June 30, 2024 • 26 mins
This week, Cal covers hog contest cheaters, the rescue of 38 hounds from a Mississippi lake, a controversial water access ruling in Wisconsin, and so much more.
Connect with Cal and MeatEater
MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Youtube Clips
MeatEater Podcast Network on YouTube
Shop Cal's Week in Review Merch
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cal's we can review with Ryan cal callahan.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Now Here's Cal. A group of bros in Michigan are
being hailed as heroes after one of them saved a
raccoon that was choking on a piece of cheese. In
a video of this incident, one of the men stands
over a full grown raccoon, whacking it on the back
with his hand. The animal appears to be in distress,
but it allows the man to administer what is obviously
(00:38):
professional veterinary assistance. Doesn't appear to be working until one
of the other bros offer some sage advice. Here's what
that sounded like.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yes, choking, though a little bit lower, bill upward. There
you go.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
If you couldn't quite make that out. The other gentleman
advises his colleague to hit the animal quote a little
bit lower with an upward motion. The raccoon does indeed
appear to be okay. You can see a piece of
something fly out of its mouth, and it wanders away
along the fence line, dazed but mobile. It's stories like
these that make you wonder how we have animals. States
(01:22):
spend a lot of money trying to reduce raccoon numbers.
It's hard to believe a stale chunk of tillamook is
all it takes. Now, on the serious note, invest in
a locking trash can and you'll avoid having to perform
the Heimlich maneuver on Rocky the raccoon or eventually the
sleeper hold on Old Yogi the bear. Big thanks to
(01:43):
listener Jim Lane for sending us that video. This week,
we've got legislation, access, the crime desk, and so much more.
But first I'm going to tell you about my week.
And my week was packed. As you know, I've been
flinging arrows trying to get that rotator cuff must back
into the swing of things. I'm scouring on Ax for
new elk hunting locations in the Old Cowboys State while
(02:06):
complaining to everyone I know about how it could be
that I, a tax paying, law abiding, conservation license holding American,
can somehow be legally prohibited from hunting inside a federally
designated wilderness area in the state of Wyoming. I grew
(02:26):
up messing around in wilderness areas. I worked in wilderness areas.
I can fish, camp, hike, sleep, horseback ride, throw rocks,
do whatever else you can legally conceive of in a
wilderness area in Wyoming, But somehow I cannot legally hunt
in that same wilderness area. There is no way this
(02:49):
is enforceable, and I'd like to speak with the Wyoming
Hancho in charge who thinks this is a sensible regulation
for Wyoming Conservation officers to enforce and we can do
it right here on the weekend Review. But I digress.
Getting back into the archery game is super fun. It's
nice having the learning curve to chase my shooting and
(03:12):
archery distance or range judgment is not where it should be,
but that's what's fun getting good again. There was a
time that archery elk took up a big part of
my season, but like we adults sometimes have to do,
I put those things away in order to work on
a puppy and yeah, the girlfriend, you know that takes
(03:34):
time too, and all the other adult things and then
sometimes of course other hunting opportunities and you got to
divide and conquer, and you know, yeah, here we are again.
But the good news is I haven't lost all my
good stuff. I'm not starting from scratch, and right now
I think it's just building up that set of muscle
(03:55):
groups and repetition, repetition cures all anyway, up the form,
working on the release, and send those arrows downrange every
single day. Quick snort report for yel Well snort hit
a rough patch. She got super sick, she was puking,
she didn't want to eat, she got very lethargic. So
(04:17):
to the veat we went and spent a thousand dollars
one thousand bucks because I asked to know what the
heck is going on so I could fix the issue,
not the symptoms. And of course all the tests are
back and they say she is a very healthy girl.
Sure you dog owners can relate a thousand bucks and
(04:38):
they still can't get her to talk.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
My therapist thinks he's figured out what my problem is.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Oh yeah, what is Shigmund fraud to think it is?
He uh thinks I'm in love. Oh my god, you
can talk. One last thing tonight is the Trump Biden debate,
And it would have already happened by the time you
heard this. I know there will be no hunt fish
topics covered, but if there were, what would you want
(05:04):
to know? What would you want to see? Those two
old codgers talk about right in to ask cal at
the meat eater dot com and remember, somewhere around half
the country is not going to vote for the person
you want, which means it's going to be your job
to either keep your candidate in line when they have
the job, or keep the guy you didn't vote for
(05:24):
in line. Our job doesn't end no matter who's in office.
Moving on to the legislative desk, legislation.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Is just.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Colorado is getting lots of attention for a proposed ballot
measure that would effectively ban mountain lion hunting in the state.
We don't want to lose sight of that issue, but
centennial state voters will be deciding the fate of another
proposal that will impact even more hunters than the mountain
lion ban. California became the first state in the nation
last year to impose an an additional excise tax on
(06:01):
guns and ammunition. This year, Colorado will decide whether it
wants to join the Golden State in doing the same.
The Colorado legislature passed a bill a few months ago
that imposes a six and a half percent excise tax
on the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition This
tax would be imposed on gun makers and sellers, but
passed down to the consumer. The state says it would
(06:24):
generate about thirty nine million dollars a year, which would
be used for crime victim services programs, education programs, and
mental and behavioral health programs for children and veterans. But
Colorado law requires that any tax increases be approved by
a majority of Colorado residents, which is why the tax
will ultimately pass or fail at the ballot box this November.
(06:46):
If you live in Colorado and would rather not have
your guns and ammunition be six and a half percent
more expensive, or if you're just insulted by the insinuation
that legal gun owners who are paying their taxes should
be on the hook for those people who are not
paying their taxes and are perpetrating crimes doing things illegally,
(07:07):
you'll have a chance to make your voice heard. This November.
