OK, who's kidding who?

In Northern Montana earlier this month, Pete and I found this sign posted on a waterfowl production area (WPA)...

I assume that this was not posted prior to the "Government Shutdown", since it was not known that this would happen until it did, in fact, happen.

So... with no money to operate, the federal WPA management found the funds to print signs, purchase gas and drive US Govt trucks around posting all the public property to deny public access. With 'volunteer' agency personnel. And then, they found 'volunteers' to burn more fuel in government trucks driving around to patrol the grounds, keeping the public off public lands.

So who is kidding who, here?

Dan Richards ousted by Cal F&G Commission

Dan Richards, president of the California Fish and Game Commission, was ousted by a vote of the Commission at the Commission meeting in Fresno on Wednesday. He has been severely criticized in public media over the past few months for legally taking a mountain lion while on a fair chase hunt in Idaho (where mountain lions are legal game).

Dan Richards in Idaho with the mountain lion that eventually got HIM

As usual, the Humane Society of the United States sought to garner whatever benefit they could from this news cycle...

"Californians have twice voted in a resounding fashion to protect mountain lions in our state, and his flagrant flaunting of his disagreement with the electorate put him out of sync with California," said Jennifer Fearing, state director of the Humane Society of the United States. "We're glad to see the commission take action."

Richards, one of the few members of the Commission who is actually a sportsman, was replaced by Jim Kellogg.  Thanks for your unpaid and unappreciated service, Dan.

 File this under "tyranny of the masses".

Head of California's Fish and Game Commission pilloried

Dan Richards, head of the California Fish and Game Commission is facing massive criticism over a hunting trip to Idaho, where he bagged a mountain lion n a hunt near the Salmon River. All perfectly legal and fair chase - no fences, no motorized transport, etc.
Yet there are howls from across the state for his resignation or removal. In my opinion this is ridiculous and unwarranted. Here is a letter that Mr. Richards wrote to his critics... click on image for a better view.

IB Fenway's tragic end

I B Fenway, an accomplished field trial pointer, and littermate of the late, great champion Kelly's Talkin' Smak was shot and killed in Reno, Nevada.


I received this bulletin by Dr. Charlie Hjerpe, DVM today:


During the 13th brace of the National Am Chukar SD CH in Reno, IB Fenway was lost and subsequently shot and killed by an area landowner who is a practicing veterinarian. Fenway was Runner-up Champion in the 2006 National Amateur Chukar All Age Championship, and a littermate to 4X Ch. Kelly's Laser Eye and 9X Ch. Kelly Talk'n Smak. At the time of his demise, Fenway was owned by Nard Bailey of Alturas, Cal., and was being handled in this stake by his former owner and trainer, Torben Hansen, the current 3rd Vice President of AFTCA.

Although Fenway was wearing a Garmin tracking collar, Torben  and Nard were never able to pick up a signal. In all likelihood, the Astro 220 had not been properly tuned to the specific collar that Fenway was wearing.


According to Dr. Scott A. Thompson, Fenway attacked some of his free-range, egg-laying chickens, killing 7 of them, and then "charged" Dr. Thompson when he attempted to intervene. Dr. Thompson is a 1976 graduate of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and owns and operates a 3-veterinarian specialty practice in Reno (Feline Medical Center) that is limited to cats. The website for this practice can be reached by clicking on: http://fmcreno.com/about/

Although Fenway was wearing both a tracking collar and a regular collar with Nard Bailey's name, address and phone number on it, Dr. Thompson never contacted Nard to advise  him about what had happened to his dog. Nard and Torben did not learn about Fenway's fate until more than 24 hours after Fenway had disappeared. Apparently, Dr. Thompson did not recognize that Fenway was a pointer, because he had called the owner of "Green Feed", a local Red Rock area feed store, told him that he had shot a dog that was attacking his chickens, and inquired as to whether the owner's son might be missing a "hound". On Monday, April 18, Jarry Walton was in the "Green Feed" store buying chukar feed, and learned that a dog had been shot (the previous day) that might be Fenway.

