00:00:09 Speaker 1: From Mediators World News headquarters in Bozeman, Montana. This is Kel's We Can Review with Ryan kel kell in now Here's Kel. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Officer Austin Schumacher put his tracking skills to the test this past November. You're hearing about it now because Officer Schumacher just received the citation, which is why I am just hearing about it. And it's a great story. According to Minnesota Public Radio, the thirteen year old boy got into what you would call being match with his teachers, gust at them, and ran away from school into the swamp across from the school. The weather was threatening snow about thirty nine degrees, and thirteen year old was only wearing a T shirt and sweatpants. The principal of the school initially tried to track the boy, but the ground was too boggy to sue, and a search party was soon called in. Officer Schumacher arrived late and decided to try and follow the child using skills he had been taught hunting. Eventually, he hit a track and soon he was on his own, crossing through mud, open water, and thick brambles on one of the cold, muddy trails. Schumacher struck the track of the now barefoot boy and followed the fresh track and astonishing two miles in the dropping temperatures. The track, like just about any animal track, was intermittent, and Officer Schumacher felt what most people on an intermittent track do, little doubt, a little despair. But eventually he found the child, who was now shivering, beyond control and soaked. He wrapped the thirteen year old boy in his jacket, then packed his ninety pounds on his back through the swamp another mile to awaiting ambulance. Schumacher received the d n r S Life Saving Award. His training officer, Warden tim Werner said, quote, there's a lot to be said about just old cool woodsman skills. The piece of advice from Officer Schumacher's tracking the most important lesson Humans are lazy creatures. Animals will crawl under or go around obstacles. People will push them aside or plow through them. Everything in nature is vertical as it tries to reach the sun. If you see something horizontal like a branch on the ground, chances are humans were here. All good stuff. But then if you think about it, over three miles with no preparation, and two miles of those in bare feet. I've met some lazy thirteen year old, but this kid doesn't sound like one of them outside of the classroom anyway. For me, this story ended as good as it could, aside from maybe the thirteen year old making it through the swamp pass the authorities onto a passing freight train to go lead a life of adventure and love and whatnot, to one day return to ultimately be the principle of the school. That would have made it better story. Another factual thing I liked about this story is a little tidbit that I omitted. The sheriff's office had a drone flying overhead. It was outfitted with the speaker. The boy's parents were actually calling to him from the drone. Great idea. The mud and the cold weren't gonna slow the drone down, but the boy was incapacitated. Schumacher found him in a very old fashioned way. Just stay on the track. Well done. This week, we've got closures, questions, fair weather fans, and the ever interesting law enforcement desk. But first I'm gonna tell you about my week. Well, friends and neighbors, I've been cooking up a darn storm, turning pounds and pounds of meat into a couple of pounds of jerky, turning saved turkey carcasses and turkey stock, turning a year's worth of deer and elk bones into dark, beautiful, more precious than gold bone stock. Heavy on the collagen. Collagen is the good stuff that renders out of all that fashion ligament that people like to dis parage the real chewy bits. That is the stuff that can feel sinfully packed with flavor and good grease when cooked very low and very slow. For a long time, I have been stockpiling tongues for far too long, hoping to get those into a couple of different recipes shortly. The point is I'm taking advantage of all this inside time, really enjoying it for what it is. An opportunity to get all the nagging responsibilities over with, so when it is time to fully embrace all of the things we love about being out of doors, I can go do it without feeling guilty. And speaking of guilt, I want to talk about that for a quick minute. I have some guilt. During this strange time of COVID, I have remarkably little to worry about. I'm employed. I am very good at entertaining myself. In fact, I've joked with a few that if you were picking a social distancing team, as oxymoronic as that is, I would be a first round draft pick. As I have already mentioned, I'm surrounded by food, and I can tinker, experiment, and turn the raw food materials of elk, mule, deer, cous deer, turkey, duck, catfish, croppy carp, morrell mushrooms, dried up frozen bits, last year's garden, halibate, hearts, tongues, livers, cheeks, bones, roast, steaks, and filets in too darn near anything I can think up. None of this came from a store, but trust me, it wasn't free. Makes me think very often about the very first outfitter I ever worked for. He would say, before digging