theoutdoorsguy

September 18, 2012

Heading off to hunt camp anyone?

The term ‘Hunt camp’ can mean different things to different people.

One person’s hunt camp could be as basic as a 4-man tent, while for someone else it might be a summer cottage transformed into a makeshift hunt camp when autumn arrives.

Other folks might be members of a private hunt club or an organized lodge, while some might even choose to go with an outfitter, rent a chalet or a small cabin. You could convert a fishing or trapping camp into a hunt camp in the fall and you know what, it doesn’t really matter.

Regardless of what four-walls make-up your hunt camp, tis the season to celebrate the sport we all know and love in your private little domain. Sharing the experience with friends and hunting companions only serve to enrich the experience.

The hunt camp experience is something only a true hunter has ever known and will ever really understand. Sorry to all animal rights people, environmentalists and other ‘non-hunters’ out there, you simply cannot relate and this post will mean absolutely nothing to you.

My Dad was up our hunt camp this week scouting for moose, as it is the first time in his almost 70 years of hunting he’ll be pursing moose with crossbow from our deer camp.

Of course I just had to know everything about the camp while he was there.

What did it smell like inside? Any mice around? How about fresh deer tracks in the way in, were there any of those? Did the deer eat the apples I put out on Labour Day? Anyone been around? What is the firewood situation like?

Yup, it is a time of year when many other things in our busy lives will take a backseat to this special place. We will dream about it at night and long for that glorious day when we first arrive.

After 32-years of this tradition I realize the hunt camp experience is over in the blink of an eye..so enjoy your time to the fullest and for goodness sake, let it all soak in. You just never know when it could be your last!

Outdoorsguy

September 12, 2012

Ganny River salmon getting no respect!

Chessmorefish1

(Image of dead salmon wasting away along shores of the Ganaraska river)

The fall salmon run has been a good one this year in Port Hope. Fish have been travelling through the town’s fish ladder by the hundreds, and hoards of fishermen, some with no common sense or respect, are right there to intercept them.

Our friend Chessy is a resident of Port Hope and an active participant in monitoring trout and salmon activity along the river. This year he’s noticing a rather disturbing trend…

Anglers just tossing their catch along the shore after stripping the fish clean of their eggs.

Not only are river anglers casting huge salmon aside like garbage, there are pop bottles, coffee cups and other sorts of litter strewn all along the river banks.

“People are catching salmon, gutting them and taking eggs and leaving the carcass behind” Said Chessy “My son kicked in 43 dead Chinooks back into the river that were gutted or dead from guys who don’t take the time to revive the fish”

“My son and i even pulled 2 fish from the local bargain shop parking lot that were gutted and placed in a pot hole so they would not be seen”

Now I ask you, is this the sort of behaviour anyone should be proud of??

Chessy goes on…

“The local parks department finally hauled several hundred pounds of fish guts to the dump from our local FREE fish cleaning station. Some of the fish were whole (12) that were stripped of eggs and left in the cleaning station for the town to clean up and get rid of…”

“It is so bad that our local police are now coming to calls and taking info to pass on or charge those when caught. We actually had people netting at 2 pm in the afternoon on a long week end with dozens of others fishing and watching them do it .

(This photo depicts someone, with blatant disregard for the law, netting salmon on the Ganny in broad daylight. Photo taken Wednesday at 2 :00 PM)

As Chessy puts it…”this just goes to show the mentality of some people ..”

Pretty sad if you ask me and not the sort of activity to shed any of us in a very good light.

Outdoorsguy

September 11, 2012

Podcast of Jeff's Chez radio appearance

Hey Outdoors Guy fans … here’s a podcast of Jeff’s appearance on Chez 106 with Doc and Woody. Chief among the topics they touch on is this week’s decision by Global to cancel fall all hunting shows for 2013.
Jeff Morrison with Doc and Woody on Chez 106 FM:
Morrison_Chez106.mp3

September 4, 2012

Global TV dumps hunting shows for 2013

This disturbing Press release was just issued by the Beasley Brothers, and there is evidence to show that Global Television has caved to Anti-hunting pressure from the Vancouver Humane Society:

Global Television Cancels Hunting Shows from it’s 2013 line-up

Has Canadian Global Television become an Anti Hunter?

