Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is
Cal's weekend review, presented by Steel. Steel products are available
only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel Dealers
dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal Callahan.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
The Guinness Book of World Records reported last week that
the oldest dog ever recorded has died at the ripe
old age of thirty one years one hundred and sixty
five days. For those counting, that's over two hundred and
seventeen in dog years. The dog's name was Bobby. He
was born May eleven, nineteen ninety two, which makes him
older than some of the folks who work here at
(00:43):
Meat Eater. Bobby was either a purebred Rafero de Alantejo,
which I'm sure I pronounced correctly, a breed of Portuguese
dog trained to guard livestock, or a mutt. Reports very
but my money's on the mutt. He lived on a
farm in Portugal, and his owner credits his longevity to
a peaceful household and a diet of mostly people food.
(01:05):
That's a nice feel good story, but there's a reason
you're listening to this podcast and not watching Good Morning America.
So here's nature for you balance things out.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Perfectly balanced this all things should take.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
A few days before Bobby's death, another dog meant an
unfortunate and after he was working for a living, unlike
Bobby and for his efforts, he was attacked by a
shark off the coast of Nova Scotia. This dog, a
Chesapeake Bay retriever named Pepper, was duck hunting with his
owner near midway ahead. The hunter had shot a duck
and Pepper jumped off the boat to retrieve it from
(01:40):
the calm water. The shark erupted from below, lifted the
dog into the air, and pushed her under. The shark
was likely a juvenile great white, which feed on seals
in this area this time of year. The shark realized
that it hadn't caught a seal and let the dog go. Unfortunately,
it was not a catch and release situation. Pepper made
it back to the boat, but die of her injuries.
(02:01):
The hunter, who declined to be named, said this is
the first time he's ever heard of a dog being
attacked by shark while hunting from a boat, but Art
Gaton of Atlantic Shark Expeditions told the Post that this
happens frequently with deer, so not dogs, but deer. Sharks
will mistake of deer for a seal attack it then
spit it out. Condolences to the families of both Pepper
(02:21):
and Bobby. We don't hide our love for dogs on
this podcast, and I know how tough it can be
to lose one of our furry friends. This week, we've
got the Crime Desk legislation in the mailbag. But first
I'm going to tell you about my week, and my
week got you know, we just got lots happening. Just
got back from Idaho, where as you know from last week,
(02:42):
I was hunting the Greater Sage grouse with members of
back Country Hunters and Anglers Armed Forces Initiative, which again
thrown back and to clear things up. The Armed Forces
Initiative is comprised of active duty and retired military. They
engage with active duty and retired military on hunting and
angling pursuits. They help them connect with the outdoors both
(03:04):
on and off base. It's a great way to learn
how to effectively advocate for the continuation, even proliferation of
hunting and angling. If you are a service member or
former service member, it can be extremely difficult to navigate
the licenses, regulations, seasons of your home state. When you're
deployed for months at a time, combine that lifestyle with
(03:25):
moving from base to base, and the hunting and fishing
passion can get put aside, which is why AFI has
dedicated folks who can help with the logistics on and
off base. Anyway, I teamed up with those folks in
Idaho through my buddy Ed Anderson, who's the artist. He's
an outfitter. He's a big idea guy, and one of
his big ideas is the Elk Camino, which is a
(03:47):
physical and metaphorical vehicle to get veterans engaged in the outdoors.
You'll have to look this thing up. It's a really
cool el Camino supersport jacked up on big tires. It
sounds amazing and it's really fun just to look at,
but more fun to drive. This year you'll be able
to see a short series of adventures featuring the el Camino.
(04:08):
There's going to be changing hosts and veterans hitting the
road for fish, birds and elk. No big surprise here,
but on our last trip, Snort racked up two of
the three sage grouse flush as we had in two days.
This particular hunt made me super happy that I did
not train that girl repeatedly on Planet Birds because the
desert was not plentiful, lots of miles with no birds
(04:30):
and no birds sent. But we did have some great
stories and incredible food halibutsavice, salmon burgers provided by Mandy Carlstrom,
bobcat carneitis provided by the bumper of a truck. We
even got a good general sage grouse lesson by one
idfg's finest, who also threw in the story of his
bicap being munched on by a sow grizzly. If you
(04:52):
think you're tough, this guy drew a great Alaska moose
tag in heavy grizzly country and went that's after his
bear attack. His arm was still in a sling.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
He's an absolute dream.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
He pointed out that Steve and I have never had
a bear attack, just barren counters. He's got the scars
to prove it. He wasn't sure where old dirt myths
grizzly bear writing puts him somewhere in between. I suppose
I love the outdoor time, but I'd be lying if
I said the people I meet along the way didn't
provide a lot of highlights too, so look out for
(05:25):
that El Camino series. Another thing to look out for
on the meat Eater YouTube channel would be the latest
episode of cal in the Field. The Fesenomics episode is
finally out, a little late for the start of pheasant season,
but still plenty of pheasant season to come. I got
some sad stories on our season how it's going here
in Montana, but I'll save that for next week anyway.
(05:47):
Fesnomics Aberdeen, South Dakota a super cool episode. It's up
on the meat Eater YouTube channel right now, so please
go check that out. Let us know how we did.
Super fun, super cool, And that's all I got for
you on this one. So let's get on with the news.
Jumping over to the crime desk, Chase Kaminski is in
(06:09):
legal trouble once again. If that name is tickling the
back of your brain, here's a quick recap. Kaminsky was
not a famous hockey player. He was one of the
two anglers who earned international condemnation after cheating at a
walleye fishing tournament earlier this year. As far as I'm aware,
that was the only time a walleye fishing tournament has
ever earned international anything anyway. Local Pennsylvania media reported recently
(06:35):
that Kaminski has been charged with four crimes related to
alleged deer poaching that took place between twenty thirteen and
twenty twenty two. Prosecutors say the man unlawfully killed at
least five white tail bucks after dark in Mercer County
with a crossbow or firearm. Three of the five antler
deer mounts discovered at his home were illegally tagged with
(06:56):
another person's name. Now you know, in a until proven guilty.
