Dress in style

© By Othmar Vohringer

When I go out in town I like to spread the message that I am a hunter and that I am proud of it. However, I never wear camouflage clothing in town or even around the neighborhood. There are other ways, much more stylish, to let people know that I hunt.

T-Shirts with nice hunting and fishing motives are one of my favorites. It is difficult for me at times to find something that suits my style and is non-offensive to people that do not hunt. Obviously I wouldn’t wear anything that says something like “Buck Killer” printed on the shirt. My choice of hunting “advertisement” is exactly what the Texas based company Field Dress offers to hunters and fishers.

Field Dress, nice play on words, has come up with some stunning designs that are very stylish and beautiful. In true outdoor community fashion the company has created different lines of apparel catering to different segments of the hunting and fishing community.

The Evolution Timeline offers beautiful designs of bowhunting and fishing trough the decades of evolution from the beginning to the here and now and what it might look like in the future, simply a stunning concept with different design for hunters and fishers.

The Discover Your Roots line comes with a monster buck portrait, or a flushing pheasant, or a jumping largemouth bass. Other designs feature bowhunting and flyfishing motives.

I asked the owner of Field Dress, Chad Rodvold to tell me a little more about his company and the idea behind it, and that is what he had to say:

“I founded the company in 2005 in one of those "what am I going to do with my life" moments. I grew up in North Dakota and the outdoors was my life. After college, I moved to Dallas, TX to train for the 1996 Olympics as a javelin thrower and settled. After some family issues, I really needed to get back to who I was and do something I am passionate about. I took my son to Bass Pro and it was there I realized I had never owned a t-shirt that said how much I love to hunt and fish. I think most of the hunting and fishing tees are a little too "bold" to put it mildly and I thought I could come up with something better. I came up with the basic conceptual designs and a close friend polishes it to what you see today. We coined the phrases "nock-up", "hook-up", and "load-up" and added the established dates of each respective sport and Field Dress was born.

Getting started in today's economy has been difficult, but I keep getting good responses, so I am going to stick it out. With your help and others I am confident Field Dress could be a popular name in the outdoor industry.”

Having seen all the different designs - of which I only show a very samll sampling here- and the quality of the artwork and material I am not surprised that the company gets good responses. I mean, who wouldn’t want to wear one of these t-shirts. I know I will in a heartbeat. Heck, I'll get a few of them and give some away to my wife and friends too. Just do yourself a favor and visit the Field Dress website and you know why I am exited about this new line of outdoors sports dedicated T-Shirts.


All images courtesy of “Field Dress”.

Tags: Field Dress, Outdoor Apparel, Hunting and Fishing T-Shirts

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Baby Moose Rescued by Hunter

© By Othmar Vohringer

Patrick sent me an email about a baby moose that has been rescued by a hunter.

The man found the distressed moose calf in a creek. He helped the poor creature out and then proceeded to find its mama. The hunter took the calf to a place where he suspected the mother to be and left. Eventually the baby moose stumbled right back into the creek and had to be rescued again. After this second rescue the calf wouldn’t leave the side of the hunter and consequently followed him home.

Living only in a small cabin he had no room to accommodate a four-legged guest that obviously would grow much larger in a relatively short time. The next day the hunter took the orphaned moose calf to a woman who has specialized in looking after abandoned wildlife. The calf is doing fine sharing a large pen with a rescued mule deer fawn.

Unfortunately I could not find out where this happened or the name of the hunter who rescued the moose. It is moments like this that make me proud to be a hunter and belonging to a community that cares about wildlife. This is a far cry from the bloodthirsty uncaring behavior with which hunters are often portrayed in public. To that end I leave you here with a few photos to enjoy.









Tags: Moose Rescue, Wildlife Conservation, Hunter Helps Baby Moose, News

Kids Hunting For A Cure

© By Othmar Vohringer

Kids Hunting For a Cure is a non-profit organization that provides financial support to research hospitals/foundations dedicated to developing cures for cancer and childhood diseases. Monies are raised by children and adults through community-sponsored outdoor events designed for youth.

Kids Hunting for a Cure is set up to donate its proceeds to Children Hospitals and to local research hospitals and foundations, upon approval of the Board of Directors.

Kids Hunting for a Cure hopes to encourage other interested groups to contact us about events they would like to put on in their area. We hope that giving to the Hospitals with the incentive of supporting your local organization will empower outdoors people to help others.

Kids Hunting for a Cure needs the support of all Tennessee hunters for their upcoming event “Kids Hunting for a Cure” Meet-n-Greet Event held on September 20, 2008 (Saturday). The event begins at 9:00 am until 3:00pm on the Lincoln County Horse Show Grounds located on Hwy 431 north.

This Meeting is for everyone interested in sponsorship, donations or working at the event. At the meeting local landowners who generously donated their private land for use during the hunt will be honoured, because with out these landowners these hunting events could not be held.

