride that is wolf policy in the US. As always,
we're here to keep you up to date, no matter
where that ferris wheel takes us, staying at the Wolf Desk.
A couple weeks back, we let you know that the
US Fish and Wildlife Service had prevented Colorado from importing
wolves from Canada for its relocation program, instructing that any
(11:41):
incoming wolves would have to come from quote unquote northern
Rocky Mountain states, almost all of which have refused to
participate in Colorado's effort. Well, another state has now bowed out.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Service Commission this week voted
eight to one against sending wolves to Colorado. The commission
justified its refusal by stating that we'la are still listed
as endangered in Washington that its own recovery plan remains ongoing.
(12:05):
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission member Lorna Smith said, quote,
given that we have our largest recovery area in the
state still missing any wolf pairs. Staff has cautioned us
against going down that road. Translocation is really really hard
on animals. There's no denying that, and there is a
certain expected mortality rate among translocated animals. Smith refers to
(12:27):
one of the quote unquote recovery areas that are part
of Washington's wolf plan statewide, Washington has committed to delisting
wolves if there are fifteen breeding pairs in the state
for at least three years, and in fact, there have
been well over that number for several years in a row. However,
almost all of these breeding pairs are concentrated in two
of the state's four recovery areas, but the recovery plant
(12:50):
stipulates that there must be four breeding pairs in each
one of the recovery areas before delisting. If the Washington
FWSC had wanted to, they could have agreed to relocate
wolves from recovery areas that are well over their objectives,
but they declined to do so. The next stop will
likely be Oregon, where most of Colorado's relocated wolves have
come from so far, but the picture is also complicated.
(13:13):
In Oregon, wolves are listed as federally endangered in the
Western two thirds of the state, but in the eastern
third wolves have now exceeded their recovery objectives. I can
imagine there are certain Eastern Oregonians in ag who would
be more than happy to ship off some predators, but
will see if the state Department of Fish and Wildlife
share those beliefs. And what if Colorado can't find any
(13:35):
wolves this year and violates its legally mandated fifteen wolf
per year relocation quota. Staying in Colorado, another charismatic species,
has been doing well enough in the centennial state that
it has now earned itself a new management category. The
CPW said in a statement quote, free ranging bison that
(13:56):
naturally enter the state from neighboring jurisdictions will now be
made managed as wildlife, especially as a big game species,
under Colorado Parks and Wildlife's authority. As of now, you
cannot go hunt a buffalo in Colorado, So if chat
GPT tells you that you can do, not believe them,
but that will be subject to change starting next year.
CPW is currently developing a bison management roster where hunters
(14:20):
can enroll and be eligible to be selected at random
if management action through hunting becomes necessary. A public application
form and drawing system is expected on the CPW website
in January. Ladies and gentlemen, you can be one hundred
percent sure that the name Ryan Callahan will be on
that roster. Your name should be on there too. Of course,
(14:41):
I'm not holding my breath that I'll be doing any
gripping grins with a two ton Colorado bohemoth anytime soon.
The state currently has no native population of wild bison,
and all the animals you might find there are visitors
from Utah. Utah has about thirteen hundred wild bison in
three separate areas, the Antelope Island Herd in the north
central part of the state, the Henry Mountains Heard in
(15:02):
the south central, and these animals from the Book Cliffs
region further east, which number about four hundred and fifty
in growing. Although buffalo are very controversial up north in Montana,
the mood about this bison migration has been calm in Colorado,
as the Book Cliffs Heard has never been tested positive
for brucellosis. Although I get as excited as anyone at
(15:25):
the prospect of hunting such an iconic species, Colorado made
this new classification largely to have a way to penalize
people for killing or capturing wild migrating bison illegally. Before now,
you'd be in a legal gray area for those actions.
But when this law takes effect on January one, there
will be a penalty of between one thousand dollars and
(15:45):
one hundred thousand dollars for illegal possession of a wild bison,
as well as a possible year in jail and twenty
licensed suspension points. But zooming out this bureaucratic decision is
outstanding news. In two thousand and twenty five, their healthy
growing populations of buffalo on the American landscape. If you
went back in time and told people in say, eighteen
(16:07):
eighty five, they would have thought you were out of
your mind. Quick update to our segment last week covering
the nomination of Steve Pierce to become head of the BLM.
