Florida NWTF Turkey Calling Championship

Scott Ellis, a contributing writer for U.S. Hunting Today and Skinny Moose Media, will be participating in the 2008 Florida National Wild Turkey Federation Turkey Calling Championships in Orlando, Florida next month. Scott is a 5-time winner of turkey calling events in Florida and will be joining others for this event. Read more

Scott Ellis 8th In U.S. Open Turkey Calling Championships

Scott Ellis, a contributing writer for U.S. Hunting Today, recently participated in the U.S. Open Turkey Calling Championships. He placed 8th. Our congratulations to Scott for his efforts.

1st- Matt VanCise
2nd Sadler McGraw
3rd Billy Yargus
4th James Harrison
5th Doug Bennefield
6th Chris Parrish
7th Mark Prudhomme
8th Scott Ellis
9th Walter Parrot
10th Mitchell Johnston

Should Employees Be Able To Keep Gun In Car At Work

We have heard this discussion often of late and in Florida once again they are debating a bill that would allow an employee to keep a gun in their car at work provided it is kept locked in the trunk or the glove compartment of their automobile.

News4JAX has a brief story about the proposed bill, SB1130, and quite interestingly they are running a poll to see what readers think of this bill. Here’s what the poll asks. Read more

Preparations For Spring Turkey Season

By Scott Ellis

As the days start to grow longer and the fall hunting seasons have passed, our thoughts start wandering to the upcoming spring turkey season. If anyone out there is a quarter like I am, you are starting to prepare your “tools of the trade” for that glorious opening day.

Shotgun Patterning

Just a short time before writing this article, fellow Quaker Boy Pro Staffer Chad Hodge, his wife Jessica and myself; conducted an extensive patterning session. It was a blast and between us both we had numerous chokes and loads to test. Patterning your shotgun is something very important and is neglected by a large portion of the turkey hunting population. Read more

Florida Residents Cause Bear To Be Killed

In a subdivision of Orlando, Florida where it is reported that some residents had been feeding a bear, police, under the direction of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, ended up killing a bear after it was Tasered twice. This is another one of those cases where it ends up being a lose - lose situation for authorities.

We all hear stories everyday of bears coming into neighborhoods looking for food. More times than not garbage cans are their target as they put off some pretty attractive aromas for a bear. If people don’t properly care for their garbage, they can have unwanted visitors, not just bears.

We also know that often times people move into the suburbs and do what they can to draw wildlife into their back yards, even to the point of putting out food for the animals. According to one report in the Orlando Sentinel, someone in the Tivoli Woods neighborhood was feeding this particular bear.

When the bear appeared in the area on Tuesday, some frightened neighbors called 911. Orlando police responded and followed the instructions of the FFWCC in dealing with the bear. Once again, according to this report in the Orlando Sentinel, this is how officers dealt with the bear.

Residents in the 4700 block of Walnut Ridge Drive complicated efforts to shoo away the bear by refusing police requests to go inside their homes.

“We also observed dozens of citizens standing on their front lawns taking pictures of the animal,” wrote Officer Frank Sikos of broadcasting pleas over his patrol car’s public address system to avoid the bear. “Many of the residents did not comply.”

For 45 minutes, police followed the bear blaring sirens and flashing emergency lights as it wandered house to house along Walnut Ridge Drive, Oak Crest Road, Tarflower Lane and Spindletree Lane.

When the bear returned to Walnut Ridge Drive, it walked into an open garage where residents Jennielyn Rodrigues, Sovet Navarez, William Hodge and Gary Navarez were sitting at a table.

“All four began screaming as the bear charged at them,” the report states. “Hodge threw a chair at the bear as (they) attempted to enter their home.”

One of the police officers got ready to use his shotgun to shoot the bear but feared hitting the people. The bear wandered outside again, where police officers tried to encourage it to escape harm by heading into nearby woods.

“The bear did not comply and instead turned toward us,” Sikos wrote. “The bear was more interested in entering the garbage cans around the homes than avoiding the officers on the scene.”

