Huckabee The Target Of Hunting And Religious Ridicule

It’s to be expected when you are running for president of these here United States. But multiply that substantially when you just come off winning the Iowa caucus heading into New Hampshire as the front runner. Let’s face it, when your a nobody, nobody cares. Lead the pack and you’re a target.

Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas has too very large targets on his back, at least so far, and everyone is taking aim. One target has a Bible in the middle of it. Huckabee is a Baptist minister and well, we know how this religion thing sits with some people. The other target has a hunting rifle in it. Mr. Huckabee likes to hunt. Read more

5-Year Old Descendant Of Davy Crockett Kills Him A “Bar”

“Born on a mountain top in Tennessee.
Killed him a “bar” when he was only three.
Davy, Davy Crockett.
King of the Wild Frontier”

We all learned the song as a kid growing up (well, those of us with a little age behind us) and about the legend of Davy Crockett. Now, 5-year old Tre Merritt, whose grandfather claims is a ten-times removed great grandson of Davy Crockett, has perhaps written his own legend by bagging a 445-pound black bear, shot and killed in Arkansas.

According to Fox Sports, this isn’t the first time young Tre has taken big game.

According to the report, Tre’s father said his son began shooting when he was 2 1/2 and killed three deer last year. What else would you expect from a decendant of the “King of the Wild Frontier?”

You can watch video of Tre and his grandfather from KATV at this site.

Tom Remington

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker - To Save Or Not To Save?

It was back in late 2003 or early 2004 when I first heard about the possibilities that scientists had rediscovered the existence of the ivory-billed woodpecker deep in the swamps of Arkansas. As a matter of fact, it was so long ago, by cyberspace standards, that the blog I did about it was on my first blog of which I never transfered the stories over to this format - regrettable.

Ever since the claim was made that one of these thought to be extinct woodpeckers was still alive, there has been continual disagreement as to whether it was really seen. After all, it wasn’t like they caught it and put it in a cage. The claiming of rediscovery, if my memory serves me correctly, was a quick snapshot/video of a fleeing bird and some audio sounds that some scientist disputed as being of some other species. At Ivorybill.org, you can read “the story” of the rediscovery.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has formulated a “Draft Ivory-Billed Woodpecker Recovery Plan” that is estimated to cost the taxpayers $27 million. Go to this link and you can download a pdf file of the plan and get information on how to comment on the proposal.

According to an article today in the Memphis Flyer, no further sightings or rediscoveries have occurred since 2004 but scientists are hopeful.

While the woodpecker’s existence has not been confirmed since, tantalizing evidence continues to be gathered in Arkansas, Florida’s panhandle, South Carolina, and other locations across its historic range.

So tell me readers. Is $27 million taxpayer dollars worth the investment on “tantalizing evidence” and a sighting in 2004 that has been questioned?

While intriguing, I think that better substantiated evidence needs to be employed here before I would be willing to spend $27 million on hopefully finding something. I think USFWS tax dollars could be much better spent on other projects.

Leave comments below if you would like.

Tom Remington

EHD Outbreak Widespread And Following Drought

As most hunters are aware, several states are experiencing outbreaks of EHD (Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease). To date, states involved are, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, New Jersey and Montana. In those states, some are experiencing widespread outbreaks while others are sporadic. Either way, it appears that this year’s outbreak is one that could be classified as the most widespread in some years.

J.R. Absher, the Newshound, and I sent a couple emails back and forth this morning about what’s happening with EHD. In one of my emails, I asked J.R. if this was what he would consider a large outbreak from his years of experience in the field. What he told me was that in a previous article he mentioned that he had talked with a friend of his, Doug Markham, information officer for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, about this year’s outbreak.

My good friend Doug Markham, information officer for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, dropped me an email over the weekend saying it’s as bad as he’s ever seen it in his 20 years with the agency.

Some especially hard-hit areas of the Volunteer State could lose half their deer to EHD this year, Markham speculated.

One other thing that J.R. mentioned was that it seemed that the EHD outbreak was following a similar path as this summer’s drought. I’ll have to do some investigating to see if I can find out if that is a common occurrence.

In the meantime, we all need to be praying for some frost and freezes to kill this thing off.

Tom Remington

Further Spreading Of EHD And Troubles With Water Contamination In Pennsylvania

We can now add Montana to the growing list of states confirming outbreaks of epizootic hemorrhagic disease, EHD, or blue tongue. EHD is contracted by the bite of insects called “biting midges.” The virus usually kills the animals within five to 10 days. It is not spread by deer-to-deer contact and is rare in domestic cattle. States already having confirmed cases of EHD are: Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and New Jersey.

Montana officials have confirmed the presence of EHD in the southeastern part of the state.

So far “hundreds” of antelope and deer carcasses have been reported.

The heaviest concentration of the disease appears to be in the Melstone area east to Ingomar and Sumatra.

There really is not much that can be done about the disease. We just wait until the first good frost or freeze that will kill the midges that carry the virus.

In the meantime, troubles from dying deer in Pennsylvania are raising concerns about the possible contamination of drinking water supplies. In Beaver, Greene and Washington counties estimates are that over 1,000 deer carcasses are lying about rotting and stinking up the air. For some, there is concern that the decaying carcasses, many of which are lying in water, are contaminating the water supplies.

Russell Morgan is a Greene Township Supervisor and a farmer. He’s concerned about the water problems but is getting no help from the Pennsylvania Game Commission to get the carcasses cleaned up.

Already, Morgan said, he has confirmed 17 dead deer on and around his property. Township secretary Sandy Wright said one resident found 50 dead deer within a short distance of each other. Another resident reported finding 35 dead deer, Wright said.

Morgan said the game commission should at least help remove the remains from water sources. Instead, he was told removal of the deer is the responsibility of the homeowner,

“No one wants to take responsibility for what’s going on,” he said.

One of the side effects of the disease in deer causes the body temperature to rise, thus sending the deer to water to cool off. This is often where they expire.

Game Commission Supervisor Barry Zaffuto says it isn’t the responsibility of the PGC to take care of the dead animals and that the rotting deer are not contaminating the water.

“A deer is 100 percent natural,” he said. “This virus is not transferable, so it would be just like a deer that dies in the water naturally, because it does happen.”

The commission, he said, does not have the resources to search across a three-county area for deer and then remove them, especially when nature is taking care of that for them.

“That would just be totally impossible. What would we do with them?’ he said. “Deer decompose naturally and rapidly.”

Morgan isn’t buying Zaffuto’s explanation about deer being all natural and wouldn’t ruin the water. As a farmer, he is required by law to remove any of his livestock if it should dye in or near water. Under the watchful eye of the Department of Environmental Protection, he is made to clean up the carcass immediately because it will contaminate the water. Morgan wants to know what the difference is between a cow and a deer?

Morgan isn’t the only one concerned about the dying deer and how to clean up the mess. According to the PGC, it’s the landowners’ responsibility but this is angering citizens because of the double standards being exemplified in this video.

Tom Remington