Pierce's long held opposition to public lands has now come
to light. During the twenty twelve presidential election, Pierce said
that he opposed Teddy Roosevelt's quote big ideas of big
(16:29):
forests and big national parks, and that if Mitt Romney
were elected, he would quote reverse this trend of public
ownership of lance. That same year, Pierce lobbied Congress to
sell public land for oil and gas drilling, writing, quote,
over ninety percent of this land is located in the
Western States, and most of it we do not even
need ol Steve's talking for himself there. I'm sure he
(16:53):
can agree with me on that one. In twenty sixteen,
as a member of Congress, he co sponsored the Herd Act,
which intended to quote provide for the orderly disposal of
certain federal lands. That bill died in committee, but as
we all know far too well, those ideas never seem
to die. He has called for shrinking existing national monuments
and placing a limit on the designation and size of
(17:15):
future national monuments. Crucially, his opposition to public lands were
cited by the Center for Western Priorities as a key
reason he lost his race for New Mexico governor to
Michelle Luhan Grisham. When are these politicians going to learn
that opposition to public lands is also going to lose
them a whole bunch of upcoming elections. Pierce's nomination will
(17:35):
now go to the US Senate, but we don't know
exactly when. As I mentioned last episode, former head of BLM,
William Perry Penley served in that position without his nomination
ever coming to a vote. He was a sitting or
acting director or something like that. Gang, it's no surprise
that there's a lot of folks in key positions in
(17:57):
Washington are possibly heading to Washington that live in a bubble.
They don't know or maybe possibly refuse to understand how
important these places are to us, the American people. If
we don't stand up for these places, really really stand
up for these places, we can lose them. Now, Steve's
(18:21):
previous track record, his previous statements they don't look good,
doesn't make me think, oh, good deal, on the right track. However,
what matters is what he does going forward, if he
is nominated, if he does sit or act as the
head of the BLM. And I don't care if you're
(18:43):
a Republican or a Democrat or what you said in
the past, if you do good things in that seat,
that's what matters. Everybody's capable of this. This guy rough start,
bad track record, but we have got to spend time
and can vinced these people of that. Hunters again are
(19:04):
poised to be the greatest voices for BLM lands. We
know the true values of these places that quote unquote
have nothing on them quote unquote, would be better served
for the American people as sold off or developed. We
know these places are putting in a hell of a
lot of work for us, and we got to stand
(19:26):
up for him. That's all there is to it. This
is where the rubber meets the road. Next up the
Terrible tick desk. First known death from the tickborn meat
allergy alpha gl syndrome has been reported this month in
New Jersey. In September twenty twenty four, a forty seven
year old the airline pilot returned home after an afternoon barbecue,
(19:48):
and despite feeling well enough to mow the lawn and
read a newspaper, he began to suffer severe abdominal distress
and was found dead by his son in the family's
bathroom later that evening. The man had no history of
other health conditions, and medical examiners cannot determine the cause
of death, listing it as quote unexplained on the man's
autopsy report. By chance, the man's wife discussed the details
(20:10):
of the tragedy with a doctor and researcher, Aaron mcpheely.
Based on the facts of the case, mcpheeley suspected that
an allergic reaction may have been the cause, and she'd
contacted her colleague, Thomas Platt's Mills, the University of Virginia
allergist who discovered the link between AGS alpha gal syndrome
and lone star tick bites in two thousand and two.
(20:30):
Plat Mills called for an analysis of a blood sample
from the deceased pilot and discovered an extremely high level
of the enzyme trip tase, evidence of severe anaphylactic shock.
He told NBC News Quote. The level he had is
basically only seen in fatal cases of anaphylaxis. His level
was two thousand. The highest level I have seen in
(20:52):
practice of a person who survived is one hundred. The
same analysis also discovered the presence of antibodies to the
alpha gal carbohydrate, providing further evidence that the tick borne
illness was the cause of death, likely brought on by
a hamburger the man had been eaten at the barbecue
that day. The man's family confirmed that he had suffered
(21:12):
from a similar adverse reaction to eating a steak two
weeks before the fatal incident, probing further for the cause
of the infection. Researchers learned that in the summer of
twenty twenty three, the man had suffered welts along his
ankles that the family had attributed to jiggers, but were
more likely bites from lone star tick larvae. In the
study that mcpheeley and plat Mills published in the journal
(21:34):
Allergy and Clinical Immunology, they emphasized how few doctors know
what AGS even is. According to the CDC, forty two
percent of doctors had never heard of AGS, and another
thirty five percent didn't have confidence that they could diagnose
it or treat people suffering from the condition. This creates
a real danger of people being infected and not knowing it.