into whatever meal was on the table. Sometimes we'd have a cook, sometimes he'd cook, sometimes I'd cook. No matter what, he'd stare at the table and say, well, pardon, I wonder what the poor people are having tonight. The meals we would have together in camp or not or never extravagant, they ran a huge gamut as to the preparation, quality and quantity. But this pre dinner comment was always the same. This man grew up poor on a very diet of wild game, him an unexpectedly dead livestock that he and his family were trying to raise an Eastern Colorado. Before dinner, his father, no matter what was or wasn't on the table, would say the same thing, Well, I wonder what the poor people are having tonight, This saying to me it wasn't a declaration of wealth as it could be construed, rather a reminder that as long as you've got something in front of you, be thankful. There are those who do not. That same old outfitter is one of these immune system compromised individuals we all talked about right now, firmly in the at risk category and not slated to be around as long as he would like COVID nineteen or not. He is the person that patiently sat through endless questions for me, a kid who loved hunting and everything about hunting long before I ever hunted, and he did this in his free time, even when it was literally his job to show people the outdoors through hunting. He lent me as freshly restored teaberd coupe in an effort to convince me to go to my prom senior year. Pardon, he said, you get a date and I'll let you take the tea bird. I killed my first, second, third, fourth elk with him, numerous antelope, sage grouse, and more importantly, learned from a man who had his entire livelihood on the line, what the regulations were, how they worked, and the importance of being a real hunter, one that is not only legal, but moral and ethical. He has now hung up his outfitter hat, but still shows incredible pride in his grandchildren's ability and interests in the outdoors. Larry P. Just another example of an influential member of our outdoor community that needs a little help from the rest of us to stay healthy. Keep that social distance or fishtans, or if you're in Louisiana, an alligators distance away from each other and keep washing your hands. Now I am slowly moving on as per usual. We've got a lot to cover. First. Grayson is they years old going on his first turkey hunting this year. Good luck, buddy, and just remember you kill them with your butt. You'll figure out what that means soon enough, and hopefully you don't feel nervous because it is your first time. You are well ahead of the game. I'm helping a bunch of first time turkey hunters get ready just tonight, and they are all my age, which is really really old compared to you. And for those of you who cannot safely make it to the out of doors and have been exploring different things to help you through. Last week I talked about the Nintendo game Animal Crossing New Horizons, and since then I found out a whole lot more, which, believe it or not, makes me like it way more. The animals and bugs and fish that you catch are named after real life animals and resemble them in some ways, so you can actually get some good animal knowledge. Just don't overdo it and get outside when you safely can. On this same note, for anyone who played with the new virtual lality animals on Google, if you're not aware of this, you can search certain animals on Google. You have to keep it kind of generic, as in search for bear, not grizzly bear, or black bear, Asian black bear, polar bear. For some reason, they chose to single out the panda bear though anyway, it is pretty neat, but I did find it lacking in a few departments, and was able to get ahold of Dr Greg Blaskovich at Google, who promises to pass along my suggestions to the artists for the benefit of education. A couple of things to tell you, so you are not disappointed. No genitalia or sexual distinction with these animals. How are kids or people supposed to learn without that? If you want sexually indistinct animals, you probably aren't punched them into Google. You're probably on too Disneyland. The other thing I thought would be incredibly cool and educational would be to pick some species that are somewhat similar in appearance but do things very differently, like the sharks that give birth to live young versus sharks that birth by laying eggs viviparis versus over paris. You know, because how cool would it be to see a bullhead shark swim in your living room, dropping its spiral shaped eggs to the floor, And then you can watch a bull sharks went through your living room dropping a bunch of miniature sharks all over the place. Anyway, if this becomes available, you are welcome on behalf of myself and the artist at Google and special thanks Dr Greg Blaskovic moving onto the crime desk. A prolific perpetrator of poaching was arrested last month and just recently penalized imprisoned. No word on penitentiary pennant uh um. What I'm saying is this perp was charged with twenty six big game poaching violations twenty four and Klalum County, Washington and two in Jefferson County, Washington. Jason Bradley Hut nine