Kids Hunting for a Cure is a terrific organization that has helped many sick children, but they can’t do that important work without the active and generous support from the hunting community. For more information about the event and the organization please visit: Kids Hunting For A Cure


Tags: Kids Hunting for a Cure, Tennessee, Hunting Event for Children, Lincoln County Tennessee

Scouting and wildlife photograpy

© By Othmar Vohringer

Earlier this week I drove with my wife to our hunting area. She has never seen the place and I wanted to show her what a beautiful remote place it is. Living here in Merritt it’s just about an hours drive from our house, compared to a four-hour drive from where we lived before. I purposely chose to go in the late afternoon and just before a big weather front moved in. As all hunters know. Late afternoon or early morning and big weather fronts moving in or out are the best times for seeing animals on the move, and I wanted for my wife to see lots of animals so she can take pictures. As a freelance and assignment photographer she is always looking for subjects to point the camera at and we did not get disappointed.

The moment we left the highway and entered the logging roads we saw the first deer. Further along into the wilderness I spotted a young mule deer buck hurrying across the logging road and up a little butte where he stood still and looked back at us. He provided the perfect image but as my wife got ready with the camera the buck decided not be a photo model and disappeared over the ridge.

Nothing to worry about there will be more deer along the way. On a small lake where I often see moose sign we stopped the car. Armed with bear spray and a sturdy walking stick we silently stalked the short way to the edge of the lake in the hopes to surprise a moose having a snack of tender water plants that grow plentiful all along the waters edge. But no such luck, other than fresh tracks and droppings left behind my moose the lakeshore was devoid of any critters.

Further we went, along the bumpy dirt road deeper and deeper into the wilderness. Driving around a corner a huge older mule deer doe jumped over the road and up the hill. Within seconds three more does and two big bucks followed her. The first doe stood still watching us as we were watching her while the others disappeared over the ridge into the big timber. The first doe soon settled down once she was convinced that we are no threat to her. Time to take pictures. My wife happily snapped picture after picture while the doe posed like an old pro before she walked into the timber.


Not as mile further ahead we stopped again watching and photographing a doe right next to the road. Just a little bit further and we arrived at the point where the overgrown logging road ends. I told my wife to get ready with the camera because this is a good spot to see grouse. Sure enough right there, on a big log sat a grouse eyeing us up, its picture taking time again.

I am not exactly sure how many pictures of animals and scenery my wife took. It may be over 50 or 60, perhaps even one hundred. Photographers take an awful lot of pictures and then spend hours at home to sort through them, mercilessly editing until only the very best remain that are deemed of a high enough quality. Of all the pictures taken there might at the end only be a half dozen that make it the portfolio, sometimes even less. For my wife only the best of the best is just good enough.

We saw twenty deer on that short trip, and all near our hunting camp, are you surprised to find me all pumped up for the arrival of the hunting season. It’s going to be a good year for deer hunting, but I still have fine tune some stand locations. Besides deer we saw plenty sign of bears, which so surprise given that the logging road etches are full of berry bushes. We flushed several grouse as we drove along the road and chipmunks darting pack and forth everywhere.

(Note: This is not the area where I hunt but this beautiful landscape photographed by my wife looks similar.)

All in all we have had a great time together in a beautiful piece of countryside. I would love to show you more pictures of the area, but as I understand there are quite a few hunters from Merritt reading this blog, just waiting for me to give some clue about the whereabouts of my hunting honey hole.

Spending time together like this is also a good way to get a child or friend (or wife) introduced to hunting. Next time you head out to scout take someone along and make it fun and it might just happen that you gained a new hunting partner. Wouldn’t that be great!

All pictures courtesy and Copyright of Heidi I. Koehler

Tags: Merritt, Freelance and Assignment Photography, Wildlife Photography.

Catching up

© By Othmar Vohringer

Today I wanted to write about my last scouting trip and show you a few of the amazing wildlife and landscape pictures my wife took on that trip. But then I discovered that I am a little behind with several things and it might be a good idea to catch up with this post.

The problem with living in close proximity to some of the best hunting and fishing in British Columbia is that you find yourself spending a lot more time outdoors than indoors. Which is a good thing I suppose, like taking my wife on her first fishing trip ever in our new boat. What an enjoyable trip that was on so many levels. My wife catches her first fish and me, the so called expert, catches nothing. Well I was busy paddling the boat. I was a fishing guide. You will soon read more about the trip on the BCFishing Blog.

I am afraid I have to admit that I violated one of my own blogging rules. That rule stipulates that I answer every single comment made by my readers on any of my blogs. I haven’t done that recently and I would like to thank you each and everyone for you comments and kind words you leave me. I appreciate that very much. While I am at it, I would like to thank two readers that leave the most comments. Thank you Tom and Arthur .