Unfortunately Kaminski doesn't have a great track record. It is
not illegal to have somebody else's buck on your wall.
I got a great one hagging and a buddy's hunting cabin.
But you know, we'll we'll keep you up to date
on this one. It's probably not looking good for Kaminski.
(07:19):
Jumping up north to our friends in Canada. Park Wardens,
a Jazzper National Park, are looking for information about a
suspected poaching incident. After two decapitated big horn sheep were
found earlier this month. Warden's closed the area until further
notice and launched an investigation. They're specifically asking for the
public's help in providing dash cam footage from the area.
If you were in Jasper Lake, Edna, Zanol, or Talbot
(07:42):
Lake on October sixteen or seventeen, called the Jazzper National
Park Dispatch at seven eight zero eight five two six
one five five. Big horn sheep tags are tough enough
to get without poachers stealing those opportunities from the rest
of us.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, these are park sheep. But here's the deal. These
sons are going. Didn't take the meat like special room
in Hell reserved for these people. That's ridiculous, man, That
is a lot of good eating. Just because you're a
poacher doesn't mean you need to be a waster. Right
Moving on to San fran the San Francisco Chronicle reported
(08:17):
last week that dungeness crab poachers in the Bay Area
are using uber cars as their getaway vehicles, which is
just about the most Bay Area way I can imagine
to flee the scene of a crime you've arrived at
your destination. Over the past few months, state Wildlife officials
have cited hundreds of people on the rural San Mateo
County coast for taking crabs illegally. These folks call an
(08:38):
uber to access secluded crab fishing spots after nightfall and
then reverse the process to bring home their catch. Though
more expensive than driving their own cars, poachers like taking
ride haling services because they don't have to find a
place to park. They just have the driver drop them
off on the side of the road and they call
a new vehicle when they want to go home. Though
Uber drivers and passengers are sometimes the victim of crimes,
(09:01):
haven't been able to find any other instances of criminals
using Uber as a getaway car. Points for creativity. We
should do some more research here to see how the
driver's ratings and additional tips correlated into the use of
ubers as a getaway car. Speaking of getting creative with crime,
(09:22):
federal prosecutors charged four people last week for stealing thousands
of pounds of dinosaur bones and fossils from public land
in Utah. Vint and Donna Wade purchased illegally obtained fossils,
which they then sold at gem shows or to the
other two defendants, Jordan Willing and his father, Steve Willing.
The Willings then used their company to ship the fossils
(09:43):
to China. Paleontologists lamented that many of these specimens lost
all scientific value as they were made into carved figurines, knives, jewelry,
and other consumer products. The conspiracy lasted from twenty eighteen
to the present day, during which time the Wads sold
over one million dollars in paleontological material to the Willings.
(10:03):
Tens of thousands of pounds of fossils were stolen, including
a single seventeen thousand pounds shipment that federal agents seized
last year. It is legal in Utah to sell fossils
found on private land, but not on state or federal
land because that belongs to all of us. The Weeds
and the Willings are facing a variety of charges, including
(10:23):
conspiracy against the United States, theft of property of the
United States, and money laundering. If convicted of all charges,
they faced decades in prison and hundreds of thousands of
dollars in fines, which means they, you know, weighed in
a little deep. We'll see if they're willing to make
a plea deal, or they got in over their waiters.
(10:46):
The Wads got in over their waiters and they weren't
willing to fess up. There's all sorts of ways this
could go. If we had more time think about that one.
A Florida man who was caught last year beating a
lemon shark to death with a hammer has been sentenced
to twelve months of probation in a three hundred and
thirty six dollars fine. Thirty four year old Brian Waddle
(11:08):
made a minor splash last December one security footage leak
that showed him using a hammer to hit a lemon
shark and rip out its gills. I think we've all
been in the unfortunate position of dispatching an injured fish,
but that doesn't appear to be what happened in this case.
Florida Wildlife officials charged him with possession of a prohibited
species and failure to release it without unnecessary harm. Lemon
(11:29):
sharks are one of the twenty eight protected species of
sharks in Florida, and anglers are supposed to release them immediately.
In addition to the fine, he will face restrictions on
his fishing activities. Make a two hundred and fifty dollars
donation to the Brevard Zoo and complete the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservations Shore based Shark fishing course. Another angler
(11:50):
is in trouble for beating something with a blown object,
but this individual is being charged with attempted murder. Thanks
to listener Gordon Cole for sending us this story. Twenty
one year old Caleb Maniscalchi was fishing the Clyde River
in Newport, New Hampshire when his line got tangled with
someone else's. This is always frustrating, but it sounds like, oh,
Caleb had more on his mind than catching fish. Police
(12:11):
say Caleb knew the other angler, but instead of untangling
his line or cutting it, he started a fight. One
thing led to another, and police say Caleb used a
rock to hit the victim in the head and then
held them under water until bystanders intervened. Caleb called nine
one one in an apparent moment of regret, but fled
the scene before police arrived. He was picked up later
(12:31):
during a traffic stop and phases up to life in
prison for second degree attempted murder. I mean it's just fishing.
Well round out this week's crime desk in New England,
where if Vermont poacher was just ordered to forfeit his
vehicle on firearm after shooting a fake deer at night.
To catch poachers who spotlight deer game wardens sometimes set
(12:52):
up deer decoys in areas they believe poachers are operating.
