00:00:09 Speaker 1: From Meat Eaters World Headquarters in Bozeman, Montana, this is Cal's Week in Review with Ryan Cal Callahan, presented by First Light. 00:00:18 Speaker 2: Here's Cal. 00:00:20 Speaker 1: A duck hunter got stuck in the mud while trying to fetch a dead bird. This one comes to us from Newport, Maine, where a man was recently out hunting at Sebasticook Lake. when things took a turn for the worse. The hunter had a shot a bird, but when he waited out to pick it up, the mud trapped and nearly drowned him. Of course, ducks are known for favoring mucky areas, but this particular lake bed seems nastier than most. The hunter was tits deep in mud, while his buddies and onlookers reportedly attempted to throw him sticks and tires to hold onto to no avail. Instead, he sank a foot deeper in the sludge. I wonder if in addition to the sticks and tires, They whistled and said, here boy, come here. Thankfully, the Newport Fire Department arrived in the nick of time. The fire crew used a series of ladders to close the distance before using a sled tied to ropes to retrieve the hunter without putting themselves at risk. While things turned out all right this time, this one is a good reminder of taking safety precautions when in the field and having a plan for safely retrieving downed waterfowl. In the past, we've reported on waterfowl hunters who've died trying to save their gundogs in similar situations, and the proper precautions can prevent tragedies of this kind from occurring. Officials say, for instance, that the only safe way to fetch birds from Sebastacook Lake during this time of year is with a canoe or kayak. Quick shout-out to listener Christy H. for bringing us that one. If you have not read this one as a hunter... I need to reread it again now that I am a father. It's similar vein here. By Lawrence Sergeant Hall, inspired by a real-life tragedy in Maine, December 1956. The Ledge. This one is, I think, just masterfully written. You gotta read it. There's little bits of this. It's about sea duck hunting in the ocean, which for many of us, myself included, is just like not relatable at all. But there's just many things in here that every single hunter can relate to. Anybody who hunts and fishes, spends time outside, and then all of a sudden you've been caught in the dark, for instance. You're like, oh my God, how did I get wrapped up in whatever I was doing and put myself at risk? And this book, you got to read. It's short. It is Christmas oriented. So we're getting towards that right time of year. The Ledge. by Lawrence Sergeant Hall. Little Cal's Book Club, okay? Read it, get back to me, let me know what you think. A-S-K-C-A-L, that's AskCal at TheMeatEater.com. It's right up there with The Day the Duck Hunters Died. This week, we've got the Northeast Report, a real Yellowstone drama and horror. Since we missed Halloween, we'll get it in now. But first, I'm going to tell you about my week, and as you can imagine, it's been busy. I want to take a moment to issue a public service announcement here regarding travel management plans and hunting season. Travel management plans, right? Essentially where you can go and where you cannot go on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Those things are still in place. If your forest has a travel management plan, you need to adhere to that travel management plan. That is the law and that is how we move about the mountains responsibly. It is our duty as hunters to know where we are and what road and trail is open to what type of travel. And travel ranges from primitive, foot and hoof, to bicycles, to four-wheelers, to full-size vehicles, fixed-wing aircraft, the list goes on. Travel management is how we provide for these many uses on public lands, the land of many uses. It's how we can have all the nice things while still trying to mitigate noxious weeds, invasive grasses, fire, landscape fragmentation, big and small game distribution. Literally, literally how we keep public elk on public land during hunting season. And unfortunately, some of us are out there screwing it up, doing things illegally, immorally, and considering the fact that it is hunting season, Whether those folks doing this stuff are hunters or not, we're going to get blamed for it. Off-road, off-trail, or illegal use of roads and trails transgressions are all being associated with hunters right now. There are no other sports that have the level of responsibility that hunting does. It's part of who we are. It's baked into the culture. Know the rules of the road and the trail, and please report and document illegal use. These are our public lands. Let's make sure we steward them like we own them. To be very clear, I'm bringing this up because I am getting reports of illegal activity that stem from destruction of property, like gates, signs, and those little poles that some trailheads have that set the width restriction for ATVs. By the way, it's interesting that people destroy those because you paid for them. Like, we the people paid for the gates and signs and those little poles. And then, as mentioned before, we're also seeing illegal cross-country travel through the very areas we'd hope to sneak into and see a big old public land buck or bull materialize in that gray morning light, snorting steam. Moves like this not only degrade our public lands and the quality of our hunting and hunting experiences, but they inevitably pit public land users against each other. History has shown that old tactic of divide and conquer to be very real. the more fractured and factionalized we become as public land users, the less we will all ultimately own and get to enjoy. It's like that old parable of splitting the baby in half. Have fun. Be safe. Be courteous out there. Good luck. Enjoy your season. Moving on to the Powerline Controversy Desk. Brought to you by the Cal's Week in Review phone number. Hi, this is Jeremiah Ringelstetter. 