That same courtesy rule applies to visit blogs and say thank you that say something nice about my blog or highlight one of them with a link. And I haven’t done that either. But I am going to do it now right here.

Kristine, as everybody knows by now, has a feature on her blog called Community Wendsday. Each week she features a few blogs that have peaked her interest and this week she liked What’s the rush. Slow down. Kristine thinks that this is a timely article for her. For those that don’t know. Kristine is moving to her new house so she is busy packing and organizing. We did that too in June this year and so I know how she feels and what she goes through. By the way Kristine, congratulations on your new place and I hope you will enjoy it as much as we do ours.

A few weeks ago Kristine invited me to a new forum and I went and consequently signed up as a member. The small business forum is not about hunting, fishing or anything to do with the outdoors. Yet for me, and any blogger or small business operator it is fast becoming an invaluable resource for new ideas, tips and advice on how to become a better, as in successful, businessperson. In the two weeks I read the information available on the forum I have picked up many tips that will help me to improve what I am doing. So if you want to learn more about how to run your business or just chat with fellow small bisiness folks head on over there.

In 2006 when I started this blog there was only a handful blogs that wrote about the outdoors. I remember searching on Google for days and couldn’t find much. The first blog I found and linked to was the Deer Camp Blog, written by the, by now famous, Editor a.k.a. Rex. Boy has time changed since then. In only three years there are so many outdoor bloggers that it has become near impossible to keep track of them all. Then on a day like today out of the blue I get an email from a new blog writer asking me if I were interested in sharing a link.

I always check the sites out before committing. Some blogs are just a rip-off of other bloggers, that’s how I found one that copied every single post I made and posted it on his blog. But most times I go. “Wow that is a real neat blog, I would be as pleased as can be to have that one in my blogroll.”

Today is such a lucky day. This morning I linked to Whitetail Woods written by Rick Kratzke, some of you may know him from his former blog “Tails and Trails” that he wrote for Skinny Moose Media. Reading through his blog I discovered that Rick and I have some things in common. Rick writes in the short bio, “I live in the northeast corner of Connecticut with my wife and two son's and have been hunting whitetails for the past 18 years. It has become quite the passion/obsession of mine and absolutely love to talk about it and share what I know with others.”

My blog Whitetail Deer Passion will give you a hint what we have in common. The moment I read the words “…It has become quite the passion/obsession of mine and absolutely love to talk about it…” I knew I had a winner. Mind you all blogs on my blogroll are nothing but winners. But having another blog writer that shares my passion about whitetail deer is something else. Now if I could find somebody that shares Wild Turkey Fever with me my world would be complete. Not that I am greedy. Actually I have a lot to be thankful about.

For example I am thankful for the absolutely wonderful and flattering feature Blessed wrote about my wife’s blog 12monthsOfWinter and my small blog network. It is things like that that makes my day. Knowing that there are people who appreciate what I do on my blogs fills me with pride and gratitude. Thank you Blessed that was wonderful and in leaning on your signature I feel blessed too with so many outdoor friends on the Internet. Outdoor bloggers are one big family.

Ah! I have been asked what’s up with the name of my wife’s blog “12MonthsofWinter” I think I am at liberty to tell you – looks over his shoulder to see if wife is in the same room - how that name came about. Back when my wife and I traveled a lot because that was what my profession demanded, we had at one point a very interesting coincident. At the time we lived for three years in China. When we left we arrived in Illinois, my former residence, in the bitter cold winter. We left Illinois just before spring for Brazil, way down south where they have winter when we have spring and summer here. Then in the Brazilian spring we left and went to Canada and you guessed it, it was winter in Canada. That year it was winter where ever we went, 12 months of winter.

Supreme court decides in favor of hunters

© By Othmar Vohringer

My good friend Peter Gussie of Midwest Cimmarron Archery in Richmond, Illinois, and board of directors member of the Archery Trade Association (ATA) sent me good news for bowhunters in Virginia that likely sets a nationwide precedence.

In mid-July the Virginia Supreme Court upheld a lower courts ruling that bowhunting is a safe science based wildlife management tool and that local communities cannot outlaw bowhunting programs that comply with directives from the wildlife agencies.

The Supreme Court, in choosing not to hear an appeal by the Reston Homeowners Association, also upheld a lower state court’s decision to allow the Archery Trade Association to recover all legal fees. After being alerted to the situation by the Suburban Bowhunters of Northern Virginia, the ATA brought legal action against the Reston Homeowners Association in January 2007. The ATA won the lawsuit in December 2007, and continued the fight after the homeowners’ association appealed to the Supreme Court in May of this year.

Due to the result of this court ruling bowhunters are able to return to the Roston’s woodlots this coming fall. Jay McAninch ATA President/CEO said.

