The 5ft-long specimen was hauled in by Michael Eisele, 44, in the waters off Norway last month.

If confirmed by the International Game Fishing Association, it will smash the previous world record of 98lbs 12oz for an Atlantic cod caught off New Hampshire in the United States in 1969.

Historical records claim that cod of 200lbs were once found in the seas, but these days a 10-year-old fish caught in the North Sea weighs between 24lbs and 33lbs on average.

Andrew Crook, treasurer of the National Federation of Fish Friers and owner of two fish and chip shops in Lancashire, calculated that the record-breaking catch would provide 200 portions of fish and chips.

“It would be very meaty. It might be a bit tougher than normal cod, but it should be edible,” he said.



Mr Eisele, who runs a fishing tackle firm in Kiel, Germany, has donated the record cod to the Norwegian Fisheries Museum in Bergen, which will have it stuffed and mounted.

The biggest cod caught in British waters weighed in at 58lbs and was caught in the North Sea off Whitby in 1992.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newst ... ide-200-fish-suppers.html

A CROCODILE stalked a teenage boy before attacking his uncle's dog instead, leaving a family barbecue in screaming chaos at a popular Darwin city swimming spot.

Moulden teenager Dylan Mortimer, 15, narrowly escaped death after standing in knee deep water trying to untangle a line from a snag in Millner Creek near Robertson Barracks, Darwin, about 3pm on Sunday, the Northern Territory News reports.

He was fishing alone, away from his family and friends who were gathered in honour of Dylan's late grandfather.

The waters were clear but the black croc lay invisible, watching Dylan from the shadows under pandanus on the opposite side of the creek.

Dylan did not see it move silently behind him in the shallows, getting between him and dry land.

He was minutes from being attacked when his best friend Joshua Cawthan, 15, came up behind him, accompanied by the eight-month-old pitbull. The dog got into the water behind Dylan.

Instantly the croc smashed through the shallows and clamped its jaws on the dog.

Josh screamed "croc" at the same time and Dylan spun around.

Before he could get out of the water the reptile dragged the dog into the creek.

The family ran to the scene where they watched in horror as it swum about on the bottom with the dog in its mouth.

Dylan's mum Janis Aylott, 35, said the family, all screaming, threw logs and rocks at the croc which let the dog go and swam off.

They tried to resuscitate the dog but Ms Aylott said it didn't work.

It was bleeding from the nose and had been held under water for about four minutes.

Dylan said he thought the croc was going to get him.

"I'll never go fishing there again, even if they catch it," he said.

His best mate Josh said he was shaken up as he almost saw his friend eaten.

"For the rest of the day I felt pretty weird," he said.

Ms Aylott said Joshua was a hero, coming up at the right moment with the dog and saving her son.

For more see the Northern Territory News

http://www.news.com.au/national-news/ ... ry-fncynjr2-1226626868033

No ducks died in the making of this story.

There was a moment when it came close. When a bunch of them flew across the darkening sky. When everything looked sketched by a fine pencil and everything paused except their flight. Kelvin Lalich held his breath. He saw them first on the other side of the pond and he didn't blink till they pushed through the last remains of visible grey.

A lucky break.

''I heard them calling but missed them, eh? That'll teach me for yakking.''

Then nothing comes and goes for long stretches.

It's getting on for 6pm, halfway to Morrinsville, standing in the half light, waiting for the ducks.

Once or twice there's a flirty call when it's too dark to bother wasting a bullet on them.

''That'll be right,'' says Lalich. ''Yeah, come now.''

''Ha ha,'' they respond in duck.

Never do they make as much noise as when the lights go out.

It sounds like an uphill battle. Like hard labour. Like an old duck struggling to get up from her chair. Like a callout for someone to grab the car and give her a lift to the pond up the road. Reeeeooooooo ra ra ra ra ah ah reeeow reeeoooowwww . Away from the hunters in their three-storey maimai.

Kelvin Lalich has been duck hunting on this farm with cousin Terry, same last name, for the past 27 years. Morning and night. Nights like this one that choose warmth over winter, but tiptoe on the edge. He remembers you could hardly hold your gun a decade ago, it was that cold. It's just got warmer and warmer every year, he says, and fewer and fewer ducks. Well, tonight, anyway.

It's a sit and wait game, but they don't mind. They are a couple of old buggers who work hard all year and they are happy to kick back.

Every weekend of the season is spent here. Starting at 6.30 in the morning and hunting on and off till dark. Then a few beers before lights out.

