F&W Bust Poacher with 34 Deer

http://fw.ky.gov/newsrelease.asp?nid=694

F&W busted a Livingston County man with 34 deer heads and 2 turkey. The man, David Ray, had previously be busted in in 1995 for illegally taking game. Ray will pay at least $753 for each deer and $563 for each turkey so that's a minimum of $26,728 +$1,000 fine, a year in jail, and loss of hunting previleges. He also needs a good kick in the behind from residents of Livingston County!

Deer Season Withdrawal Symptoms

It's been over for only about two weeks and I already can't wait for that opening day 2010. Luckily, a fairly long turkey season will ease the pain. Then it's time for food plot planting, putting out the scouting cameras, sighting in the bow, hanging stands, and back at it again in 10. September can't get here fast enough.

Terrorists from PETA Continue Thier Rediculous Behavior

Well, what can I say. Hunting season is over and it's time to get back to showing the stupidity of America's #1 terrorist organization. This time, they smashed a pie in the face of Canada's Minister of Fisheries. This is not the first pie. These idiots are going all over pieing folks in the face.........including a Ronald McDonald mascot.

If you have any doubt these people are absolute nutcases.............
PETA head, Ingrid Newkirk has stated that there is no moral difference between poultry farms and Nazi death camps.

2010 Spring Turkey and Squirrel Guide Released

http://fw.ky.gov/pdf/10SpringTurkeyComplete2010Guide.pdf

Check out the new spring turkey and squirrel guide released today by Fish and Wildlife. Remember, Youth Turkey will be April 3rd and 4th and the general turkey season will run from April 17th to May 9th. Squirrel season will run June 5th through the 18th.

Plan for Communications During Your Alaskan Hunt

Now's the time to start getting into the details of your Alaskan hunt. In previous posts I have mention A DIY hunt here for Moose or Caribou would cost you around $3K-$4K. That's close but it could cost more if you take both species and then fly all the meat and antlers out. They just weight too much or take up too much room to pack it all out in 1 or even two flights. That starts to get expensive.

Strader Lawsuit is Very Interesting..........

Wow, the more you dig into the Strader lawsuit, the more interesting it gets. I'll be going though Strader's Complaint Page and commenting on some of those complaits over a series of posts. The lawsuit itself centers around Freedom of Speech, Defamation, and Freedom of Press. When you really get into the Complaints Page, things get interesting with Strader's claims. Many of which center around unethical practices by Fish and Wildlife officials, especially the commish and representatives. I've made it very known that I don't agree with many of Strader's stances on issues that we'll get into such as some aspects of the Telecheck system, the elk program, and season dates in general. I believe Fish and Wildlife have made some amazing strides in deer, turkey, and the elk restoration. I don't always agree with seasons and policies, I believe Fish and Wildlife have the right people in mind (the hunters themselves) when making most policies. However, if the claims against F&W that Strader states are true, they are very troubling and need to be dealt with on a very high level. I'm no lawyer so I have no earthly ideas if Strader's lawsuit will succeed in court but I'll be shocked if some high level heads don't roll in Fish and Wildlife.

More to come....................

Two Tickets to Sport, Boat, and Vacation Show

Anybody want two free tickets to the Sport, Boat, and Vacation show, shoot me an e-mail at moore.gj@insideconnect.net

Thanks.

Deer and Turkey Over and Out.........

Deer and Turkey Season officially ended today and man it was a tough one for a lot of folks. For whatever reason, the rut was near non-existent in many areas. Some people are reporting that some bucks are still making active rubs and scrapes and even chasing does this week. I've yet to see a buck that has dropped his rack but that's not uncommon with excellent nutrition.

The season for me was ver unlucky and frustrating. I saw a ton of bucks early in October and went two months of absolute dead hunting. All of the sudden in January, the bucks started reappearing. I missed out on a huge 8 pointer early in the gun season and started seeing him again late, including tonight. The best part of the season is when my son scored on a nice little 8 pointer checking on some does.

Let's hope we hit 2010 like back in 2008. It won't be long until it's time to be planting food plots again!

Hunter Education Course Finder

Remember, if your youth is nearing age 12, you need to start thinking about taking the Hunter Education Course. Follow this link to find a class near you.

http://fw.ky.gov/app1/calendar.aspx?Category=8&County=000&Month=*

2010 Kentuckiana Fly Fishing Show

The Derby City Fly Fishers are hosting the Kentuckiana Fly Fishing Show on January 30th from 9-5 at the Fern Valley Hotel and Conference Center. I'm probably the only person in the world who has trout fished in Wyoming and used a Zebco 33, so this is something I need to attend and learn a thing or two. Check out the website below.

www.derbycityflyfishers.com

Last Weekend of Deer Season

Well, it's offically the last weekend of deer season 2009-10. All bow hunting will end on Monday January 18th. I've got two huge bucks locked down and I've got to get a shot at one of them this weekend. I need some luck! Let's finish this season off right in the deer stand folks.