(21:56):
Referring to the New Jersey case, plat Mill said, quote,
the tragedy is the doctors didn't think of that episode
as anaphal axis and therefore didn't connect it to the
beef at the time. The implications for hunters are clear. First,
we are more likely than anyone to be in areas
with ticks and to be hands on with their most
common hosts, the white tailed deer. We also have a
(22:19):
lot to lose if we can't eat red meat anymore.
That means you should be applying the tick repellent permethron
to all your hunting clothes and boots, and always have
a loved one or at least someone who's okay seeing
you in your birthday suit conduct a tick check on
you when your return from the field. News like this
should also prompt hunters in cities to seek out opportunities
(22:39):
in suburban and semi rural places where deer populations are
overwhelming local residents. One source cited by the University of
Virginia study called deer in New Jersey a quote unsustainable
statewide emergency. If you live in an apartment in New
York City, DC, Atlanta, Houston, or many other parts of
the country without a ton of public land around you,
(23:01):
conquer your shyness. Call up your aunt who lives in
a nearby subdivision. Find out if she or her friends
are tired of having their landscaping eaten to the ground.
It might not be as sexy as chasing doll sheep
in Alaska, but there are a lot of animals right
next door to you. People are having a tough time
dealing with them, and you could establish some relationships that
(23:21):
fill your freezer for many years to come. That's all
I got for you this week. Thank you so much
for listening, and remember to write in to ask c
Al that's Ascal at the meat eater dot com. Let
me know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
You know we appreciate it.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Col's Week in Review with Ryan cow Callahan. Here's
cal as important as they are to attend. No one
has ever accused of Fish and Wildlife Meeting of being entertaining,
but there's a first time for everything, and thanks to
listener David Jacobs, I'm here to bring you one of
(00:32):
the most memorable moments from a recent gathering of the
Washington State Fish and Wildlife commission.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
My name is John Martin. I'm from Mount Lake Terrace.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
John explains to the commissioners that he's wearing a button
that says I speak for Washington Wildlife, as he proceeds
to demonstrate that's exactly what he's there to do.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Are you ready wackaacka Those are the ducks. They couldn't
be here today because they're playing football in Oregon. Have
to stand up for this one raw as a bear.
The bears couldn't be here today because they're playing football
in Chicago. That's supposed to be a whale. You know
(01:17):
how people have earthquake fills, Well, the whales couldn't be
here because they're having a ferry and powerboat drill lots
of fish has to be here, lots and lots of fish.
But instead I'm going to ask you their request. They
request that next time you hold this meeting, please hold
it under water.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Mister Martin explains that the Wildlife Commissioners are there to
represent animals, not the people of Washington State.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
You don't represent human beings. You represent those who I
tried to speak for. They couldn't be here today. You
don't represent the governor. You represent wildlife. And the question
I have to ask you is what would wildlife say?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Now? I could make a joke here about his animal impressions.
It doesn't sound like he's ever heard a duck in
the wild, much less a whale. I could also argue
with his contention that the Fish and Wildlife Commission represents
wildlife as if they were voted in by strong turnout
from the otters and salmon, but I won't. I'm actually
pretty impressed with old John, not because I agree with him,
(02:23):
but because he was willing to stand in public, video
recorded meeting and do something so memorable. I don't recommend
imitating John's tactics or god awful animal calls, but I
like his spirit and that's definitely something we can all
learn from. This week, We've got cheats, wildlife, crime, wolves,
and so much more. But first I'm going to tell
you about my week. And my week has been steep
(02:47):
climbing tall mountains in the fog, clouds in sleep with
my only truly custom rifle I've ever ordered, my fifty
eight caliber Hawkin. This is a low success, high fun
hunt for big bulls. Actually it's an either sex tag,
but I'm trying to maximize it. We've been finding the
small bulls running with the cows and calves until tonight
(03:08):
three mature bulls hanging together high above everyone else. Problem is,
the weather is so bad you can't see them most
of the time. In fact, today it was the only
day I loaded the rifle, and that was a win.
