Winter’s Groceries – Improve your Herd’s Health through Late Winter Food By Austin Delano

It is a widely accepted fact, with plenty of research to back it up, that high quality protein is essential during antler growth and fawn rearing season for your deer to express their genetic potential. However, one area that is often overlooked for year-round nutrition is during the late winter and early spring. Hunters have a tendency to hang-up the rifle when the season is over and not think about their deer again for months. The late winter/early spring time period can be stressful for your entire herd, not just the rut weary bucks. Having a dependable, quality food source during this critical time is a must if you wish to make sure worn out bucks, as well as does that are now pregnant, can enter the spring in great health and body condition. I don’t think it would be a surprise to anyone that a deer entering the spring antler growing period still playing catch up, is NOT going to grow his best rack or increase in body size. Providing late season food is not all about antlers either, but rather the overall health of the entire herd.

Cold Weather Plants

As the hunting season winds down and the cold weather sets in, whitetails are on their feet and in need of a high energy, high carbohydrate food source. Planting a late season annual such as brassicas can help carry your herd through the tough months. One of the most effective ways to keep deer on a property is to have a destination feeding field that is seldom if ever hunted. Brassica blends such as Maximum, Deer Radish or Winter Bulbs & Sugar Beets, containing plants with staggered maturity and palatability dates are ideal for this task. After your cereal grains and clovers have been browsed down and covered in snow, brassicas are very attractive and highly preferred by whitetails. Seeing deer dig through heavy snow to reach a plot filled with thick-leaved greens is a sight any food plot farmer loves to see.

Why Brassica?

Brassicas are a genus of plants containing many cultivars that whitetails love. These include rape, sugar beets, radishes and turnips to name a few. They have the potential to provide a lot of forage in a short growing season and can yield many tons of forage per acre. Brassicas offer great browse tolerance since they are not usually preferred by deer until cooler weather changes the chemistry of the plants to their most palatable stage. Many hunters say that after their first or second hard freeze, their brassica plots become the preferred food source, even over corn or beans. Planting brassicas at the right time of year is critical to get the most out of the plant from a tonnage standpoint, but not planting so early that the plants get too rank and mature making them less attractive and palatable, and possibly bolting to flower and seed.

Proof is in the Green

Throughout the year we get many communications with great stories from managers with a new found love for brassicas. The weekends and long days on tractors and ATV’s are greatly rewarded with a field full of lush green plants that their deer are ravaging. Many of the same people talk about increasing the amount of acreage they will plant in brassicas the following year. While cereal grains such as wheat and oats are highly attractive to deer, if they are the only plot available on your property there could be a gap in available food late in the season.

If your plots are eaten down to almost bare dirt by the end of the season, less deer or increased plot acreage is in order…maybe both. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Louisiana Adds 14 Juvenile Whooping Cranes to Experimental Population

Dec. 5, 2014 – Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) biologists have received a fifth cohort of juvenile whooping cranes at White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area (WCA) in Gueydan. The 14 young cranes received Dec. 4 add to the state’s resident population established through an LDWF species restoration project.

“As we prepare to enter year five of this project, I encourage the public to continue to support our biologists in this effort by observing these birds from a distance and reporting any sightings of injured birds or anyone attempting to harm them in any way,” said LDWF Secretary Robert Barham. “We are fortunate to have a number of private landowners who have assisted us by working with our staff when the cranes roost on their property and I thank them for their participation.”

The White Lake WCA location in Vermilion Parish provides temporary shelter for the birds prior to their release into the wild. The cranes were raised at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., and the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in Baraboo, Wis., and flown to Louisiana by the Windway Capital Corporation. This month’s delivery increases the Louisiana whooping crane population to 40. Read more

Wildlife

SAF Launches Media Campaign Against Possible Obama Arms Treaty Executive Order

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation has launched a national media campaign and petition effort to head off a possible executive order by President Barack Obama to implement the United Nations small arms treaty.

The media campaign and petition threaten legal action if the president tries to circumvent the U.S. Senate and the will of the American people. SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said considerable deliberation preceded his decision to mount the effort.

