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Russ Mason

A little love for the coot

Featured, Featured, Features, Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Michigan, Minnesota, National Hunting, Nature Page & Night Sky, Ohio /

It was a Monday like most Mondays during waterfowl season for the past decade. I hunted the Shiawassee State Game Area southwest of Saginaw, Mich. Ducks weren’t flying, even though the day started out rainy and finished with winds in the 12- to 20-mph range (albeit from the southwest). We ended up with just five ducks on an otherwise quiet afternoon.
Although the ducks were scarce, stale, or both, we saw coverts of coots tootling around doing whatever it is that makes coots happy.

A little love for the coot Read More »

Commentary: Realign research priorities to focus on game

Featured, Hunting, Michigan, National Hunting, Opinion /

When it comes to science-based decision-making, agencies have always struggled to source relevant usable information.
Initially, the challenge was a lack of capacity. In 1939, when Aldo Leopold’s wildlife management program was established at the University of Wisconsin, the field had few scholars, no other departments, no recognized experts, and, at best, somewhat rudimentary methods of research.

Commentary: Realign research priorities to focus on game Read More »

Russ Mason: Recent report is good news, but falls short on ‘proof’ that CWD can’t infect humans

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Michigan, National Hunting, Opinion /

Several weeks ago, a published abstract entitled: “Rare and Fatal Brain Disease in Two Deer Hunters Heightens Concerns about CWD” appeared in the journal Neurology.

Not surprisingly, it was picked up by the popular press and created quite a stir. In the end, it turned out that the data didn’t really warrant “heightened concerns” for a variety of reasons (e.g., CWD was only identified in the hunter’s area after both hunters were diagnosed). Now, another paper, this time in Emerging Infectious Diseases, suggests that the species barrier is so strong that CWD spill-over may be an unwarranted concern.
Without question, these findings are good news. But at the same time (this is important), the data are just “another brick in the wall.” They are not proof that CWD can’t infect humans.

Russ Mason: Recent report is good news, but falls short on ‘proof’ that CWD can’t infect humans Read More »

Commentary: Traditional fish and wildlife management is under attack

Featured, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Home Page News, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, National Fishing, National Hunting, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

The region’s outdoorsmen need to pay attention.
In Kentucky, the state’s Senate recently considered a bill to move the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources from the Governor’s Tourism Cabinet to the Department of Agriculture.
Senate Bill 3 also would’ve given Agriculture the ability to appoint the members of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission. With the recent close of the general session, the bill effectively died, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t re-emerge.

Commentary: Traditional fish and wildlife management is under attack Read More »

Commentary: Taking a closer look at the extinction crisis

Featured, Home Page News, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nature Page & Night Sky, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

The extinction crisis is real. So is the fact that there are insufficient funds to address it.
In an ideal world, we’d band together and empirically prioritize species at risk based on biological need. We’d ignore cuteness, charisma, social concerns, political boundaries, and economic self-interest. The focus would be promoting the greatest good for the greatest number.

Commentary: Taking a closer look at the extinction crisis Read More »

Commentary: Time for Fish and Wildlife agencies to re-engage with constituents

Featured, Fishing, Fishing, Fishing, Hunting, Hunting, Hunting, Michigan, Minnesota, Opinion, Opinion, Opinion, Wisconsin /

The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is unique.
Nowhere else in the world did hunters and anglers coalesce and become a sufficiently powerful political force to save fish, wildlife, and their habitats from ruin beyond recovery. It’s a story that everyone should know, not just consumptive users of the resource, but the public as well.

Commentary: Time for Fish and Wildlife agencies to re-engage with constituents Read More »

Party animals: Does some wildlife chase intoxication?

Home Page News, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nature Page & Night Sky, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin /

The other day, I read a report in the Wyoming-based Cowboy State Daily about grizzly bears and trains. The article relates that the bears had been eating fermented grain spilled from rail cars and then going to sleep on the tracks.
According to the engineers, “It’s a game of chicken between drunk grizzlies and trains, and the bears lose every time.”

Party animals: Does some wildlife chase intoxication? Read More »

How much deer disease can society tolerate? Wildlife managers weigh effects, results of culling

Featured, Home Page News, Hunting, Michigan, National Hunting, Opinion /

Culls in one form or another are how we produced domestic animals and many crop varieties (selective breeding is a form of culling).
It’s been used to change antler qualities behind fences and tried as a method to change antler qualities in free-ranging deer (doesn’t work). Many hunting regulations (e.g., enhanced doe harvest) are just culling programs aimed at changing buck-to-doe ratios.

How much deer disease can society tolerate? Wildlife managers weigh effects, results of culling Read More »

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