00:00:10 Speaker 1: From Meat Eaters World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is Cow's Week in Review with Ryan cow Calahan. Here's cap in what may be the most badass thing any Canadian has done since the invention of thed havevel In Beaver. A British Columbia man fought off of cougar last week by punching it in the face. And no, this story does not come from Whistler or any of the other fun BC ski areas. The BC Conservation Officer Service said in a Facebook post that the man was working in the Lake Kathleen area in the central portion of the province when he was approached by a mountain lion. According to the man's account, the cat quote swiped his upper body, at which point he quote punched the cougar in the face and it disengaged. The Officer Service has not released the man's identity, but the agency did say his injuries were so minor that they did not require treatment in a hospital. The agency's efforts to locate the offending and no doubt ashamed feline have so far proved unsuccessful. A live trap was deployed in the area and hounds were dispatched. The next day, but the cougar didn't show its face. Believe it or not, this isn't the first account of a person defending themselves from an animal attack by socking it in the kisser. In twenty seventeen, a seventeen year old girl survived a shark attack by punching it in the snout until it released her leg. In twenty eighteen, a seventy eight year old North Carolina man claimed to have survived a black bear attack by punching it in the nose, And in twenty twenty three, a main woman punched a black bear on the nose after it tried to attack her dog. Of course, the most famous put up your duke's animal encounter happened in Australia in twenty sixteen. While out looking for wild pigs, a hunter encountered a kangaroo who had put his dog in a headlock. The man squared up to the kanga and punched it in the jaw, which caused the animal well to stumble back a few paces with an obvious look of shock on his face. I didn't know kangaroos had the ability to look shocked, but there's a video, and that's certainly my interpretation, the kangaroo had already dropped the dog, so the hunter beat a hasty retreat. Kangaroos aren't known for their boxing ability, but it's always a good idea to quit while you're ahead. On that note, I would advise avoiding a fight with the wild animal rather than relying on your rocky impression to get out of a jam. What do I got to chase a chicken? Ford? Some birds? You know? But if you find yourself snout to snout with something that may or may not put you on the menu for dinner, there's no harm in going for the knockout punch. It might even work. Those noses are sensitive. This week we've got Silica the crime desk and did we do this already? But first I'm going to tell you about my week, and my week has been interesting, as always, one bit of news in the broad world something everybody needs to be aware of. There's this idea coming out of the Department of the Interior that they could divert funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund to a maintenance backlog. This is a fund LWCF that is designated for acquiring and improving public land. This is where a lot of rural communities and communities all across the country get parks, bike paths, boat ramps, and ease months which are incredibly important. And then there's just outright land acquisition possibilities, and there's a huge long list. Just look up LWCF Land and Water Conservation Fund. Important to remember the cash from LWCF comes from offshore oil and gas revenues. This is not an out of pocket expense for the American people. It's that mailbox money everybody talks about. And fun fact, it cannot legally be diverted to something such as a maintenance backlog. And another fun fact, we laid off or encouraged the departure of roughly a quarter of the National Park Service employee base, So who the heck's going to be doing the maintenance work. You can voice your concern for the future of LWCF by writing and calling into your representatives and your senators. Last week I encouraged everyone to write in with any questions. We got a few. In fact, we got more than a few, as so many that I'm only going to do two on this episode. Then we'll do some more. So listen up. If you didn't ask you might want to know anyway. This is from Eric. Eric says, I'm going on my first big l hunt this year. It's a cow elk. I was just curious if you had any experience with calling in cows by a diaphragm or external mouth calls. If so, what sound are you emulating and how long would you sit after calling a lot of people just drive around and find one. I would rather treat it as going in for my trophy. First off, Eric, time of year and timing really dictates how you use calls. So you can use a cow call year long, from the start of the rut all the way through the winner. That cow call might be something that gets a cow or a bull or a calf to stop and look at you during rifle