Outdoor Ethics

Outdoor ethics are like laws and rules that no one can enforce except each of us after examining all of the issues. Ethics are those hard-to-explain things that keep sportsmen from breaking fish or game laws if we believe someone might be watching our actions.
That’s fine, as far as it goes, but it’s a gross oversimplification of a very complex personal outdoor issue that all sportsmen should think about. And, frankly, these issues baffle many sportsmen.
Outdoor ethics are those complex but unquestionable rules that sportsmen must adhere to whether other sportsmen are watching or not. They are those things we must endorse if fishing and hunting is to survive this century.

Want a few examples? Chew on these:

• I had six chances to arrow a big 10-point buck last October. He always showed up five minutes after the legal shooting time had ended. No one was within 500 yards of me, and no one would have known if I had cheated by shooting that buck late.
  No one, that is, except me. It would have ate at me like a malignant tumor until the taking of that big 10-point would have been reduced to a humiliating experience. It would have ruined my hunt as well as my perception of myself as a law abiding sportsman.
  
  

• One night last fall I climbed into my bow stand, tried to remove my wallet from my back pocket, and it wasn’t there. My bow license was home on the dresser in my bill-fold. I had a valid deer-hunting license but it wasn’t in my immediate possession so my bow was stowed away in its case and lowered to the ground.
  That evening was spent watching deer through binoculars. It was a fun evening, even without a bow in my hands.
  

• A big problem with outdoor ethics is they are impossible to legislate and difficult for many people to understand. Only one person – you or me – can deal with these ethical situations whenever a potential problem arises.

• For instance: we shoot a rooster pheasant and it drifts across a fence on set wings and falls on posted land. Does shooting that bird give us the right to pursue it without landowner permission? Nope! The ethical sportsman would determine who owned the property, and make every attempt to gain permission to cross the property line.
  What happens when it’s virtually impossible to track down the owner? No one wants to see the game go to waste. The next decision would be to contact the closest conservation officer. If he says you can’t cross the line, it still remains an ethical question. Cross without permission means breaking the law. Do you go or stay? Laws and ethics. Right or wrong.
  

• We’re fishing flies-only water for native brown trout and a stiff breeze puts down the mayfly hatch. Is it ethical to fish worms here? The answer, both ethically and legally, is no.

• Or, as I mentioned earlier about the 10-point buck, could I have cheated in that instance and shot? Sure, but I would have had to deal with my emotions and my personal sense of right, wrong and/or my guilt.

• Mallards pinwheel down on a freshening breeze to spill into the bobbing decoys. It’s a perfect morning, and five minutes before legal shooting time, hunters in a nearby blind shoot and drop two hen mallards. Does that make it legal for other hunters to shoot early?
  The answer is an obvious “No” but some sportsmen would shoot any way, and be ticketed by a conservation officer. If they are not caught, they must still deal with their conscience.
  

Ethics prevent us from doing illegal or quasi-illegal acts. Hunters don’t shoot ducks on the water or grouse on the ground or off tree limbs. We don’t snag fish, and we don’t keep undersized fish or fish over our limit. We don’t ignore slot limits wherever they exist. Such things are just not done.
Buying a fishing or hunting license is no guarantee of a full game bag, a trophy buck, a hefty creel or a brace of pheasants. The license only grants us an opportunity to fish or hunt during the legal season. It offers sportsmen nothing more and nothing less.
Ethical behavior is a topic as personal as the color of our morning toothbrush. It also serves as the bare-bones foundation on which our sports are built.
We are judged by our conduct, in and out of the field, and those who wink at fish or game law violations or encourage any breach of ethical conduct, do themselves and others a great disservice.
If we can’t fish or hunt ethically, and within the confines of the laws that pertain to these pastimes, we should not be considered sportsmen.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Teach children about bow hunting

Spending time with someone else, and watching them take a shot at a buck, is just as exciting for the watcher as for the shooter.

It's long been said that turkey hunting is a one-man game, and that, for the most part, is true. Hunts can be shared by people who hunt alone but share the trip with someone else.

FAMILIES + CHILDREN 

More families than ever before have come to share their hunts. My wife, Kay, once shared a successful bow hunt with three grandchildren. The youngest was still sucking on a bottle, and Kay had the kids all seated in an elevated coop. 