Hiked in the damp, intermittent snow and fog for three
hours after the loading, and upon reaching the trailhead after dark,
(03:29):
I pulled the trigger and the flint hit the thing
that it's supposed to and she went bang. Big boost
to the confidence. Tomorrow, the weather is the worst it's
been in the forecast, but I've only got two days
to hunt, so we shall suffer up a long drainage
in the wet, then up a steep ridge in the
wet that will come up from the brush and down
(03:51):
from the heavens, and pray for gaps in the clouds
long enough to relocate the trio. We'll wait out the
wind until it's right crawling position, and hope she goes
bang again. It's as simple as that. Well, a few
other things have to go right, if I'm being honest,
But the important thing here to remember is big, beautiful
(04:13):
public lands are the places we get to challenge ourselves.
I am more and more thankful for the freedom these
places afford than ever before. And trust me, you really
think about freedom when you're packing around the old flint lock.
I swear when I bring that hammer back, something deep
in my soul whispers, no taxation without representation. Every day
(04:36):
out here is precious. Let's not forget why we have
these special places. We demanded it. Let's keep it up
from right now on through the new year. Hoping y'all
have a great safe end of fall and a winter
hunting season. And selfishly to telling you about a great
big mountain bowl I spanked in the snow with a
(04:57):
flint lock hawk in fifty eight. Moving on to the
cheater's desk. A tournament angler from PA was caught cheating
last week when officials discovered him using a cutout from
a kayak to stage his photo entries. Jacob Houseman had
entered a kayak fishing tournament in New York back in June.
(05:18):
But this wasn't your typical weekend fishing contest with observers
and judges on site. This was a month long tournament
in which contestants fished on their own time and submitted
photos of the fish they caught. Well, Houseman had a
brilliant idea to cheat the system. Instead of fishing from
a kayak, which was one of the requirements of this contest,
(05:39):
he fished from his motorized bass boat. Then, when he
caught a fish he wanted to enter, he used to
cut out from a neon green kayak to stage the photo.
The cutout still had the seat, along with a couple
feet of plastic in front, which is where you'd lay
a fish to snap your photo if you were actually
paddling a kayak. The plan almost worked, tournament directors accepted.
(05:59):
How Elseman's entry and the small mouth earned him a
cool two hundred dollars. But that's when Houseman started to
go wrong. About a month after the tournament ended, he
posted a photo of that same fish on Instagram, but
this time he was holding it on his boat. Serious
anglers are a lot like serious whitetail hunters. They can
identify the smallest marks and fin shapes, and it didn't
(06:20):
take long for someone to notice Houseman's deceit. Further investigation
revealed a photo of the fake kayak on Houseman's boat,
and he was forced to give up his winnings. Social
media gets a lot of hate from the hunting community,
but as regular Call of the Wild listeners know, this
isn't the first time a poacher or cheater has gotten
caught thanks to the gram. These people just can't help themselves.
(06:42):
Speaking to people who just can't help themselves, let's move
on over to the crime desk. A Florida man was
arrested back in October for poaching an alligator, but the
story and his charges were just announced last week by
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Local media reports
that game wardens were patrolling the Tate's Hell Wildlife Management
(07:02):
Area in Franklin County when they saw a truck acting suspiciously.
I suppose the truck wasn't acting suspiciously, but they say
it's artificial lights were set up quote in a manner
consistent with disclosing the presence of wildlife. A guy who's
spotlighting in Layman's storms. They kept an eye on the
truck and it wasn't long before it stopped A fellow
(07:22):
named Morgan Ryan Bab. The MRB got out, walked over
to a water filled ditch and pulled the line. On
the other end of that line was an alligator snagged
on a hook, and Bab shot the animal with a rifle.
The game boards hit the lights on their patrol vehicles
while Bab tried to drag the gator back into the
ditch and pretend like nothing had happened. But the jig
was up. Bab was booked for hunting gaiters without a
(07:45):
license or tag and for using an illegal means of take.
You can use a hook and line to catch a gator,
but you can't use a metal hook if you're using
raw meat as bait. Bab had baited a steel hook
with mullet, and he'd also left the line tied around
a tree, which is illegal. What's more, the only firearm
you're allowed to use to dispatch a gator is a
bang stick. A bankstick is a device that allows you
(08:07):
to fit a shell or cartridge into a metal cylinder
on the end of a pole, which detonates when you
slam the stick into whatever you want to dispatch. But
Bab used what looks like a twenty two rifle to
kill his gator, which added yet another line on his
rap sheet. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is looking for the
person who shot a Rocky Mountain big horn ram and
(08:27):
left it to rot. Game wardens said the half curl
ram was found in game Management Unit six p't eighty one,
about two hundred yards from County Road thirty eight FF.
