Ignorance Runs Deep

© By Othmar Vohringer

(Originally published in the Merritt News)

Is it just me or do people become more ignorant as the years go by? Just last week I had a conversation with a person that did not agree with hunting. While I can perfectly understand that not everyone likes hunting, or hunters, I felt that this particular person’s reasoning was astounding. As a vegetarian the person didn’t like the idea that animals are killed for food. He argued that he as a vegetarian does not contribute to the death of animals. Unfortunately many vegetarians believe the myth that their lifestyle saves the lives of animals.

Has it ever occurred to diehard vegetarians that in order to grow vegetables animal habitat has to be destroyed and animals have to be killed? Vegetable farmers go to considerable lengths to rid the fields of mice, insects and other creatures. From my brother-in-law, who builds greenhouses, I learned that greenhouse operations for all intents and purposes are almost as sterile as a hospital operating room. Animals of any kind are unwelcome in these operations and are destroyed wherever they show up.

Versus Country TV - Shows For Real Hunters Made By Real Hunters

© By Othmar Vohringer

Yesterday I received an email from the good folks at Versus Country, asking me to inform my readers of their new show schedule. As an avid watcher of Versus Country TV I am looking forward to extend my hunting season by watching some of my favourite TV hunting shows. I hope you like them too.

Friday Nights From 8-830PM ET

Remington's The Buck Stops Here With Mike Hanback

Join renowned host Mike Hanback as he pursues monster bucks and gets inside
the lives of like-minded hardcore deer hunters. Mike travels to the far
reaches of the U.S. and Canada hunting huge deer and investigating the
traditions, rituals and tactics used by hunters nationwide to kill the
biggest bucks every year. Mike Hanback has long been one of my favourites and he also writes his own blog at Mike Hanback’s Big Deer

Record Breaking Bear killed In Pennsylvania

© By Othmar Vohringer

David Price, a bowhunter from the Keystone state, bagged during that states first ever archery only bear season a monster bear. The bear is estimated to be 17 years old with a live weight of 879-pounds, field-dressed weight the animal weighed 744-pounds.

Game Commission Spokesman Tim Conway said that this bear could be the new world record. Prices bear is heavier than the previous state record, an 864-pound bear killed by Dough Kristiansen. It is interesting to note that both bears have been taken in the same county.

Read the article here.

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Outdoors With Othmar Vohringer In The Top 25 Blogs List

© By Othmar Vohringer

This is just a quick note to let the readers of this blog know that we have been chosen as one of the top 25 outdoor related blogs on the Internet. What makes this amazing is that the source (Criminal Justice Degree) has nothing to do with hunting. This is the last source I would have expected to establish a list of top outdoor blogs. Thank you very much I am honoured.

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New Reality TV Show - Sarah Palin's Alaska

© By Othmar Vohringer

Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska, deputes her own reality TV show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”. The show had its debut on Nov. 14, 2010. In the show Sarah goes fishing, hiking and boating in the great Alaskan outdoors with her husband Todd and children. Some hunting may be included in future episodes.

Sarah Palin came first into the limelight as the Republican candidate for Vice-President during the 2008 presidential elections. Often ridiculed by the liberal media for her very public support for the 2nd. Amendment and hunting, she has remained a staunch supporter of our hunting and outdoor heritage, even became the spokes person for the NRA.

With her love for the great outdoors, hunting and fishing I could not think of a better person than Sarah to feature in a reality TV show of this kind, promoting fishing and hunting as a wholesome family activity to mainstream America. Of course the show will also be a fantastic promotion for Alaska tourism.

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Tags: Sarah Palin, Alaska, Reality TV Show, Outdoor Sport

Oprah Winfrey – "O" Magazine Publishes Pro Hunting Article

© By Othmar Vohringer

I never thought I see the day but I guess miracles do happen. In the December edition of Oprah’s “O” magazine is a positive article about hunting, written by Kimberly Hiss.

The three-page article includes a photo of the author with a wild turkey she shot during the hunt slung over her shoulders. The article details the authors wild turkey hunt and the challenges that come with it. For me this article is a big step forward in portraying a positive image of hunting to the mainstream public. Considering that the majority of the mainstream outlets, particularly women’s magazines, shy away from reporting hunting in a positive light I regard this article as a milestone in providing the non-hunting community with valuable insight about our heritage.