"Look," she whispered, "there is a nice buck. Sit real still, don't move around and don't make a sound. Grandma will see if she can shoot it."

She eased the elevated coop window open, made sure all the kids could see without moving around, and waited for the buck to walk in. It stepped into her shooting area, and was slightly quartering-away, and Kay waited for the near-side front leg to move forward before drawing and shooting. 

The buck ran off, and Eric who has eyes like an eagle at the ages of four, said: "You got him, Gram, you shot him right in the heart. Let's go find him."

She got all three kids safely to the ground, went back up, lowered her bow and quiver of arrows to the ground, and began following the Game Tracker string. She had to rein in the kids to keep them from running ahead and getting tangled in the line. 

It was starting to get dark in the woods, and she took the kids back to the car. She knew the deer was dead, and soon her daughter Nancy, and son-in-law Roger, and I, arrived.

The kids were right into it. We  quickly found the dead buck, and set about field-dressing it. The girls stood and watched as the entrails came out, and when I held up the heart, Eric blurted: "I told you, Gram, right through the heart." 

The youngest of these kids was about two years old at the time, and it didn't gross them out. They probably would have helped with the field dressing but we didn't want them to get bloody for fear some well-meaning person might have thought we'd been beating them. They probably wouldn't have understood taking the kids out hunting either.

BOW HUNTING: TEACHING LIFE LESSONS 

Children must learn to have patience, and it is a necessary part of a bow hunt. Most kids, especially those who do not hunt, have a patience level of seven or eight minutes -- the time between television commercials. That type of patience won't work in a deer stand. 

Kids must learn to sit still, and to remain silent. They can learn what an adrenalin rush feels like when Dad, Mom or Gram takes a shot. They learn, first-hand, that hunters always try to kill cleanly and quickly, and utilize the flesh of this animal for the nourishment of their body.

SIX POINTS OF LEARNING THROUGH BOW HUNTING

• Adults can get their children into shooting a bow. Never give a kid a hand-me-down adult bow that is too long for them. Shop around to find a short-draw bow that will work fine for two or three years. Make certain the draw-weight isn't too much for the child to pull. 
• Teach them how and when to shoot, and how to read deer sign in the sand, snow or mud. Show then how to determine wind direction, and why it is so important to be downwind of deer.
• Show children what a broadside and quartering-away shot looks like and coach them that these are high-percentage shots. Show them which shots should not be taken and why they seldom Sproduce a killing shot. 
• Teach them respect for the animals we hunt and the property of others. Allow them to learn to read the body language of a deer, and how the animals will react when danger threatens. 
• Take them out when preseason scouting during the next month, and take them out once the season opens. Teach them tree stand safety, how to use a full-body safety harness, and how to stay safe in an elevated stand or tree stand. 
• Most of all, talk to them afterward. Listen to their stories, and share yours with them, and give up your time to sit with them if they are not 17 years of age. Be supportive of their efforts, and install a sense of needing to practice to avoid having to make a long trailing job on a poorly hit deer. 

Take children hunting this fall or winter. Show them. Teach them, laugh with them and be proud of them and hold them if they cry over their first deer kill. Give of yourself, and that giving will be returned ten-fold in the years to come.

 

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Mandatory full-body safety harnesses for tree stand hunters?

Falling from a tree while hunting is caused by one or more things: 

• a simple brain lapse when the mind goes off the air for an instant, 
• slipping, 
• taking an unnecessary chance, 
• loss of balance, 

and the list is endless. The problem is that every one of these reasons has caused a fall that can cause a disabling injury or death.

Is tree stand hunting inherently dangerous? 

Of course, and especially so if the sportsman has had a beer or two, has done some recreational drugs or is just plain stupid. There are no laws that legislate against stupidity in the
woods but we see evidence of this problem every year.
This begs the question: Should sportsmen be required to wear a full-body safety harness when hunting from an elevated position? There are pro's and con's on both sidea of this issue, and I'd appreciate if you would weigh in on the topic.
Should there be mandatory legislation? Yes or no? It's an easy question. Right?  Let me know what you think. Vote by clicking the link below.

Should sportsmen be required to wear a full-body safety harness when hunting from an elevated position?(polls)

How would we enforce state-wide law for safety-harness use?

