Two Utah Elk Tags at Auction June 1, 2013

This message just in from the Redding Chapter of MDF:

The MDF Chapter in Redding, California will be auctioning the following tags at its banquet on Saturday June 1st.  I have attached a banquet order form if you
are interested in attending and bidding on these items.  If you are interested in being a phone bidder please call Steve Boreo 530-410-1832, or email Marlene
Woodard at office@aplannedaffair.net .  If you know others who may be interested please pass my email along.

• Central Mountains Manti Any-Weapon Elk – The Central Mountains Manti unit is the largest Elk unit in the state of Utah. The unit has a large bulls from 350 inches up with potential for 400 inch plus bulls. The season dates for this hunt are during the rifle season 2014. (Actual Season dates will be set in May 2014)

• Southwest Desert Premium Elk -   The Southwest Desert Premium Elk Tag allows you to hunt one of Utah’s premier elk units with an opportunity to kill a bull potentially in the 400 inch class. This Premium Elk tag allows you to hunt 4 seasons, archery, muzzleloader, rifle, and a late rifle season. (The season dates won’t be set until May of 2014). Hunter needs to purchase Utah hinting license and Elk License.

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Turkeys Active – Wolf Stakeholder Meeting

Turkey season opens this Saturday (March 30) and the gobblers are gobbling.

I sat on a rise overlooking (and overhearing) a canyon where most of our turkeys live. Gobblers sounded off from several locations. Hoping that this season will provide more action than the past few. I’m planning to be in attendance for the opener.

My new Mathews bow will be with me. I’d better take a few more practice shots.

My iphone says the weather will be rainy. A serious rain could curtail my trip, but it seems unlikely that the rain will fall very hard. We could sure use the rain. Before long it will be too late for this year.

Tomorrow I’ll be in Redding to attend a Wolf Stakeholder meeting. It will be interesting to see how the group reacts to the latest movements by our only wolf (OR7). He headed north (back) into Oregon a few days ago.

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What’s a One-Horned Oryx? MDF Livermore-Pleasanton Banquet

A one horned Oryx (aka gemsbok) is simply an oryx that has one horn missing. With only one horn, an oryx is not an attractive trophy, so they are hunted as a “managment” hunt, meaning that they are removed from the herd by hunters who pay a discounted price. I’m told that a taxidermist can recreate the lost horn for a shoulder mount.

Here’s are offering for our March 15, 2013 banquet:

A28     Free Range Mature Broken Horn Oryx Hunting in New Mexico with Armendaris Ranch: The Armendaris Ranch near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico has  generously donated a two-day hunt for a mature broken horn Oryx (gemsbok) for one hunter.  At more than 350,000 acres, the Armendaris Ranch has become synonymous with big Oryx and exciting hunts.  This is one of just a few places in North America where free ranging Oryx may be hunted and entering a chancy public drawing is NOT needed.  Included with this donation is 1×1 guiding, use of hunt vehicle, walk-in cooler if needed and field preparation of the trophy.  Not included are travel expenses to/from the ranch, accommodations, meals or State of New Mexico hunting license/tag fees.  This is a 2 day hunt that is usually completed in the first day due to the population of Oryx on the large private ranch. There is a land owner certificate for the guaranteed tag but the purchaser must purchase the tag from New Mexico Department of Fish and Game.

Here’s a flyer for the banquet: Livermore 2013 flyer

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Yes We Have Fishing Too, MDF Livermore-Pleasanton Banquet March 15.

How about salmon fishing in Alaska: The winning bidder of this awesome Alaskan fishing adventure will enjoy four (4) full days of
fishing covering two (2) trips for salmon on the Kenai and the Kasilof rivers. Your river fishing will take place from drift and power boats, followed
up by one (1) full day of salt water fishing for halibut, and what better way to complete an Alaskan fishing adventure than to spend a full day on a fly out
salmon fishing trip to either the Kustatan for Silver Salmon or Wolverine Creek for Sockeye Salmon & Bear viewing. Included in this trip are full
accommodations and meals while on this Adventure, along with all transportation while moving between fishing areas. This trip may be upgraded for additional
days of lodging and fishing and the winning bidder may add additional guests to join him or her by making arrangements with Steve. DONATED BY: STEVE
TAORMINA OF KENAI LEGENDS FISHING http://www.kenailegendsfishing.com/

