00:00:10 Speaker 1: From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow klah Here's cal a Wyoming man suspected of poaching mule deer and pronghorn in twenty twenty three, reportedly claimed to not need a hunting license because he was quote an American born citizen. Oil City News reports that David L. Godding has admitted to killing the animals and using a twelve gage shotgun to dispatch at least one of them. Law enforcement got a tip from a local resident who says they helped Godding clean the animals, but not kill them. This anonymous resident says that when they asked Godding why he was hunting without a license, Godding said he didn't need one as someone who was born in the United States. It turns out that's not correct. Game one and seized skull caps for both mule deer and pronghorn, and he was arrested last month. He faces a maximum of one year in prison, a ten thousand dollars fine, or both for each charge. Not to get too serious about what's obviously an unserious argument, but it occurs to me that being an American born citizen is actually a great reason you do need a hunting license. The public trust doctrine says that wildlife belongs to all of us, which is another way of saying it doesn't belong to any one person as an American. As a member of that public, you don't have a right to take whatever resources you want. You have to stay within the guardrail set up by our wildlife agencies. So all the other American born citizens have a chance to harvest some of those resources too. It's just a little food for thought. If you think I'm crazy, We've already gone down that road. We've tried it. Okay, The free for all approach doesn't work, doesn't work for wildlife. It's shortsighted. The folks that profit from it profit big, and then they go bust. It's history, gang, It's history. We can go into it. We will one of these days. But for now we've got public lands, water, buffalo, bear attack, and the crime desk. But first, I'm gonna tell you about my week. And my week man so much to do. Full disclosure again, working ahead here so I can get some time in the woods. This September got archery elk got a big old mule deer to chase. I hope if nothing else, I'll work on this beer gut in the backwoods where you're supposed to, not in a gym surrounded by people. Getting all my ducks in a row is tough. You know, got a lot of life responsibilities too, just like all of you folks do. So as we go into the hunting season, just get out there. Like I said, take that challenge that I laid out, Come up with your field journals, report game and non game species that you see. You know, to yourself, keep those records. They'll be valuable one day. And for those of you who think that you know, the grass is always greener. Yeah, I get to go out and do some big trips as part of my job, which is super cool. But I always think and have thought, that the folks that get out and get successful on their one weekend a year are far more impressive than all of us who get to do it for a job. So get out there, enjoy what you're doing, whether that puts meat in the freezer or not. Remember what we talked about last week in regards to public lands, the opportunities that we have. Take a few moments to share that love ambition, the fact that you're the weird person on the street that gets up at three thirty four o'clock am, chooses to do that on a weekend when you could be sleeping in share why you do that with a non hunting neighbor or coworker or whatnot to really matter as we get into November, when we start talking about these initiatives and crazy ideas from the state of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, what or not Wyoming. Wait, yeah, there's some craziness everywhere if we're being honest, But what's happening in Florida right now definitely relates to what's happening in Utah right now, definitely relates, in my opinion, to what's happening in Colorado right now. Right it's a restriction of access that we're seeing here, access to wildlife, access to public spaces, access to the outdoors. So you got to get involved, if not now, when moving on to the Public lands desk, if you follow me on Instagram, you've already heard my take on the plan by Florida lawmakers to install golf courses and hotels on state parks. The short version is it's a terrible idea, But there is some good news. Many Florida residents feel exactly like we do, and I know many of you listeners do as well. There's been a massive uproar since Governor DeSantis announced the initiative, so much so that the state officials have said they will reschedule public meetings quote due to overwhelming public interest. If you live in Florida, you should be attending those public meetings. Some conservationists and environmental groups have also begun devising plans to conserve those natural environments and landscapes. For example, several of the state park slated for golf course construction are also home to threatened and endangered species. According to a report in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the state wants to convert one thousand acres of the Jonathan Dixon State Park into three golf courses, but these acres are also prime habitat for the Florida scrubjay, which is listed as threatened on the Endangered Species list and is Florida's only endemic bird. Legal experts at the Center for Biological Diversity point out that anytime a federally protected species might be harmed by a development project, that project needs to secure a permit from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Those permits can be hard to come by, and even if the Wildlife Service issues one, it can be challenged in federal court. Outfits like the Center for Biological Diversity have used this strategy for decades to delay wildlife decisions. They file lawsuit after lawsuit in the hope that they'll either win on the merits or the delay of the project. Then the administration might change or someone at the agency just gets tired of the fighting. They've done this with Wolf and Grizzly delisting, and it's not a process that I'm generally keen on, but it would provide some space in this Florida's misuse of state lands. It's for that reason that I'd encourage Florida residents to stop these plans the old fashioned way, the proper way, which is let your voice be heard. You can leave a message with Governor DeSantis at eight five zero seven to one seven nine three three seven, and you can email him at flgov dot com forward slash email the governor. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has also published an online survey where state residents can offer feedback We'll post a link to that survey over at the meat eater dot com forward slash col or you can google Florida Great Outdoors Initiative survey. Hopefully, if enough Floridians push back, state leaders will rethink their plan to destroy wildlife habitat to make room for stuff you can already find everywhere else in the state. Moving on to the gluttony desk. You know that then your mom would tell you when you took too much food and then complained that you had to eat it all your eyes are bigger than your stomach. Type of deal. Overeating is usually just a human problem, But a bald eagle in Missouri ran into trouble recently for doing what your mom always told you not to do. The Missouri Department of Conservation recently captured a bald eagle along the boundary of Wilson's Creek National Battlefield. They had received a report that the bird appeared to be injured, so they went to investigate. They discovered that the bird was perfectly healthy except for one thing. It was too fat to fly. America's mascot had apparently been gnaching on some roadkill raccoon, and whether it had the entire raccoon to itself to eat it before competition showed up. One thing is for certain, its eyes were bigger than its stomach. X ray images posted on the Wilson's Creek National Battlefield Facebook page showed the eagle with a distended stomach and an undigested raccoon paw clearly outlined. Fortunately, overeating has a simple cure of the vets. At Dickerson Park Zoo put it on a diet for a few days, and when they released it back into the National Battlefield, it flew off as majestically as a recently fat bald eagle cam Big thanks to Jim Lane for sending us that story. Jumping over to the crime desk, a former member the Utah Wildlife Board has been accused of illegally baiting deer at his outfitting operation in the southwestern part of the state. The legal filings obtained by Meat Eater accused fifty one year old Wade Raymond Heaton, along with six of his hunting guides at Color Country Outfitters, of baiting mule deer during the twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three hunting seasons. It has been illegal to use bait to hunt big game since the legislature passed ban and it went into effect in May of twenty twenty one. In twenty nineteen, Governor Gary Herbert appointed Heaton to serve on the Wildlife Board, which governs policy and regulation relating to hunting, fishing, and trapping, but Heaton abruptly resigned in twenty twenty three. DWR director Justin Shirley thanked Heaton for his four years of service, and a representative from the DWR posted on a mule deer hunting for him that Heaton had resigned because he was quote too busy. Now Utah hunters have a better understanding of what he was busy doing, packing corn. Text messages of obtained by investigators showed that Heaton and his guides had relied on baiting prior to the ban. They were concerned about the band's effect on their client's hunting success. God forbid you go hunting and not be guaranteed to kill something right, And the guide's time spent finding deer was just exhausting. So they decided to keep doing it, but to tell everyone that they were feeding livestock. Here's a particularly damning quote that investigators pulled from Heaton's phone. He says, quote a reminder of our decision about feed. We are going to keep the hunters as removed from it as possible. No feeding with the hunter in the truck, keeping the feed out of sight of the public. Hmm. I wonder what he means by that. The case began in August of twenty twenty three when an investigator with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources received a tip that Color Country Outfitters CCO was using bait to attract deer. Investigators went out to CEO's property and found corns spread across the ground, but no cattle that could explain the presence of the feed. They did, however, find a game camera pointed at the corn. Along with the hunting blind. Hunting clients, none of whom have been named as defendants in the case, told DWR investigators that they were shown images of bucks and allowed to pick which one they wanted to hunt. That sounds like hunting. When one of them asked about the corn on the ground, CCO guides told them that they were cattle stations that had been approved by the Department of Wildlife Resources. Clients usually paid between three thousand and four thousand dollars forty thousand dollars for the privilege of hunting on the legendary ponzigat Plateau, with one hunter laying down a whopping forty eight thousand dollars for the chance to kill a baited buck that went by the nickname Wolfman, it should have gone by the name of Porky. With that kind of money on the line, it's easy to see how Heaton decided to continue baiting after the practice was banned in twenty twenty one. While it remains legal to put down corn during the off season and for livestock