Free Republic

France’s top administrative court on Friday banned more traditional techniques for hunting birds following the banning of glue hunting in June, in a ruling welcomed by environmental pressure groups but denounced by hunters. The techniques banned in the new ruling by the State Council included practices popular in the southwest of France and the Ardennes region of the east of the country, such as hunting with nets or bird cages. Its ruling revoked exemptions granted by the government to allow the hunting of birds such as lapwings, golden plovers, skylarks, thrushes and blackbirds after a 2009 EU directive that banned...

Hunting, breeding livestock, even pest control would be all but illegal under a ballot initiative backed by Oregon animal rights activists and opposed by incensed Oregon farmers. The proposal, Initiative Petition 13, would lift virtually all exemptions to state laws related to animal abuse, neglect and sexual assault. The vast majority would ban common farming practices from artificial insemination used in targeted breeding and killing live animals for meat. Farm animals could only be raised for rodeos, milk or fur and could be spayed, neutered and castrated. In addition, IP 13 would further restrict hunting, fishing, trapping and “intentional injury”...

A 58-year-old man was struck and killed by an arrow intended for a skunk Friday night, police in central New York said. James Parker Jr., 58, and another man were trying to kill a skunk with a crossbow, but when the other man shot the arrow it “unintentionally” struck Parker instead, according to a news release from New York State Police.

Normally August and early September are when sport shooters and hunters head to the range to prepare for the upcoming season, but this year that could be a problem. Firearms sales have remained strong this summer, dipping only slightly from last year’s record-breaking sales, but the problem is that ammunition has continued to remain in short supply. “Everything is difficult right now,” Dave Larsen, manager of Doug’s Shoot’n Sports of Taylorsville, Utah, told local news channel KUTV.

Last month a survey of American firearms enthusiasts found that seventy-nine percent of respondents said they’d cut down on their shooting-related activities due to the ongoing ammunition shortage. The survey, which was conducted by industry research firm Southwick Associates, further found that four out of five consumers had encountered “out-of-stock” situations.

July 9, 2021 Researchers have taught a drone to recognize and hunt down meteorites autonomously by Nancy Atkinson, Universe Today ﷯ Example image of two meteorites deployed during a field test near Walker Lake, Nevada. The meteorites are marked with orange flags. Note the dark shadow of the quadrictoper drone. Credit: Robert Citron et al. Planetary scientists estimate that each year, about 500 meteorites survive the fiery trip through Earth's atmosphere and fall to our planet's surface. Most are quite small, and less than 2% of them are ever recovered. While the majority of rocks from space may not...

In Maine, the Governor signed suppressor, (gun muffler, silencer) reform into law. The change in law took effect on 8 June, 2021. It is now part of Chapter 112, Public Law. When the Maine legislature reformed Maine’s ban on hunting with suppressors, the law required a hunter to obtain a special permit to hunt with suppressors. It was an added bureaucratic burden which did not good. It increased useless paperwork and wasted everyone involved’s time.Here is how the old law read. From mainlegislature.org:2. Permit. In accordance with this subsection, the commissioner may issue a permit to a person allowing that...

Axis deer are threatening parts of Texas and other areas in the United States. The axis deer, also known as the chital deer, is regarded as one of the most beautiful breeds of deer, and they're a far cry from the native Texas whitetail deer. What are they? Axis deer (scientific name Axis axis) sport an orange coat dotted with white spots--similar to that of a whitetail fawn--and white patches on their throats. They're classified under the Cervidae family, bearing resemblance to a number of other deer species such as the fallow deer. Axis deer males grow massive antlers, usually...

Highlights-On June 3, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) submitted comments to the Oregon Secretary of State challenging the ballot title language of Initiative Petition 13 (IP 13), which seeks to end all hunting, fishing, and trapping in Oregon. -IP 13, if passed, would prohibit the injuring or killing of all mammals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians, unless it occurs as an act of self-defense. In addition to prohibiting hunting and fishing, this sweeping initiative would impact common animal breeding practices, research, and education. -Once the final ballot title language is certified, initiative proponents can begin gathering the 112,020 signatures required to...

It was the last week of the spring turkey season in western Texas and the goal was to simply call an old tom into range and shoot it. I was hunting turkey as late with the theory that being that far north, breeding activity would be later and I would have a chance at a few gobblers still on the prowl. My theory was flawed. I do not know if I guessed wrong on the breeding season timeframe, if an amazing spring green-up jump-started things early or a wet cold front that moved in just after we arrived was the...

