“Serious Grouse Hunting: Book 1” is about one thing: Improving your ruffed grouse hunting. New tips on finding habitat and parsing the habitat you do find, walking-up grouse (with and without a dog), getting grouse to flush, the best ways to get a shot, gun and shell choices, modern gear pros and cons, and much more. Serious Grouse Hunting takes a 70-year old conversation about grouse hunting and brings it into the 21st Century.

All bird hunters will enjoy this book, and those who aren’t yet Serious about grouse hunting will be after reading it!

Readers will:

* Improve grouse hunting abilities
* Understand countless new hunting strategies and age-old secrets with easy-to-understand illustrations and entertaining, down-to-earth explanations
* Learn how to harness the power of technologies like Google Earth to advance hunting skills
* Discover which time-honored grouse hunting tactics are now debunked

“We wrote this book for several reasons,” explained author Jay Kumar. “One is we love to grouse-hunt. Two is that we wish we’d read a book like this, and since no one had written one, we did. Three, the how-to info in the sport seriously needed updating. And a fourth reason is that we’re eternal students of the sport, and really want this book to start some new conversations about grouse hunting and upland hunting generally. We’ll keep those conversations going at our website, SeriousBirdHunting.com. We just can’t get enough bird hunting info, and we know we’re not alone!”

Co-author Brendan Haines added, “As Serious Bird Hunters, we love hammering ditch chickens just like everyone else. But to us, ruffed grouse hunting is the pinnacle of serious bird hunting. If you hunt grouse, you may not agree with everything in the book but should learn at least one thing that will help you bag more birds. If you haven’t hunted grouse yet, reading this book will make you want to.”

“Serious Grouse Hunting: Book 1″ has 200+ pages with photos and illustrations. Available now for purchase atwww.SeriousBirdHunting.com, the cover price is $29.95 – much cheaper than hiring a guide for the day and hunters will learn much more from the book. In fact, grouse books were selling for more than $20 two decades ago!

PRATT – For those who love butterflies, September is the month to watch for masses of migrating monarchs in Kansas. The weather has cooled, and many people are seeing this regal butterfly in backyards, parks, and in the field. A familiar and popular insect species, monarch migratory behavior is much like that of birds. Navigating on instinct, every monarch east of the Rocky Mountains flies toward a specific area of central Mexico to spend the winter.

Several generations separate the southward-migrating monarchs from those that flew south the previous year, so they do not have elders to guide them on this 1,000- to 3,000-mile journey. The monarchs that live north of Kansas begin moving south in late August. The trigger for their trek south is thought to be the declining angle of the sun as the days get shorter, and this “sun compass” also guides them as they travel.

As the migrating monarchs progress south, local monarchs join them, making the group larger. The observed peak for the Topeka-Kansas City area typically falls about the second or third week in September. The peak for the Wichita area may be a week or so later. On the right day in the right location, careful observers may see hundreds or even thousands of monarchs moving in a south-southwesterly direction on their journey to Mexico. During resting periods, tree branches may be so loaded with monarchs that branches bend and appear almost completely orange. Those lucky enough to have seen this display have witnessed one of nature’s marvels.

However, don’t expect to see such gatherings in the same place every year. Monarch movement is strongly affected by prevailing weather patterns, so their migration routes vary annually. A good way to attract monarchs and help them refuel on their fall migration is to plant September-blooming plants around home. Asters, sunflowers, goldenrod, and sedum provide blossoms with nectar monarchs need.

The right habitat nearby may even attract overnight roosts of monarchs. They cease flying in the evening and look for sheltered sites in trees to cluster together for the night. These sites often have an easterly exposure, so the monarchs can warm up quickly in the morning sun and resume migration. Such overnight roosts are, in miniature, just like what may be seen at their over-wintering site in Mexico, where acres of trees are so blanketed with butterflies that the branches of trees bend low with their weight.

Monarchs head back north again in March, but they are seldom the same ones that went south the previous September. It is the first generation of their descendants, and they begin arriving around the second week of April. Nor are those that begin the migration the same butterflies that complete the spring migration. Spring migrating monarchs may only fly a few hundred miles, then lay eggs and die. These eggs hatch into caterpillars, pupate, complete metamorphosis into butterflies, and continue the migration. Thus, the spring migration is often a leapfrog of generations moving as far north as Canada. Some may end their northward migration in Kansas, as well, laying eggs and producing more monarchs throughout the summer that stay in the Sunflower State.

