AZ: Gun for Hire

Gun Watch ^ | 17 August, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Driving to the Ranch through the Mohawk valley, east of Yuma, I noticed the gentleman pictured above.  I stopped to take his picture and determine his business.

You can see that the soil in this area is a fluffy loam.  It is highly productive, irrigated by Colorado River water.  This area near Yuma is some of the most productive agricultural land in the United States and in the world.

Leo did not mind having his picture taken.  I asked him if he were guarding the field from birds that would eat the seeds.  No, he said, ground squirrels. He had shot three the previous day.  They infiltrated the approximately 10 acre field from the perimeter of uncultivated land.  Leo and his partner on the other side of the field spent 9 hours a day guarding the field from the pests. 

Leo was carrying the utility grade version of the popular Mossberg 500, the Maverick 88.  The 88 has trigger guard mounted safety instead of the tang safety for the 500 proper. The Mossberg family of pump shotguns is one of the most popular the world has ever known, with the beefed up  military version the 590 and 590A1.  Leo used ordinary dove and quail loads of number 8 shot.

I am not sure what was planted in this field. I talked to a farmer about pest problems in the area.  Ground squirrils are only one.  Birds can devastate whole fields of lettuce by pulling up sprouts one after another as they walk along, without eating them.  Maybe they think they are worms.  Larger pests do monumental damage.  Deer consume large amounts of valuable produce.  It is hard to obtain depradation permits for them.

Wild horses come in the middle of the night and fill themselves in the fields.  Then they wallow in what is left. Wild burros are said to be even more destructive. Managers are frightened of the Wild Horse and Burrow act and terrified that "animal rights" activists will single them out for destruction with the assistance of the media.

Lettuce is a common crop in Yuma.  The value of a crop is about $10,000 per acre, so a 10 acre field has about $100,000 to be protected.  The ground squirrels only raid the edges.

Farm managers in the Yuma area are very careful they use the latest techniques and track all expenses.  If Leo, his partner and their model 88 shotguns were not cost effective, they would not be there.

I was impressed with Leo.  He was knowledgeable,  polite, and well spoken. He handled the model 88 with the casual confidence of a workman with his tools.  Muzzle discipline was excellent, just as I expect from American shooters.  The muzzle never crossed me, and it never was pointed at the road.

Leo was quietly enthusiastic about the job.  He got to hunt things all day and get paid for it. He and his colleagues do not use shotguns all the time.  Much of their days are spent managing the irrigation flow.  It is their efforts, and those of farm managers organized around a market that produces the abundant and inexpensive food supply in the United States.

We should encourage them to protect their crops against animal mauraders, be they bird, rodent, deer, horse, or burro.


©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch

[marktwain]

We have cheap and abundant food because of private farmers and people like Leo.

[litehaus]

Yeh, BUT ! Did he have a permit for the gun, and a license as a security person? Was his ammo Lead Free?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Transgender!! Aren’t you concerned about the Porta-Potties Leo and his co-workers have to use out there in the fields? You insensitive, clod, you!

[Squantos]

I hunt coyotes, prairie dogs and wild pigs for ranchers and farmers in the Panhandle of Texas. Pigs destroy crops, prairie dog holes break the legs of cattle and horses . The coyotes play hell on newborn calves and feeder calves ....

My pay ?

The right to hunt and harvest during hunting season, Deer, Antelope, Dove, Ducks etc ....keep my freezer topped off with venison, fowl, pork and allowed to fish their private lakes or ponds....

Professional Hunters / Trapper do go after the feral hog infestation but I trade time eradicating agriculture pests for hunting rights during hunting seasons for harvesting fodder for my freezers.

[Squantos]

Porta-Potty ?

I thought “Lettuce” was spanish for toilet paper ?

[tired&retired]

“Yeh, BUT ! Did he have a permit for the gun, and a license as a security person? Was his ammo Lead Free?”

“Transgender!! Aren’t you concerned about the Porta-Potties Leo and his co-workers have to use out there in the fields? You insensitive, clod, you!”

Sad but true in today’s society. It would be great if what you were saying was just sarcasm, but with today’s government regulations and PETA, what you are saying is the reality.

I’ve had animal rights folks drive three hours to visit my farm as a woman reported us for not treating our horses properly. (It’s a scam as they want to steal your horses and make you pay for them to steal them)..

The horse she saw was an old family pet that was swayback, no teeth, and over 30 years old. We had her on special feed as she couldn’t chew with no teeth.

When I explained that the horse looked that way as she was old, the woman said, “Why don’t you put her down.”

My response was that following her advice, her children should do the same when she gets old and save all the medicare and nursing home costs..... What a bunch of nutcases!!!

[octex]

Big thumbs up, Squantos!

[tiki]

We figure we’ve killed around 1500 rabbits this year with the majority being killed by our grandson.

[tired&retired]

“I trade time eradicating agriculture pests for hunting rights during hunting seasons for harvesting fodder for my freezers.”

We had an old guy drive around the farms in our area shooting groundhogs, many of which were in cow pastures. The game warden wrote him a citation for not walking 25 feet from his car before discharging the weapon. All the farmers in the area posted their land and blocked all hunting. They told the game wardens to stay off their property.

It caused such a ruckus that the game wardens were transferred to another area to work and the citations were removed. Farmers by their nature stick together when fighting an opponent and are also independent principled folks who stand their ground through thick and thin.

We need to work together with common sense to counter all these PETA loonies and especially the PETA folks who have become animal protection officers and game wardens. If you look at how many of the PETA folks have migrated to the SPCA’s and then into government animal enforcement positions, you would be surprised.

[Squantos]

Same here ..... I’ve had run ins with the F&W sorts here as well .... befriended a few over the years but there be turds in the punchbowl here and there as we all know ...... 99 percent of the time I am in the fence line but do a lot of the tasks where the land is so flat and open you can stand on a 5 gallon bucket with a pair of binoculars and see the back of your own head....:o)

Night vision, thermal and suppressors used with subsonic 220gr 300 blackout makes it seem unfair at times.... Stay Safe !

[BTCM]

Lettuce, Mexican toilet paper, mostly at Chipotle restaurant chain.

[Clutch Martin]

Agriculture nuisance permits are handed out in Virginia for farmers who need to protect their crops. Around here the deer populations are very large and they all eat very well on corn and soybeans. Deer strikes are frequent on the roads and highways. The only wasting diseases usually occur in large protected parks. Interstate cloverleafs provide wonderful dear lies but also present a significant hazard to motorists.

[chajin]

We figure we’ve killed around 1500 rabbits this year with the majority being killed by our grandson.

Can you glean any serendipitous benefits from this, such as eating the rabbit meat (I had rabbit once, and yes, it tasted like chicken :> ), or selling the rabbit fur?

[Squantos]

Good point.... !!

[Ditter]

When my husbands calves are being born he has to watch out for buzzards coming for the afterbirth and then pecking the newborn calves eyes out. Sometimes the mother cow will try so hard to defend her baby that she will actually stomp it to death under her own feet. Always so sad when that happens.

A well placed shot up into the trees where the buzzards are waiting will send them off for a while.

[556x45]

Articles that make you smile. :)

[Auntie Mame]

I buy a certain brand of raw food for my dog and like to get the rabbit as it’s a variety that is not common and it’s good to feed your dog a variety. It’s very expensive. I hope, with 1500 rabbits, they’ve figured out a way to sell them.

[marktwain]

Used to be common, before political correctness, Social Justice Warriors, and the push by the elites to destroy and denigrate American culture and values.

[Squantos]

Yep .... buzzards, hawks, crows etc are just scouting for coyotes as well.

[MUDDOG]