Listener David Belch wrote in to tell me about a
decision by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission to close
the recreational flounder fishery for the rest of the year.
The commission determined that the flounder quota had been exceeded
in each of the past two years, and their management
plan calls for a pound four pound payback if that happens.
(07:30):
In other words, exceeding the quota one year rolls forward
into the next. The Commission looked at the data and
decided the recreational quota remaining for twenty twenty four was
not large enough to allow for a season this year.
The quota wasn't totally used up, but they needed the
small excess to account for anticipated dead discards that will
occur due to incidental catch and release. The decision by
(07:53):
the North Carolina Commission represents a significant departure from their
fellow Carolinians to the south. According to the outlet Carolina Sportsman,
South Carolina anglers are still allowed to catch and keep
flounder year round, with a five fish daily limit not
to exceed ten per boat, and a sixteen inch total
length minimum. The good news is that the tar Heel
(08:15):
State should be in a good shape to reopen the
recreational fishery in twenty twenty five. Now, if you have
ever had a fried flounder, Greek salad and a ice
cold gin and tonic on a hot summer night, you
know this is an important fishery If you don't know,
here are the quick and dirty stats from our friends
at Noah. Summer flounder are one of the most sought
(08:38):
after commercial and recreational fish along the Atlantic coast, with
total landings at approximately twenty one point two million pounds
in twenty twenty two. The current plan allows for a
flounder quota of a fifty five and forty five percent
take that's split between commercial at fifty five and forty
(08:58):
five at recreational fisheries. Two major commercial trawl fisheries exist,
a winter offshore and a summer inshore. Way Back in
the eighties, commercial landings ranged from seventeen point nine to
thirty seven point seven million pounds. In ninety three, the
coast wide quota was implemented. Commercial landings have ranged from
(09:19):
five point eight million pounds to seventeen point four million
pounds since that quota was implemented. Commercial landings reached a
low of five point eight million pounds in twenty seventeen,
but have since increased to twelve and a half million
pounds in twenty twenty two. Summer flounder recreational fishery harvest
from nineteen eighty one to two thousand and four hit
(09:40):
an all time high of thirty six point seven million
pounds and an all time low of five point seven
million pounds. That was back in nineteen eighty nine, when
harvest limits were implemented for recreational fisheries. Starting about nineteen
ninety three, recreational harvest peaked at about eight point six
million pounds in twenty twenty two. Is that an upward
(10:00):
trend at that point? If you jump over and look
the marine fisheries, flounder harvest is heavily monitored. It appears
stable and all good. If I lived in North Carolina,
I'd probably run down to South Carolina and get some
fish this season. Not everybody's going to do that, but
plenty of folks would, so it's all one ocean. Fortunately,
(10:23):
marine fisheries have a lot of good folks out there
monitoring these populations. Rhode Island lawmakers recently approved a bill
that banned so called captive hunting. The bill would bar
the use of man made or natural barriers intended to
prevent animals from fleeing a confined area of a hunt.
Private lands set up as a hunting or shooting preserves
(10:45):
or game ranches are included my road Island listeners can
write in and let me know, but I'm not sure
this is a big industry over there. The bill was
proposed in response to a resort that wanted to import
elk and pigs for its guests to hunt. The resort
is called the Preserve, which also kind of sounds like
one of those places where you know in the movies
(11:06):
where the rich people go to hunt the poor people.
A Bentley ad features prominently on its website and rooms
start at eight hundred dollars per night. Point is this
isn't exactly what you'd call a traditional hunting ranch. They
have what they call a sporting club, but it doesn't
look like they currently offer hunts of any kind. The
Rhode Island state legislature apparently thought captive hunting could turn
(11:27):
into a real problem, so they decided to nip this
in the bud. Fortunately for the upland hunters in the
smallest state in the Union, the legislation would not apply
to the release of domestic game birds on public property
or on private property licensed by the state Department of
Environmental Management. In other words, according to state officials in
Rhode Island, a high fence hunt on thousands of acres
(11:48):
is bad, But releasing pen raised pheasants that math says
will definitely die is totally fine. Some subtext here, even
though it's not something I choose to do. Often, raised
birds help fuel the fire of young hunters and young
hunting dogs, and I think we all know what happens
when someone releases pigs behind the tallest offences. They get
(12:11):
out by going underneath. Moving on to the Oregon Fish
and Wildlife Commission, who recently approved a set of rules
that will restrict the ability of landowners and others to
kill nuisance beavers. Back in twenty twenty three, the state
legislature passed a bill that classifies beavers as fur bears
in all circumstances. This means that in order to kill
(12:34):
a beaver, a landowner must go through a permitting process
with the Fish and Wildlife Department. This will require the
landowner to undertake non lethal mitigation strategies first before a
nuisance beaver can be taken. The new rules still allow
beavers to be hunted and trapped during the approved seasons,
but according to a press release from the ODFW, the
new approach encourages coexistence and less lethal take of beaver
(12:57):
and provides tools to a more effectively manage and prevent
damage caused by beaver. Utah Senator Mike Lee introduced a
series of bills last week supposedly aimed at making federal
public lands more accessible to those with disabilities. Senator Lee's
name has appeared more than once on this podcast, and
(13:17):
I could say unfortunately, but just the track record says
something's fishy when Mike Lee releases a bill having to
do a public land. That's why. While no one would
oppose making public land accessible to Americans with all abilities,
some are very skeptical that this legislation is really about them.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Lee's legislation would have
(13:41):
the BLM and the US Forest Service develop and update
travel management plans to prioritize accessibility. Roads on public land should,
according to the bill, allow access for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping,
off roading, and other recreational activities to ensure the public
land is disability accessible land. The legislation defines disability accessible
land as land with at least two and a half
(14:03):
miles of roads accessible to motorized or off road vehicles
per square mile. Lee introduced the legislation shortly after the
BLM closed several roads near Moab to off road vehicle use.