00:06:33 Speaker 2: I live in Richland Center, Wisconsin. 00:06:35 Speaker 1: They are trying to run a power line through the Driftless area. It's like a 765 line, one of the biggest ones they can do. 00:06:43 Speaker 2: And it's an easement of 250 feet each direction, and they want to run it right through Richland County. What's your thoughts on that? 00:06:51 Speaker 1: Thank you. 00:06:51 Speaker 2: You have a nice day. Like what you do. Bye. 00:06:55 Speaker 1: Thanks for calling in, Jeremiah. To be honest with you, this is not a story I've been tracking, but I put the old writing team in action on this one. This is what we got. A proposed project known as BECI would run a 190-mile high-voltage power line from Crawford County in western Wisconsin through Dane County and south to the Illinois state line. It's the second line of the sort that's currently proposed in the area, with the first one known as the Maribel Project, which would run a similar line from southern Minnesota across the Mississippi and into western Wisconsin. If approved, both projects would run through parts of the Driftless area. which is a special, special part of the Midwest, characterized by forest prairie remnants, limestone rock valleys, cold trout streams, great smallmouth fishing on some of them rivers and productive farmlands, big honking white-tailed deer. Many folks are worried about the impacts that the power lines could have, both on the way of life there for residents and farms, as well as the effect on wildlife. And according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Electrical transmission lines can have many potential wildlife impacts, including displacing wildlife from habitat, blocking wildlife movement, impacting sensitive wetlands and streams, and more. And that's not to mention that all of those impacts are even higher during the construction period. There's another element to these proposals, data centers. Many locals feel like the projects are being proposed in order to pave the way for data center development, which use a ton of energy and are not particularly popular right now. and at the same time, the projects could cost taxpayers billions of dollars to complete. Proponents of the project, however, say that it could make the grid more resilient to the effects of storms, and that while the projects would benefit data centers, it would also improve electrical affordability for other consumers. These projects are both in relatively early stages, and the environmental permits they still require are significant. So to more directly answer your question, Jeremiah... I don't have a ton of insight into these power lines, but I will say that the Driftless is hands down one of the most exceptional parts of the U.S. from both an ecological and outdoor recreation standpoint. And I am glossing over just like gross amounts of Native American historical significance as well. Any development there has got to be balanced against the potential negative impacts of the area. We all consume power. I'm convinced as Americans with big old brains on our shoulders, If we actually demand it and pay attention, we can do these things in ways that satisfy most. Jumping over to the Vermont desk. Episode 502, we talked about Vermont's decision to allocate doe tags to rifle hunters for the first time in nearly 40 years. We asked you to write in with your thoughts on this one, and many of you did. Thanks for letting us know what you think. 00:09:46 Speaker 2: What's up, Cal? This is Dylan calling from the Green Mountain States. Just wanted to touch base with you. I heard about the doe firearm season. Well, last year they had it during muzzleloader and I was lucky enough to get one in the early three-day season, harvested a doe, and bought it second on allocated tags. And normally there's, I think, 4,000 roughly tags given out. And this year, I got my doe permit already, but a lot of people that applied didn't get one because they cut that in half. But you're not allowed to use a rifle to shoot them. So I would just let you know how I felt about it. And, you know, it's cool that you can use a rifle and get it done. But I think it was better with the more tags and with the muzzleloader. And, well, we'll see what this year brings. But I just want to call in and say what's up. And I love the show, man. Good job. Good job on being a new dad. I'm with you on that boat. And it's a lot of fun. My son just got past the hunter safety course and he's turning eight this month. Good luck out there this year. Hope you slam a big deer. All right, buddy. Bye. 00:10:56 Speaker 1: Thanks for calling in, Dylan. And I appreciate the perspective. It seems like it's always a tightrope act for Fish and Game officials to balance opportunity for different hunting methods. And it seems like in this case, muzzleloader hunters are getting the short end of the stick. For what it's worth, we also heard from a couple of other Vermont hunters who are fans of the move. Quote, there are definitely parts of the state where the deer herd is overpopulated, wrote listener Brad Jarvis. We're doing our part during archery season to try and fill some of those tags and put meat in the freezer. In fact, I just filled the tag yesterday morning. I fully support and understand why they are adding some of those tags to rifle season. Super happy to hear, differences aside, that folks are out there putting the management, wildlife management, with those centerfire and muzzleloader tags by knocking down some doe whitetails. I bumped into a couple of dudes at a local fishing access site who were trying to scout in a ridiculously dense whitetail deer populated area here in the Gallatin Valley for trying to fill a doe tag. They've been knocking on doors and can't get access anywhere. despite there being a disease-inspired extended hunting season for whitetail deer in this valley. So I want to make the ask that if you are interested in