Media Release – Global Television Cancels Hunting Shows from it’s 2013 line-up

It is with great sadness that Beasley Brothers announce the very unfortunate decision by Global Television/Shaw Media to cancel all hunting shows on Global and the Shaw affiliate networks. Canada in the Rough™ has been airing for 8 years on Global Television and we’ve had a tremendous experience doing it. We want to thank all of you for your support throughout the years and as much as we hate to say goodbye, we have no choice. Canada in the Rough™, Canada’s most-watched hunting show, will be pulled off Global Television after December 30, 2012.

Our hunting heritage is under constant attack by those who have forgotten that hunting is at the root of human existence and still the most valuable and effective tool in wildlife management.

If you wish to share your thoughts with Global regarding this decision, please email [email protected] as well as [email protected] and [email protected] or call 1-877-307-1999.

Please remember to enjoy the greatness of Canada and be proud of your hunting heritage and thanks for your support

Sincerely,

Keith Beasley, Paul Beasley & Kevin Beasley Executive Producers

Ok, is it time to panic with the idea that all Canadian Media may soon be giving-in to pressure from anti-hunters?

The four hunting shows currently running on Global Television are: Canada in the Rough, Hunt TV, The Canadian Tradition and Angler & Hunter Television.

Outdoorsguy

August 28, 2012

Ted Nugent's Pigman appearance brings mixed reviews

Anyone who caught my impromptu appearance this morning on CHEZ 106 FM’s Doc & Woody Show, knows how I feel regarding Ted Nugent’s antics on the new television show PigMan.

In his appearance on the new show, Uncle Ted is seen strapped into a helicopter; armed with an assault rifle shooting wild hogs with wild abandon…all the while being serenaded to the theme from Apocalypse Now in an episode they’re calling ‘Aporkalypse Now’.

“I love the smell of bacon in the morning. It smells like victory…”

“Let there be pork!”

Ok, I have always been a supporter of Ted and I get that there are 2.5 million wild hogs creating havoc in the State of Texas, but picking them off with an M40 Assault rifle from a helicopter?

Mehh….that’s is a little over the top even for Ted Nugent.

Now don’t get me wrong, according to the TV show it is perfectly legal to pursue pigs this way and judging by the number of hogs they have the ground, its highly effective as well.

It is just something that I don’t personally agree with and I’ve been a hunter for over 30 years. I doubt many folks here in Canada would agree with it either, but I could wrong.

Here’s the video clip if you haven’t seen it yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVecBww1vcE&feature=relmfu

Outdoorsguy

August 16, 2012

New Game Seal causes confusion

Hunters have been left scratching their heads recently after receiving the new 2012 Deer Seals.

(Photo of replacement seal and license should you accidently void your first one)

The new format – which includes a removable plastic deer tag – may take some time(& extra $$) to get used to. Be careful not to remove it as there is a $10 fee to have it replaced.

There is also some discussion about the MNR’s new cost-savings measure of outsourcing the tag allocation to the United States.

Give us your thoughts!

Outdoorsguy

The MNR have just provided me with this info. to help explain the new tag design:

August 3, 2012September 5, 2017

Another cougar sighting in Central Ontario!

The Central region of Ontario has become a hotbed of cougar activity of late, following an incident in Bracebridge earlier this month, and the trend continues…

While vacationing at his family cottage in the Dorset/Lake of Bays-area last week, Scott Hamilton (not the skater) spotted a very large and mysterious-looking black cat on the edge of the village.

“The cat was about 4 feet in length with a long tail, and was up and down a tree in seconds!” Scott recalls

Hamilton was so taken aback by what he saw that he picked up the phone and called nearby Guha’s Lion and Tiger Farm, to see if any big cats had escaped.

Guha confirmed (as they did following the Bracebridge cougar shooting) that all their cats where in order, and explained to Scott that what he saw was, most likely, a jaguar.

Scott asked around and no one else had seen any large cats lurking around town.

Evidently this black cougar is on the prowl in the Dorset-area; creating even further mystery at a time when big cat sightings seem to be popping-up behind every tree in Central Ontario.

Although black cougar sightings are even more rare then the typical brown cougar sightings, there have been a handful documented over the years.