Or your choice of salmon or trout fishing for four on the Sacramento River with Scott Kenyon’s guide service.  Fully donated by Scott Kenyon. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scott-Kenyons-Guide-Service/207934385930044

Or, trout fishing at Lake Margaret for four people, three days and two nights. A boat is provided as well.  Fully donated by Wilderness Unlimited. http://www.wildernessunlimited.com/

Here’s a link to a flyer:Livermore 2013 flyer

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Five-Day Drop Camp with Kennedy Meadows Pack Station

MDF Livermore-Pleasanton will offer a five-day drop camp with Kennedy Meadows Pack Station at it’s March 15, 2013 banquet. Kennedy Meadows Pack Station has contributed this trip to all 21 MDF banquets held in Livermore. Thanks to Matt Bloom and his crew for this super support.

For information about the banquet: Livermore 2013 flyer.

This trip for two includes a packer to guide you to your camp site with one riding horse and one pack mule per person. You can use this service to get to a fishing spot, hunting spot for deer and bear or just to camp out in the beautiful mountain wilderness.

I have purchased this trip and used it for both fishing and deer hunting. Come enjoy the March 15  banquet and bid on this trip.

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MDF Livermore-Pleasanton Offers Mule Deer Hunt at March 15 Banquet

Make your bid for one of three options for a hunt with Battle Creek Outfitters. Each of these hunts is offered at a retail price between $3,500 and $4,000.

Rifle Hunters:

“Thanks to several relatively mild winters recently and outstanding management efforts on the part of the Oregon Fish and Game Department, Oregon mule deer herds in Central and Eastern Oregon are doing well. This translates into increased opportunity and success for our Mule Deer hunting trips. Over the years our rifle Mule Deer hunting has enjoyed an overall 85% success rate.

All of our rifle deer hunts include:

• Full      guide services (2×1)
• Lodging      in comfortable wall tents
• All      meals during your hunt
• Transportation      during your hunt
• Care      of your trophy while in camp (includes field dressing and preparation for      your trip home)

Come join us for the Oregon Deer Hunting season with an unforgettable Mule Deer hunting adventure in some of the finest deer hunting units in Central and Eastern Oregon.”

 

Option  #1.) Rifle mule deer hunt at Pedro Mountain Ranch, October 4-9, 2013.

Or

Archers:

“Our Castle Rock Ranch will offer a Mule Deer only archery hunt this year as well as a combo hunt. This deer hunt will require the hunter to be in good physical condition as the terrain is high mountain and very rocky. Spot & stalk is the secret to success for this hunt.

Our Pedro Mountain Ranch offers the best opportunity for combo hunt success, as there are good numbers of deer and elk and conditions offer good opportunities for taking both animals.

Whether you are a beginner or have many years experience in the sport of archery elk hunting there is no greater thrill than “bugling in” a fully mature Rocky Mountain Bull Elk to within ten yards. This is the type of archery elk hunting experience we strive to provide for all of our clients.

Very few of our guided archery hunters go home without a realistic opportunity at an elk. We operate our guided archery hunting as combination elk and mule deer hunts, if the hunter chooses. We encourage our bow hunters to do the combo hunts as opportunities can present themselves at anytime and over the years we have had many a bow hunter that wished they had gotten that extra tag.

Our archery hunting takes place during the rut for elk and as you know this is the best time for bugling in those large herd bulls. Bucks during this time may still be in velvet or will have just shed their velvet. They are, often times, not as wary as they would normally be during their rut later in the season and this makes them more approachable for the archery hunter.

Oregon archery elk hunting takes place during the last week in August through the third week in September and we offer seven-day hunts. This can be a very warm time of year. Temperatures in the 80′s or higher are not uncommon. Hunter conditioning plays an important role when temperatures get high. Please practice, practice, practice with your archery equipment. The single biggest reason for missed opportunities, we have found over the years, is lack of preparation.

Allow us to help make your archery elk hunting adventure a safe and memorable one. Come join us for an unforgettable Oregon bow hunting adventure in Central Eastern Oregon’s finest archery hunting units.”