The agency says it did so to protect wildlife, habitat
and cultural sites, but off roading enthusiasts have sued to
reopen the roads and trails. If Lee's bill passes, it
(14:24):
will hinder the ability of federal land managers to close
roads to off road vehicles if those vehicles are causing
environmental damage. Important to note here too. You know, when
one door closes, another opens, As the old saying goes,
we close a lot of trails every year. Collectively, we
and we open a lot of trails every year. Everybody
(14:45):
knows at a certain point in order to mitigate use, overuse,
use it improper times, when shit's muddy and stuff, you
just got to close something in order to get it
back in line. And I'm not saying that's what happened
here in un but that's what happens often. So again
blanket proposal for an issue that could be done locally.
(15:10):
Moving on to the dog desk, A trio of anglers
rescued thirty eight hound dogs earlier this month that got
stuck treading water in a Grenada Lake, Mississippi. I'll say
that again. A group of fishermen saved thirty eight hound
dogs that were swimming around a mile from shore in
a Mississippi lake. If that's not the weirdest thing you've
heard of all week, your life's more exciting than mine.
(15:33):
Bob just told local media that he and a buddy
had secured the services of a crappie fishing guy named
Jordan Trustman. They were trolling along looking for crappie when
Trustmen spied something unusual in the water. He motored over
to investigate and found a dog with a radio collar
paddling in circles. He wasn't alone. Dozens of dogs were
in the lake, all fitted with radio collars. This is
(15:53):
the only part of the story that I kind of
have I call bs on because, especially if this guy's
a crappie fishing guide, you know, he wasn't looking at
the water. He was looking at sight imaging sonar. That's
all I'm saying. Anyway, they began hauling up dogs one
at a time until they had twenty seven in the boat.
(16:13):
They took them back to shore and came back for eleven.
More soggy but happy canines. They really do look happy.
There are pictures floating around social media and you can
see their tails waggon in the images. By that point,
they had a pretty good idea what had happened. There's
a strong fox hunting community in Grenada, and a pack
of hounds had followed a deer into the lake, but
they weren't able to keep up with the ungulate in
(16:35):
the water, and by the time they realized what had happened,
they were too far from shore to know which direction
to swim. Just to estimates, they had been in the
water about forty five minutes before they were found. Just
told mediators Jordan Sillers, who just had a brand new
baby boy, congrats Jordan. That they kept fishing for a
few more hours after leaving the dogs with grateful owners,
(16:55):
but quote, we caught more dogs than fish that day.
Better election next time, boys. Moving on to the crime desk,
six Louisiana men have been charged with nineteen felonies and
nine misdemeanors after cheating in two hog hunting competitions earlier
this year. The six individuals range from twenty six to
forty years old, and they've all been accused of hunting
(17:17):
contest fraud, and criminal conspiracy. Five of the six were
charged with violating interstate commerce, one was charged with obstruction,
and another was charged with hunting with a suspended license.
At this point, you might be wondering how one goes
about cheating at a hog hunting contest. In these two competitions,
hunters were required to catch a hog with dogs in
Louisiana and then send a photo of their live catch
(17:39):
to the contest organizer to verify who's who. Each team
of four hunters was given a number on the day
of the contest began, and they were to hold up
a sign with that number in the photo. All hogs
entered into the contest were required to be caught within
the official contest time frame, which was two or three days.
These geniuses realized that they could avoid these restrictions in
(18:00):
two ways. First, they hunted their pigs in Texas rather
than Louisiana. A Louisiana game warden told me Eater that
these fellows hunted hogs on the landfill property near the
town of Buna, Texas, which, you know, nothing makes for
a tasty pig like catching them in the local landfill.
Once they'd caught a few hogs that they thought might
be contenders. They drove the swine back across the border
(18:23):
to Louisiana. Then once the contest began, they took the
pigs out of their holding pens and staged them as
if they'd just been caught, which is kind of a
hilarious notion to think about, telling that pig to hold
that pose and no act surprise this time. Anyway, they
won two contests this way, the Dingler Wild Hog Round
up in Bienville Parish and the Swamp Time Hog Hunt
(18:46):
and Caldwell Parish. Problem was their shenanigans didn't go unnoticed.
The game warden we spoke with said he was contacted
last year by contest participants claiming these guys had been cheating.
He decided to look into them this year, and he,
with the help of other game wardens, found more than
enough evidence to bring charges. Five of the six suspects
confessed to their crimes and written statements. Their penalties ranged
(19:09):
from two hundred and fifty dollars fine for hunting under
a suspended license to a ten thousand dollars fine and
five years in jail for obstruction hunting contest fraud brings
up to a three thousand dollars fine and one year
in jail. They take their hog hunting seriously down there
in Louisiana. Let me tell you, if there's one thing
worse than getting your truck stuck in the mud, it's
(19:30):
getting your truck stuck with the poached elk in the bed.