Like the motorcycle helmet law, which many people ignore, this is a matter of personal safety and common sense. Some people feel invincible, and believe that getting hit by a car and smashing head-first into the curb only happens to other people. Some folks pay for their errors of judgment in a swift and deadly fall from a tree stand.
Most people, intelligent or not, will make personal decisions on their thoughts about personal issues. A full-body harness is a bit restrictive, but someone may try to legislate common sense and make their use mandatory, but the reality is how or can any such law be enforced?
I¹ve walked the woods many times with conservation officers, and have seen very few hunters in trees. Some may have seen us coming and left without being seen. Others we have seen have not been wearing any form of body restraint. They are literally taking their life into their own hands, but no
one can force people to change their mind on this or similar issues.

So when do most of the tree stand accidents occur?

Most falls from tree stands occur while climbing up to and into an elevated stand, while in the stand and while climbing down. Slips can occur during very cold weather or when ice or snow covers the steps. Numb hands and feet often lead to a fall.
Some falls occur as a hunter leans forward to shoot at a bear or dear. Lack of sleep, vertigo, or many other cause can send a hunter over the edge. A few people walk away from a fall, many break their back or neck, and become a paraplegic or worse. A few people escape with just a broken arm or leg and some bruises. There is no explainable reason why some people walk away while others die in a fall.

Some safety tips

• Use a full-body harness when hunting from a tree. Be sure the harness is  securely fastened to the tree at all times. Visit www.mountaineer-sports.com for an example of a full-body harness. Many  other restraint systems are available for tree stand hunters.
• Remember the three points of contact rule. This means a hunter should always maintain three points of contact (one hand and two feet or two hands and one foot) when climbing or descending from a tree stand. Using just one hand and foot can lead to a deadly fall.
• Once in the tree, don't fidget around. Sit still and don't move. Fewer tree stand accidents would occur if more hunters learned to shoot while sitting down. Any standing hunter is more affected by swirling air currents, and if the tree shifts at the wrong time, a tumble could occur. Few sitting hunters fall from trees.
• Take the bow quiver off a bow while hunting. I talked with a hunter a few years ago that raised his bow to shoot at a buck, and the nock-end of his arrows got tangled in a small tree limb. He jerked the bow upwards, and as the bow came free, the lack of pressure upset his balance and he fell 20 feet to the ground. He was badly injured but did not die.
• Always use a haul rope. This rope can be attached to the stand or a nearby limb, and the bow can be tied to the opposite end. Tie the rope off at waist level while sitting. Haul the bow and/or backpack up, and never reach down for and item. Lift it directly to you.
• Make certain a tree stand is securely attached to a tree. Test all steps before use.
• If snow or ice covered, try to remove it from steps before climbing up. Use extreme caution when descending a tree in bad-weather conditions.

Folks, I preach hunter safety and tree stand safety. I always wear a safety harness since a minor fall about 15 years ago. I wasn't hurt but that mishap changed my mind forever.
Do I believe it's necessary to legislate the use of a full-body harness? No, I don't  believe that is necessary nor would making it mandatory prevent accidental falls.
Some people march to different drummers than most of us. The sadness of natural selection removing some of these people from the gene pool after they ignore common sense rules is very sad. Being a tree stand death statistic is the primary alternative to using a harness wisely.
It's a sad thing when a fall occurs. It's much sadder when someone dies, and worst of all are those sportsmen who must live out the rest of their lives confined to a wheel chair or a hospital bed. That must be like hell on earth for any hunter, who eventually learns the error of his ways ... the hard way.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Canada goose season opens next week

A goose is a goose, but a giant Canada honker is one big black-and-white bird. They come, on occasion, to the call or a flock of decoys on the ground but it's nothing you can ever make book on. Of course, much depends on where you live.

Most of Michigan's giant Canada geese live in the metropolitan Detroit areaand across the southern two tiers of counties. They are the birds that cottage owners always thought were soooo cool to have around, but few people share that attitude these days. If there is anything a goose does well, it's poop. Copious amounts.

They cover lawns, golf courses and farm fields with the slimy excrement, and once birds start using a corn or oat field to feed, the only way to drive them away is to shoot them. Try firecrackers, and the birds take off, cock their wings, circle back around and start feeding where they were before being so rudely interrupted.