They used to shoot out of more modest dwellings on the top pond further up the farm, but there's one closer to Terry's place that's easier to get to, so they shacked up there.

It doesn't look like much to a novice - a large play hut, maybe, or an oversized shed that's long overdue for demolition - but in duck hunting circles, this maimai is a mansion.

The cousins each own half. It cost around eight grand in materials. There's a second-hand rimu kitchen they pulled outta Terry's house. And cold water and a gas heater and two cookers and an electric fridge that holds a bottle of wine for when the wives visit. They sometimes do.

A coupla beds. And enough canned food to survive a year's worth of Armageddon.

It's a man's maimai. Seriously lacking la di da. There's a sad old duck hanging in the corner of the living area that Terry got stuffed after it won a competition. Some duck whistles lying limp on hooks - these days they mostly rely on an electronic one that seems to do the trick. A wooden shelf with a messy collection of hunting membership cards they've decided to display. Lollies shoved into a corner shelf. Tins upon tins of coffee and condensed milk. Yes, it may not look like much to the outsider, but Kelvin stretches his arm along a ledge and surveys the unlined surrounds like he's king of the castle.

Up top on the third floor, above the living area and carpark, the lookout spot is covered in camouflage netting. Boys who play with toy guns and run after each other through muddied farms would fizz. Kelvin's pretty excited himself. He pulls off some camo covers for the big reveal: two thrones, pulled out of a Subaru Legacy, sit above the lake.

And a podium for their mate Bob, a good keen shooter, who joined the pair a few years back.

''He's been a good friend,'' says Kelvin, ''so we thought, aw, we're getting a bit long in the tooth - another old fulla sitting alongside us and we still might end up with the same amount a ducks.''

But Bob's still earning his seat. There are rules to this game. You've got to do your time. There's no rocking up to a maimai and claiming a seat. Poaching is the ultimate crime. Kelvin wouldn't even bring his own son to the maimai for a day's shooting.

''You just don't. Your pozzy's your pozzy.''

When Kelvin first started shooting on the farm, he shot from a derelict maimai on his own, while Terry hunted on a better pond further afield. It was a proud day he got to join the others up the ranks, he says. Some people have them on about shooting the ducks. Those humble little creatures with their harmless waddling and quacking. Making their way from pond A to B when people like Kelvin whack a bullet in their bellies and send their best bits off to make years' worth of salami for the lunchbox. Not to mention the ducks left wounded. Tangled in a pond somewhere too far away for a dog to find them.

SAFE campaign director Eliot Pryor wants an outright ban on duck hunting. He quotes overseas research that says 30 per cent of ducks that are shot survive and are left to die an excruciatingly slow death, and estimates around 275,000 ducks are not killed outright in New Zealand each year.

''We believe it's cruelty. And it's almost psychopathic to do it for fun.''

You're either a hunter or you're not, says Kelvin.

''For us, it's a great privilege to see a duck falling out of the sky.''

The blokes admit a great deal of the pull for them is the male bonding involved.

''It's not even about shooting ducks now,'' says Terry.

''I just come down here to have a good time with the guys.''

Sometimes there are woundies they can't track down, but they always use the ducks they kill and spend the year eating them. And there's a limit to how many ducks a hunter can hunt. It's 10. Tonight it's Kelvin zero, ducks life, but on opening weekend, and most weekends of the season, they have a really good trot.

As night ticks in to solid black, a family of pet ducks arrive to settle into their pond. They belong to Terry's daughter and don't even raise an eyebrow if the sound of gunfire splashes on to their patch. They have the luxury of settling in while the echo of ducks further along the line sound out, a cry for help. Imagine five weeks where your life's on the line and no place is home. Not for a few weeks yet.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/ ... -An-evening-spent-hunting

Why hunting in general, and hunting in NSW National Parks in particular, is not such a bad thing, if done right.

live in the heart of Australia's largest city, and there is no good reason for me to possess them. Adding to this my peers and workmates largely abhor guns, as does the media, which lumps gun owners with the gun lobby and backroom political deals on Macquarie Street.

And then there is the question of what I use my guns for: despite the drawing of legislation to allow amateur hunters to hunt in national parks being a recent development, I have been doing just this for two decades.

I was brought up in New Zealand, and, like many Australians, I was exposed early to war comics, 007, Rambo, twelve-gun salutes, starting pistols, flare guns - and as a child I bought the lot. If it moved I’d shoot it. Later, I aspired to shoot only ‘bad’ things: Storm troopers, Red Indians, Russians (and New Zealand’s No.1 one enemy - possums). There were guns in our house too, my father hunted pigs.

