Some Things Never Change

The Democrats are taking away our guns. 

The Republicans are destroying our environment. 

The politicians don’t give a damn about us outdoor enthusiasts and all they do is take our money and put it in places that don’t do me one speck of good.

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard one of these statements I could buy a couple of new Sport Utility Rifles (AR-15 models). I am a little worried the Democrats might confiscate them in the near future or I might not have any place to shoot them once the Republicans convince all the farmers to plant corn over all the wildlife habitat. I would have enough money left over to buy some ammunition. Oh wait, the government has bought up all the ammo and the shelves are empty. What the government hasn’t bought is being hoarded by the fatalists that think a revolution is on the horizon.

Have we hunters and anglers always lived this way? Paranoid about the powers-that-be encroaching on what we perceive as our liberties. Disgusted at the rate of natural resources that are disappearing, falling under the banner of creating more food and cheaper fuel. 

I remember 40 years ago my father cussing all the No-Hunting signs that were being posted on lands that he had access to in the past. Even then small farms were disappearing, getting consolidated with other farms and leased to the corporate farming enterprises that were expanding their reach.

As far back as the early 1800’s some states were trying to ban guns. In 1837 Georgia passed a law banning handguns which was found unconstitutional. 

The NRA was formed in 1871 with the primary goal of improving civilian marksmanship in preparation for war. Today the NRA doesn’t worry so much about civilian marksmanship as much as making sure civilians have guns to practice with.

In 1972 the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was created. Some think Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be a convenience store and not a government agency, but it was thought this entity was needed to enforce the Gun Control Act of 1968 which regulates guns and gun dealers.

It was over 20 years ago that California banned “semi-automatic assault weapons” and over 30 years ago that the District of Columbia banned handguns.

From an anglers viewpoint the spread of exotic species has been an abomination when it comes to government programs. When a gun tragedy occurs legislators are screaming immediately for reforms. Docks are crawling with zebra mussels in lakes all over the country and you don’t hear a peep.

Some gang banger shoots another over drug turf and legislators point their fingers at me like I’m some kind of criminal because I am a gun owner. The same thing happens when an invasive plant species shows up in a lake, river or reservoir. Since I have a boat I’m the villain and the lawmakers want to put restrictions on me, the guy who is not shooting others and is cleaning his boat so not to spread invasive species. 

In fact, these exotic species should never have gotten here in the first place. Stringent regulations with huge fines for those in violation might have kept those asian carp from getting a foot-hold in this country. As far as gun control, you’ll never control violent crime by trying to talk sense to an inanimate object. Once legislators realize it’s all about people and not the guns then they will be a lot closer to solving the problems caused by drugs, alcohol and people that are just plain crazy. I also hope that our elected officials eventually realize that bringing land back to a state where it’s quality wildlife habitat is extremely difficult once it has had food crops planted on it. 

People tell me I have no reason to whine. I get to hunt and fish plenty and write the stories to share with others. It’s true. Life would be perfect if those dang Democrats weren’t trying to take my guns and the Republican weren’t destroying all my hunting spots. Whoops. It looks like I owe somebody a dime.

Killing Pheasants Isn't As Easy As It Used To Be

The numbers are down everywhere. For a while you couldn’t pick up an outdoor publication or go to a hunting web site without reading the blaring headlines about the precipitous drop in pheasant numbers. What should we expect? Habitat is disappearing faster than Rolaids at a Chili Cook-Off. There’s no where for the pheasants to nest. There’s no where for them to hide. And when all the crops are picked there’s no where for them to go.

A few years ago when the cover began getting plowed under, burned and scraped away there were still plenty of birds and the limited amount of cover concentrated them. You could pick any little patch of grass or cattail and flush some roosters. Such is not the case anymore. The nesting success with the lack of good nesting cover has knocked the numbers of pheasants down to the point where there aren’t many birds around anymore.

I used to hunt in Iowa. It’s where I was born and spent the first 27 years of my life. Pheasant hunting was always good in Iowa. No longer. My last trip there for pheasant hunting I stomped through the limited cover for two days and never shot a rooster. There were hawks on power poles everywhere and I spotted a half dozen piles of feathers where these raptors had picked off a hen pheasant.

I still hunt Minnesota and the Dakotas but it is getting tough in these states as well. Minnesota is losing cover and the spring nesting success has been poor due to weather these past few years. You have to work hard for a limit of two roosters. 

South Dakota hunting around Aberdeen is still decent but even though Brown County still has more pheasant per acre than anywhere in the world, the lower numbers mean you might have to spend another hour in the field to get your three birds.

I don’t blame the landowners for this situation. They have to make a buck and when you think about it, with crop prices where they are there is little incentive to set aside an acre of land for conservation. Farmers for years were getting beat up by low crop prices and now when they can make a decent dime from planting they are striking when the iron is hot. Who knows how long the prices will stay high.

Should I blame the government? I might as well. They’re the ones subsidizing ethanol fuel which drives the price of corn up which makes it more lucrative to plant as much as possible, even on marginal land. But then I’m told it’s more complicated than that.

I’ll just have to be patient until the pendulum swings and we can get the amount of cover back to higher levels through incentives. We love the government when a program is working and we hate the institution when their programs are faltering. Right now their CRP program is a joke, but someday I might get to hunt Iowa again.  For now I’m just going to leave that one bird they have down there alone.

Technology - Good or Bad

I was at an event recently where technology became the topic of conversation among a retired resort owner and fishing guide, and myself. Straddling 80 years of age this veteran guide told stories of how he row-trolled muskellunge on lakes in Wisconsin where motor trolling big lures for these huge pike is illegal. It is still illegal and he appreciates that.

I could not fathom why someone wouldn’t want to incorporate the latest electric motors, whether on the bow or transom, to troll a breakline or weed edge using the latest side-imaging sonars. The ability of to strain a certain depth with any lure is simplified by this technology that basically calls for pressing a couple of buttons on a control pad and then letting the electric motor do the work.

My lack of comprehension led to a history lesson. Guides made their living putting pilgrims onto huge muskies and there is an art to row trolling. Novice muskie anglers could never get past the learning curve and achieve success with this technique in the short time they had on the water. Turn new technology over to these rookies and you put the old-timers out of business. You create a class of anglers who never earned the ability to achieve success without the use of technology. 

Shortly after this conversation I toured the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin. There is an amazing amount of fishing history in these buildings and I recommend every person who has ever held a rod and reel in their hand should visit this wonderful place. There is an evident evolution to the sport of angling. Seeing up close the lures that were invented 60, 70 even 80 years ago is amazing. Boat motors today are no comparison to what they were a hundred years ago. It would seem that fishing has always been spurred on by improvements in technology and today is no different.

Yet, there are lures that were around before I was born that are still in use today. Certain plugs and spoons that were used by anglers coming back from the second World War are still on the shelves at the bait shop. Well, not the same ones, but models that are exactly like those sold back then that are still produced in mass quantities today.

So, I still think technology is good for the sport. But, I will bow to the wishes of the old guide who wants to keep row-trolling the only form of trolling legal on some of his favorite lakes. There are plenty of places where we can use new technology to bypass the knowledge base that can take years to acquire. Until the winds of change modify the regulations that protect certain bodies of water from the waves of science that attempt to encroach, let there be sanctuaries for those that earned the opportunity to fish unfettered in a realm they mastered.