As of the present time, Dr. Thompson is refusing to return Fenway's remains or his tracking collar, and is threatening Nard Bailey with a $4,500 lawsuit for the loss of 7 chickens. In fact, the damages may well exceed $4,500, should it be determined that the psyches of Dr. Thompson's 2 cows have been permanently damaged by the commotion caused by Fenway's actions. The dollar value of the claim is said to be based upon the value of the "organic, free range eggs" the chickens would have been expected to produce, if they had been allowed to have live out their normal life expectancies. However, if Dr. Thompson was so much concerned about the value of his chickens, why did he not catch Fenway, call the number on his collar, return Fenway to his owner, and ask the owner (Nard) to reimburse him for the value of 7 laying pullets (for which I have recently been paying $10 to $15 each). It is simply not credible that Dr. Thompson was so fearful of Fenway that he needed to kill him to protect himself. All of Fenway's former owners are unanimous in stating the Fenway did not have "mean bone in his body". Even if Fenway had growled at Dr. Thompson, veterinarians are trained in the handling of such animals, and Dr. Thompson was in general small animal practice for more than 25 years before he began limiting his practice to cats.


Shame on a man who practices small animal veterinary medicine for this belligerent and unwarranted behavior. 

California DFG allies with HSUS ?

It seems as though the California Department of Fish and Game has accepted $7,500 from HSUS - the premiere anti-hunting and animal rights group - and announced a 'partnership' with the East Coast-based animal rights organization. Read it Here.

Maybe they are planning on selling bird watching licenses... or maybe they are just selling out. Whaddya think?

A kindred spirit?

I went over to Scampwalker's blog -- 8 more miles -- and was amused. He seems to have his material in a group. Above is a sample... I laughed until my posterior detached due to the retro rockets firing. Check it out.

SB 250 - Mandatory Spay/Neuter in California is back!

AB 1634 - the mandatory spay and neuter bill introduced by Senator Lloyd Levine and defeated after a prolonged struggle over the last two years is back - this time as SB 250 - introduced by Senator Dean Florez (Democrat., Fresno/Bakersfield). Kern County, the core of Flores' constituency, has the worst shelter kill record in the state. They kill a lot of adoptable dogs in Kern County. 

The name has been changed, but it's the same old crap. In a state that is struggling with huge revenue shortfalls and divisive politics do we need to pursue these costly, frivolous and punitive attacks against the property of the taxpayers? While school districts are laying off teachers are we going to be hiring more dog catchers? Apparently so.

Senator Florez' website provides a bio that includes this description of his areas of activity...

Florez has been an outspoken leader in the areas of clean air, equality in education, food safety, animal rights, high-speed rail, government accountability and infrastructure financing and development.

I guess that "Animal Rights" includes mandatory animal mutilation. Right? 

He bills himself as a finance professional and is a Harvard MBA graduate. He is Majority leader in the Senate. Perhaps he chooses to ignore the burdensome costs that this proposed law will place on municipalities (already over-stressed), enforcement professionals and the dog owning taxpayers of California - who are already seething over the mismanagement and new taxes being levied on them in Sacramento by a predominantly Democratic legislature. Do I smell revolt in the air? I sure as Hell hope so!

Here is a link to the text. Please read it, get mad, and fire off a letter to your California State Senator in opposition. Then go on strike. The idiots in Sacramento are living in a dream world, and this is another piece of compelling evidence.

It just keeps getting better

I try very hard to be apolitical, but stupidity and arrogance know no party lines. Reading Steve Bodio's Blog...

Obama's new "regulatory czar", Harvard law prof Cass Sunstein, is getting praise from both liberals and conservatives. But should he?

"In a 2007 speech at Harvard University, Sunstein argued in favor of entirely "eliminating current practices such as … meat eating." He also proposed: "We ought to ban hunting, I suggest, if there isn't a purpose other than sport and fun. That should be against the law. It's time now."... He goes on to recommend that animals be accorded to right to bring suit - represented by a lawyer, of course... and imagine, Cass is a LAWYER. Can you spell altruistic?

Time for lawyers to move from ambulance chasing to chasing cattle trucks, I expect. 

Sunstein's brief reads like a PeTA activist's, and certainly does not reflect the view of 95% of Americans. An appointee to a cabinet level regulatory position should be quizzed by Congress and disclose the full spectrum of his personal views prior to being installed in office. 

Check out the Center for Consumer Freedom article HERE to read, find links and comments.