My fascination with guns outlived such boyish fantasies and sustained into adulthood. However it was years of hiking trips around Middle Earth in my teens, along with some particular reading, that really laid the foundation for the hunter I would become.

After World War II the New Zealand government employed cullers to control feral deer. The memoirs penned by these master bushmen had me spellbound. At 21 I got my first high powered rifle.

Recreational hunting is encouraged in all 14 of New Zealand’s national parks. Feral species include deer, pigs, thar, chamois, and goats.

But - here's the thing: I only kill animals that will be eaten (though they must be consumed in New Zealand because Australian customs regulations forbid importing this meat).

The possible opening up of National Parks to shooters in NSW has turned my head to hunting feral deer here. But what else could I eat? My ethic has always been to target non-native species, yet I eat bought kangaroo. The Wilderness Society, of which I have been a member of for 10 years, advocates their protection. So I may have to learn more about kangaroo populations.

Responsibility for the environment to one side, any hunter has to recognise he or she simply enjoys it. That said, perhaps not all are interested in examining why they enjoy it.

There is also a ritualistic primitive aspect to hunting that is hard to describe, defying justification unless, perhaps, you’ve experienced it. I hike. I rock climb. I mountain-bike. But I form a deeper bond with nature in the places hunting takes me.

Which is all very well for me but will, say, the introduction of shooting into national parks endanger others - hikers, campers, and park rangers, for example?

When hunting, I seldom see non-hunters as I prefer areas undisturbed by human traffic. In my experience hunters broadly respect the national parks and other park users. As such, under a properly enforced firearms code, public safety should not be an issue. A National Coronial Information System report from approximately 2000 to 2012 lists 29 unintentional “hunting” fatalities in Australia. Of these 17 involved a firearm. All of the deceased either shot themselves or were in the company of the shooter. None were strangers who happened to be in the same area. In New Zealand during the same period one non-hunter was killed by a hunter, according to New Zealand's Department of Conservation.

A more serious concern is that the likelihood of protected species being shot seems to be many times higher. It is worth serious discussion. Instead, the public debate has snagged on 'silencers' and 'bullet-proof vests'. Recreational hunting in national parks is permitted in Queensland, Victoria, Western Australian and South Australia.

My boyhood fascination with guns is long gone. I care about animal welfare and sustainability. I only eat free-range pork and poultry. I do not enjoy inflicting pain. As a hunter I am a custodian of the environment, not a plunderer. Done right, recreational hunting can be a nursery for young and old alike to establish meaningful relationships with the land.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comme ... unter-20130517-2jqtl.html

That dog sure looks familiar. Maybe a miniature Chessie or a Boykin Spaniel? Naw. Boykins have short tails and there is no such thing as a miniature Chessie.

Well, it’s a puzzle. Can’t quite put a finger on the breed. Looks a little like the Irish Water Spaniel or the Curly Coated Retriever. Wonder if it is a registered AKC breed or the result of offshoot breeding?

Look at those bright amber eyes, the heavy, wavy coat, liver colored, or maybe sort of a dark brown. Bet he weighs 30 to 40 pounds and stands 15 to 18 inches tall, what you might call a medium-size dog. He’s a hardy-looking soul. Bet he’s tough as nails.

What you are looking at is an American Water Spaniel, a rare breed and the first sporting dog developed in America as an all-around hunter that could retrieve from boats. Like a fine Scotch, you’ve got to develop a taste for the AWS. But once you’ve acquired that taste, there’s no going back. Ask anyone who owns one and they’ll tell you when an AWS captures your heart, you are hooked for life.

David McCracken, a retired high school economics teacher in Sumter, S.C., has been a waterfowl hunter since age 14. He’s owned and been afield with Boykins, labs and Chessies, but none stand up to AWS. He owns several including his beloved Gumbo, who has conformation and hunting titles a mile long.

“He’s the best dog I’ve ever had,” McCracken said. “ He’s so versatile. He can do it all – flush, retrieve, deliver a squirrel to hand and follow the blood trail of a deer….He has all the drive and desire anyone could want, plus he has a calm demeanor of a family pet. Gumbo sleeps in our bed at night and he’ll eagerly enter the water on a 20-degree day to duck hunt; he’s an all-around good dog.”

McCracken gave up big retrievers when his age of 66 told him he was too old to be dragging labs in and out of boats. He credits his wife Lois with discovering the AWS at the Westminister Kennel Club Dog Show.

“We knew very little about them when we got our first pup from Minnesota,” he said. “It didn’t take long to find they can do anything big dogs can do including retrieve a goose.”