It was shot in the guts, but the initial investigation
revealed that it likely died not far from where it
was shot. Nothing had been harvested from the animal, which
suggests to me that it was shot from the road.
(08:49):
Someone likely saw it as they were driving, decided to
take a pot shot, but didn't have the nerve to
get out of their vehicle and go retrieve the horns
or meat. Whoever did it is facing serious comp sequence's
poach and can carry a felony charge in Colorado and
result in a lifetime hunting ban and in this case,
a whopping one hundred thousand dollars fine. Whoever did this
(09:11):
in the hunter so the hunting band isn't a big
deal with that one hundred k is going to hurt.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to send
an anonymous tip to game dot thief at State dot
co dot US. Game dot thief at State dot co
dot US. The ram was found November eleven, and officials
(09:32):
believe it was shot several days prior to that. Moving
on to the wolf desk, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service announced last month that it will no longer release
a nationwide recovery plan for the gray wolf. Under the
Biden administration, the Service said it would develop a plan
to identify threats to wolves and protect them nationwide, but
(09:53):
the Trump administration says that's not necessary. They say that
wolves should be delisted from the Endangered Species Act, so
there's no need to go through the hassle of proposing
and approving a nationwide recovery effort. Gray wolves are currently
listed as endangered in forty four states and as threatened
in Minnesota, but they have been delisted in an area
of the Northern Rocky Mountains covering Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, portions
(10:15):
of eastern Washington State, and Oregon, and a small region
in northern Utah. In this area, there are as many
as twenty seven hundred wolves. Whether you agree with the
Biden or Trump administrations depends on how you feel about
wolves expanding their current range. Some even people who supported
the original reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies,
(10:36):
think the current situation is pretty good. The wolf population
is strong and thriving in the areas where they live,
and we shouldn't worry too much about making sure they're
protected in the rest of the country. On the other hand,
wolves historically covered the vast majority of the continental US.
If you'd like to see wildlife in the same area
as they lived before European contact, we have a heck
(10:57):
of a long way to go. We have to make
sure wolves are protect from coast to coast if we
want to see that historic vision become a reality. If
you think raccoons make a racket in your trash cans
are scary at night, wait till the old Lobo comes
to visit wherever you follow on this debate, it's clear
that the current administration is planning to push for a delisting.
(11:17):
If that happens, it'll be yet another swing in the
carnival ride that is wolf policy in the US. As always,
we're here to keep you up to date, no matter
where that ferris wheel takes us, staying at the Wolf Desk.
A couple weeks back, we let you know that the
US Fish and Wildlife Service had prevented Colorado from importing
wolves from Canada for its relocation program, instructing that any
(11:41):
incoming wolves would have to come from quote unquote northern
Rocky Mountain states, almost all of which have refused to
participate in Colorado's effort. Well, another state has now bowed out.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Service Commission this week voted
eight to one against sending wolves to Colorado. The commission
justified its refusal by stating that we'la are still listed
as endangered in Washington that its own recovery plan remains ongoing.
(12:05):
Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission member Lorna Smith said, quote,
given that we have our largest recovery area in the
state still missing any wolf pairs. Staff has cautioned us
against going down that road. Translocation is really really hard
on animals. There's no denying that, and there is a
certain expected mortality rate among translocated animals. Smith refers to
(12:27):
one of the quote unquote recovery areas that are part
of Washington's wolf plan statewide, Washington has committed to delisting
wolves if there are fifteen breeding pairs in the state
for at least three years, and in fact, there have
been well over that number for several years in a row. However,
almost all of these breeding pairs are concentrated in two
of the state's four recovery areas, but the recovery plant
(12:50):
stipulates that there must be four breeding pairs in each
one of the recovery areas before delisting. If the Washington
FWSC had wanted to, they could have agreed to relocate
wolves from recovery areas that are well over their objectives,
but they declined to do so. The next stop will
likely be Oregon, where most of Colorado's relocated wolves have
come from so far, but the picture is also complicated.