And that's poached as in illegally killed, not as in,
you know, gently cooked in liquid. Corey Cruz from Rawlins,
Wyoming was hunting an elk hunt Area one oh eight,
which is a limited draw area for bowl elk crews. However,
did not have the limited draw tag. All CRUs had
(19:51):
in his pocket was an over the countertag for hunt
Area twenty one, which is about two miles away, and
that didn't stop Cruise from killing a bowl in air
one away, taking a few photos and posting them on
social media. At this point, things were going well for
Cruz until he tried to leave the remote area of
Carbon County. He and the buddies he's with got stuck
(20:11):
as they tried to take the elk home. One of
them decided to walk out to find help, but he
became disoriented and was later found by another group of
elk hunters. At the same time, the other members of
Cruz's party called authorities to report that their friend was missing.
I mean, what a crack squad. It's like if they
weren't out poach and elk, they'd be taken down like
(20:32):
the Federal Reserve in one of those heist movies. Anyway,
search and rescue eventually got all the hunters out, but
they reported seeing blood and other signs that the group
had taken an elk. This was strange because Cruz told
game wardens he'd killed an elk in a general unit,
which was two miles away from where the truck had
been stuck. They also found a gut pile about one
hundred yards away from the truck, but no head or carcass.
(20:54):
Then warden saw Cruise's pictures on social media, and they
were able to match the landscape in those photos with
the landscape in the limited entry area. All that evidence
combined to convince Cruise to plead guilty in May to
intentionally taking an antlered elk without a proper license. He
was fined one five hundred and seventy dollars or a
stiff vet bill and sentenced to ninety days in jail,
(21:15):
with eighty two days suspended and credit for eight days
already served in the Carbon County Detention Center. His hunting
and fishing privileges were also suspended for five years. Over
in the Okie State, a game warden in Oklahoma was
in the right place at the right time last week
to nab a group of poachers who used cast nets
and spear guns to illegally kill seventy five fish in
(21:36):
a small stream. Big thanks to Scott Brian for sending
us this story. A Dare County game warden, David Garrett,
told local media that he doesn't usually patrol a creek
near Proctor, Oklahoma on weekdays, but he saw a vehicle
and it peaked his interest. He parked down by Barrenford
Creek last Friday, and sure enough he saw a fellow
walking down the creek with a cast net over his shoulder.
(21:57):
Then a few minutes later he saw a guy with
a spear gun, and then he saw another and another.
He watched them throw the net and fire their spear
guns all the way down the creek until they got
to his truck. He got out to tame them, and
with the help of a few other wardens. He recovered
most of the fish they'd poached, seventy five fish in all,
including perch, catfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, sucker, and drum.
(22:19):
I want to point out that all of those species
are really great fish to get kids on. These boys,
who are not kids were cited for illegal use of
spear guns and the cast net. Moving on to Wisconsin,
Wisconsin water access is in the news again, something we've
covered back in episode two twenty six. A county circuit
(22:42):
judge in the Badger State is ruled in favor of
a landowner who sued to keep the public from driving
boats on areas of his property that regularly flood. A
fellow named Thomas Rice that's Riiss, owns property along the
Rock River in southern Wisconsin. When this river floods, which
has been doing regularly over the past few years, some
people drive john boats across his land. As we covered previously.
(23:04):
He doesn't claim that these folks are damaging property or
doing anything else illegal, only that their presence is keeping
him from enjoying his land. I want to point out
that previously we reported just airboats, but we've had other
folks right in at risk of revealing their hunting spots.
That it's not just airboats. There's john boats and folks
with mud motors and stuff like that. So it's an
(23:26):
important distinction because you can run an airboat over darn
near anything. Those other boats I mentioned they have deeper
draft even when on plane. Anyway, Wisconsin has good stream
access laws that allow the public to float on navigable
waters that run through private property. The question at the
heart of this case is whether that access extends to
areas that flood on a regular basis. This judge ruled
(23:49):
that they don't, or at least he ruled that the
state Department of Natural Resources hadn't gone through the proper
rulemaking process. The Wisconsin DNR had been operating under something
called the wet feet rule. As long as a hunter
or angler stays in the water, they can go beyond
the normal high water mark if an area gets flooded.
The agency had issued guidance documents describing this rule, but
(24:11):
the judge decided that this rule is quote invalid and unenforceable.
That doesn't mean the rule is dead in the water,
so to speak. The judge instructed the DNR to issue
proper guidance to documents through the formal rule making process,
but he doesn't say what the rule should be. It's
possible the DNR will put together a rule that looks
just like the wet feet rule and do it through
the proper process, one that is defensible for you hunters
(24:35):
and anglers out there. Of course, no one knows exactly
how that process will go. It's also possible other interest
groups could have more sway than public water users, and
we could see a retraction of water access in Wisconsin
to complicate matters even further. It's unclear whether the DNR
will appeal the ruling to a higher court. However this
situation ends up, I'll be relying on all you cheese
(24:56):
heads in Wisconsin to keep me in the loop. Several
of you sent me this story, and you had various
opinions on it. One listener thinks the rule makes sense.
He said, quote, I don't think this is a bad
thing at all, especially with what a wet summer we've had.
It would have been possible to walk across whole subdivisions
without technically trespassing. But I don't think that a puddle
in someone's yard connected to the river should grant public access.
(25:19):
So I think this was the right call. Another listener
named Dave Unger disagreed. He said the potential change will
be quote devastating for the sport of duck hunting in Wisconsin.
I'm curious what my other Wisconsin listeners think about this.
I'd also like to hear from everyone else regarding water
access laws where you live. Do you support them or
(25:40):
do you think they should change. We'd like to do
a series covering the different ways states and provinces control
water access for public land users. And I thought i'd
start with my most helpful knowledge base, the well informed,
super super ridiculously good looking listeners of Col's Week in Review.
So to a s k c a L. That's Askcal
(26:02):
at the meetbeter dot com. Let me know what's going
on in your neck of the woods and whether your
feet or wet. Thanks again, we'll talk to you next week.