Because the spring flight north is a dispersal with the purpose of laying eggs on newly emerging milkweed rather than the mass retreat from winter that occurs in the fall, large numbers of monarchs are not seen in spring.

For more information on monarch butterflies, including where to look for monarchs and their amazing migration, contact the Monarch Watch program at the University of Kansas online at www.monarchwatch.org.

BELLEVUE, WA – For the third straight year, violent crime has declined in all categories while gun sales climbed, gun ownership expanded and more citizens are carrying firearms for personal protection; proof positive that gun prohibitionists have been consistently and undeniably wrong, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

The FBI released its 2009 report on Crime in the United States, showing that murder declined 7.3 percent, robberies fell 8 percent, aggravated assault dropped by 4.2 percent and forcible rape has declined 2.6 percent. Meanwhile, the National Shooting Sports Foundation notes that gun sales in 2009 were up dramatically.

“What the data tells us is exactly the opposite of what the gun ban lobby has predicted for several years,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Their dire predictions that America’s streets would run red have been shown up as a fraudulent sales pitch for public disarmament.

“No matter how gun prohibitionists try to spin this,” he continued, “the bottom line is that they have been consistently and demonstrably wrong, and they know it. On the other hand, gun rights organizations have been consistently right when we argued that increased gun ownership would not lead to higher crime rates, and might even have a deterrent effect, because even property crimes are down, according to this year’s report.

Gottlieb is co-author of America Fights Back: Armed Self-Defense in a Violent Age and Assault on Weapons: The Campaign to Eliminate Your Guns.

“America has turned a corner on crime,” he observed, “and it is time to turn our backs on the failed liberal gun control agenda. Their gun ban policies were wrong and the courts have said so. Their gun prohibitionist philosophy has clearly proven itself bankrupt, and for the third consecutive year, the FBI data says so.”

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States. The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the Internet at www.ccrkba.org or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org.

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

Small game season opens Wednesday, September 15th and that means it’s time to play hide and seek in the forest again. I’ll don as much camo as the law allows in an effort to discover as much as I can about deer movement, while toting a tack-driving .22 rimfire rifle for bushytails. I realize there’s a segment of outdoors enthusiasts who head north for wingshooting the likes of grouse and woodcock with the utmost of romantic flair. That’s way cool! As for me, I’ll hide and stalk.

One thing I’ve learned: To have squirrel on the Super Bowl menu, squirrels are required. And since I can’t seem to find any at the local markets, I am forced afield for them. And, if it were a matter of whacking and stacking them, I’d opt for a .12 gauge and stout shot. But chomping down on pellets is not unlike picking fish bones from one’s mouth: It’s no fun!

If ever a perfect tool was invented for squirrel hunting, it would have to be the .22 rimfire. It’s plenty potent, yet typically lightweight, has no recoil to speak of, and is relatively quiet – especially when compared to any size shotgun. Beyond that, it’s inexpensive to shoot, it can be highly accurate, and it’s just plain old fun. And instead of the run and gun shotgun style tactics some employ, it’s a sneaky way to plan a whitetail ambush for the coming season only weeks away.

Almost any .22 rimfire rifle will do, as long as it wears acceptable optics. Iron sights aren’t for me any more and at best offer limited opportunities for humane kills for just about anyone. Either a low-power variable or fixed power scope designed specifically for .22s is a must. (I’m not talking about scopes the diameter of a drinking straw, either.) Forget the notion that off-the-shelf ,1-inch tube scopes are the way to go; they’re not! Their parallax setting (focus plane) is adjusted for 100 yards or more and will cause an optical illusion called parallax: The apparent change in the position of an object (target) resulting from the change in the position from which it is viewed.

To demonstrate this phenomenon, take this test. Get your favorite deer gun with mounted scope, or your .22 rifle with deer gun scope and place it on a steady rest that will allow you to look through the scope without touching it. Look at an object at approximately 30 yards or so through the scope. Then, without moving the rifle/scope, move your head from side to side or up and down and watch as the crosshairs appear to have a mind of their own. You’ve now witnessed parallax.

Rimfire scopes, and even airgun scopes, which make fine .22 scopes, have parallax set at 50 to 60 yards – ideal for the range of most small game encounters. Note: A good one for the money is Nikon’s Pro Staff rimfire model. It has great clarity rivaling more costly models at twice the price.

