Florida Huntress Takes Huge Alligator

© By Othmar Vohringer

This morning the CTV news reported about a Florida woman that shot a huge alligator. The newscaster seemed to be positively impressed with this news, which in itself is a bit of a surprise because usually the CTV is on the forefront of reporting anti hunting sentiments in a favourable manner.

Arianne Prevost of Satellite Beach, Florida shot a monster alligator during that sates regular alligator season – August 15 to November 1 – the beast measured from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail exactly 11 feet. The alligator weighs in excess of 450 pounds.

Alligator hunting can be very challenging in the murky swamp waters of Florida and at night when most of the hunting for these animals takes place. This has been Arianne’s first ever gator hunt and to make it even more challenging she used a crossbow. After the hunt Arianne Prevost, in her second year as a bowhunters said, "I can't seem to kill a deer, but I can kill an 11-foot alligator."

Hunting alligators with a bow has been on my “must do” list for a number of years now and this story reminded me that one of these days I have to go to Florida and try my hand on these reptiles. When my wife and I lived in China we grew very fond of alligator meat and I wouldn’t mind filling my freezer with it. Gator meat tastes very nice – no fishy taste at all as often assumed -, the meat is tender and supposedly also quite healthy.

In many areas of Florida gators are so numerous that they are considered a nuisance animal. For more information on hunting alligators in Florida visit the website of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

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Tags: Florida, Alligator Hunting, Hunter Takes Monster Alligator, Bowhunting Alligators, News, Arianne Prevost

How Very Fortunate We Are

(Originally published in the Merritt News)

© By Othmar Vohringer

I have to admit that at times I take the beauty of our nature and the variety of wildlife for granted. But every so often I am reminded of just how beautiful British Columbia is and what diversity it has to offer to the hunters and nature enthusiasts. One such reminder occurred about three weeks ago. My wife Heidi, an award winning photographer and graphic artist, submitted a few prints for an exhibition in the Courthouse Gallery. The theme of the exhibition was “Native Animals”. Besides landscapes and portraiture, wildlife is one of Heidi’s specialities. After Heidi made a selection for the exhibition form the thousands of images on file she called me to give my opinion on which pictures should make it to the final cut.

As I looked though the images it once again occurred to me just how very fortunate we are here in British Columbia. Did you know that except for the prong horned antelope, the alligator and the polar bear we have a representative of almost every North American wildlife species and sub species right here in our province? For example, of the three subspecies of moose two can be found in our province and the same holds true for bears and many others such as the mountain ram. Deer hunters have the choice of whitetail deer, mule deer or blacktail deer.

But best of all is that no matter what you hear or read in the news from politically motivated, self-styled environmentalist organizations our wildlife populations are thriving. For example we hear often that bears are endangered in our province. That is what the politically and money motivated want you to believe but the fact is that BC with it’s 180,000 black bears and over 90,000 grizzly bears has the biggest bear population anywhere in North America. In many areas both grizzly and black bear populations have reached numbers that are to high for their habitats carrying capacity.

That British Columbia became a wildlife paradise did of course not just happen by accident. Rather it is the result of a wildlife and habitat management program based on science, rather than on political flavour and emotions as pursued by the self-styled conservation organizations that continually hug the media, vilifying hunters as detrimental to wildlife and conservation. Hunters are in fact at the forefront of wildlife conservation, putting their money where their mouths are. Hunters contribute the lion’s share of the money for wildlife and habitat conservation, a huge expense that otherwise would have to come from the already burdened taxpayers. The money needed is generated form the sale of hunting licenses, species stamps, and other fees hunters must pay.

Hunters are also active in various organizations, founded by hunters and dedicated to conservation, such as Ducks Unlimited, BC Wildlife Federation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Wild Sheep Society of BC and numerous other organizations working on national, provincial and regional levels to ensure a prosperous future of our wildlife and environment. You never hear or read much in the mainstream media about the conservation effort hunters put forward and that is because most hunters are unassuming doing what they love to do. Some hunters and anglers are so dedicated to conservation that they have volunteered their entire life to conservation. One such remarkable individual lives right here in our community and I will be dedicating a future column to this person.