“This is a huge victory for bowhunting, not only in Virginia, but quite likely nationwide. The Virginia Supreme Court reinforces four critical points that form the foundation of bowhunting in America.

• First, bowhunting in urban areas can be done safely without putting people or property at risk.
• Second, individual property owners can use bowhunting to address deer-damage and nuisance problems.
• Third, wildlife is a public resource that’s held in trust and managed by states — in this case, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries — for the public’s benefit.
• And four, individuals or a homeowners’ associations cannot usurp state authority, or use the courts to shut down or interfere with a legitimate bowhunting program. When people or groups violate these historical, well-established lines of authority and take actions based on personal opinions, it’s going to cost them.”

The Supreme Court ruling has put an end to a long legal dispute that began in 2004 when Reston Homeowner’s Association adopted a covenant to shut down the suburban bowhunting program. The bowhunters of Northern Virginia and two local residents alerted the ATA in 2006 about the bowhunting ban. The ATA filed complaint in January of 2007. Arguing that the covenant violated, among other things, Virginia’s Constitution regarding wildlife management. Virginia’s attorney general refused to enter the case to enforce the agency’s wildlife management authority. Upon which the ATA subpoenaed testimony from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

In December the local court ruled in favor of bowhuting and that the Homeowners Association did not have the authority to ban bowhunting. This ruling was uphels by the Virginia Supreme Court.

McAninch said.

“We’re extremely gratified to win a ruling of such high stature. This should set a strong precedent in Virginia and elsewhere. Virginia’s long-standing approach to urban deer depredation problems is to use bowhunting whenever possible. Bowhunters in Reston were part of that solution and had a proven track record. Unfortunately, the homeowners association went ahead and created their covenant even after they were advised they were exceeding their authority. The facts were against them from the start. Maybe now they’ve learned they can’t make laws just because they don’t like bowhunting. Just as importantly, when local groups force bowhunters to go to the courts to restore our rights, it’s going to cost them.”

I am extremely pleased with this outcome because it shows that we hunters do not have to put up with those that want to deny us our rights and freedoms. Hunting is not, as often falsely interpreted, a privilege. It is a right! One of the reasons why I like our North American hunting tradition is because, unlike anywhere else in the world, we have the right to hunt regardless of social, financial, racial or religious background. This is very unique and we need to protect that right so future generations can go hunting too. Hunters, as shown in this case, are not alone. There are many good organizations, such as the ATA, that will assist us in defending our rights from those that want to take it away from us.

Tags: Archery Trade Association, Bowhunting, Virginia Supreme Court, TEXT, Suburban Bowhunters

Behold the power of armed civilians

© By Othmar Vohringer

News Flash

POINT MARION, Pa. (AP) A 17-year-old is in police custody after an 85-year-old woman held him at gunpoint and forced him to call 911 after police say he broke into her home.
Leda Smith says she heard the boy break into her home about 3 p.m. Monday. She says she grabbed a .22-caliber revolver she started keeping by her bed when a neighbor's home was burglarized a few weeks ago. She lives in Springhill Township, about 45 miles south of Pittsburgh.
Smith says she made the boy call the police and then held him at gunpoint until they arrived. Smith says the incident was "exciting" and she's hoping it ends a string of burglaries in the area.
The boy will be tried in Fayette County Juvenile Court. He's not being identified because of his age.

Tags: Self Defense, Armed Citizens, News

What’s the Rush? Slow Down!

© Othmar Vohringer

Everyday life is hectic, the day only has so many hours and there is so much to do. Our minds are constantly racing. It starts in the morning, there is no time to sit down and drink coffee. Our mind is already fighting the morning rush hour traffic so we take the coffee and drink it on the way to work. And so the race goes on and all day long we try to catch up.

That mentality carries over to hunting too. It seems we never have enough time to hunt. We’re always in a rush. I first realized that years ago when I went to my favorite hunting area. On the way to my stand I was in such a rush to get it done that I jumped several deer that, had I taken my time, I could have avoided. Arriving at my stand I realized that I had forgotten the arrows back at my truck. What should have been a relaxing day turned sour before it even began.

Right there and then I decided that this couldn’t go on. I needed to change. Slow down. The next time I got up an hour earlier than usual and forced myself to actually sit down to drink the coffee. Arriving at the hunting site one and a half hours before legal shooting light I got dressed in camouflage got the gear together and then walked to the edge of the woodlot. There I sat down at the base of a tree and did nothing but simply sit still.

It didn’t take long to completely relax and then something happened that I never had experienced before. For the first time I could hear the faintest sounds of insects buzzing around in the dark, leaves falling on the ground and animal sounds from far away. I also could smell the fresh dirt under my feet and my eyes could see things they haven’t before and the pre dawn didn’t seem so dark after all.