feeding purposes, the DWR is clear that any feeding that changes at big game animal's behavior is illegal. Heaton told investigators that they did put out corn, but only during the summer months. He also said that they put out feed in part because they had cattle on the property prior to hunting season. However, investigators found no cows on the entire property during their in person and remote surveillance. They also found tons of images and videos showing mule deer coming back repeatedly to the same pile of corn. In total, Heaton is being charged with two felony counts of wanton destruction of protected wildlife, one felony count of pattern of unlawful activity, four misdemeanor accounts of wanton destruction of protected wildlife, one misdemeanor count of taking protected wildlife, and three misdemeanor counts of conspiracy. You can read all the gory details over at the meat eater dot com. And I don't think we're done reporting on this case. I'd love to review all of heat and statements and decisions while he was on the Wildlife Board to see if his illegal activities influenced his decisions. For all of Utah's hunters, I have a feeling that there's more than what's been reported so far. Remember, folks, there are way more good, lawful, awesome outfitters out there than crappy ones. But it is up to you, as a paying client, to say, hey, holy cow, that's not right. I got to get out of here. It's also up to you to report those folks. It sounds like somebody did. Eventually, if you have some hunting experience, it's really not hard to figure out what's wrong with the scenario. Unfortunately, in the world of hunting, if somebody says this is a free range operation. Here's the bucks that we have named. Pick out which one you want to kill, and we'll price it accordingly. Something's wrong, that's not fair, Chase, you shouldn't be involved with it. Moving on to a brand new desk here at Cal's Week in Review, the water buffalo desk. Big thanks to listener Keegan Clark for sending this one in. Local officials in Pleasant Hill, Iowa, are warning the public to stay away from a wounded, angry water buffalo that's on the loose in the small Midwestern community. For those of you scratch in your head and thinking a water buffalo in Iowa that doesn't sound right, your instincts are correct. Water buffalo are a bo balus boobalus, a large bovit originating Indi Indian subcontinent in Southeast Asia. Their sizes very greatly from breed to breed, but they're usually about one thousand pounds, which is a little smaller than your typical angus. Still, no one wants in angry thousand pounds of anything wandering around the Greater Des Moines area, which is why officials are extremely concerned about this situation. Now, we're recording this a little earlier than usual, so it's possible that the badly behaved bovid has been captured or killed by the time you listen to this. But as of right now, here's what we know. The water buffalo was domesticated and being kept in a pen, escaped from the pen, and, according to the Pleasant HILLPD, became aggressive towards police officers who were trying to coax it back home. In their defense, wrangling Asian cattle probably isn't part of the academy curriculum. Still, they responded about as badly as they could have without actually injuring another human. One of the officers fired a shotgun slug at the animal, but the shot didn't kill it. Instead, the lead projectile convinced it to definitely not go back into its pen, ran off, and officials were still looking for the animal. Two days later. Pleasant HILLPD has secured this assistance of the local Sheriff's office and they've called in drones and ATVs to search along the bike trails where it was last seen. No word yet on whether they planned to call in the SWAT team or the FBI for assistance in apprehending this dangerous fugitive. I hope they find it or I hope it makes its way back to Southeast Asia in an epic action comedy starring Chris Rock and Mike Woody Harrelson, or maybe the Rock as the voice of the lovable but sarcastic water Buffalo this summer, which is one day Spell's adventure. Either would be fine with me. I'll sign up right now. Moving on Bear Attack Desk, a black bear hunter barely escaped with his life last month after an adult female grizz charged him in a remote section of southern Alaska. Me Eaters Jordan Siller spoke with thirty two year old Tyler Johnson about the incident. Johnson explained that he and his father were hunting black bears along the Reser Direction Pass Trail in the Kenai Mountains about August seventeen. They had never hiked the trail before, and they hadn't spotted any black bears in the two days they'd been in the area. They were making their way through a section of tall grass and brush when they stumbled upon the adult female grizz, which was standing only about fifteen yards away. The ruin began to charge at Johnson's father, who yelled and turned his back, so the bear would grab his pack first, but for whatever reason, the bear wheeled around and went after Johnson instead. From growling to impact was about four seconds. It wasn't even a warning. It was ready to rumble right then and there, Johnson said. Johnson was carrying a ten millimeters Springfield XDM elite handgun in a thumb strap holster on his hip, and the gun held fifteen rounds of full metal jacket bullets. He remembers desperately trying to unholster the gun his thumb, but his thumb slipped and he wasn't able to get it out before the bear took him to the ground. He managed to unholster the pistol and engaged the bear while also using his legs to push the bear away from He fired seven rounds at the bear's head and chest, and in the course of doing so, shot himself in the left thigh. At the same