The Crossbow Saga Continues

© By Othmar Vohringer

Without fail every year when hunting season approaches a heated debate about crossbows unfolds. These days it is becoming even more so as each year more North American jurisdictions declare the crossbows legal for all hunters, not just the physically challenged.

It never ceases to amaze me listening to the arguments from those that oppose crossbows as legitimate archery or as an ethically unfit hunting weapon. It is interesting to note at this point that when I ask those that are against the use of crossbows, “Have you ever shot a crossbow?” the majority answered with “No”. This makes me wonder how these people “know” that a crossbow is not archery tackle if they never shot one.

Well as a hunter that uses a compound bow and a crossbow I feel entitled to add my opinion about this controversy. My hope is that I am able to provide the argument with some much need unbiased facts rather then the usual hype and myth that permeates the crossbow discussion.

One of the biggest myths is that the crossbow is not really a bow but rather a gun because it is styled after a gun. Actually the opposite could be true since the crossbow in its basic form has been in use for about 1,000 years before the first firearm was invented. With that fact established it would be sensible to argue that the firearm is modelled on the crossbow and not the other way around.

The earliest mention of crossbows can be found In China from 4,000 years ago. That would make another argument that the crossbow is not a traditional weapon moot. Four thousand years makes the crossbow more of a traditional weapon then the compound bow and at least as traditional as the longbow.

Some of the most fervent opponents label the crossbow as the perfect poachers tool. Where do they get that idea? Yes a crossbow is silent, but so is a compound and traditional bow. A poacher, being a lawbreaker, most certainly would like to carry a weapon that could be concealed. A crossbow is quite bulky and hard to conceal. A poacher would be better off with a traditional takedown bow or a rifle with a silencer that he can stick under his coat or into a pant leg.

Some say that crossbow hunters have an unfair advantage to compound or traditional bowhunters because they can shoot longer distances. This is not true. A crossbow has about the same capabilities as a modern compound bow. The trajectory of the arrow is about the same of that of a compound bow. However, an arrow shot from a compound bow retains more downrange energy than the bolt of a crossbow. This is due to the fact that the crossbow bolt is shorter and lighter than a normal arrow and thus quickly loses killing power at distances over 40 yards. Another “unfair advantage” argument is that it takes less practise to become proficient with a crossbow than with a compound or traditional bow. Like I said, I shoot compound bows and crossbows and I have found that both need equal practice to become proficient with. Since when is less time to become proficient with a hunting weapon an unfair advantage? Has hunting become a sport where success is measured in the degrees of difficulty it takes to achieve the goal?

What really cracks me up is when I hear things like “crossbows are unethical”. Ethics seem to be the magical word that is used for everything that is being opposed when in fact it has more to do with personal opinions. A crossbow, like any other hunting weapon, is an inanimate thing. It has no mind, no heart and no feelings. How can it be ethical or unethical? It’s not the weapon that is unethical, it’s the people using that instrument that have to make the conscious choice to use it in an ethical or unethical manner. There is no evidence whatsoever that a hunter with unethical tendencies chooses a crossbow over every other hunting weapon.

Here we are in times where hunters and hunting face extremely serious challenges that will decide the survival of our hunting heritage and all we can do is vilify our own for no other reason than for the choice they make in pursuing the same happiness we do. What really disturbs me is the fact that when we’re hardly capable of maintaining our numbers, let alone gaining new hunters, bowhunting organizations find it necessary to feed the controversy with unfounded myth and hype about the crossbow to further their own short sighted and selfish agendas. Yet these same organizations keep complaining that bowhunter numbers keep dropping without an end in sight. Would it not be wise then to endorse other styles of bowhunting rather than utter nonsense like: “If crossbows are permitted in the regular bowhunting season we will loose our quality of the hunt and the woods will be to crowded.” By the way, in American states and Canada where crossbow hunters take part in the regular bowhunting season this “overcrowding” and “loss of quality” (whatever the heck that means) factor has not occurred. The majority of bowhunters that share the woods with crossbow hunters claim that there is no noticeable difference. Enough said!

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Tags: Crossbow, Archery, Bowhunting, Crossbow Hunting, Crossbow Facts, Crossbow Myth