From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This
is Cal's we can review with Ryan cal callahan.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Now Here's Cal. A group of bros in Michigan are
being hailed as heroes after one of them saved a
raccoon that was choking on a piece of cheese. In
a video of this incident, one of the men stands
over a full grown raccoon, whacking it on the back
with his hand. The animal appears to be in distress,
but it allows the man to administer what is obviously
(00:38):
professional veterinary assistance. Doesn't appear to be working until one
of the other bros offer some sage advice. Here's what
that sounded like.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yes, choking, though a little bit lower, bill upward. There
you go.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
If you couldn't quite make that out. The other gentleman
advises his colleague to hit the animal quote a little
bit lower with an upward motion. The raccoon does indeed
appear to be okay. You can see a piece of
something fly out of its mouth, and it wanders away
along the fence line, dazed but mobile. It's stories like
these that make you wonder how we have animals. States
(01:22):
spend a lot of money trying to reduce raccoon numbers.
It's hard to believe a stale chunk of tillamook is
all it takes. Now, on the serious note, invest in
a locking trash can and you'll avoid having to perform
the Heimlich maneuver on Rocky the raccoon or eventually the
sleeper hold on Old Yogi the bear. Big thanks to
(01:43):
listener Jim Lane for sending us that video. This week,
we've got legislation, access, the crime desk, and so much more.
But first I'm going to tell you about my week.
And my week was packed. As you know, I've been
flinging arrows trying to get that rotator cuff must back
into the swing of things. I'm scouring on Ax for
new elk hunting locations in the Old Cowboys State while
(02:06):
complaining to everyone I know about how it could be
that I, a tax paying, law abiding, conservation license holding American,
can somehow be legally prohibited from hunting inside a federally
designated wilderness area in the state of Wyoming. I grew
(02:26):
up messing around in wilderness areas. I worked in wilderness areas.
I can fish, camp, hike, sleep, horseback ride, throw rocks,
do whatever else you can legally conceive of in a
wilderness area in Wyoming, But somehow I cannot legally hunt
in that same wilderness area. There is no way this
(02:49):
is enforceable, and I'd like to speak with the Wyoming
Hancho in charge who thinks this is a sensible regulation
for Wyoming Conservation officers to enforce and we can do
it right here on the weekend Review. But I digress.
Getting back into the archery game is super fun. It's
nice having the learning curve to chase my shooting and
(03:12):
archery distance or range judgment is not where it should be,
but that's what's fun getting good again. There was a
time that archery elk took up a big part of
my season, but like we adults sometimes have to do,
I put those things away in order to work on
a puppy and yeah, the girlfriend, you know that takes
(03:34):
time too, and all the other adult things and then
sometimes of course other hunting opportunities and you got to
divide and conquer, and you know, yeah, here we are again.
But the good news is I haven't lost all my
good stuff. I'm not starting from scratch, and right now
I think it's just building up that set of muscle
(03:55):
groups and repetition, repetition cures all anyway, up the form,
working on the release, and send those arrows downrange every
single day. Quick snort report for yel Well snort hit
a rough patch. She got super sick, she was puking,
she didn't want to eat, she got very lethargic. So
(04:17):
to the veat we went and spent a thousand dollars
one thousand bucks because I asked to know what the
heck is going on so I could fix the issue,
not the symptoms. And of course all the tests are
back and they say she is a very healthy girl.
Sure you dog owners can relate a thousand bucks and
(04:38):
they still can't get her to talk.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
My therapist thinks he's figured out what my problem is.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Oh yeah, what is Shigmund fraud to think it is?
He uh thinks I'm in love. Oh my god, you
can talk. One last thing tonight is the Trump Biden debate,
And it would have already happened by the time you
heard this. I know there will be no hunt fish
topics covered, but if there were, what would you want
(05:04):
to know? What would you want to see? Those two
old codgers talk about right in to ask cal at
the meat eater dot com and remember, somewhere around half
the country is not going to vote for the person
you want, which means it's going to be your job
to either keep your candidate in line when they have
the job, or keep the guy you didn't vote for
(05:24):
in line. Our job doesn't end no matter who's in office.
Moving on to the legislative desk, legislation.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Is just.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Colorado is getting lots of attention for a proposed ballot
measure that would effectively ban mountain lion hunting in the state.
We don't want to lose sight of that issue, but
centennial state voters will be deciding the fate of another
proposal that will impact even more hunters than the mountain
lion ban. California became the first state in the nation
last year to impose an an additional excise tax on
(06:01):
guns and ammunition. This year, Colorado will decide whether it
wants to join the Golden State in doing the same.
The Colorado legislature passed a bill a few months ago
that imposes a six and a half percent excise tax
on the manufacture and sale of firearms and ammunition This
tax would be imposed on gun makers and sellers, but
passed down to the consumer. The state says it would
(06:24):
generate about thirty nine million dollars a year, which would
be used for crime victim services programs, education programs, and
mental and behavioral health programs for children and veterans. But
Colorado law requires that any tax increases be approved by
a majority of Colorado residents, which is why the tax
will ultimately pass or fail at the ballot box this November.
(06:46):
If you live in Colorado and would rather not have
your guns and ammunition be six and a half percent
more expensive, or if you're just insulted by the insinuation
that legal gun owners who are paying their taxes should
be on the hook for those people who are not
paying their taxes and are perpetrating crimes doing things illegally,
(07:07):
you'll have a chance to make your voice heard. This November.
Listener David Belch wrote in to tell me about a
decision by the North Carolina Marine Fisheries Commission to close
the recreational flounder fishery for the rest of the year.