Forty three year old Shane Phillips fell for this ploy
in October of twenty twenty. Wardens observed him stop his vehicle,
shine a light on the decoys, and shoot one with
a crossbow. Phillips fled the scene when confronted by wardens,
but they kept up their investigation. Along with forfeiting his
gun and vehicle, Phillips must pay two eight and seventy
(13:14):
seven dollars in fines and will lose his privileges to hunt,
fish and trap for three years. Moving on to the
legislative desk, a bill introduced in Michigan earlier this month
would allow commercial fishermen to harvest and sell sport fish
species from the Great Lakes. These include lake trout, smallmouth panfish, walleye, perch,
(13:37):
and other kinds of fish that have historically been banned
from commercial harvest. As you can imagine, recreational anglers in
the Minton State are none too happy. Just until May
of the Michigan United Conservation Club called this bill quote
a five alarm fire short of an outright ban on
fishing this piece of legislation is as bad as it gets,
he said. This bill was introduced by Mishi and State Rep.
(14:00):
Jason Morgan. Morgan explains in a press release that he
wrote this legislation after his father sold the family's commercial
fishing business a few years ago. He says the commercial
fishery on the Great Lakes is en quote serious trouble,
and that the fishery needs to be expanded for it
to survive. We need not only to protect the ecosystem
of our Great Lakes, but also repeal the harmful regulations
(14:23):
that have negatively impacted the fishing industry. Commercial fishermen have
historically relied heavily on Lake whitefish, but that population has
declined in recent years. They say that if they are
excluded from catching other species such as perch and walleye,
they will become a one fish fishery. The Fishtown Preservation
Society is one of the advocacy groups pushing for this bill.
(14:46):
Amanda Holmes, the society's executive director, says that the fisheries
can be managed to accommodate both commercial and recreational catch
to provide quote an incredible and readily available local food source.
The feven page bill outlines exactly how these harvests will
be managed. For example, it calls for twenty five percent
(15:06):
of lake trout, walleye, and perch to be set aside
for commercial fishermen, while the remaining seventy five percent will
be for recreational anglers. The annual commercial harvest will be
divided among the commercial operations, and they will not be
allowed to fish beyond those quotas. They will also be
required to adhere to slot limits. Wileye measuring less than
fifteen and a half inches may not be sold anywhere
(15:28):
in the state. Same with black crappie measuring less than
seven inches and perch measuring less than eight and a
half inches in the round. None of these assurances of
science based management have been enough to satisfy recreational anglers,
and understandably so. The Michigan United Conservation Club points out
that these sport fish species are planted, reared, and or
(15:48):
managed using recreational angler money through fishing license sales and
the Dingle Johnson Sport Fishing Act. It isn't fair, they say,
for commercial outfits to benefit from a system they didn't
invest in. Recreational anglers also note that their industry is
far larger than the commercial industry. The MUCC claims that
recreational fishing in Michigan supports more than one hundred and
(16:11):
seventy one thousand jobs, while the Fishtown Preservation Society says
that there are only a handful of state licensed commercial
fishermen in the state. While there were three hundred and
thirty nine licenses issued one hundred years ago, there are
only forty one active licenses today. The bill number is
HB five one oh eight. It's being co sponsored by
(16:31):
thirty additional representatives and it's currently under consideration and then
Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Committee. If you
live in Michigan and want to get involved, get in
touch with your representative. We'll post a link at the
meat eater dot com forward slash Cow. Texans will have
(16:52):
an opportunity next year to secure a big win for
hunters and anglers by amending their constitution. Prop fourteen will
institute a one billion dollar fund that Texas Parks and
Wildlife can use to purchase and develop new state parks.
This will be the first fund dedicated to expanding public
land in the Lone Star state, and it won't impose
any new tax on state residents to do so. I've
(17:14):
been reliably informed by real life Texans that this amendment
is a great idea. State parks offer rare public land
opportunities to hunt fish hike in camp, but the state
needs more to accommodate its growing population. Big thanks to
listener Brian McMurray for sending that one in Floridians, as
in you, Florida folks will also have a chance next
(17:36):
year to enshrine a right to hunt fish in the
Florida Constitution. The resolution to put the amendment on the
ballot pass the legislature by large margins, and it requires
sixty percent of Florida voters to vote yes on next
year's ballot. Here in Montana, the Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Department is seeking public comment and a new wolf management plan.
(17:56):
One major change from the previous plan is that instead
of documenting the total wolf population and the number of
breeding pairs, the new management system will only track the
total population. The original federal requirement is that the state
maintain a population of at least one hundred and fifty
wolves and fifteen breeding pairs, but the current population has
grown well beyond that with an average of one hundred
(18:19):
and ninety four packs and one one hundred and sixty
five wolves. To stay within those original guidelines, the state
will maintain a population of at least four hundred and
fifty wolves, which biologists are confident equal at least fifteen
breeding pairs. The state is not convening a citizen's advisory group,
which means public comment is more important than ever. The
(18:39):
deadline to comment is December nineteen at five pm, and
we'll post a link at the meat eater dot com
forward slash cow speaking wolves have a quick update from Colorado.
You may have heard that Colorado Parks and Wildlife was
having trouble convincing other states to send them wolves. Well,
earlier this month, Oregons saved the day agreed to send
(19:00):
ten wolves from the northeast corner of the state. Colorado
taxpayers will foot the bill for this operation and Colorado
biologists will be responsible for handling logistics. The problem is
this is only a one year agreement. Colorado's wolf free
Introduction Plan calls for five to ten wolves every year
for the next three to six years, so the centennial
state may find itself in this same situation next year.