A man hiking a Missouri trail was shot over the weekend by a hunter who mistook him for a turkey, police say. Around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, St. Charles County police responded to the Lewis and Clark Trail, the agency wrote in a Facebook post. A hunter thought the hiker was a turkey and shot him, police said. Rescue crews used a utility task vehicle to remove the man from the wooded area before he was flown to a hospital “with serious, life threatening injuries,” a spokesperson for the St. Charles Ambulance District told KMOV. The incident is under investigation.

Neither the wounded hiker nor the hunter have been identified. The hiker was in serious condition after being shot, officials said, according to KSDK. Witnesses told KSDK that they believed the shooting was a freak accident and that hikers sometimes wear bright colors to prevent being mistaken for turkey. The Missouri Department of Conservation was managing a turkey hunt at the time of the shooting, and a sign near the entrance of the trail stated that the hunt was ongoing until 1 p.m, according to KSDK. Sunday is the final day of turkey hunting season in Missouri.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm9Idn9sVsE

This is literally big news for hunting and fishing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced a proposal that would be the largest expansion of opportunities for access to hunting and fishing. The move is part of the Department of Interior’s efforts to increase the amount of recreational access on public lands. According to a press release from the US FWS, these new opportunities would include turkey hunting and sport fishing in Florida at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. The proposal also aims to open migratory game bird hunting to certain areas of Texas, along with big game...

The National Park Service is calling on hunters to volunteer in order to reduce the number of bison living on the Grand Canyon’s North Rim. The herd of bison has been living on the North Rim since the 1990s and has long been a source of frustration for park managers, scientists and conservationists. Descendants of bison that were brought to northern Arizona in 1906, park officials estimate the herd could be as large as 800 animals. And park officials worry about the herd’s growing impact on water, vegetation, soils and archaeological sites. Reducing the number of bison, which are considered...

Facing an income shortage from the loss of tourism due to COVID-19, Zimbabwe has announced it will soon start selling rights to shoot 500 endangered elephants this year. “We eat what we kill. We have a budget of about $25 million for our operations which is raised — partly — through sports hunting, but you know tourism is as good as dead at the moment due to the coronavirus pandemic,” Tinashe Farawo, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, told CNN. The African forest elephant is now on the critically endangered species list and the savannah elephant...

Between improved Accuracy, Reduced Recoil, Scaring less game, widespread OK and Protecting your Hearing, there are a lot of reasons to consider Hunting with a Suppressor. Don't let this turn you off, but at present, suppressors are considered Class II weapons and are regulated by the National Firearms Act and subject to the same controls as machineguns. To legally possess one, at the very least, you’ll need to fill out some forms (online or old-fashioned paper ones), get finger-printed at your local police station, pay a $200 tax, and wait for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to...

RAVENEL, S.C. - The owner of a Ravenel butcher and taxidermy shop says his team found five dog tags, a shell casing, turtle shells and even a spark plug inside the stomach of a 12-foot alligator killed by a Lowcountry hunter.. The gator, which weighed in at 445 pounds, was killed by Ned McNeely, who owns the Adams Run property where he found it. He then took the animal to Cordray’s in Ravenel for processing, where the discovery was made. I’ve got several alligator tags you apply for with the state,” he said. South Carolina bases the number of tags...

“I’m an outlaw,” Dimas “Pompi” Rodriguez told the Guardian of working as one of Florida’s feral hog poachers, a line of work which authorities and homeowners turn a blind eye to due to the animals’ massively destructive existence. hough the topic became a laughing stock in 2019 after a viral tweet about assault weapons, the hogs have actually become America’s biggest wildlife challenge. After pigs escaped from a Spanish explorer near Tampa in 1539, the animals grew into a 9 million strong population present in 39 states. The pests cause what the US Department of Agriculture estimates to be more...

The Gun Owners’ Action League and others are protesting proposed increases in MassWildlife’s freshwater fishing, hunting and trapping license fees — with some rates jumping 200% or more. “This dramatic increase request comes at a rather troubling time,” the league said in a statement. “It is GOAL’s opinion that before we agree to any further fee increases, some serious issues need to be addressed.” Under the proposal, a fishing license for a Massachusetts resident would increase from $22.50 to $40 per year. The costs of licenses and permits to hunt bear, turkey, pheasant, waterfowl, small game and deer, including archery...