Time didn’t matter anymore and I actually began to enjoy my little rest under the tree at the woodland edge. That half hour of relaxing did more for me than eight hours of sleep. I got up felling totally refreshed. It was the first time that I didn’t need a flashlight to find the way to my treestand at the far end of the woodlot where an overgrown fence line created the perfect travel path for the deer leaving the cornfield in the morning.

Walking through the woods I became very aware of everything that went on around me. A couple of times I felt like an inner voice was trying to tell me to stop and sure enough, at one such instance a doe walked across a moonlit opening and at a second instance it was a raccoon running across the forest path. Never before did I feel so in tune with nature and what went on all around me.

From that day on I made it a habit to rest at least a half hour after I left the truck, either I would lean against a tree or simply sit on the ground before I moved to my stand location. Over the years this relaxed attitude has carried over to my personal life too. No longer do I get upset in traffic and I always get up early enough in the morning to have time to sit down to drink the coffee. At work I don’t lose my temper each time something goes wrong or somebody is being an idiot.

Because of this I have become a more mellow person and this in turn has improved my overall happiness too. I have learned to enjoy the little things in life that I would never have seen before. Not so very long ago I read an interesting study where it was said that stressed people get into more accidents than relaxed and calm people. The reason, so the study said, is that stress leads to tunnel vision. A person under stress or frustration can become oblivious to their surrounding. With that chances of an accident rise sharply.

Looking at it from that perspective a relaxed hunter is less likely to mistake another hunter or hiker for a game animal or be involved in other hunting related accidents like falls from treetands, accidental discharge of a firearm or walking up on another hunter and risking being shot at. A relaxed hunter’s brain is free from pressure and thus his mind opens up and can become one with nature. In other words, if we leave the hectic of the modern world behind us and forget it for a while we return to our true nature: we become hunters again. Next time you go to the woods slow down and leave the stress of everyday life behind you.

What the statistics say

© By Othmar Vohringer

In October 2007 I had to change to StatCounter because the old company I had all my blogs registered with had a melt down and lost all my data.

Today I checked the overall statistics of all my blogs and I am very impressed with the grand total of visitors to my blogs.

Outdoors with Othmar Vohringer from October 2007 to August 2008
95,585 visitors.
This is my first bolg that I started on January 29, 2006 with a book review of "What Fish Don't Want You to Know". I remember just before the old counter broke down that this blog registerd about 45.000 visitors (can't remember the exact number)

Whitetail Deer Passion blog from October 2007 to August 2008
56,333 visitors (this blog is only seasonally updated)

Wild Turkey Fever blog from October 2007 to August 2008
35,424 visitors (this blog is only regularly updated in the spring and sporadically in the fall.)

FishingBC Blog (started March 2008, sporadically updated)
4,256 visitors

My Stand blog from October 2007 to August 2008 (updated irregularly with the readers favorites from all the other blogs.)
3,248 visitors

This makes a grand total of: 159,422 visitors in just under a year.
Thanks to all my loyal readers who made this success possible. I will try hard to provide you in the future with the information you come to expect from my blogs. I also will try harder to write on a more regular schedule for the Whitetail Deer Passion, Wild Turkey Fever and the FishingBC blog.

Tragic Hunting Accident Affects Youth Hunting

© By Othmar Vohringer

Pamela Almli, 54 went hiking in the Skagit Valley, Seattle, what started out as beautiful day ended in a deadly tragedy when a young 14-year old hunter shot Pamela Almli in the head. According to reports the hiker bent over to retrieve something from her backpack and got shot. The young hunter, so the report, had mistaken the victim for a bear.

The 14-year old who cannot be named successfully completed a hunter education course at age nine and was accompanied on that tragic day by his 16-year old brother. It is legal in Washington State for 14-year olds to go hunting without parental supervision.

Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich said the boy would be charged as a juvenile with first-degree manslaughter because he acted recklessly when he fired the fatal shot. If convicted, he could face nine months in juvenile detention. While I do believe that the kid should receive some form of punishment, and so are his parents for not doing their job, first-degree manslaughter sounds a little harsh to me. Regardless of all circumstances it was an accident and not the intentional killing of a human being. Even the family of the victim thinks that this is too harsh. Could it be that the prosecutor rides on the anti-hunting bandwagon? It wouldn’t be a first!

Hunting accidents are not common as some special interest groups want us to believe. In fact hunting is one of the safest recreational activities we can pursue. Authorities said that hunting accident was a rarity in Washington - Almli is the first nonhunter killed by a hunter in the state in more than 25 years - but that doesn't make the accident less tragic for the families involved.

The unfortunate thing with such accidents is that each time such a tragedy occurs authorities look for solutions to appease public anxiety and special interest groups. Capt. Bill Hebner of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said he and his colleagues would like the state to re-institute an age restriction for people who go into the wilderness with a gun.