(19:24):
Check out the article by Eli Fournier at the meeteater
dot com. Finally, I have great news to report out
of Pennsylvania. As recovered in a previous episode, the Pennsylvania
Senate passed a bill that would have diverted money from
the game fund and jeopardized federal dollars from Pittman Robertson. Fortunately,
I've been told by Don Rank, the chairman of the
(19:45):
Pennsylvania BHA, that the state House amended the bill to
remove that language. Unless the Senate decides to amend the
bill again, PA's game fund is safe. Thanks to everyone
who called or emailed their state representatives into Pennsylvania BHA
for putting boots on the ground in the capital. Moving
on to the mail desk, listener Matthew Cooper wrote in
(20:09):
with what you might call a report from the field,
Matthew says he heard me recommend that feral cats be
fitted with brightly colored collars and bells. I still think
that's a good idea, but it should be implemented by
properly trained wildlife professionals. I should have made that clear,
and it sounds like Matthew found out the hard way.
Quote I can confirm this is a bad idea. Even
(20:29):
with chainsaw chaps, a heavy Carhart jacket, welding gloves and
safety goggles on, I was nowhere near protected enough to
wrangle a wild cat unless one is looking to contract
toxoplasmosis or something else. I would not suggest anyone tries
something like this, just thought I would share my experience. Matt,
you're a true hero the small mammals and the songbirds.
(20:51):
Thank you, but you're right, it's not a good idea
to wrangle a feral cat with welding gloves. Thanks for
writing in sticking with the mail desk. I also just
wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who
wrote in about the interview with Washington State Wildlife Commissioner
John lemcuole. Several of you would have liked to see
me go after John a little harder. Listener John Dyke
(21:14):
said quote, I feel that this episode missed the mark.
It's a lot of fluff with very little substance. Wish
it was more hard hitting and made it seem like
everything was okay. I wish you would have asked him
why our WDFW staff biologists have presented multiple times and
the commission ignores them and goes the opposite way. End quote.
(21:34):
Listener Keith Bryant says I missed an opportunity to press
Commissioner Limcule on his distinction between recreational and management hunting.
Keith points out that the distinction is dangerous because it
can be used to discredit any hunt that doesn't have
a specific management objective. That's a good point, but it's
not something I made explicit in the interview. Keith goes
(21:55):
on to say, I know you need to play nice
with your guests, but if this guy is a centrist,
as he claimed, then recreational hunting in Washington will be
gone in ten years. Let me fire back at you here.
Thank you so much for writing in continue to do so.
I definitely don't have to play nice with anybody, but
I'm a nice person and I'm going to hear people
out and give them the opportunity to respond to fair questions. Right.
(22:21):
A lot of the pre questions that we solicited and
went through, we're just not things that you could really
ask anybody if you expected to defend your own stance.
They were circumstantial. Unfortunately, so I don't think Commissioner limbqle
is looking to ban hunting. I'm also not sure he
(22:44):
understands the larger implications of limiting the voice of hunters
and giving anti hunters a seat at the table. As
I pointed out to him, it doesn't make much sense
for anti hunters to have any kind of influence over
a game commission. They're just against hunting. They aren't for
concerts or stewardship or responsible resource management. They just really
(23:04):
have a burr under their saddle about one thing, very
narrow focus. The objective here from the Cow's Weeken review
standpoint is everybody's got to be engaged, pay attention to
this stuff. You didn't like it, show up in the
commission meeting and ask questions. I know a ton of
you did. I got a lot of reports after the
(23:25):
last commission meeting. I had a lot of friends in
the room who let me know that the hunter turnout
was serious and thought everybody was really well spoken. So
that is awesome. And guess what once is not enough?
You got to keep it up. And this stuff happens
all the time. So aside from just writing in here,
(23:47):
the other thing that is highly underutilized, including by myself
in the hunting public, is you got to write op eds,
well written perspective on the Inflamma tory, terms of like trophy,
predator hunting, all of those things, well written, supplied to
your local papers, They're going to reach an audience that
(24:10):
is not me, who is a hunter and very much
on your side. I just ate Bobcat for gosh sakes,
it's good stuff. I always take donations of mountain lions
and speaking which Riley Kirkpatrick, you got hounds, man, we
gotta go hunt lion hunting. That's good white meat and
the freezer. Kind of rambling on here, anyway, op eds.
(24:31):
That is a great way to reach beyond the choir,
and that's really what we need to do. This is
an old thing. We called it venison diplomacy, trailhead diplomacy,
a bunch of different things. But just screaming at the
Game Commission is not going to do it. You gotta
start talking to all your state representatives. You gotta start
(24:51):
writing op eds. You gotta find ways to get in
front of that big chunk of the population that is
neither really four or against hunting, and just explain to
them why you hunt, why you do what you do,
why you are the crazy person on your block that
gets up at three am and hauls a bunch of
batter decoys out into your truck and drives off into
(25:14):
the night. Things like that matter. Talking amongst ourselves is
good for common ground reasons. But we got to get
out in front of the people that we don't connect
with all the time because they hunt and fish, right,
So get out there, do your thing, be respectful, and
get those conversations going rather all right, rambled on long enough.
(25:38):
Thanks for writing Nann ask c al Askhal at the
meat Eater dot com, and uh, let me know what's
going on in your neck of the woods. On top
of that, if you're in the market for a clean
and quiet, battery operated chainsaw, or if you really want
to do something pro with a self tuning, computer chipped,
fire breathing gas powered chainsaw from steel, go to www
(26:02):
dot steel dealers dot com and find a local, knowledgeable
steel dealer near you. They're gonna get you set up
with what you need and they won't try to send
you home with what you don't. Thanks again, and I'll
talk to you next week.
From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is
Cal's weekend review, presented by Steel. Steel products are available
only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel Dealers
dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal Callahan.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
The Guinness Book of World Records reported last week that
the oldest dog ever recorded has died at the ripe
old age of thirty one years one hundred and sixty
five days. For those counting, that's over two hundred and
seventeen in dog years. The dog's name was Bobby. He
was born May eleven, nineteen ninety two, which makes him
older than some of the folks who work here at
(00:43):
Meat Eater. Bobby was either a purebred Rafero de Alantejo,
which I'm sure I pronounced correctly, a breed of Portuguese
dog trained to guard livestock, or a mutt. Reports very
but my money's on the mutt. He lived on a
farm in Portugal, and his owner credits his longevity to
a peaceful household and a diet of mostly people food.
(01:05):
That's a nice feel good story, but there's a reason
you're listening to this podcast and not watching Good Morning America.
So here's nature for you balance things out.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Perfectly balanced this all things should take.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
A few days before Bobby's death, another dog meant an
unfortunate and after he was working for a living, unlike
Bobby and for his efforts, he was attacked by a
shark off the coast of Nova Scotia. This dog, a
Chesapeake Bay retriever named Pepper, was duck hunting with his
owner near midway ahead. The hunter had shot a duck
and Pepper jumped off the boat to retrieve it from
(01:40):
the calm water. The shark erupted from below, lifted the
dog into the air, and pushed her under. The shark
was likely a juvenile great white, which feed on seals
in this area this time of year. The shark realized
that it hadn't caught a seal and let the dog go. Unfortunately,
it was not a catch and release situation. Pepper made
it back to the boat, but die of her injuries.
(02:01):
The hunter, who declined to be named, said this is
the first time he's ever heard of a dog being
attacked by shark while hunting from a boat, but Art
Gaton of Atlantic Shark Expeditions told the Post that this
happens frequently with deer, so not dogs, but deer. Sharks
will mistake of deer for a seal attack it then
spit it out. Condolences to the families of both Pepper
(02:21):
and Bobby. We don't hide our love for dogs on
this podcast, and I know how tough it can be
to lose one of our furry friends. This week, we've
got the Crime Desk legislation in the mailbag. But first
I'm going to tell you about my week, and my
week got you know, we just got lots happening. Just
got back from Idaho, where as you know from last week,
(02:42):
I was hunting the Greater Sage grouse with members of
back Country Hunters and Anglers Armed Forces Initiative, which again
thrown back and to clear things up. The Armed Forces
Initiative is comprised of active duty and retired military. They
engage with active duty and retired military on hunting and
angling pursuits. They help them connect with the outdoors both
(03:04):
on and off base. It's a great way to learn
how to effectively advocate for the continuation, even proliferation of
hunting and angling. If you are a service member or
former service member, it can be extremely difficult to navigate
the licenses, regulations, seasons of your home state. When you're
deployed for months at a time, combine that lifestyle with
(03:25):
moving from base to base, and the hunting and fishing
passion can get put aside, which is why AFI has
dedicated folks who can help with the logistics on and
off base. Anyway, I teamed up with those folks in
Idaho through my buddy Ed Anderson, who's the artist. He's
an outfitter. He's a big idea guy, and one of
his big ideas is the Elk Camino, which is a
(03:47):
physical and metaphorical vehicle to get veterans engaged in the outdoors.
You'll have to look this thing up. It's a really
cool el Camino supersport jacked up on big tires. It
sounds amazing and it's really fun just to look at,
but more fun to drive. This year you'll be able
to see a short series of adventures featuring the el Camino.
(04:08):
There's going to be changing hosts and veterans hitting the
road for fish, birds and elk. No big surprise here,
but on our last trip, Snort racked up two of
the three sage grouse flush as we had in two days.
This particular hunt made me super happy that I did
not train that girl repeatedly on Planet Birds because the
desert was not plentiful, lots of miles with no birds
(04:30):
and no birds sent. But we did have some great
stories and incredible food halibutsavice, salmon burgers provided by Mandy Carlstrom,
bobcat carneitis provided by the bumper of a truck. We
even got a good general sage grouse lesson by one
idfg's finest, who also threw in the story of his
bicap being munched on by a sow grizzly. If you
(04:52):
think you're tough, this guy drew a great Alaska moose
tag in heavy grizzly country and went that's after his
bear attack. His arm was still in a sling.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
He's an absolute dream.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
He pointed out that Steve and I have never had
a bear attack, just barren counters. He's got the scars
to prove it. He wasn't sure where old dirt myths
grizzly bear writing puts him somewhere in between. I suppose
I love the outdoor time, but I'd be lying if
I said the people I meet along the way didn't
provide a lot of highlights too, so look out for
(05:25):
that El Camino series. Another thing to look out for
on the meat Eater YouTube channel would be the latest
episode of cal in the Field. The Fesenomics episode is
finally out, a little late for the start of pheasant season,
but still plenty of pheasant season to come. I got
some sad stories on our season how it's going here
in Montana, but I'll save that for next week anyway.
(05:47):
Fesnomics Aberdeen, South Dakota a super cool episode. It's up
on the meat Eater YouTube channel right now, so please
go check that out. Let us know how we did.
Super fun, super cool, And that's all I got for
you on this one. So let's get on with the news.
Jumping over to the crime desk, Chase Kaminski is in
(06:09):
legal trouble once again. If that name is tickling the
back of your brain, here's a quick recap. Kaminsky was
not a famous hockey player. He was one of the
two anglers who earned international condemnation after cheating at a
walleye fishing tournament earlier this year. As far as I'm aware,
that was the only time a walleye fishing tournament has
ever earned international anything anyway. Local Pennsylvania media reported recently
(06:35):
that Kaminski has been charged with four crimes related to
alleged deer poaching that took place between twenty thirteen and
twenty twenty two. Prosecutors say the man unlawfully killed at
least five white tail bucks after dark in Mercer County
with a crossbow or firearm. Three of the five antler
deer mounts discovered at his home were illegally tagged with
(06:56):
another person's name. Now you know, in a until proven guilty.