As for ammo, I prefer solid bullets that travel below the speed of sound. These sub-sonic rounds possess some inherent advantages over run-of-the-mill high-velocity stuff that comes in milk cartons. They are quieter and are typically highly accurate and provide enough punch to get the job done without overkill. Even though they exit the muzzle at slower velocities than their high-stepping siblings, they retain velocity downrange far better. When a bullet is traveling at supersonic velocities (breaking the sound barrier), it’s pushing a thick wall of highly compressed air in front of it (drag). When it’s traveling at sub-sonic velocities, it’s not.

My Ruger 10-22 fires a 40-grain, sub-sonic Lapua Master L .22 round from the muzzle at a mere 998 feet-per-second. When sighted in at 50 yards, the small projectile rises only .54 inches above the line of sight at 40 yards and is .86 inches low at 60 yards. Quiet and extremely accurate all the way.

If you have a youngster, there’s no better way to become acquainted better with him or her and Mother Nature herself. In the multi-purpose mode, you might even acquire a better strategy for the coming Youth Deer Hunt, which I will cover next week.

Oral Arguments Heard in Maine Trapping Case Appeal
9/9/10

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF) completed oral arguments during a legal hearing in the U.S. Court of Appeals on behalf of Maine trappers. The long-standing case prompting the hearing will have a far reaching impact by establishing whether anti-hunting groups seeking to manipulate the Endangered Species Act (ESA) will be able to block hunting and trapping seasons across the nation.

“This is the latest in a long line of steps taken by the USSAF and our partners to protect not only trappers in Maine, but sportsmen nationwide,” said Rob Sexton, USSAF vice president for government affairs while referring to the oral arguments made on September 8. “If the anti-hunters win, they will use this example in court room after court room across the nation to deny trapping and hunting everywhere.”

In November of 2009, Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. of Maine’s Federal District Court denied the injunction sought by Animal Welfare Institute and the Wildlife Alliance of Maine to stop the state’s trapping season. The groups had originally filed suit against the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 2008, arguing that that Maine’s trapping regulations provided insufficient protection for the Canada lynx, a species listed as threatened under the ESA, and thus required the season to be stopped.

The USSAF, along with the Maine Trappers’ Association, Fur Takers of America, National Trappers’ Association, and several individual sportsmen, argued that the antis must show that Maine’s trapping practices were a threat to the Canada lynx population.

The opinion of Judge Woodcock closely followed the arguments made by the USSAF and others by requiring that plaintiffs looking for an injunction to shut down a trapping (or hunting or fishing) season prove not only the incidental take of ESA-protected species, but also “irreparable harm” to the lynx population. Judge Woodcock concluded that the take of individual members of a reasonably numerous protected species does not necessarily meet the requirement of irreparable harm. He also indicated that the take of lynx occurring in Maine foothold traps, typically catch-and-release incidents, did not constitute irreparable harm in this case. Consequently, Judge Woodcock declined the injunction and the trapping season was able to take place.

This decision would make it difficult for antis to shut down hunting and trapping in other states based upon the incidental take of a single animal that falls under ESA protection. The precedent is so important that the antis filed an appeal in December, 2009 seeking to reverse the decision. This prompted the USSAF and others to file a new set of legal briefs in order to defend the hard fought victory.

According to Sexton, “We continue to feel confident in our case and will keep pressing ahead to be sure the ESA is not hijacked by those that want to shut down practically all sportsmen activities.”

GW: Good advice for anyone storing anything with today’s gasoline.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.- Boaters and anglers will soon be putting away their boats for the season. But before they do, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) has some tips learned from fuel industry insiders on how to store a boat with E-10 gasoline (containing 10% ethanol) over the winter.

The Octane issue:

Over long winter storage periods, E-10 gasoline loses octane at about the same rate as non-ethanol gasoline. So leaving the gas tank mostly empty – and then refilling in the spring in the hopes of “refreshing” the fuel to regain any octane loss – is not necessary. However, a nearly empty gas tank introduces another problem: the strong possibility of phase separation.

Ethanol (an alcohol) attracts water. It also absorbs water – about 10 times more than regular gasoline. When ethanol can no longer absorb the water, it will “phase separate” from the gasoline. Should phase separation occur, the (water soaked) ethanol will settle to the bottom of the tank, which is where the engine’s fuel system pick-up is located.

The problem with leaving a tank mostly empty is that it increases the tank’s “lung capacity” to breath in moist air (water) through the vent. If the tank is mostly empty over the winter, there will also be less E-10 gas in the tank to absorb the moisture. This combination of more water and less absorption greatly increases the chances of phase separation. Adding fresh gasoline in the spring would not remedy the problem – the phase-separated ethanol would remain separated at the bottom of the tank.