The commission determined that the flounder quota had been exceeded
in each of the past two years, and their management
plan calls for a pound four pound payback if that happens.
(07:30):
In other words, exceeding the quota one year rolls forward
into the next. The Commission looked at the data and
decided the recreational quota remaining for twenty twenty four was
not large enough to allow for a season this year.
The quota wasn't totally used up, but they needed the
small excess to account for anticipated dead discards that will
occur due to incidental catch and release. The decision by
(07:53):
the North Carolina Commission represents a significant departure from their
fellow Carolinians to the south. According to the outlet Carolina Sportsman,
South Carolina anglers are still allowed to catch and keep
flounder year round, with a five fish daily limit not
to exceed ten per boat, and a sixteen inch total
length minimum. The good news is that the tar Heel
(08:15):
State should be in a good shape to reopen the
recreational fishery in twenty twenty five. Now, if you have
ever had a fried flounder, Greek salad and a ice
cold gin and tonic on a hot summer night, you
know this is an important fishery If you don't know,
here are the quick and dirty stats from our friends
at Noah. Summer flounder are one of the most sought
(08:38):
after commercial and recreational fish along the Atlantic coast, with
total landings at approximately twenty one point two million pounds
in twenty twenty two. The current plan allows for a
flounder quota of a fifty five and forty five percent
take that's split between commercial at fifty five and forty
(08:58):
five at recreational fisheries. Two major commercial trawl fisheries exist,
a winter offshore and a summer inshore. Way Back in
the eighties, commercial landings ranged from seventeen point nine to
thirty seven point seven million pounds. In ninety three, the
coast wide quota was implemented. Commercial landings have ranged from
(09:19):
five point eight million pounds to seventeen point four million
pounds since that quota was implemented. Commercial landings reached a
low of five point eight million pounds in twenty seventeen,
but have since increased to twelve and a half million
pounds in twenty twenty two. Summer flounder recreational fishery harvest
from nineteen eighty one to two thousand and four hit
(09:40):
an all time high of thirty six point seven million
pounds and an all time low of five point seven
million pounds. That was back in nineteen eighty nine, when
harvest limits were implemented for recreational fisheries. Starting about nineteen
ninety three, recreational harvest peaked at about eight point six
million pounds in twenty twenty two. Is that an upward
(10:00):
trend at that point? If you jump over and look
the marine fisheries, flounder harvest is heavily monitored. It appears
stable and all good. If I lived in North Carolina,
I'd probably run down to South Carolina and get some
fish this season. Not everybody's going to do that, but
plenty of folks would, so it's all one ocean. Fortunately,
(10:23):
marine fisheries have a lot of good folks out there
monitoring these populations. Rhode Island lawmakers recently approved a bill
that banned so called captive hunting. The bill would bar
the use of man made or natural barriers intended to
prevent animals from fleeing a confined area of a hunt.
Private lands set up as a hunting or shooting preserves
(10:45):
or game ranches are included my road Island listeners can
write in and let me know, but I'm not sure
this is a big industry over there. The bill was
proposed in response to a resort that wanted to import
elk and pigs for its guests to hunt. The resort
is called the Preserve, which also kind of sounds like
one of those places where you know in the movies
(11:06):
where the rich people go to hunt the poor people.
A Bentley ad features prominently on its website and rooms
start at eight hundred dollars per night. Point is this
isn't exactly what you'd call a traditional hunting ranch. They
have what they call a sporting club, but it doesn't
look like they currently offer hunts of any kind. The
Rhode Island state legislature apparently thought captive hunting could turn
(11:27):
into a real problem, so they decided to nip this
in the bud. Fortunately for the upland hunters in the
smallest state in the Union, the legislation would not apply
to the release of domestic game birds on public property
or on private property licensed by the state Department of
Environmental Management. In other words, according to state officials in
Rhode Island, a high fence hunt on thousands of acres
(11:48):
is bad, But releasing pen raised pheasants that math says
will definitely die is totally fine. Some subtext here, even
though it's not something I choose to do. Often, raised
birds help fuel the fire of young hunters and young
hunting dogs, and I think we all know what happens
when someone releases pigs behind the tallest offences. They get
(12:11):
out by going underneath. Moving on to the Oregon Fish
and Wildlife Commission, who recently approved a set of rules
that will restrict the ability of landowners and others to
kill nuisance beavers. Back in twenty twenty three, the state
legislature passed a bill that classifies beavers as fur bears
in all circumstances. This means that in order to kill
(12:34):
a beaver, a landowner must go through a permitting process
with the Fish and Wildlife Department. This will require the
landowner to undertake non lethal mitigation strategies first before a
nuisance beaver can be taken. The new rules still allow
beavers to be hunted and trapped during the approved seasons,
but according to a press release from the ODFW, the
new approach encourages coexistence and less lethal take of beaver
(12:57):
and provides tools to a more effectively manage and prevent
damage caused by beaver. Utah Senator Mike Lee introduced a
series of bills last week supposedly aimed at making federal
public lands more accessible to those with disabilities. Senator Lee's
name has appeared more than once on this podcast, and
(13:17):
I could say unfortunately, but just the track record says
something's fishy when Mike Lee releases a bill having to
do a public land. That's why. While no one would
oppose making public land accessible to Americans with all abilities,
some are very skeptical that this legislation is really about them.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Lee's legislation would have
(13:41):
the BLM and the US Forest Service develop and update
travel management plans to prioritize accessibility. Roads on public land should,
according to the bill, allow access for hunting, fishing, hiking, camping,
off roading, and other recreational activities to ensure the public
land is disability accessible land. The legislation defines disability accessible
land as land with at least two and a half
(14:03):
miles of roads accessible to motorized or off road vehicles
per square mile. Lee introduced the legislation shortly after the
BLM closed several roads near Moab to off road vehicle use.