(13:13):
In Oregon, wolves are listed as federally endangered in the
Western two thirds of the state, but in the eastern
third wolves have now exceeded their recovery objectives. I can
imagine there are certain Eastern Oregonians in ag who would
be more than happy to ship off some predators, but
will see if the state Department of Fish and Wildlife
share those beliefs. And what if Colorado can't find any
(13:35):
wolves this year and violates its legally mandated fifteen wolf
per year relocation quota. Staying in Colorado, another charismatic species,
has been doing well enough in the centennial state that
it has now earned itself a new management category. The
CPW said in a statement quote, free ranging bison that
(13:56):
naturally enter the state from neighboring jurisdictions will now be
made managed as wildlife, especially as a big game species,
under Colorado Parks and Wildlife's authority. As of now, you
cannot go hunt a buffalo in Colorado, So if chat
GPT tells you that you can do, not believe them,
but that will be subject to change starting next year.
CPW is currently developing a bison management roster where hunters
(14:20):
can enroll and be eligible to be selected at random
if management action through hunting becomes necessary. A public application
form and drawing system is expected on the CPW website
in January. Ladies and gentlemen, you can be one hundred
percent sure that the name Ryan Callahan will be on
that roster. Your name should be on there too. Of course,
(14:41):
I'm not holding my breath that I'll be doing any
gripping grins with a two ton Colorado bohemoth anytime soon.
The state currently has no native population of wild bison,
and all the animals you might find there are visitors
from Utah. Utah has about thirteen hundred wild bison in
three separate areas, the Antelope Island Herd in the north
central part of the state, the Henry Mountains Heard in
(15:02):
the south central, and these animals from the Book Cliffs
region further east, which number about four hundred and fifty
in growing. Although buffalo are very controversial up north in Montana,
the mood about this bison migration has been calm in Colorado,
as the Book Cliffs Heard has never been tested positive
for brucellosis. Although I get as excited as anyone at
(15:25):
the prospect of hunting such an iconic species, Colorado made
this new classification largely to have a way to penalize
people for killing or capturing wild migrating bison illegally. Before now,
you'd be in a legal gray area for those actions.
But when this law takes effect on January one, there
will be a penalty of between one thousand dollars and
(15:45):
one hundred thousand dollars for illegal possession of a wild bison,
as well as a possible year in jail and twenty
licensed suspension points. But zooming out this bureaucratic decision is
outstanding news. In two thousand and twenty five, their healthy
growing populations of buffalo on the American landscape. If you
went back in time and told people in say, eighteen
(16:07):
eighty five, they would have thought you were out of
your mind. Quick update to our segment last week covering
the nomination of Steve Pierce to become head of the BLM.
Pierce's long held opposition to public lands has now come
to light. During the twenty twelve presidential election, Pierce said
that he opposed Teddy Roosevelt's quote big ideas of big
(16:29):
forests and big national parks, and that if Mitt Romney
were elected, he would quote reverse this trend of public
ownership of lance. That same year, Pierce lobbied Congress to
sell public land for oil and gas drilling, writing, quote,
over ninety percent of this land is located in the
Western States, and most of it we do not even
need ol Steve's talking for himself there. I'm sure he
(16:53):
can agree with me on that one. In twenty sixteen,
as a member of Congress, he co sponsored the Herd Act,
which intended to quote provide for the orderly disposal of
certain federal lands. That bill died in committee, but as
we all know far too well, those ideas never seem
to die. He has called for shrinking existing national monuments
and placing a limit on the designation and size of
(17:15):
future national monuments. Crucially, his opposition to public lands were
cited by the Center for Western Priorities as a key
reason he lost his race for New Mexico governor to
Michelle Luhan Grisham. When are these politicians going to learn
that opposition to public lands is also going to lose
them a whole bunch of upcoming elections. Pierce's nomination will
(17:35):
now go to the US Senate, but we don't know
exactly when. As I mentioned last episode, former head of BLM,
William Perry Penley served in that position without his nomination
ever coming to a vote. He was a sitting or
acting director or something like that. Gang, it's no surprise
that there's a lot of folks in key positions in
(17:57):
Washington are possibly heading to Washington that live in a bubble.