time, Johnson's father was also shooting at the bear from an angle where he wouldn't shoot his son that much. Ten mm is enough to stop almost anything, and the bear rolled over and died just a few moments later. The bear problem has been dealt with, but Johnson had sustained serious injuries. He had a threw and through bullet wounded in his left thigh, two puncture wounds in his right calf where the bear had bit him, a gash in his right thigh, likely from the bear's claws, and another claw mark on his left shoulder. Fortunately, the paar was prepared. They had brought trauma kits that included quick clot and tourniquets, and they immediately began making sure the younger man wouldn't bleed out. They applied quick clow and tourniquets to the wounds, and Johnson's dad called emergency services using his inReach device. Johnson estimates that it took about an hour and a half for him to be airlifted to the hospital. When asked what he learned from the experience or what advice he has for other backcountry hunters, he named three things. Bring a trauma kit, a gun, and a hunting buddy. Traumakitt only adds a pound to the pack, so it's worth it every time. Johnson readily acknowledged that the bear spray works in some situations, and we know that's true based on decades of experience. However, he doesn't believe it would have done him any good. In this scenario, the bear was on him too quickly, and he thinks he would have just ended up spraying himself without ending the bear attack. Even though solo hunting is fun, Johnson says the risk isn't worth the reward. He'll always bring his father or friend on his hunts from now on. For the full story and images, check out Jordan's article on the meeteater dot com. Johnson also spoke with the crew during one of our recent Meat Eater Live episodes, so you can check that out too. Moving on to the flounder desk, a major controversy about the recreational flounder fishery in North Carolina has ended in a kind of stalemate for now. There are two regulatory bodies that govern flounder fishing in North Carolina, the Marine Fisheries Commission, which will call the MFC, and the Wildlife Resources Commission, which we'll call the WRC. Most states have a single Wildlife Commission that handles wildlife related issues for the entire state, but in North Carolina, the MFC handles policy related to coastal or saltwater ecosystems, while the WRC has jurisdiction over freshwater fishing. The agencies have joint jurisdiction over estuarial or brackish waterways. There is some nuance there, but that's the gist. Since flounder can live in all three types of environments, this structure creates a major potential for conflict this year, that's exactly what happened. As we've covered previously, the MFC declared earlier this year that there would be no recreational flounder fishing season. They cited overfishing from previous years and said they worried about the continued health of the population. There is some disagreement about whether recreational or commercial anglers are to blame for this problem, and some like the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, point to commercial shrimp trawling as a major contributing factor. Whatever the reason, the MFC determined that the flounder fishery couldn't handle a recreational season, so they closed it. But the WRC, which if you recall, handles fishing regulation in inland and brackish water, said not so fast. They disagreed with the MFC's assessment and said they would move forward with a limited recreational flounder season. This year. This means that in brackish or estuarial areas of North Carolina, where the MFC and WRC have joint jurisdiction, the flounder season was set to be both closed and open at the same time. This is obviously a pretty major problem and not a great look for wildlife managers in the tire Heel state. Fortunately, these two feuding parties did reach a compromise. The MFC voted to unanimously support a proclamation aligning their regulations with those promulgated by the WRC, but they also issued a statement saying they do not endorse the flounder limits established by the other commission or the method by which the limits were derived. In other words, they backed down, but they sure weren't happy about it. So the flounder season ended up moving forward. It was split over two weekends, with the first on September one and two, and the second on September seven and eight. On these days, anglers could target flounder in inland and jointly controlled waterways, but they could only use hook and line fishing. No gigging was allowed. Giggings like going out at night, shining their little eyeballs and stabbing them with a fork, which I've never done and think it's awesome. Not an anti gigger here, just saying it's not allowed, probably because it's more effective. In addition, fishermen had to adhere to a daily limit of one fish with a minimum size limit of fifteen inches. To help anglers know which waterways are inland, joint and coastal, the WRC published an interactive map displaying exactly which is which. The flounder season is likely already over by the time you're listening to this, so I'm curious did any of you participated in it? Did you have any troubled navigating the regulations or running to any enforcement officers. I know many of you live in North Carolina and I want to hear from you, So right in to ask c A L. That's askhal at the meeteater dot com and let me know what's going on in your neck of the woods. You know we appreciate it. That's all I got for you this week. Thank you so much for listening. Good hunting out there, folks. Be kind, be courteous, share your you know your love of the outdoors. Talk to you soon.

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