Upcoming Hunting and Fishing Expos

**Cincinnati Hunting and Fishing Show-January 20-24 at the Duke Energy Convention Center. The Stephens buck from Ohio will be on display there. If you haven't seen it..........it had 35 inch main beams. Unreal.
http://www.hartproductions.com/hunting-and-fishing-show/

**Louisville Boat, RV, and Sportshow -January 20-24 at the Kentucky Int'l Convention Center in Louisville. KDFWR will offer a free boat safety course. It will also feature a hunting pavillion sponsered by Ky F&W. Mike Beaty and the Beaty Buck (another Ohio buck) will be there. There will also be a big buck contest sponsered by Awesome Antlers.

http://www.louisvilleboatshow.com/attendees/features/features.aspx

Far Cry From A Kentucky Flintlock!

Rooting large brown bear out of the Alaskan bush can be very dangerous. In my guiding days it was up to me to always back them up or worse go find the bruins after the client fired and it disappeared. My backup rifle is a .505 Gibbs. "Mr.Gibbs" as he is generally referred to, got his name from my friend and client Denny Crum, Hall of Fame Basketball coach from Louisville,Ky.

Braving the COLD!

Archery Deer Season lasts until January 18th so time is winding down on the 2009-10 season. I decided to brave the cold tonight for the first time in a few weeks. I couldn't quite decide on a stand location today with the blowing snow. I sat on the edge of some beans, then decided to move. I drew on a big doe but couldn't get a clear shot and had some issues with my peep site. I turned later to see the biggest buck of my lifetime standing about 15 yards from my first ground set up. The deer was unreal. I've been pretty fortunate to see a lot of big deer in my life but today was by far the biggest. With a rifle, it would have been record books for ole me. But, like my luck has went so many times in recent years, it was just getting a beautiful look at another monster.

UPDATE: no dice in the cold and snow yesterday. I saw 29 does/fawns but the big buck didn't show himself. I was trying to get a doe that walks with a pretty bad limp but she's sharp.

F&W Calls Special Commission Meeting

Fish and Wildlife has called a Special Commission Meeting for Thursday night 1/7/10 at the Frankfort Convention Center at 5 pm to discuss pending litigation filed by Jim Strader. Kentucky State law states that the Commission can enter into a closed session to discuss pending litiation. I'd like to be a fly on that wall.

Jim Strader Files Federal Lawsuit Against F&W

As reported today by Wave3, Jim Strader has filed a lawsuit against Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. The lawsuit basically says that F&W has blackballed him for disagreeing with and speaking out about F&W policy. According to Strader, F&W ordered their folks not to attend the Jim Strader Hunting and Fishing Expo in February. Strader says his civil rights were violated and that commisioner Jonathan Gassett defamed him in a F&W newsletter. I get the newsletter but did not see that in it. I will have to go back and review. As I've stated many times before, I'm not a big fan of Strader necessarily and don't typically enjoy his radio show but I will have to say that he's one of the very few outdoorsman with a voice in the state of Kentucky and this lawsuit, if valid, is very interesting.

You can check out the entire article from Wave3.com below.

Former Kentuckian to Contribute Articles

Former Meade County Kentucky resident M. Scotty Lamkin has been living the dream in Alaska for 30 years now as a professional hunting guide many of those years. He has recently written a book about many of those hunting experiences during those years.
He will be posting articles about how to hunt Alaska on your own as well as gear required and ALL costs associated with your DIY Alaskan hunt.
"I want fellow Kentuckians to have MORE than a fair shot at making their dream come true too!"
Upcoming posts will include:  Moose Hunts, Caribou Hunts, Black Bear hunts, near death experiences and much more. Many articles about Brown Bear and Grizzly Bear hunting will also be posted.

Be sure to visit his blog at www.scottysalaska.blogspot.com

Kentucky Hunting Seasons Update 1-4-09

Archery Deer continues until January 18th.

Crossbow ended on December 31st.

Elk Archery continues until January 18th.

Squirrel continues until Feb. 18th.

Bobcat continues until January 31st.

Turkey Archery continues until January 18th.

Spring Turkey Youth April 3-4, 2010
Spring Turkey General Season April 10-May 2, 2010