season, but way lower likelihood of them actually engaging with the call at that time of year, whereas earlier in the year you can use all sorts of different tactics. You can even bugle in cows. I use diaphragms and external read calls. I really like external reed calls for my cow calf sounds. I can just switch gears a lot faster and figure out what they're responding to better. So lost calves are great for bringing in a cow and spikes and yeah, lots of patients. So if you're in there with hot, fresh elk sign and scent and you can smell them, do a little calling routine like a cow talking back to a calf, a little bit of a social exchange, and then be patient and sit there for fifteen minutes. But be ready when you do that. Big thing is like you got to watch the heard dynamics and listen for and see what those elk are responding to, and then that's going to give you your cues. Get in close, don't be aggressive, be courting, and typically you can get a cow to swing in and check you out. But the trophy aspect of kow el cunting, if I'm being dead honest, is getting that thing whole in the back of a truck. That's why I was brought up anyway. That is the mark of a trophy seasoned kal el hunter. It's a meat hunt. It should be fun. It's your first l hunt. You're going to have a blast. And even if you don't do it the hard way of this trip elk hunt's hard man, the hard stuff will catch up to you. So don't overlook a gimme if it falls in your lap this trip. Next up, Fella drew a non resident waterfowl tag for South Dakota this year. He's planning a solo trip with his dog, likely in late October. He plans on hunting over small water holes potholes in northeast South Dakota, and he hot tips advice on timing the trip, things to avoid, et cetera. He'll be camping doing this totally DIY. He's from Kentucky, but by no means am I an above average duck hunter. I'm with you there, just an average weekend duck warrior here at home, looking for a fun duck trip with the dog, which is a wicked, mean standard poodle. This will be my dog's second hunting season and first out of state trip. So excited for you. I'm not going to be able to tell you anything that's crazy. Stay mobile, don't try to set up an elaborate camp. Remember to properly mark all of your birds on your trip because you're going to be mobile, so keep that fully feathered wing or head on attached to the whole bird. When you're mobile, It's just easier to do it. As a whole bird, and you know, keep your notes, have those things, your dates and areas where you killed those things. On top of that, don't be afraid to knock on some doors. My experience in South Dakota is if you're hunting water, there's not a lot of competition. Folks love to hunt fields that they can get real aggressive on finding big mallard shoots in stubble fields. But if you want some fun puddle duck hunting, you're gonna have a great time. Don't bypass the small stuff. They can get really good flights at t old wigeon gadwall and definitely some big old mallards too. So cover the ground, burning gas, kills ducks, and don't forget that you cannot shoot a pheasant until after ten am, read your eggs wherever you go. You have a great time. Just go out there and do it. Moving on to the asbestos desk. A jury ordered the family of an Illinois man nine million dollars last week after he died from a rare form of cancer caused by firing shotgun shells. Big thanks to listener Grant Benz for sending this one. In Eugene. Shopkey died in twenty twenty two from mesothelioma, a kind of cancer caused primarily by exposure to asbestos. If you've ever been a consumer of daytime television, you already know what I'm talking about. Attention. If you were all loved one was diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to financial compensation. Usually, personal injury lawyers target people who have worked in shipyards, mills, heating, or construction. Because asbestos was primarily used as an insulating material. What you may not know is that in nineteen sixties, Remington partnered with DuPont to make shotgun wads with asbestos. Asbestos is a fibrous material and its highly heat resistant. Before plastic wads became the industry standard, Remington, with the help of DuPont, used asbestos in its wadding material. The problem was, every time a shell was fired, it blasted microscopic asbestos fibers into the air. The shooter and anyone in his vicinity could breathe in these fibers, which became trapped in tissue within the body. Over time, this toxic material caused inflammation and scarring. It's like having glass inside your lungs. So every time you breathe, it makes little, tiny little cuts in there. It's a horrid way to die. This is what happened to Eugene, who regularly used those old green Remington shotgun shells. The risks of asbestos exposure were known by nineteen sixty, so the Delaware jury decided that Remington and DuPont should have known better. The exact company responsible for Eugene's death