The agency says it did so to protect wildlife, habitat
and cultural sites, but off roading enthusiasts have sued to
reopen the roads and trails. If Lee's bill passes, it
(14:24):
will hinder the ability of federal land managers to close
roads to off road vehicles if those vehicles are causing
environmental damage. Important to note here too. You know, when
one door closes, another opens, As the old saying goes,
we close a lot of trails every year. Collectively, we
and we open a lot of trails every year. Everybody
(14:45):
knows at a certain point in order to mitigate use, overuse,
use it improper times, when shit's muddy and stuff, you
just got to close something in order to get it
back in line. And I'm not saying that's what happened
here in un but that's what happens often. So again
blanket proposal for an issue that could be done locally.
(15:10):
Moving on to the dog desk, A trio of anglers
rescued thirty eight hound dogs earlier this month that got
stuck treading water in a Grenada Lake, Mississippi. I'll say
that again. A group of fishermen saved thirty eight hound
dogs that were swimming around a mile from shore in
a Mississippi lake. If that's not the weirdest thing you've
heard of all week, your life's more exciting than mine.
(15:33):
Bob just told local media that he and a buddy
had secured the services of a crappie fishing guy named
Jordan Trustman. They were trolling along looking for crappie when
Trustmen spied something unusual in the water. He motored over
to investigate and found a dog with a radio collar
paddling in circles. He wasn't alone. Dozens of dogs were
in the lake, all fitted with radio collars. This is
(15:53):
the only part of the story that I kind of
have I call bs on because, especially if this guy's
a crappie fishing guide, you know, he wasn't looking at
the water. He was looking at sight imaging sonar. That's
all I'm saying. Anyway, they began hauling up dogs one
at a time until they had twenty seven in the boat.
(16:13):
They took them back to shore and came back for eleven.
More soggy but happy canines. They really do look happy.
There are pictures floating around social media and you can
see their tails waggon in the images. By that point,
they had a pretty good idea what had happened. There's
a strong fox hunting community in Grenada, and a pack
of hounds had followed a deer into the lake, but
they weren't able to keep up with the ungulate in
(16:35):
the water, and by the time they realized what had happened,
they were too far from shore to know which direction
to swim. Just to estimates, they had been in the
water about forty five minutes before they were found. Just
told mediators Jordan Sillers, who just had a brand new
baby boy, congrats Jordan. That they kept fishing for a
few more hours after leaving the dogs with grateful owners,
(16:55):
but quote, we caught more dogs than fish that day.
Better election next time, boys. Moving on to the crime desk,
six Louisiana men have been charged with nineteen felonies and
nine misdemeanors after cheating in two hog hunting competitions earlier
this year. The six individuals range from twenty six to
forty years old, and they've all been accused of hunting
(17:17):
contest fraud, and criminal conspiracy. Five of the six were
charged with violating interstate commerce, one was charged with obstruction,
and another was charged with hunting with a suspended license.
At this point, you might be wondering how one goes
about cheating at a hog hunting contest. In these two competitions,
hunters were required to catch a hog with dogs in
Louisiana and then send a photo of their live catch
(17:39):
to the contest organizer to verify who's who. Each team
of four hunters was given a number on the day
of the contest began, and they were to hold up
a sign with that number in the photo. All hogs
entered into the contest were required to be caught within
the official contest time frame, which was two or three days.
These geniuses realized that they could avoid these restrictions in
(18:00):
two ways. First, they hunted their pigs in Texas rather
than Louisiana. A Louisiana game warden told me Eater that
these fellows hunted hogs on the landfill property near the
town of Buna, Texas, which, you know, nothing makes for
a tasty pig like catching them in the local landfill.
Once they'd caught a few hogs that they thought might
be contenders. They drove the swine back across the border
(18:23):
to Louisiana. Then once the contest began, they took the
pigs out of their holding pens and staged them as
if they'd just been caught, which is kind of a
hilarious notion to think about, telling that pig to hold
that pose and no act surprise this time. Anyway, they
won two contests this way, the Dingler Wild Hog Round
up in Bienville Parish and the Swamp Time Hog Hunt
(18:46):
and Caldwell Parish. Problem was their shenanigans didn't go unnoticed.
The game warden we spoke with said he was contacted
last year by contest participants claiming these guys had been cheating.
He decided to look into them this year, and he,
with the help of other game wardens, found more than
enough evidence to bring charges. Five of the six suspects
confessed to their crimes and written statements. Their penalties ranged
(19:09):
from two hundred and fifty dollars fine for hunting under
a suspended license to a ten thousand dollars fine and
five years in jail for obstruction hunting contest fraud brings
up to a three thousand dollars fine and one year
in jail. They take their hog hunting seriously down there
in Louisiana. Let me tell you, if there's one thing
worse than getting your truck stuck in the mud, it's
(19:30):
getting your truck stuck with the poached elk in the bed.
And that's poached as in illegally killed, not as in,
you know, gently cooked in liquid. Corey Cruz from Rawlins,
Wyoming was hunting an elk hunt Area one oh eight,
which is a limited draw area for bowl elk crews. However,
did not have the limited draw tag. All CRUs had
(19:51):
in his pocket was an over the countertag for hunt
Area twenty one, which is about two miles away, and
that didn't stop Cruise from killing a bowl in air
one away, taking a few photos and posting them on
social media. At this point, things were going well for
Cruz until he tried to leave the remote area of
Carbon County. He and the buddies he's with got stuck
(20:11):
as they tried to take the elk home. One of
them decided to walk out to find help, but he
became disoriented and was later found by another group of
elk hunters. At the same time, the other members of
Cruz's party called authorities to report that their friend was missing.
