Archive for the 'Animals' Category

Parody, but still amusing.

@waynecountylyfe

Stop Texting Me Pictures of Your Deer!

♬ original sound – waynecountylyfe

Animals just seem to know when to stop in order to preserve life.

Outdoor Life.

In May, during Georgia’s spring turkey season, a 16-year-old hunter was charged with a felony for shooting a gobbler on his family’s property that his former high-school teacher claimed was her pet. Although the investigation that prompted the aggravated animal cruelty charge took less than a week, the ensuing legal case dragged on for nearly six months and divided the small-town community of Waverly Hall, where the incident took place.

That all came to a close Tuesday during a trial in juvenile court, where a Harris County judge found the teen hunter not guilty of the felony charge.

Because juvenile cases are sealed in the state of Georgia, Outdoor Life was unable to obtain transcripts of the court proceedings. (OL will continue to keep the minor’s name confidential for this same reason.) The teenager’s family has so far been unwilling to comment on the trial, aside from sharing the judge’s final verdict via text message. The two defense attorneys who represented the teen have also not responded to requests for comment about what transpired Tuesday.

But according to conversations with the teen’s family before the Nov. 4 trial took place, the case against the now 17-year-old hinged around two key questions: whether the turkey killed April 27 on the family’s 11-acre property belonged to the teacher and her husband; and whether the teenager knew it was their pet bird when he pulled the trigger.

In issuing his “not guilty” verdict, the juvenile court judge must have found that there was insufficient evidence to affirmatively answer those two questions, and to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the teen was guilty of a felony, aggravated cruelty to animals. (This is a step up from the misdemeanor charge, cruelty to animals. According to Georgia law, the difference is whether the individual acted with malice.)

So, while the judge’s reasoning might be unclear, his “not guilty” verdict ultimately means that there was doubt in his mind as to whether the teenager knew the bird was his teacher’s pet when he shot it.

The prosecutors and judge are idiots and don’t deserve to flip hamburgers at McDonald’s. It’s a Gobbler. The charge of animal cruelty is ridiculous, and anyone with a lick of sense would know that Gobbler’s aren’t pets. No one has a pet Gobbler. No one.

If this was your pet turkey, prove it. Show me videos of you cuddling with the bird. I dare you.

Land from down under.

The bodies of two women were discovered in an isolated region of the Australian wilderness.

Emergency services were called to Lendenfeld Point, an area of Victoria’s alpine region, on Friday, Oct. 3, at about 12:50 p.m. local time after two hikers came upon the bodies, according to a media release shared by Victoria Police.

While the identities of the women are not yet known, police believe they were in their “20s or 30s.” Authorities also believe the women “may have been in the area to hike and camp,” and they said no foul play is suspected at this time, per the release.

In a statement to the media, Inspector Paul Hargreaves said the extreme weather conditions in the region likely played a role in the tragedy.

“The weather in the last two to three days has been down as low as minus [27 degrees], winds were up around [52 miles per hour], and there has been snow falling,” he said, per ABC.

He added, “They are exceptionally hard conditions, blizzard conditions, and it’s likely that the two people have succumbed to the weather conditions, causing severe hypothermia leading to their death.”

Likely in the so-called Australian Alps.

Closer to home.

A 21-year-old man was found dead in Great Smoky Mountains National Park after a multi-day search, according to the National Park Service.

Ryan Lake was last seen in Nashville on Thursday, with officials locating his vehicle on Saturday, the NPS said in a press release on Sunday.

On Monday, park officials said Lakes was found dead at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Sunday in the Big Creek area of the national park.

According to the NPS website, the Big Creek area is a “dense forest” and a “secluded area on the northeast edge of the park near the North Carolina-Tennessee border.”

The area is also known for “numerous streams and waterfalls,” according to the NPS website.

Strange things happen in the Smoky Mountains National Park anyway. Many people have been found dead there.

Florida Hunters Struck by Lightning.

Don’t ever leave your hiking / hunting party. Splitting up is almost always a bad idea.

This man took pictures of the bear that killed him. Dragged away, apparently. He was alone.

What Chuke carries with him on an Alaska hunt. It seems to me that shooting a .454 Casull with a handgun would be unpleasant.

Be careful in the bush. It’s dangerous out there.

And an SBR at that! Here is the scoop.

1. Did you get to keep the bear? No. He contacted both the sheriff and Parks and Wildlife. In self-defense bear shootings, the animal is collected by authorities.
2. How did the bear get in? It climbed a second-story deck, opened a cracked window by pushing in the screen. Due to mountain weather and a lack of AC, the window had been left ajar.
3. Is your hearing okay? Yes. The firearm was equipped with a suppressor, and the shooter routinely suppresses all his guns.
4. Did you know it was a bear? No. He only confirmed it upon visually identifying the animal inside the home.
5. What gun did you use? A Geissele Super Duty 11.5-inch AR-15 in 5.56, which he described as a personal favorite.
6. Any damage to the house? Minimal. All seven rounds hit the bear. One fragment nicked the floor, but no other property damage was reported.
7. What ammo did you use? Hornady Critical Defense 55 grain. Despite common skepticism about the 5.56 round on large animals, the ammunition performed effectively.

This is the first video I’ve seen that frankly admits that it takes too much time, too many resources, and too much manpower to catch hogs in traps. And the first to admit that hunting has the most immediate and dramatic impact on the population.

There is one issue I have with the video. He says, “When you shoot one the rest won’t come back.” Hogwash. I’ve seen it happen within 15 minutes.

By the way, you see that shot at 13:13 of the video? That’s how you take hogs (direct hit to the head or just behind the ear) with smaller caliber rifles. With big bore guns you aren’t so limited.

Not mine, but his.

I’m surprised he isn’t carrying his .454 Casull wheel gun.

I don’t go into the bush where I live without being armed, much less in Alaska.

I’ve remarked before about the virtue and even necessity of controlled – managed – prescribed burns. It’s good for the environment. It’s good for other things too.

Adams says the location had a lot to do with the number of ticks swarming the deer carcass. The animal came from an area of Oklahoma with dense vegetation and no recent prescribed fire, which can create a perfect storm for ticks.

“This region tends to produce deer with heavier parasite loads,” Adams says. “But this was an extreme case, even for there.”

[ … ]

“Young fawns don’t move much. That’s their survival mechanism,” Adams says. “In areas that have lots of ticks, they will just cover the fawns. They’ll be all around their eyes, nose, and mouth. In those cases, ticks can actually kill fawns.”

[ … ]

Ongoing research from Craig Harper at the University of Tennessee is exploring how prescribed burning can impact tick populations. Early findings suggest that fire could be an effective tool for reducing ticks, in addition to its known benefits for habitat and forage.

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Like I said about cattle (and specifically bulls), you don’t mess with large animals. That wolf may have a broken jaw now and may not survive.

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