is a little complicated, since both manufacturers have been absorbed by larger conglomerates. DuPont in particular, was quick to point out that the amul manufacturing arm of its company split off in twenty nineteen, So don't go protesting outside your local DuPont facility. But whoever is shelling out the cash, Eugene's family is walking away with nine million bucks. That can't replace a father and grandfather, but at least it's some measure of justice. It's also a good way to spread the word about avoiding old shotgun shells. You find your grandfather's foot locker, it's a good idea to take a pass on any shelves from the nineteen sixties. But if you ever find a box with a DuPont logo on it, go ahead and dispose of that in a safe and legal way. DuPont and Remington were the only ammo makers to use asbestos in their shell wadding. And you don't want to end up like Old Eugene. Moving on to the mule deer desk, Utah is asking for hunter's help in recovering at struggling mule deer population. The Division of Wildlife Resources has announced a series of meetings at which hunters can offer suggestions for ways to boost Utah's deer populations that have quote struggled to grow in some parts of the state. The twenty twenty four post hunting season population estimate was approximately two hundred ninety five two hundred deer, which is only seventy three percent of the long time term management objective of four hundred and four nine hundred deer. The DWR is holding eight meetings in August to get feedback from hunters. Big Game Coordinator Dax Mangus emphasized that these meetings are about quote how we grow deer, not how we hunt them. He explained that deer populations aren't determined by the buck harvest. They're impacted much more by survival rates of dough deer, fawn production, and fawn survival over the winter. So these meetings are to focus on those elements of mule deer management. Since hunters are primarily concerned with buck harvest and most aren't biologists, I'm not sure if that's quite the right agenda for these meetings. Some might argue that not talking about buck harvest is a way to avoid a discussion that might lead to decreased license revenue. At the same time, it's very true that fawn survival is more important than buck harvest when you're talking about deer, and the fact that the DWR is holding these meetings is evidence that they want to take hunters concerns seriously. Various proposals have already been floating around in Internet forums and Facebook groups. A Utah resident sent me an email outlining some of them. Some people have proposed making more wildlife crossings over roads, limiting units to three points or more, only allowing deer hunts on units every other year. Some have even asked for a five year closure of the deer hunts. One of these meetings has already been held as of this recording, and one hunter proposed reducing the number of deer tags while increasing the price. This might help struggling herds while also maintaining current levels of funding. You'd like to attend one of these meetings and voice your own opinion, or just go listen in person, You can find the schedule on the DWR website. There are eight more between August twelve and August twenty eight in various parts of the state. Moving over to the Deja Vu desk, another lion hunting drama has exploded in Zimbabwe, reigniting the same fights that consume the animal rights world. When Cesal the Lion was killed exactly ten years ago, the details of the two hunts are almost identical. In June of this year, a foreign hunter killed a lion named Blondie outside of the same well known Huengei National Park. Just like Cecil, Blondie was wearing a tracking collar as part of an Oxford University study, which allowed animal rights groups to claim that he was off limits. Blondie was also killed over bait, a legal hunting practice in Zimbabwe, on land adjacent to the protected national park, leading news outlets to write that he was quote unquote lured out of the park and even though his home range covers areas inside and outside of the park. It was the bait that got him. One notable difference this time around is that Blondie was just five years old when he was killed, while Cecil had reached the ripe old age at thirteen. Male lions begin to breed around four and reach the end of their reproductive life cycle around ten, so there's fresh outrage over a breeding male being taken out of the population. However, Cecil's advanced age meant that he had also become very habituated people, often coming within a few yards of safari groups, making him the park's main tourist attraction and international celebrity. Blondie hadn't yet become the same kind of superstar. Of course, all the under reported aspects of the story are also very similar. Foreign hunting brings in almost twenty million dollars a year for conservation in Zimbabwe, and wildlife populations in the country are therefore thriving. African countries that have