providing access to responsible hunters who just want to get a doe for the freezer, please write in and let me know, and I will get some people going your way. Pre-vetted. It's an interesting thing when we talk about hunting pressure and distribution, right? Lots and lots and lots of hunting opportunity here in the Gallatin Valley if you could only get to it. There's a couple of state chunks that everybody goes to. And the people on the fringes of those state chunks, whom I've talked to often, are always like, oh my god, I can't believe people would go down there. It's so overcrowded and this and that and that. But then those same people don't provide any access to the Deers that are inevitably getting whacked and propped on somebody's bumper. So what are we to do? We got to talk about corner crossing here for a second. We were just talking about corner crossing with Montana PBS. 00:13:10 Speaker 2: The other day. 00:13:11 Speaker 1: And the journalist asked me if I thought corner crossing was a big deal. And yes and no is really my answer. And that might shock some of you guys. Yes, for the fact that legal public access to public ground from public ground is a big deal. There shouldn't be any consternation about people walking from public ground to public ground. And that's why I think it's just such a foregone conclusion that all of our collective efforts should be spent on, you know, fighting noxious weeds, things that hurt both cattle and wildlife. figuring out better stewardship practices, a million other things than having to have a lawsuit and legislation and bickering back and forth about walking from public land to public land. But in this case, the Gallatin Valley, right? It's like the more access points you have, the more distribution of hunters and the more spread out pressure is going to be. That's the math anyway. And that's another pro in the old corner crossing side of things. We will be talking a lot more about corner crossing as states start moving into the legislative sessions. This conservation gig never ends, gang. Jumping over to Massachusetts. Heads up for you hunters and anglers out there in the Bay State. You've got a couple important questions on your ballot to vote on tomorrow. First up is question six, which would create the so-called Nature for All Fund, dedicating up to $ 100 million annually to conserve land where people hunt, fish, and recreate, and to restore damaged habitat. Crucially, the measure would not create any additional taxes. Instead, it would redirect the existing state sales tax on certain outdoor gear to this state fund. And that's a big deal. Hunters and anglers pay for conservation with surcharges on guns, Ammo, fishing rods, etc. Pittman-Robertson, Dingell-Johnson, excise taxes. Why shouldn't other kinds of people who depend on the outdoors pay for that stuff when they buy a bike helmet or a nine iron? Once that money reaches the fund, the measure also prevents the state from reallocating it to pay other bills. Pretty much everyone is in favor of this one, so vote yes on question six and don't get left behind. Next up is question nine, which reconsiders a measure passed a couple years ago called Chapter 135. That earlier law created additional rules around the kinds of firearms and magazines hunters could use, and we're not talking the backcountry journal. The process of getting a firearm identification card and the ability of young hunters to use semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. Chapter 135 also made it more confusing for out-of-state hunters to figure out permitting requirements in Massachusetts. All this red tape makes it tougher for people to get outside. If you're visiting the state, you might opt for an easier way to spend your leisure time And if you're a kid with a busy schedule of school, sports, and other extracurriculars, you might not pick up hunting at all. Massachusetts has been working hard to recruit and retain hunters in conservation efforts in the state. Depends on license revenue, so barriers like these make no sense. Vote no on question 9 would repeal these Chapter 135 rules, so yes on 6, no on 9. Go out, do your civic duty. A company named Tallgrass Energy made a $ 105 million donation to Yellowstone National Park, the largest charitable gift ever made to the national park system. Although the money and the recipient of that money sound like good news, the entity giving the money seems like possibly bad news. Tallgrass is an oil, gas, and AI developer backed by the investment company Blackstone, and it is partnering with Google to build a $ 7 billion data center near Cheyenne, Wyoming. This would be one of the largest data centers in the country, aiming for 716 acres of buildings on a 1,375-acre parcel of former ranch land. Those lands are now owned by Tallgrass Energy. and the natural gas power plants necessary to produce electricity for this data center would reach the site through pipelines owned by, you guessed it, Tallgrass Energy. But to succeed in building that data center, Tallgrass needs permitting sign-off from the BLM, and it needs to salvage as much goodwill from the public as it can during the current backlash to the data center construction. Seen from this point of view, the donation to Yellowstone looks less like generosity and more like a bribe, It also is a pretty minor line item on the balance sheet of a much, much larger investment. This particular affair is happening while a larger related piece of legislation is advancing through the U.S. Senate, the Bipartisan Affordability and Jobs Act, known more generally as the Permitting Reform Bill. The intention of this one is to make it easier to build infrastructure to generate electricity and transmit it where we need it. There are some genuinely good parts of this bill. We do need to make it easier to make electrons and move them around, and the act would require data centers to pay for the grid