Lois McCracken, a hospital administrator in Sumter, started a therapy dog program at her work which includes her AWS. She also shows her dogs in the conformation ring and runs agility, rally and obedience.

The McCrackens are one of two registered AWS breeders in the Carolinas. Sharon and Joseph Mann in Candler, a town in the North Carolina mountains near Asheville, are also breeders.

Mann got his first AWS in 2006 when he found Chessies were too hard to handle. His wife’s parents, residents of Wisconsin, had owned an AWS. The Manns now have six used for hunting and showing.

“I know several people who are going from Labs to AWS because they are easier to handle and train,” he said.

The breed originated in the Great Lakes region of the United States in the mid 1800s. Ancestors include Irish Water Spaniels and Curly Coated Retrievers. Today most AWS are found in the Midwest, where they are the state dog of Wisconsin.

The AKC, which recognized the AWS in 1940, classifies them in the Sporting Group which includes retrievers, spaniels and pointing dogs.

In 2012 the AKC ranked the AWS as 141 in registration out of 175 breeds. The Lab was No. 1 and the English Fox Hound last. McCracken and Mann say there are less than 3,000 AWS registered in the U.S. and fewer than 300 in the Carolinas, compared to hundreds of thousands of Labs and Golden Retrievers.

Only a handful of AWS show up for fields trials, hunt tests and dog shows. At a recent hunt test in Mullins, S.C., McCracken ran the only AWS. The Boykin Spaniel, developed in South Carolina in the early 1900s, is thought to be the result of outcrossing AWS, Springer Spaniels and Chessies.

McCracken and Mann do not anticipate any significant growth in the number of AWS.

“Most people just don’t know about them,” Mann said. “They are a very likeable dog and once they latch on to you, they’ll become a perfect friend.”

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/1 ... -spaniel-has-special.html

An artist and the model who posed for her, dressed in denim shorts and midriff top, posing with a dead kangaroo have received death threats.

Emma Thomson and the model Katrina Byrnes received the threats before an exhibition of the artist's photos of women such as Byrnes who hunt in rural NSW.

Animal rights campaigners remain outraged by Thomson's depiction of female hunters from the Dubbo region as part of a two-month artist-in-residency at the Dubbo Regional Gallery supported by Museums and Galleries NSW, a state government agency, and the Copyright Agency.

''It [the text threats] affected me at the time but that's died down now,'' Thomson said. ''I'm still continuing with the project as I proposed.''

The chief executive of Animal Liberation, Lynda Stoner, compared Thomson's hunting photos to images of child pornography, bestiality, snuff murders, rape and torture.

''Would Ms Thomson, Museums and Gallery NSW, the Copyright Agency and Dubbo Regional Gallery agree these were suitable for 'artistic' exhibitions?'' she asked. ''If not, why not? Each entails causing fear, suffering and dominion.''

The exhibition will open at Galerie pompom in Chippendale on May 14 as part of the Head On Photo Festival and at Dubbo Regional Gallery next year. Take Your Best Shot features images of women posing with guns, hunting dogs and other equipment they use to hunt animals, as well as Family, which also includes a baby and a young boy holding a gun.

''Nothing in her photographs will convey the terror and often protracted death caused by people who enjoy inflicting pain, who enjoy killing,'' Ms Stoner said.

The exhibition catalogue states that Thomson's residency provided her with the opportunity to create photos reflecting life in regional NSW. ''The photographs reveal women who are engaged with the landscape in which they live, and whose presence highlights the multifaceted reality of 'life on the land,' '' Dubbo Gallery curator Kent Buchanan said.

An associate lecturer in photography at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, Christopher Orchard, said he imagined the animals in Thomson's shots were killed humanely and lawfully and ''as such I do not have any objection to them on those grounds''.

However, he said: ''The singular image I have seen of a woman in her swimwear, it perhaps cheapens any statement about respectful killing.''

The artist will discuss her show with Buchanan, from Dubbo's Western Plains Cultural Centre

http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/ ... -and-hunting-model/?cs=12

GAME Council employee Greg McFarland, 50, and volunteer Eddie Hoogenboom 66, will both plead not guilty to all charges bought against them for alleged illegal hunting and use of firearms when their case comes before Cobar Local Court on Thursday.

Both men were charged by police last month after an intensive investigation following claims the men illegally entered land to shoot a feral goat in December last year.

Police allege the offences took place on properties in the Cobar and Byrock area.