outlawed hunting don't have that same revenue, and they're often consequently plagued by poaching and habitat loss. Regulated hunting also keeps the area's wildlife populations in balance. After the Ceacial debacle, the resulting drop off in hunting near the Huange led to an overpopulation of lions, setting off a decline in the numbers of prey animals like antelope and giraffe that in turn threatened the ecosystems other predators like cheetahs and painted dogs. Nearby parks even considered bringing in professional hunters to conduct controlled culling operations. Interestingly, even though the hunt of Blondie took place in June, the drama is just happening now because of a statement released by Africa Geographic, the organization that sponsored Blondie's research tracking collar. The name Africa Geographic makes this seem like an objective information outlet like National Geographic, but in fact it's a for profit safari company which obviously has a vested interest in having as many animals on the landscape for its clients to see, regardless of the carrying capacity of the ecosystem. One notable difference between Blondie and Cecil hunts is how much the hunter's guide service and park officials have learned about pr that's public relations over the last ten years. This time, the identity of the hunter has been kept secret and his face has been blurred out in photos. The guide was able to show the hunt's legal permits right away, heading off the appearance of foul play that added to the outrage last time, and the Guege Park spokesman had a well crafted statement all ready to go, emphasizing the conservation funding provided by hunting and going on to say a quote. Our rangers were present, all paperwork was in order. Callers are for research purposes, but they don't make the animal immune to hunting. Not sure that it's going to head off the outrage, but it is likely to prevent PETA from calling for a named private citizen to be hanged, as happened last time around. Jumping over to the crime desk first up, an investigation is now underway in Camii, Idaho, where a cow, moose, and her calf were found shot in Nesper's Clearwater National Forest in mid July. This one was against the law and a whole bunch of ways. First of all, it's illegal to kill anything out of season. Seeing a productive cow and calf killed as moose populations have been declining in Idaho as well as in most parts of the country, is especially hard to see as well, investigators have also concluded that the animals were shot from the road and as much as one hundred pounds of meat was left to waste. Furthermore, moose legal moose hunting in the state Idaho is a once in a lifetime event. That's the way the state regulates their quote unquote trophy species. So if you're successful when you draw that insanely hard to obtain moose tag, you are done hunting moose in the state of Idaho. Killing a moose without a tag is a felony in Idaho, which carries a fifty five hundred dollars fine and a lifetime revocation of hunting privileges. If anyone has information on this, one called the Idaho Department of Fishing Game two eight nine two one four one seven two and will also put a form on the old cow to action page at the mediator dot com. Moving on from an unsolved case to some justice served, forty seven year old Scott Steer of Gabriola Island up in BC was sentenced this week for crimes going back more than seventeen years. Often on this show we've lamented how light the sentences are for wildlife violations. A lot of times offenders will get sentenced more harshly for a ziplock bag full of drugs in their possession than for dozens of poached deer skulls. But the Canadian court really threw the book at Steer, this time, sentencing him to six full years in jail and levying one point one million dollars in fine. Steer was certainly asking for it. British Columbia Supreme Court Justice David Krrar wrote in his ruling, the Crown understands mister Steer's record to be the longest record of Fisheries Act violations in Canadian history. Isn't it fun when Canadian courts refer to themselves as the Crown gives it more of like a Dungeons and Dragons type of feel. Steer's most recent conviction was for taking sa cucumbers, both without a license and out of season. That might not seem like the worst crime you've ever heard, but Steer's recidivism is something to marvel at. His first warnings and ticketed violations started in the mid two thousands, and his first criminal convictions took place in two thousand and eight for harvesting shellfish out of season. And trying to sell halibut and linkod without a commercial license. In twenty thirteen, he was sentenced to six months in prison and ten years of probation for going over his fishing quota. The judge in that case declared, quote, mister Steer represents a threat to the health of the fishery. Steer had thirteen poaching convictions before his most recent sea cucumber crime, which puts him in a real sea