 

Option #2.) Archery Deer-Elk Combo hunt at Castle Rock Ranch, August 24-30, 2013.

 ”This deer hunt will require the hunter to be in good physical condition as the terrain is high mountain and very rocky. Spot & stalk is the secret to success for this hunt.”

Or

Option #3.) Archery Deer-Elk combo, September 16-22, 2013, Pedro Mountain Ranch.

“Our Pedro Mountain Ranch offers the best opportunity for combo hunt success, as there are good numbers of deer and elk and conditions offer good opportunities for taking both animals.”

These offerings are for 2013 dates only.

All hunts are 2 hunters per guide. All accommodations and transportation during the hunt are provided.

It will be the hunter’s responsibility to obtain and pay for their Oregon hunting license and tags as necessary.

Castle Rock Ranch

This 31,000 acre ranch is located in the Beulah unit in eastern Oregon. The ranch has great opportunity for Mule Deer and Rocky Mountain elk. It consists of sage brush/juniper covered hills with timber on the higher elevations. This is a great property for the spot & stalk method of hunting. Our deer hunters have done very well in the past. We have also taken some very nice bulls from this property.

We offer a Mule deer only archery hunt this year for those who want the next level of challenge with the bow.

Rifle hunts are available for both Mule deer & elk.

For more information about the outfitters, go to www.battlecreekoutfitters.com

For more information about the banquet and tickets click here, Livermore 2013 flyerLivermore 2013 flyer, or call Rich Fletcher at (925)989-4372 or Bob Holm at (925)447-2044.

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Auction Deer Tag Sells for $310,000

During the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City, The Mule Deer Foundation and Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife sold a mule deer tag at their Friday-night auction on behalf of the state of Utah. Ninety percent of the proceeds from sale of the tag will be used to enhance mule deer habitat on Antelope Island, which is located in the Great Salt Lake.

It is believed that this Antelope Island hunt will enable the purchaser to take down a trophy with antlers in the 240 – 270 inch range.

The opening bid was $290,000 and the final bid was $310,000.

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Diminishing Returns of Wolf Recovery

My college roommate was a student of economics. He later became the controller of a large law firm. He has credibility with me, so I’ll relate a story from my college days.

Bob came in from an economics course and explained the law of diminishing returns to me in this way. The first beer is the best tasting, and each beer after that is not only less tasty, but also has other negative effects. Thus the biggest bang for your buck, is the first beer. With each subsequent beer the cost per unit of enjoyment is higher.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns

After deliberating the wolf conundrum for a while, I’ve concluded that this rule of economics can apply to wildlife management decisions and nowhere does it apply any more appropriately than with the gray wolf recovery.

Even if species have no negative effects upon mankind, the rule of diminishing returns applies, but when species have negative effects upon society, by either threatening man’s possessions or inhibiting his peace and enjoyment, the returns on recovery are diminished at an accelerated rate.

I’d claim this as a great discovery, but surely somebody has beat me to it.

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When Red-tails Die

Normally we see red-tailed hawks soaring.

This is a young red-tail. His tail will become red after he’s about 2 years old.

Very seldom do we see dead red-tailed hawks. If we do, it is usually along side a road. Red-tails often hunt from a perch and there are plenty of perches along the sides of our country roads. If a hawk dives on a ground squirrel or other rodent, it may do so into a passing car. A couple years ago I collided with a red-shouldered hawk that way.

My friend Joe checked out a road-killed red-tail recently and found it to be banded by the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory. This is a group that calls the Golden Gate National Recreation Area it’s home and bands birds of prey each fall. I apprenticed for them about fifteen years ago. It was a fun way to put my hands on a few hawks. You can’t get any closer while they’re alive.

As unusual as it is to see a dead red-tail, it’s even less likely that you will observe a red-tail dying, but that is what I did a couple days ago.

While walking along my usual hiking trail, a red-tail appeared face down just off the trail. Curious, I walked over and poked the bird with a stick. It moved. It appeared to be barely alive, but not wanting to interfere, I left it alone and checked on it again on my way back to the truck. At that point the bird was dead.

This hawk was dying when I found it beside a walking trail.