“We’re going to gather millions of petitions and deliver them to Washington,” Gottlieb vowed. “We’re going to tell the Obama administration to keep its hands off of our gun rights or be sued.

“Nobody threatens to sue the President of the United States on a whim,” he added. “But he has used a lawless executive order to grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants without Congressional authorization, and now many people are worried that he plans to bypass Congress again, before the end of this year, with the U.N. treaty, which takes effect on Dec. 24.

“If the president acts on the U.N. Arms Trade treaty,” Gottlieb said, “it would be the worst kind of Christmas present he could ever give to the American people. Read more

Gun Control

Republic Forge Introduces Foundational 1911, the Republic

Perryton, TX- Many firearms companies claim that their products are 100% American made; with Republic Forge, this claim is authentic. Republic Forge, a true American firearms company, is setting new industry standards with their flagship 1911, the Republic.

The Republic features a match-grade 5″ barrel, 25 LPI checkering on the front strap, a wide array of custom cerakote options and color coordinated VZ or various Ivory grip options. Offered in .45 ACP, 10mm, .40 S&W, .38 Super, and 9mm calibers, the Republic has a retail price starting at $2,795. Read more

Firearms

Poaching Spree Results in Lifetime Revocations, Jail Time, and Over $100K in Fines

Poacher’s tools and some of the animals stolen from the citizens of Idaho Photo by G. Losinski/IDFG

IDAHO FALLS – What started out as a deer spotlighting case eventually resulted in exposing a poaching spree that lasted for three months and was responsible for the illegal killing of at least 8 deer, one elk, and a moose. At sentencing that concluded on November 14, 2014, District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced Adam Harris of Archer, Idaho & Brandon Harris of Ririe, Idaho with lifetime license revocations, jail time, and combined fines over $100,000.

In October of 2011, Madison County Sheriff’s Deputies observed a vehicle spotlighting on the fields above Cress Creek Trail. The deputy attempted to stop the vehicle, after a short chase the vehicle became stuck in the snow, and the suspects fled on foot. Conservation Officers from Idaho Fish and Game, with assistance from Idaho Bureau of Probation and Parole, and Madison County Sheriff’s Office began investigating. This was an especially egregious case of poaching, because the animals were killed at a time of the year when they are very vulnerable and concentrated on the winter range. The investigation showed that several more animals were wounded and never recovered.

District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced Adam Harris to an underlying prison term of two to five years. His term is to run concurrently with a previous prison sentence that Adam Harris is already serving. Watkins also ordered Adam Harris to pay a $500 fine for each count, a reimbursable damage assessment of $14,680 and a lifetime revocation of hunting privileges. Adam R. Harris, 33, pleaded guilty to two felonies. Count I: Unlawfully killing or possessing a cow moose. Count II: Unlawfully killing or possessing a spike elk and at least five deer. Pursuant to a plea agreement, a third count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person was dismissed by prosecutors.

Brandon C. Harris, 35, pleaded guilty to two felonies. Count I: Unlawful killing or possessing a cow moose. Count II: Unlawfully killing or possessing a spike elk and at least eight deer. District Judge Dane Watkins Jr. sentenced Brandon Harris to an underlying sentence of two to five years. Brandon Harris was credited for his time served and allowed to continue his release from prison on parole. Watkins also ordered Brandon Harris to pay $200 in fines for each count, a reimbursable damage assessment of $104,250 dollars, and a lifetime revocation of hunting privileges.

At the time of the incident, Adam Harris was on parole and fled the state. He was arrested in Michigan and extradited back to Idaho to face the charges nearly two years later.

Poachers

Remington “Corrects” CNBC Reporting

Yesterday afternoon, CNBC erroneously reported that Remington Arms was recalling 7.85 million rifles. This report was fundamentally inaccurate and, once again, CNBC did not comply with the most basic tenet of reporting – fact checking. Even a cursory review of the court filings would have revealed CNBC’s errors. That said, other news sources picked-up and repeated the misinformation about the proposed settlement. In response, the Plaintiffs’ counsel immediately took steps to correct CNBC’s inaccuracies by clarifying the terms of the proposed settlement in their own press release, which, in part, stated: Read more

Firearms

Did HSUS Mislead its Insurance Company or a Federal Court?

