ThinkingAfield.org

Deer-Vehicle Collision Frequency Jumps 18 Percent In Five Years
West Virginia Continues to Lead Collision Likelihood List

Bloomington, Ill., Sept. 28, 2009 – The number of vehicles on U.S. roadways has grown by 7 percent over the last five years. But the number of times those vehicles have collided with deer has swelled by much more than that.

Using its claims data, State Farm®, the nation’s leading auto insurer estimates 2.4 million collisions between deer and vehicles occurred in the U.S. during the two-year period between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009 (100,000 per month). That’s 18.3 percent more than five years earlier. To put it another way, one of these unfortunate encounters occurs every 26 seconds (although they are much more likely during the last three months of the year and in the early evening).

MORE DEER-VEHICLE COLLISIONS
Among the 35 states where at least 7,000 deer-vehicle collisions occur per year (we are not including the percentage changes in the other 15 states plus D.C. because the lower volume of total collisions makes the percentage changes less credible), New Jersey and Nebraska have posted the largest increases, 54 percent. Kansas is next at 41 percent. Deer-vehicle collisions have jumped by 38 percent in Florida, Mississippi and Arkansas. Then come Oklahoma (34 percent) and West Virginia, North Carolina and Texas (33 percent).

LIKELIHOOD OF DEER-VEHICLE COLLISIONS
For the third year in a row, West Virginia tops the list of those states where a collision with a deer is most likely (for any one vehicle). Using its claims data in conjunction with state motor vehicle registration counts from the Federal Highway Administration, State Farm calculates the chances of a West Virginia vehicle striking a deer over the next 12 months at 1 in 39. Such an encounter is even more likely in West Virginia than it was a year ago.

Michigan remains second on that list. The likelihood of a specific vehicle striking a deer there is 1 in 78. Pennsylvania (1 in 94) and Iowa (1 in 104) remain third and fourth respectively. Montana (1 in 104) moved up three places to fifth.

Arkansas and South Dakota each dropped a spot to sixth and seventh. Wisconsin remains eighth. North Dakota and Virginia round out the top 10.
The state in which deer-vehicle collisions are least likely is still Hawaii (1 in 9,931). The odds of any one vehicle hitting a deer in Hawaii during the next year are roughly equivalent to the odds of randomly picking a piece of clover and finding it has four leaves.

The average property damage cost of these incidents was $3,050, up 3.4 percent from a year ago.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, deer-vehicle collisions in the U.S. cause more than 150 fatalities each year.

Glen Wunderlich: “We give them rifles and they sell them back to us. What a great concept!”

The Ministry of National Defense plans to sell more than 100,000 aging U.S. combat rifles to American gun enthusiasts, ministry officials said Thursday.

The plan is part of the ministry’s programs to boost its defense budget, they said.

About 86,000 M1 Garand rifles and 22,000 M1 carbine rifles will be sold to gun collectors in the United States, as the U.S. government has approved the sale. The rifles were originally given to South Korea as part of a U.S. aid program in the 1950s, according to officials.

The total value of the firearms for sale exceeds $120 million.

The rifles were used by U.S. troops in the Korean and Vietnam wars before being donated to the South Korean military.

They have been mothballed for years in military warehouses, but were occasionally used in drills by reserve soldiers.

The M1s were made first in 1926 and used in World War II and the Vietnam War.

The carbines were first produced in 1941 and used during the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Great Lakes Wolves Relisted

9/23/09

States in the Great Lakes will have to wait to resume state management over their grey wolf populations as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) officially placed that population back under Endangered Species Act (ESA) protection.

The final rule from FWS concerning the “relisting” of the Great Lakes wolves was issued and made effective on September 16. This represents yet another turn in what has already been a long story of listings, de-listings, and lawsuits.

The Great Lakes wolf population was removed from protection under ESA by the FWS. This action, proposed by the outgoing Bush Administration and then reaffirmed by the new Obama Administration, initially returned the management of wolf populations to the states (in this case Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin).

However, a group of antis, including the Humane Society of the United States, filed a lawsuit to block the delisting in June. While the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA) was preparing to intervene in the case with its legal arm, the FWS reached a settlement with the antis that put wolves back on the Endangered Species List. The September 16 final rule is the culmination of that process.

This entire situation was the result of the Department of Interior’s not following proper procedures for delisting during the final weeks of the Bush Administration. Currently, USSA is working with the FWS on another delisting, because science has shown the populations have significantly passed the benchmarks established for recovery.

Serial poacher Gary Vorhies has been found guilty of four poaching charges in Big Horn County.

Vorhies, 47, was sentenced to four years in jail with three years suspended and $27,120 in fines and restitution.

Click on the title for the full story from the Cody Enterprise.

A recent decision by a federal judge paves the way for planned hunts of gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountain region to continue.

Last week, Judge Donald W. Molloy of the Federal District Court for Montana ruled against a coalition of antis and environmentalists that were seeking to prevent hunts in Montana and Idaho. In the decision, Judge Molloy indicated that the management plans of both states would not harm the long-term health of the regional wolf population.

It is estimated that 1,350 wolves currently live in the region. Idaho’s wolf hunting season, which began on September 1, established a limit of 220 wolves that can be harvested. Montana’s season, which began September 15, has a harvest limit of 75.

While this fall’s hunts will continue in Idaho and Montana, Wyoming still has yet to develop a plan that meets service approval. This did not go unnoticed in the judge’s opinion on the case.

In it, Judge Malloy states that there appeared to be a violation of the Endangered Species Act when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refused to delist a portion of the Northern Rocky Mountain wolf population that resides in Wyoming. According to him, “the service has distinguished a natural population of wolves based on a political line, not the best available science.” He went on to state, “that, by definition, seems arbitrary and capricious.”

Submitted by Joel Malcuit
Eaton County Quality Deer Management

Brent Rudolph, DNR Deer Research Specialist, gave a presentation to the Michigan NRC regarding a possible change of the Firearms Deer Season Opener. The major points discussed were as follows: 1) The possible reduction of conflict for hunters between work and school with a change to a Saturday opener, 2) The economic impact of a Saturday opener, 3) The impact on hunter recruitment, and 4) The biological impact of moving the opener in relation to the whitetail breeding season. These issues were discussed in the context of only three possible opening date changes that are being considered.

Saturday before Thanksgiving
Saturday closest to Nov. 15th
Saturday after Nov. 15th

He noted that positioning the opener ahead of the breeding season would have a negative effect on fawn recruitment. The presentation was well done and persuasive to these conclusions and there was no rebuttal from the commissioners or others at the meeting. A 2006 attitude survey shows that 84% of Michigan hunters prefer a Nov. 15th opener and 12% were opposed. It was also noted that any change to the opening date would require extensive rearrangement of many of the other hunting seasons because they are anchored to, or coordinated with, the deer season, e.g., early and late archery seasons and small game seasons.

At the end of the presentation Commissioner Wheatlake, who initiated the investigation into this issue, made the statement that any action by the commission would not be imminent. He recommended to the board that they continue discussion of this matter only after the DNR collects new attitude survey data for 2009-2010 and he also wanted to contact some of the captive cervid biologists in the state (Legends and Sanctuary) because they have data that may indicate that the peak of the rut is starting to occur later in November than it traditionally has. He also made the statement that if they made any changes that he would recommend moving the date back instead of forward in order to avoid any possible negative biological impact.

BELLEVUE, WA – Yesterday’s primary defeat of career anti-gunner Richard Aborn in his race to become Manhattan&rs quo;s District Attorney shows that even residents of a city with some of the strictest gun laws in the nation reject the gun control philosophy espoused by Aborn and those who supported him, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said Wednesday.

Aborn, a former president of Handgun Control Inc. – now known as The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence – ran primarily on his gun control record. He collected only 26 percent of the vote.

“Keeping guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens m ay appeal to demagogues like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “but it doesn’t play well with average citizens who are tired of being victimized, not only by criminals, but by the very laws that people of Aborn’s ilk have forced on them.

“Richard Aborn had the endorsement of the Brady Campaign, Million Mom March, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and other anti-gun-rights organizations,” he added. “We hope that his rejection sends a message to other gun control extremists that voters have had enough rhetoric and are fed up with restrictions on their gun rights.”

Gottlieb said Aborn’s last-place finish in the three-way race, which was won by attorney Cy Vance, is a repudiation of the gun prohibitionist philosophy he has represented over the past 17 years.

“Aborn’s defeat should be a signal to other politicians that an endorsement from the Brady Campaign or any other anti-gun group is a political kiss of death,” Gottlieb observed. “This de feat shows that there is no room in politics, especially in a prosecutor’s office, for anyone harboring the kind of extremist opinions about gun rights and gun ownership that Richard Aborn has wanted to enforce as public policy.”

Task Force 20/20 Continues Setting Agenda for Five-year Plan

Group to meet this week in Buda, Texas, to capitalize
upon gains made at NSSF Summit in June

NEWTOWN, Conn.–The Task Force 20/20 group, comprising industry leaders from the hunting and shooting sports, is continuing to work toward its goal of increasing participation in hunting and the shooting sports by 20 percent over the next five years. The task force is meeting this week at the Cabela’s store in Buda, Texas. This is the group’s first meeting since the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Summit in June in Weston, Fla., where each Task Force subgroup presented ideas to achieve this momentous goal.

Task Force 20/20 began in 2008 during the NSSF Summit whose primary focus was discussing research from a three-year study titled “The Future of Hunting and the Shooting Sports–Research-based Recruitment and Retention Strategies.” The report condenses the findings of one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on factors related to the hunting and shooting sports industry. Funding for the research came from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in the form of a multi-state conservation grant. NSSF commissioned Responsive Management to conduct the research for the report.

“This meeting is taking what we learned from the Shooting Sports Summit in June and further breaking it into actionable items,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF senior vice president. “By working together we can make real and measurable headway toward achieving our goal of increasing participation by 20 percent over the next five years.”

Since 2008 the group has divided out into subgroups to help separate a larger goal into smaller parts. Those parts are Youth Programs, Recruitment, Retention, Access & Opportunity, Aging Demographics and Coordinating Efforts. Each group named a “Champion” or “Co-Champions” to help lead the efforts. This past June each champion led breakout groups to discuss possible models to move forward with the proposed efforts.

“Since the Summit our committees have digested all the information from the stakeholders involved, and we are prioritizing what we can accomplish in the short and long term. We are establishing efforts that will have a lasting impact in hunting and the shooting sports,” said the Youth Group Committee Champion Jeff Rawlinson from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

The Task Force consists of leaders from the media, state and federal agencies, manufacturers, retailers, non-profit and non-government agencies and shooting ranges and retailers.

BELLEVUE, WA – Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) is once again demonstrating her disdain for gun owners and their rights by opposing an amendment to her Amtrak funding legislation that would allow firearms to be carried in baggage aboard trains, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“Patty Murray evidently has a short memory span,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Has she already forgotten what happened to her friend, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, in the primary because of his extremist anti-gun philosophy? Surely she knows about Tuesday’s primary election results in New York City, where anti-gunner Richard Aborn came in last in a three-way race for Manhattan prosecutor by running on his gun control record.”

Murray is opposing an amendment, added to her Amtrak bill by Sen. Roger Wi cker (R-MS), that would allow train travelers to transport firearms in their luggage, provided the guns are declared at check-in and they are locked up for transport. This is no different than flying with firearms, Gottlieb noted, “and people do that every day.”

“The amendment passed 68-30,” Gottlieb noted, “and Murray’s opposition shows she is way out of the mainstream on this issue. Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid supports the measure. People used to take firearms on trains all the time. Someone should tell the senator that constitutional rights don’t end at the Amtrak boarding platform.”

Murray argues that the amendment would be too costly and time-consuming, because Amtrak would have to create a process for checking and tracking guns.

“That’s a bogus argument,” Gottlieb countered, “and she knows it. The Transportation Security Administration already has that process down pat. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. That option has apparently not occurred to her, or maybe it has and she just can’t get beyond her narrow gun prohibitionist viewpoint.

“Amtrak has been losing money for years,” Gottlieb concluded. “Maybe it’s because American gun owners won’t travel with a carrier that treats them like outcasts. Maybe gun owners will return that sentiment when Murray runs for re-election next year.”

By Glen Wunderlich
Outdoor Columnist
Member Professional Outdoor Media Association

Years ago, I worked with a gentleman from Scotland who once remarked that if he were wealthy, he would hire someone to break in new shoes for him. I, too, have my own wealthy bucket list: I’d get someone to fetch arrows for me after I fling them downrange. Kids would be good for that, but I’m fresh out of them now. A Labrador retriever might work, but bent up arrows would be as useful as Barack Obama’s lecturing about the virtues of green jobs to coal miners in West Virginia.

I’ve never been one to practice with my bow for months before the season – in a large measure because of my aversion to retrieving arrows. But, it’s more than that. My bow is an ancient PSE Fireflight – the only one I’ve ever owned. I pull it out of the case every year, nock an arrow and take pleasure in its accuracy without any tweaking whatsoever. At a mere 57 pounds draw weight, it’s smooth, easy, and predictable.

But that was then. No, I didn’t splurge on a crossbow, although I’ve given it careful consideration. For many years I have used an electronic transmitter in the arrow shaft, when coupled with its receiver, permits me to locate my arrows, which are designed to remain in game by means of a penetration limiting design. The trouble is that the system appears to be obsolete, which means when the battery-powered transmitter finally dies, so does the whole concept. So, rather than wait for the inevitable, I have chosen to revert to more conventional methods of game recovery: watching, trailing, and a good hound dog.

One of the disadvantages of having a transmitter in the arrow shaft has been its weight of 65 grains. Even with the lightest of broadheads at 75 grains, my arrows have been quite heavy and slow.

It was time for an experiment to see if I could flatten trajectory a bit. I wondered how much speed I would gain by eliminating the transmitter and going with only a 75-grain tip. I set up a chronograph to measure arrow speed and found that the 140-grain model was poking along at 193 feet-per-second (fps.) I swapped tips and gained a whopping 10 fps. I was hoping for much more but without increasing draw weight or going against my innate cheapness and moving up to carbon arrows, I’d have to settle for my new reality.

But statistics are just that. Statistics. I had to determine what the extra speed and lighter shafts would mean at the range. So, I set up three arrows with 140-grain practice points and three with 75-grainers. Without moving my sight pins, I shot the heavy ones first. As usual, they were on the mark at 20 yards; the lighter ones were several inches higher, as anticipated.

Moving back to 25 yards, the difference became more evident, and at 30 yards about six inches of elevation drop was eliminated with the “speedy” models. No doubt I was on to something but it will take some tweaking and practice to get acquainted with my new, old bow. Anybody have any ambitious kids with time on their hands?