pickle, you know, because cucumbers and you know pickle. Anyway, Steer had previously claimed that he was going straight by importing dishwashing pods from China, which has got to be the most suspicious sounding fake job he could have invented. He also asked for leniency in his previous convictions by stating that he is responsible for his five children, which you know you feel for. But keeping this guy off the water is justified. Last up, an absolutely wild episode from history, as told by retired Oklahoma game Ward and Tracy Daniel to reporter Chris Bennett of The Farm Journal. Last week we told you about the amazing law enforcement decoys made by Brian Wolsleagel of Custom Robotic Decoys, which can warm up with heating coils, turn their heads and even lift their tails and eject brown eminem's as a poop substitute. Well back in nineteen eighty six, fancy decoys like this had not been invented. At the time, Oklahoma was experiencing a spike in poaching, especially people shooting game from roadways, but it was almost impossible to catch violators in the act. But Warden Daniel had an idea, Why couldn't you find a road killed deer and set it out in a tempting spot near a road for poachers to go for So that's exactly what he did. Coming across a medium sized buck that had been hit by a car but hadn't sustained visible injuries, he retained the deer, put it in the freezer, stretched the buck's legs out and braced them with boards, pinned the ears up straight, and turned the heads it would appear to be looking toward the potential shooters. He then left the deer to freeze solid for eight days. Before dawn on opening day, he and his colleagues collected the rigid deer drove it out to a farm where several poaching incidents had already been reported and set it up within view of the road. Daniel concealed himself in a nearby ditch, and other law enforcement personnel set up cars further down the road to process any resulting violations, and violations certainly resulted. Between Don and eleven am. Seven different parties stopped their cars in the road, shot at the decoy, and were apprehended in the middle of the stand. A fourteen year old boy legally hunting the property also took a shot at the frozen deer and was heartbroken to discover that he wouldn't be taken home as first buck. The final bust was also the most spectacular. While processing the hunting violations, Daniel noticed a bag of marijuana lying out inside the car. A subsequent search turned up a significant quantity of cocaine. Daniel recalled quote, looking back, it ranks as one of the wildest operations of my career. It was crazy and I never dreamed it'd work so perfectly. Gotta love it when a plan comes together. Moving on to the mail bag, listener Mike Rider sent me a troubling trend from his neck of the woods in New England. Apparently, some yahoos aren't happy with the region's excellent trout fisheries and would rather they resemble Alabama and South Carolina. The main Department of Inland Fisheries reported last month that biologists had spied largemouth pass in West Musquash Lake. According to an article Mike sent me, this lake is a classic cold water fishery that his home to wild trout and wild landlocked salmon. A press release date of July twenty four reported that a team of biologists visually confirmed multiple largemouth bass of varying ages in the lake. Now, there's nothing wrong with bass fishing, but bass don't belong in New England's cold water fisheries. Someone or multiple someones have been transferring these non native fish into the region's trout streams, where they pose a serious danger to native species. Bass eat just about anything, including trout. They also out compete native species for food and habitat, and can significantly alter the aquatic ecosystem. Of course, this kind of thing is nothing new, and it's not always the fault of bucket biology. Mike tells me he's been reading a book titled The Bass of New Hampshire that chronicles the intentional effort by the state in the eighteen hundreds to introduce black bass species. These days, the New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife Fish and Game Department reports that wild bass have been neutralized in many water bodies and their eradication isn't possible. Quote further spread of bass should be prevented to protect the remaining habitat for vulnerable native fish species. Big thanks to Mike for sending us that important reminder. And if you live in Maine, the Warden Service is offering a six thousand dollars reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for putting bass in West Musquash Lake. Get in touch with the main Warden Service if you can help them with that investigation. That's all I got for you this week. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to write in to ask c A L. That's Ascal at the meeteater dot com. Let me know what's going on your neck of the woods. You know we appreciate thanks again. Talk to you next week.