While other voices demand an end to hunting on public land period, and others want more restrictions for firearm owners. Then there are voices that suggest that hunter education and proficiency tests should be repeated every few years.

What I can’t understand is why so many people and authorities seem to loose all logic when something like this happens. That special interest groups jump at this like hyenas to further their extreme agenda has become unfortunately a sad reality.

As a hunting education instructor and a person that has been hunting all my life I know that no amount of education and restrictions ever can eliminate accidents from happening. The only way accidents could be eliminated is if all people where looked up in their houses 24/7 and all vehicles, cutlery, tools and furniture is removed. Part of been human and living in what is deemed a free society carries risks and accidents.
However I do believe that letting a child go hunting without adult supervision is irresponsible, even if permitted as in this case by law. I don’t agree however to raise the age for young hunters as recommended by Democratic Rep. Brian Blake, chairman of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

What I would recommend is to use commonsense and make it illegal for a minor to be out hunting by him or herself without supervision of a parent or responsible adult. I went hunting at the age of eight and up to the age of 17 my father or mother where always on my side making sure that I obey all the safety rules and act resposibly . When I lived in Illnois we always hunted on public land where hikers had access during hunting seasons. All hiking trails and parking lots where posted with big signs, letting hikers know that hunting is in progress and cautioning hunters to be aware of hikers. It really is that simple to improve safety without making new laws.

I find it sad that every tragedy has to end up becoming a bandwagon for more restricting laws that wont do anything but restrict the enjoyment and life of those that use logic and commonsense. As my dear mother used to say, “Making new laws to prevent idiocy does not work because they just invent new idiots.”

Tags: Fatal Shooting Accident, Hunting Accident, News

Bear attacks becoming more frequent in B.C.

© By Othmar Vohringer

The news headline this morning read “Bear attacks B.C. women in her yard”. That did not happen out in the rural countryside. The 35-year-old woman was attacked while berry picking in her garden near the city center. She is now recovering in hospital from serve injuries. The bear was extremely aggressive and had to be shot by the police.

This is not a single case. Recently bear attacks have become all too common in British Columbia. Like this one on May 20: Triathlete Julia Gerlach, 27, had part of her scalp torn off and lost part of an ear after a black bear attack about 150 kilometers north of Fort Nelson, B.C.

And so the list could go on for a long time. Some of the attacks do happen in rural areas but more often they now happen in towns and cities too. Bears have become so accustomed to people that they walk in broad daylight into gardens and into houses if a door is left open.

Drake Stephens of Bear Aware blames humans for the problem and to a certain extent he is right. Leaving household garbage openly in backyards will attract bears. But it’s not all our fault. The bear population has sharply risen in the last few years in British Columbia. Making this province the bear capital of North America with a population exceeding 160,000 black bears. This in an increase of over 30% from 1990 to 2008, in other words the bear population is slowly to exceed the habitats carrying capacity. That is far from the near exiction cries we hear from anti hunters and animal rights.

Bear Aware admits that human / bear conflicts becoming a problem. They offer a “few simple” steps to reduce bear conflicts. Unfortunately, the few simple steps turn into a long list of preventive measures that reach from keeping garbage in bear proof containers to cleaning everything up after a barbeque, which makes sense. Where it gets a bit more cumbersome is by suggesting erecting electric fences around vegetable and fruit gardens. Besides the point that electric fencing has not been proven to keep bears out of gardens, it’s asking for liability suits should a person walk by and get an electric shock. Where the recommendations become downright ridiculous is when it is suggested to keep pets and small children indoors.

Stephens said bears wandering into urban areas typically return to the wilderness on their own. Really? Not according to recent studies made on relocated bears. The studies have shown that typically bears, even if relocated hundreds of miles away, returned right back to where they have been captured. Once a bear learns how easy it is to obtain food near humans he will stay and become more dangerous to humans as time goes on.

The commonsense solution is to increase hunting permits for bears. Of course that does not sit well with teddy bear huggers. They rather would have the taxpayers throw more money at bear capture and deterrent programs that do not work, than admit to a commonsense solution which is to reduce bears to a population that their natural habitat can provide for.

Until such time where commonsense prevails over political agenda I am afraid people in the towns and cities of British Columbia will have to live in increased fear of becoming a victim of unprovoked attacks from bears that slowly start to regard humans as a new food source. The joke that B.C. has a bear behind every tree has become a dangerous reality. Bear bells and pepper spray have become a hot selling item for outdoor enthusiasts and now for town and city people too. While the bells, whistles and pepper spray work some of the time they are not fool proof. There are stories that some bears are actually attracted by bells and other human noises, while other bears seem to be immune to pepper spray.