Solicitor David King-Christopher, who is representing both men, said he will request the Police Prosecutor’s brief of evidence in the case during Thursday’s court proceedings.

Mr McFarland was suspended from duty with full pay when the allegations were first raised in January.
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Both men have been excused from making an appearance on Thursday.

The case has created a furore among critics of a state government plan to allow hunting in national parks with Premier Barry O’Farrell forced to put on hold plans to implement hunting due to the media attention the case has created.

Firearms belonging to Mr McFarland and Mr Hoogenboom were seized from the men’s homes during the police investigation.

http://www.centralwesterndaily.com.au ... g-firearm-charges/?cs=103

Well for most the post spawn blues have begun. Although I haven’t been on the Rez in several weeks I know the spawn bite is over because all the boats I was seeing on my way to work have disappeared. I guess the focus will turn to bream now but for us diehards some of best crappie fishing is about to come! I love the post spawn for several reasons. First I will have the lake to myself except for the fleet of bass fishermen but they fish different waters, the weather will be near perfect until the heat of the summer kicks in , and lastly the crappie while scattered will be predictable when found. Since all the crappie in the lake don’t spawn at once there are lots of different ways to fish for them after the spawn. For now though I will concentrate on my two favorites this time of the year. These will also be the techniques I will use through the heat of the summer.

My favorite technique is single pole jig fishing. There is just something about hand to hand combat with a big slab crappie. From now until Fall crappie become very predictable at Ross Barnett. Immediately after the spawn they seem to scatter but there are fish in all stages of post spawn. The big females seem to always go to the bank first so they are the first to settle back into deep water. I like to target the old lake beds with standing timber. They could be anywhere from a foot under the surface to twelve feet down. Until a thermocline sets up in the lake at which time they will hang more towards the twelve foot range but that’s for another blog. If single poling is your thing try the old lakes beds and fish as many stumps as you can. You should be able to put a decent mess of crappie in the boat.

The next method I like to use is trolling crankbaits behind the boat. There is no better way to target scattered crappie then this method. You can cover miles of water in a day’s trip. I like to follow the ledges along the river channel or old lake beds adjacent to shallow water. Crappie will move out to these ledges from the shallow water and stage until they move into their summer pattern. I like to stager my rods out the back and I will pull Bandit 200 or 300 series crankbaits. Changing colors often until I find the exact bait they prefer and this can change from day to day.

While the easy bite is over there are still crappie to catch. If you will pick one of these techniques and stick with it a mess of crappie isn’t out of reach. Remember take a kid fishing it will make their day!

http://blogs.clarionledger.com/hkrutz/2013/05/08/post-spawn-blues/

“We had to do something to preserve our livelihood.”

It might sound melodramatic, but Bob Brickley, a rancher near Moose Mountain Provincial Park, said this was the thought that went through his head shortly before he began hunting feral wild boar roughly eight years ago. He said wild boar had entered his cattle herd’s feeding area, causing one of his cows to break her leg after being charged. Six others in the herd were also attacked.

“The following summer the wild boar started rooting in our crops and damaging the standing crops as well,” he said. “It was very obvious at that point that if we let this continue, they literally would prevent us from surviving economically on the farm.”

Wild boar were first introduced to Saskatchewan in the late ‘70s through early ‘90s as a way to diversify agriculture in the province. By 2006, there were 81 wild boar farms operating in Saskatchewan. Those numbers have reportedly dwindled in recent years, but we’re seeing the legacy of some of those farming endeavors today – in the form of feral wild boar. And their numbers are on the rise. It’s estimated that the rate of escape for wild boar is in the range of three per cent per year. Once they’ve gone feral, they’re very adaptable – even in the face of a cruel Saskatchewan winter.

“A lot of invasive species wouldn’t survive because they can’t tolerate the winters, but boar come from Siberia, so this is like a mild winter for them,” said Dale Harvey, executive director of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities. SARM is responsible for allocating a $50 thousand annual fund made available by the province for the express purpose of controlling wild boar. And the way the wild boar are being controlled at the moment is by hunting.

That’s not as easy as it might sound. Part of the problem is finding out where the boar are, and that’s what Ryan Brook, an assistant professor in the college of agriculture and bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan is trying to do. His research over the past year has involved using a network of trail cameras to document the presence and movement of boar.

It turns out the animals have really gotten around. Brook and his team have recorded wild boar from Tisdale to Tobin Lake. But wild boar activity has also been reported much further afield - from southeastern Saskatchewan all the way up to the Battlefords. Brook said the animal’s inherent hardiness and propensity for prolific breeding is what makes them such a successful species on the prairie. The boar become sexually active at six months of age, and sows can produce two litters annually, averaging six per litter, causing their population to grow exponentially by the year.