The animal came within a car length of Sikos and took two more strides despite his efforts to scare it away.

“I did not want to use deadly force on the animal,” he wrote. “I deployed my department-issued Taser, striking the bear in the torso.”

The 50,000 volts of electricity slowed the bear long enough for officers to lasso one leg and its neck with animal-catch poles. That didn’t do much other than upset it.

“The bear became agitated and we moved from yard to yard as the bear tired. However, the bear had spurts of energy,” Sikos wrote of being pulled around the neighborhood.

Another officer zapped the animal a second time with a Taser and a second leg was harnessed with a catch pole, according to reports.

“We again moved from yard to yard as the bear wrestled with us,” Sikos wrote. “We then observed the bear appeared to have passed out. A short time later, we determined the animal had passed away.”

It certainly appears to me that these officers did everything in their power to avoid killing the bear. In all honesty, I think in most cases the bear would have been dispatched much sooner than as happened in this case. The efforts of the Orlando police and the instructions of FFWCC should be commended but instead many of the same residents who refused to go inside as instructed by police, are complaining that the bear didn’t have to be killed. Their ignorance and uncooperative attitudes actually contributed to bear’s death.

The officers went out of their way to avoid having to kill the bear. Even when they Tasered the bear for the second time, that ended up killing the bear, it was still not their intention to cause death.

The job of the Orlando police department is to protect the citizens of the Tivoli Woods. Had the people gone inside and stayed there, the police could have observed the bear until it returned to the woods. Police Sgt. Jones tells reporters the same thing.

“We couldn’t leave until the people went inside and the bear went into the woods. As long as the people remained there we had to treat the bear as a threat,” she said. “Everybody loves animals and they’re cute, but they’re not cute if they maul somebody.”

If you don’t want to see a bear killed needlessly, as some would say this one was, then take care of your garbage and when authorities do show up in your neighborhood to respond to a bear encounter, cooperate with them and perhaps you can save the life of bear.

Tom Remington

Get In Line For That Alligator Hunting Permit

If you’re in Florida, get in a long line for a chance at one of 4,500 alligator hunting permits being issued. Today is the first day you can get one. Each permit entitles the holder to 2 gators. The season begins August 15th and runs through November 1st.

There is a bit of a catch but not one that seems to deter too many gator hunters. The cost for a permit for Florida residents is $271.50. If you’re a non-resident, dig deep to come up with $1,000.

Hunters can apply for permits by visiting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Web site at www.MyFWC.com/license or by calling 1-888-HUNT FLORIDA (486-8356).

Tom Remington

Doing A Thing Called The Crocodile Rock (Alligator Actually)

I keep telling my fellow bloggers that there is a time and a place for everything and sometimes it is good just to keep things on the light side. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, hunting news can be a bit on the slow side this time of year so this is often when Steven, my son and business partner, and I explore new ideas and work toward improving on some of the ones we have.

Earlier this spring I went on an outing with Chief Photographer Milt Inman and my brother to a place called Medard Park. Medard Park is just east of the city of Tampa, Florida and comprises a good amount of land along with an interconnected system of small lakes and ponds. Most of these bodies of water contain some great bass, catfish and all the alligators a fellow could want and not want.

While we were there, we noticed several alligators most of which were basking in the afternoon sun. Usually during the daytime, alligators will remain beached somewhere or mostly submerged while keeping their body temperature regulated. They are not very active.

So you can imagine the surprise I had when this one alligator surfaced about 75 yards from the elevated walkway, thank God, that I was on and began swimming right toward us and some fisherman who were trying to catch some fish from the same boardwalk.

I played around with the video and cut out a section of it and put a little “appropriate” music to it for your viewing pleasure. In case you might be wondering, the accompanied music was performed by yours truly.

Tom Remington

AFL-CIO Backs Bill To Allow Guns In Cars In Workplace

In a bit of an unusual occurrence, the major labor union AFL-CIO has sided with the National Rifle Association is support of a bill in Florida that would put a stop to business owners banning such things as guns from their automobiles at workplaces.

The Tampa Tribune has the whole story.

Tom Remington