of Sequin, Washington, as a pre vious record of poaching from two thousand sixteen and up until March, was accused of illegally killing elk, bear, blacktailed deer, otters, bobcats, and birds, including a harlequin duck. If you do not know what a harlequin duck is, check this pretty sea duck out. The Latin name is Histrionicus histrionicus, which is pretty fetching by itself. But what I think is cool about these ducks is that they are tough. They prefer rough season the winter places where waves hit rocks. They fly tight to the rivers, kind of like merganzas, and studies of adult birds often show broken bones because of their preference for rough surroundings. But back to the prolific poacher. Hut was awaiting trial on a state record setting wildlife bail of sixty thou dollars. After a sentence was handed down on the Hut is now the first poacher in Washington history to receive a prison sentence, and not a small one, even thirty eight months plus one year of community custody. As a reminder, wildlife is managed by the state for the people. Hut, our poacher, judging from his possession of meth amphetamine and wanton waste charges, was not out trying to feed his family. He was killing and stealing meat from others. This isn't just me saying this. According to the Sequel Gazette, the court received ten independent letters demanding Hut received jail time for his actions. Hut had a twenty four year old accomplice during at least some of these crimes. That man named Beck was sentenced to two hundred and forty hours of community service in thirty days of electronic home monitoring. So to recap friends and neighbors, don't be a poacher, and if you have goals of state records, don't let them be records of bail money, in prison sentences. Moving on, but sticking with Washington, Washington residents be on the lookout for the Asian giant hornet. It is not native to the state. It's native to wait for it Asia East Asia to be exact, and it is a honeybee predator, which should mean something to a state that produces a lot of fruit. Sixty percent of the nation's apples to be exact. According to Purdue University, the Asian giant hornet is two inches long and can kill up to forty b s a minute. So far as far as population goes, A hive has been located and destroyed across the border in British Columbia just last August, and only two as in just two individual hornets have been verified in Washington, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be on the lookout for more. Moving on, we can't talk about the state Washington without talking about some of the measures the state has taken in order to curb the spike of COVID nineteen. Like many states, Washington has shelter and place orders in effect. As of this recording. At least thirty eight states, forty eight counties, fourteen cities, the district of Columbia and Puerto Rico are in the same situation as Washington. That is, roughly two hundred and nine million people being urged to stay at home. That's according to the New York Times. While shelter and place orders are in effect, the residents and non residents are supposed to work from home if they are able, and limit travel outside of home to only the essentials trips to the grocery store, pharmacy, bank, pawn shop, cannabis shop, liquor store, hardware store, lumber yard, and if they're hungry or thirsty, only delivery from restaurants and bars. Exercise is also deemed essential, jogging, walking, bike riding, really anything that allows people to maintain a respectful social distance of at least six ft. If you travel to the meat eater dot com and look at our COVID nineteen ticker at the top of the home page, an aggregator of outdoor openings and closing spearheaded by our own Miles Nulty, you will see that outdoor exercise, which for many of us includes hunting and fishing, is being limited. Specifically, the six game management units scheduled to begin spring bear hunting on April first will not open. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will reassess opening hunting seasons on April six. The youth spring turkey season scheduled for April four through five has been canceled, and all recreational fishing and shellfish harvesting is closed in Washington State until at least April eight. All state parks and wildlife areas are closed until further notice. Additionally, federally managed ground has been shuttering campsites, trailheads, visitor centers, even dispersed camping and trails in some areas. Other areas, and this is very important remain open to dispersed use, but use isn't encouraged. How can this be? I, like many people find solace and separation from people in national forests, certainly more than at our grocery store. I find solitude fishing and hunting and hiking just likely how you do. But these rules are not for me or you, there for all of us. Like we have spoken about so many times on the Weekend Review, we manage animal populations as populations, not as individuals. Well, here is an example that we just cannot ignore. People are being managed not as individuals, but as a population in many states and counties, even where we do find it legal to be outside in backcountry