updates they need. The problem here is that this bill will also allow any administration to get around legal and environmental review of energy and data center projects, and to grant permits for almost any construction of energy and AI infrastructure on public land without oversight. Once those permits are approved, the bill would make it almost impossible to revoke them, even if harms of a project are discovered after the permit is issued. The bill would undermine critical parts of the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and several other cornerstone pieces of legislation that protect habitat and public land. The Wilderness Society and many other allied groups have come out against the bill because of these particular clauses, but there's still time to influence this one. and remove these damaging provisions when the bill comes to the Senate floor. We'll link to the Wilderness Society explainer on this one in the show notes. Call your senators and tell them we can have improved energy infrastructure in this country without signing away control of our public lands. If that isn't scary enough, on to the horror desk. Halloween, in the rear view, recently, but its consequences, negotiations with kids over candy stockpiles, pumpkins slowly caving in on the front steps are still very much with us. And if you're still in the mood for a rewatch of Friday the 13th or Obsession, even though trick-or-treating is over, I have an explanation for where that desire comes from. Way back in 1999, biologist M. Fishman of the University of Tel Aviv published a study on the biological phenomenon known as predator inspection. Naturalists had long observed a strange behavior of prey species. They would go out of their way to get close to the predators on the landscape and watch them. Earlier studies concluded that the prey species always knew they were looking at a threat and that they would never get so close that they put themselves in danger. But Fishman observed that the prey species often did run the risk of getting killed by the predators. He therefore theorized that on a population level, it served the prey species to gather more information about the possible threats around them so that they could evaluate and evade those threats, even if a few individuals got picked off in the process. He also argued that predator inspection was so widespread in the animal kingdom that it had significant benefits across different habitats and species. Over time, that evolutionary advantage may have become a drive to feel the fear and thrill of getting close to something that could kill you. That's a long way of saying that when you're peeking between your fingers watching Freddy Krueger sneak up on a youngster in the bath, you might be honoring a deep part of your evolutionary history. We don't often have wolves or grizzlies or saber-toothed cats breathing down our necks these days, but that desire to study threats, even when they scare us, might be very, very deep. So the next time someone calls you a sicko for liking horror movies, you can shoot back that from an evolutionary perspective, they're the sicko because they don't like them. Never apologize for being yourself. I'm a big horror fan. These days, I half pay attention to the movie On the back of like a Delta C, you know, flying someplace. Hocum. That's a great one. Really liked it. H-O-K-U-M. Hocum. And then there's a new like adaptation of The Mummy movie. That one's wonderfully messed up. Well worth a watch. Moving on to the invasive species desk. Sticking with the Halloween hangover, we've got news for you about a critter called the forest food monster. In this case, we're not talking about a werewolf or even a grizzly bear, but instead the fall webworm, a moth native to North America. In their larval or caterpillar phase, they're considered a pest, but we here in the U.S. have ants and wasps and other things that grew up around those things that control that population. Not so over in China, where they're introduced. In fact, the fall webworm has become a very problematic invasive species, often feeding on and destroying the leaves of deciduous trees. This moth is known as one of the most polyphagous insects in the world, which just means they can eat more different kinds of plants than any other worm like them. This makes them particularly adaptable, which has led to their spread around the world. This month, the Beijing Wildlife Park held a fall webworm hunting event, inviting visitors to track down the insects, pluck them off trees with chopsticks, and bring them in to be tallied and killed. Posters for the event proclaimed, quote, Call for warriors! Battle the forest food monsters. and win grand prizes. People who caught the most caterpillars could win 10 free tickets for park access, and the incentive definitely produced results. According to Reuters, more than 2,000 people got after the bugs in the first three weeks of the competition, catching over 310,000 caterpillars, which altogether weighed more than 105 pounds. Will it make a dent in China's invasives problem? Well, can't hurt, and I can think of worse ways to spend time than exploring the woods with your kids looking for creepy crawlies. That's all I've got for you this week. Thank you so much for listening. Remember to write in to askcal, that's askcal at themeateater.com. If you have not already, we released a Cal in the Field episode, Alaska Peninsula Brown Bear. We're going to do a special companion podcast to that episode. We're going to record the day after you hear this. So go over to the Meat Eater YouTube channel, Watch that thing. Leave a comment that you want answered, and we'll tackle it on tomorrow's podcast. Remember, write in. A-S-K-C-A-L. That's AskAltonMeatEater.com. Let me know what's going on in your neck of the woods. We appreciate it. 00:24:10 Speaker 2: Talk to you soon.

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