Outdoor Life Newswire

The current hunter safety license requirement employed by a growing number of states has several flaws, but the most noticeable is age discrimination. In Idaho, for instance, if you were born after 1975 you must present proof of passing a hunter ed. class. So essentially an Iowa farm boy born after 1975, who has been hunting and fishing his whole life must spend a weekend in school. (Ed. note: Don't get me wrong, I think hunter safety classes are a great check and should be required of everyone.) Meanwhile the president of the Humane Society, who has about as much experience with hunting as I do with Star Trek conventions, could saunter up to the counter at a sporting goods store and buy a license, no questions asked. Who would you rather have in the woods: the twentysomething country boy, or an older fella with no clue?

And all of this leads to the week's news. Ohio figured out a way to get greenhorns into a deer stand without requiring the hunter safety certificate up front. How? With a new apprentice license program. The way it works is first-time sportsmen, accompanied by a fully-licensed hunter, may "test" the sport out. If they enjoy it, then they take the class and become certified. This is a great way to hurdle a block that keeps many guys out of the wild.

In a perfect world, Ohio will develop a mentor system along with this new program. Hunters could volunteer to take newbies afield maybe in exchange for a free license.

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This is not a reference to an SEC football game, but there’s probably just as much alcohol involved. Several men in south Florida were busted on a Seminole Indian reservation for setting up fights between wild boars and dogs. The bouts lasted 60 seonds and were held in small pens between pit bull terriers or bulldogs and a wild pig.

According to a Humane Society spokesman, this "blood sport" has been going on for at least 25 years. In response to the arrests, the owner of the operation told the AP that she believed the cops were acting at the behest of animal rights activists.

So I got to thinking, when it comes to hunting I'll steer clear of bear-hugging antis like they were a radiation leak. As for food issues, such as demanding corporate farms to raise chickens in decent conditions (read: not in cages where they can't spread their wings), I can understand the Humane Society's argument. What do you think? Is there common ground for animal rights organizations and hunters?

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The good thing about the Internet is that a quick google search reminds me that I'm a completely normal person. Unfortunately, I'm reminded of this by evidence of the insanity of others. It's also nice when these folks take time away from their role playing games to give us a web gem. Come St. Agnes Day (whenever that is) the mythical beast hunting season begins, or so says a webpage from Lake Superior State University.

This site is as detailed as any DNR homepage and outlines everything you need to know for your unicorn season (What? Only one per month? Those things are as common as squirrels.) Hunters will be happy to find that since it's an even year (2006, remember?), you'll be allowed to hunt the southeast rim of the Milky Way.

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It just happened to be a long time ago, when there were some especially large winged creatures flying around. Anthropologists are speculating that 2 million-year-old monkey skulls and ape-man skulls showed similar injuries, thought to be originally caused by land-based predators. After watching eagles attack modern monkeys, the scientists came up with the theory that birds could've pursued early man. Here's the jist of it:

"...eagles would swoop down, pierce monkey skulls with their thumb-like back talons, then hover while their prey died before returning to tear at the skull."

This explains why I like duck hunting so much: revenge.

Executive Editor Colin Moore wrote this little ditty about the price of meat.

You hear it all the time: it’s less expensive to buy meat at the grocery than to go hunting for it. Well, that depends. Although it’s been reckoned that a pound of dove breasts costs about $20 in terms of ammunition expended to get it, that’s dirt cheap compared with some meat prices.

For example, orders are being taken now for Jamon Iberico, a Spanish ham processed from the meat of black-foot hogs indigenous to Spain and that feed only on acorns from cork oak trees in the western part of that country. Apparently, it’s the acorns that give the hams their special flavor. How special? Try at least $800 per ham, at a price of about $60 per pound. If you’re interested in buying one of the Spanish hams, go online to tienda.com, which is the Web site of the U.S. retailer importing them. Be prepared to pay a deposit of $199, and be patient; the hams won’t arrive here until the fall of 2007. In the meantime, you might have to settle for domestic wild hog, which, even if it costs $25 a pound to get, is still a bargain.

Turkey has put the lockdown on hunting wild birds in the eastern reaches of the country after two deaths from the dreaded avian flu. The ban on hunting will be lifted when the disease is thought to be under control.

Anybody know what kind of birds are hunted in eastern Turkey? My guess would be chukar and prairie chickens. And as much as it pains me, I won't make any Turkey jokes.

The big wig here at Outdoor Life, Todd Smith, took some time to spell out his position on cyber-hunting in an article on the "real" website. Take a look. If you've got an opinion on the matter, leave a comment with here. My view? Cyber-hunting=bad, Big Buck Hunter II=awesome.

I know the comment instructions look daunting, but it's really easy. The only reason you have to leave an email is so that I can block you if your comments are innapropriate. Fair enough, right?

Hopefully these hunters won't prevent Santa from making it to your house tonight. Merry Christmas.

Usually the interns at Outdoor Life aren't that schooled in hunting and fishing. They are aspiring journalism students who want to run the gauntlet of magazine production for a semester. None have disappointed, and most are eager to learn about the outdoors. Two years ago, though, we had an intern who is one of the best young outdoorsmen I've ever met. Will Brantely is his name. Turns out he grew up close to my grandmother in Kentucky, which is where my family spends Christmas. This was great news because he offered to take me hunting whenever I went to visit. It's never that easy, though.

The first year we had a warm spell and spent a full day bird hunting only to bust a pair of quail on our final walk. Last year an epic blizzard hit and I spent the night in my car after I went spinning off the road only a few miles from Will's house. That hunt was a bust. Then there was a bowhunt in the early season where the thermometer topped 95 degrees.

So, this year I expected the worst. We planned on rabbit hunting with another buddy, Jay Stratton. (His dad has 9 of the best beagles I've ever run with.) Orion must have been shining bright in the eastern sky last night, because the hunt went off without a hitch. Several good chases ended with clean shots. And after the hunt it was on to the Catfish Dock for some fried goodness. I'm saving the pelts from the cottontails for a friend in the city who wants to make a hat.

Unfortunately my digital camera isn't functioning properly. Once it does, I'll post some shots of my bounty. Oh, and a couple of pics from the Outdoor Life Christmas party.

The lucky man. John's a coworker that hunts as a way to pass the off-season until opening day for the Red Sox. He was invited to chase birds for two days at a sweet Western ranch. His first travel journal entry is on the OL homepage. Give it a read. Maybe he'll have better luck than on his last trip to the wild.