These birds look like flying boxcars when bearing down on your blind. Things can be a bit messy if you hunt out in the open, covered from head to toe in camouflage, and getting spattered occasionally is part of the outdoor experience, although it's one most people would not wish to experience on a regular basis.

The early goose season opens on Sept. 1 in certain state areas. Consult maps and detailed information from  the 2009 waterfowl season information or from local DNR offices.

These can be very big birds and a 12-pounder looks mighty large as it comes honking through the air, head craning back and forth as they circle a potential feeding area, muttering and honking to other geese in the air or on the ground, and if they are satisfied, in they come like a horde of B-52 bombers. Get one of these birds within 20 yards, and they look immense.

Early Goose season starts September 1

Much of the hunting takes place on dry land. If you intend to hunt, keep these thoughts in mind:

• Unless you are an excellent goose caller, leave the calls home and depend on the standing crops and decoys to toll the birds within shooting range. Many goose hunters blow calls that sound like a ruptured crow, and all the toodling they do only educates the geese.
• Scour the nearby ground area and make certain there are no candy wrappers or Thermos bottles laying around. Shiny brass bases on shotgun shells or other shiny objects glint in the sunlight, and if geese spot them, they will fly away.
• Only one person should be watching the circling geese. They often make two or three circles before deciding it is all clear. The other hunters should wear camo face masks and gloves, and keep their head down. The person who is calling and watching the circling birds should say "Now," and the geese's position should be given to alert the hunters where to look before shooting.
• The bag limit is five birds, and state hunters have had five-bird limits often since the early goose season was established nearly 30 years ago.

This is one sport where the supply of Canada geese far outnumber the people who hunt them. Taking two or three limits of geese from a farmer's field will win you a stout pat on the back and a heart-felt "attaboy."

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Going Home: back to the Sturgeon River

"Trying for the big brown trout of yesteryear..." 

The night was dark, the moon almost non-existent, as three of us stood quietly talking alongside the river. The water chuckled and gurgled as it swept under a big sweeper that formed a hole where my late twin brother George and I learned to trout fish back in the 1950s.

We listened for the slurp, splash, and sizzle of a broad-bodied trout trout hazing minnows in the shallows. A few small fish fed the first night but none of them were the big brown trout that nearby Burt Lake used to hold. These fish move up-river in July and early August, and hold in deep holes before spawning in October and November. For me, this trip was a reunion of sorts.

It's been said that a person can never go home. That's not true because I returned to my Home Stream -- the Sturgeon River in Michigan's Cheboygan County-- for two days. Well .. really it was for two nights of after-dark fishing for the brown trout I caught 55 years ago as a 15-year-old and hope to catch now..

I was joined by two Hoosiers -- Les Booth and Ed Hauser -- on this trip back to yesteryear when I caught brown trout to 11 pounds here, but the stream has changed, and Private Property signs are more common. Fortunately, a number of years ago, I was befriended by a sweet lady, the daughter of the late Russ Bengel, who was the last Michigan waterfowl market hunter of ducks and geese. This late and wonderful man also befriended me more than 25 years ago, and now his daughter has granted me permission to fish what is now her Home Water. Russ was a kind and generous man as well, and donated large sums of money to Ducks Unlimited, paying back what he felt was a debt for the waterfowl he killed as a youthful market hunter.

The first night of fishing meant more listening for moving fish than fishing but fly rods and spinning rods stood at ready. We just needed to hear some fish moving, and we'd start fishing. A few small trout splish-splashed around but not a big fish moved.

The next night was somewhat different. A cloudy sky blanked out the stars, and we began hearing a few fish working the tail-out of several pools. We used big flies that more resembled mice, huge moths or injured fish. We'd time their rises, and one whist-whist of a back cast and forward cast, and the fly landed like a small bird hitting the water. Les had three strikes, Ed had three and I had three hits that memorable evening.

My vision problems prevent me from seeing well at dark, and I pitched a seven-inch Jointed Rapala in silver-black and a chartreuse-orange Rebel that also measured seven inches. I worked the tail-out of each hole with determination, and one big fish (it may have been a husky brown trout) slammed the lure so hard it nearly pulled the rod from my hands. Bing-bang, and it was gone, leaving me breathless. There's something about strikes from big fish once the sun goes down that takes your breath away for a few moments. The other two strikes were complete misses.

