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COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 21 - Clad in camouflage clothing, a 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun under his arm, Senator John Kerry and three fellow hunters emerged from an eastern Ohio cornfield Thursday morning with four dead geese and an image his aides hope will help shore up his macho bona fides among rural voters. "Everybody got one, everybody got one," said Mr. Kerry, his hand stained with goose blood, though he was the only member of the hunting party not carrying a carcass. An aide said later that two of the birds would soon be sent back to Mr. Kerry for consumption....

BOARDMAN, Ohio (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said he bagged a goose on his swing-state hunting trip Thursday, but his real target was the voters who may harbor doubts about him. Kerry returned after a two-hour hunting trip wearing a camouflage jacket and carrying a 12-gauge shotgun, but someone else carried the bird he said he shot. "I'm too lazy," Kerry joked. "I'm still giddy over the Red Sox. It was hard to focus."

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After Staging Photo-Op 'Hunt,' Kerry Refuses to Carry His Own BirdDemocratic presidential candidate John Kerry said he bagged a goose on his Poland, Ohio swing state hunting trip Thursday, but his real target was the voters who may harbor doubts about him.Kerry returned after a two hour hunting trip wearing a camouflage jacket and carrying a 12 gauge shotgun, but someone else carried the bird that he had shot. 'Im too lazy', Kerry joked. 'I'm still giddy over the Red Sox. It was hard to focus.'Although he claims to be an avid hunter, Kerry has never joined the 315 member...

Pool Report Kerry hunting October 21, 2004 Eight minutes from the heart of downtown Boardman, Ohio Pool gathered and was swept at downtown Boardman Holiday Inn at 5:45. After waiting better part of 45 minutes, we moved out at 6:25. We bivouacked at Molnar Farm eight minutes later at 6:37. Four minutes later, the sun officially rose at 6:41, according to the Astronomical Applications Department of the U.S. Naval Observatory. It was misting so we were left to figure it was overcast, giving birds a few more minutes of shut-eye past sunrise - no hard feelings. As we waited in...

Presidential candidate plans trip as part of his push for votes of social conservatives BOARDMAN, Ohio - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry plans to hunt for geese -- and votes -- this morning on a supporter's private property outside of Youngstown. Kerry adviser Mike McCurry said it's important in the final days of the campaign that voters "get a better sense of John Kerry, the guy." That means the Democratic senator plans to spend some of the time before Election Day hunting, watching baseball and talking about his faith. It's all part of an effort to win over swing voters...

DOWNINGTON, Pa. (AP) - President Bush returns to his favorite campaign destination, Pennsylvania, today to talk about health care, while John Kerry will go goose-hunting to give voters "a better sense of John Kerry, the guy." Later today, Christopher Reeve's widow plans to join Kerry as he gives a speech about the importance of science, research and innovation. On a bus tour from Downingtown to Hershey, the president will pitch his plan to curb rising medical costs by limiting malpractice awards. He'll also renew his charge that John Kerry's plans to expand insurance coverage represent more big government. With polls...

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- John Kerry planned to go hunting Thursday, showing he's a regular guy to voters who might harbor some doubts. Kerry adviser Mike McCurry said it's important in the final days of the campaign that voters "get a better sense of John Kerry, the guy." That means the Democratic senator plans to spend some of the dwindling time before Election Day shooting at geese, watching baseball and talking about his faith. It's all part of an effort to win over swing voters who may be open to voting against President Bush but aren't sure they feel any connection...

The big news is that John Kerry went in a bait shop in Ohio, feigned bad English, and asked "can I get me a hunting license here?" His PR people say he paid $140 for it. He is apparently planning on coming back to kill a deer or something. I hope the game warden is there to arrest him when he does, because he will be POACHING. Check the Ohio DNR page for yourself. There is no $140 hunting license in Ohio. None at all. The relevant license Kerry would need is an annual nonresident license that sells for $125....

"He (Kerry) also made campaign stops meant to play to southeast Ohio's strong gun-rights voters. In Pike County's city of Buchanan, Kerry's motorcade stopped at the Village Grocery Store, where he paid $140 for a hunting license he plans to use during a hunting trip and campaign stop in Youngstown this week." "Can I get me a hunting license here?" Kerry asked store owners Paul and Debra McKnight.