They don't know or maybe possibly refuse to understand how
important these places are to us, the American people. If
we don't stand up for these places, really really stand
up for these places, we can lose them. Now, Steve's
(18:21):
previous track record, his previous statements they don't look good,
doesn't make me think, oh, good deal, on the right track. However,
what matters is what he does going forward, if he
is nominated, if he does sit or act as the
head of the BLM. And I don't care if you're
(18:43):
a Republican or a Democrat or what you said in
the past, if you do good things in that seat,
that's what matters. Everybody's capable of this. This guy rough start,
bad track record, but we have got to spend time
and can vinced these people of that. Hunters again are
(19:04):
poised to be the greatest voices for BLM lands. We
know the true values of these places that quote unquote
have nothing on them quote unquote, would be better served
for the American people as sold off or developed. We
know these places are putting in a hell of a
lot of work for us, and we got to stand
(19:26):
up for him. That's all there is to it. This
is where the rubber meets the road. Next up the
Terrible tick desk. First known death from the tickborn meat
allergy alpha gl syndrome has been reported this month in
New Jersey. In September twenty twenty four, a forty seven
year old the airline pilot returned home after an afternoon barbecue,
(19:48):
and despite feeling well enough to mow the lawn and
read a newspaper, he began to suffer severe abdominal distress
and was found dead by his son in the family's
bathroom later that evening. The man had no history of
other health conditions, and medical examiners cannot determine the cause
of death, listing it as quote unexplained on the man's
autopsy report. By chance, the man's wife discussed the details
(20:10):
of the tragedy with a doctor and researcher, Aaron mcpheely.
Based on the facts of the case, mcpheeley suspected that
an allergic reaction may have been the cause, and she'd
contacted her colleague, Thomas Platt's Mills, the University of Virginia
allergist who discovered the link between AGS alpha gal syndrome
and lone star tick bites in two thousand and two.
(20:30):
Plat Mills called for an analysis of a blood sample
from the deceased pilot and discovered an extremely high level
of the enzyme trip tase, evidence of severe anaphylactic shock.
He told NBC News Quote. The level he had is
basically only seen in fatal cases of anaphylaxis. His level
was two thousand. The highest level I have seen in
(20:52):
practice of a person who survived is one hundred. The
same analysis also discovered the presence of antibodies to the
alpha gal carbohydrate, providing further evidence that the tick borne
illness was the cause of death, likely brought on by
a hamburger the man had been eaten at the barbecue
that day. The man's family confirmed that he had suffered
(21:12):
from a similar adverse reaction to eating a steak two
weeks before the fatal incident, probing further for the cause
of the infection. Researchers learned that in the summer of
twenty twenty three, the man had suffered welts along his
ankles that the family had attributed to jiggers, but were
more likely bites from lone star tick larvae. In the
study that mcpheeley and plat Mills published in the journal
(21:34):
Allergy and Clinical Immunology, they emphasized how few doctors know
what AGS even is. According to the CDC, forty two
percent of doctors had never heard of AGS, and another
thirty five percent didn't have confidence that they could diagnose
it or treat people suffering from the condition. This creates
a real danger of people being infected and not knowing it.
(21:56):
Referring to the New Jersey case, plat Mill said, quote,
the tragedy is the doctors didn't think of that episode
as anaphal axis and therefore didn't connect it to the
beef at the time. The implications for hunters are clear. First,
we are more likely than anyone to be in areas
with ticks and to be hands on with their most
common hosts, the white tailed deer. We also have a
(22:19):
lot to lose if we can't eat red meat anymore.
That means you should be applying the tick repellent permethron
to all your hunting clothes and boots, and always have
a loved one or at least someone who's okay seeing
you in your birthday suit conduct a tick check on
you when your return from the field. News like this
should also prompt hunters in cities to seek out opportunities
(22:39):
in suburban and semi rural places where deer populations are
overwhelming local residents. One source cited by the University of
Virginia study called deer in New Jersey a quote unsustainable
statewide emergency. If you live in an apartment in New
York City, DC, Atlanta, Houston, or many other parts of
the country without a ton of public land around you,
(23:01):
conquer your shyness. Call up your aunt who lives in
a nearby subdivision. Find out if she or her friends
are tired of having their landscaping eaten to the ground.
It might not be as sexy as chasing doll sheep
in Alaska, but there are a lot of animals right
next door to you. People are having a tough time
dealing with them, and you could establish some relationships that
(23:21):
fill your freezer for many years to come. That's all
I got for you this week. Thank you so much
for listening, and remember to write in to ask c
Al that's Ascal at the meat eater dot com. Let
me know what's going on in your neck of the woods.
You know we appreciate it.
Host
Cal Callaghan
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