The only good news in all of this is that people, even the nature detached inner city dwellers, start to view hunters in a much more favorable light. They want something done about the bear problem and hunting them seems a very reasonable solution to the majority of British Columbian's.

Tags: Bear Attacks In British Columbia, Black Bear, Bear Hunting

A busy and exiting week passed.

© By Othmar Vohringer

I am sure some of my regular readers were wondering why I haven’t written anything on this blog for almost over a week.

The reason for my absence from this blog was that I have had a very busy week. As some of you may recall, I wrote a post almost a year ago that I want to become a hunter education instructor. I had all the paperwork and study material I needed but stuff happened and I just never seemed to find the time to sit down and study. Finally two weeks ago I said to myself, “If you don’t do it now you probably never will, so you would better get your act together.”

Just to make sure that I do take the time and study I applied for the hunter education instructor exams held on Sunday August 10. That gave me precisely one week to work through the study material. Somewhat nervous and with a pounding headache from studying all night we drove to Kelowna where the exams were held. Five ours later I left the building having passed the exams with flying colors. I am now officially a Hunter Education Instructor appointed by the Government of the province of British Columbia.

As a hunting instructor I can organize and hold my own hunter classes. We have a lot of freedom in how we create these classes for as long as we stay within the main goal of the hunter education curriculum. This appeals very much to me because I never would make a good teacher if I just had to pass on dry theory. This freedom was one of the reason why I wanted to become a instructor in the first place.

I am still working on an education course plan. What I would like to do is to make the course as interactive and reality related as possible. I even been thinking about holding one part, the game and bird identification, of the course outside in nature where the students can see the real animals instead of looking at pictures and drawings.

It is my firm believe that if we want to get young people into our ranks and force them by law to take a hunter education course then we have to make it fun for them. Otherwise the kids will stay home and play video games. Children sit all day in the school and listen to boring theory, they are not likely to sit another two hours after school for three days in another boring classroom to be lectured by a hunting education instructor unless it’s fun and interactive.

I welcome any suggestions from you on how to create a fun education program in the comment section or if you rather want to stay anonym you can send me an email. Firearms, bows and videos are suplied by the BC government and so are antlers, horns, bones, fur and feathers of different animals.

Of course not everything was hard work, I had some fun and excitement too. One of the highlights of last week was good news for my wife. Artemis, as my wife is known in the blogger and art world, has been contacted by one of Canada’s largest newspaper with an offer to be their permanent assignment photographer for the Okanagan area. It is interesting to note that my wife never sent the newspaper editor any query letters or a portfolio of her outstanding photography work. The newspaper found my wife through her blog. The editor was, in his words, very impressed with the picture quality and the writing skill. From the blog he took time and visited my wife’s website too and ended up been even more impressed with the large volume of photography and artwork my wife creates. To cut a long story short, my wife got her first assignment, of many to come, this coming Wendesday.

When I heard the news I was near tears of joy. My wife worked very hard for many years. She never was happy with what she did and keept pushing herself to get better and better. But more than that, photography and art has always been a source of great joy for her. Even a way to express her emotions and feelings. I always hoped deep in my heart that one day she can make a living from what she loves to do and now it happened.

I also learned one or two important lessons. First, editors do search the Internet to look for what they need. Second, adding relevant keywords to your blog posts is very important because that is how people, in this case the editor of one of Canada’s largest newspapers, find you and what they are looking for. As I write this my wife is on location taken a few pictures in advance of the assignment, smart move, this gives me time to tell you what else happened last week.

On Friday my wife’s cousins husband and my hunting partner came for a visit over the weekend. The first evening we went out fishing with the new boat. Between us we caught ten lake trout (no pictures because I forgot to take the camera with me). Then on Saturday morning long before sunrise we headed to our hunting grounds to do some maintenance work on the cabin and fine tune our previous scouting. On the way in we saw well over twenty deer, including some very nice bucks, and grouse where everywhere. We also saw a lot of bear and moose sign. It promises to be a good hunting season. After many hard winters under which the wildlife suffered the populations seem finally to pick up again. I am pumped for the September 1st bowhunting season opener.

Talking about bowhunting, I have posted a few articles on Whitetail Deer Passion with tips about scouting tactics that will improve your early season bowhunting success.

Tags: Hunting Education instructor, British Columbia, Photography Assignment, Freelance Photographer, Okanagen, Boat, Fishing, Trout, Hunting Cabin, Bowhunting, Whitetail Deer

Join the Club

© By Othmar Vohringer

When we moved to Merritt one of the first things I did was to join the Nicloa Valley Fish & Game Club. Previously, when we lived in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, I was a member of the Mission & District Rod and Gun Club. With the move to Merritt it seemed only appropriate to join the local hunting club.