BUCHANAN, OHIO -- On a day when he rallied thousands of supporters deep in Republican territory and bought a hunting license to show off his credentials as a sportsman, Sen. John Kerry on Saturday took his search for the political center to a Roman Catholic church where a supportive priest chided bishops who had assailed Kerry over his support for abortion rights. Celebrating a specially arranged mass for Kerry in Chillicothe, the Rev. Lawrence Hummer noted that the Catholic Church was "steadfast in proclaiming that all life is sacred," but said in his homily that "too often the church's proclamation...

BILLBOARDS now seen in at least 10 key states show a prancing French poodle, its fur fancily clipped for show, wearing a pink ribbon and a blue Kerry-for-president sweater. The text says: "That dog don't hunt." And: "For 20 years John Kerry has voted against sportsmen's rights." As Election Day approaches, the National Rifle Association is clearing its throat, ready to roar. By now, most of the persuading has been done and attention is turning to mobilization — getting intense constituencies to the polls. Few are more intense than the NRA. If New England is Red Sox Nation, the NRA...

XENIA, Ohio — Sen. John hunted for votes yesterday in the nook and crannies of the Buckeye State, telling crowds in farm country and jobstrapped southern Ohio that President Bush is deceiving them about the economy and the Iraq war. Joking that he will be in Ohio so often before Nov. 2 that "I’m about to have my mail forwarded here," Kerry beseeched voters to believe their eyes, and not Bush, when assessing whether they are better off now than four years ago. "George Bush has a very simple strategy when it comes to reality: Ignore it, deny it and...

Sat Oct 16, 6:34 PM ET Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass.,visits the Village Grocery in Buchanan, Ohio, Saturday, October 16, 2004. He was there to buy a hunting license. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

"THIS WILL GET ME THAT NRA ENDORSEMENT"

Sometimes it’s irksome, and sometimes it’s laughable. I don’t know about you, but I find it quite entertaining watching numerous candidates for public office wave fishing rods and handle guns on TV in an all-out effort to get elected on Nov. 2. Some of them really want you to believe they are active sporting men and ladies in our Bayou State woods and waters. Now then, I know quite truly that at least a few are the real deal. In fact, I have spent a little time fishing and hunting with at least one in my 15 years as an...

Billboards now seen in at least 10 key states show a prancing French poodle, its fur fancily clipped for show, wearing a pink ribbon and a blue Kerry-for-president sweater. The text says: "That dog don't hunt." And: "For 20 years John Kerry has voted against sportsmen's rights." As Election Day approaches, the National Rifle Association is clearing its throat, ready to roar. By now, most of the persuading has been done and attention is turning to mobilization — getting intense constituencies to the polls. Few are more intense than the NRA. If New England is Red Sox Nation, the NRA...

ON top of everything else, Sen. John F. Kerry is an out doorsman, although he wouldn't be so politically incorrect as to refer to himself in anything other than gender-neutral terms. So he's an "outdoorsperson." At least, that's what he told Diane Sawyer on ABC a couple of weeks ago. ~snip~ In the current issue of Field & Stream, the outdoorsperson was asked about the biggest deer he'd ever killed — er, harvested. "Probably an 8-pointer," Kerry replied, "something like that. Nothing terribly big." Actually, an 8-pointer would be a rather large kill to most hunters — the kill of...

IF YOU BELIEVE everything that's been thrown at us the past few months, you would think Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett are running for the White House. We've seen photo ops of John Kerry bird hunting, shotgun in hand, telling us back home he owns a shotgun for hunting. We know President Bush is a hunter and angler who has had outdoor organizations (the Safari Club, National Wild Turkey Federation, the Boating and Fishing Council) over to his Texas ranch for a little schmoozing. I don't trust politicians; for the most part they will say just about anything if they...

MILWAUKEE - There they are, on the cover of the newsstand edition of Field & Stream: George W. Bush and John Kerry, wearing blaze orange, wielding shotguns. "This much we know: The next president of the United States will be a sportsman," the magazine declares in its new election issue. "Beyond that, of course, it gets complicated." The pursuit of voters who hunt and fish is one of the inner battles in this campaign. It's a testament to the clout of the country's nearly 40 million sportsmen, especially in such battlegrounds as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It also...