Ed, fishing a downstream pool from the bridge, hooked a big and powerful fish, and had him on for several long seconds before it too shook free. Les, like me. had three hits but no hook-ups. One might ask if any of us did anything wrong, and the answer would be no. Big trout trout don't hit flies or lures if the anglers makes a mistake with his presentation.

For me, this was a return home. It's where I sprinkled George's ashes in the river after his 2003 death from cancer. I spent hours both nights thinking of my brother, remembering his first steelhead from one of the holes we fished, and drifted back to yesteryear when life was much different than it is now. Most of all, it was a return to the river of my youth. Perhaps next time the fish will lose and we may win a round

One can always dream.

If you decide to go:

• The Sturgeon River flows north into Burt Lake. Try fishing the downstream end closest to Burt Lake. I prefer fishing from White Road ( the end closest to M-68) and on downstream. Much of the land along this water is private. Be courteous to landowners, and pick up your trash and that of others. The summer brown fishery is about over for this year based on my more than 55 years of experience on this stream.
• This river is extremely swift, and anglers should wade downstream through a likely spot during daylight hours to determine where they can and cannot wade. Some holes are line with clay, and an angler who gets caught on a clay ledge will go swimming. There are a great amount of stumps, sweepers and other debris in the river.
• A few big brown trout from Burt Lake move into the Sturgeon River in mid-summer. They are not easy to catch, as our two-night fishing trip would indicate. The fish move upstream in small schools and often can be heard splashing as they move up. Don't slosh around, make noise or shine a light on the water. A light flashing across your fishing spot will put the fish down.
• If a fog starts rising off the water, head for the sack. The browns stop hitting when a fog comes off.
• Fish safe, and avoid the river during daylight hours if you wish to maintain your sanity. You may be upset by hordes of canoers, kayakers and tubers, most of whom are out-of-control once they start downstream. If local legends are true, there is one spot on the river where the current flows at 22 miles per hour. The current is swift and heavy, and log jams and sweepers are common. Use special care when fishing, and pay attention to where you wade.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

African Experience: A Guide To Modern Safaris by Craig Boddington

African Experience: A Guide To Modern Safaris by Craig Boddington.

Published by Safari Press Inc., 15621 Chemical Lane, Building B, Huntington Beach, CA 92649-1506. 
e-Mail at < info@safaripress.com >.
Phone (714) 894-9080.
$39.95 only from the publisher.
Safari Press books are not sold through bookstores, and are available only from the publisher.

 

Craig Boddington’s name has been indelibly linked with Africa, and writing about African big-game hunting, for many years. He has become North America’s most well-known expert on hunting wild game on the Dark Continent, and he has many safaris under his belt and the experiences needed to write well on this topic.

This is just one of many books Boddington has written about hunting in Africa, and it’s possible that African Experience may be one of his finest  works. No other continent has as many varieties of big game and such diversified terrain as Africa.

It also could be said that no other continent has undergone as much change and upheaval as African over the past 50 years. Here, Boddington takes us through the safari industry as it emerged after World War II, suffered through a decline in the 1970s, and came back into glory over the past two to three decades.

African Experience takes the reader through this renaissance to become the vibrant and vital industry it is today. Read about the day when Kenya offered glorious hunting to the reopening of Chad. It covers all big-game animals, including the Big Five and the much smaller plains game.

It offers detailed information on game such as the antelope, bongo, buffalo, bushbuck, duiker, eland, elephant, greater and lesser kudu, ibex,  leopard, lion, mountain nyala, nyala, oryx, rhino, roan antelope, sable, sitatunga, waterbuck, zebra and many others.

This 302 page, color photo illustrated book is filled with valuable information that can show a prospective hunter how to plan a trip, how to stretch your money wisely, how to plan a successful hunt, what to do and what not to do. There even is a chapter that discusses  “safari manners.”

This title should become the indispensable go-to book, and it presents a great  history of the Africa safari as well as thrilling author anecdotes about hunts. Boddington has spent most of his adult life traveling through Africa, and hunting large and small game with a variety of well-known outfitters and professional hunters.