On a Sunday two weeks ago I visited the Nicloa Valley Fish & Game Club grounds, set into a beautiful 160-acre forested landscape. The moment you arrive you feel like in a hunting camp. The club features a wide variety of shooting ranges for big bore rifles, rifles, pistols, trap shooting, black powder, small caliber firearms and archery. In addition there are two trails, one for traditional black powder and the other for traditional archery, with targets set at different ranges. All the stationary ranges and the trails are wheelchair accessible.

Jim George, the clubs black powder officer, invited me to a Sunday morning black powder shoot and although I haven’t shot a traditional smoke pole in many years I thought it would give me a good opportunity to learn a bit more about the club and the activates provided to the members. On my arrival at the range Bill was busy unloading a small arsenal of black powder rifles from his car. In short order he lined up several traditional cap lock and flintlock rifles explaining each and every single one to me with little background history. Most of the muzzleloaders shown to me are handmade or refurbished by Bill. Bill is much more than a black powder aficionado, for him muzzleloaders are part of his life and after a bit of friendly prodding I agreed to shoot a .50 caliber flintlock.

I had so much fun shooting this rifle that I finished the complete course. The very first shot - the lucky shot - hit the target smack in the middle and from their on it went downhill. Despite my lack of hitting targets, after that initial first shot, I had great fun. It also set a little spark in me on fire for black powder shooting. Many years ago when I came to America I started hunting with black powder rifles and bows. My first smoke pole was a Thomson Center Renegade .50 caliber, using round lead balls and conical bullets in front of 120 grains Goex FFg black powder. Shortly after I purchased a Knight Wolverine .50 caliber in-line-muzzleloader shooting modern saboted bullets pushed by 150 grains of Pyrotex RS pellets.

Sadly when I moved to Canada I had to sell all my firearms, including the black powder rifles. It was just too much hassle and red tape to get through to import them all over the border into Canada. While I can’t see myself taking part in black powder tournaments, or any tournament for that matter, I sure would like to own - and will in the near future – one or two muzzleloaders. As a hunter I have always enjoyed to use a variety of different weapons from the bow to the high powered center fire rifle, and everything in between, in the pursuit of wild game. I enjoy the different challenges each weapon provides, and off course in America with all the different segments of hunting season it also meat that I could take part in all of them.

Back to the shooting range at the Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club.

Besides having fun shooting muzzleloaders the visit gave me a chance to meet and talk to some of the executives and learn more about the activities the club offers for the members. There are so many of them throughout the year that it is hard to list them all here. Besides the monthly meeting there are fishing, archery, muzzleloader and sporting clay tournaments to name a few. Other activities include the annual club award night, kids ice fishing derby, hunter education courses and the list goes on. The club also takes part in community activities such as “Adopt a Street”, lake and river cleanups and other environmental and humanitarian programs.

This brings me back to the title of this article “Join a Club”.
One of the complaints I heard is that the club has problems mobilizing volunteers for the various club and community events. This is not a single case, it’s a common concern I hear many times all across North America. No matter where you live the chances are there is a fish and game or hunting club in your community. These local organizations are important to our hunting heritage and in our effort to portray hunters and hunting in a positive light to the community. Join your local club and become an active participant, give a little of your time and become a volunteer. A club is a good way to get your family and friends involved in hunting and at the same time you actively do something to preserve our hunting heritage and promote a positive hunter image in your community.

(Photo: standing in front of the target ready to fire his percussion cap lock gun is the 1st. Vice president Jack Madryga and leaning against the tree watching with an expert eye is Jim George, the clubs black powder officer.)


Tags: Nicola Valley Fish and Game Club, Muzzleloader, Black Powder, Hunting Clubs, Hunting Heritage

New Boat

© By Othmar Vohringer

My wife got me a present because I am a good boy.

Yesterday I drove to the boat and ATV dealer to pick up the boat. It's only two minutes from our house.

When I came home with the boat one of the neighbors remarked, "It's not a fishing boat. I thought you're getting a fishing boat." I replied, "Yes it is a fishing boat, in the summer. In the winter it's a duck hunting boat."

I always liked Jon Boats because they are so versatile. In my opinion it's the perfect boat for the multi tasking outdoor person.

The Lowe L1436 is 14' long seats 3 people and loads 645 lb. The motor a Suzuki 10 horsepower four stroke will be delivered in a week or two. 10-horse power is all we can use on the lakes around here and is plenty power to push the boat.

Now all I have to do is to build a removable fishing platform on the bow with a swivel seat on a column and two comfortable seats at the stern end. In the winter the boat will be turned into a duck hunting blind featuring a full camouflage tent and a heater to keep me warm. My good neighbor, not the mouthy one, is welded the frame for that as I write this.

It is my second Jon Boat and I am as happy as can be. Oh, did I mention that I love my wife very much. First a rifle and now this boat.

Tags: Lowe Boats, Jon Boat, Fishing Boat, Hunting Boat