Unfortunately Kaminski doesn't have a great track record. It is
not illegal to have somebody else's buck on your wall.
I got a great one hagging and a buddy's hunting cabin.
But you know, we'll we'll keep you up to date
on this one. It's probably not looking good for Kaminski.
(07:19):
Jumping up north to our friends in Canada. Park Wardens,
a Jazzper National Park, are looking for information about a
suspected poaching incident. After two decapitated big horn sheep were
found earlier this month. Warden's closed the area until further
notice and launched an investigation. They're specifically asking for the
public's help in providing dash cam footage from the area.
If you were in Jasper Lake, Edna, Zanol, or Talbot
(07:42):
Lake on October sixteen or seventeen, called the Jazzper National
Park Dispatch at seven eight zero eight five two six
one five five. Big horn sheep tags are tough enough
to get without poachers stealing those opportunities from the rest
of us.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, these are park sheep. But here's the deal. These
sons are going. Didn't take the meat like special room
in Hell reserved for these people. That's ridiculous, man, That
is a lot of good eating. Just because you're a
poacher doesn't mean you need to be a waster. Right
Moving on to San fran the San Francisco Chronicle reported
(08:17):
last week that dungeness crab poachers in the Bay Area
are using uber cars as their getaway vehicles, which is
just about the most Bay Area way I can imagine
to flee the scene of a crime you've arrived at
your destination. Over the past few months, state Wildlife officials
have cited hundreds of people on the rural San Mateo
County coast for taking crabs illegally. These folks call an
(08:38):
uber to access secluded crab fishing spots after nightfall and
then reverse the process to bring home their catch. Though
more expensive than driving their own cars, poachers like taking
ride haling services because they don't have to find a
place to park. They just have the driver drop them
off on the side of the road and they call
a new vehicle when they want to go home. Though
Uber drivers and passengers are sometimes the victim of crimes,
(09:01):
haven't been able to find any other instances of criminals
using Uber as a getaway car. Points for creativity. We
should do some more research here to see how the
driver's ratings and additional tips correlated into the use of
ubers as a getaway car. Speaking of getting creative with crime,
(09:22):
federal prosecutors charged four people last week for stealing thousands
of pounds of dinosaur bones and fossils from public land
in Utah. Vint and Donna Wade purchased illegally obtained fossils,
which they then sold at gem shows or to the
other two defendants, Jordan Willing and his father, Steve Willing.
The Willings then used their company to ship the fossils
(09:43):
to China. Paleontologists lamented that many of these specimens lost
all scientific value as they were made into carved figurines, knives, jewelry,
and other consumer products. The conspiracy lasted from twenty eighteen
to the present day, during which time the Wads sold
over one million dollars in paleontological material to the Willings.
(10:03):
Tens of thousands of pounds of fossils were stolen, including
a single seventeen thousand pounds shipment that federal agents seized
last year. It is legal in Utah to sell fossils
found on private land, but not on state or federal
land because that belongs to all of us. The Weeds
and the Willings are facing a variety of charges, including
(10:23):
conspiracy against the United States, theft of property of the
United States, and money laundering. If convicted of all charges,
they faced decades in prison and hundreds of thousands of
dollars in fines, which means they, you know, weighed in
a little deep. We'll see if they're willing to make
a plea deal, or they got in over their waiters.
(10:46):
The Wads got in over their waiters and they weren't
willing to fess up. There's all sorts of ways this
could go. If we had more time think about that one.
A Florida man who was caught last year beating a
lemon shark to death with a hammer has been sentenced
to twelve months of probation in a three hundred and
thirty six dollars fine. Thirty four year old Brian Waddle
(11:08):
made a minor splash last December one security footage leak
that showed him using a hammer to hit a lemon
shark and rip out its gills. I think we've all
been in the unfortunate position of dispatching an injured fish,
but that doesn't appear to be what happened in this case.
Florida Wildlife officials charged him with possession of a prohibited
species and failure to release it without unnecessary harm. Lemon
(11:29):
sharks are one of the twenty eight protected species of
sharks in Florida, and anglers are supposed to release them immediately.
In addition to the fine, he will face restrictions on
his fishing activities. Make a two hundred and fifty dollars
donation to the Brevard Zoo and complete the Florida Fish
and Wildlife Conservations Shore based Shark fishing course. Another angler
(11:50):
is in trouble for beating something with a blown object,
but this individual is being charged with attempted murder. Thanks
to listener Gordon Cole for sending us this story. Twenty
one year old Caleb Maniscalchi was fishing the Clyde River
in Newport, New Hampshire when his line got tangled with
someone else's. This is always frustrating, but it sounds like, oh,
Caleb had more on his mind than catching fish. Police
(12:11):
say Caleb knew the other angler, but instead of untangling
his line or cutting it, he started a fight. One
thing led to another, and police say Caleb used a
rock to hit the victim in the head and then
held them under water until bystanders intervened. Caleb called nine
one one in an apparent moment of regret, but fled
the scene before police arrived. He was picked up later
(12:31):
during a traffic stop and phases up to life in
prison for second degree attempted murder. I mean it's just fishing.
Well round out this week's crime desk in New England,
where if Vermont poacher was just ordered to forfeit his
vehicle on firearm after shooting a fake deer at night.
To catch poachers who spotlight deer game wardens sometimes set
(12:52):
up deer decoys in areas they believe poachers are operating.