Wayne_ClownThe Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is still facing blowback from the more than decade-long litigation drama involving several animal rights group, including HSUS, and their alleged racketeering scheme against Feld Entertainment, owner of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The latest issue? Whether HSUS misled its insurance company—or a federal court.

As readers may recall, a cohort of animal-liberation extremists sued Feld Entertainment, alleging elephant abuse, and lost. Adding insult to injury, however, was the ensuing countersuit. The court found that the activist’s key witness—a former circus employee who lied under oath—had been paid almost $200,000 by the plaintiffs and their attorneys, prompting Feld to bring a federal RICO lawsuit against the animal extremists.

While HSUS was not involved in initially bringing the animal-rights lawsuit against Feld in 2000, the group merged with the Fund for Animals (FFA)—one of the original plaintiffs—in 2005 while the litigation was ongoing. Usually, HSUS has no problem taking credit for the work of its affiliates—except, apparently, when this affiliation involves a federal RICO lawsuit. With racketeering allegations on the table, HSUS was quick to distance itself from the Fund for Animals, insisting that the 2005 marriage did not qualify as a merger.

According to HSUS CEO Wayne “I don’t love animals” Pacelle, FFA was separate from HSUS, with “its own board of directors and its own donors.” HSUS filed a motion to dismiss the RICO suit on this premise of organizational separation. According to court records, HSUS argued that while it “join[ed] forces in a corporate combination” with FFA, the two organizations did not merge and therefore HSUS wasn’t liable for any of the allegations. (Never mind, of course, that at least one payment to the witness was made on an HSUS check.)

Before the suit progressed to trial, HSUS joined the other animal radicals in forking over a combined $15.75 million to settle the litigation, covering Feld’s legal fees incurred by the “frivolous and vexatious” 14-year crusade.

HSUS released a statement responding to the multi-party settlement, explaining: “We expect that a substantial portion, if not all, of the settlement costs to The HSUS and The Fund for Animals will be covered by insurance, and in the end, that no donor dollars from The HSUS will go to Feld.”

One problem: HSUS was denied insurance coverage. The solution? Evidently, yet another lawsuit: HSUS sued its insurance provider. But now, it looks like three times won’t be a charm for HSUS.

National Union Insurance Co.—which denied HSUS’s request for coverage—has filed a motion for summary judgment in the suit brought by HSUS. Its motion sheds light on new evidence of glaring factual discrepancies in HSUS’s claims. Read more

Animal Rights

New dates for Michigan’s muzzleloader deer season

GW:  I hadn’t realized that all muzzleloading seasons begin on the same date now in Michigan.  Makes sense.

The Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that the 2014 muzzleloader deer season opens across the state Friday, Dec. 5.

“Having a statewide opener for muzzleloading season really eases confusion hunters have on when and where this season starts,” said DNR deer biologist Ashley Autenrieth.

Zones 1 and 2 will remain open until Dec. 14. Zone 3 has seven more days of muzzleloader hunting, with the season ending Dec. 21. For hunting zone information, see the 2014 Hunting and Trapping Digest or visit Michigan.gov/hunting. Read more

Hunting

MI DNR seeks tips in two wolf poaching cases in Mackinac and Schoolcraft counties; reward offered

Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers are seeking information on two separate wolf poaching cases that recently occurred in in Mackinac and Schoolcraft counties in the Upper Peninsula.

The first case occurred near the Mackinac-Luce county line close to M-117 southwest of Newberry. The wolf was found near County Road 468 in Lakefield Township Nov. 26 and died of a gunshot wound as determined through a forensic examination. The wolf had been killed at another location and transported to where it was dumped.

The second poaching occurred in Schoolcraft County near Gulliver in Doyle Township. In this case, a wolf, which was part of a wildlife study, was killed and the tracking collar was removed and disposed of. Evidence of this poaching was also located Nov. 26. Read more

Poachers
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