Back in August, 2010, a farmer in Wainfleet near Lake Erie, snapped this trail-cam image of, what appears to be a large black cat with a long tail; looking very much like a black cougar.

At the time, Ontario’s foremost cougar expert Dr. Rick Rosatte, dismissed the image as nothing more than “an eye-bending perspective on an overfed tomcat”

With this latest big black cat sighting in Dorset, the myth and mystery of the cougar(brown or black) continues …

I urge folks in the Dorset-area to keep on the look-out for a large black cat. If the Bracebridge cougar serves as an example, this animal in Lake of Bays will likely show its face again.

Outdoorsguy

July 31, 2012

Problem with bears who ya gonna call?

According to a recent media report, nuisance bear calls in the Georgian Bay area are now being fielded by the OPP. Not only that, the OPP in that region are saying the MNR no longer have any involvement.

So, does this mean the MNR is no longer dealing with nuisance bears across the rest of the province?

According to OPP Police Sargent Peter Leon his department will: “assess and deal with the situation in what is the most appropriate manner. Police will try to scare a bear away and make it afraid of people before resorting to shooting it” Leon said.

In 2010 alone, 182 bears were shot by officials province-wide and in 2011 the MNR trapped and relocated 623 bears. They also immobilized and relocated another 107 that same year.

Dealing with problem bears has become a full-time job in recent years!

Ontario’s Bear Wise public awareness program cost $33 million since its inception in 2004, and following major cuts within the MNR this spring, it is unclear how much (if any) of the program remains in effect today.

Yes, it is certainly a sad state of affairs when our province hasn’t enough money to keep tabs on its own wildlife. And you can’t really blame the MNR they work with what they have which, by all accounts, isn’t much these days.

I wonder, if the do-gooders had known 13-years ago the full effect of cancelling the spring bear hunt, would they have still done it?

Our black bear problem in Ontario has gone from the ridiculous to the sublime and I‘d like just one Animal Rights person out there to tell me the hunt cancellation was in the best interest of the animal.

Oh yeah, and ‘trying to scare a bear away so it is afraid of people’, I think even the Animal Rights people know that doesn’t work.

Outdoorsguy

July 26, 2012

Mystery of Utah Goat-Man solved or is it?

The mysterious man seen last week dressed in a goat suit among a herd of wild goats in the mountains of Utah, has been identified as a hunter in a goat costume.

Those crazy hunters!!

When a passerby observed a strange-looking goat back on July 15 in the mountains 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, officials said they wanted to speak with the ‘person’ to explain the dangers of such a stunt with hunting season approaching.

The Utah authorities starting getting anonymous phone calls to ‘leave the goat-man alone’ and things got even stranger.

But alas, the mystery has been solved as it turned out to be a California man preparing himself for the Canadian mountain goat season.

Huh??

Should we even let this nut bar into the country?? I think that’s a baaaadddd idea!

The 57-year-old hunter from Southern California explained to authorities that he was merely trying-out a goat suit in preparation for a hunt he has planned in Canada next year.

Ok, so Goat-Man has been solved, but are we any the wiser?

A goat costume to hunt mountain goats during the mountain goat season??

Ok, now I’ve heard everything!!

Outdoorsguy

July 20, 2012

Ontario Antlerless Validation Tag Allocation

Further to my Outdoors Column in yesterday’s Ottawa SUN, I would like to make some important clarification to the deer seal information provided.

Thanks to some guidance from Mary Dillon – Management Biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources in Kemptville, I realize that I may have given some erroneous advice with regards to deer tag allocation this year.

I appologize for any confusion(or exictement) this may have caused.

The table below describes the 2012 Antlerless Validation Tag allocation and the Additional Deer Seal allocation, by WMU. There are, actually, only two WMUs (66b and 69b) in Kemptville District with Additional Deer Seals available for purchase.

WMU	2012 Antlerless Allocation *	2012 Additional Deer Seals *
63a	2000 (1500)	0 (0)
63b	600 (600)	0 (0)
64a	2100 (1350)	0 (0)
64b	215 (450)	0 (0)
65	2600 (2500)	0 (0)
66a	800 (650)	0 (0)
66b	30	30 (30)
67	700 (1000)	0 (0)
69b	350 (300)	100 (100)