The Water Separator issue:

Any moisture in a tank will be readily absorbed by the ethanol. E-10 can hold up to 1/2 percent of water by volume and up to that concentration the water molecules will dissolve in the gasoline forming a soluble mixture that will pass through a water separator and burn harmlessly in your engine.

The only time water will collect in a tank and not be absorbed is if phase separation has occurred, and by then it will be too late. A water separator is not a solution to the phase separation problem.

The Fuel Additive issue:

Fuel additives are good for many reasons and should be used when laying up a boat for winter, but no additive will stand up to a good-sized slug of water. And once too much water has entered the tank and the gas has begun to phase separate, no additive will return the fuel to its original state. The only solution to phase-separated gas is to have a professional drain the tank and start anew.

The best advice for storing E-10 in your boat’s gas tank over winter:

Keep the tank nearly full. This greatly reduces the volume of moist air that can enter the tank via the fuel tank vent when temperatures fluctuate in the fall and spring. With any fuel, an antioxidant will help keep it fresh during lay-up. Finally, never plug up a fuel tank vent – it creates pressure that could cause dangerous leaks in the fuel system.

For more information including free downloadable winterizing checklists, go towww.BoatUS.com/winter. To watch a short video on ethanol and winterization, go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/BoatUSvideos#p/u/44/QWgLHTkDhYU.

About BoatUS:

BoatUS – Boat Owners Association of The United States – is the nation’s leading advocate for recreational boaters providing over half a million members with government representation, programs and money saving services. For membership information visit www.BoatUS.com or call 800-395-2628.
Contact:
D. Scott Croft, 703-461-2864, SCroft@BoatUS.com

EDGEFIELD, S.C. – The National Wild Turkey Federation distributed and facilitated the contribution of more than $25 million during the 2010 fiscal year toward its mission of conserving wild turkeys and preserving our hunting heritage. “NWTF volunteers and partners are the best, without a doubt,” said George Thornton, NWTF CEO. “The fact that they raised and invested $25 million in conservation and outreach projects – especially when times are tough economically – proves they are willing to work hard to conserve wildlife and preserve our hunting heritage.”

During the 2010 fiscal year, the NWTF and its partners supported projects that helped improve 689,903 acres of habitat and reached 90,000 people through NWTF outreach programs.

Some projects included improving wildlife habitat, supporting hunter education and providing opportunities for women, youth and people with disabilities to experience outdoor fun through outreach programs.

To date, the NWTF and its partners have invested more than $331 million in upholding hunting traditions and conserving more than 15.9 million acres of wildlife habitat.

Projects included:

* Habitat Enhancement, Wild Turkey Restoration, Management and Research: Helped improve wildlife habitat by supporting the NWTF’s fall seed subsidy and Conservation Seed programs, purchased equipment to improve habitat, created wildlife openings, purchased trapping, law enforcement and research equipment, and provided research grant support

* Youth Education: Funded scholarships and educational projects, introduced youth to shooting sports, provided NWTF Wild About Turkey Education Boxes and conducted 4-H and teacher workshops

* JAKES: Introduced youth to outdoor activities, conservation and hunting through the JAKES (Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship) program

* Volunteer and Professional Education: Provided educational opportunities, purchased staff equipment and more

* Hunting Heritage: Protected and promoted our hunting heritage by contributing to organizations including the National Shooting Sports Foundation and U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance

* Land Purchases: Purchased land or conservation easements to conserve wildlife habitat and provide additional hunting areas

* Women in the Outdoors and Wheelin’ Sportsmen NWTF: Purchased materials and equipment to provide opportunities for women and people with disabilities to participate in outdoor activities and learn about wildlife conservation through Women in the Outdoors and Wheelin’ Sportsmen NWTF outreach events across North America

* Hunter Safety: Supported hunter safety classes and initiatives and purchased hunter safety materials and equipment such as interactive shooting systems

The NWTF is a national nonprofit conservation organization that was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Edgefield, S.C.

Contact:

September 7, 2010

Two Inverness, Florida residents were arrested when an investigation uncovered they had illegally taken a deer and then posted the photos on Facebook.

William Andrew Buchanan (DOB 08/26/89) and Tara Anne Carver (DOB 09/06/82) were cited for possession of wildlife taken illegally, according to investigators from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

“FWC officers received information that the photos had been published on Facebook and investigated the tip,” said Lt. Steve Farmer, investigations supervisor. “Investigators then interviewed Buchanan and Carver.”