situations, should we go if someone gets nervous, just like what happened to me over Thanksgiving on National Forest Ground, someone took a look at my truck parked in the same spot for several days during inclement weather, decided I needed help, and a search and rescue volunteer group was put on alert. In this scenario, particularly in areas where the nearest help is a small town, those resources may already be in use. If not, should they be spared to come look for you when you are probably just like me, just fine being outside doing what you love, something that you need need to think about if you're going to go out and recreate. Sticking with Washington specifically, there are many areas of National Forest and BLM that are still open to recreation. People are still encouraged to limit contact with others and try to avoid straying far from home. Practice extreme caution. Again, if you are angry and frustrated with these closures on our public lands, I am right there with you, downright ticked off. But instead of crying about the system that is working jointly with our state governments. I encourage you to think about the reasons to limit not you, but a population of you and me from going out and using these underfunded resources. Before COVID nineteen, have we been showing these places our utmost respect and best behavior. Have we been demonstrating as a group as a population responsible use. I would wager that if we, as a group of recreators outdoor resource users had been doing that, we would be seeing far fewer closures now. Prior to COVID team, we as a population have been showing a need for hand holding in these public places, a need for well maintained trails, and need for bathrooms, and need for emergency medical uses, a need for empty trash cans. When those trash cans get full. Specifically, we as a population have chosen to put trash on the ground instead of carrying it to an empty one. I would wager also that if we fought like hell to keep these places and agencies well funded, we'd be finding better solutions right now. I have said it so many times. If you don't weigh in, you don't rassle. If you haven't written, called, emailed, and spoken to your elected officials now and prior to now, you have no room to cry. I am taking this as an opportunity to make sure my officials know that we need to pass the Great American Outdoors Act, and you should too. Is this going to be the solution to end all be all? No things are gonna arise that are unforeseen, just like the situation we're in right now. But for those of you who have chosen to write me and complain about how terrible our public lands are, know that you are in the vast minority. You're a fair weather fan. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater because of one turkey hunt or bear season moving north to Alaska. North to Alaska. You guys remember that old Johnny Horton song. I love his back catalog. I would avoid, but that one is a winner. On April one, the state of Alaska suspended all spring bear hunting to both residents and non residents, with the exception of subsistence bear hunts. I was notified of this immediately by a listener, a fellow named Temple. Temple wrote in to let me know of the situation, and he had attached to his email his letter to his elected officials informing them very politely of his opinion due to folks like Temple. On April two, the Alaska Department of Fishing Game Commissioner Doug Vincent amended the prior decision made just twenty four hours earlier to honor and allow all residents to continue with their bear hunts. Non resident hunters will still be on hold until May thirty one. That is called action and change. It can be done. Cooler heads have prevailed for now. You see a lot of these closures and suspensions have been made in reaction to the behavior of the outdoor recreating public, skiers, boaters, fisher persons. Meaning in states that have offered free fishing like Missouri and Maine, and states like Alaska where residents just got their bear hunts back, you would better regulate yourselves. This is all up to you, the population of outdoor lovers and users. Please go outside and enjoy this spring when it comes, but be respectful of everyone's space. Not just for you, but for my old outfitter and my grandmother and all of the They're impactful people in our lives that need a hand avoiding this crud. If you get to your favorite fishing spot and it's full of people, move on to someplace else. If you get to a crowded trailhead, move on to someplace else. Enjoy being outside. It's gonna get better. If you want more access to hunting and fishing, go check out the Meat Eater Land Access Initiative. We're using all proceeds from Ronella potelas campaign merchandise to open up more, which may be exactly what we need right now, a little room to spread out. Thanks. That's all I've got for you this week. Let me know how I'm doing what I'm missing by writing in to a s k C. A L. At the meat eater dot com that's asked cal at the meat eater dot com. If you love what you're hearing, tell some friends and I'll talk to you next week.

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