My advice for anyone contemplating a hunting trip to Africa is to buy this book, and read it thoroughly. Lay it aside for a week or two, read and study it again, and begin planning your hunt of a lifetime. It is as essential to a successful African hunt as a straight-shooting firearm.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Bear season is rapidly approaching

Bears are one of Michigan's magical animals. They alarm, spook, startle, and thoroughly frighten some people, but despite all the self-imposed drama hunters place on themselves when close to a bruin, most sportsmen wouldn't have it any other way.

You see, bears possess the capability of turning the tables on a hunter. Suddenly, the sportsman is no longer the hunter but the huntee. But, 99.9 percent of the time, the bear is far more scared of the human than the sportsman should be of the animal.

Baiting Rules

Bear baiting rules and hunting dates are currently available from the Michigan DNR website. This site provides all the information needed for licensed sportsmen to hunt bear during their appropriate season.

Scouting between now and the bear season opener can be easy or difficult, and much of the difference will depend on the abundance and availability of natural forage. Berries and nuts are common foods, and with the heavy rains seen in bear country over the past month, berries should be plentiful in most hunting areas. The Baldwin Bear Management Unit (BMU) has good numbers of blackberries and blueberries, and the same should be true in the other locations. Hunting near a good food source can be a productive way to hunt.

It's pretty much a fact that when natural forage is plentiful, as it is in most BMUs this year, bait hunting is not quite as productive. The reason is the great abundance of food elsewhere. Often, the bears may visit the fruit or nut mast sites earlier in the day and home in on bait site just before the end of shooting time.

I didn't draw a bear permit nor did I apply this year because of my dwindling vision problem. However, friends who have begun baiting for bears report there is some activity at most sites, especially those located in low-lyling cedar swamps. Bears usually will visit such areas before heading for bait sites in more open cover. My preference while taking 28 bears over many years has always been to hunt in the lowest available cover, and don't be afraid to hunt near a major road. I've shot bears within 50 yards of a road.

Keep in mind that not all such areas attract bears. A hunter would be wise during the baiting season to look at many areas. Learn to pay close attention in thick cover (either dry or wet) for well-used bear trails. Examine piles of dung, and try to determine where the bruin comes from and where it is going. Pay particular attention to the presence or absence of other vehicles which most likely would be other bear hunters doing exactly the same thing you are doing.

If it's obvious that someone else is hunting the area, find another spot four or five miles away. Don't infringe on another hunter who is baiting an area and hope that no one infringes on your turf once you've established a bait site.

Scent Direction

Pay very close attention to  your scent when going into or out of a bait site. Wear rubber boots, use products like Scent-Lok or Scent Blocker clothing, and use scent eliminating sprays like Scent Shield or Vanishing Hunter to mask human odor. My personal belief is that two stands in the same area can be beneficial to any sportsman.

One stand should be set up downwind within 20 yards of the bait to cover the prevailing wind. Wind directions change dramatically in swamps, and can swirl. Bears have a keen sense of smell, and on days when the wind swirls, an alternate stand may produce. If the wind swirls and covers 360 degrees, bait the site and go home. Never jeopardize a bait site by sitting in a nearby stand when the wind blows in circles. A bruin will wind you every time, and if it's a big and savvy animal, it may never come back to that bait.

Bruins can be predictable, and they can be obstinate. Some bears will venture into a bait site during daytime hours and others will approach only during that 30-minute period between dusk and the end of shooting time. It seems as if black bears often are as wise as Solomon or as dense as a fence post.  No one knows for sure which personality trait will be attached to the animal visiting a bait site.

One thing is certain about black bears. Every bruin sighting is a happening, an experience that will stick with the hunter long after the flavorful meat has been eaten and the skin has been tanned and made into a rug.

Xtra Info

For more information on hunting black bear, perhaps the finest book on the subject is Black Bear Hunting by Richard P. Smith. Contact him at 814 Clark Street, Marquette, MI 49855. Phone (906) 225-1002. E-mail him at rpsoutdoors@chartermi.net . The cost is $38.00 postpaid.

Report-A-Poacher

Poachers Beware: Hunters are Watching
Mandatory Penalties for Certain Hunting Violations
REPORT ALL POACHING
Call:  800-292-7800

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors