00:00:02 Speaker 1: From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is Cal's weekend review, presented by Steel. Steel products are available only at authorized dealers. For more, go to Steel Dealers dot com. Now here's your host, Ryan cal Callahan. A Wyoming woman has been hospitalized after a white tail buck gored her outside of her home. The buck was lying in the sun on her driveway when she opened up her front door and let her dog out. The buck tried to gore the dog, whose name I believe is Baby, but Baby did the smart thing and ran underneath the parked car. However, when Wanda Kaner saw her dog being attacked, she ran at the ten point buck and tried to hit it with her bag. You can imagine what happened next, but thanks to the Internet, you don't have to. The entire incident was, of course captured on a doorbell camera and published by the Cowboys State Daily. Here's a little bit of what that sounded like back again. Baby is a small, four legged non human and was totally unscathed, but Wanda suffered seven puncture wounds in a broken vertebra and had to be hospitalized. It could have been much worse. Wanda's husband, Daniel, was also on the scene. He grabbed the buck by the antlers when he saw his wife being attacked. Daniel didn't exactly teach the buck lesson he suffered a puncture wound of his own, but he slowly pushed the animal back until it stood up and stopped being aggressive. Watching this video, it's clear that this buck has been around humans its entire life. It wasn't scared off by Wanda screaming, multiple dogs running around its legs, or Daniel's attempt to grab its antlers. According to Cowboys State Daily, it stayed in the Kanner's yard a few more hours after the incident, and as you can guess, was dispatched as then killed by Wyoming fishing game. Interesting takeaway from this video, if you care to watch it, is Daniel is the one being interviewed the entire time, so you get Daniel's thoughts, and his thought was to have a whole new respect for wildlife that could be in your urban area, and he's just glad it wasn't a mount lion. However, we never hear Wanda's side. She received seven puncture wounds, Daniel only one. Daniel wasn't hospitalized. Wanda was, and I can't help but wonder to think that Wanda doesn't really care if it's a mounta lion. I think the buck was scary enough. This week we've got that cheating thing, citizens Science, poison, and the GOP. But first I'm gonna tell you about my week, and my week was pretty darn amazing. First of all, if you can't tell, I'm back recording out of the Black Series camper with my consistent Eastern Montana co host, a thirty mile per hour win. On top of that, I got pheasant stocks sitting on the stove. We're cooking and working to see of the double edged sword of our millennia, the dang elon Musk mobile satellite dish. I cannot believe it, but it's allowing me to sit out here and hunt. Still feel terrible about it and that it could be the downfall of humanity, but I'm being honest with you anyway. I am fresh back from Aberdeen, South Dakota, where I was as was snort for the South Dakota Peasant Opener Luke Thorkelson of Weatherby, and I joined Pheasants Forever's first ever farm bill biologist Matt Morlock and pf q f's chief conservation Officer Ron Leathers. Needless to say, if you find your head filled with questions regarding habitat, predation, invertebrates, pollinators, ease months, raptors, and certainly anything to do directly with pheasants, you would love to take a walk with these two. I sure dip and they get sick of my questions from what I could tell on the outside. Anyway, Now, some of you may be wondering why all the talk about a famous invasive species, the Sechuan or Chinese ring necked pheasant. Well, aside from being pretty and charismatic, people just love to hunt them. In fact, this town of Aberdeen determined that above all else, the city survives on pheasant hunters. Lots of places claim to be the pheasant capital, but the difference and the reason for going to Aberdeen is the Aberdeen Pheasant Coalition. Business owners chipped into fund and create lease agreements with neighboring ranchers to provide more public hunting access. So far they have about four thousand acres enrolled. We hunted some of this ground for an episode of Cow in the Field that will be out this winter, and just like you, I thought, Holy cow, am I seriously uncomfortable with the marketing of specific areas to bring pheasant hunters in. Talk about a spot burn. But once you get there, you see the enormity of the pheasant habitat in South Dakota. I'll tell you, no matter the size of the Orange Army, you will not kill off the pheasants. Why awesome habitat and lots of them. And pheasants get very smart after the first time they get hunted, so they kind of have PhDs by the time the next week rolls around. Now, I'm positive all of you hard walking public land hunters and Aberdeen are still very unhappy with me talking about your area. I know I would be. But the hope is we get every town in America to sponsor additional public acres for hunting and fishing, and then we can spread that pressure out. I know you public land folks over there have broad shoulders. Let's make supporting public acres the hip thing to do. I'm really excited to show everyone this episode, and you also get to see something brand spanking new our pals at weather Be are working on in the shotgun department. All I can tell you currently is I'd start saving now you'll want it? I know, I sure do. Moving on to the fishing desk, here's a quick update for you on the Ohio walleye tournament cheating scandal. The two men accused of cheating, remember they stuffed their walleyes with walleyfe fleas and lead weights, kind of like a ur ducan of sorts. The pair, Jacob Runyon and Chase Kaminsky, have been charged with cheating, attempted grant theft, possessing criminal tools, and unlawful ownership of wild animals. All of those charges are fifth degree felonies, except the wildlife crime, which is a fourth degree misdemeanor. Fifth degree felonies are the least severe type of felony in Ohio, but they still come with a required six to twelve month imprisonment and up to twenty dollar fine. In other words, these guys could be facing some serious jail time depending on whether they take a plea deal. Whatever they get is probably a lot better than what they would have gotten had they stuck around a bunch of angry fishermen. Get Moving on to the citizen Science desk. A few weeks ago we covered the story of a hunter who found what maybe one of the only full grown American chestnut trees in Delaware. That was some great citizen science. But you don't need to find a super rare tree or animal species to participate. Many state game agencies rely on hunter surveys to collect data about wildlife. Hunters spend an enormous amount of time in the woods every year, and biologists try to use those observation hours to learn more about deer, wolves, elk, bobcats, and other species. In Minnesota, for example, the Department of Natural Resources is asking hunters to fill out an online survey so they can verify their population estimates of white tailed deer. Hunters can take the survey on their smartphones. Did I asked hunters to record the time and place they hunt, how many deer they saw, and the ages and sexes of those deer. Hunters also have the opportunity to report observations about wild turkeys, black bears, coyotes, and other animals just over. Hunters returned the survey when the Department of Natural Resources introduced it in two thousand nineteen, but since then the numbers have plummeted. According to report in MPR, Last year, just forty nine of the more than four hundred thousand Minnesota hunters filled out a survey, which is a response rate of only point zero one per cent. The DNR has historically only opened the survey to bow hunters, but this year all hunters are welcome to participate. The information Minnesota hunters provide helps biologist make data driven game management decisions without spending millions of dollars collecting that data themselves. Iowa, which also runs a hunter observation survey, told MPR that they would have to spend two and a half million per year to collect the information that hunters give them for free. Running the survey only costs about fifteen thousand dollars, which means hunters are saving the state over two million every year just by filling it out. That money can be spent on habitat conservation, and other projects that help ensure the health of the game populations. We love to hunt, so if you live in Minnesota, be sure to fill out your hunter survey this year. For everyone else, your state probably has a similar program. Just search for your state name plus hunter Observation Survey. That should get you on track. Another key piece of information if you're thinking, you know, serveysh murvey or I'm not going to do anything the state sends me. A lot of state agencies are mandated to include hunter information, so if you personally don't turn in information, other people's information will be you used, either for your benefit or your detriment. Fill out your surveys and get them filled in. Moving on to the wolf desk. After months of investigation, Washington Wildlife officials have confirmed that six wolves were illegally poisoned in the northeastern part of the state. Animal rights groups have been asking since May for Washington State Fish and Wildlife to release more details, and that's exactly what they did earlier this month. Back in February, Steven's County deputies on a snowmobile patrol found a wolf they at first believed died of old age. They couldn't find any blood or bullet holes, and there didn't appear to be any fresh snowmobile tracks, but they began to suspect foul play when they found three additional dead wolves later that day, none of which had been shot or injured. They found two more wolves in the same area over the course of the next month. Toxicology reports confirmed that the wolves had been poisoned. The Center for Biological Diversity has been all over this one. They've been joined by a variety of Washington animal rights groups and calling for the arrest and prosecution of the offenders, and they're even offering a reward of fifty four hundred dollars for information leading to a conviction. I might argue that four hundred dollars in a program that provides non lethal deterrence to ranchers may go a lot further. It's illegal to poison a wolf in the United States, and while I'm sympathetic with communities that oppose wolf reintroduction, there are better ways to deal with the problem. Most states, including Washington, have ways to compensate landowners for predator depredation, and several states have open wolf hunting and trapping seasons. Poaching is poaching, even if the animals aren't harvested for their meat, hides or antlers. Of course, the Center for Biological Diversity can't resist a little hyperbole, especially when it comes to wolves. Their press release on this topic makes it sound like wolves in Washington are hanging by a thread and these poisonings will send the species back to extinction. They described wolves in Washington as being quote attacked on all sides and say it's been a quote devastating year for Washington's wolf population. In reality, the wolf population in Washington is doing fine. Becky Elder, a spokesperson for the Washington State Fish and Wildlife Police, told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the wolf population in the state continues to rebound. The latest wolf survey showed at least two hundred and six known wolves in thirty three known packs, including at least nineteen breeding pairs. Six wolves make a dent, but it's not a catastrophe. If only there was a child's tale about crying and wolves. Wolf poisoning has a long and unfortunate history in the United States. Wolves are smart animals. They're difficult to trap and even more difficult to shoot. So to more quickly and efficiently eliminate wolves from the landscape, contracted wolf hunters often turned to poison. In his account Out of Yellowstone Wolves, Paul Showlery notes that as far back as eighteen seventy seven, park officials were poisoning ungulate carcasses in their efforts to eradicate wolves. In the Southwest, ranchers and government officials used the same tactic. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the concerted eradication efforts worked, and wolves were extirpated from the vast majority of the lower forty eight states by the nineteen sixties. But there's a big difference between isolated individuals poisoning wolves and a nationwide effort with the backing of the federal government. No one should be poisoning wolves, but the growing population in Washington will be just fine. Moving on to the policy desk, the mid term election is only a few weeks away, and it's worth taking some time to educate yourself about your choices. For local, state, and federal office. Candidates post their own policy positions, but I also encourage you to take a look at each party's official platform. In mid Anesota, for example, the official Republican party platform calls for the elimination of the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. This amendment to the state's constitution was passed in two thousand and eight by fifty six percent of Minnesota voters. It increased the state's sales tax by three eighths of one per cent and use that money to fund clean water projects, restore wildlife habitat, promote arts and culture, and maintain parks and trails. Since two thousand and ten, the fund is generated over three point six five billion in revenue for these project categories, including over one billion for wildlife habitat projects. Just this year, the Minnesota DNR will use about two and a half million for shallow lake and wetland enhancement and restoration work throughout Minnesota, with a focus on the Prairie region. Pheasants Forever received a grant for three point eight million to permanently protect and restore six hundred and fifty nine acres of public waterfowl habitat, and Ducks Unlimited will use three point nine million dollars to enhance wetlands. This isn't free money, but Minnesota voters, including many Republican legislators, voted to raise taxes during the two thousand eight recession because they cared so deeply about protecting water and habitat. Since at least two thousand eighteen, the GOP has made repealing this funding an official plank on their platform. You might think they're motivated by a desire to lower taxes, but they don't list this proposal alongside other tax cuts instead. This is likely related to the next item in the Natural Resources section, which calls for reducing or restricting the government ownership of land. The d n R can you use Legacy Amendment funds to purchase property that might otherwise be sold to a private developer. They're required to make that land accessible to hunters and anglers, but the fund gives them a powerful tool to conserve habitat and wildlife species. If you don't like the idea of public land to begin with, it would make sense that you wouldn't support a fund that makes public land possible. But don't think the Democrats are getting off the hook. As Rob Dreisland points out an Outdoor News Minnesota's Democratic Party also includes several provisions some hunters and anglers might find objectionable. For example, the party opposes wolf hunting and traffic, including the use of snares, and wants to increase public education efforts. Quote as to how wolves live, The wolf population in Minnesota is perfectly capable of handling a regulated hunting season, so calling for a hunting band is more about throwing a bone to the animal rights crowd than following sound science. Wherever you live, be sure to check out each state party's platform before you vote. Individual candidates don't always hold the same positions as their party, but that gives you an opportunity to ask them to clarify their stance, and you should. It's part of the process. The campaign trail is a great place to ask these sorts of questions, and you still have a few weeks before the final votes are cast. Moving on to the market hunting desks. A few months back, a listener named Annie wrote in to tell me about a dog food company that claimed to be selling wild elk and dear meat. Annie asked how this was legal, since all fifty states prohibits selling meat from wild animals. Market hunting decimated wild populations in the nineteenth century, and states responded by eliminating commerce and wildlife. But this company, whose name is Raw Wild Kids, be sure you're with an adult if you try to look that one up on the internet. They claim to be selling organic wild elk and dear meat harvested by hunters from the Rocky Mountain West. They have a website and social media accounts, and you can order raw dog food for about ten dollars per pound. The way they pitch it. This is high quality deer and elk burger taken from the same animals hunters used to feed their families. We looked into this, and you can check out a more detailed report in an article on the meat eater dot com. I'll give you the highlights. We reached out to the Law Enforcement Division of the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources. They told us they've received numerous tips about Raw Wild and they sent an officer to investigate in August of this year. He found that Raw Wild gets all their meat from a single butcher called Myer's Game Processing. Myers sells Raw Wild what they call shop scrap. This is meat that gets cut off during the butchering process because it's dirty or bloody or harry. They also grind up bones and gristle and sinew and throw it all into a burger. They sell to Raw Wild for quote to something a pound, as in two dollars and something a pound. All of this is legal thanks to a provision in Utah law that allows the sale of quote inedible by products from big game processing. The statute doesn't define what inedible by products are. The law enforcement officer we spoke to said investigators just use their quote common sense. If it looks inedible, you can sell it, even if it comes from wild animals. Of course, one man's inedible byproduct would be another person's delicacy. Sinew and tendons are edible, and bones can be turned into broth. If I threw away every piece of meat with her hair on it, well, i'd harvest way less meat every year. Raw Wild argues that they're just finding a use for meat and byproducts that would otherwise end up in a landfill. I'm sympathetic to this argument. I had much rather feed meat to my dog than throw it away, and I'm happy Meyer has found a good use for a shop scrap. But this kind of thing still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Whenever humans combine wildlife with the open market, wildlife usually loses. There's just too much temptation. We've seen this over and over again New Mexico elk licenses on the open market, big money antler hunting. Even this latest controversy about the Walleye tournament on Lake Erie. Giving people a monetary incentive to harvest wildlife is almost never a good idea. In this case, you can imagine a million ways it could go wrong. Meyer makes more money per pounds selling to raw wild than from a hunter who orders a basic deer or elk cut. There's no solid evidence that he's skimming off the top, but don't tell that to the folks leaving reviews on the shop on Google. Many complained that they didn't receive back as much meat as they expected. That's a fairly common complaint among hunters, but Meyer gets it a lot. Most states allow antlers and hides to be sold, but not every state has this inedible byproduct category. In fact, as far as I can tell, Utah is the only state that does. The state Game Agency says it plans to look into this category further, and I'll keep you in the loop if I hear any news if any state is going to allow the sale of shop scrap. I'd like to see a more robust oversight system. Again. I'm happy to find a use for the inevitable waste that comes from game processing, but we have to make sure that what's being sold is in fact, act waste. If we don't, I can see a slippery slope that ends with us repealing some of the same wildlife mistakes we've made in the past. A great rule if you take your game to any processor, stand there with them and have it weighed beforehand, then have a conversation about what type of weight you should expect on the back end. This eliminates any guesswork or gray area. Now Meyer down here in Utah could be a fantastic and very ethical butcher, and the product that he gets in from hunters could be by and large very bad, even from these people who leave negative reviews, meaning that you are just not gonna get your expected yield if you bring in dirt, hair covered, nasty looking meat, water logged crap, because a butcher is not going to package that stuff up and give it back to you and put their professional label on it. Okay, it is up to you to do a very good job when you provide that meat to a butcher then asked to get before weight and see what the afterweight should approximately be. You be a good communicator, There'll be a good communicator and no more controversy. I'll get off my soapbox now and move on to the Migratory bird report. Thirty three science and conservation organizations released a huge report last week on the state of bird species in the United States. It's the first comprehensive survey since the two thousand nineteen study that found that the US and Canada have lost three billion birds in the last fifty years. The latest report confirms that we're nowhere close to turning things around. However, thanks to hunters, there is one silver lining. More than half of bird species are declining, and grassland birds are seeing the fastest population drop off. Since nineteen seventy, these birds have seen a thirty four percent loss. Birds in forests, deserts, and oceans have also declined between five percent and thirty three percent over the last fifty two years. This doesn't mean that every species in these ecosystems has seen a decline. The turkey population, for example, has increased dramatically since nineteen seventy, but taken as a whole, there are fewer birds in each of these habitats than there were a generation ago. The only group of birds whose populations have increased are those that live in wetlands. Water birds have seen an eighteen percent increase, and dabbling and diving ducks have seen a whopping thirty four percent increase. Geese and swans have been the biggest winners. Their populations have increased over one thousand percent and are in near all time highs. They've adapted to agricultural and urban environments better than any other type of bird, as anyone can attest who's been chased by a Canada goose through a city work. But like other wetland birds, they've also had help. National legislation like the North American Wetlands Conservation Act has protected these habitats, and organizations like Ducks Unlimited and Delta Waterfowl have turned those protections into positive gains. Dr Karen Waldrop, chief conservation officer for Ducks Unlimited, credits the collaboration between hunters, landowners, state and federal agencies, and corporations for this success. She also pointed out that protecting wetlands doesn't just benefit ducks and geese. Quote, this is good news and not only for birds, but for the thousands of other species that rely on wetlands and the communities that benefit from groundwater recharge, carbon sequestration, and flood protection. Waterfowl hunters have proven that it's possible to restore habitat and recover bird species, and the studies authors hope their strategy can be replicated, but hunters aren't off the hook just yet. Grassland birds are declining as we lose millions of acres of that habitat, and we covered a few weeks ago how one of the largest wetlands in the Pacific Flyway has gone dry. This isn't a time to get complacent. It's time for us to double down on what works and make sure our conservation organizations have the funds they need. If you want to get involved, it's easy to donate a few bucks to Ducks Unlimited or Pheasants Forever. Also, don't forget to contact your US representatives about the big conservation bills still on the table right now. The Recovering America's Wildlife Act and the North American Grasslands Conservation Act are stuck in committees. Just like our parents and grandparents demanded that Congress past the Wetlands Act, we need to demand that our representatives past these bills and help ensure our wildlife continues to thrive in the decades ahead. That's all I've got for you this week. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to write in to a s k C. A L Let's ask hell at the meat Eater dot com, and also don't forget. If you're about to head out the woods buck a bunch of firewood for hunting camp, head on down to www dot steel dealers dot com and find a local, knowledgeable steel dealer near you. They're gonna get you set up with what you need, and they're not going to send you off to camp with what you don't. Thanks again and we'll talk to you next week.

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