Brook said they pose a real threat – not just to agriculture, but to local ecosystems as well, displacing other species including low-nesting birds. And then there are the threats to public health.

“There’s a number of potential diseases that boar could become a reservoir for, and could transmit to people and livestock. So those are important concerns, for sure,” he said.

Some of the diseases linked to wild boar include bovine tuberculosis, pseudo-rabies, and Brucellosis – a disease that is transmissible to humans and has already been linked to the hunting and handling of wild boar.

Some say it’s a potential disaster in the making. Brickley attended the International Wild Pig Conference in San Antonio, Texas last year and said he received words of warning from another rancher who reflected on how he might have dealt with the problem there with the benefit of hindsight.

“I said ‘what would you do if you could go back 15 years?’ and he said ‘well, my neighbours and I would stop everything we were doing, and we’d hunt those bastards until every one was dead.’”

But, as Brickley points out, once you figure out where the boar are, it isn’t as simple as just heading out with a shot gun. The boar are experts at outwitting the average hunter, so careful planning and strategizing is needed.

“You have to understand the intelligence of these animals,” he said. “If you wander in with the traditional hunting methods that most people use in North America, the wild boar know you’re there and they just outmaneuver you. You have to locate them without them knowing. They’re incredibly smart. Their intelligence is way beyond what I would ever have imagined.”

When Brickley organizes a hunt, he said he’s sure to assemble a small group of very experienced boar hunters. The best time to hunt is in winter – when the boar’s thick black fur contrasts against the snow. His first step is to locate the boar by air. Brickley has a small plane that he takes out to scout the boars’ location before heading out into the field with guns.

“We don’t hunt them unless they’re in their nest,” he said. “Because when they’re in their nest, they’re resting and usually stay put. And you’ve got to come in on them with the wind to your advantage, because if they sense you coming in, they’ll be gone before you get to them. So it’s very important to approach them in such a way that they don’t know you’re there - so you can get in close enough to actually kill them before they have a chance to escape.”

It sounds like a scene from an action movie where a SWAT team waits to take out the bad guys. For many farmers in Saskatchewan, that’s exactly what these animals are.

While the province is aware of the potential threat to both agriculture and public health, the Ministry of Agriculture doesn’t yet have anything in the way of legislation to address importing wild boar to the province, and once they’re here, there isn’t much in place to deal with escaped boar, aside from hunting them down in cooperation with SARM.

“The wild boar control program is where we are focusing our efforts in terms of controlling,” said Jim Babcock, manager of livestock development with the Ministry of Agriculture. “The number of producers has been on the decline over a period of time, so those numbers are getting less.”

But, at some point or other, Brook said, something more significant will have to be done to deal with them. He said in Texas, it’s estimated that there are somewhere between two and three million wild boar on the loose, causing millions of dollars worth of damage annually.

“There was a study in California where they killed, every single year, 60 per cent of the boar, and the population didn’t go up or down. It just stayed the same,” Brook said. “So, even to just have maintenance, you’d need to have very aggressive approaches.”

Brickley is convinced that it’s just a matter of time before the same scenario plays out in Saskatchewan.

“Such a small portion of the population is involved in agriculture now, and those that aren’t really don’t give a hoot,” he said. “As our farms and ranches are becoming larger, there are fewer people. And there’s more urbanites, and they don’t put an emphasis on this. They will never put an emphasis on this until they go to the store one day, and there’s a shortage of food.”

sunnews@sasktel.net

http://www.grenfellsun.sk.ca/Living/2 ... askatchewan-agriculture/1

A botched poaching trip at the protected Charara safari inside a national park turned out to be deadly--but not for the animals.

According to Zimbabwe's Sunday Mail, an elephant charged toward a man after he entered the game reserve for an illegal hunting trip with a friend, and trampled him to death.

The dead man (Solomon Manjoro) and his alleged accomplice Noluck Tafuruka, 29, were spotted in the park, where Tafuruka was later arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

Sources believe that Manjoro and Tafuruka encountered the elephant after entering the huge game reserve at the end of April.

As police believe the men were allegedly carrying unlicensed weapons, when they attempted to shoot the elephant, it charged towards Manjoro out of fear from previous poaching experiences.

Fifty-two-year-old Godfrey Shonge, who was also allegedly involved in the incident, has been arrested. The pair appeared last week in court to face charges of illegal possession of firearms and of contravention of local wildlife laws.