I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to this bird. It appeared to be a healthy bird, with all it’s plumage in place and no apparent wounds. Could it have died in a mid-air collision? Not likely. Could it have received a wound from a competing hawk? Small chance of that.

When I spoke with my biologist friend, Joe, I asked him what he thought. That’s when he told me about the dead hawk along the side of Vasco Road. He added that the most likely killer of a mature red-tail hawk is secondary poisoning from rodenticides. Having observed the slow death of this hawk first hand, poisoning is logical.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodenticide

Who puts out rodenticides that can poison predators? Ranchers use rodenticides to kill California ground squirrels, so that is a possibility. Since this trail is near a golf course, I’d have to imagine that the greenskeepers might use rodenticides to kill gophers and ground squirrels that invade the fairways.

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/education/rodenticide/

It’s now common for marijuana growers to use rodenticides to kill rodents that attack their valuable crop.

When it comes to the death of this red-tail at Del Valle Reservoir, my judgement is very speculative.

I’m not a fan of rodenticides.

Secondary poisoning is one of the reasons we don’t use them on our ranch.

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OR7, A Wolf Conundrum

Conundrum: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conundrum

After spending the afternoon with a gray wolf stakeholder group, I have concluded that California gray wolf  management is a conundrum.

First question: Why is it important to re-establish wolves in California? Answer: It is not very important.

Second question: Why is it important to facilitate the successful rehabilitation of California wolf habitat to accommodate a stray wolf that has wandered into California? Answer: It is not very important.

Third question: What problems do wolves create for California ranchers, conservationists and wildlife managers? Answer: Too many to list.

Last question: Why are we holding meetings to make decisions about gray wolf management in California when there is only one known gray wolf in California? Answer:  California politics are out of control and we are driven by  a form of insanity, which is the result of guilt feelings (for all the evironmental destruction man has wreaked on the earth) and an out of control emotional attachment to iconic creatures – like wolves.

I am a wolf fan and I will be thrilled when I see my first wolf and hope to have a wolf  hide hanging on my wall some day, right next to a couple of coyote hides. You can bet that wolf hide won’t be from a California gray wolf.

Here are four possible solutions to the gray wolf situation. The simplest and most cost-effective approach? Have the gray wolf classified as a varmint so that it can be eradicated. This solution is simple, painless, proven and cheap. It worked well for almost 100 years. End of discussion.

If the simple, cheap, proven and painless solution is not acceptable, the second solution would be to work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to create a recovery plan under the Federal Endangered Species Act. The recovery plan would establish management goals and create opportunities to fund activities like monitoring, study and mitigation for negative impacts to the species and its habitat. Hopefully, this would also create opportunities to manage other species, such as ungulates, that are critical prey species for wolves. But, I have to believe that the last thing the USFWS wants is to drag California into the already colossal fiasco that is taking place in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington – so odds are that this will not be the approach taken.

Another option is for California to take the lead in wolf recovery using a management plan as a guide. This option could create some problems by attempting to create a wolf program without proper funding. This approach would be particularly undesirable if wolves were delisted by the USFWS or is they make some type of formal decision that California is not important wolf habitat.

The last option  is for California to list wolves under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and use the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as a tool to fund enhancement of wolf habitat and also habitat of related prey species. Land managers and conservationists could use the enormous power of CESA and CEQA to fund mitigation for habitat losses and compensate stakeholders who are negatively impacted by wolves. This type of action would prevent the creation of a (potenitally) huge unfunded mandate (option 3). And, politicians would be making the decision to go forward with a better idea of societal costs. Under this plan, wolves could thrive and so could their prey species.

(A side benefit would be that college freshmen planning a career in wolf management will have their chances for a success enhanced.)

The complexity of  this solution would be mind-boggling and also extremely expensive. Maybe that’s a reason for it to happen.

Californians can’t resist the temptation to spend money – especially on iconic creatures. The best thing about this last option is that it could result in improved habitat for and boost awareness of the other species out there that share wolf habitat – like mule deer. Wouldn’t it be ironical if one stray wolf accomplished all that for California wildlife?

Oh. There is another solution. California’s lone wolf (OR7) could go back home to Oregon and never come back. That would be nice.

Now, having this off my chest, maybe I can go to bed and get some sleep.

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