Buchanan confirmed he was in the photographs, helping skin the deer. He also stated he used his mother’s truck to move the deer when he received a call from Carver, and he provided the chain to hang the deer. However, he wouldn’t admit to shooting the deer or being present when the deer was killed, said Investigator Jim Smith, lead investigator on the case.

“Carver said she published the photographs on her Facebook page and that the deer was killed sometime in May,” Smith said.

Carver blamed Buchanan for killing the deer but confirmed she had skinned it and stored some of the meat in her uncle’s freezer.

“Fortunately for investigators, pictures can say a thousand words,” Smith said.

Farmer said there was a third person involved in the case, but he wasn’t charged because he was in county jail awaiting transport to state prison on multiple felony charges.

In a technologically advanced society, Internet websites provide opportunities for the collection of evidence when Florida’s wildlife is illegally killed. The FWC has created a specialized Internet Crimes Unit to monitor and collect evidence when Florida’s wildlife is exploited. Possession of illegally taken wildlife is a second-degree misdemeanor.

“This case is an excellent example of the FWC’s teamwork and shows our commitment to protecting the natural resources of Florida,” Farmer said.

GW: Bad economy? Tired of cheaters? These measures should help the sportsmen and women and if were up to me in Michigan, I’d make the fines heavier.

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe said, starting today, the Commonwealth has begun to reverse its reputation of being a state with minimal risks for chronic poachers as new penalties – including higher fines and possible jail time – go into effect.

“Some chronic or commercial poachers considered Pennsylvania’s previous fines as merely a ‘cost of doing business,'” Roe said. “However, the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Rendell – with the support of the Game Commission and law-abiding hunters and trappers – pulled the welcome mat back from those who would consider poaching Pennsylvania wildlife when they enacted a law establishing a new slate of fines and penalties for those convicted of various poaching-related offenses.”

Act 54 of 2010 was introduced as House Bill 1859, and sponsored by House Game and Fisheries Committee Chairman Edward G. Staback. The bill was approved by the House on July 21, 2009, by a vote of 196-3. The Senate, after making minor adjustments to the bill, approved the measure unanimously on July 3, 2010, followed by a 189-6 concurrence vote in the House also on July 3, which sent the bill onto Gov. Rendell, who signed it on July 9.

“We want to thank Rep. Staback for his hard work and diligence in getting House Bill 1859 through the system,” Roe said. “It was not an easy task, but a needed one.

“Increasing penalties for serious violations is one of the operational objectives within the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Strategic Plan. This marks the first comprehensive piece of legislation to increase Game and Wildlife Code penalties since 1987, and we believe it will significantly enhance wildlife protection in the Commonwealth, especially since this marks the first time that some poachers could actually face prison time for their actions.”

Rep. Staback noted that, from Day One, when he first sat down with Carl Roe to talk about putting an anti-poaching bill together, he wanted the penalties to be so tough that they would become a deterrent, keeping people from committing the crime in the first place.

“I wanted that shooter to know that he faces high fines and jail time for breaking wildlife laws, not just a slap on the wrist like before,” Rep. Staback said. “After three years of effort, working side by side with the Game Commission, the new laws on the book treat poachers and black marketers just as they are – criminals who deserve the stiff penalties that they now will face in the court of law.”

Roe noted that, before the passage of this bill, a poacher could kill every big game animal – which includes deer, elk, bear and turkey – in Pennsylvania and the penalty was the legal equivalent of a traffic ticket with no possibility of jail time.

“Under this legislation, those convicted of killing five or more big game animals, or three big game poaching offenses within seven years, will face possible felony-level penalties ranging from $1,000 to up to $15,000, loss of license privileges for 15 years, and up to three years in prison,” Roe said. “In fact, even the poaching of a single deer now carries a minimum of a $1,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail, with five years license revocation.

“This is an enormous step forward in creating deterrence to poaching. It treats the theft of wildlife, which is what poaching is, similar to the theft of anything else in regards to punishment, and ultimately enhancing the protection of the Commonwealth’s wildlife resource.”

As examples of how the new law would be applied, Rich Palmer, Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Protection director, noted that a case from last December in which two individuals who went on a two-day poaching spree that resulted in at least eight dead deer were liable for up to $6,400 in fines and three years of hunting license revocations. Under the new law, for committing the same offense a violator would be looking at up to $15,000 in fines, up to three years in jail, and up to 15 years of license revocation.