For that I tip my hat to Oprah Winfrey. I would like to encourage everybody to read the full article (link below) and write to the magazine to thank them for this positive report on hunting. The website comment section to the article contains many of the usual ignorant and hatred filled anti-hunting comments. Because of that it is important that we make our voice heard, otherwise Oprah may consider the publishing of the article a mistake. On the other hand, if we thank her for the article we might gain an important ally, and God knows we need lots of those.

Read the full article here.

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Tags: Oprah Winfrey, Pro Hunting, The O Magazine, Thanksgiving Turkey Hunt

Gordon Campbell’s Legacy With Hunter

Originally published in the Merritt News

© By Othmar Vohringer

Gordon Campbell has resigned as Premier of BC and that is as good a time as any to look at the legacy he and his government left behind for hunters.

Throughout his tenure Campbell made several lip services in support of hunters. In 2005 the Campbell government published “A Strategy For Residential Hunter Recruitment And Retention In British Columbia”. In that study the government looked at strategies on how to stem the decline of hunters in this province and what could be done to get more people interested in hunting. I remember how enthusiastic the hunting community reacted when that report came out. Finally, we all thought, the government is going to recognize us as a force to be considered and give us the attention we deserved.

It is now five years since that report came out and nothing has happened. The report is probably gathering dust in some government filing cabinet. They say that money is in short supply. Interestingly enough, money seemed to be no problem when our Premier, and his minions in government, spent over $10 billion on the Winter Olympics. For that they took all the monies they could lay their hands on, including our hunting and fishing licence fees and then went on to cut the budgets for the Ministry of Environment and the Conservation Officer Service so severely that they barely managed to get by. Readers of the Merritt News may remember that I wrote in June of 2009 how hunters had to collect money so the Conservation Officers could fill up their service vehicles with gas. Yes it was that bad.

The government under Campbell’s leadership did not stop at making empty promises and financially starving the Wildlife Services and Ministry of Conservation to the point of rendering them basically inactive. Campbell’s leadership also took sizeable opportunities away from resident hunters to appease anti hunting sentiments and cater to special interest groups. I may add at this point that these special interest groups do not provide any funding for conservation issues to the government nor invest their personal time and money into the resource, and neither was this action based on conservation science. During the unlawful Klappan Road closure by special interest groups that went on for months, blocking resident hunters from legitimate access to hunting areas, did not elicit any action from the Campbell government. With that indifference they have set the tone for future illegal closures by these groups to limit access for resident hunters.

His latest strike before leaving office was a reshuffling of the cabinet and merging the Ministry of Environment with that of forestry and mining. It’s not hard to figure out who gets more priority in that ministry. Barry Penner, Minister for Environment, who under the given conditions did a remarkable job, has been replaced with Murray Coell, a new guy nobody knows. With a legacy like that it should not come as a surprise that the majority of hunters are not sad to see Gordon Campbell go.

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Tags: British Columbia, Gordon Cambpell, BC Liberals, Hunting

PA Wildlife Conservation Officer Slain

© By Othmar Vohringer

Pennsylvania wildlife conservation officer David L. Grove, from Fairfield was killed in the line of duty.

I shudder in anger when I read stories like this one.

David L. Grove a PA wildlife conservation officer was killed in cold blood as he attempted to arrest a poacher. The felon was arrested 11 later. The DA seeks the death penalty. I hope the DA gets his wish. It’s bad enough that some people think they can go out in the woods and steal our game animals, but killing a game warden, or any person for that matter, is a different story entirely.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends and fellow wildlife conservation officers of David L. Grove.

Read full article here.

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Tags: News, Pennsylvania, Wildlife Conservation Officer, Game Warden, Poacher

Outdoor Column Is “Top Story”

© By Othmar Vohringer

My regular bi-weekly outdoor column in the Merritt News made “Today’s Top Story”. As an outdoor writer I get great satisfaction form the feedback readers send me or when editors deem one of my articles fit for special recognition. Often these things are as important to a writer as getting paid to write. I would go as far as to say that it is the catalyst that keeps me going and drives me on to become better at my craft.

You can read the full column here.

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Tags: Merritt News, Outdoor Column, Today’s Top Story, News, Outdoor Writer