Forty three year old Shane Phillips fell for this ploy
in October of twenty twenty. Wardens observed him stop his vehicle,
shine a light on the decoys, and shoot one with
a crossbow. Phillips fled the scene when confronted by wardens,
but they kept up their investigation. Along with forfeiting his
gun and vehicle, Phillips must pay two eight and seventy
(13:14):
seven dollars in fines and will lose his privileges to hunt,
fish and trap for three years. Moving on to the
legislative desk, a bill introduced in Michigan earlier this month
would allow commercial fishermen to harvest and sell sport fish
species from the Great Lakes. These include lake trout, smallmouth panfish, walleye, perch,
(13:37):
and other kinds of fish that have historically been banned
from commercial harvest. As you can imagine, recreational anglers in
the Minton State are none too happy. Just until May
of the Michigan United Conservation Club called this bill quote
a five alarm fire short of an outright ban on
fishing this piece of legislation is as bad as it gets,
he said. This bill was introduced by Mishi and State Rep.
(14:00):
Jason Morgan. Morgan explains in a press release that he
wrote this legislation after his father sold the family's commercial
fishing business a few years ago. He says the commercial
fishery on the Great Lakes is en quote serious trouble,
and that the fishery needs to be expanded for it
to survive. We need not only to protect the ecosystem
of our Great Lakes, but also repeal the harmful regulations
(14:23):
that have negatively impacted the fishing industry. Commercial fishermen have
historically relied heavily on Lake whitefish, but that population has
declined in recent years. They say that if they are
excluded from catching other species such as perch and walleye,
they will become a one fish fishery. The Fishtown Preservation
Society is one of the advocacy groups pushing for this bill.
(14:46):
Amanda Holmes, the society's executive director, says that the fisheries
can be managed to accommodate both commercial and recreational catch
to provide quote an incredible and readily available local food source.
The feven page bill outlines exactly how these harvests will
be managed. For example, it calls for twenty five percent
(15:06):
of lake trout, walleye, and perch to be set aside
for commercial fishermen, while the remaining seventy five percent will
be for recreational anglers. The annual commercial harvest will be
divided among the commercial operations, and they will not be
allowed to fish beyond those quotas. They will also be
required to adhere to slot limits. Wileye measuring less than
fifteen and a half inches may not be sold anywhere
(15:28):
in the state. Same with black crappie measuring less than
seven inches and perch measuring less than eight and a
half inches in the round. None of these assurances of
science based management have been enough to satisfy recreational anglers,
and understandably so. The Michigan United Conservation Club points out
that these sport fish species are planted, reared, and or
(15:48):
managed using recreational angler money through fishing license sales and
the Dingle Johnson Sport Fishing Act. It isn't fair, they say,
for commercial outfits to benefit from a system they didn't
invest in. Recreational anglers also note that their industry is
far larger than the commercial industry. The MUCC claims that
recreational fishing in Michigan supports more than one hundred and
(16:11):
seventy one thousand jobs, while the Fishtown Preservation Society says
that there are only a handful of state licensed commercial
fishermen in the state. While there were three hundred and
thirty nine licenses issued one hundred years ago, there are
only forty one active licenses today. The bill number is
HB five one oh eight. It's being co sponsored by
(16:31):
thirty additional representatives and it's currently under consideration and then
Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Committee. If you
live in Michigan and want to get involved, get in
touch with your representative. We'll post a link at the
meat eater dot com forward slash Cow. Texans will have
(16:52):
an opportunity next year to secure a big win for
hunters and anglers by amending their constitution. Prop fourteen will
institute a one billion dollar fund that Texas Parks and
Wildlife can use to purchase and develop new state parks.
This will be the first fund dedicated to expanding public
land in the Lone Star state, and it won't impose
any new tax on state residents to do so. I've
(17:14):
been reliably informed by real life Texans that this amendment
is a great idea. State parks offer rare public land
opportunities to hunt fish hike in camp, but the state
needs more to accommodate its growing population. Big thanks to
listener Brian McMurray for sending that one in Floridians, as
in you, Florida folks will also have a chance next
(17:36):
year to enshrine a right to hunt fish in the
Florida Constitution. The resolution to put the amendment on the
ballot pass the legislature by large margins, and it requires
sixty percent of Florida voters to vote yes on next
year's ballot. Here in Montana, the Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Department is seeking public comment and a new wolf management plan.
(17:56):
One major change from the previous plan is that instead
of documenting the total wolf population and the number of
breeding pairs, the new management system will only track the
total population. The original federal requirement is that the state
maintain a population of at least one hundred and fifty
wolves and fifteen breeding pairs, but the current population has
grown well beyond that with an average of one hundred
(18:19):
and ninety four packs and one one hundred and sixty
five wolves. To stay within those original guidelines, the state
will maintain a population of at least four hundred and
fifty wolves, which biologists are confident equal at least fifteen
breeding pairs. The state is not convening a citizen's advisory group,
which means public comment is more important than ever. The
(18:39):
deadline to comment is December nineteen at five pm, and
we'll post a link at the meat eater dot com
forward slash cow speaking wolves have a quick update from Colorado.
You may have heard that Colorado Parks and Wildlife was
having trouble convincing other states to send them wolves. Well,
earlier this month, Oregons saved the day agreed to send
(19:00):
ten wolves from the northeast corner of the state. Colorado
taxpayers will foot the bill for this operation and Colorado
biologists will be responsible for handling logistics. The problem is
this is only a one year agreement. Colorado's wolf free
Introduction Plan calls for five to ten wolves every year
for the next three to six years, so the centennial
state may find itself in this same situation next year.