In another example, two individuals were found guilty of killing a black bear out of season last year. They were each charged with committing a summary offense, with fines up to $1,500 and three years license revocation. Anyone caught committing the same crime now is facing a misdemeanor offense with fines up to $3,000, up to six months imprisonment, and five years of hunting license revocation.

The new law also includes heightened penalties for the buying and selling of game; increased fines for summary offenses, such as using unlawful methods or devices; increased penalties for the killing of threatened or endangered species; and increased jail time for non-payment of fines from 120 days to six months.

“For the person who jacklights a couple of deer, kills a bear to sell its gall bladder or claws, or goes on a killing spree for some twisted reason, Pennsylvania’s wildlife protection laws now for the first time include felonies and misdemeanors that fit the crime,” Rep. Staback said. “Sportsmen are the most vocal group demanding tough treatment of poachers because they know that not only does poaching deplete a resource, it gives a black eye to the sport that we all enjoy and respect.”

Roe noted that a second bill, Senate Bill 1200, would complete the state’s effort to discourage would-be poachers from committing their crimes in Pennsylvania. SB 1200 is Senate Game and Fisheries Committee Chairman Richard Alloway’s measure to enroll Pennsylvania in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact. This bill passed the Senate unanimously on March 23, 2010, and presently is awaiting a final vote in the House of Representatives.

“By having Pennsylvania part of the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, anyone convicted of poaching-related offenses in Pennsylvania also would lose their hunting privileges in other IWVC-member states,” Roe said. “Similarly, those convicted of poaching-related offenses in other IWVC-member states would not be able to lawfully hunt in Pennsylvania.”

Given the variations of hunting laws from state to state, SB 1200 spells out the specific hunting violations that would place someone who loses their hunting privileges in another state on the Pennsylvania list of ineligible license buyers. This list also represents the only violations committed in Pennsylvania that will be added to the IWVC database. Those specific offenses listed in Senate Bill 1200 include: unlawfully using lights to take wildlife; buying and selling game; hunting or furtaking under the influence of drugs or alcohol; shooting at or causing injury to a human; counterfeiting, altering or forging a license or tag; committing violations related to threatened or endangered species; assaulting/interfering or causing bodily injury to a Wildlife Conservation Officer; hunting or furtaking while on revocation; and illegally taking or possessing big game in closed season. The list also would include those convicted of other wildlife crimes classified as fourth-degree summaries or greater, such as road hunting, if there are two convictions within a 24-month period.

“Enactment of these two bills will go a long way toward closing Pennsylvania’s borders to those who have proven themselves to be unrepentant poachers,” Roe said. “House Bill 1859 already has been enacted. The second bill, Senate Bill 1200, is nearing the finish line, and I urge our state legislators to enact this bill to improve the Game Commission’s ability to protect wildlife.

“Also, I thank the many sportsmen’s organizations for once again standing up for wildlife and for law-abiding and ethical hunters and trappers for supporting these two measures.”

With the increased penalties and the possibility of Pennsylvania soon joining the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, Roe noted that there is yet a third reason that poachers need to be wary of perpetuating their illegal practices in Pennsylvania: the general public.

“The Game Commission is noticing a renewed ‘we’re-not-going-to-take-it-anymore’ attitude from concerned residents and law-abiding hunters who are taking the initiative to report what they are seeing and hearing, and we applaud them for their efforts,” Roe said. “Calls and e-mails to our Turn-In-a-Poacher (TIP) Hotline have increased and resulted in several solid convictions. In fact, some of the information is so overwhelming that defendants simply pled guilty rather than having the embarrassment of going to court to try and defend their indefensible actions.

“The bottom line is that Pennsylvania will no longer be walked on – like a welcome mat – by those who abuse their hunting and trapping privileges in our state or other states.”

Contact: Jerry Feaser
717-705-6541
PGCNews@state.pa.us

A Michigan taxidermy company is to be sentenced in November, after pleading guilty to possessing dead animals on the endangered species list.

The Wildlife Gallery acknowledged that it failed to file documents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

The Wildlife Gallery has Michigan locations in Blanchard, St. Louis, Indian River and Gladwin. Court records show it is expected to be placed on probation and will be ordered to pay a minimum of a $10,000 fine when sentenced Nov. 22 in Bay City.

Gallery president Bradley Eldred will not be prosecuted, if the company follows the sentence and remains out of trouble during probation period, according to the plea agreement.