The magistrate was told Manjoro and Tafuruka had entered the National Park between April 19 and 26 with the sole intention of poaching.

Incidents of elephant poaching have been on the rise in recent years, driven by increased demand for ivory.

The valuable substance is sold on the black market and often smuggled to Asian countries including China, where it is used for ornaments and jewellery.

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/art ... -safari-proves-deadly.htm

The Inkatha Freedom Party supports all calls to end recreational killing of lions in South Africa. IFP Spokesperson on the Environment, Mrs CN Zikalala, MP said, "Lions are being bred in captivity, in most instances tranquilized and then released into large enclosed areas to be hunted. They are then being 'hunted' by these pseudo 'hunters' who take great pride and satisfaction in being able to kill a tame lion, at point blank range with a high powered rifle. This is as pathetic as it is cruel."

Zikalala further added that, " It is reported that these lions are bred for the sole purpose of being hunted, often spending the majority of their lives in small, cramped quarters, are forced to breed and are released into controlled environments only when they are about to be shot. The wild lion population is also under threat with numbers dwindling from 450,000 to only 20000 currently left in the wild."

The IFP accordingly urges the Minister of Environmental Affairs to immediately ban or at the very least, severely limit the number of lion hunting permits issued in South Africa each year.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201305171114.html

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Filled classrooms at Hunter Safety courses are a good thing, but perhaps more important is the number of students that actually participate in hunting after they graduate. A recent survey, funded by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and conducted by Southwick Associates, focused on participation levels of students in the years immediately following their graduation from hunter education class. The survey revealed that a significant percentage of hunter education students do not buy a license after graduating.

Twelve state wildlife agencies supplied data for the survey, which profiled the subsequent hunting license buying habits of hunter education graduates from 2006-2011.

Just 67.7 % of graduates over the six-year period purchased at least one license.

While some graduates took hunter education with no intention of hunting, others needed assistance to make the leap to become an avid hunter.

After six years, only 44 % of graduates still bought licenses.

People graduating in warmer months represented the greatest percentage of graduates who never purchased a license.

In most states, graduates between the ages of 16 to 24 were less likely to buy a license six years after graduating, which showed the transient nature of young people. This held true for college students and those in the military.

“This shows us that simply encouraging people to obtain their hunter safety certificate is not enough,” said Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts surveys such as HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com, and AnglerSurvey.com. “The hunting community needs ways to encourage new graduates to buy a license and go hunting. Whether that means more programs for state agencies to get people out hunting, private industry intervention, or simply more hunters taking their neighbor’s kid into the woods, remains to be seen. “

It is the belief of the NSSF that the results from this study will help the hunting community determine where intervention is needed to maintain hunting participation among newer hunters.

The full results from the survey can been seen in greater depth at click here


Southwick Associates helps the outdoor industry, management agencies and non-profit organizations understand the size of markets, sales and participation trends and the economic aspects of hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation and conservation issues.

From falsifying information to the abuse of police resources — including an airplane — CBC News has been digging through the discipline files of Manitoba RCMP members who faced hearings between 2010 and fall of 2012.

In one instance, a civilian pilot with the RCMP's D Division used the police force's airplane to seek out a caribou herd for hunting in the Lac du Bonnet area.

According to the documents, the pilot hunted on shift and used a police snowmobile and vehicle in the process. He also stored the game in a freezer at the RCMP hangar.

His punishment was a reprimand and the loss of five days' pay.

In another case, a Dauphin RCMP officer was reprimanded after botching three separate investigations.

He admitted to documenting false information in police reports, failing to attend the scene of a crime, and claiming that evidence was examined by forensics officers when in fact it was not.

The Dauphin officer received a reprimand and the loss of 10 days' pay.

The CBC News' I-Team shared the discipline files with Manitobans, and some said they felt the punishments RCMP officers receive are too lenient.

"There should definitely be possible dismissal in these cases, as opposed to just getting their pay docked," said Luke Campbell.
Officials want to make changes

The maximum penalty a member can face without a full dismissal is the docking of 10 days' pay.

It is something the RCMP's brass would like to change.

"I think there has been concern that the range of sanctions currently available is not broad enough," said Supt. Stephen Thatcher, who heads up the branch of the RCMP responsible for discipline.

Thatcher goes on to say that new rules are in the works that would allow the police force to have a wider range of sanctions than it currently has.

But the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada, which represents RCMP members, says the new rules would give the RCMP commissioner too much power.