(19:24):
Check out the article by Eli Fournier at the meeteater
dot com. Finally, I have great news to report out
of Pennsylvania. As recovered in a previous episode, the Pennsylvania
Senate passed a bill that would have diverted money from
the game fund and jeopardized federal dollars from Pittman Robertson. Fortunately,
I've been told by Don Rank, the chairman of the
(19:45):
Pennsylvania BHA, that the state House amended the bill to
remove that language. Unless the Senate decides to amend the
bill again, PA's game fund is safe. Thanks to everyone
who called or emailed their state representatives into Pennsylvania BHA
for putting boots on the ground in the capital. Moving
on to the mail desk, listener Matthew Cooper wrote in
(20:09):
with what you might call a report from the field,
Matthew says he heard me recommend that feral cats be
fitted with brightly colored collars and bells. I still think
that's a good idea, but it should be implemented by
properly trained wildlife professionals. I should have made that clear,
and it sounds like Matthew found out the hard way.
Quote I can confirm this is a bad idea. Even
(20:29):
with chainsaw chaps, a heavy Carhart jacket, welding gloves and
safety goggles on, I was nowhere near protected enough to
wrangle a wild cat unless one is looking to contract
toxoplasmosis or something else. I would not suggest anyone tries
something like this, just thought I would share my experience. Matt,
you're a true hero the small mammals and the songbirds.
(20:51):
Thank you, but you're right, it's not a good idea
to wrangle a feral cat with welding gloves. Thanks for
writing in sticking with the mail desk. I also just
wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who
wrote in about the interview with Washington State Wildlife Commissioner
John lemcuole. Several of you would have liked to see
me go after John a little harder. Listener John Dyke
(21:14):
said quote, I feel that this episode missed the mark.
It's a lot of fluff with very little substance. Wish
it was more hard hitting and made it seem like
everything was okay. I wish you would have asked him
why our WDFW staff biologists have presented multiple times and
the commission ignores them and goes the opposite way. End quote.
(21:34):
Listener Keith Bryant says I missed an opportunity to press
Commissioner Limcule on his distinction between recreational and management hunting.
Keith points out that the distinction is dangerous because it
can be used to discredit any hunt that doesn't have
a specific management objective. That's a good point, but it's
not something I made explicit in the interview. Keith goes
(21:55):
on to say, I know you need to play nice
with your guests, but if this guy is a centrist,
as he claimed, then recreational hunting in Washington will be
gone in ten years. Let me fire back at you here.
Thank you so much for writing in continue to do so.
I definitely don't have to play nice with anybody, but
I'm a nice person and I'm going to hear people
out and give them the opportunity to respond to fair questions. Right.
(22:21):
A lot of the pre questions that we solicited and
went through, we're just not things that you could really
ask anybody if you expected to defend your own stance.
They were circumstantial. Unfortunately, so I don't think Commissioner limbqle
is looking to ban hunting. I'm also not sure he
(22:44):
understands the larger implications of limiting the voice of hunters
and giving anti hunters a seat at the table. As
I pointed out to him, it doesn't make much sense
for anti hunters to have any kind of influence over
a game commission. They're just against hunting. They aren't for
concerts or stewardship or responsible resource management. They just really
(23:04):
have a burr under their saddle about one thing, very
narrow focus. The objective here from the Cow's Weeken review
standpoint is everybody's got to be engaged, pay attention to
this stuff. You didn't like it, show up in the
commission meeting and ask questions. I know a ton of
you did. I got a lot of reports after the
(23:25):
last commission meeting. I had a lot of friends in
the room who let me know that the hunter turnout
was serious and thought everybody was really well spoken. So
that is awesome. And guess what once is not enough?
You got to keep it up. And this stuff happens
all the time. So aside from just writing in here,
(23:47):
the other thing that is highly underutilized, including by myself
in the hunting public, is you got to write op eds,
well written perspective on the Inflamma tory, terms of like trophy,
predator hunting, all of those things, well written, supplied to
your local papers, They're going to reach an audience that
(24:10):
is not me, who is a hunter and very much
on your side. I just ate Bobcat for gosh sakes,
it's good stuff. I always take donations of mountain lions
and speaking which Riley Kirkpatrick, you got hounds, man, we
gotta go hunt lion hunting. That's good white meat and
the freezer. Kind of rambling on here, anyway, op eds.
(24:31):
That is a great way to reach beyond the choir,
and that's really what we need to do. This is
an old thing. We called it venison diplomacy, trailhead diplomacy,
a bunch of different things. But just screaming at the
Game Commission is not going to do it. You gotta
start talking to all your state representatives. You gotta start
(24:51):
writing op eds. You gotta find ways to get in
front of that big chunk of the population that is
neither really four or against hunting, and just explain to
them why you hunt, why you do what you do,
why you are the crazy person on your block that
gets up at three am and hauls a bunch of
batter decoys out into your truck and drives off into
(25:14):
the night. Things like that matter. Talking amongst ourselves is
good for common ground reasons. But we got to get
out in front of the people that we don't connect
with all the time because they hunt and fish, right,
So get out there, do your thing, be respectful, and
get those conversations going rather all right, rambled on long enough.
(25:38):
Thanks for writing Nann ask c al Askhal at the
meat Eater dot com, and uh, let me know what's
going on in your neck of the woods. On top
of that, if you're in the market for a clean
and quiet, battery operated chainsaw, or if you really want
to do something pro with a self tuning, computer chipped,
fire breathing gas powered chainsaw from steel, go to www
(26:02):
dot steel dealers dot com and find a local, knowledgeable
steel dealer near you. They're gonna get you set up
with what you need and they won't try to send
you home with what you don't. Thanks again, and I'll
talk to you next week.
Host
Cal Callaghan
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