I mean, what a crack squad. It's like if they
weren't out poach and elk, they'd be taken down like
(20:32):
the Federal Reserve in one of those heist movies. Anyway,
search and rescue eventually got all the hunters out, but
they reported seeing blood and other signs that the group
had taken an elk. This was strange because Cruz told
game wardens he'd killed an elk in a general unit,
which was two miles away from where the truck had
been stuck. They also found a gut pile about one
hundred yards away from the truck, but no head or carcass.
(20:54):
Then warden saw Cruise's pictures on social media, and they
were able to match the landscape in those photos with
the landscape in the limited entry area. All that evidence
combined to convince Cruise to plead guilty in May to
intentionally taking an antlered elk without a proper license. He
was fined one five hundred and seventy dollars or a
stiff vet bill and sentenced to ninety days in jail,
(21:15):
with eighty two days suspended and credit for eight days
already served in the Carbon County Detention Center. His hunting
and fishing privileges were also suspended for five years. Over
in the Okie State, a game warden in Oklahoma was
in the right place at the right time last week
to nab a group of poachers who used cast nets
and spear guns to illegally kill seventy five fish in
(21:36):
a small stream. Big thanks to Scott Brian for sending
us this story. A Dare County game warden, David Garrett,
told local media that he doesn't usually patrol a creek
near Proctor, Oklahoma on weekdays, but he saw a vehicle
and it peaked his interest. He parked down by Barrenford
Creek last Friday, and sure enough he saw a fellow
walking down the creek with a cast net over his shoulder.
(21:57):
Then a few minutes later he saw a guy with
a spear gun, and then he saw another and another.
He watched them throw the net and fire their spear
guns all the way down the creek until they got
to his truck. He got out to tame them, and
with the help of a few other wardens. He recovered
most of the fish they'd poached, seventy five fish in all,
including perch, catfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, sucker, and drum.
(22:19):
I want to point out that all of those species
are really great fish to get kids on. These boys,
who are not kids were cited for illegal use of
spear guns and the cast net. Moving on to Wisconsin,
Wisconsin water access is in the news again, something we've
covered back in episode two twenty six. A county circuit
(22:42):
judge in the Badger State is ruled in favor of
a landowner who sued to keep the public from driving
boats on areas of his property that regularly flood. A
fellow named Thomas Rice that's Riiss, owns property along the
Rock River in southern Wisconsin. When this river floods, which
has been doing regularly over the past few years, some
people drive john boats across his land. As we covered previously.
(23:04):
He doesn't claim that these folks are damaging property or
doing anything else illegal, only that their presence is keeping
him from enjoying his land. I want to point out
that previously we reported just airboats, but we've had other
folks right in at risk of revealing their hunting spots.
That it's not just airboats. There's john boats and folks
with mud motors and stuff like that. So it's an
(23:26):
important distinction because you can run an airboat over darn
near anything. Those other boats I mentioned they have deeper
draft even when on plane. Anyway, Wisconsin has good stream
access laws that allow the public to float on navigable
waters that run through private property. The question at the
heart of this case is whether that access extends to
areas that flood on a regular basis. This judge ruled
(23:49):
that they don't, or at least he ruled that the
state Department of Natural Resources hadn't gone through the proper
rulemaking process. The Wisconsin DNR had been operating under something
called the wet feet rule. As long as a hunter
or angler stays in the water, they can go beyond
the normal high water mark if an area gets flooded.
The agency had issued guidance documents describing this rule, but
(24:11):
the judge decided that this rule is quote invalid and unenforceable.
That doesn't mean the rule is dead in the water,
so to speak. The judge instructed the DNR to issue
proper guidance to documents through the formal rule making process,
but he doesn't say what the rule should be. It's
possible the DNR will put together a rule that looks
just like the wet feet rule and do it through
the proper process, one that is defensible for you hunters
(24:35):
and anglers out there. Of course, no one knows exactly
how that process will go. It's also possible other interest
groups could have more sway than public water users, and
we could see a retraction of water access in Wisconsin
to complicate matters even further. It's unclear whether the DNR
will appeal the ruling to a higher court. However this
situation ends up, I'll be relying on all you cheese
(24:56):
heads in Wisconsin to keep me in the loop. Several
of you sent me this story, and you had various
opinions on it. One listener thinks the rule makes sense.
He said, quote, I don't think this is a bad
thing at all, especially with what a wet summer we've had.
It would have been possible to walk across whole subdivisions
without technically trespassing. But I don't think that a puddle
in someone's yard connected to the river should grant public access.
(25:19):
So I think this was the right call. Another listener
named Dave Unger disagreed. He said the potential change will
be quote devastating for the sport of duck hunting in Wisconsin.
I'm curious what my other Wisconsin listeners think about this.
I'd also like to hear from everyone else regarding water
access laws where you live. Do you support them or
(25:40):
do you think they should change. We'd like to do
a series covering the different ways states and provinces control
water access for public land users. And I thought i'd
start with my most helpful knowledge base, the well informed,
super super ridiculously good looking listeners of Col's Week in Review.
So to a s k c a L. That's Askcal
(26:02):
at the meetbeter dot com. Let me know what's going
on in your neck of the woods and whether your
feet or wet. Thanks again, we'll talk to you next week.
Host
Cal Callaghan
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.