"The commissioner is going to become the judge, jury and executioner without any of the oversight of his actions," said Rob Creasser, the association's media liaison.

Creasser said he worries that the focus on discipline cases would overshadow the good work being done by 99 per cent of RCMP officers.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitob ... scipline-files-iteam.html

New research led by Prof Joseph Ferraro from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has provided the oldest known evidence of hunting, scavenging and meat eating by human ancestors.




Around 2 million years ago, early human ancestors known as Oldowan hominin started to exhibit a number of adaptations that required greater daily energy expenditures, including an increase in brain and body size, heavier investment in their offspring and significant home-range expansion. Demonstrating how these early humans acquired the extra energy they needed to sustain these shifts has been the subject of much debate among scientists.

The new study, described in the open access journal PLoS ONE, offers insights in this debate with a wealth of archaeological evidence from the two million-year-old site of Kanjera South, located on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya.

“This study provides important early archaeological evidence for meat eating, hunting and scavenging behaviors – cornerstone adaptations that likely facilitated brain expansion in human evolution, movement of hominins out of Africa and into Eurasia, as well as important shifts in our social behavior, anatomy and physiology,” Prof Ferraro explained.

Oldowan hominins met their new energy requirements through an increased reliance on meat eating. The archaeological record at the Kanjera South site shows that they acquired an abundance of nutritious animal remains through a combination of both hunting and scavenging behaviors.

The fossil evidence for Oldowan hominin hunting is particularly compelling. The record shows that hominins acquired and butchered numerous small antelope carcasses. These animals are well represented at the site by most or all of their bones from the tops of their head to the tips of their hooves, indicating to researchers that they were transported to the site as whole carcasses.

Many of the bones also show evidence of cut marks made when Oldowan hominins used simple stone tools to remove animal flesh. Some bones also bear evidence that hominins used fist-sized stones to break them open to acquire bone marrow.




The Kanjera South site also contains a large number of isolated heads of wildebeest-sized antelopes. In contrast to small antelope carcasses, the heads of these somewhat larger individuals are able to be consumed several days after death and could be scavenged, as even the largest African predators like lions and hyenas were unable to break them open to access their nutrient-rich brains.

“Tool-wielding hominins at Kanjera South, on the other hand, could access this tissue and likely did so by scavenging these heads after the initial non-human hunters had consumed the rest of the carcass,” Prof Ferraro explained.

“Kanjera South hominins not only scavenged these head remains, they also transported them some distance to the archaeological site before breaking them open and consuming the brains. This is important because it provides the earliest archaeological evidence of this type of resource transport behavior in the human lineage.”

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Bibliographic information: Ferraro JV et al. 2013. Earliest Archaeological Evidence of Persistent Hominin Carnivory. PLoS ONE 8 (4): e62174; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062174

http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences ... opology/article01067.html

Washington, D.C. – Melissa Simpson, Safari Club International’s Director of Government Affairs, will be testifying before the House of Representatives’ Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee on Thursday May 9, 2013. Simpson’s testimony will support H.R. 1825, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act -- introduced by Congressman Dan Benishek of Michigan and nine original co-sponsors.

“As a hunter and longtime advocate for multiple-use of public lands, it is encouraging to see that Congress is willing to address the vital issue of hunting access to public land,” said Simpson. “SCI would like to thank Congressman Dan Benishek and his staff for championing legislation that affirms the rightful place of hunting on public lands, rather than sitting back and watching as hunting opportunities are eliminated by costly and unnecessary litigation.”

A recent poll conducted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and Responsive Management shows that over 79% of Americans support hunting. Additionally, hunters generated an enormous economic impact with nearly $40 billion in spending in 2011, the vast majority of which benefited community economies in rural America. That is more than the total national revenues of Comcast in 2011, according to a recent Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation report.

The May 9th hearing on H.R. 1825 is being held on the same day as Safari Club International’s annual lobbying day, during which more than 200 Congressional meetings will be attended by SCI’s membership. SCI is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt, and this annual exercise of “boots on the ground” grassroots involvement from SCI members multiplies the effectiveness of SCI’s Washington, D.C. office which is led by a team of attorneys, policy experts, and dedicated hunters.

Contact: Nelson Freeman; media@safariclub.org

Becoming an SCI Member:
Joining Safari Club International is the best way to be an advocate for continuing our hunting heritage and supporting worldwide sustainable use conservation, wildlife education and humanitarian services. JOIN NOW: www.safariclub.org/Join.

Safari Club International – First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI’s approximately 200 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 106 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.safariclub.org or call (520) 620-1220 for more information.